On the interpretation of signs

Weirdness comes in waves, I guess. Both Karmen and Kevin are talking about strange road signs. I've got a sign to top them.

This is a sign … of the Apocalypse!!!

Wait…not enough exclamation points or emphasis. A SIGN OF THE APOCALYPSE!!!!!

i-5ab309efcb77e7bcd9e87c7399468795-apocalypto.jpg

I'm not kidding, man. Seriously. According to Rapture Ready, scantily clad men in snug spandex and waving big purple sticks is one of the signs of the End Times. It says so in the Bible.

I'm not sure why, but I think Kevin might especially appreciate the symbology here.

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The other day I drove past a church in Phoenix. It's called Faith Church. There was a sign on the road with an arrow:

"FAITH OVERFLOW PARKING"

The mind boggles.

By Stephen Wells (not verified) on 16 Jul 2007 #permalink

The verse cited on the Rapture Ready site, Romans 1:27, appears to say nothing at all about hot lesbian sex.

I'm just sayin'.

And why does Rapture Ready hate American families, and the YMCA workout programs they participate in?

What a bunch of party poopers. Those men could just be men putting on a dance routine. What, you have to be gay to have choreography? Thbbt.

They're also jealous that these men look better than they do.

The greatest sign I've seen was just north of Aldershot in the UK and it said.

"SECRET NUCLEAR BUNKER AHEAD"

Awesome,

Oli

By Mystic Olly (not verified) on 16 Jul 2007 #permalink

Geeze, don't dose fundies got no respect for tradition? Obviously, dose guys is practicin' for da Mummers Parade.

As a former Philly resident, PZ should know what I'm talking about. For non-Philadelphians, the Mummers Parade is a New Years tradition.

My favorite was a streetcorner in the Seattle area where there were at least 20 political campaign signs stuck in the ground, accompanied by one sign advertising a "junk removal service."

The one that really confused me was "SLOW FALLING ROCKS" - I decided the fast ones are the ones to worry about, anyway.

On a related note, they recently put up a sign by my place that says "SLOW CHILDREN IN AREA" which I thought was a bit harsh and definitely not "politically correct" so to speak.

Gah, hit post too soon. Sadly they'd been taken down by the time I was able to get there with a camera.

Another one I like is a store in Carmichael called "P&S Liquors."

We have a Secret Nuclear Bunker near us, despite the signs it is still hard to find. When we lived in London the bus station had a sign that simply and only said 'failure to comply with this notice will incur a £10 fine'.

By Peter Ashby (not verified) on 16 Jul 2007 #permalink

If there are any secret nuclear bunkers near me they are, in fact, secret. But there is a building near where I work labelled simply "building". In case you were unsure, I guess.

My personal favorite remains the roadsign along the highway outside Portland proudly proclaiming
Progress, next exit

Seems oddly aprpropriate these days...

hugs,
Shirley Knott

By Shirley Knott (not verified) on 17 Jul 2007 #permalink

A couple of my favorites:

"Watch for Pedestrians" - I always wonder why pedestrians deserve to be rewarded with a watch. Perhaps because they are brave enough to expose themselves to crazy drivers.

"Door is Alarmed" - Posted on emergency exits of the company where I used to work. It was never apparent to me that an alarmed door looked any different from a calm one, so I suppose the sign served a useful purpose.

By Tim Tesar (not verified) on 17 Jul 2007 #permalink

Or the one in Boston, pre-Big Dig, that used what I hope is just an abbreviation for "North":

TUNNEL
NO END

BTW, does this mean there are gonna be guys in tight purple Speedos in heaven? Or in hell? I'd kind of like to be clear on this ahead of time.

I live down the road from the actual K-T boundary. No, really. Trempealeau County roads K and T form a left/right split near Galesville. The road sign shows <--K T-->.

The greatest sign I've seen was just north of Aldershot in the UK and it said.

"SECRET NUCLEAR BUNKER AHEAD"

Lol, I missed that one when I was there. Go Shots!

God doesn't seem to be in much of a hurry to smote those guys.

Maybe he's enjoying the show!

Up there in the clouds, tapping his toes -

"Macho, macho man, I've got to be a macho man..."

By CalGeorge (not verified) on 17 Jul 2007 #permalink

Damn, my little graphic thingy didn't work. There's an arrow pointing left followed by a K and then a T with a right arrow.

There's a sign up in the kitchen at work that says "if you enjoy the last cup of coffee, please start a new pot for the next person".

I always think - what if I drink it, but don't enjoy it? It's the last cup after all...

Another misinterpretation here.

A couple of humorous signs that I've seen with letters missing:

Hotel advertising: "Indoor Poo_"

Steakhouse: "Black An_us"

I sense a theme here.

There's a sign on a street corner close to my house that simply says, "No Signs". I guess the guy who owns the property has either a strange sense of humor or no sense of irony.

By NeoGothic (not verified) on 17 Jul 2007 #permalink

In the town I lived in for a while in New Jersey there was a post office on one corner of the main intersection. In front of the PO was a mailbox with one of those chutes in the front where you can drop letters from your car without getting out. In front of the mailbox was a sign reading:

NO STOPPING OR STANDING ANY TIME

We lived nearby so I just walked to mail my letters, but I always pictured someone driving past at 30 mph trying to hit the chute with a stack of bills.

I'm really getting sick of fundie Xians and their gay-bashing.

As far as I recall, the bible's a pretty thick book. I'm not certain, but I think it also contains a line or two that don't relate to homosexuality, not that these fuckwits have ever read it.

Funniest shop sign (seen from a major roadway on the south side of Pittsburgh): a hair salon called "Joanne's Curl Up and Dye."

By Stolen Dormouse (not verified) on 17 Jul 2007 #permalink

When I lived in Rome, Georgia, someone had strategically broken out part of the plastic on the main street pedestrian crossing light so that it read either WACK or DON'T WACK.

The town also has an absolutely hideous bronze statue in front of City Hall of Romulus and Remus suckling at the teets of the she-wolf - donated by Mussolini, no less.

But it's the menus and store shelves in the South where you find the really fun stuff, like Chicken Fried Pork Shapes (on my high school lunch menu every Thursday) or canned Pork Brains in Milk Gravy. Mmm mmm good.

In Oxford I've seen a "DOOR IS ALARMED" sign that had already been graffiti'd twice; once with "Why? There is no reason to panic," and once with "I can recommend a good therapist."

By Stephen Wells (not verified) on 17 Jul 2007 #permalink

the elevator door on the 2nd floor of my secondary lab has a "Jesus Saves" scrawled next to it; of course, some wit has added "Passes to Moses - HE SCOOORES!"

i laugh every time, especially seeing as that's the floor where the Divinity students come to type up their theses.

Lepht

My favorite is still "Jesus Saves", after which someone wrote "And takes half damage" (If you know any AD&D players, you'll get that).

As for Pride marches being a sign of THE APOCALYPSE, well...as a gay man myself, I can say that while they can be embarrassing, Pride marches aren't nearly as bad as the average Jessica Simpson concert.