If you read my entry on Normal Street, you would’ve gotten some of the first skinny on the situation before today’s story in the Enterprise-Record.
While I would pat myself on the back for this “scoop,” I realize even a wrong clock is right twice a day. Unless it’s digital and then it’s something else.
Month: October 2007
Something’s not “Normal” around here …
Pop quiz, hot shot. Without looking on a map, what’s the name of the missing road in this sequence:
Broadway Street, Salem Street, ????, Chestnut Street.
If you get your geography lessons from taverns and bars, you’d identify it as Normal Street. However, the road’s correct name is Normal Avenue.
Unfortunately, it appears Chico’s signmakers may have been spending too much time at the bar and not looking at their maps.
Signs hung at the newly signalized intersection of Normal Avenue and West Second Street say the road is “Normal Street.”
All of this raises several questions — How did this mistake happen? How much will this goof cost to fix? Was it a conspiracy? Perhaps it was a clever publicity play by the owners of the Normal St. Bar to further ingrain their geographically incorrect name among the town’s denizens.
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Bad marketing tie-ins
The launch of the new “Halo 3” video game was accompanied by a bevy of related products, including a special flavor of Mountain Dew. The instructor I interviewed mentioned that several products were rejected for various reason.
It got me thinking about what products might not have passed publisher Microsoft Corp.’s muster. Here’s the best product I could think of:
“Halo” Kitty — Combining the cuteness of the Sanrio figure Hello Kitty with the awesomeness of Halo’s Master Chief.
I can’t take credit for that idea. It seems like something someone would’ve already thought of.
I can take credit for my brilliant idea to closely tie “Today” show weatherman Al Roker with a candy to go in the NBC’s candy shop at Rockefeller Center:
Almond Roker — Taking the best of Almond Roca candy and combining it with Roker’s iconic image.
Sure you could get boring chocolate squares wrapped with the “Friends” logo, but Almond Roker is something special.
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The return of El Rey
Over the weekend, I was driving past El Rey theater and noticed a large, tan bin filled with what appeared to be trashed seats. I felt a little regret at the cushy seats being tossed aside, but I’m glad to see the theater come back to life in some form. The first show is Friday, according to the Buzz editor’s column.
I wrote about the El Rey’s last night as a movie theater on my personal blog. At the time, I was pretty sure the former cinema would be reconfigured into office and residential space. The plans changed and now the lights will shine on El Rey for some limited performances.
I wonder what the final outcome is for El Rey. It’s been a struggle to save downtown performance spaces in many cities, including Chico. Overcoming long-term issues about an aging building or site is important.
A couple of issues I’ve heard about El Rey is that is has a musty smell and there were some water leaks (both I hear have been addressed). The seats were an issue of mine — several weren’t in good condition when I saw a film there in 2005.
I’ll be interested to see if people can successfully restore the space into a living, useful environment for the community.
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Feelings (or lack therof) on Britney news
It’s been about 4 hours since I read news that Britney Spears has temporarily lost custody of her two children to Kevin Federline. For some reason, I just can’t get too worked up about the news. At the same time, photos of Spears shaving her head or assaulting a car with an umbrella seem less funny now.
I don’t know what it is. Is it because Spears’ “downward spiral” has reached this conclusion? Is it because that, while Spears’ recent life choices have been disappointing, placing the kids with Federline doesn’t quite seem like the fairytale happy ending?
TMZ.com is reporting the reason Brit lost her kids is because she wasn’t following the court’s orders. That makes sense. You sometimes hear about the LA justice system being lax on celebrities. I don’t know if it’s true or not, but they seem to have made decisions appropriate within the law for Paris Hilton and now Spears.
At the same time, I was pleased when Hilton was ordered to jail to serve her time for repeatedly breaking the law.
Maybe my lack of zeal for this story is that the ongoing hijinks of seemingly childish adults is potentially disrupting the lives of two small, and hopefully still innocent, children. Amid all the foolishness, the tragedy is that are other people’s lives are at stake.
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I’m not going to “watch it all for you”
Odds are, you’ve got a friend who’s more than willing to say, “You should really watch this TV show.” At the very least, they’ll say something like, “Did you watch ‘Survivor’ last night?” Then you’ll have to shrug your shoulders and respond, “Isn’t that the show with the naked dude on it?”
In my office, I’m “that guy.” I try to stay up on the TV shows and other pop-culture happenings. I don’t obsess over TMZ every hour, but I watch my favorite shows and I check in with “The Soup” and “Best Week Ever” and call it good.
The thing is — after a week of trying to watch the new fall TV shows, I’ve come to the annual conclusion I’m not going to get to them all. I spent nearly all day Saturday watching recorded shows from the past week. The first seven hours of “The War” are a battle I have yet to engage.
There are some train wrecks that I want to watch (“Cavemen” and “Carpoolers” come to mind), just so I can have the experience of it. There are also some good shows I have no idea when I can watch them.
There’s a lot of enjoyable TV shows out there that have never entered my orbit. It happened last year with “Ugly Betty,” a show I have yet to watch a single episode of. It’s gotten to the point where I watch and thoroughly enjoy an episode of a “good” show, like “24” or “Lost,” but I have to pass on future airings because my viewing dance card is full.
I almost don’t want to watch another good show because it means there’s another series I’ll want to follow.
So, while other pop-culture enthusiasts say they’ll “watch it all for you,” there’s no way in heck I’ll do that. I’ll write about the amusing things I come across naturally. At some point in November, I’ll write about the most-viewed programs in the country (which often differ from what I watch).
I know most of my posts thus far have been about television. That’ll change as I get out into the Chico nightlife and explore other aspect of entertainment.
