Morning Edition

Some chop suey from NPR's Morning Edition, heard over the last week-ish. This is what amuses me on the way to work. Without further comment...

Morning Edition, September 7, 2006 · Visitors to the Philadelphia Museum of Art can see Renoirs and Monets. And now, once again, they can view a giant statue of Rocky Balboa. The city arts commission voted 6-2 Wednesday to return the 2,000 pound bronze to the steps in front of the museum. That was where Sylvester Stallone's Rocky famously pumped his fists in the air in anticipation of winning. The statue was removed after some art commissioners complained it was kitsch, not art.

Morning Edition, September 7, 2006 · Some residents of Snyder, Okla., want their police chief fired after they found out his wife posed nude on an adult Web site. The chief says what his wife does doesn't affect his job. And the city council agrees. They say his wife has a constitutional right to be a nude model, if she wants. If that's true, the chief's political opponents also have a right to distribute the pictures. Something the chief says they've already started doing.

Morning Edition, September 8, 2006 · A Wal-Mart customer carried a gun in his pants, but says he followed gun safety. When he walked into the bathroom, he pointed the gun at the ceiling. He says that's what he'd been taught to do when not shooting. Apparently he forgot the other safety tip about not pulling the trigger. The gun went off, and terrified the teenager in the next stall. The man put the gun back in his pants, and tried to leave as though nothing happened, but not before police arrived.

Morning Edition, September 11, 2006 · Kyle Paxman was supposed to get married in New England, until she discovered that her fiance was cheating. She called off the wedding, but it was too late to cancel the reception. So she went ahead with the party on the shores of Vermont's Lake Champlain. One hundred twenty-five women showed up for the party, which raised money for charity. Then Paxman went ahead and took her honeymoon trip, with her mother.

Morning Edition, September 13, 2006 · The classic board game Monopoly is getting a makeover. Monopoly Here and Now features inflated rents, airports instead of railroads, and branded game pieces. Now players can choose to be represented by a Toyota Prius or a cup of Starbucks coffee.

Listen to the full audio on that last one. It finishes with the observation that "the only unrealistic part is that the brands did not ask for this placement, or pay for it."