…and this is a 
I can't believe in Florida anymore
Category: Kooks
Posted on: May 5, 2008 1:38 PM, by PZ Myers
OK, Florida, this has gone far enough. You've been dallying with creationism, and I've read enough Hiaasen novels (who knew those were non-fiction?) to see that there are many screws loose down there, but this is getting ridiculous. Look at this reason for firing a teacher.
Substitute teacher Jim Piculas does a 30-second magic trick where a toothpick disappears then reappears.
But after performing it in front of a classroom at Rushe Middle School in Land 'O Lakes, Piculas said his job did a disappearing act of its own.
"I get a call the middle of the day from head of supervisor of substitute teachers. He says, 'Jim, we have a huge issue, you can't take any more assignments you need to come in right away,'" he said.
When Piculas went in,he learned his little magic trick cast a spell and went much farther than he'd hoped.
"I said, 'Well Pat, can you explain this to me?' 'You've been accused of wizardry,' [he said]. Wizardry?" he asked.
I'm calling Poe's Law on the whole state of Florida. That place is entirely made up, isn't it? I've been to Miami several times, but now I'm beginning to suspect that it's actually a giant theme park set up on one of the Caribbean islands. It's not really there.
I should have been clued in by the amusingly penile shape of the state drooping off our southern shores. That's made-up, isn't it? Right from the geography, it's got to be one big joke a bunch of 16th century Spaniards were pulling on the whole rest of the world.
Well, the joke is over. It's finally gone too far. No one could possibly be as loony as these fictitious (I'm sure) school administrators. Can we get around to correcting the maps and pulling those phony senators and representatives out of the federal government now?
Comments
Fired for being a "Wizard," sounds like a good reason to sue the school for religious discrimination.
Posted by: Scott D. | May 5, 2008 1:45 PM
You know, I live here and I still agree. Time and time again this state has proven it's not responsible enough warrant representation.
Posted by: Spiv | May 5, 2008 1:45 PM
Yes, well, as we all know, belief in the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, and Santa leads to killing people. Who knows what could result from this wizardry....
Posted by: Etha Williams | May 5, 2008 1:45 PM
He turned me into a newt!
...
I got better.
(What century is this, again? No doubt Harry Potter is banned there.)
Posted by: J | May 5, 2008 1:48 PM
wtf florida?
Posted by: dennis | May 5, 2008 1:48 PM
Yeah, I'm somewhat skeptical - seems like this is only the fired teacher's side of the story. Might be he's gotten fired for wizardry in the same way the ID "martyrs" got fired for endorsing ID, ie. not at all.
Posted by: James Haight | May 5, 2008 1:50 PM
Well, it *is* where Piers Anthony based Xanth. And that is clearly eeeevil lies
Posted by: tim rowledge | May 5, 2008 1:50 PM
This is the sort of thing that earned Florida its own tag on Fark, I dare say.
Posted by: noahpoah | May 5, 2008 1:50 PM
Somebody has been watching too many Alltel commercials...
"Wizard!"
Cl
http://www.coulterlewkowitz.com
Posted by: CL | May 5, 2008 1:51 PM
Clearly the penis snatchers have invaded Florida!
www.doodahblue.blogspot.com
Posted by: Doug | May 5, 2008 1:52 PM
There are wizards in Florida? quick! burn it!
Posted by: SamD | May 5, 2008 1:53 PM
Florida is fictional.
Sweet.
Does that mean we can take 2000 back?
Posted by: clear as mud | May 5, 2008 1:54 PM
So can that go on his resume now? Previous job: wizard.
Posted by: Carlie | May 5, 2008 1:55 PM
Maybe the problem is that he's not crediting the proper deity for his "magic".
That said, I agree that there might be a good deal more to the story. In any case, it's hard to believe this really is it, that a cheesy magic trick manages to spook the rubes there.
Glen Davidson
http://tinyurl.com/2kxyc7
Posted by: Glen Davidson | May 5, 2008 1:56 PM
Let me reiterate that not everyone down here is an incoherent moron. Just enough people that it gives us a bad name. There are plenty of reasoned, intelligent people in florida. And we would probably rise above- if you all didn't keep sending your nearly dead crazies down here to vote a few times, mix things up, then die before the repercussions of their stupidity come to fruition.
Posted by: Spiv | May 5, 2008 1:56 PM
Accused of Wizardry...
That's good. In this day and age it must be really hard to be accused of wizardry. That'd have to be a feat worthy of praise.
I'm adding that to my list of things to do before I die.
Posted by: ThirdMonkey | May 5, 2008 1:57 PM
I can't remember where I read it (Skeptic Magazine?), but several experiments testing reactions to the paranormal were done on a college campus. A stage magician was brought to perform for psychology students, who were in the study. Sometimes he was introduced as a magician who would do "tricks." Other times he was introduced as a "psychic." And in the third case, it was not made specific what he was. Afterwards, the students were questioned on what they saw, and how they interpreted it.
Of course, many students thought the simple hand tricks were "real magic" -- the guy was obviously a psychic. The strange thing was that it didn't seem to matter how the performer was introduced. The number of students who thought he was the Real Deal was almost the same even when the teacher made it clear that they were going to watch a magician doing tricks.
At least one of the sessions had to be stopped when pandemonium broke out -- some of the students would begin to cry, or moan, or rock back and forth. As I recall, the guy was doing stuff with pennies and cards. Or, perhaps, toothpicks.
I suspect this isn't just Florida. James Randi says that he used to constantly be approached after his shows by people insisting that he had magic powers -- even when he kept explaining it was all faked.
As he puts it, people don't just want to believe. They NEED to believe.
Posted by: Sastra | May 5, 2008 1:58 PM
Posted by: Reginald Selkirk | May 5, 2008 1:58 PM
Having recently escaped Florida, I can say with authority - it IS that crazy there.
That having been said, I'd accept being fired from any job if the official reason would be "wizardry." Some companies would hire you on the spot for such credentials.
Posted by: craig | May 5, 2008 1:59 PM
I hate to be the Queen of Taking Everything Seriously, but if I was to hear someone lost his job for being a "Wizard," I would think it was because his involvement in the KKK came to light, not that he had one paltry magic trick he used to amuse children with.
Posted by: speedwell | May 5, 2008 2:00 PM
Or to put it another way, the state with Disney World is against magic? WTF?
Glen D
http://tinyurl.com/2kxyc7
Posted by: Glen Davidson | May 5, 2008 2:00 PM
@#6 James Haight --
The article is unfortunately not very detailed or informative on this possibility, but here's what it does have to say:
If those former allegations are true, then I think they had the right to fire him (though if they fire all substitute teachers that do that, they have *much* higher standards than my school district did...); however, the "wizardry" remark was just bizarre and unnecessary.
Posted by: Etha Williams | May 5, 2008 2:01 PM
Reginald wins the thread.
Posted by: Carlie | May 5, 2008 2:01 PM
So what would they have done to him if he had turned water into wine? Or fed the whole school with a can of tuna and a loaf of Wonder Bread?
The whole state is Poe's Law incarnate
Posted by: (((Billy))) | May 5, 2008 2:03 PM
I nearly pissed myself laughing at that.
Clearly another one who thinks that if a solution does not immediately come to mind that the answer is supernatural forces!
Posted by: Beastly | May 5, 2008 2:06 PM
A friend of mine was kicked out of Rice University for 'witchcraft'. He was a performance artist who held services at the Rothko chapel. So you can add Texas to the list.
Posted by: Mark B. | May 5, 2008 2:06 PM
Hey, its Pasco county. I lived in Pinellas, which is probably 1000% more based in reality than Pasco, and Pinellas (Largo) fired a city supervisor for being a transsexual - preachers showed up literally saying that "Jesus" would demand he be fired.
Pasco makes Pinellas look progressive by comparison - I'm surprised they didn't want to burn him or see if he floats.
Posted by: craig | May 5, 2008 2:07 PM
Actually, I take this story with a grain of salt. Whenever something this loony happens, usually there is something more going on. In this case, there had apparently been other allegations that this guy was a sub-par teacher. I don't know if they're true or not, but they have to be considered. Of course, that the last straw was this and that he was accused of being a "wizard" is still pretty dumb.
Posted by: Orac | May 5, 2008 2:09 PM
Woot! I knew it was possible! We still lead the nation in the stupid!
Posted by: firemancarl | May 5, 2008 2:13 PM
Of all the ways I could get fired, that may be my favorite. (Now he gets to add "because I'm a wizard" to the section of his next job application that asks why he left his last job!!)
Posted by: mlf | May 5, 2008 2:14 PM
He's clearly a lousy wizard. One toothpick?
Posted by: c | May 5, 2008 2:16 PM
Hm. Googling Jim Piculas Florida has a hit on a web page discussing pagan products. This particular Jim Piculas is purportedly a Wiccan, and has (had?) a tampa bay email address. Wonder if it's the same guy? If it is, maybe some kid looked for him online, saw that and...?
Posted by: Aquaria | May 5, 2008 2:16 PM
Not for nothin', but this business of letting your students actually use computers can be hazardous to a teacher's career, health, and financial wellbeing: Here in CT, we damn near put a sub in jail for 40 years because pornographic pop-up ads appeared in a classroom she was supervising. She was eventually cleared (actually awarded a new trial, but I don't think they're going to proceed with the case), but not before her life was essentially ruined.
Of course, if we, as a culture, weren't so freakin' insane regarding the very existence of [whisper]s#x[/whisper], this wouldn't be such a big deal... but our demon-haunted attitudes about our bodies are almost as oppressive as our fear of witches and wizards!
Posted by: Bill Dauphin | May 5, 2008 2:17 PM
"Actually, I take this story with a grain of salt. Whenever something this loony happens, usually there is something more going on."
Its quite possible that something else is going on, but having lived there let me tell you - it's not at all necessary.
The Tampa Bay area is full of this kind of thing. Huge dustups over gay-themed books at the local library, outrage in city councils over non-Christians having their religious holidays off (using roving holidays) etc.
A local bank bought by a church and preserved as a shrine because of a supposedly "Madonna-shaped" grease stain on a window...
World headquarters of Scientology, which pretty much owns all of downtown Clearwater.
Batshit crazy is routine there.
Posted by: craig | May 5, 2008 2:18 PM
Even if there were underlying reasons, the fact that the word 'wizardry' is used by an educational system in any remotely serious context is breath-taking.
Posted by: Don | May 5, 2008 2:18 PM
If I can't be condemned as a heretic, I suppose fired for wizardry will have to do.
Posted by: raindogzilla | May 5, 2008 2:20 PM
...SERIOUSLY?
Posted by: Zach Miller | May 5, 2008 2:20 PM
Hmmm. The 'it wasn't just the wizardry' part of the A.S.'s response worries me. It sounds like confirmation that 'wizardry', i.e. performing an innocent magic trick, was part of the grounds for dropping Piculas. If that kind of hyper-sensitivity to 'Christian' concerns (and that kind of paranoia about utterly harmless actions) is what we can expect from Florida schools, what chance does evolution have? (It's really a plot concocted by the devil himself, you know...)
Posted by: Bryson Brown | May 5, 2008 2:21 PM
Sastra raises interesting and disturbing points. A lot of folks have a very loose grip on physical reality and are hugely attracted to the paranormal and occult. So you can imagine a kid going home and saying the teacher made a toothpick vanish.
Posted by: c | May 5, 2008 2:22 PM
I'm guessing that my highly scientific theory that Utnapishtim conjured up all life during a stint as a sustitute teacher will not be allowed as an alternative to Darwinism in Florida any time soon.
Gotta have theism, of course, but nothing pagan or Wiccan.
I wonder how soon it will be that biology lessons in certain states will have to include denunciations of other religions' origins myths. After all, ID has to get rid of all competitors in order for it to appear even slightly reasonable.
Glen D
http://tinyurl.com/2kxyc7
Posted by: Glen Davidson | May 5, 2008 2:23 PM
Even after reading this story, my faith in the existence of Florida remained unshaken, but then I took a second look and saw that this all took place in "Land O'Lakes". It was at that point that I realized the whole state and everything pertaining to it, including my trip to Disney World, is a myth and a lie.
Posted by: Mark Borok | May 5, 2008 2:24 PM
In other leading news, a thirty-year-old man has successfully sued his uncle for the return of his nose.
Posted by: Jason Failes | May 5, 2008 2:24 PM
Did Maryland just get knocked out of first place again? That was quick.
Posted by: Wicked Lad | May 5, 2008 2:31 PM
Magic never does much, though. Faith can move mountains, it just never does, I guess for the same reason that ID "predicts" just what non-teleological evolutionary theory predicts. Cause you know, life is too miraculous to have evolved, but somehow we should never expect the designer to be smart enough to use any sort of good design it used in an unrelated organism, or to be at all rational.
Demanding human abilities or decency from God is just unfair, since maybe he's just a fucking bastard (and no, I'm not aiming at Scott Hatfield's God, rather at the stupid prick Behe adores).
Glen D
http://tinyurl.com/2kxyc7
Posted by: Glen Davidson | May 5, 2008 2:31 PM
Aquaria #32 wrote:
Wouldn't it be funny if this turns out to be a separation of church and state issue, because the substitute teacher was using class time to proselytize for Wicca? He was demonstrating real live "magic" -- Materialism is false, there is a goddess, and she cares, kids, she cares.
Cue screeching sounds as the entire blog shifts 180. Heh.
Posted by: Sastra | May 5, 2008 2:34 PM
as a life long resident of florida, i assure you that you are correct in that it's a joke.
it's just not a funny one.
Posted by: arachnophilia | May 5, 2008 2:38 PM
There is no need to condemn all of Florida, this could have happened anywhere that fundies lurk. Just to prove you are wrong to criticize, WE got rid of Katherine Harris, YOU still have Michelle Bachmann.
Posted by: Paul T. | May 5, 2008 2:40 PM
I suggest we saw Florida off the continent and watch it float away.
Posted by: BoxerShorts | May 5, 2008 2:40 PM
Heh, indeed: Shifting 180 because "new shit has come to light" is a Feature, Not a Bug!™
There's no inconsistency between arguing that he shouldn't have been fired because his demon-haunted students (or more likely, their parents) can't tell the difference between stage magic and witchcraft, on the one hand, and arguing that he should have been fired if he was using a public school classroom to promote Wicca.
Posted by: Bill Dauphin | May 5, 2008 2:40 PM
I now you don't cvare b/c u want to do waht you want to do but if u think aboutit theres a REASON we were all made and that is we are made in FLORIDAS IMAGE-but not women-dont you look down when you pee yuo will see it [[and waht about the pictures of EPCOT canter did they get faked?? and even if yo dont believe in florida FLORIDA still bleieves IN YOU and LOVES you so stop thinking, ur so smart and ill PRAY for you that you LOVE Florida even if you dont wnat to ;-)
And dont say Im a troll or a Poe wahtever that is b/c Im as real as flordia
Posted by: Borwnien, OW | May 5, 2008 2:41 PM
My (atheist) best friend always gets pissed at me because whenever he tries to do a magic trick for me, I insist on trying to explain it while he does it.
But I have a feeling he'd be a lot more concerned if I claimed he was a wizard....
Posted by: Etha Williams | May 5, 2008 2:42 PM
LOL!
And LOL@ Disney - thanks, Glen. I needed that.
This story boggles the mind. It can't be real.
Posted by: Kseniya | May 5, 2008 2:42 PM
Clue #1 should have been when Kent Hovind tried to evade taxes by saying he was a citizen of Florida and not the USA.
Posted by: pough | May 5, 2008 2:48 PM
To be consistent, they need to burn Harry Potter books and DVDs. Along with Tarot cards and Yoga manuals and whatever else their pointy little heads think is wizardly.
There have been Harry Potter book burnings but none lately that made the news.
Posted by: raven | May 5, 2008 2:48 PM
I've also escaped FL but instead of Poe's Law I'd like to be the first to call shenanigans (for all of us). I'm getting my broom.
shenanigans in Urban Dicttionary
An official declaration made by patrons of an establishment who feel they have been cheated. Once a charge of shenanigans has been accepted by an authority figure, said patrons are free to assault the owners of said establishment with brooms.
Posted by: BA | May 5, 2008 2:50 PM
Florida's new motto: "Building a Bridge to the 17th Century."
Posted by: MikeM | May 5, 2008 2:51 PM
Craig #34
Will that fit on a license plate?
Posted by: MikeB | May 5, 2008 2:51 PM
At least most of us here would have a consistent stance, can't say the same about a large chunk of the locals in that area, I bet. =)
Cheers.
Posted by: FastLane | May 5, 2008 2:52 PM
Quick, send the SWAT team to fort Lauderdale to pull out Randi while we still can!
Posted by: Niobe | May 5, 2008 2:52 PM
If he was any good he could have used his magic to stop them from firing him.
Turning into a giant wolf and smashing the place up works wonders if no one calls animal control.
Posted by: Loki | May 5, 2008 2:53 PM
Sastra @ 17--
The paper is:
Benassi, Singer, & Reynolds (1980) "Occult belief: Seeing is believing" Journal of Scientific Study of Religion, 19, 337-349.
Posted by: Anon | May 5, 2008 2:54 PM
"Rowr! Get in my way, and I'll snap you like a toothpick! What? Yes yes, I know; these are toothpicks. I'm just sayin'."
Posted by: Kseniya | May 5, 2008 2:57 PM
Hah! Puts me in mind of an old B. Kliban cartoon called "Map Filth": A map of North America is saying, via speech balloon, "Hey Europe! Eat my Florida!"
Posted by: Bill Dauphin | May 5, 2008 2:57 PM
Ah, Florida - the state so screwed up, it has it's own Fark tag.
Posted by: maditude | May 5, 2008 3:02 PM
I remember watching a man walk on the Moon on television when I was a child. In fact, I remember several men doing so. I also remember watching what the TV presented as the Saturn V rocket carrying them blasting off from Cape Kennedy, Florida. If you insist that Florida doesn't exist, then that means the other guys in foil hats are right, and the Apollo program was a lie, and that crowd is far more flaky than the ID folks. Then again, I think it took a certain delusional faith in your own machismo to get on top of one of those rockets and let the guys with slip-sticks shoot you at the moon, and there's this huge crowd of Cubans in Fl who think that any day they will be welcomed back to Cuba as heros, and they will be the new lords of Cuba. Maybe Florida is real, it just has something really funny in the water that makes The Crazy come out and play?
Posted by: rhonan | May 5, 2008 3:02 PM
Hey, we don't ship them to you, they go of their own volition. And Florida's damn near the only place in the US that their withered, decrepit limbs don't shatter from a chilly breeze.
So I'm sorry, America's Wang, that the Invasion of the Elderly isn't to your liking. But at least we don't have to deal with them.
Posted by: stogoe | May 5, 2008 3:04 PM
How do the Orlando Magic fit into all this?
And how will it affect the Pistons' playoff run?
Posted by: chancelikely | May 5, 2008 3:04 PM
Mark B., do you have any links to your story about your Rice friend? I went there is the '80s, and it was pretty damned secular at the time. I'd be shocked and greatly disappointed if things have changed that radically.
Posted by: Tulse | May 5, 2008 3:05 PM
Well, they *DO* take their Holy Bible literally down there:
Leviticus 20:27 "A man also or woman...that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them."
Deuteronomy 18:10-12 "There shall not be found among you any one...that useth divination...or an enchanter, or a witch, ... or a wizard...For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee."
Looks like the public schools are trying to keep up with the Christian church and home schools.
Posted by: Chemist | May 5, 2008 3:07 PM
DeLeon searched for the Fountain of Youth, but found the Fountain of Stoopid instead? Sounds reasonable to me.
Posted by: ShavenYak | May 5, 2008 3:11 PM
Hey Tulse. My friend's expulsion from Rice dates back to the later 70s. I'm sorry I can't remember it in more detail, but I think he holds the distinction of being the only person in the entire history of the institution to be expelled for that reason.
Posted by: Mark B. | May 5, 2008 3:12 PM
Florida's new motto: "Building a Bridge to the 17th Century."
More like the 14th Century. By the 1600s (17th cen), the Scientific Revolution in Europe was underway, with the general Enlightenment movement to follow in the 18th century.
Posted by: JJR | May 5, 2008 3:13 PM
Why did the image of Matsumoto Jun shackled to my wall and saying, "Thank you, Mistress Aquaria!" just go through my head?
Posted by: Aquaria | May 5, 2008 3:15 PM
Unfortunately, since he's an "at will" substitute teacher, he could be fired just for looking at the principal funny; it says in the article they don't have to give a reason for the firing. That's true of a lot of part-time/adjunct type employees in education generally--i.e. have a lot less workplace rights, much more tenuous employment statuses, sometimes have to cobble together a career out of several of these part-time gigs, etc. Good luck to the guy, hope he has something to fall back on.
Posted by: JJR | May 5, 2008 3:17 PM
Well, he's no Dumbledore. Color me unimpressed.
Posted by: MoxieHart | May 5, 2008 3:20 PM
Posted by: Narc | May 5, 2008 3:22 PM
The only people I've ever heard say "colored people" were from north Florida. It was recently.
Posted by: Rick | May 5, 2008 3:23 PM
The more I read coming out of Florida, the more I feel that I understand the subtleties of Lewis Black's comedy. I don't think there is a joke that can be written that would truly add anything to the experience of simply reading that article. You just have to read it, and deal with having a few synapses in your brain literally fucking explode, rendering you a shouting, hand-waving, ball of angry. Poe's Law upon you Florida, it is the only way this makes sense.
Posted by: HumanisticJones | May 5, 2008 3:28 PM
Oh, c'mon! "Land 'O Lakes"? That's obviously made up. Everyone knows that that's where all the cheese comes from.
Posted by: Bill the Splut | May 5, 2008 3:28 PM
When I was there, one of the bike teams raised money to replace stolen bikes by showing Deep Throat. And instead of protesting, one of the Christian groups on campus argued for their right to show it, and then counter-programmed with the anti-pornography documentary Not a Love Story.
There was also a group at the school that sold "Campus Crusade for Cthulhu" T-shirts, with the motto "It found me!" on the back.
So yeah, it seems extremely bizarre to me that someone would be expelled for "witchcraft".
Ah, Rice...good times...
Posted by: Tulse | May 5, 2008 3:32 PM
Didn't they even check to make sure he weighed the same as a duck before firing him?
Posted by: harmfulguy | May 5, 2008 3:33 PM
Teach *me* oh great and powerful wizard!
Posted by: HPLC_Sean | May 5, 2008 3:34 PM
In other words, he was accused of being too awesome?
Posted by: wisnij | May 5, 2008 3:37 PM
Man only 19 days left and I'm oughta Florida. Haha, If you're in Miami, Orlando or Jacksonville you're fine. As soon as you venture out of those areas, its god country and the land of the stupids.
Posted by: Chris | May 5, 2008 3:38 PM
i think he made a fine magician--he made his job disappear...
Posted by: rob | May 5, 2008 3:38 PM
This is 50 miles Northwest of the "Magic Kingdom" right?
Posted by: RobertC | May 5, 2008 3:38 PM
I'm still wondering if the reason this was called "wizardry" at all is because someone found out the guy might be Wiccan--whether or not he revealed it in any way, shape or form. Performing a magic trick isn't proof of any particular belief--all kinds of people practice those tricks. If this guy is telling the truth that nobody ever addressed any problems with him in the past, these other charges look distinctly like cover the firing agent's butt. Yes, an at-will employee can be let go at any time, but not because the supervisor doesn't like people of a certain race, religion, gender, etc. I think it's the EEO that states all employees have certain rights in that regard. Of course, IANAL, so someone correct me if I'm wrong on that.
And I'm with Glen D. How in the world can anyone have the Magic Kingdom in their own backyard and still have a problem with a magic trick???
:::Does not compute::::Does not compute:::
Posted by: Aquaria | May 5, 2008 3:39 PM
Someone should make a film about it.
Call it "Expelliarmus - No wizardry allowed"
Posted by: Quidam | May 5, 2008 3:45 PM
...well they do write that he also did not follow lesson plans and let kids use the computers... THAT'S a good reason to fire someone. They didn't have to add up the "wizardry" thing, that might make them look crazy!
...WHO accused him of wizardry anyway? A student? I bet not, kids dig such things.
Posted by: Michelle | May 5, 2008 3:46 PM
"Real magic [...] refers to the magic that is not real, while the magic that is real, that can actually be done, is not real magic." - Daniel Dennett
Posted by: Jams | May 5, 2008 3:49 PM
Pray for global warming and put Florida underwater.
Posted by: LightningRose | May 5, 2008 3:53 PM
What if he explained how the trick went in non-magical terms? Sure, he might get blackballed from the Magician's Alliance, but that's a price you pay for living in a crazy state.
The explaining of a trick is always my favourite part of 'magic' tricks anyway... if I cannot figure them out on my own, having them explained is very fun. There are some pretty cool ones you can do based on binary math...
Posted by: Mozglubov | May 5, 2008 3:56 PM
Hey, don't say that while I'm down here! Kids, clap your hands and shout "I believe in Florida!"!
...crap. If I die in Florida, do I die in real life?
Posted by: windy | May 5, 2008 3:57 PM
D'oh! Quidam, I just wrote a post on my blog about this, and titled it:
Hexpelled: No Wizarding Allowed
Oh well. Did anyone else notice that "Land O' Lakes" shortens to "LOL"?
Posted by: Christopher Petroni | May 5, 2008 3:58 PM
Maybe the toothpick he disappeared was someone's cherished *authentic* piece of Jeebus' cruci-fiction cross? I know someone who claims to have just such a relic.
Oh, and I second the motion to saw off Florida and let it float away. Perhaps we could attach outboard motors to the whole eastern side to jettison it a bit. Or put in a call for all the tugboats available from Fla to Maine.
Posted by: karen | May 5, 2008 3:59 PM
Rice is anti-witchcraft?
Uh... I don't think so. It's a private university, yes, but secular. The MOB alone (that's Marching Owl Band) has been pulling irreverent and sometimes even subversive halftime shows for decades now. Google "Rice Tulsa Dante's Inferno" for one of the most infamous of the MOB's stunts, and then see if anyone in their right mind would say Rice would do anything to someone over witchcraft--at least outside of the classroom.
Posted by: Aquaria | May 5, 2008 4:04 PM
I agree with the concern about the principal's comment that "it wasn't JUST about wizardry," admitting that it was, in part, about wizardry.
Spectacular!
Posted by: Pablo | May 5, 2008 4:13 PM
I am so glad I left Florida.
As for this guy, there may be a silver lining to this story. Now he can apply at Hogwarts. I hear they are always looking for a new Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor.
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