Do we need a dog food named after beloved family pet that gets rabies and is utimately killed by a shotgun blast from his crying boy owner? What genius over at Disney Consumer Products came up with this one? Surely other Disney dogs would have been a more appropriate branding choice for this product...Pluto? Lady & the Tramp? 101 Dalmatians?

So Barack conceded his loss in Pennsylvania in a televised speech last night, and the most compelling thing about it were the three toolish men wearing Abercrombie & Fitch t-shirts who stood awkwardly and disinterestedly behind the candidate. While Keith Olbermann commented that it was probably product placement, it was more like an not-so-subtle appeal to the gay boy electorate. The funniest thing about the placement, however, was that the boys ended up distracting from Obama’s speech by answering cell phone calls, chatting amongst themselves and looking off all glassy eyed while he spoke. High-lar-i-ous.

Two more registration-evading scofflaws: a Chevy Suburban leaving my workplace garage with no plates (!) and a Ford Taurus from Ann Arbor, Michigan whose clever driver has removed the year sticker and just left the month of February on the plate, labeled 9CKN03.

Hey Rick, what is that thing wrapped in the sheet and tied ever so nicely with a bow up there in that picture above? Well, if you must know it is Martha Stewart's dog Paw Paw, which passed away last weekend. Um, I've put a beloved pet down, so I know what a tough thing it is, but wrapping it in one of your 800-thread-count sheets and tying the bundle with a matching silk ribbon? Really? And in the photo below, Martha has placed the dying dog on her marble kitchen counter. Seriously, this is a little creepy.

The Kids in the Hall was one of my favorite shows in the 90s - the sly, offbeat humor was right up my alley. Once I watched a skit (Heccubus and Evil, I believe) while recovering from a hernia operation and I nearly burst my stitches from laughing. All of the original cast members are reuniting and going out on tour this year with new material - see their tour planning efforts in the video above. Wouldn't you know it - we're going to be out of town the night they appear in Los Angeles. Dangit! Well, I've seen them live several times (and I've even eaten lunch with Scott Thompson in a Disney Studio conference room - I'm sure he remembers it) so I can't complain too much about missing them this time around. But all new material? Arrrggh! Here's a favorite skit from the old TV show:

OMG I'm loving the "Funplex" track from the new B-52s album of the same name...can't stop playing it!! So what if they're pushing 50 - they sound great!! Can't wait to see them on the True Colors tour.

In my continuing series of food postings, I present the Mash Cone from British food company Aunt Bessies. This new treat consists of sausage, mashed potatoes, gravy and peas served up in an ice cream cone. Even though there have been lots of "eeeew!" squeals on the Internets, it actually looks kinda good to me.

An article by Ryan J. Davis on The Huffington Post today says that marriage for gays and lesbians is just around the corner for us Californians: "Sources wishing to remain anonymous in the California Court System indicate that the court, which has until June 2, 2008 to issue it's marriage ruling, is considering issuing it on Friday, May 23, 2008, with the decision being written by Chief Justice Ronald George. The Court is readying itself for a backlash that may follow the rumored and bold decision. There is talk that the Court will not simply strike down Proposition 22, but will move the State of California toward full marriage, if not even granting full marriage rights for gays and lesbians outright. Obviously aware of what's coming, Gov. Schwarzenegger came out swinging against the FRC's proposed amendment, "I will always be there to fight against that," he said to huge applause this weekend at a Log Cabin Republican Convention in San Diego. He went so far as to call the initiative a "waste of time" and acknowledge that the people of California are, "much further along on that issue." The latest Field Poll shows only 51% of Californians oppose full gay marriage, an 11 point drop since 2000. There seems little doubt that California is moving toward full gay marriage equality." This state should have been the first...

Spotted on the 110 Freeway: another California-registration-evading scofflaw. Idaho 8B X9253.

Spent the afternoon reorganizing the armoire in the guest bedroom that we use to store office supplies and paper for the printer. Doesn't that look tidy? I didn't think to take a "before" shot of the chaos that preceded the reorganization.

Man, I love YouTube. I have been trying to find a copy of "The TV Wheel," and behold, there it is on the Internets! "The TV Wheel" was an experimental sketch comedy show created by Mystery Science Theater 3000's Joel Hodgson. A single stationary camera was mounted inside the center of a large rotating platform, and as the platform rotated around the camera, a scene would come into view. The wheel would stop and a sketch would play out. Interesting concept, and it could have worked well given a little more development time. HBO ordered a pilot, but ultimately passed on picking up the program as a series. The pilot aired only once on Comedy Central as a special presentation in 1995, and this is where I join the story - I saw that airing while in a New York hotel room, and I laughed so hard at the sketch with the psychotc monkey Pumpernickel that I literally fell off the bed. And now here he is, in all his glory. "He's a corker!"

Pics of spring blossoms in the front yard this afternoon.

I have been trying to avoid reality shows as much as possible, but this one may make me break my embargo: Bravo's new "Step It Up and Dance." In what looks to be a cross between "Showgirls" and "A Chorus Line," the original Nomi Malone, Elizabeth Berkley, returns to the small screen serving as co-host and judge of this reality-dance competition. Woo! I hope she gets up and shows them how to pop it. Choreaographer and co-host Jerry Mitchell says that after seeing her for the first time, it took the contestants about seven seconds to do Nomi's move of flicking her fingers in front of ther face.

OMG I'm in love with the fantastic work of photographer Brian Finke! Given my obsession with commercial avaition vis a vis disaster movies, his studies of flight attendants especially thrill me. He's also done terrific work by following football players from high schools and colleges around the country. Check out his web site, it's great. www.BrianFinke.com

I might as well dub this a weird food blog, because I cannot placate my fascination with odd distortions in the American diet. From Jelly Belly comes Bean Boozled, an edible version of Russian Roulette. The box contains 10 different colored jelly beans with 20 different flavors. The flavor could be a tasty one like buttered popcorn, plum or pear. On the other hand, the flavor could be categorized as "not so great": vomit, skunk spray, pencil shavings and baby wipes. I wonder how long it took them to get the "boogers" flavor right. Here is a chart of the decoded flavors, should you wish to play along at home:

• Black: Licorice or Skunk Spray
• Yellow with Brown Spots: Top Banana or Pencil Shavings
• White with Yellow Spots: Buttered Popcorn or Rotten Egg
• Blue: Berry Blue or Toothpaste
• White/Light Beige: Cafe Latte or Ear Wax
• Orange with Red Spots: Peach or Vomit
• Green with Green Spots: Juicy Pear and Boogers
• Light Yellow with Brown Spots: Caramel Corn or Moldy Cheese
• White: Coconut or Baby Wipes
• Blue with White Spots: Plum or Black Pepper

While I am loathe to admit that I have given money to the narrow-minded, bigoted and recently-deceased Carl Kartcher, we stopped at a Carl's Jr. after dinner last night for a dessert treat - a Cap'n Crunch milkshake. Oh sure, some may scoff that it's just a vanilla shake with a hearty helping of cereal mixed in, but if you even remotely loved the taste of Cap'n Crunch as a kid, this is a big plastic cup full of joy. Sure, it's got enough fat and calories to kill you, but aren't most fun things in life a little dangerous? I see that there has been some grousing on the Internets about it being too thick to drink, but the Shakeologist in Hastings Ranch prepared ours just right - smooth, with recognizable bits of the super-sweet cereal still crunchily intact. Must. Never. Eat. It. Again. Truly addictive.

One of my pet peeves: automobile owners who live in my town, yet drive around with out-of-state (and often expired) license plates. Nothing steams me more! We pay astronomical car registration fees in California, part of which go to maintain the vast amount of roadways in the state, many of which are badly in need of repair. According to California statute, these scofflaws are supposed to register for new license plates within two weeks of deciding to live in the state. We had one neighbor in Silver Lake who maintained a Nevada plate on his truck for over ten years - a state with unbelievably low auto registration fees. I have seen a woman park in my workplace garage every day for the past five years with expired North Carolina plates! As a public service, I hereby post noted lawbreakers on the Internets:

The old dude driving this truck has plates from Connecticut that expired three years ago.

This one from Texas has had the month and date stickers completely removed.

And this kid is driving a car registered in Guam. That's right, I said Guam!