Friday, February 15, 2013

Cabin Fervor

My friend Lindsay is a stalker — of filming locations and homes with a hint of Hollywood history. (You can check out her IAMNOTASTALKER website here.) When I learned that police were offering a $1 million reward for information leading to the capture of Christopher Dorner, the former Los Angeles cop accused of killing three people in Southern California earlier this month, I suggested to Lindsay that she put her stalking skills to use. Find Dorner. Collect the cash. Splurge on a trip. Visit me on the East Coast. Frolic in the 35 inches of snow (thirty-five!) dumped on my town last weekend.

No such luck.

Lindsay failed to find the fugitive and claim the cash, though she did manage to hunt down, with SWAT team efficiency, a Dorner-related typo, which she e-mailed to me a couple of days ago. I suppose that’s the next best thing.

Dorner was on the run for more than a week after murdering the daughter of a retired L.A. police captain and her fiancé. What a wild week it was. Lengthy, angry manifestos threatening “unconventional and asymmetrical warfare.” Stolen vehicles. High-speed chases. Shots mistakenly fired at innocent citizens. Burned-out pickups. Snowy searches. Attempted murders. Murders. The manhunt had more over-the-top action, sadly, than a big-budget Hollywood movie. It climaxed in a deadly shootout at a mountain cabin 80 miles east of Los Angeles. The cabin went up in flames, much like the headline Lindsay spotted.


Her e-mail, which included the image above and a link to the original Huffington Post page, contained all of one word: Huh?

I’ll say!

Have you found the error? (Hint: Look near found.)

Turns out, an extra preposition adorned this Dorner headline. His license was found on his body, or alongside his body, not “on alongside” his body. Take on off, or restrain the nine-letter a-word at large alongside it. Burn one or the other, and place it in a body bag. We’re better off without it.

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