Heh, you know, when I run into signs like this, I'm usually happy enough with taking a picture of it and e-mailing it in to the Park Service. Apparently, these guys aren't in with the latest "technology."
Two self-described “grammar vigilantes” were sentenced to one year of probation and have been banned from all National Parks after they were caught “correcting” a a historical sign at the Desert View Watchtower on the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park.
Jeff Michael Deck, 28, of Massachusetts and Benjamin Douglas Herson, 28, of Virginia, pled guilty to conspiracy to vandalize government property.
The men were on a tour of the United States from March to May 2008 with a purpose to stamp out typos in public signage and other venues, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona.
One: I'm delighted to see someone finally use the correct form of "pled," instead of the usual "pleaded" nonsense.
Two: I do have to hand it to them, that's a pretty awesome "tour" they had planned.
Well, except for the whole "breaking the law" thing, that is. ;)Further tomfoolery?
A rare hand painted sign hangs in the Watchtower and is considered irreplaceable, the release said.
The pair came across the sign and found “a few errors,” they wrote on a Web site, which is how authorities learned about the vandalism.
Ah, The Internet!™
The duo's website appears to be here, with the blasé "Apology coming soon" apology for now. Google cache gives us only a peek; I'm sure more will be revealed in time.
Update: A day in the life of your typical Grammar Nazi.
It's exactly as I imagined it would be!
VICTORY!!!!
This contains information about the criminal act in question, though the photographs are "mysteriously" (i.e., "Lawyerly") missing:
We drove out of town for a field trip to the Grand Canyon, which is about an hour and a half from Flagstaff. As promised, I will not make you suffer through any sort of pap in this entry; I won’t bother to try to describe the majesty of the landscape, etc. If you haven’t been to the Grand Canyon, nothing that I put down in my special brand of purple prose will have the power to transport you there. Just check it out the next time you’re out west. There’re plenty of photos in today’s album on Picasa.
A faux Native American watchtower is part of the tourist structure at the Desert View lookout. Benjamin and I climbed it and discovered a hand-rendered sign inside that, I regret to report, had a few errors. I know today was supposed to be my day off from typo-hunting, but if I may be permitted to quote that most revered of android law enforcers, Inspector Gadget: “Always on duty!” Just can’t shut it off.
Notice the nice, elitist "faux" Native American watchtower jab?
Yeah... Karma sure does stink, don't it?
Saved, archived, and filed away. Under "D'oh."
Update: BEHOLD the power of "Teh Goog"—with its dastardly PicasaWeb.
Sure enough:
Gee, there seems to be one day missing here... ;)
Comments:
#2 Cletus 23-Aug-2008
Jeff Deck is a retard
She looked uncomfortable. “I don’t know, maybe I could do it later. I don’t have the chalk, though…”
“I actually do,” I said, “here, just give me a minute.” I produced a piece of green chalk for her. “Here, see, it’s green to match the letters. All you’d have to do is change that a to an i.”
The woman hesitated, then accepted the piece of chalk. She didn’t make a move to fix the typo, though, and I knew that both my chalk and the chance to see even one typo on the error-riddled board corrected were gone for good. "[/em]
hahahahahahaa... I love this man.