Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Pick the real news story

One of these is real. Really.

A) A couple in a suburb of Chicago have been charged with child abuse for deliberately speaking only Klingon in front of their child, in an attempt to make that Star Trek language his first. "We were going to teach him English later," the father has protested. "What's the big deal?"

B) A man dressed up as Darth Vader, wearing a garbage bag for a cape, was charged with assaulting the founders of a Welsh group calling itself the Jedi church and was given a suspended sentence last week. The group, which claims about 30 members, says on its Web site that it uses "insight and knowledge" from the films as "a guide to living a better and more worthwhile life." The accused assailent claimed he couldn't remember the incident, having drunk the better part of a 2-1/2-gallon (10-liter) box of wine beforehand.

C) A man in rural New Zealand has legally changed his name to Bilbo Baggins and has built an exact replica of the fictional Baggins' home, as seen in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy. About half of the home's furnishings are actual props used in the films. The newly monikered Mr. Baggins has approached several doctors about the possibilty of having his legs surgically shortened, but has been turned down by all.

8 comments:

MsYvone said...

Oh Jim, the force is with me.

B, is the correct answer.

Try not. Do or Do not. There is no Try.

sgreerpitt said...

In this day and age, I would say that any of these are possible. Both B and C seem equally probable. However, C is so probable that it isn't "news," so I'm going to agree with msyvone that the correct answer is B.

Dave said...

If I get it right, do I get Carl Castle to record the message on the answering machine that I don't have?

B it is.

Jim Donahue said...

Dave: Heh heh. No, but if you want me to, I will.

And here I thought my fake story A sounded the most plausible. (Somewhere, you just know someone is doing this.)

Yes, it's B.

Debbie/Ms.Yvonne is our winner!

Congrats--that and $4 will get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks.

Jim Donahue said...

Oh, and the story is here.

MsYvone said...

Whoo HOo!

Grammarian@mindspring.com said...

Re $4 for a cup of coffee, there's a Perkins restaurant in my neighborhood with a message on their message board that says "$3.99 will buy a gallon of gasoline or lunch. It's your choice."

Jim Donahue said...

"That and $4.19 will get you a gallon of gas" has a real (unfortunate) ring to it.