I didn’t know Fred Clark, but based on his self-penned obituary, he was one cool guy.

Some excerpts:

“Frederic Arthur (Fred) Clark, who had tired of reading obituaries noting other’s courageous battles with this or that disease, wanted it known that he lost his battle as a result of an automobile accident on June 18, 2006. True to Fred’s personal style, his final hours were spent joking with medical personnel while he whimpered, cussed, begged for narcotics and bargained with God to look over his wife and kids.”

and

“During his life he excelled at mediocrity. He loved to hear and tell jokes, especially short ones due to his limited attention span. He had a life long love affair with bacon, butter, cigars and bourbon. You always knew what Fred was thinking much to the dismay of his friend and family. His sons said of Fred, ‘he was often wrong, but never in doubt’.”

and finally

“No funeral or service is planned. However, a party will be held to celebrate Fred’s life. It will be held in Midlothian, Va. Email fredsmemory@yahoo.com for more information. Fred’s ashes will be fired from his favorite cannon at a private party on the Great Wicomico River where he had a home for 25 years. Additionally, all of Fred’s friend (sic) will be asked to gather in a phone booth, to be designated in the future, to have a drink and wonder, ‘Fred who?'”

More about Fred in this article in the Richmond Times-Dispatch

Those quotes are only the tip of the iceberg. Go read Fred’s obituary and then raise your glass to him tonight.

It seems that this is an actual billboard that allegedly got hijacked right here in Houston.

Before April Fool’s Day rolls back around.

I like April Fool’s Day, but it just doesn’t translate well in the blogosphere. Lots of pranks were attempted, but the humor rate was pretty low.

Randy Morin did find one thing I thought was pretty funny.

Mike Arrington gets my award for the best April Fool’s related post. The reason his post fooled so many people is because it is so similar to stories about real Web 2.0 science projects.

If you need one more reason not to hitchhike in these dangerous times, someone might force you to eat pizza and drink wine.

Found via Obscure.