IME, tommyrot, yes. I have a tripod that's 20 years old and all types of cameras, film, digital and video have been mounted on it.

Cool. I'm brining a camera to my parents' 50th wedding anniversary, and my brother is bringing the tripod (so I couldn't test it ahead of time).

Not picturesque, not restful or nature-filled, not someplace any grown-up would have any reason to want to sit down in unless they wanted to be around kids.

Or there's a donut shop across the street and you want to sit down and chat. Or you have trouble walking distances and need to sit down for a few minutes. Or it's a nice day and there isn't another park around.

Yesterday, when I finished my bike ride through a park bike path, I swung on the swings for a little while just because it looked like fun. (There were only three kids in the park, and two of them were too little for the swings, so it's not like I was taking a toy away from a kid who wanted to use it.) I guess this would have been illegal if I was in NY.

Or there's a donut shop across the street and you want to sit down and chat. Or you have trouble walking distances and need to sit down for a few minutes. Or it's a nice day and there isn't another park around.

Or if it's a nice day and the other benches there are taken!! I admit, as a tourist, I have sat down in a park in another country (to take a rest from the touristing, or eat something) and would rather watch cute kids playing on a playground than stare at a tree or something? And I would never have noticed the rules, honestly--I would probably assume they say no smoking and no drinking and no being there during certain hours, and only read them if I wanted to see when I had to leave/if I could drink alcohol/whatever. (I have also drunk alcohol in a park, but usually was prepared to be in trouble for it)

So someone who enjoys watching children play but isn't in the company of a child is by default a pedophile? Lovely.

I am trying to ease into a low-carb, low- fat, low-sugar diet that I have done before. I remember the first week being hard, but holy moley I am hungry. I really need to remember some protein at every meal, this veggie only salad is not cutting it.

You know, in our never-ending battle against Stupid, I think Stupid is winning. But sometimes, Stupid is punished by the marketplace.

Expelled on the block?

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed — the 2008 creationist propaganda movie fronted by Ben Stein — is scheduled to be auctioned, lock, stock, and barrel, pursuant to the bankruptcy proceeding of Premise Media Holdings LP. According to a document (PDF) filed in the United States Bankruptcy Court of the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division, on May 31, 2011, the trustee of the bankruptcy estate is seeking to auction "[t]hat certain feature-length motion picture ('Picture') 'Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed' and all collateral, allied, ancillary, subsidiary and merchandising rights therein and thereto, and all properties and things of value pertaining thereto." The auction is scheduled to take place on-line from June 23 to June 28, 2011.

The high bidder will become the owner of the movie that The New York Times (2008 Apr 18) described as "[o]ne of the sleaziest documentaries to arrive in a very long time ... a conspiracy-theory rant masquerading as investigative inquiry ... an unprincipled propaganda piece that insults believers and nonbelievers alike" and that was denounced by the American Association for the Advancement of Science for its "profound dishonesty" and condemned by the Anti-Defamation League for its "outrageous" misuse of the Holocaust to "tarnish those who promote the theory of evolution."

Maybe I'll bid a penny for it. If I win, I'll set it on fire.

I admit, as a tourist, I have sat down in a park in another country (to take a rest from the touristing, or eat something) and would rather watch cute kids playing on a playground than stare at a tree or something? And I would never have noticed the rules, honestly--I would probably assume they say no smoking and no drinking and no being there during certain hours, and only read them if I wanted to see when I had to leave/if I could drink alcohol/whatever. (I have also drunk alcohol in a park, but usually was prepared to be in trouble for it)

You are a scofflaw.

So someone who enjoys watching children play but isn't in the company of a child is by default a pedophile? Lovely.

That does seem extreme. I mean, I have no personal desire to be anywhere within earshot of kids I'm not related to, but my understanding is that societal expectations are for most people to find them entertaining and delightful on general principle.