Yours truly is currently on a plane which left Detroit at 2pm today (well, or I will be shortly) and is headed towards Shanghai, China. I’m off to visit my parents in Suzhou and then a week each in Malaysian Borneo and Phi Phi/Koh Phenang Thailand. I’m so unbelievably psyched! I’m posting an open thread on China, Malaysia, and Thailand for anyone who is familiar with the area to give me tips about what to see/do/eat/dance/drink/etc. I’ll be live blogging my trip (when I have access to the internet that is) so stay tuned for some funny stories and photos from the other side of the world.

Now, as I was packing last night and didn’t have a lot of energy to type out a lengthy post, you get a nice little bit of parrot-related oddness instead.

Police arrested Edven Wallace Boutilier, 47, for aggravated assault domestic after he threw a knife at his wife during the argument. The knife punctured the woman’s right big toe, McManus said. Boutilier’s wife had accused him of letting the pet parrot go, he said.

“He said that he was glad the bird was gone, that it was a stupid bird,” McManus said. “And she basically said, ‘Well I was kind of stupid to marry you.’ ” [Sounds like she finally wised up.]

During the argument, Boutilier got a knife from the kitchen and threatened to cut open the couch his wife was sitting on, before throwing the knife at her, McManus said.

Now birds *can* be aggravating. I mean, there’s the squawking and the feathers, and don’t even get me started on the poop. But thats no excuse to resort to domestic violence. Next time you feel like picking up a Bowie knife and hurtling it at your loved one’s toes, please, stop and go punch a pillow instead.

Happily, no parrot was harmed in this knife fight.