Cocktails anyone?

ITEM ONE: The World's Smallest Indoor Karaoke with Drinks Party

So the Mahalo company shindig, which will be referred to as "Mahaloke", takes place this evening here in Los Angeles. It is ironic for me to have the chance to witness many of comrades in arms 'throwing back a few' on the eve of one of my favorite sporting events, "The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party".

For those not familiar, this would be the Florida-Georgia football game, held every year in Jacksonville, and featuring a great deal of consumption in and around the stadium. In many cases, the drinking will begin today, some 24 hours before kickoff.

In the last couple of years, the two schools have tried to move away from the "Cocktail" moniker in the name of their rivalry, and with good reason. I lived in J-Ville for roughly 2 years, and only attended the 1997 game. And I can tell you that the action outside the stadium was much more intense and dramatic than inside the stadium. Of all those between the ages of 17-24 in the United States that were drunk that day, about 65% of them were concentrated in the Alltel Stadium parking lot.

It was a long standing tradition for many a tailgater (or should I spell it "tail-gator"?) to enjoy drinks with people on both sides of the rivalry, marking a special neighborly rivalry for just one day. But in recent years, civility has given way to intensity, and there were several years where the event was marred by violence and deaths, due to both the violence and the alcohol.

So both schools, the Southeastern Conference, and the NCAA, have been trying to encourage the media and fans to move away from the name of the event. But that won't prevent diehards from still referring to it as it is. And it won't stop alcohol advertisements from appearing in the programs sold at the stadium, or in commercials on TV and radio coverage of the game itself.

It's an issue that every major sports league, pro or college, seems to try to sweep under the rug and place a couch over, hoping the viewer won't notice: how to preach responsibility about drinking while taking bags of cash from alcoholic manufacturers.

As for our party tonight, I know that I'll be too busy acting as co-host to drink a lot, not that I would drink a lot if I were just attending. Hopefully our party tonight, and the football game tomorrow in Jacksonville, goes without incident.

ITEM TWO: "California is, dare I say, en fuego..."

I moved out here in March, and to my delight until this past Sunday, there has been a grand total of 4, count 'em, 4 days of rain here in "SoCal". It seemed unnatural for someone who has lived back East my whole life, and I had been told by many7 locals here to expect for us to pay for it. I just didn't figure the tab would be this high.

It's been unbelievable, and a little bit unnerving, to watch many pockets of this area burn to the ground while others go untouched. It reminds me of when I lived in South Florida back in 1992 and seeing the aftermath of destruction caused by Hurricane Andrew, where one community was completely devastated and the two surrounding it had no impact at all.

I'd also like to nominate the hotels that are price gouging people fleeing their homes for the "Have Tony Sopranos Boys Whack Them" award.

ITEM THREE: Time to take off the Scrubs?

Despite the fact that my esteemed blogging colleague Lon (a.k.a. Crushed by Inertia) is a Zach Braff hater, which I totally understand, I am a big fan of the TV show that Braff into a star big enough to allow people like Lon to hate him in the first place: Scrubs. I watch the show because, in no particular order:
(1) John C. McGinley, who plays Dr. Cox, is very funny
(2) Sarah Chalke is a member of "My Future Ex-Wives Club"
(3) I thought the writing was good

Well, if last night's season premiere is any indication, this last season of theirs maybe a case of sticking around one year too long. It's a delicate balance for most successful television shows, trying to gage whether to stop a show leaving the audience wanting more, or cherry-picking off past success in order to grab one more year's worth of checks.

I can't remember watching a single episode and not having at least one laughing-out-loud-to-the-point-of-cackling moment - until last night. Instead, I was left shaking my head wondering if I'm going to be tuning in to the next episode. I mean, I don't mind the "will JD and Elliot get together or not" saga that figures to drag on right until the end. But I just found myself feeling like I went to a steakhouse and having a salad as my meal - very unsatisfied with stomach churning, wondering where I went wrong in my thought process.

As an aside BTW, for those that know me, I will eat a Caesar Salad occasionally, but when it comes to salads in general, I refer to the Toby Ziegler line from The West Wing when he says that he could, "cover this thing with tons of barbecue sauce and it would still taste like the ground..." (miss that show).

Hopefully Scrubs, will get it together. If not, I may begin to echo Lon's sentiments, but aim the venom at more than just Mr. Braff.