Borders Book Signing - Alpharetta/Suwanee, GA

Thank you again to Wanda, Jan, Steve, and the rest of the Borders staff for a fun day.

Many Upcoming Events, including:

Thursday, June 11, 2009 - 7:00pm-8:00pm

Ocee Library - Book Reading/Discussion

5090 Abbotts Bridge Road, Alpharetta, GA

September 5, 2009 (Time TBA) - Decatur Book Festival - Georgia Authors' Stage

The Decatur Book Festival is the largest independent book festival in the country and one of the five largest overall. Since its launch, more than 600 world-class authors and 190,000 festival-goers have crowded the historic downtown Decatur square to enjoy book signings, author readings, panel discussions, an interactive children's area, live music, parades, cooking demonstrations, poetry slams, writing workshops, and more.

Armed Banana robbery attempt fails in N.C.

Good story for the first day of class...

Authorities thwarted a guy who tried to rob a store with a banana, but ate it before police could arrive. The 17-year-old held the banana under his shirt when he entered the store, saying he had a gun and demanded money.

This caper reminds me of Woody Allen as inmate Virgil Starkwell, trying to make a prison break with a gun carved out of a bar of soap (Take the Money and Run, 1969). Woody should've looked up http://www.weather.com/ for chance of showers, as the gun turned to soap bubbles.

What's not funny: If this were Georgia and banana guy got convicted as an adult, he would face a MANDATORY MINIMUM of 10 years in prison (no more than 20 on a first offense). Here's part of Georgia's Armed Robbery statute:

Under Georgia Statute, a person commits the offense of armed robbery when, with intent to commit theft, he takes property of another from the person or immediate presence of another by use of an offensive weapon "or any replica, article, or device having the appearance of such weapon."

Virgil and Banana Guy's only viable legal argument - from Woody's 1971 movie, Bananas:

I object, your honor! This trial is a travesty. It's a travesty of a mockery of a sham of a mockery of a travesty of two mockeries of a sham.