Happgood's Watchcry

Here's two DVDs I highly recommend.

Both are films I missed in the theater and have just adored on home video. (I even watched all the supplemental material on each film!)

The first is THE DARJEELING LIMITED, the quirky but wonderful character study of three dysfunctional brothers on a fact finding trip in and around India.

Starring Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman and directed by Wes Anderson, this road trip (or rather rail trip) never fails to delight as it dissects and evaluates the familial ties that bind us and keep us apart.



The other DVD I just adore is LARS & THE REAL GIRL. This is such a delightful film, most likely my favorite of 2007.

Ostensibly about a man and his "sex" doll, it is actually a sweet and endearing look at family and community, interlaced with heaping does of humor and social dysfunction.

Kudos to everyone involved, especially Ryan Gosling in the title role, who makes you smile, laugh and wipe away a tear or two with his heartfelt portrayal of man disconnected from society. I truly loved this sweet, sweet film.

Tomorrow is FREE COMIC BOOK DAY and in honor of this Comic Book Dealers across the US will be giving away free comics!

This said, I took a look at the website celebrating The World's Worst Comic Books and found some titles you can't even give away, even on a holiday!

Enjoy these actual oddball comic covers!

These are images I've collected over the past few days...


From Asia, a NEW Pepsi flavor...



From a small town newspaper:



An eye opening prank... (Maybe it was the Supersize Me guy?)



And finally... Isn't this cannibalism??? Yikes!

From NY Times online:

Spoleto Festivals to Renew Their Ties

By DANIEL J. WAKIN
Published: April 24, 2008


The Spoleto Festival U.S.A. and its long-lost partner in Italy, the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Umbria, have announced that they will renew an association that ended 15 years ago.

The two arts festivals say they are discussing at least one joint opera production for the summer of 2009. Spoleto U.S.A.’s music director, Emmanuel Villaume, is to conduct at the Italian festival this summer. And there is even talk about forming a single orchestra, though that possibility so far appears remote.

Beyond that, officials refused to offer more details.

“This is the beginning,” said Nigel Redden, the general director of the American festival in Charleston, S.C. “We share a genetic makeup, even if it’s not a matrimonio,” he added, using the Italian word for marriage.

Giorgio Ferrara, the new director of the Italian festival, said of a collaboration: “The desire is strong. I’m convinced it should be done.” He said he foresaw collaboration on opera, theater works and a joint orchestra, though he said high costs would make the orchestra a difficult goal.

The rapprochement was set in motion by the death last year of the composer Gian Carlo Menotti, who, in 1958, founded the Italian festival in the Umbrian hills 80 miles north of Rome. Mr. Menotti founded Spoleto U.S.A. in 1977, and for a time the two festivals shared top staff members, an orchestra, a chorus and chamber music programs.

But after the 1993 season Mr. Menotti cut ties with the American festival at a time when it was having money problems and after years of tussling with local officials. The “subtext,” Mr. Redden said, was Mr. Menotti’s desire to impose his son, Francis, adopted as an adult, as director of Spoleto U.S.A.

In 1997 Francis Menotti took over as artistic director of the Italian festival, although his father’s influence remained strong, and relations between the festivals remained chilly. Last summer was the first edition since Gian Carlo Menotti’s death and was subject to criticism, Mr. Redden said. “Apparently it was quite unsuccessful,” from both the point of view of audiences and ticket sales, he said.

Meanwhile tension had been growing between Francis Menotti and Italian officials in recent years. In late November the culture minister, Francesco Rutelli, effectively ousted Mr. Menotti and put the festival under the control of Mr. Ferrara, a film and theater director. A ministry statement said the intention was to restore the festival’s “glorious past,” noting that public money had paid for the restoration of many spaces the festival used.

Mr. Redden blamed the Menottis for the festivals’ 15-year separation. “It was a one-way street,” he said. “Now that Francis has left, it just makes sense that we establish a partnership that is different from one we had before.”

The phone at a number on the Spoleto festival Web site still controlled by Mr. Menotti was not answered Wednesday. The site, www.spoletofestival.it, makes no mention of the 2008 season and still contains details from last summer. The new management’s site is www.festivaldispoleto.it.

Mr. Redden said he and Mr. Ferrara had begun discussing a collaboration almost immediately after Mr. Ferrara’s appointment, and they visited each other in their respective countries.

In the first sign of collaboration Mr. Villaume will conduct “Padmâvatî,” a rarely heard opera by Albert Roussel, to open the Italian festival this summer. Sanjay Leela Bhansali, a Bollywood film director, will handle the staging.

Mr. Redden declined to discuss the proposed operatic co-production for 2009. Alessio Vlad, who is overseeing the music program at the Italian festival, said Mr. Redden had suggested the obscure opera “Louise” by the French composer Gustave Charpentier. That presented a problem, Mr. Ferrara said, because he hopes to organize each festival around a country, and France is having its turn this summer. He said the matter was still up for discussion.

The Italian festival this year is exceptionally flush, having received $7 million from the national government, out of a budget of $11 million. The rest comes from local government and private sponsors. The total is about twice last year’s budget, though it was unclear what the former management spent because it has not provided an accounting, Mr. Ferrara said.

Mr. Ferrara put together his program in a quick four months. The offerings reflect his background in theater: there is a greater proportion of dramatic works compared to instrumental music, dance and opera pieces, which he said was an effort to correct a past imbalance.

The programs include several French plays, a “Threepenny Opera” directed by Robert Wilson, world music ensembles, a performance by the Orchestra of the 18th Century conducted by Frans Bruggen, chamber music concerts dedicated to Messiaen and Ravel, and an evening of male dance including Savion Glover and others. The festival closes with a concert by the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Daniel Harding.

No works by Gian Carlo Menotti are on the schedule.

From NY TImes Online:

Where Did All the Bingo Players Go?

By STEPHANIE STROM
Published: April 24, 2008

Banning smoking at charity bingo games may have health benefits, but it is proving harmful to earnings.

In Minnesota, which adopted a statewide ban on smoking in all indoor workplaces in October, revenue from all charity gambling dropped nearly 13 percent in the last quarter of 2007, compared to the same quarter the year before, according to state officials. More than half of the drop — the equivalent of about $100 million annually — was attributed to the new law, they said.

Charlie Lindstrom, who runs the bingo nights at an American Legion post in Fergus Falls, Minn., said some of his former customers now drove to casinos on Indian reservations, where they can puff away, or across the border to Fargo, N.D., where veterans’ organizations are exempt from that state’s smoking ban.

On a good night, Mr. Lindstrom said, bingo at the post used to attract 50 to 75 players. Nowadays it is more like 30 or 40.

“It’s had a profound effect on us here,” Mr. Lindstrom said. “We’ve sponsored several baseball teams here in the past, but we can’t give as much now because the smoking ban has really reduced our revenue.”

Mr. Lindstrom is not alone. Managers of charity bingo games in California, New Jersey, New York and Washington State also say their states’ smoking bans have forced cutbacks in their budgets and in their support for various causes.

Few believe they can cultivate new nonsmoking players. They say smoking goes with bingo like peanut butter with jelly. Michael J. Surwill, bingo chairman at Elks Lodge No. 2501 in Ocean Springs, Miss., estimated that smokers outnumbered nonsmokers three to one at the lodge’s weekly game.

Last year, his bingo game produced $23,000 that supported a shelter for abused women, a drug awareness program and a camp for young cancer survivors, Mr. Surwill said, adding, “I’m sure we wouldn’t raise nearly that much if we banned smoking.”

Veterans’ organizations like the American Legion, fraternal groups like the Shrine and Moose clubs, local drum and bugle corps and churches have long depended on revenue from gambling, though it has been on the decline — and not solely because of smoking. A proliferation of casinos on reservations, changes in state gambling regulations and, now, a faltering economy have all played a role.

Some advocates of smoking bans said the costs of smoking to the state in terms of public health and productivity greatly outweighed the losses to charity. And some argue that the revenues will return in over the long run.

“Around the country,” said State Representative Thomas Huntley, Democrat of Duluth and a chief sponsor of Minnesota’s Freedom to Breathe Act, “whenever places have put in smoking bans, there is a six-month period where there is a drop in business in bars and restaurants, which is where this gambling takes place, and after that, it starts to rebound.”

But bingo managers in states where bans on smoking have been in effect longer say nonsmokers cannot make up for the decline in revenues from smokers. Instead, they say, their industry has undergone a wave of forced consolidation.

“We actually benefited from it, but for the wrong reason — my competition was forced to close,” said Clyde Bock, bingo manager for the Ruth Dykeman Children’s Center in Seattle.

When Washington’s ban on smoking took effect in 2005, Mr. Bock was able to partially enclose a porch where bingo players could still smoke, and he got it approved as a separate facility. “It cost me $8,000, but it protected my customer base,” he said. “Other games weren’t so lucky.”

Still, revenues are down. In 2006, the bingo operation at the children’s center, which then belonged to Big Brothers Big Sisters, generated about $325,000 a year, after expenses, and employed 17 people. A year later, under the auspices of the center, it produced $150,000 and employed 13 people.

“People underestimate the impact smoking bans will have,” Mr. Bock said.

Washington used to be home to 100 bingo halls that raised money for charity. Now there are fewer than 20.

Bret Rios, director of operations for the Blue Devils, a nonprofit drum and bugle corps in Concord, Calif., says his organization, too, has felt the effects. “A lot of people who play bingo like to smoke,” Mr. Rios said

Bingo is the largest source of revenue for the Blue Devils, which operates musical groups that involve more than 500 children each year. In 2005, bingo provided $1.2 million for the organization’s activities, covering more than half its costs.

Mr. Rios said bingo revenues were down about $10,000 a month since Contra Costa County imposed more stringent restrictions on smoking in 2006. Attendance at the nightly games has fallen to about 225 on average, compared to 300 or more before the ban took effect.

The Blue Devils had spent roughly $70,000 to create a specially ventilated separate room for smoking bingo players, which the county ordered closed under its new regulations. The organization replaced it with a covered patio in its parking lot, but smokers are not happy with it, Mr. Rios said.

“You’ve got to get up and down, up and down, to go out and smoke,” said Judy Aiello, 53, who has played bingo at the Blue Devils parlor for about 20 years.

Ms. Aiello said friends who used to play at the Concord center now went to American Indian-owned casinos or bingo parlors in the adjacent county, which has less stringent smoking restrictions than Contra Costa.

Ms. Aiello and other smokers also spoke of tensions between smokers and nonsmokers. Some nonsmoking bingo players have complained that the smell of smoke wafts in from outside, and the Blue Devils group was recently forced to place notices at entrances, reminding smokers that the county forbid them to light up within 20 yards of doorways.

“Why do all the nonsmokers have all the rights and the smokers have none?” said Rhonda Convino, 37, who smokes but has remained loyal to the Blue Devils games.

Mr. Rios said he felt caught between a rock and a hard place.

“I’m not a smoker, and I’m not fond of smoking,” he said. “I wouldn’t go to a place that smelled of smoke and spend a lot of time there. But they’ve gone way too far — you know, they’re even thinking about passing a law that would make it illegal to smoke in your own home.”

Told about that idea, Representative Huntley of Minnesota chuckled. “I don’t think I’ll take that idea up,” he said. “I’m still pulling the knives out of my back from the last time.”

More BIZARRE NEWS...

+---------- More Bizarre Product Warning Labels -----------+

Batman Costume - Warning: Cape does not enable user to fly.

European Camera - This camera will only work when film is
inside.

Liquid Plummer - Warning: Do not reuse the bottle to store
beverages.

Toilet Plunger - Caution: Do not use near power lines.

Little Ones Baby Lotion - Keep away from children

Hair Coloring - Do not use as an ice cream topping.

Boot's Children's Cough Medicine - Do not drive a car or
run machinery.

***

------------- Man cites cop for parking ---------------

PORTLAND, Ore. - A Portland, Ore., man has issued a series
of citizen-initiated parking charges against a police
officer he claims illegally parked his patrol vehicle.
Eric Bryant, who recently passed the Oregon bar exam,
said he confronted Officer Chad Stensgaard at a Chinese
restaurant March 7 after he witnessed the officer parking
next to a "No Parking" sign, the Portland Mercury reported.
Bryant claims Stensgaard admitted parking improperly, but
asked, "If someone broke into your house, would you rather
have the police be able to park in front of your house or
have to park three blocks away and walk there?" However,
Bryant said the officer did nothing inside the restaurant
other than apparently pick up some food he ordered. "If he
had acknowledged and corrected his error, we could have
avoided his whole thing," said Bryant. "But instead, he
kept watching basketball and told me he wasn't doing any-
thing wrong." Bryant initiated violation proceedings as a
citizen against Stensgaard -- alleging illegal parking,
illegal stopping, not obeying parking restrictions on
state highways, and illegal operation of an emergency
vehicle or ambulance. If the judge agrees with Bryant in
court May 23, Stensgaard could face $540 in fines.

--------- Man spends 41 hours stuck in elevator ----------

NEW YORK - A New York man who spent 41 hours trapped in an
elevator with no food or water last fall got a moment in
the sun Monday, appearing on national television. Nicholas
White, 34, said he was on his way back to his office on
the 39th floor of his building after a late-night cigarette
break one Friday last October when the elevator stopped
between floors and refused to budge, ABC's "Good Morning
America" reported exclusively. White said he screamed and
rang the emergency bell, but no one heard him. "After a
certain amount of time I knew I was in big trouble," said
White, who said he lost track of time without his cell
phone. "I had no idea if it was day or night," he said.
White said he urinated by prying the doors open and
relieving himself down the elevator shaft. It wasn't until
4 p.m. Sunday that a voice came over the intercom and asked
if anyone was inside the elevator. White, who received a
settlement from the building, said that despite his ordeal,
which was recorded by a surveillance video camera, he has
not given up elevators. "Living in Manhattan, I'd be
seriously limiting my life if I didn't take elevators,"
he said.


---------- Police: Man tried to take M&M statue ----------

SHEBOYGAN, Wis. - Police in Sheboygan, Wis., said a Pick
N' Save grocery store employee rescued a peanut M&M statue
from a would-be thief. Investigators said the employee
spotted a man walking out of the store with the 3-foot-
tall, yellow M&M statue and followed the would-be candy-
napper to his car, the Sheboygan Press reported Monday.
The employee confronted the man, who offered to pay $5 for
the item -- which is worth closer to $50 -- and the suspect
drove away after the employee grabbed the statue from his
car.


------- Cops say 'Sorry, love' for accidental raid --------

BOLTON, England - British police have said they are sorry
for mistakenly raiding the home of a 58-year-old lunch
lady in a drug-bust operation. Six police officers broke
into a Bolton, England, home with sledgehammers expecting
to find drug-crazed addicts, but instead came across
Kathleen Oldham drinking tea in her pajamas, The Daily
Mail reported. "Sorry, love, wrong house," police said
when they realized their mistake. Oldham's window was
repaired and she received a bouquet of flowers to smooth
over the cops' blunder. "Officers will be reviewing what
went wrong in order to make sure this doesn't happen
again," a spokesman said. Officials said 21 people were
arrested in the real anti-drug operation, in which they
seized two vehicles, cash, weapons and drugs.

--------------Balloons Win By A Nose---------------------

Whoever said kids don't have ambition any more? A 13-year-
old Blaine, Wash., boy said he believes he has set a world
record by inflating 213 balloons with his nose in the space
of an hour.

Andrew Dahl, who credited playing the trumpet with giving
him his lung strength, said Guinness World Records refused
to certify his videotaped previous attempt at the feat, 184
balloons in an hour, because he did not tie the balloons
himself.

However, Dahl said this time he did all of his own tying,
and the attempt was captured by multiple video cameras and
witnessed by numerous friends and family. The teenager said
he expects to hear back from Guinness within a few weeks
regarding whether his latest attempt qualifies for the Book
of World Records.

Dahl's father, Doug, said he measured each balloon after it
was inflated to ensure it met the minimum diameter, 20 centi-
meters (about 7.9 inches) and the boy's mother, Wendy, kept
a running tally of Andrew's nose-inflated balloons during
the event.

The teen said he has been inflating balloons with his nose
since he was 7-years-old.

"When we had barbecues or get-togethers I'd do it just to
show that I could," he said.


+-------------- Bizarre Driving Test Answers --------------+

Driving School: Real answers received on exams given by the
California Department of Transportation's driving school:

Q: Do you yield when a blind pedestrian is crossing the
road?
A: What for? He can't see my license plate.

Q: Who has the right of way when four cars approach a four-
way stop at the same time?
A: The pick up truck with the gun rack and the bumper
sticker saying, "Guns don't kill people. I do."

Q: When driving through fog, what should you use?
A: Your car.

Q: What changes would occur in your lifestyle if you could
no longer drive lawfully?
A: I would be forced to drive unlawfully.

Q: What are some points to remember when passing or being
passed?
A: Make eye contact and wave "hello" if he/she is cute.

Q: What is the difference between a flashing red traffic
light and a flashing yellow traffic light?
A: The color.

Q: How do you deal with heavy traffic?
A: Heavy psychedelics.

***

--------- Police: Teens tried to steal gator -----------

DAYTONA BEACH SHORES, Fla. - Five students have been
arrested for allegedly trying to steal an alligator from
a miniature golf course in Daytona Beach Shores, Fla.,
police said. An officer said he spotted the suspects --
Embry-Riddle University students Jesse Ramos, 18; George
Grampp, 18; Craig Devries, 19; Eric Tatki, 19; and Thomas
Shaughnessy, 19 -- climbing into the Congo River miniature
golf course's alligator pool Thursday morning, WFTV,
Orlando, Fla., reported Thursday. The officer said the
teenagers, who were allegedly using duct take and a palm
frond to try to nab the gator, fled after he tried to make
contact with them, but all five were captured by police.
The suspects were being held on $1,000 bond each.

---------------------------------------------------------

FAIRFIELD, Ohio - Authorities in Butler County, Ohio, said
a team of paramedics was shocked upon discovering a patient
who appeared to be pregnant was actually a man. Police
reports said the patient, who did not speak much English,
was picked up by a Fairfield Township Life Squad at a
Speedway gas station and the paramedics believed the
patient to be a woman far along in her pregnancy, The
Fairfield (Ohio) Echo reported Thursday. However, when
they lifted the patient's clothing to check for signs of
crowning, they instead found irrefutable evidence of the
patient's masculinity. The report said the man, who gave
his name as "Mayra," later said he was depressed and "just
wanted to go the hospital."


--------- Man proposes with newspaper crossword ----------

ATLANTA - An Atlanta man who popped the question to his
girlfriend through the USA Today crossword puzzle says his
marriage proposal was accepted. Alex Fay, who created the
marriage-themed puzzle and submitted it to the newspaper,
said he chose the unconventional proposal because the
crossword was something he and his girlfriend, Lisa Stern,
did together on a daily basis, USA Today reported Thursday.
"When I was trying to think of something that was personal
and kind of fun, it just leapt into my mind," Fay said.
"This is something we share, so I enjoyed being creative."
Stern said the puzzle's overt marriage theme made her
suspicious, but it wasn't until she got to clue 58 Across,
"Question that pops up," and came up with the answer,
"WILLYOUMARRYME," that Fay lowered himself to one knee and
presented her with the ring. "I was shocked," Stern said.
"I knew he'd do something creative. I did not think he
would do something this big."



---------- Ind. police: Lights in sky a mystery -----------

KOKOMO, Ind. - Police in Indiana's Tipton and Howard
counties said they have received multiple reports of
bright streaks of light in the sky Wednesday night.
The police and WRTV, Indianapolis -- which also received
calls from residents -- said many of the callers reported
an explosion after the lights, and callers from Kokomo
reported a metallic smell, WRTV reported. Indiana State
Police and county sheriff's departments said they could
not locate any crashed objects, despite sending at least
50 emergency responders to investigate. "We had reports
of fire and things falling from the sky," said ISP Sgt.
Jeremy Kelly. "After that, several reports in several
different areas came in, but we did not locate anything
consistent with the reports." The Federal Aviation
Administration said there have been no reports of missing
planes or other objects. Authorities said the incident
remains a mystery, but some speculated the ruckus may
have been caused by a meteorite.

Here's an interesting new article from the New York Times ...

It's about the new European Law on noise levels at work and how it is affecting Symphony Orchestras.

Play on! Or, um, don't...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/arts/music/20noise.html?ex=1366430400&en=364745fd3390bd16&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

From NY Times online...


Record Stores Fight to Be Long-Playing
By BEN SISARIO
Published: April 18, 2008

NOW added to the endangered species list in New York City, along with independent booksellers and shoe repair: the neighborhood record store.


The hole-in-the-wall specialty shops that have long made Lower Manhattan a destination for a particular kind of shopper have never made a great deal of money. But in recent years they have been hit hard by the usual music-industry woes — piracy, downloading — as well as rising real estate prices, leading to the sad but familiar scene of the emptied store with a note taped to the door.

Some 3,100 record stores around the country have closed since 2003, according to the Almighty Institute of Music Retail, a market research firm. And that’s not just the big boxes like the 89 Tower Records outlets that closed at the end of 2006; nearly half were independent shops. In Manhattan and Brooklyn at least 80 stores have shut down in the last five years.

But the survivors aren’t giving up just yet. Saturday is Record Store Day, presented by a consortium of independent stores and trade groups, with hundreds of retailers in the United States and some overseas cranking up the volume a bit to draw back customers and to celebrate the culture of buying, selling and debating CDs and vinyl.

Among the highlights: Metallica will be greeting fans at Rasputin Music in Mountain View, Calif., and Regina Spektor is to perform at Sound Fix, a four-year-old shop in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, that like many has learned to get creative, regularly offering free performances. At Other Music, a capital of underground music on East Fourth Street in Manhattan that faces a shuttered Tower Records, a roster of indie-rock stars will be playing D.J. all afternoon, including members of Tapes ’n Tapes, Grizzly Bear and Deerhunter.

One-day-only record releases will also be part of the event. Vinyl singles by R.E.M., Death Cab for Cutie, Vampire Weekend, Stephen Malkmus and others are being sold on Saturday, and labels big and small are contributing sampler discs and other goodies. (Schedule and information: recordstoreday.com.)

“Record stores as we know them are dying,” said Josh Madell of Other Music. “On the other hand, there is still a space in the culture for what a record store does, being a hub of the music community and a place to find out about new music.”

Some retailers are hoping that the effort is not too late. Jammyland and the Downtown Music Gallery, two East Village institutions — Jammyland, on Third Street, specializes in rare reggae, and Downtown, on the Bowery, in avant-garde jazz and new music — are facing untenable rent increases and are looking for new homes.

Jammyland is “the model of what a great record store can be,” said Vivien Goldman, the author of “The Book of Exodus: The Making and Meaning of Bob Marley and the Wailers’ Album of the Century” and other books. “D.J.’s congregate there from all over and exchange ideas. It’s a crucible of music knowledge.”

For a local music shopper with a memory of even just a few years, the East Village and the Lower East Side are quickly becoming a record-store graveyard. Across from Jammyland is the former home of Dance Tracks, a premier dance and electronic outlet, which closed late last year, as did Finyl Vinyl, on Sixth Street. Stooz on Seventh Street, Sonic Groove on Avenue B, Accidental on Avenue A, Wowsville on Second Avenue and Bate, an essential Latin store on Delancey Street — all gone, to say nothing of stores in other neighborhoods, like Midnight Records in Chelsea and NYCD on the Upper West Side.

“Rent is up, and sales are down,” Malcolm Allen of Jammyland said as he sold a few Jamaican-made 45s to a customer last weekend. “Not a good combination.”

Like many longtime clerks, Mr. Allen is frighteningly knowledgeable. Testing out a random single on the store turntable, he discerned in a few seconds that it had the wrong label: it wasn’t “Good Morning Dub,” he said, but rather U-Roy’s “Music Addict,” from around 1987, itself a response to Horace Ferguson’s “Sensi Addict.” That earned him a quick sale, and later research confirmed that he was right on the money.

Casually dispensed expert knowledge like that is exactly what Record Store Day is looking to celebrate. Ms. Spektor, who started off selling homemade CDs and is now signed to a major label, Sire, said that independent stores had been the first to carry her music, and that their support helped her career take off. And though she said she now feels contrite that for years her music collection was made up mainly of items copied from friends — “I just had no money” — she is supporting the stores out of gratitude.

“I’m the record label-slash-store nightmare,” Ms. Spektor said. “Everything I had was a mixtape or a burned CD. But I don’t like the idea of all the record stores where people actually know what they’re talking about going out of business. They have their own art form.”

Every year consumers buy less of their music in stores. According to Nielsen SoundScan, retail outlets accounted for 42 percent of album sales last year, down from 68 percent in 2001.

To adapt, many stores are devoting more space to DVDs, clothes and electronics. That’s the case even with the biggest retailers, including Virgin Megastore, which has 10 outlets in the United States. (It has closed 17 since 1999.) The company reported that last year its sales were up 11.5 percent. But nonmusic purchases accounted for the jump; music sales were flat. Simon Wright, chief executive of the Virgin Entertainment Group North America, said that over the last four or five years music sales had gone from being 70 percent of the stores’ total to less than 40 percent.

“The sheer drop-off in the physical music market is going to inevitably cause the space allotted to music to come down,” Mr. Wright said. “That will obviously contribute to further decline.” He added that the future of Virgin’s Union Square location was up in the air; though profitable, he said, the store is just too big for the current market.

Whatever people buy there, the store is doing a brisk business. It buzzed with shoppers on Sunday afternoon. Some of them, like Kim Zeller, a 37-year-old clothing designer pushing a baby carriage, said that buying music on the Internet just can’t compare to the experience of browsing in a store — and getting out of the house.

“It kind of gets boring when you’re trapped inside listening to music from your computer,” said Ms. Zeller, who had bought new CDs by Erykah Badu and the Black Keys. “I still like coming to the store.”

Although many have been shuttered, more than 2,400 independent shops still exist around the country. And even in the most gentrified parts of Manhattan, some are carrying on the same as ever. A-1 Records, on East Sixth Street, which has Polaroids out front of the D.J.’s who shop there, is still a popular trove of rare vinyl, as are the Academy outlet on East 12th Street, Record Runner and Strider on Jones Street, and the venerable House of Oldies on Carmine Street. The Academy store on West 18th Street has one of the most picked-over CD inventories in the city.

Products that aren’t fundamentally made up of ones and zeros — vinyl records, for instance, which have a habit of turning casual fans into collectors — have proved a salvation for many retailers. Eric Levin, the owner of Criminal Records in Atlanta and one of the organizers of Record Store Day, said vinyl accounted for a quarter of his music sales.

“That may only be a niche as we go forward,” Mr. Levin said, “but it’ll be a giant niche you can make a lot of money on.”

For many New York shops, however, the real estate crunch is making survival difficult. The Downtown Music Gallery, which sells about $60,000 in CDs, DVDs and other items every month, has been searching for a new home for six months, said Bruce Lee Gallanter, its founder. So far it hasn’t been able to find anything affordable in its namesake area in Lower Manhattan and is considering moving to Queens, Brooklyn or Washington Heights.

“We would love to stay downtown,” Mr. Gallanter said. “That’s what we’re all about. But we have to be realistic.”

+-------------------- Bizarre Foods ----------------------+

Perhaps one of life's most mysterious foods is SPAM. Here
are some interesting facts that you may not have known
about the "other" other white meat.

Spam stands for Shoulder, Pork and hAM.

It was launched by the Geo. A. Hormel Company of Austin,
Minnesota, in 1937 and became a great favorite of military
cooks during WWII because it contained protein, was easy
to digest and convenient.

A six-year-old Dorset boy became addicted to Spam and ate
his way through six tins of the stuff every week for three
years. He had to be sent to a child psychiatrist to get
him back on a normal diet.

Over four billion cans of Spam have been sold worldwide.

The Hormel Plant at Austin contains an oven that cooks 450
cans of Spam a minute.

Spam came to Britain as part of the Lend Lease Act whereby
food given to the U.K. would be paid for when the war was
over. Often the only meat available, it became indispensable
until rationing ended in 1954.

***

------- Navy medic charged $60 for doing good deed -------

PARMA, Mich. - A U.S. Navy medic who stopped on a highway
to help an ambulance in Parma, Mich., said he was stuck
with a $60 towing fee after he left his truck behind.
Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Tim Moore said he abandoned
his truck at the side of an exit ramp to help calm a
"hysterical" woman whose husband was being treated for a
heart attack inside the ambulance, the Jackson (Mich.)
Citizen-Patriot reported Monday. Moore said he was asked
by the ambulance crew to help administer CPR on the way
to the hospital. The man died in the emergency room and
Moore said insult was added to injury when he learned his
truck had been towed. Jackson County Undersheriff Tom Finco
said abandoned vehicles are usually tagged for about 48
hours before they are towed, but Moore's truck represented
a travel hazard because one corner of vehicle was protrud-
ing over the line onto the exit ramp. Moore said the owner
of the towing company declined to cut him a break on the
$60 fee. "It was obviously extenuating circumstances,"
Moore said, "but that's his right."



----------- Men shoot paintballs at strippers ------------

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. - Police in Boynton Beach, Fla., said
three men dressed in black walked into a strip club and
pelted dancers and customers with pellets from paintball
guns. Investigators said they believe the attack was
carried out on behalf of an afternoon shift dancer who
was upset after the manager refused to pay her, the Palm
Beach (Fla.) Post reported Monday. Police said the woman
left the Platinum Gold club with another woman who had
been seen arguing with a manager before the attack. The
three assailants and both women were gone from the premises
before police arrived.


------------ Man accuses new wife of assault -------------

CINCINNATI - A husband of five days appeared in a
Cincinnati court and told the judge he fears for his life
after his blushing bride allegedly beat him up. Timothy
Schaffer Jr. told the court after Crystal Whitaker, 25,
was arrested Saturday that he fears his wife "very much,"
The Cincinnati Enquirer reported. Whitaker is accused of
striking Schaffer and threatening to kill him. She has
been charged with domestic violence. Schaffer said he
has also been threatened by his wife's friends. He said
Whitaker had applied for a passport and was planning a
trip to Mexico. Whitaker was jailed in lieu of $5,000 bond
and ordered to steer clear of Schaffer.



--------- Woman's non-existent license suspended ----------

TORONTO - A Toronto woman says she is baffled by a letter
saying her driver's license has been suspended because she
has never driven a car or had a license. Anne Medeiros, 40,
said she got a letter from the Ministry of Transportation
advising that her license had been suspended based on
"evidence of a medical condition that would affect your
ability to safely operate a motor vehicle," the Toronto
Sun reported. Medeiros said the letter contains accurate
information about her, such as her full name, birth date
and address. There is a license number printed, which she
checked to make sure wasn't her husband's, who has a
license. It wasn't his, she said. Ministry officials
weren't available to comment during the weekend, although
Medeiros said she's concerned about who's out there driving
with her identity, the Sun said. "Obviously, they're trying
to suspend someone's license," she said. "And it isn't
mine, that's for sure."

From Bizarre News:

+-------------- Bizarre English Translations --------------+

In a Tokyo Hotel: Is forbitten to steal hotel towels
please. If you are not person to do such thing is please
not to read notis.

In a Paris hotel elevator: Please leave your values at
the front desk.

In a Yugoslavian hotel: The flattening of underwear with
pleasure is the job of the chambermaid.

In the lobby of a Moscow hotel across from a Russian Ortho-
dox monastery: You are welcome to visit the cemetery where
famous Russian and Soviet composers, artists, and writers
are buried daily except Thursday.

On the menu of a Swiss restaurant: Our wines leave you
nothing to hope for.

In a Hong Kong supermarket: For your convenience, we
recommend courteous, efficient self-service.

On the door of a Moscow hotel room: If this is your
first visit to the USSR, you are welcome to it.

Two signs from a Majorcan shop entrance:
English well talking. - Here speeching American.

***

---------- Police: 30 pans stolen from Pizza Hut ---------

ARDMORE, Okla. - Police in Ardmore, Okla., said they have
arrested a man who allegedly stole 30 pizza pans from a
local Pizza Hut and sold the metal as scrap. Capt. Tony
Trudell said police discovered the missing pans had been
sold to a local business that buys used metals for $17.28
and the business provided them with the name and address
of the suspect, The Daily Ardmorite reported Monday.
"Anyone selling used metal has to provide an ID with name
and address," Trudell said. Jody Guinn was arrested in
connection with the burglary and the pilfered pans were
returned to the pizzeria, which had begun serving customers
on borrowed pans.



-------- Man arrested for throwing hedgehog at teen --------

WHAKATANE, New Zealand - A man in New Zealand is charged
with assault with a weapon for allegedly hurling a hedgehog
at a 15-year-old boy, police said. Whakatane resident
William Singalargh, 27, is accused of chucking the prickly
critter at the teen, causing minor injuries to the victim's
leg, the New Zealand Herald reports. "It hit the victim in
the leg, causing a large, red welt and several puncture
marks. He was arrested shortly afterward for assault with
a weapon, namely the hedgehog," Senior Sgt. Bruce Jenkins
said. Police have not said whether Singalargh knew the teen
or what caused him to throw the hedgehog, which was dead
when authorities found it. An April 17, hearing is set for
Singalargh in the Saturday incident, the newspaper said.


------- Woman smuggled snake out of store in pants --------

LANSING, Mich. - A clerk at Preuss Animal House in Lansing,
Mich., said a woman stole a boa constrictor by hiding the
snake inside her pants but quickly returned the reptile.
The clerk said the woman grabbed the boa while his back
was turned and shoved it down her pants before quickly
exiting the store, WDIV-TV, Lansing, Mich., reported
Monday. A surveillance camera recorded the woman reaching
into the snake tank and walking away. Rick Preuss, the
store's owner, said employees were concerned about the
health of the baby snake before the woman brought it back
to the shop. "She brought it back right away and ran out
the door before I could even get hold of any law enforce-
ment," Preuss said. He said the store is not seeking to
press any charges.


--------- 4-year-old sets cup-stacking records -----------

COLORADO SPRINGS - A Colorado Springs 4-year-old broke
three international records this week in a cup-stacking
competition at the Denver Coliseum, a newspaper said.
Miles Seminario has been perfecting his cup-stacking
skills for up to three hours a day for the past six months
in preparation for the Sunday event, the Denver Post
reported. Seminario went up against other cup-stackers
aged 4 or less. "It's kind of silly. He saw a kid stack
cups on 'Yo Gabba Gabba!' in November. Now, he's obsessed,"
the boy's mother said. "Yo Gabba Gabba!" is a television
show for children shown aired on the Nick Jr. channel.
Seminario's parents reportedly were hesitant to let him
participate in the contest because of the pressures of
competition. Nearly 1,100 people from eight countries and
34 states were involved in the World Championship contest
said Matt Reed, executive director for the World Sport
Stacking Association.