Contrivances for Sale

Just a quick question.  A rhetorical one, at that.  Is there any reality television more contrived than the storage auction shows on several of the cable networks?

William Aramony: Worst Hustler Centerfold Ever

I used to work for a certain nonprofit, one you may have heard of.  United Way of America.  Back about 20 years ago, you might remember that we had some troubles with several of our corporate officers, including our president, William Aramony.  Stuff involving fraudulent use of charitable funds.  Oh, and how some of the funds were used to support a relationship between the sexagenarian president and his teenaged mistress.  It was in the papers back in '92 as the scandal unfolded and again in '95 when Aramony and his bootlicking co-conspirators were convicted on federal fraud charges and sentenced to prison.  It's starting to ring some bells now, am I right?

What you may not have known at the time -- or perhaps you did know but won't admit -- was that the scandal even found its way into Hustler Magazine, inspiring a brilliant parody of a fundraising campaign ad along with a commentary that was as direct as anything else printed about the matter.

Austin, Part 2

I humbly apologize to the author of The List and to the city of Austin for the doubts I expressed in my previous post Saturday afternoon.  While I stand by my original contention that the Sixth St area (specifically, Sixth between Congress Ave and Red River St) is trashy and not worth the time of anybody who isn't whoring or looking for whores or just looking for bad bars that feature bad themes and bad music, I eventually found South Congress (that area south of the Colorado River/Lady Bird Lake).  Good food, good music, good beers, good times.

Beyond that, I've greatly enjoyed Serranos (Tex-Mex), Mohawk (music club), Royal Blue Grocery (cafe/deli), The Ginger Man (bar), Stubbs (bbq; live music, too, but I didn't see any shows), Live Oak (even better bbq), The Continental Club (music club), Jo's Hot Coffee and Good Food (take a guess), Home Slice Pizza (take another guess), Guero's Taco Bar (haven't eaten there but enjoyed a mercifully cold beer while watching a smokin' hot Bakersfield-style band in the incomparable Guero's Oak Garden)...