John Tedesco

God, I love the Onion.

I got a telemarketing call last week from a friendly woman offering me a “free” cruise. All I needed to do was give her my credit card number to pay $118 in port taxes up front.

I’ve always been fascinated by these kind of sales tactics, so I took notes while she made her pitch. Here’s how the phone call went.

Cute video and story by Vianna Davila, who is covering the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo:

Mutton Bustin’ has become one of the most popular events at the rodeo, organizers say, garnering 479 applications this year from children who want the honor of riding an adult sheep until it throws them onto the arena ground. Of those, 220 were chosen.

I like the crowd’s reaction to the kids clinging for dear life to the running sheep. “They get more applause and cheers than even the bull riders,” said Tinker Kelso, a hospitality volunteer who helps take care of the children once their sheep ride is complete.

Crazy? Or sheer genius?

And you thought today’s newspapers were archaic?

When you work a weekend shift at a newspaper, you never know what kind of story you’re going to cover. Some are kind of lame, but I liked this annual cattle drive on Houston Street in downtown San Antonio. I covered this event a few years ago and Abe Levy wrote the most recent story about the cattle drive, which kicks off the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo. I took this video of it last year when Jen and I were downtown on my day off. Good times.

Brilliant.

Paid for by the National Association of People Who Give Love a Bad Name.

A nice twist to the print vs. Web conflict.

(Hat tip: E&P in Exile)

The suit at the 18 second mark is 100 percent pure awesome.

(Hat tip: Boing Boing)