Rain Man Has Passed

For those of you that did not know, and I count myself as one of you, the guy that was the bases for the movie Rain Man lived here in the Salt Lake area. Kim Peek, a famous savant with incredible memory and recall, died over the weekend of a heart attack. He was 58-years-old and still could not dress himself, but he had memorized at least 9,000 books and thousands of pieces of music. His disability was that the left and right hemispheres of his brain were not connected, so he could not filter information like we typically do. It left him with the ability to retain just about everything he read or heard, but his motor skills never developed well and he had problems learning how to do simple tasks. I can't find anything that says we was banned from Las Vegas because of his abilities to count cards. That may have just been a movie thing.

Peek was one of those guys you never wanted to play Trivia Pursuit with, or see as an opponent on Jeopardy. His funeral is scheduled for December 29.

Why You Should Not Rob Houses In Utah

Being in Utah, I know that there is a good portion of the population here that believes strongly in the right to own guns and there are a number of people with a lot of knives that are good for things other than cooking. Because of these two things, I am surprised that we do not hear more stories like this one. A man decided to rob a home in Orem the other night. He successfully got one load of loot out to his vehicle and then went in for more. The mistake he made was going into an occupied bedroom in search of more things to take. The man asleep in the room woke up and the two started to fight. The fight woke up the three other men that were living in the house. They joined in the struggle and kicked the robber’s butt. Actually, they beat him and stabbed him to the point that the robber is in a Utah County hospital being treated for multiple, serious stab wounds. Oh, and the robber had a gun.

So we have an incident in which the guy bringing a gun to a knife fight and actually loses, and four roommates are able to protect their space and belongings. I really wonder about the guy who broke into the house. Did he not “case the joint” to determine who lived there and what they had? Did he determine where his exit points would be? Did he not confirm that someone was in the house before trying to enter? Did he think that having a gun was enough protection for himself in Utah County? This idiot got what he deserved. I just find it surprising that we don’t hear more stories of intruders getting shot or stabbed around here. Maybe it is because other robbers actually do their homework and don’t go into the house when people are there.

In This Festive Season

...Santa Godzilla wishes you a Merry Christmas, and death to all humans!

Utah Costco Goes Above And Beyond

Doug, astute reader and friend of the site, passed this along to me the other day. Sarah Palin, the self-proclaimed political maverick (who is still looking for her Goose) was in Salt Lake for a book signing a week or so ago. The book signing was in a Costco and people lined up the night before to see the former Alaska Governor. I pretty much ignored this as it is crazy American, not Crazy Utah. What is crazy about this is that the manager of the Costco, after hearing that at the Mall of America someone threw fruit at Palin, decided to pull tomatoes off the shelves while Palin was in the store. Only in Utah (and maybe Alaska) would a store voluntarily take something off the shelves so as to keep the Conservative happy. I suppose it is good business as well, since so many people were there for the book signing. But knowing Utahns, most did not stick around to purchase anything after having the experience of their lifetimes.

Is it just me or does it seem like in order to run for the office of President, one has to have a best selling book these days? Just sayin'.

Someone Has Some Explaining To Do

In a scene that sounds like it came straight from the movie The Hangover, a man who was arrested by police yesterday was able to get control of a squad car and lead police on a high speed chase down State Road 201 on the west side of Salt Lake. Phuong Le (oooh, a phun name) was picked up by police at the Valley Fair Mall for voyeurism. Le allegedly taped his Blackberry to his foot in order to take video up women’s skirts at the mall. We are so much more sophisticated now than the days of boys strapping mirrors to their shoes.

While an 18-year veteran of the police force was driving Le to jail in his squad car, Le complained of “shortness of breath.” The 18-year veteran officer stopped the car and got out to see what was wrong with Le. Police now suspect that Le’s problems “may have been a ruse.” What leads them to believe this? Well, Le had figured out how to get out of his handcuffs and as soon as the officer was out of the car, Le made his way through an unlocked opening in the grate between the front and back of the car. Le was able to defend himself from the officer when the cop tried to stop. Le got control of the car and sped off. This is when the fun started.

Within a few seconds of Le speeding off in the police car, another police car gave chase. Witnesses say that within minutes there were numerous police cars following Le and screwing up traffic on 201. Police tried to spike the tires of Le’s car, but he was able to keep going. At some point Le lost control and hit a pole, causing him to go into a ditch near Rocky Mountain Raceway. I am sure Le was ruffed up a little as police got control of him again. If he complains about not feeling well again, I’m sure there will actually be a reason this time.

I wonder what made Le think that it was a good idea to punch a cop and speed off in his car. Instead of a misdemeanor for voyeurism, this product of the shallow end of the gene pool now gets felony chars for assault of an officer, theft, and evading arrest. He probably did it because he did time for robbery earlier this year. Solid! I also wonder why the cop thought it was a good idea to get out of the car to see what Le’s problem was. He probably thought the handcuffs were one tight enough that Le could not do anything. As we all know from watching The Hangover, an Asian man (such as Senior Chang) confined in a tight space can be a dangerous thing if allowed out. If the officer is not disciplined for his actions, at the very least he will be the butt of many jokes around the station for the next year or more.

A Big Flashing Sign

If Joshua Powell isn’t guilty of ditching his wife’s body someplace in the west desert, then he sure isn’t convincing us that he is innocent. His big neon “guilty” sign started to flash the other day when he got a high-profile defense attorney. Now the police are changing their tune about him. Things don’t look so merry in Whoville right now.

Christmas Decorations And Other Things

I recommend that you not decorate your house like this. Yes, that is a dummy hanging from the gutter. Yes, the owner of the house intentionally set it up to look as if his ladder fell while he was putting up lights. Yes, if you do the same you will cause auto accidents in front of your house and strangers will come running up to help get the ladder back up. You should not attempt this yourself, no matter how funny it really is.

I feel sorry for the child that has this person as a mom.

Really, they expect us to believe that Obama wants moms to go back to school when they post this picture. This looks more like Obama wants moms tied up in a pit in this guy’s basement. She puts the lotion in the bucket…