That's Outrageous!

Nincompoop Doesn't Know How to Park: For most residents at Park Grossmont Estates in La Mesa, parking is simple and easy. There are always exceptions though. In this case, the owner of a late-model, black Ford Explorer just doesn't get it. There are two (2) prime parking spaces on the left side of the Bari Ct cul-de-sac. This nit-wit is occupying both of them.

Each unit at the Park Grossmont complex gets one reserved parking spot, and it is a difficult situation for every household in possession of multiple vehicles. The cul-de-sac spots are important because they are almost as close to the building as the reserved spots, and therefore the first choice for street parking. It becomes urgently necessary, out of consideration for the neighbors, to make the most efficient use of the cul-de-sac spaces possible. The grey Honda Civic pictured at bottom (to the left of the happy face) provides a fine example of the correct parking method.

Well, we've only got five (5) good cul-de-sac spots to use, and this yahoo is using two (2) of them.

Everyone makes mistakes, and it is understandable how the driver might have somehow misjudged the parking distance while in a hurry. Maybe it was night-time, and he/she (who are we kidding; we all know it's got to be a 'she') is uncomfortable without a parking spotter. There is more to this story however, and it gets worse. That Explorer has been parked there for weeks now. Cobwebs are growing off the bumper.

Happily, justice appears to be on the way. Some type of document has been placed beneath the wiper blade. It is most likely a parking ticket. Hopefully the ticket carries a penalty demanding that the Explorer be impounded and sent to a recycling facility where it can be turned into toilet paper, with which we can all do as we deem fit.

On the bright side, all of this has presented to me an occasion to pay tribute to my favorite Reader's Digest regular feature, "That's Outrageous!". I have always been fond of the whole concept behind "That's Outrageous!", and I like to think that it has been instrumental in my formation as a writer and a person, which is a huge compliment as you can see. It looks like this blog is going to be a great venue for my own personal version of "That's Outrageous!".

LaGeorge

My apologies for the lack of content on the blog. I have been busy all summer doing research for my novel. My novel is going to be an autobiographical sort of thing about this guy who moves to California and plays basketball and drinks a lot. There will be some embellishing, though. For instance, in the novel the guy will be able to dunk - and not just normal dunks. We're talking reverse, two-handed, backboard shattering jams. It should be a pretty good book, hopefully available in time for Christmas. Some Christmas, but not this Christmas.

In the meantime, I'll let ESPN's Bill Simmons, aka "The Sports Guy", provide the blog material. Please enjoy this from his NFL preview today:

"Random note: The recent trend of successful athletes with conventional first names that start with "La" -- like LaMarcus Aldridge and LaRon Landry -- has me more excited than ever to name my first son "LaBill Simmons." My wife is less excited."

Now Celebrating 2 Months of Literary Excellence

The night of April 26th was a night just like any other in San Diego (clear, 65F, nice), but it was also to be the night George McFly’s Left Hook published the first of many posts. “Is this thing on?”, was the question posed to anyone who would listen. “Yes” came the reply from an anonymous blog commenter. Yes indeed; this thing was on. Fast forward some two full months, and George McFly’s Left Hook is most definitely still on. The blog has exploded in just two months to reach literally tens of readers across the country… and overseas. What do people have to say about this blog?

They love it.

Just ask our friend Rodrigo, coming all the way from Lisbon, Portugal, who raves “Oi, I found yours blog for google tá well interesting I liked this post.”

Such words as these are exactly the reason why any writer ever bothers to pick up a pen. It is a thrilling experience to publish one’s best thoughts and later come to learn that a reader on the other side of the world, a person you have never met, finds yours blog for google well interesting. There are times when writers can't help but question themselves, pondering if the late night hours spent pouring over Google images for a picture of a big bear were truly worthwhile, but the knowledge of even just one happy reader like Rodrigo out there quickly reverses these doubts; that’s not just a picture of a big bear. That is time well spent.

So here's to all the Rodrigos in the world. I will do my best to keep it well interesting.

A Slacker Indeed

Okay, I confess to being a complete slacker when it comes to this blog. While I don't mean to justify the prolonged inactivity, I can only offer the reasons for it.

Reading. Most of my life I have wasted free hours with excessive TV, video games, "hanging out", etc. I never really wanted to learn until I was eighteen. Even in college I did the least amount of work required to get by. After graduating, I finally mustered the motivation to do some serious reading, and for the last four years I've been trying to make up for lost time.

So instead of spewing out the nonsense of an unread simpleton, with the potential of others actually being subjected to it, I figured why not feed my brain a little, so that one day I can blog real good-like.

Nevertheless, I will try to make an effort to post more often, no matter how intellectually damaging it may be. No guarantees though.

Regarding Daniel Gibson, and also regarding Darin's being a slacker

In NBA news, LeBron James and the Cavaliers have gotten some help in the playoffs from an unexpected source: Rookie point guard Daniel "Boobie" Gibson, who is providing a long needed offensive spark to aid LeBron and the otherwise defensive minded Cleveland ball club. Yes, that's right: people call the man Boobie Gibson. You can even find it on Wiki. His mother started calling him that at an early age, and it stuck.

See Darin, this is what will happen every time you decide to step away from this blog for too long. Sure, I can keep it respectable on my own for a little while, but you can see the downward spiral. Since your enlightening post that discussed the legitimacy of the Prime Minister's rumored conversion, we have plummeted down to my most recent police dog post - which may appear to bear some social/political significance, but at heart is nothing more than an excuse for me to show a funny picture of a dog - and now you're reading these words: "Boobie Gibson". I heard about an athlete who has a weird nickname, The End. That's all I've got for our readers this week. Look Darin, if you've got better things to do, good for you, but I just want to make sure that you're aware of the consequences.

By the way, for those of you still mourning the dead dogs, perhaps this follow-up article will bring some closure. Sounds like the ceremony went pretty well. I admire the police chaplain who reportedly managed to read each dog's name aloud "solemnly and with great reverence". I tried it a couple times here at home myself, and I couldn't get past the first one, "Carebear", without at least smirking. In conclusion, I guess this merits another humorous picture of a police dog. Enjoy.

Super Duty

With the dramatic season finale fresh in our heads, it is time to reflect on the third season of "Lost"; what did we like, what have we learned, what will happen next? For me, one of the most compelling developments of season 3 has been the commercial for the 2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty, in which viewers are shown the "Tail-Gate Step" feature. Just look at it; don't you want one? Don't you wish you were that guy? Safety, comfort and style!

I'd imagine that this is causing all kinds of headaches for the engineers and marketers at Chevy, as they scramble for an answer to Ford's innovation. Perhaps they will manage to include a water bottle that stows neatly under the license plate, to prevent dehydration when entering the truck bed area. And a helmet. It just doesn't seem safe to climb all the way up there on that truck without your helmet on, so maybe they can find a way to build a helmet into the bumper.

The Week in Review

For the past week, George McFly's Left Hook headquarters have been experiencing power outages, hence the lack of new content on the blog. It must have been very difficult for my readers to be without this valuable resource of news and current events for so long; I apologize for the inconvenience, and would like to thank all of you for your patience.

The good news is that no noteworthy events have occurred during the past week, so I would advise my readers to simply continue using this blog as if last week didn't happen; the blog will continue to maintain your mental readiness for participation in enriching discussions of all events and topics bearing cultural and/or political import.

I know what you're saying to yourself right now: "How can George say that there has been NO news for the past week when EVERYONE is talking about Sasha Pavlovic's game-saving block for the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday?". Well, to answer that I'll just point out that the Cavs are the best basketball team in the world, so its not really "news" when something like this happens.