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Oppa Pyongyang Style

Really. Well, not really.

September 21, 2012 at 5:01PM

(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

What does Bing Crosby's brother have to do with North Korean propaganda videos? We'll find out. But first, a Friday mystery, Match wits with Lance, Minneapolis' snap-judgement detective!

(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Answer at the bottom.

CELEBS If you're wondering why so many "stars" get arrested for pot possession in the same Texas town, EOnline can help. Turns out the town of Sierra Blanca is close to Mexico, which has lots of marijuana, and it's on an interstate, which is used by musicians who bring along their pot.

That makes sense, doesn't it? Explains it all, doesn't it? No? Well, here's a quote from the police:

Savor, if you will, that "Little Miss Fiona," with all its mock courtesy and amused contempt. Rusty goes on:

You know, if Snoop Lion has a legitimate medical-marijuana card, it just might be their standards for handing them out are rather elastic.

HISTORY Yesterday we posted a picture of a disconsolate Uncle Sam, depressed because he hadn't bought enough guns from Cubans. Well, the very next cartoon in the Minneapolis Tribune 1900 Collection:

(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

They've come to their senses! Thank the tireless efforts of editorial cartoonists everywhere. This was the old style: they illustrated a point without managing to make one.

INTERNET The world is weirder than you can possibly imagine.

These guys have always been bad at propaganda. This is awful:

If you're going to do some Gangnam-Style parody, use the song. That's "Big Noise from Winnetka" - the Mancini version.

That leads us to these guys:

The Bobcats, the guys who invented the song in the first place. The Bobcats was a side project of some musicians from the Bob Crosby Orchestra. Bob Crosby was Bing's brother. You have to feel a bit of sympathy for people who are good at what they do, but have a famous sibling who's better. Or perceived as better, because they're more popular. Has a brother ever come along and replaced the famous one in the public imagination? I don't think so.

I've always felt bad for documentarian Ric Burns, for example. Ken's brother. You wonder if there were bitter arguments over the dinner table growing up - dammit, Ric, there's only room for one documentarian in this family - but they seem to get along. If you've never seen Ric Burn's "New York." it's worth the 17 hours. It's really good, and has a economical soundtrack, used and reused to great effect.

LANCE LAWSON SOLUTIONLance checked the light fixture. It didn't spark when turned on - so the man was telling the truth. If it had sparked before he opened the windows, there would have been an explosion.

Nice to see Lance clear a guy from time to time.