Tornadoes, prostitution and monkeys (in that order)

Tornadoes. I intended (and forgot) to post a video a few days ago of the damage caused by the worst of the tornadoes to hit Memphis Tuesday. Absolutely insane. Three people killed and more injured in Hickory Hill, the worst-hit Memphis neighborhood and the one featured in this video.

I have a friend -- okay, it's one of the permuted Matts -- who works literally yards from the destruction ... but his building was untouched. Tornadoes are funny that way ... and that's a good thing because I would've been pretty pissed if he'd been hurt. He drove me through the area Sunday night and even in the dark I can tell it's bad.

Turn the volume down. Dude's voice is kind of annoying.



Prostitution. A colleague's investigation into Memphis prostitution has ended with the shutdown of a motel friendly to prostitutes. Story here. I don't normally post specific work-related stuff, but I'm very proud of the work Rosalind did on this. As an aside, a pimp (err, businessman? What's the PC term?) called her after the original story ran to try to convince her to consider the positives of the business of prostitution. Nice to know pimps are reading the paper.

Anyway, she did a helluva job on the month-long investigation. Glad to see the authorities were paying attention too.


Monkeys. The Chinese zodiac "monkey" description came from the Fruits Basket zodiac page because it was handy and(!) because I liked being called an erratic genius. The common placemat definition:

You are very intelligent and have a very clever wit. Because of your extraordinary nature and magnetic personality you are always well-liked. The Monkey, however, must guard against being an opportunist and distrustful of other people. Your sign promises success in any field you try.

Of course, it doesn't tell me anything I don't already know. :grin:

What's your placemat definition?