UK's Foot-Puncturing Maniac

Sick sad world. Just sat down at my desk, Starbucks in hand, feeling good and radiating cheerfulness about mankind on this shiny happy sunny day. And then I find this crazy story from the Lexington Herald-Leader being retweeted by our friend Peter at The Kaintuckeean. Apparently a man is going around the University of Kentucky's W.T. Young Library puncturing people's feet for reasons I can't even begin to speculate on.

"At about 6:15 p.m., a man crawled under a study desk and used an object to puncture someone's foot, police said. The man was described as white, between 5 feet, eight inches and 6 feet tall, with short hair, possibly a buzz cut. He wore a hat and bright orange shorts or shoes. He was last seen walking toward the vending machines in the basement of the library.

UK police later learned of a second, similar assault; this led police to seek the public's help in locating possible suspects. The second incident took place on the same day, at the same location."

Having been a UK student myself, and having worked for years at their radio station WRFL-FM as music director and late-night jazz DJ, I can tell you that there are way too many weirdos and psychos wandering around campus; people who are not students and have no business being there. I remember once having to run over to WRFL in the middle of the night to defuse a scene with a drunken Henry Earl pounding on the radio station door incessantly with all his might, and angrily ranting like a madman. The DJ doing the overnight shift was the only person in the station and she was terrified, not knowing that Henry was (mostly) harmless. When I got there and inquired what the hell he was doing, his response was "I need a cigarette."

Short of turning UK's campus into a total police state, though, I'm not sure how one goes about keeping the crazies out.

Henry Earl's 1000th Arrest

Lexington's Henry Earl is in the news again - the man famous for his lengthy arrest record is now celebrating his 1000th arrest. The Associated Press covered the story on their YouTube channel and even gave Unusual Kentucky a brief mention. View it here.

Henry Earl Goes to Rehab?

Here's an update for those of you still following Henry Earl's exploits after Jimmy Kimmel and the Internet made him, in the words of the Lexington Herald-Leader's Brandon Ortiz, "the most famous homeless man in America".

On Thursday, October 16, Henry had his umpteenth court hearing for a public drunkenness charge, but this time things went a little differently. Henry, who last held a job in 1969, has a pro bono lawyer now named Stephen Gray McFayden, who reportedly is trying to get Henry into rehab at The Hope Center in Lexington.

Read the full story here.

Henry Earl

For years I knew this man simply as "James Brown," because that's what he usually prefers to be called. He led a very marginal existence, sometimes homeless, always begging for cash on the streets of Lexington, and often engaging in confrontationally surreal conversations with passersby. For years "James" was a figure alternately feared and beloved by locals for his antics.

Imagine my surprise, then, when he suddenly became world famous, thanks to attention given him on television by late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel and a plethora of websites canonizing him for his mile-long arrest record and unorthodox mugshots.

It's a peculiar defensive trait we Kentuckians have: now that every net-geek and frat boy on the planet was yukkin' it up about "that funny homeless guy from Kentucky", most of us suddenly felt a bit offended. "You can't make fun of Henry! He's our crazy street person!"

Though I was initially angry that this man was being held up to worldwide ridicule (mostly without his knowledge) simply for comedy's sake on a TV program, I lightened up when I saw the effect Henry's newfound fame was having: people were suddenly showering him with money, food and gifts, and his sudden popularity with local college students softened any rough edges of his personality. I guess like they say, there's no such thing as bad publicity.

I haven't seen him in a couple years and I don't know what he's up to now, but I'm glad Henry got more than his fifteen minutes of fame. He deserves more, though, and under better circumstances.