A new cartoon season is upon us and I am not happy with this new crop on the Kids WB at all. 'Tom and Jerry' is back for some reason and there is a new 'Shaggy & Scooby Get a Clue' that has potential but is still pretty lame. 'Johnny Test' still has not hooked me and 'The Loonatics' is still boring. Pokemon is gone this week and Coconut Fred (I've blogged about him before) has disappeared from the face of the earth. There is 'Krypto the SuperDog' who is supposedly a dog from Krypton who lives with a regular American kid but still communicates with Superman. Krypto's ship from Krypton was his dog house and when he transforms from Krypto the regular talking dog to Krypto the Superdog he runs in a tight circle and suddenly he has a red cape and a logo on his chest (I guess it's in his fur? Maybe it's a giant collar tag?)

 

The reason I had to blog about cartoons today however, is the show 'Monster Allergy.' The plot is: A kid realizes he/she has special powers to see and fight monsters, he/she has a talking animal friend that gives them advice and they sometimes have conflicts with friends and family because of their monster fighting duties. Uh, I believe that show is already called 'The Life and Times of Juniper Lee.' This new show is so similar to the plot of Juniper Lee that I'm shocked it's even on the air. I know it's from a comic book but it's just too similar to the existing Juniper Lee show. (The new "Tom and Jerry" just came on and I can't even stand to watch that lame show. I've turned on some old Fleischer/Famous Studios "Popeye" in protest.) I'm not a huge Juniper Lee fan even though it is well produced and I've enjoyed the episodes I've seen, but I hate to see the same ideas done over and over for no reason. I won't bore you with the list of similarities, but trust me there are many.

 

  versus

 

 

Another thing that pisses me off about cartoons today is the disrespect the networks have for kids. Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon are the exceptions to this generalization, and I think that's why they are successful. The major networks show cartoons at random times or out of story order or they show the same episode week to week or they take a series off the air and never say if it's coming back. I agree that kids have short attention spans but that is ridiculous. Saturday morning cartoons are an American tradition that has been around since the 60's although I agree that it's a dying block of programming now that we have 24 hours of cartoons. You have to really search for info about these shows since the demo is too small to bother writing articles about, so I just have to wait and see what shows are still on each week. No wonder kids are abandoning the major networks.    

 

Besides, some of the best stuff is on cable since they don't have to jump through the same FCC hoops that the majors do. Shows like 'Danny Phantom', 'Avatar: The Last Airbender', 'The X's', and of course the irrepressible 'SpongeBob SquarePants' make Nick a consistent pleasure.

 

 

And Cartoon Network has my favorite daytime shows like 'Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends' and 'Teen Titans', as well as the amazing Adult Swim block at night. If you haven't seen 'The Venture Brothers' or 'Tom Goes to the Mayor' then you are truly missing out.

 

 

 

I'll stop bitching now since a new episode of 'The Batman' is on and I'm missing the Clayface vs. Clayface fight. I guess its ok because they'll probably just show it again next week.

So I have some friends and I think they may be insane. It's not the French and the jaunty photolog, it's the paranoia and the repressed anger. Babette and I have been friends for years and Pierre knows this, but he acts like we have never vacationed together. Maybe I am the only one that remembers that night in the hot tub under the stars, when Morgan and I demonstrated the fine art of… well if you don't want to admit it happened why should I go there. I know Tommy remembers that night, it was right before our gig in Biloxi.

 

I certainly miss my friends, especially the talented Rob, whose art has always filled me with pride and joy. And the beautiful Tommy who always had the best ideas and the energy I could barley keep up with. And I guess I'll never know what happened to the mysterious Mary, probably the most complex creative minds I've had the pleasure to work with – that book helped me pay for my Masters! And James is my soul mate. My more recent pals include the powerhouse that is Jill, even though I haven't seen her for several months, and the stunning Danu the star of stage and screen. I can't even take the time to go thru the rest of the fantastic folks I'm lucky enough to know now – but they are truly special.

 

Please don't think this makes them any less crazy. I really wonder if Pierre has a good grip on reality. Now that Babette and I have re-connected, it's inevitable that he will see our posts and realize that I have NOT blocked out the past like he apparently has. This makes me sad. James and I are really worried and we need to have some wine and talk it out. Can I just say that Carmen Miranda is a very interesting character? No? Ah, well.    

I have some stupid but kinda funny SOAP sequel ideas to share with you tonight. For those of you who don't know anything about Snakes on a Plane, I have nothing but pity for you and a hope that you will try reading more about American culture in the future. I stole these from some lame site but they made me laugh, so I thought I'd share.

and this is one of my favorites:

Well folks, it's that time of the year again. It's time to vote for your favorite couple that entered the the Duck Tape 2006 Stuck at Prom Contest.

I personally love this event. Some of these outfits are amazing both in creativity and craftmanship.

Here are a few of my favorites:

this has been done to death, but they get an Honorable Mention because of the car done up in Duck Tape to match their outfits.

 

and this one is actually the one that I wish I had worn. I think they did a great job executing the idea and these dresses are original and the theme is clear. Plus, they look really happy and their purses match.

 I love Puerto Rico. It's a beautiful island full of passionate, laughing, proud people. People of mixed races that are clear in their identity. The culture in Puerto Rico is more of a melting pot than the US claims to be. The States are more of a racial stew. We are all cooking in the same pot, but the potato does not want to be a carrot and the celery hates the beef. Together, and served as a unit, but not homogenus in any way. I'm not saying that this is always a bad thing. The fact that different peoples can live here and maintain their cultures, that we don't have to kill each other and that we can live side by side  should be an example for all the world. But we are not really a melting pot.

For those of you that don't know I am an American Mutt. My Grandfather on my father's side is an orphan Black Irish (he was adopted by a French Canadian family, hence the froggy last name)and his wife was from English stock. They had 3 kids. My Great Grandmother on my mom's side was a full-blood Native American who left the Reservation to be a US citizen. She had like 14 kids who married other Natives and runaway slaves. My mom has dark chocolate skin but native features and straight hair. (courtesy of some cosmetic assistance. Shush Ashley!) My dad is a pear-shaped cracker nerd that I don't speak to. As a result, I have a very blended American look that is hard to identify.

I've also had the pleasure of living all over the country. Michigan, California, Connecticut, Arizona and finally Texas. When I was in Cali, I was either Samoan or Hawaiian or some islander. In Connecticut (especially in Greenwich close to NY) I was Puerto Rican. Arizona made me a Mojave or Navaho or Pima. And my precious home Texas makes me a Mexican or Central American. But I feel kinda at home in Chicago lots of mixed people there. Or Puerto Rico where all of my ancestors are actually living in harmony. (displaced Africans, Irish, and the Natives from that area) I don't think you white people can understand this. You look around in most places and everyone looks like you. You share common experiences and you recognize yourself in others. But what if that had never happened to you? What if you were purple in a world of green and orange people? And the few blue people didn't like you because you were too red and the red people thought you acted like you were blue.

When I went out to dinner one time with my light-skinned little sister, my honky papa, my ebony queen mama and my 6'4 black half-brother, the hostess couldn't believe we were all together. This was maybe 1982. They kept asking if we REALLY wanted to sit together. How many times can you hear that in your life without getting offended? I know people are just ignorant hicks, but sometimes that shit hurts my feelings. When I'm in places like Chicago or Puerto Rico I don't have to have these feelings. I look like I belong and even when I end up speaking a half-Spanish,the Puerto Rican people have been welcoming and forgiving of my shortcomings.

Puerto Rico is a Commonwealth with autonomy kinda like a State. They don't vote in the Electoral College and they have no voting reps in the Congress. So they can't vote for President, but they can lobby and attend conventions. Puerto Ricans don't pay income tax, they do pay payroll and social security tax, but they can't claim many benefits, like SSI, full Medicaid or Medicare. Did you know they intentionally sterilized thousands of women, (almost 35f the population!) sometimes totally without their knowledge, in the late 60's? PR has it's own Miss World and Miss Universe contestants,as well as it's own Olympic team, which beat the US basketball team in 2004. Over 80f the population consider themselves White according to the 2000 Census. They have 1.1 million land-line phones in use, mainland US has 268 million (2003 stat). Did you know that just this May the government ran out of moneyand all of the 1,536 schools and 43 government agencies had to close? Approximately 2.7 million Puerto Ricans reside on the US mainland today. check out this film.

 

I had total faith in Lance and it is so nice to hear that the French have been called out as the sore losers they are. They just cant take the fact that a Texas boy came and kicked their collective ass. Im still gonna watch the Tour de France, but screw the French.

 

Im excited about the Tour this year, since there are a few great riders that had a slight chance against Lance, but I always hoped he would beat them. Now I have to pick some new riders to cheer on. Ivan Basso and Stuart O'Grady from Team CSC, Jan Ullrich from the T-Mobile Team, George Hincapie from the Discovery Channel Team, and my current favorite Floyd Landis from Phonak are the obvious front runners.

 

I was able to get updates online every few seconds during the 2005 Tour, but I dont know if Ill follow that closely this time. I find the time trials pretty exciting, and the first few major climbs always shake the numbers up so theyre fun. Last year I posted daily stats for the top 30 riders right outside my office for everyone to share. Without Lance, I doubt Ill go that far, but I am still really into this race. Its like watching the Superbowl even when you havent watched every game of the season still understandably exciting.

These are some sections from the New York Times:

PARIS, May 31 A Dutch investigator appointed by the International Cycling Union said today that Lance Armstrong had been improperly tied to doping through testing of urine samples dating from the 1999 Tour de France, the first of seven he won consecutively.

The investigator, Emile Vrijman, who headed the Dutch anti-doping agency for 10 years, said his report "exonerates Lance Armstrong completely" in the 1999 race. No other Tours were involved in his investigation.

"The report confirms my innocence," Armstrong said in a statement today that attacked Dick Pound, the president of the World Anti-Doping Agency, which is generally known as WADA, and a French laboratory and officials who were also criticized by Vrijman.

The report, Armstrong said, "finds that Mr. Pound along with the French lab and the French ministry have ignored the rules and broken the law. They have also refused to cooperate with the investigation" a charge confirmed by Vrijman "in an effort to conceal the full scope of their wrongdoing.

"I have now retired," Armstrong continued, "but for the sake of all athletes still competing who deserve a level playing field and a fair system of drug testing, the time has come to take action against these kinds of attacks before they destroy the credibility of WADA and, in turn, the international anti-doping system."

One of my favorite blogs is written by Brad Listi,

Attention. Deficit. Disorder.

Today he posted an article by Doug McIntyre (Host, McIntyre in the Morning Talk Radio 790 KABC) which was so well done I just had to repost it here.  

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

AN APOLOGY FROM A BUSH VOTER

By Doug McIntyre

There's nothing harder in public life than admitting you're wrong. By the way, admitting you're wrong can be even tougher in private life. If you don't believe me, just ask Bill Clinton or Charlie Sheen. But when you go out on the limb in public, it's out there where everyone can see it, or in my case, hear it.

So, I'm saying today, I was wrong to have voted for George W. Bush. In historic terms, I believe George W. Bush is the worst two-term President in the history of the country. Worse than Grant. I also believe a case can be made that he's the worst President, period.

In 2000, I was a McCain guy. I wasn't sure about the Texas Governor. He had name recognition and a lot of money behind him, but other than that? What? Still, I was sick of all the Clinton shenanigans and the thought of President Gore was unthinkable. So, GWB became my guy.

For the first few months he was just flubbing along like most new Presidents, no great shakes, but no disasters either. He cut taxes and I like tax cuts.

Then September 11th happened. September 11th changed everything for me, like it did for so many of you. After September 11th, all the intramural idiocy of American politics stopped being funny. We had been attacked by a vicious and determined enemy and it was time for all of us to row in the same direction.

And we did for the blink of an eye. I believed the President when he said we were going to hunt down Bin Laden and all those responsible for the 9-11 murders. I believed President Bush when he said we would go after the terrorists and the nations that harbored them.

I supported the President when he sent our troops into Afghanistan, after all, that's where the Taliban was, that's where al-Qaida trained the killers, that's where Bin Laden was.

And I cheered when we quickly toppled the Taliban government, but winced when we let Bin Laden escape from Tora-Bora.

Then, the talk turned to Iraq and I winced again.

I thought the connection to 9-11 was sketchy at best. But Colin Powell impressed me at the UN, and Tony Blair was in, and after all, he was a Clinton guy, not a Bush guy, so I thought the case had to be strong. I was worried though, because I had read the Wolfowitz paper, The Project for the New American Century. It's been around since '92, and it raised alarm bells because it was based on a theory, Democratizing the Middle East, and I prefer pragmatism over theory. I was worried because Iraq was being justified on a radical new basis, pre-emptive war. Any time we do something without historical precedent I get nervous.

But the President shifted the argument to WMDs and the urgent threat of Iraq getting atomic weapons. The debate turned to Saddam passing nukes on to terror groups. After 9-11, the risk was too great. As the President said, "The next smoking gun might be a mushroom cloud." At least that's what I thought at the time.

I grew up in New York and watched them build the World Trade Center. I worked with a guy, Frank O'Brien, who put the elevators in both towers. I lost a very close friend on September 11th. 103 floor, tower one, Cantor Fitzgerald. Tim Coughlin was his name. If we had to take out Iraq to make sure something like that, or worse, never happened again, so be it. I knew the consequences. We have a soldier in our house. None of this was theoretical in my house.

But in the months and years since Shock and Awe I have been shocked repeatedly by a consistent litany of excuses, alibis, double-talk, inaccuracies, bogus predictions, and flat out lies. I have watched as the President and his administration changed the goals, redefined the reasons for going into Iraq, and fumbled the good will of the world and the focus necessary to catch the real killers of September 11th.

I have watched the President say the commanders on the ground will make the battlefield decisions, and the war won't be run from Washington. Yet, politics has consistently determined what the troops can and can't do on the ground and any commander who did not go along with the administration was sacked, and in some cases, maligned.

I watched and tried to justify the looting in Iraq after the fall of Saddam. I watched and tried to justify the dismantling of the entire Iraqi army. I tried to explain the complexities of building a functional new Iraqi army. I urged patience when no WMDs were found. Then the Vice President told us we were in the waning days of the insurgency. And I started wincing again. The President says we have to stay the course--- but what if it's the wrong course?

It was the wrong course. All of it was wrong. We are not on the road to victory. We're about to slink home with our tail between our legs, leaving civil war in Iraq and a nuclear armed Iran in our wake. Bali was bombed. Madrid was bombed. London was bombed. And Bin Laden is still making tapes. It's unspeakable. The liberal media didnt create this reality, bad policy did.

Most historians believe it takes 30-50 years before we get a reasonably accurate take on a President's place in history. So, maybe 50 years from now Iraq will be a peaceful member of the brotherhood of nations and George W. Bush will be celebrated as a visionary genius.

But we dont live fifty years in the future. We live now. We have to make public policy decisions now. We have to live with the consequences of the votes we cast and the leaders we chose now.

After five years of carefully watching George W. Bush I've reached the conclusion he's either grossly incompetent, or a hand puppet for a gaggle of detached theorists with their own private view of how the world works. Or both.

Presidential failures....James Buchanan, Franklin Pierce, Jimmy Carter, Warren Harding----the competition is fierce for the worst of the worst. Still, the damage this President has done is enormous. It will take decades to undo, and that's assuming we do everything right from now on. His mistakes have global implications, while the other failed Presidents mostly authored domestic embarrassments.

And speaking of domestic embarrassments, let's talk for a minute about President Bush's domestic record. Yes, he cut taxes. But tax cuts combined with reckless spending and borrowing is criminal mismanagement of the public's money. We're drunk at the mall with our great grandchildren's credit cards. Whatever happened to the party of fiscal responsibility?

Bush created a giant new entitlement, the prescription drug plan. He lied to his own party to get it passed. He lied to the country about its true cost. It was written by and for the pharmaceutical industry. It helps nobody except the multinationals that lobbied for it. So much for smaller government. In fact, virtually every tentacle of government has grown exponentially under Bush. Unless, of course, it was an agency to look after the public interest, or environmental protection, and/or workers' rights.

I've talked so often about the border issue, I won't bore you with a rehash. It's enough to say this President has been a catastrophe for the wages of working people; he's debased the work ethic itself. Jobs Americans won't do! He doesn't believe in the sovereign borders of the country he's sworn to protect and defend. And his devotion to cheap labor for his corporate benefactors, along with his worship of multinational trade deals, makes an utter mockery of homeland security in a post 9-11 world. The President's January 7th, 2004 speech on immigration, his first trial balloon on his guest worker scheme, was a deal breaker for me. I couldn't and didn't vote for him in 2004. And I'm glad I didn't.

Katrina, Harriet Myers, The Dubai Port Deal, skyrocketing gas prices, shrinking wages for working people, staggering debt, astronomical foreign debt, outsourcing, open borders, contempt for the opinion of the American people, the war on science, media manipulation, faith based initives, a cavalier attitude toward fundamental freedoms--- this President has run the most arrogant and out-of-touch administration in my lifetime----perhaps, in any American's lifetime.

You can make a case that Abraham Lincoln did what he had to do, the public be damned. If you roll the dice on your gut and you're right, history remembers you well. But, when your gut led you from one business failure to another, when your gut told you to trade Sammy Sosa to the Cubs, and you use the same gut to send our sons and daughters to fight and die in a distraction from the real war on terror, then history will and should be unapologetic in its condemnation.

None of this, by the way, should be interpreted as an endorsement of the opposition party. The Democrats are equally bankrupt. This is the second crime of our age. Again, historically speaking, it's times like these when America needs a vibrant opposition to check the power of a run-amuck majority party. It requires it. It doesn't work without one. Like the high and low tides keep the oceans alive, a healthy, positive opposition offers a path back to the center where all healthy societies live.

Tragically, the Democrats have allowed crackpots, leftists and demagogic cowards to snipe from the sidelines while taking no responsibility for anything. In fairness, I don't believe a Democrat president would have gone into Iraq. Unfortunately, I don't know if President Gore would have gone into Afghanistan. And that's one of the many problems with the Democrats.

The two party system has always been clumsy and imperfect, but it has only collapsed once, in the 1850s, and the result was civil war.

I believe, as I have said countless times, the two party system is on the brink of a second collapse. It's currently running on spin, anger, revenge, and pots and pots and pots of money.

We're being governed by paper-mache patriots; brightly painted red, white and blue, but hollow to the core. Both parties have mastered the cynical arts of media manipulation and fund-raising. They've learned the lessons of Watergate and burn the tapes. They have learned to divide the nation for their own gain. They have demonstrated the willingness to exploit any tragedy for personal advantage. The contempt they have for the American people is without parallel.

This is painful to say, and I'm sure for many of you, painful to read. But it's impossible to heal the country until we're willing to acknowledge the truth, no matter how painful. We have to wean ourselves off sugar coated partisan lies.

With a belated tip of the cap to Ralph Nader, the system is broken, so broken, it's almost inevitable it pukes up the Al Gores and George W. Bushes. Where are the Trumans and the Eisenhowers? Where are the men and women of vision and accomplishment? Why do we have to settle for recycled hacks and malleable ciphers? Greatness is always rare, but is basic competence and simple honesty too much to ask?

It may be decades before we have the full picture of how paranoid and contemptuous this administration has been. And I am open to the possibility that I'm all wet about everything I've just said. But I'm putting it out there, because I have to call it as I see it, and this is how I see it today. I don't say any of this lightly. I've thought about this for months and months. But eventually, the weight of evidence takes on a gravitational force of its own.

I believe that George W. Bush has taken us down a terrible road. I dont believe the Democrats are offering an alternative. That means we're on our own to save this magnificent country. The United States of America is a gift to the world, but it has been badly abused and its rightful owners, We the People, had better step up to the plate and reclaim it before the damage becomes irreparable.

So, accept my apology for allowing partisanship to blind me to an obvious truth; our President is incapable of the tasks he is charged with. I almost feel sorry for him. He is clearly in over his head. Yet, he doesn't generate the sympathy Warren Harding earned. Harding, a spectacular mediocrity, had the self-knowledge to tell any and all he shouldn't be President. George W. Bush continues to act the part, but at this point who's buying the act?

Does this make me a waffler? A flip-flopper? Maybe, although I prefer to call it realism. And, for those of you who never supported Bush, it's also fair to accuse me of kicking Bush while he's down. After all, you were kicking him while he was up.

You were right, I was wrong.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers just came on SNL and I started shrieking like a 60's Beatles fan. I have always loved ,

and I've seen them in person several times, but I don't really listen to them that often anymore. But tonight...Anthony's hair has grown out and Flea looks great. I'm crying and laughing and rocking out. OMG, RHCP is HOT! 

Lately I find myself wallowing in regret. Maybe that's too strong of a term. How about wandering a path of memories of people and situations that may mean more to me now than they did at the time. Some of it is self pity when I think of my failures and all that wasted potential. Some of it is just the sense of loss of those friends and my youth. I know I can't be alone in this.

I find myself thinking back and crying over things from the past some are sad but many of them are happy. The fire of a high school relationship or the comfortable friendships that have faded to nothing. Some old songs just make me cry because of the 50 emotional moments I associate with the person I was at the time the song was popular. And I'm not just talking about reliving glory days, some of these people are still involved in my life, but the relationships have changed so significantly that I sometimes miss what we've lost.

I'm only 33 so I know intellectually that I've got plenty of time to build a life and be happy, but I'm just not where I thought I would be at this point. I don't make the kind of money I thought I would, but I love my co-workers and my boss lets me get away with murder. I'm fat, lazy and no longer cute, but otherwise I'm healthy and I can eat and drink whatever I want, whenever I want. I've lived in the same apartment for 9 years so I've not built up any equity, but it's downtown and only 7 blocks from work and right in the middle of everything Austin (my rent has only gone up $205 in almost 10 years!). I don't see my friends that often anymore, but they are an intelligent group of creative, adventurous, funny, self-confident, politically active humanitarians so I'm 50x blessed to know them. I don't have an entertainment career, but I work on the fringes by staying involved in 6 film/music related festivals, taking a highly active roll that keeps me interacting with all sorts of people and I've done this for the last 12 years. So overall, I guess I'm one of the lucky ones to have these opportunities, but the driving need to connect on a deeper level is universal to all humans.

I'm listening to the Kings X album Gretchen Goes To Nebraska which was released in 1989. You may remember their big hit from this album (Music) Over My Head because they played the video on Mtv all the time. The lead singer is a good-looking Black guy with a Mohawk and they rocked at the time. I remember them because they lived in Houston when I was in 10^th & 11^th grade and my best friend knew them well. I went to a big BBQ party for the release of this album right before I moved to Plano. I had seen them several times in 1988 and early 1989 so this music is particularly poignant to me now. There is nothing to do in North Houston between the ages of 14-18 (I'm sure this is true with any suburb) but a Kings X show was a always a destination. I used to date a guy named Ben (name changed to protect the innocent) at the time and I think he was the first guy that truly loved me. I'd dated lots of people by then but I think Ben and I had a real emotional attachment. After our relationship ended we stayed good friends, he even came to Austin to visit me once I was in College we've been in touch as recently as 2005.

We had those those long conversations about nothing, we touched each other constantly, he wrote music and I have several original pieces her wrote for me and we spent many special nights together. So I find myself sad over the loss of this relationship - is that wrong? We both went our own way, he had a wife and a daughter but now he's on his own again. He stays in Houston to be near his child but I get the feeling he wants to reconnect. Then there is the guy I dated in senior high that actually came all the way to Austin from Seattle recently just to reconnect. He has 2 kids and a failed marriage and he started calling me every week before I shut that down. I really care for him but I don't think old connections are enough of a basis for a new relationship that will last into the future. This also makes me sad. Am I sabotaging myself or just being realistic? I sometimes think I feel less now than I did before. Is that possible? Have I become so apathetic and numb to the world that I have to look to the past to even have an intense emotion at all?! Maybe that's just part of getting older. What do you think?

I keep writing these great blogs full of links

and pictures and deep thoughts,

but when I go to post them,

I choose the first button automatically

since almost everything else in the world

has the affirmative choice first.

I've lost a few blogs that way.

So this is just a listing of some Random Thoughts:

 

1. Although it is clearly a McGriddle, I just love how bold Burger King is with their new French Toast Sandwich. Not that any combination of standard American breakfast items is ever original in any way, but it just makes me smile.

2. They just opened a new upscale Mexican chain resturant in the 2nd Street District called Cantina Laredo. I have no problem with this in general, but it means we lose another 5-6 metered parking places to valet parking. Why are these valet companies allowed to block off public parking that we pay taxes to maintain, so they can make a profit? The bus I take home somtimes picks up at the corner of 3rd and Colorado, and from that corner you can hardly see any free parking. The parking lots charge $5 or are Valet Only, and Trulucks, Ringers/Cuba Libre, Sullivan's and now this new place all use valets. There's also the one in front of Cedar Street so that is a huge area with no free parking!

2a. On my home from work, I took another look at those new Valet Only meters. Some of those meters out there are just valet after 6pm, after shoppers and regular workers have started to head home. The spaces in front of Cantina Laredo are valet from 10:30am - 2am!!! So if you are the new shoe store two doors down or the new scooter store that some of these spaces are right in front of, your customers can only park nearby between 8am-10:30am during the business day?! What the hell is that about? 

3. I'm starting to think the Old Navy commercials are done by the same company as the Target commercials. (I could find out in 3 min, but i'm just sayin') I find both quite interesting with catchy music and bold graphics.

4. Some people just don't understand satire. If you watch adult themed animated shows, you should have heard about the Family Guy vs. South Park debate that was sparked by a recent episode of the latter. I like both shows for different reasons but some of the armchair critics out there take things way too seriously.

The episode in question has the town of South Park freaking out because the tv show Family Guy is gonna air an episode that includes an image of Mohammed and there have been threats of violence by extremists if it airs. The community decides the best way to distance themselves from the "Family Guy viewing audience" is to quite literally bury their heads in thousands of pounds of sand. The episode constantly brings up situations that apply specifically to South Park, but the characters use Family Guy as a kind of foil so they can talk about themselves.

Several people think Matt and Trey are actually talking about Family Guy when they're mocking things that happen to their own show. There are giant debates on message boards over this and I really think it's because these people don't understand satire. These are the same people that think Stephen Colbert is a conservative.   

5. I love the law as a whole but so many of the individual bills are just poorly written and they have so many holes they need new laws in the next session just to fix them. I guess that's totally obvious as a way to justify the existance of a Legislature at all, but I can't believe some of the junk that passes.

I work for the Texas Department Of Insurance and I recently finished a summary of all the Legislative Bills that passed last year and affected Insurance. Some of them made no sense so I had to consult the analysis to even understand what they were trying to do! If you have a lot of spare time and you're just curious about the process, take some time to read the proposed laws. The ones that DON'T pass are even more lame.