"Fried Fridays: Straight from The Wizard of Oz"

As a kid I have a semi-scary memory of seeing those evil flying monkeys take off in the Wizard of Oz, knowing full well it was make-believe. The Oz apparition was pretty intimidating, too; but there was plenty of magic in that classic movie, and for today's "fried" winner I'm reminded of one of the musical numbers...

Good ol' Scarecrow...that bundle of dried agricultural fodder would sing his (appropriate) famous line, "If I only had a brain!..."

Oh, dear Toto, we're NOT in Kansas for this story...grab your doggie sweater...

DATELINE: ANCHORAGE, ALASKA

How does that expression go...."If at first you don't succeed, try again"? Maybe there should be a corollary taught alongside it..."If at first you don't succeed, maybe the Universe is trying to tell you something."

It's also been said that what's important about life is not how one handles success, but how one handles failures and set-backs. We hopefully learn from our mistakes. Hopefully. Hope fully.

I'm not so sure Jarrell Paul Arnold did. Learn. It was back in 2004 he was sentenced to 57 months in jail for bank robbery, though I have no more details other than that.

He apparently was out of jail for not too long of a period before he decided to return to his miscreant well and try it again. Bank robbery.

His target: a local Alaska USA Federal Credit Union branch. I have no doubt he carefully considered bank options, and opted for this one for one very good reason: he knew it well.

He banked there.

(have at it cricket chirps...)

Note to self: Don't rob a bank where you have an account.

Second note to self: before you hand the teller a robbery note, don't have her first check your account balance, with which you authorize by showing her your ID card.

I'm not so sure I could have made this up myself even on my most creative periods...

(crickets apparently laughing too hard to chirp...)

Hard to believe this mental midget went in undisguised, had the teller check his account balance, shower her is ID, and then slipped her a note demanding the cash in her drawer, noting he had a gun with him.

Too bad he didn't have his brain with him.

Suffice it to say he's in the federal pokey, again. Welcome home, Mr. Arnold.

A word of advice: don't bother clicking your heels together...