Craziest Crazy Guy Ever

I was heading way downtown on the 6 train (to see James Braly's amazing "Twenty Years in a Marital Institution") when the guy pictured above came on. That thing near his neck is a set of speakers that began blaring rap, in direct violation of the subway's "No blaring" policy. But the guy was clearly angry and unhinged and spoiling for a fight, so everyone wisely stayed away---especially when they got a closer look at his garb. Because you can't really see it in the picture, but that case on the right contains a live scorpion, and the one on the left contains a live tarantula. In his hand is a bag full of fish, including a tiny shark.

I'm enough of a Southwesterner not to be intimidated. A scorpion that big is unlikely to have a sting worse than a bee's (it's the TINY ones we were always told to worry about), and a tarantula is such a non-threat that I don't think there have been tarantula-related deaths in years that haven't involved being a child or an extremely old person. (Defense tip: wanna know how to break all a tarantula's legs? Drop it from three feet. They're incredibly fragile creatures.)

But still--the idea that I was standing next to a guy who evidently thought that it was intimidating to think that, in a throw-down, he might fling a baby shark at me ... well, that was just weird and creepy enough that I kept my distance. But I did take a picture. I'm an edge kind of guy.