# 96 - February 6th, 2008

Greetings one and all…So wasn’t the Crab Feed a wonderful, and particularly local, occasion once again? Those in attendance came from all walks of Valley life and they undoubtedly had a good time as the crab seemed endless and the wine flowed freely. The most enjoyable social hour beforehand, the enthusiastically supported raffle, and the lengthy gathering of friends following the Feed were all testaments to the great sense of community in The Valley and together create the special fondness so many of us have for this event. Many thanks for all the effort put in by the organizers, particularly Gloria Ross, Eva and Bill Holcomb, and John Schultz, and a personal ‘thank you’ to the excellent wait staff who took particularly good care of me and my ‘special needs’…
Let’s straight in to the T. V. Quiz - answers at the end…
1. Which road joins Hwy 128 at the Mendocino mile marker 18?
2. Who is the A.V. High School basketball coach?...What about this past season’s football coach?
3. Who is the Director of The Anderson Valley Theatre Guild?
Quote of the Week…“Never miss a chance to have sex or appear on television”…Author Gore Vidal offered these wise words to live by and it’s very difficult to argue with him…
More Crab Feed…Carnivaal in Rio? – annoying men, beautiful women; Halloween in S.F.? – wild and crazy; New Year’s Eve in London? – boisterous and boozy; The Crab Feed in Boonville? – the best of the lot!...The crab was good, particularly if you dipped it in the melted butter thoughtfully provided by the professional “Feedsters” I sat with; the garlic bread and salad seemed even better this year; and Esterlina’s pinot noir is clearly amongst the best wines in The Valley…
The much-anticipated raffle, with M.C. John Schultz on the microphone, was a huge success apart from the fact that one table won nearly half of the prizes – the table where the Priest was sitting, I should point out. This became so obvious that at one point Hummingbird moved to that table to change her luck. The Priest welcomed her to his ‘flock’ but still her luck didn’t change whilst others at the table continued to win prizes. Perhaps he somehow knew that she hadn’t been to mass or confession since she was 18 – a very lapsed Catholic indeed…I am certainly not suggesting a fix was in for the raffle, I just thought you should know, and surely it has to be attributed to an act of God!…Finally, I am pleased to say that, following my early-ish departure last year, I returned to my usual form and was once again the last to leave when the hosts and staff finally, and deservedly, sat down to their own Crab Feed at about 10pm…
It was Super Bowl Sunday the next day and whilst I was very much looking forward to the game I had to agree with Sports’ Commentator, Dave Zirin, who had summed up the Super Bowl perfectly in his column earlier in the week…”One headline preceding the big game read ‘Phoenix Faces Super Bowl Parking Woe: Where to Put Gulfstreams?’…The Arizona host committee expects 800 to 1,000 private jets, or more, to use the airports before Sunday's game. That will be at least double the number when nearby Tempe was the site of the Super Bowl in 1996. Giants co-owner Steve Tisch spoke about the pugilistic plutocrats at the airport talking of how, when the game's over, a lot of people who've flown on private planes want to go home and everybody feels that they're entitled to be the first to take off, that's when it gets interesting. A lot of people are saying to their pilots to tell the tower, ‘Do you know who I've got on my plane?'…What a terrifically charming slice of life. Is now an appropriate time to tell Mr. Tisch that 21.2% of children in Arizona live below the poverty line? Or 40% of Native Americans? Can he hear me over the jets?...The thought of corporate execs swinging their egos to get their planes out of an airport hangar is a perfect snapshot for the excess that’s smothered the game. The Super Bowl has no soul”…I couldn’t agree more and unfortunately it seems to sum up “America in 2008” as much as anything….
As for Sunday’s broadcast by the “let’s appeal to the lowest common denominator” Fox Channel, finally at about 3.15pm a football game broke out and interrupted the previous offerings of unadulterated crap that had been served up to that point. The low point, of many low points, was surely the appearance of Paula Abdul, one of America’s least talented ‘celebrities’, who gave an awful performance of an awful song and, despite the irritating fawning of her #1 fan, the utterly inept Ryan Seacrest, hopefully no discerning adult could have thought otherwise about her pathetic display – this silly cow really should be put out to graze…
As for the game, I found it to be a thoroughly interesting tactical battle with the crucial confrontation arguably taking place between the offensive line of the Patriots and the Giants’ defensive line. The latter harassed and battered New England quarterback, Tom Brady, all afternoon and with his usual effectiveness largely nullified the New Yorkers were always in with a chance of victory, which they took with seconds remaining. The Giants won, I took home a few dollars, and “The Perfect Season” of the Patriots was in tatters, with a book of that same title shortly thereafter being withdrawn by the on-line bookstore, Amazon.com - greedy bastards that they are…
That’s enough for now…Be careful out there, stay out of the ditches, think good thoughts, and may your god go with you…But first, “Let us prey”…Humbly yours, Turkey Vulture…
You can contact me with words of support/abuse by e-mail at
Quiz Answers…
1. That would be Nash Mill Road – now you know…
2. Jim Boudoures is the school’s basketball guru whilst Pastor Bill Nobles led the Panthers in their most recent football campaign…
3. Rod Basehore is the man. The Guild’s next play will be coming your way at The Grange in June 2008…