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I was doing my daily news troll and found some interesting stories I thought I’d share with you.

First up, a guy who stabs his teenage son for wearing a hat in church.

A 58-year-old man stabbed his teenage son who refused to take off his hat at church earlier in the day, Baltimore police said.

The father and his 19-year-old son got into an argument in the 700 block of Vine Street on Sunday afternoon.

That’s when police said the father went to a car and got a knife. He stabbed his son in the left buttock and fled, police said.

The son was taken to University of Maryland Medical Center for treatment. The father’s name was withheld pending his arrest.

I honestly can’t think of anything to add to that except that I’m grateful that it’s not just us Midwesterners who do crazy stuff like that.

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Interesting news in the wake of the Michael Phelps “incident,” 40 percent of Americans favor legalizing marijuana. I’m not sure where I stand on this spectrum, but I don’t see the huge difference between pot being legal and alchohol being legal. Only 46 percent of Americans are against the legalization of pot, and it’s been theorized that legalizing it could help California out of the financial sinkhole they are currently in.

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Of interest to nerds who like their music and movies free, the trial of The Pirate Bay continues. I (sort of) understand where the recording industry is coming from. An interesting Canadian study says that things like BitTorrent don’t stop people from buying music. I’ve found this definitely to be true in my life, not that I’ve downloaded music from BitTorrent. But I would much rather listen to a CD before I buy it, whether I borrow it from someone or whatever. And when I like a band I’m incredibly loyal, and buy every CD I can get my hands on. Really. I’m the customer they want downloading their stuff illegally.

Also, as TorrentFreak points out so nicely, it’s not just about music anymore. Gaming, along with many other factors, have also led to the decline of the music industry.

A massive selection of entertainment alternatives (home computing, console gaming, mobile devices, etc.) have appeared in the home, effectively marginalizing music as an activity. 15-20 years ago, youths would regularly visit each other just to listen to music together; today, that is virtually unthinkable without some form of activity involved, such as playing Guitar Hero or Rock Band, or dancing at a concert.

And there’s quite a lot of truth to this. I can’t think of the last time I just sat and listened to music without multitasking: driving, reading, checking email, writing. I do it once in a blue moon when I’m trying procrastinating, and that’s about it.

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And finally, a feel good story:

The awesome people at Weta gave Nadya Vessey, a double leg amputee, her own mermaid tail.

Miss Vessey, from Auckland, New Zealand, said: “I never had a fantasy to be a mermaid. I am still getting used to it because it requires you to swim in a different kind of way.

“Children sort of go ‘oh, a mermaid.’ People who like it more, I think, are adults.”

Miss Vessey approached Wellington based Weta with the ambition of making a tail that was both practical and beautiful and is delighted with the finished article.

I’m beginning to realize how anti-technology I am. Not that I hate technology, I spend far too many of my waking hours parked in front of a keyboard, or with headphones in, or with a cell phone to my ear. But when it comes down to it, I would rather use something “old school,” “classic,” or “retro” than have the latest and greatest (and buggiest) piece of gadgetry out there.

I guess that’s why I was so excited when I got my Moleskine notebook. I would rather write my ideas down on a piece of paper than any computer program, however shiny. I may be able to type faster than I can write, but with computers come the inevitable distractions of email, instant messaging and blogs to name a few. I like just sitting down with my notebook and feeling like writing is the only thing in the world.

I made myself a hipster PDA a few weeks ago, and I’m happy with it, especially because now I don’t feel the need to go out and get a PDA. Not that I did, but I am always enamored with gadgetry that I’ll never be able to afford, and it was nice to realize I’d be able to get everything I want from a PDA, really, with just a few index cards.

Along the same lines, I am really considering getting one of the Moleskine City Notebooks, as an alternate to getting something with GPS. I am still weirded out by the concept of my world being so small that people can pinpoint my location by what I have in my hand or dashboard. But I’m also horrible at directions, and I think that this might be the perfect option. Has anyone tried one of these? Are they really as helpful as advertised?

Deep Fried Peanut Butter-Covered Brownie Wrapped In Cookie Dough

This Is Why You’re Fat is making me physically ill and sort of ashamed at the same time. Because, some of these things I would eat. And some of them I probably have. I sort of wonder if it’s a midwestern impulse to deep fat fry every food known to man, or if it exists in other areas.

Thanks to the site, however, I seem to have lost my appetite for the moment. Thanks!

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This week in the school paper, I got to write a review of Franz Ferdinand’s latest album, Tonight. I liked it quite a lot. I really enjoy writing the reviews.

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Today in class we were talking about the future of the newspaper industry, and paper publishing in general. Of course we started talking about the Kindle. The whole concept of a paperless book is somewhat appalling to me. I hate the idea of not being able to lend books to friends, or visit bookstores and browse. I understand the advantages, though, and especially studying journalism, I’m drawn to the idea that something like this could save the newspaper industry. Even if the newspapers were distributed for free, the advertising would be similar to what’s in a paper, and I imagine the target readership would align with the advertisers desires: young, willing to try new things, interest in technology, etc.

My professor said that the cost of a subscription to a newspaper barely covers the cost of the paper itself, so a free electronic paper, or one that costs some sort of minimal amount, does not seem that far-fetched to me. Especially considering the same papers are all free on the internet.

Bushfires kill over 100 people in Australia.

The fires may have been started deliberately. I can’t even wrap my brain around that one.

I found this nifty site to make your own fonts: Free Fonts Generator. Instead of doing what I ought to be doing today (homework), I ended up making my own font (which I just realized I shouldn’t post because it has my signature in it. I’ll post a different one soon). I think it would be awesome to see other people’s handwriting as fonts, so do it! It only takes about 15 minutes at the most, and you get this awesome outcome.