Jimmy Tayoun was a Philadelphia City Councilman who got busted for accepting bribes and concealing income from the IRS. As a result, he spent some time in a federal prison, but he used the experience to good advantage by penning a 64-page guide of practical advice for those on their way to prison, which was published upon his release in 1995. He titled it, Going To Prison? It seems like a book that deserves a place in any library of the weird. [Allegheny Times]
He also set up a 1-900 number to answer questions from "fearful first-timers," charging them $2.50 a minute to select from a menu of seven topics. In this way, according to wikipedia, he pioneered the profession of "prison consultant" (apparently he was the first to use the term), that being someone who "provides newly convicted criminals with advice on how to cope and survive in the unfamiliar surroundings of prison."
Jimmy's tips included these words of wisdom:
Bring a good amount of cash if you can.
Ask the custodial officer for a couple more razors, some more soap, and later for toothpaste. After a while you will learn where it is stored, check the door until you find it open, and help yourself — though never take too much since your lockers do get checked
See a dentist before serving time
Be wary of probation officers
Never snitch on another inmate or guard
Bring two pairs of eyeglasses, though "nothing fancy schmantzy"
Get a doctor's note to avoid being assigned a top bunk
Arrange private transportation to prison to avoid being handcuffed on the trip
Gather around, children, and you shall learn of an ancient time, before the internet. A day of paper fanzines and weird information obtained only via books delivered by snailmail.
The main purveyor of such good stuff was the Loompanics catalog. Alas, they were driven out of business in 2006. The current website using their domain name is a shell and a scam by cybersquatters.
Over one hundred Loompanics books have been tagged as a Goodreads collection. You can get a small sense of what they were all about there.
Part of Thierry Mugler's "ready to wear" collection that he presented in Paris in March 1991. Don't know if "ready to wear" would be the best term to describe it.
Incidentally, Thierry Mugler is himself a bit of an oddity. A few years back, after his fashion label went bankrupt, he started calling himself Manfred and working out a lot (and paying for some plastic surgery), thereby transforming himself in his late 50s (he's now 64) into what the NY Times recently described as a "240-pound spectacle of muscle and nipple and tattoo."
I walk past this boulder, located on the grounds of some State Offices near the Rhode Island capitol, about once a week. This week, I happened to notice it featured a plaque. Here's what the plaque says (click to enlarge):
Gift to the future? Where? Is it the boulder? But the boulder is pretty much just a bland frame for the plaque!
This appears to be nothing more than an egocentric tribute to the people involved, a way to memorialize themselves. Or am I missing something?
Category: Death, Self-help Schemes, Books, 1990's