How are these people not extinct???

Yes, that's a new band picture. We've got a big month coming up. A cd release party, a television appearance, and a few touring shows. However, I felt fortunate we weren't touring to Kansas after reading this article. And the U2 line, "I can't believe the news today" leapt to mind for all the wrong reasons.

Man gets amputated foot back after police seize it briefly

LAWRENCE, Kansas (AP) - Ezekiel Rubottom now has his left foot back exactly where he wants it - in a bucket on the front porch. Police in Kansas has returned the amputated foot to him after seizing it during the weekend to check out just how it came to be there.

The 21-year-old man's foot was amputated three weeks ago after a series of medical problems, and he started keeping it in a five-gallon (20-liter) bucket filled with formaldehyde.

It came to the attention of police after a call from a parent whose child reported seeing the severed foot. Officers who went to the home late Saturday night found the foot, and some of Rubottom's friends, but no sign of Rubottom himself.

Unsure of what to make of the unusual discovery, police confiscated the severed foot and put it into evidence storage.

"We had to make sure that no crime had been committed," said Sgt. Dan Ward.

Rubottom, an artist, recovering methamphetamine addict and occasional hip-hop master of ceremonies, said he was born with a clubbed foot and has dealt all his life with pressure sores and infections. An infection this summer became so severe that doctors at Lawrence Memorial Hospital decided it should be amputated.

Rubottom asked to have the severed foot. A pathologist at the hospital checked to make sure it wouldn't be a hazard and told him he could have it, provided he kept it in a container labeled with instructions for handling the formaldehyde.

After a friend picked up the bucket at a hardware store, Rubottom added several objects as well as the severed foot - including a porcelain horse and can of beer - to make what he called "a collage of myself." He also cut off two of the toes, saying he was considering giving them to friends.

On Monday, police returned the foot to Rubottom after taking him to the hospital, where he signed a release allowing them to see his medical records.

"It's cool. It's all good," said Rubottom. "Now I've got my foot back. That's all I wanted.
"I'm not sick or, like, a danger," he said of his decision to keep and display the foot. "I just wanted my foot ... I just figured I'd do with it whatever I pleased."



Wow. Welcome back. I'll bet that guy throws a helluva pool party. Just don't ask him about the pickled weiners.