October 20th, 2009:

When I was a young man: a new father in fact; my father-in-law said to us one day:” We should sally forth, to the land of my birth in search of the holy grail”. I knew that his cause was just, and his honor true.

Being but a squire at the time, I attended my master and saw to his needs; For I knew this was a journey of great import. We were in search of the great Chicken Fried Steak.

Away we went, launched from the tepid shores of Southern California, on our way to the hinterlands of the Texas panhandle – the place of origins…the beginnings. The Australopithecian beginnings of the CFS. Chicken Fried Steak. We sought the Lucy of CFS, and would have none of the posers along the way.

Diner after diner we tried. Restaurant after hole in the wall did we patronize. Until, at last we gave up.

There’s only so much Chicken Fried Steak you can eat before you long for a salad or a baked potato.

Which leads me to a minor story of a similar bent. Since I arrived in Santa Barbara I have been on the quest for the perfect fish taco. One would think, that the fish taco would be a mainstay of the diet here in the Barbara, but alas, it is not the case.

So, where in fact did you find the grail? The thronging masses ask? Mia Cucina is the answer. Come to find out, the best cookin’ is home cookin’. Fresh red snapper. Onion, Garlic, Cilantro, Chiles, a little olive oil and some fresh tortillas from the corner bodega later…..voila! The best fish tacos in Santa Barbara. If you are in the neighborhood, stop by. I will throw a few together for ya. Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Once in a decade or so, an image so impacts me, that it feels like there is a physical weight on my chest. An example  would be the  little girl in the Shake and Bake commercial from the 60′s -  “And I helped”.  It was just such a weird and twisted image. Betty Crocker had gone terribly wrong. Over and over again, the networks played it. Even in my 10 year old world, the word on the street was: This was seriously twisted- and no one knew why.

Now, in my wisdom years, I understand why. The little girl was an alien. She simply was not from this planet, but some other relatively accessible sphere that has been monitoring us. And so it goes.

They took X-files of the air for a reason. I submit as evidence the above picture. At first, just a harmless Yahoo Mail ad banner. But then…insidiously…infiltrating my dreams…then my waking hours…Like some evil Jim Carrey or Jim Varney or some other evil Jim….Jimmy Crak Korn…Hell, I don’t know.

The point is this. There is something about this young man’s face that is just disturbing. Otherworldly. Which give one pause to ask:

Did the advertisers know this, and chose to use this image because they knew it was just so freaky-deaky that lots of folks would feel oogie, and then buy their product. OR,

Am I the only one that finds this visage slightly warped, looney, wacky, funhouse and disturbing?

Just another post from the editors at the Trifling Blog for your amusement and bemusement. Pax out.