Just in time for Christmas 3.0 … I spotted this book over at bbcicecream blog and wanted to look into it a little further and apparently this is a real book…from amazon:

Intelligence historian Melton and retired CIA officer Wallace (coauthors of Spycraft) reunite for this unremarkable reproduction of a long-lost cold war–era relic. In 1953, the fledgling CIA hired professional magician John Mulholland to adapt his techniques of stealth and misdirection to the craft of espionage. Mulholland produced two illustrated manuals…

the full editorial review after the jump

Intelligence historian Melton and retired CIA officer Wallace (coauthors of Spycraft) reunite for this unremarkable reproduction of a long-lost cold war–era relic. In 1953, the fledgling CIA hired professional magician John Mulholland to adapt his techniques of stealth and misdirection to the craft of espionage. Mulholland produced two illustrated manuals featuring a range of tricks from placing pills into drinks to stealing documents and avoiding detection. The classified manuals were believed to have been destroyed in 1973, but the authors discovered a copy in 2007 among recently declassified CIA archives. The manuals are reproduced along with enhanced illustrations and an extended introduction by Melton and Wallace. Despite the authors’ best efforts to promote their discovery of Mulholland’s work as a rare piece of historical evidence of the CIA’s legacy of black arts, the manuals, with their earnest, how-to descriptions of surreptitiously spiking drinks, palming documents and signaling colleagues with a feather in a hat band seem more quaintly anachronistic than revealing or sinister.

I might have to pick this one up

a private tour of the Glenfiddich Distillery in Dufftown, Scotland, conducted by their malt master Biran Kinsman, where the recipient and a guest will learn firsthand how the famed single malt is produced before selecting a personal vintage cask of their own; a rare bottle of Glenfiddich 50 Year Old (above); two nights’ accommodation at Ballindalloch Castle, home since 1546 to the Macpherson-Grant family, who will host a dinner in the recipient’s honor; first-class roundtrip air travel for two from any U.S. city to Edinburgh; one night’s stay and dinner at Edinburgh’s renowned Prestonfield Hotel, plus a guided tour of Edinburgh Castle; private roundtrip helicopter rides from Edinburgh across the Scottish Highlands to the Glenfiddich Distillery; and a private tour of the historic Johnston’s Woolen Mill and a traditional Scottish lunch with the owner.

Dunno about you… the whole thing sounds nice and all, but I don’t know if that is worth 2 large

source

Tila Tequila has announced her engagement to Casey Johnson who is an heiress to the Johnson and Johnson empire daughter of NY Jets owner Woody Johnson.  That’s it. I have nothing else to say here…

StreetHeat reports “It was supposed to be a standard radio interview but things got extremely heated when R.A. the Rugged Man and P4P Boxing Champion Flloyd Mayweather JR. got into an argument.

Money May falls for the okie doke here, he is defending himself against a Stan. They both have valid points…Why doesn’t Mayweather just say, “Yeah dude, this is my job, I’m not trying to be talking like Sugar Ray, or my uncle, or Tommy Hearns, or my pops! I wanna make this money and get up out of there…”

Late in the first period of the Spurs win over the Kings on Saturday a bat swooped into the AT&T Center and descended onto the court. Players scattered and officials stopped play. The bat circled and left only to return — briefly.

That’s when Ginobili performed his Halloween trick, swatting the bat out of the air with a bare hand. He then carried the creature off the court to thunderous cheers.

…but, no good deed goes unpunished. Peep Manu’s tweet after the jump…

On Monday, Ginobili posted:

“Just wanted to give you guys an update on the bat situation. As many of you already know, it wasn’t a great idea. Not only for the fact that bats are great part of the ecosystem, but also, because some carry rabies, which is an incurable disease. That’s why I had to get vaccinated today [and it wasn't just one shot!].”

At the time, Ginobili was a hero.

After he caught the bat, the theme song to “Batman” played, and a few Sacramento players applauded, too. A trainer emerged to squirt sanitizer on Ginobili’s hand.

“That was amazing,” teammate Tony Parker said. “The legend continues with Manu. Unbelievable. … He’s always doing crazy stuff.”

Ginobili was worried about the crazy consequences of his actions on Monday.

“Only 0.5 percent to 3 percent of the bat populations carry the disease, but If you can’t find the animal, it’s not recommended to take any risks, it can kill you!” Ginobili wrote. “Since after the incident, the usher took it outside and the bat flew away [not lying!], there was no way of knowing if he was infected or not, so I had to do the safe thing.

“Finally, please, don’t do it at home or anywhere, avoid contact with bats, skunks, raccoons, rats and animals like that.”.
source