Mitchell McKenna - tagged with rain http://mitchmckenna.com/feed en-us http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss LifePress mitchellmckenna@gmail.com Phoenix Jones and the Rain City Superhero Movement. http://mitchmckenna.com/post/8915/phoenix-jones-and-the-rain-city-superhero-movement

UPDATE-The other man then pulled out a gun, forcing Jones to release the man he was holding. That man then kicked him in the face and broke his nose.

LYNNWOOD, Wash. -- A local man said he came within seconds of having his car broken into, and perhaps stolen, until a real-life "superhero" came to his aid, wearing tights, a mask and a skin-tight super suit. The encounter started in Lynnwood Sunday evening when a man, who asked to be identified only as Dan, was walking back to his car in a parking lot when he saw a man with a metal strip trying to pry open his car. "He started sticking it down between the window and the rubber strip," said Dan.Dan began to call 911, but said help arrived before he even finished dialing."From the right, this guy comes dashing in, wearing this skin-tight rubber, black and gold suit, and starts chasing him away," said Dan.What Dan didn't know is that just about every night, an anonymous Seattle man strolls into a comic store, enters a hidden back room and emerges transformed.KIRO 7 Eyewitness News reporter Monique Ming Laven met him"My name is Phoenix Jones," said the man.The man is the hero Dan's been trying to tell his friends about."People are saying, 'No way, dude, you were probably drunk,'" said Dan.But the superhero sounded familiar to Ming Laven. She had heard about how he and the other eight members of his Rain City Superhero crime fighting movement walk the street, eyes out for crime and prepared to fight it.On Monday night, the fully-clad superhero and Dan met."That's crazy. Nice to meet you, brother. Nice to meet you. That's insane," said Dan, who finally got a close-up look at his savior."Phoenix" explained his whole super suit, including bullet-proof vest and stab plates, to Dan."That's a Taser night stick. And I have Mace slash tear gas over here," said Phoenix.Then it was time for Phoenix to get back out on the streets,maybe not quite a super man, but an extraordinary one."So when I walk into a neighborhood, criminals leave because they see the suit," said Phoenix. "I symbolize that the average person doesn't have to walk around and see bad things and do nothing."Phoenix said since he started his crime-fighting crusade nine months ago, he's been stabbed, and had a gun pulled on him a few times, but received no serious injuries.Unfortunately, he didn't catch up with the man who was breaking into Dan's car

update Phoenix Jones, who dons a mask and costumed body armour to thwart criminals and keep his US city safe, has suffered a broken nose while trying to break up a fight. Speaking to a television station, Jones explained how after witnessing the scuffle he called police and put one of the men in a headlock. The other man then pulled out a gun, forcing Jones to release the man he was holding. That man then kicked him in the face and broke his nose. But Jones remains undeterred, saying his injury is part of a superhero's job. "I endanger my life with a reason and purpose," he said. Jones has been dubbed a real-life Kick-Ass by some, with his life as a masked vigilante mirroring that of the hit 2010 movie. His adventures on the streets of Seattle have seen him stop a car theft and gain international fame as a costumed crusader. But Seattle Police have urged the wannabe superhero to hang up his tights before he gets seriously hurt. Speaking of vigilantes like Jones, Detective Mark Jamieson said: "They insert themselves into a potentially volatile situation and they end up being victimised as well." The detective urged people not to involve themselves in dangerous situations unnecessarily and said they should report any crimes to police.

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Sat, 15 Jan 2011 00:09:00 -0500 http://mitchmckenna.com/post/8915/phoenix-jones-and-the-rain-city-superhero-movement/phoenix-jones-and-the-rain-city-superhero-movement
Kim Peek, The Original "Rain Man" Dies at 58 http://mitchmckenna.com/post/5620/kim-peek-the-real-rain-man-15

The man who inspired the movie, Rain Man, Kim Peek died at age 58 of a heart attack. Born in 1951 in Salt Lake city, Mr Peek was diagnosed as severely mentally retarded and his parents were advised to place him in an institution and forget about him. Thirty years later, he was classified as a "mega-savant," a genius in about 15 different subjects, from history and literature and geography to numbers, sports, music and dates.

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Tue, 22 Dec 2009 21:52:00 -0500 http://mitchmckenna.com/post/5620/kim-peek-the-real-rain-man-15/kim-peek-the-real-rain-man-15
Train vs. Tornado - Spectacular! http://mitchmckenna.com/post/3266/train-vs-tornado-spectacular 100's of tons of steel vs. one of nature's fiercest phenomenons. Once the rain starts coming down, there's no turning back. Shameless promotion: Check out CATCH IT KEEP IT, the TV show I host on Science Channel: http://sciencechannel.com/catchitkeepit Add me on twitter: http://twitter.com/msenese Here's my website: http://mikesenese.com More info about this tornado: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/lot/?n=20080107tor PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO/ROMEOVILLE… ]]> Mon, 06 Jul 2009 03:31:00 -0400 http://mitchmckenna.com/post/3266/train-vs-tornado-spectacular/train-vs-tornado-spectacular