Il Gatto Inesistente

I have long searched for meaning in the comic strip Garfield. Finally it has arrived in the most brilliant and unexpected way at garfield minus garfield. (Thanks to Rick Monaco for turning me on to this.)

Shaking the (family) tree

Ever heard of Wells, Nevada? It's a small town in the northeastern part of the state. I know of it because my mother grew up there. My great-grandfather, Sebastiano Quilici, came to Wells from Lucca, Italy, back in the early 1900s, and he brought with him his two sons, Gino (my grandfather) and Leone. At some point they established a general store on the town's main street, and called it S. Quilici & Sons. Sebastiano went back to Italy, but the two sons ran the store for many years, and kept that name. The store has been vacant for some time, but it still has the name on the storefront, and exists as part of a historic row of facades on what used to be a busy street. I was surprised to see Wells in the news this morning as the victim of an earthquake, and even more surprised to see a photo accompanying the story showing my grandfather's old store. It looks like it fared a little better than its neighbors. I read that the historic 140-year-old brothel across the railroad tracks was especially hit hard. Thankfully, no one was seriously injured. (Photo credit: AP Photo/Elko Daily Free Press, Ross Anderson)

Play ball!

It's one of the first signs of spring. Pitchers and catchers reported today for most teams. Spring training is under way. The Giants will feature a new look this year, the sans-Barry look. The possible opening day lineup:

1-Raja Davis LF
2-Ray Durham 2B
3-Randy Winn RF
4-Dan Ortmeier 1B
5-Aaron Rowand CF
6-Benji Molina C
7-Omar Vizquel SS
8-Kevin Fransden 3B
9-Barry Zito P

Just looking at it makes me want to take a nap. Anything is possible, though. Maybe, with Barry gone, some kind of magical team chemistry will emerge, and along with it a winning spirit. This team could go all the way! Don't put money on it, though.

New Product Review

If you ever walk thru Walgreens, and walk down the junkfood aisle, and spot a new Nabisco product called Oreo Cakesters, just keep walking. In a weak moment, I stopped walking, and picked up said product, then said to myself, "I gotta try these." To make matters worse, I brought them home, turned on the TV, and ate the Oreo Cakesters while watching "Two and a Half Men." It doesn't get lower than that.

The Oreo Cakesters are billed as a "soft snack cake." This is where I should have questioned the basic premise of the product. Oreos have always been about the hard cookie and soft centers. When both the cookie and the center are soft, you really don't have an Oreo at all, but something closer to a Ding Dong. So what we really have here is one company, Nabisco, trying to horn in on the business of another company, Hostess. I would have to rate the Ding Dong superior to the Oreo Cakester. Hostess has been making Ding Dongs for as long as I can remember. It's a product that has stood the test of time. Nice try, Nabisco.