That Gnome is Radioactive!

Sometimes I like to watch television. Bones is a forensics show on Fox, and episode 106 dealt with a murder involving a very valuable gnome. The plot of the episode can be found here.

This particular episode had to do with the found body of a hoarder that fell through the ceiling of his apartment after being dead for a little while. The team ends up discovering that a possible motive for the murder could be his acquisition of a rare garden gnome made by the famous Fiesta Ware company from the 1940s.

Fiesta Ware is known for using radioactive glazes on their ceramics, and this discontinued line has become collectible. Of course, I looked into this, and there is no record of Fiesta Ware ever manufacturing garden gnomes. This is another cool concept created for television.  Bummer. The good news... because of the much more creative brains that write for television, we were treated to the whimsical cameo appearance of a garden gnome in primetime.  Speaking of primetime...

There is a show on A&E called Hoarders, which is about people who suffer from compulsive hoarding. Basically, the idea of reality television is to show humanity at its worst, and hoarding exposes this upsetting psychological disorder for the masses to see. Impressively, this show has lasted 6 seasons.

 In the television show, this particular gnome is napped by a collector that can't accept the words "no sale" from a crazy hoarder. $50000 is a lot of money to pass up. Hoarders can be pretty strong willed, and a little nuts!  

But what if they decide to hoard gnomes?  Apparently this is just called collecting... no intervention needed.

David Bowie and the Chipmunks?

 I can't believe I've never heard of this until now.

David Bowie's song the Laughing Gnome predates his break out album Ziggy Stardust. I've heard he hates this song. It is different than his later rock sound, but not really completely out of character. He starred in the Labyrinth with a bunch of Jim Henson Muppets, remember? Anyway, enjoy this track and it's silliness. It sounds like David Bowie is doing a duet with Alvin from the Chipmunks.

You may have to go to YouTube to listen, because the company that owns the rights lets YouTube post the song where everyone can hear it for free... but posting it on another blog where everyone can hear it for free isn't allowed. I never understood common sense.