By complete coincidence, the Saturday, June 2nd edition of the New York Times featured right on their front page (web edition at least) two stories that are near and dear to my heart (being both a Vermonter and a sword swallower).

The first is a ridiculous (but I couldn’t help laughing in delight) amateur rap video produced by three Montpelier, Vermont high school students. In the video, two extremely white boys walk the streets of Montpelier “rapping” about all the stereotypes of Vermont and Vermont life.

My good friend Cliff first blogged about it last month, long before it ever hit the NYT. If you’re a Vermonter you’ll probably get a kick out of it. Why the New York Times would cover it I have no idea.

Also in the same edition and on the front page (though below the fold - or scroll, in this case) is a story by Harry Hurt III about the Coney Island Sideshow School - Harry, you have a perfect sideshow name!

Executive Pursuits: Where the School Lunch Menu Includes Fire and Swords

Featuring my friend Todd Robbins, the Dean of the Sideshow School, Mr. Hurt is taught some of the fundamental skills of sideshow including blockhead, bed of nails and fire eating. There’s a great video that accompanies the story - be sure to watch it!

Kudos to both the VT students and Todd for getting such great coverage!
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Continuing the coincidences, it appears that Harry Hurt III just recently wrote a story about Centralia, the Pennsylvania town that has been on fire since 1962. I’ve been planning an upcoming story on the same topic!

tags: bed of nails, blockhead, coney island, fire eating, harry hurt, new york times, rap, sideshow, sideshow school, todd robbins, vermont

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 2nd, 2007 at Jun 02, 07 | 12:56 am and is filed under Just Noumenon Posts, Miscellaneous. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.