And so to California where Arnold Schwarzenegger tried to do a Rod Stewart by filling in a pothole that was getting on his goat, only for the good deed to go pear shaped.
Billing it as an act of civic responsibility, the actor and former state governor grabbed a spade and a friend and filmed them filling in that hole in the road, good and proper. Poor thing didn’t stand a chance.
Arnold told his 23.6 million Instagram followers that the “giant pothole” needed to be terminated because it had been “screwing up cars and bicycles for weeks” and had upset “the whole neighbourhood”. Sticking to his motto “let’s not complain, let’s do something about it” Arnold explained that he “went out with my team and fixed it”. Hasta la vista, pothole.
On the video a woman slows her car to a stop to thank Arnold for taking the matter into his own hands and Arnie says “You have to do it yourself. This is crazy. For three weeks I’ve been waiting for this hole to be closed” as she sings her thanks and drives away.
Who doesn’t love a politician-movie star who rolls up their sleeves and gets to work? Los Angeles city officials, as it turns out. What Arnold and his neighbours had considered a great, big pothole was actually a trench dug by a gas company.
According to NBC News, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Department of Public Works said: “This location is not a pothole. It’s a service trench that relates to active, permitted work being performed at the location by SoCal Gas, who expects the work to be completed by the end of May.
“As is the case with similar projects impacting city streets, SoCal Gas will be required to repair the area once their work is completed.”
The gas company may even have to re-open the pot-bellied trench that Arnold and team closed.
If you thought the credits were going to roll on this story you thought wrong. There’s a plot twist in the final scene. Arnold did some (metaphorical) digging and claims that the gas company had actually finished its work in January and the trench/pothole should have been dealt with long ago. The drama!
When Rod Stewart did a spot of roadworks last year it was a more straightforward endeavour. Rod had become disenchanted with the damage caused to cars by the potholed road near his Essex mansion - and to his own Ferrari in particular - and pulled on his tracksuit, rounded up “the boys”, a trailer full of gravel and a stack of cones and got stuck in.
Arnold got a raw deal, Rod doesn’t want to talk about it… but when you think about it, these two could be twins.
Who would poke a sleeping bear?
Sleb Safari is always astonished at the lengths scientists go to for research purposes but never more so than when it read an article explaining how they’re poking hibernating bears to learn more about blood clot prevention.
With what do you poke a sleeping bear? If Sleb Safari was to do it, the poking would be performed via someone else’s arm holding a very long stick while Sleb Safari watched proceedings on CCTV in a room with a steel door.
It would wear a white lab too of course. Sleb Safari takes science very seriously indeed.
Happy Birthday Carol Burnett
Carol Burnett is celebrating her 90th birthday and says she still feels 11. She’s been chatting to People magazine and Sleb Safari loves this story about her growing up in Los Angeles with dreams of entertaining people.
“I used to pretend to be on a radio show,” she said. “I would yell out the window, ‘Now ladies and gentlemen, we have a young girl who is going to sing here without any musical accompaniment.’ One time, a man next door said, ‘Will you turn that goddamn thing off?’ And I thought, ‘I’m a hit. They think it’s real'.”
Isn’t that just the best?
Carol says she “can’t wrap my head around” turning 90.
“I still feel like I’m about 11, but I’m amazed. It sure went fast. But I’m glad because I’ve got all my parts — got my hips, I got my knees and I’ve got my brain, so I’m happy about that.”
Happy birthday Carol!
