Tickle Me Dead

CNN, and maybe even some reputable news agencies, are reporting about a woman who says that an Elmo doll has begun threatening her son. I wonder if she also believes that the toaster's been laughing at him.

This Elmo doll, after a battery change, began saying something that admittedly does sound like it could be "Kill...James" in Elmo's halting, grating voice (James is her son's name). She may be looking at this from the wrong angle, though. It could be an exhortation to James, not a threat.

Mom is agonizing over what to do. This Elmo doll is her son's favourite toy, but as a good mother, she doesn't really want him playing with a toy that's making threats on his life.

It's a shame that those new batteries can't be removed, isn't it? You'd think that toy manufacturers would grow a brain and start using battery compartments that can be opened more than once.


This all reminds me of a 2006 rumour that the book "Potty Time With Elmo" said "Who wants to die?" when you pressed a button on it. Elmo may have some repressed socially inappropriate urges.

(Incidentally, my son just happens to have that exact Elmo book, and what it actually says when you press the button is, "Who wants to go?" Since Elmo's voice even in high fidelity sounds like flourescent tubes being lowered into a blender, I can understand the confusion.)


Enough rambling. Here's yet another picture of some concrete. No Hoffa joke this time. Twice is OK, but going back to that well a third time would just be insensitive. (Hey, that gives me an idea! Maybe they put him in a well!)