Sooner in Tampa
8/9/2007, 12:22 PM
'Man falls out of car while trying to spit. Guess which state.'We don't have to guess because that headline, from an Internet news-posting site aimed at young adults, included a logo that simply says 'Florida.'
Drew Curtis, a media critic who runs the Fark.com site and may well scan more news stories each day than anyone else in the country, says Florida is by far the leading source of strange news. His readers send in quirky story suggestions by the thousands. He selects the stories he likes, posts links to them, and tags them to give an idea of the content, such as stupid, spiffy or asinine. Florida is the only proper noun on his tag list.
We asked Curtis what the Florida tag means. After he stopped laughing, he referred us to his new book.
His viewers suggested that 'so many stupid things happen in Florida, it deserved its own Fark tag,' Curtis wrote. 'I wasn't convinced it would get much use, but I decided to go ahead and put it up anyhow. Boy was I wrong.'
Below are recent examples of his Curtis's use of the Florida tag.
Here's a great idea. Take a cougar to a 4-year-old's birthday and take it off the leash.
Man evicted from place of business because he doesn't speak Spanish.
If you're going to go into an office to ask for donations to cover the costs of your daughter's death, make sure your daughter isn't waiting in the car.
Woman decides that Chuck E. Cheese would make a better parent than she would.
If you're going to spread oil all over the floor of a grocery store and fake a fall, make sure the surveillance cameras aren't rolling.'For some reason,' Curtis concluded, 'Florida is messed up. ... Perhaps it's the warm weather that makes people stupid. ... Whatever the reason, Florida is without a doubt the No. 1 state for weird news.
'I would be willing to bet that most of it begins with a few beers and goes downhill from there. ... Throw in some old people and some lost tourists and you have a fiesta of weirdness.'
We know. We live here.
Drew Curtis, a media critic who runs the Fark.com site and may well scan more news stories each day than anyone else in the country, says Florida is by far the leading source of strange news. His readers send in quirky story suggestions by the thousands. He selects the stories he likes, posts links to them, and tags them to give an idea of the content, such as stupid, spiffy or asinine. Florida is the only proper noun on his tag list.
We asked Curtis what the Florida tag means. After he stopped laughing, he referred us to his new book.
His viewers suggested that 'so many stupid things happen in Florida, it deserved its own Fark tag,' Curtis wrote. 'I wasn't convinced it would get much use, but I decided to go ahead and put it up anyhow. Boy was I wrong.'
Below are recent examples of his Curtis's use of the Florida tag.
Here's a great idea. Take a cougar to a 4-year-old's birthday and take it off the leash.
Man evicted from place of business because he doesn't speak Spanish.
If you're going to go into an office to ask for donations to cover the costs of your daughter's death, make sure your daughter isn't waiting in the car.
Woman decides that Chuck E. Cheese would make a better parent than she would.
If you're going to spread oil all over the floor of a grocery store and fake a fall, make sure the surveillance cameras aren't rolling.'For some reason,' Curtis concluded, 'Florida is messed up. ... Perhaps it's the warm weather that makes people stupid. ... Whatever the reason, Florida is without a doubt the No. 1 state for weird news.
'I would be willing to bet that most of it begins with a few beers and goes downhill from there. ... Throw in some old people and some lost tourists and you have a fiesta of weirdness.'
We know. We live here.