Rich Smith (1) (1981–)

Wish there was less talk about their vacation, their nights out drinking and the landmarks they saw (although I probably found it boring because I've seen most of them, and the book was originally published in G.B. - so exciting for Europeans maybe) and more about the actual laws they broke. Additionally, Smith even admits that some of the laws may not actually be "real" - he relies on a published book for the laws rather than the actual legal text. But still, trying to find a kite to fly in Washington DC (and ending up making one from stuff bought at WalMart) because it's illegal to fly anything in the airspace there was pretty funny.… (meer)

During a Christmas holiday with his family, Cornish journalist Rich Smith was playing a trivia game and asked the question “What is illegal for a divorced woman to do in Florida on Sundays?” The answer, to everyone’s astonishment was: parachuting. After that, he wanted to find out what other silly acts were illegal in the US. Once the plan was in mind, he hoodwinked his buddy Bateman into driving him around for the summer and the race was on.

As for the writing and the attitude, it’s a little disjointed. The writing’s fun and quick, but Smith and Bateman are easily discouraged at times. It seems at times just to be a vacation where they drink a lot and just happen to break some laws in the meantime. There’s a sense of laziness that pervades the excursion. For instance, with just a little bit of planning they could have easily notched a few more victories. Also, many of the laws aren’t explained very well. But, if you’ve got a free afternoon, this will pass the time pretty well as a combination travelogue/bar story.

http://lifelongdewey.wordpress.com/2012/12/08/349-you-can-get-arrested-for-that-...… (meer)