PARANORMAL PUB: A Saint Patrick's Day Story

This story truly happened a while ago in Dublin, and on Saint Patrick's Day.

John Bradford, a Dublin University student, was on the side of the road hitchhiking on a very dark night and in the midst of a big storm.

The night was rolling on and no car went by. The storm was so strong he could hardly see a few feet ahead of him.

Suddenly, he saw a car slowly coming towards him and stopped.

John, desperate for shelter and without thinking about it, got into the car and closed the door... Only to realize there was nobody behind the wheel and the engine wasn't on. The car started moving slowly.

John looked at the road ahead and saw a curve approaching. Scared, he started to pray, begging for his life. Then, just before the car hit the curve, a hand appeared out of nowhere through the window, and turned the wheel.

John, paralyzed with terror, watched as the hand came through the window, but never touched or harmed him.

Shortly thereafter, John saw the lights of a pub appear down the road, so, gathering strength; he jumped out of the car and ran to it. Wet and out of breath, he rushed inside and started telling everybody about the horrible experience he had just had.

A silence enveloped the pub when everybody realized he was crying... And wasn't drunk.

Suddenly, the door opened, and two other people walked in from the dark and stormy night. They, like John , were also soaked and out of breath. Looking around, and seeing John Bradford sobbing at the bar, one said to the other....

"Look Paddy....there's the damn idiot that got in the car while we were pushing it!"

THE GOOD GIRL

IS THIS ART or IS THIS GROSS???
A pregnant Brooklyn performance artist has arranged to give birth in a gallery space, while an audience watches. The artist, Marni Kotak, is spending every day over the next six weeks at the Microscope Gallery in Brooklyn until the big day. The gallery has been turned into a "birthing room" and she will be attended by her husband, a midwife and doula. Kotak has said that "The Birth of Baby X," will show that "giving birth, the greatest expression of life, is the highest form of art."

If it happens is a gallery is it art? The history of performance art is filled with over-sharing. Intimate body functions, blood, plenty of nudity, and sweat are central to this type of art. Kotak herself in her career has reenacted her own birth, the loss of her virginity, and the funeral of her grandfather.

She's getting a heck of a lot of press. My quick Google search turned up 1.2 million results. Damn, girl! And reactions are divided between those believing that she has the right to choose this event as an expression of her art and those that think it's just gross. Some even go so far as to suggest this is child abuse.

But is it art? Personally, I feel a bit mixed about it. I couldn't image giving birth in front of a crowd, but