So it’s come to this: a bill passed by the legislature and awaiting Governor Pawlenty’s signature in Minnesota reads as follows:

[325E.65] SALE OF AMERICAN FLAGS.
No person may sell or offer for sale in this state an American flag or a novelty or other item containing a representation of the American flag unless the flag or item was manufactured in the United States of America.

That’s right, in a few days, barring an unlikely veto, it will be illegal to sell a US flag in Minnesota unless it was made in America. But wait… the bill doesn’t limit itself to traditional cloth flags. As worded, every “item containing a representation of the American flag” and sold in the state must be American-made. Does this count for electronic items? Aren’t digital images “representations”? I think so! How stupid.

I tell you what: let’s test it out. I got one of my Canadian friends to draw a picture of the American flag. I will sell you the Canadian-manufactured representation (digital image) of an American flag for the low price of $1. What a bargain!

I’m not sure how it happened, but an image from my blog is now one of the top results for the Google image search for goalie skates. All but two of the higher results are from e-tailers.

Those skates were my first pair, and they have served me well over the past few years. I have no intention of getting rid of them anytime soon. Still, time has taken its toll. Compare the original photo of my goalie skates, taken when they were new, with a photo from today. So many puck marks, so many memories.

(This post is part of the 100/100/100 challenge)

I was about to cut up a watermelon that I purchased from Target yesterday when I noticed something funny about the label: it had a drawing of Goofy:

Upon closer inspection, I discovered that the melon was supposedly grown by “Disney Produce of Mexico”:

Since when has Disney been in the produce business? Not even Google knows. Could this be a counterfeit watermelon?

It was very tasty, but maybe I shouldn’t have eaten it.

(This post is part of the 100/100/100 challenge)

The Simpsons opened without a couch gag. Oh, the horror!

Actually, I thought the 399th and 400th episodes were sublime.

(This post is part of the 100/100/100 challenge)

It’s cold in Minnesota. I know, I know. Big shock. Silly me, I thought it would be warm by mid-May.

Why does that matter? I had been planning the spend the weekend solo backpacking near Grand Marais on Lake Superior. Everything was shaping up nicely, but then the weather put the kibosh on my trip. Walking around in the rain when it’s 35 degrees out isn’t my cup of tea. Unless maybe I follow it with a good cup of tea. Hmm.

I’ve decided to spin off my doodles into a separate site. World, I give you Zoitz.

(This post is part of the 100/100/100 challenge)