Hoaxy Halloween: Balloon Boy yard display is a hit
Wilmette man: 'I've heard that some people think I'm nuts'
Balloon Boy has landed in Wilmette. Along with Sarah Palin, President Obama, David Letterman, Bernie Madoff and a host of other familiar characters.
They're all a part of Mark Weyermuller's annual Halloween display on his front lawn -- an elaborate, crazy, creepy collection put together by Weyermuller, his wife, Jamie, and their three sons: Karch, Trent and Drake.
(Richard Roeper/For the Sun-Time
The tribute to Balloon Boy -- or as I sometimes call him, Hide in the Attic Boy -- even has some "vomit," in recognition of the lad's hurls on national morning TV.
No doubt children from all over the neighborhood will one day treasure the memories of trick-or-treating at the house with the display of the temporarily famous kid with throw-up at his feet.
Weyermuller's main theme this year is health care reform. There's a display of a crazy-ass doctor offering "Free Flu Shots," a green-faced Frankenstein with a sign noting his "pre-existing condition," and a Hillary Clinton figure reminding us of her "Hillarycare" health plan from back in the day.
This is the 10th year for Weyermuller's elaborate Halloween displays.
"I've gotten positive feedback from neighbors and passersby," notes Weyermuller, 49, who has a real estate business in Chicago.
"All the kids love it. I've heard that some people think I'm nuts, but I cannot confirm that . . .
"My polling numbers indicate that Balloon Boy's approval rating far exceeds that of the members of Congress on my lawn."
All righty then.
Now that I see that makeshift balloon display on Weyermuller's lawn, I'm thinking probably more than a few individuals will costume themselves as the flying device this weekend.
And by the way: For those of us who are still a little reluctant to embrace Halloween as an entire season, at least Oct. 31 falls on a Saturday this year, meaning there will be only two or three days' worth of big-time Halloween celebrations, right? If Halloween falls in the middle of the week, some people milk the "holiday" for two weekends and the day itself.
I'm thinking pro sports teams are going to start putting in no-Twitter clauses in contracts.
Come to think of it, a number of celebs should probably put themselves on a one-day Twitter delay, so they can take a deep breath and consider what they're saying before they Tweet to the world.
Count Kansas City Chiefs running back Larry Johnson as the latest to get into trouble in part because of an ill-advised Twitter statement. Johnson used an anti-gay slur during an exchange with one of his Twitter followers, and he used the slur again when blowing off reporters. Johnson issued the obligatory apology and is facing disciplinary action from his team.
Just a sampling of other Twitter-created controversies involving athletes:
Robert Henson of the Washington Redskins called fans "dimwits."
Former Milwaukee Bucks forwardCharlie Villanueva got into hot water for Twittering from the locker room at halftime of a game.
Jets receiver David Clowney was benched after he complained about his lack of playing time.
Terrell Owens called NBC's Rodney Harrison "a loser and a cheater."
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban had to pay a $25,000 fine for Twittering a complaint about a referee's call.
We've also seen celebrity feuds (Demi Moore vs. Perez Hilton, Ryan Seacrest vs. Spencer Pratt, Chris Brown vs. Wendy Williams) play out on Twitter. Now some celebrities, including Miley Cyrus, are taking a break from sending out 140-character updates to their followers.
In my own small corner of the world, I'm still Twittering, e.g., "Kate Gosselin wants to do voicework for animated films. Is anyone doing a movie called 'Delusional Narcissist?' " and, "Who knew the Bears had another bye week?" and, "Rush Limbaugh says he loves the NFL. In fact, some of his best friends are NFLers."
It's a nice little outlet between columns and blog posts. If you join up and start following me, I promise I won't get into a feud with you or call you an a------. I saved that one for Balloon Boy's dad.