A Collective Yawn?

It's finally settled in. Election year tired-head. When I get it everyone else has had it for weeks or months. I am in Pennsylvania and I can assure you that TV news may be playing up the Democrat debate wars going on here, but the average guy on the street has lost interest.

Someone suggested a few posts ago that Senator Obama runs the risk of over-exposure. Possibly. But it's more likely voter-burnout, than Obama burnout. He did have 22,000 at West Chester State the other day, but it's true that everyone has had just about enough of this fight. It reminds me of a rubarb on a pitcher's mound, it's fun to see the dugouts clear, but at some point we want to get back to the game.

If I were Senator Obama I would continue to stay above the fray, get back into the Senate for a few weeks and act Presidential.

If I were Senator Clinton, I'd keep Bill by my side. He looks good, they look good together and he stands up for those attacking her. Al Gore made a big mistake when he distanced himself from President Clinton. He is liked by the Democrat base. Her negatives are still too high.

Senator McCain just needs to stay in the game until the Democrats settle on a candidate.

But the best thing they can all do is nothing. It's time for a nap.

Events Upcoming

We Fort Worthians are proud of our Zoo. It's easily the best in the DFW area, arguably the best in the state, and ranks fairly well nationally.
If you like to run and you like the zoo, consider joining about 1,000 others for the Fort Worth Zoo Run, 5k and 10k. It's a good event for a good cause. If you don't run but would like to get involved they do need volunteers.

April 19 / Fort Worth Zoo Run / $25
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Baseball is back. Today in Arlington.

Today, Tuesday is opening day at the Ballpark in Arlington. And for food lovers (quantity, not quality) the Ballpark now has "all you can eat" seats. How many trays of nachos with jalapenos can you eat?

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Merle Haggard / Bass Hall / April 9.

If I could choose a singing voice with the right blend of timber and soul it might be Merle Haggard's. Besides his voice, I think he has a song or two that approaches real beauty. Merle's coming to Bass Hall, Wednesday, April 9. Merle Haggard is described by Rolling Stone magazine as "the greatest country artist of our time." I happen to agree.

On a Lighter Note . . .

Yesterday marked the 78th year since the invention of the Hostess Twinkie. Why does that strike me as funny?

Today, 500 million Twinkies are produced every year. That's about 2 Twinkies for every man, woman and child in the country. You can have my two, I don't really like them. I do like some of the other Hostess products which include Ho-Ho's, Ding-Dongs, Cup-Cakes and Sno-Balls. Now there's a wholesome treat, coconut-covered, strawberry Sno-Balls. That strikes me as funny, too. I'd like to meet the guy who came up with the name Ding-Dong and Ho-Ho. "Let's see it's a chocolate-covered, vanilla cake mix in a round format, hmmm... I know, we'll call it a Ding-Dong, yea sounds about right. And the tubular ones we'll call Ho-Ho. Perfect."

You can often tell where someone was raised by the pre-packaged snack food they like. I'm from the mid-Atlantic northeast, home of TastyKake. From my first day of high school until my last, everyday, I had the following: two sandwiches made with Pepperidge Farm bread, ham and cheese, an orange, a bag of potato chips, and a TastyKake, usually Butterscotch Krimpets. I'm not sure what a Krimpet is but that is what they are called. If I had a dollar or so, which I usually did, I added to that, a soft pretzel, a pint of chocolate milk and a Coke from the school Cafeteria. If that sounds pretty specific for being over 30 years ago, remember, I had the same thing everyday for 4 years, and in case you are wondering, I had barely an ounce of fat on me.

Back to the prepackage snacks. In the Fort Worth area, I often hear people talk about Little Debbies and fried pies. I'm not sure if Twinkies were big here or not and I don't see them on the shelves but I'm not looking for them either. I know TastyKake doesn't go much further south than Maryland.

If you were born in Fort Worth, am I right about the fried pies? Any southern Californians, what about you? I think the Midwest is Twinkie land.