SQUID FRY 09.10.15: Un(fair) Propaganda…

UN(FAIR) PROPAGANDA… Squid went to the Monterey County Fair last weekend, motivated mostly by the aroma of fried foods. Squid missed some of the paid propaganda booths, but that’s what Facebook is for: On the fair’s page, instead of odes to funnel cake, Squid saw a charged debate about the anti-abortion booth, featuring photos of fetuses and a banner that read, “Soul at conception.”

The thread was 49 comments long at Squid’s deadline, and had fair-goers debating the first amendment and age-appropriate sex ed (incidentally, not abortion itself – unlike fairgoers in other counties across America, they all seem to agree Roe v. Wade really did happen, and should’ve). Squid just wanted to nosh Squid’s corn dog in peace, without thinking of the origins of the animal that went into making Squid’s snack.

CONDOR DIRTBAG… Also at the fair, Squid came across more than Squid’s fair share of surly teenagers. Squid recently learned it’s not just humans and cephalopods that are affected by a generalized teenager attitude. It’s also other members of the animal kingdom, including rats (per recent neuroscientific research) and condors.

For the past two years, Dolly the condor has been the main attraction at Ventana Wildlife Society’s annual benefit, this year at Rancho Grande in Big Sur. But this year, Dolly isn’t invited – because at 3 and a half, she’s a teenager in condor years, and she’s apparently angsty enough that guests would run the risk of having their eyes plucked out. “We just don’t want to take any chances,” says VWS Executive Director Kelly Sorenson. For $90 a head, Squid agrees that’s wise. Sorenson promises they’ll deliver on raptor appeal with a golden eagle in the house.

MOVE IT MOM… It had been such a nice year, 2015. Squid vacationed in the Sea of Cortez and even made a cameo on BBC’s Big Blue Live. It’s also the second straight year Monterey was pegged one of “America’s Happiest Seaside Towns” by Coastal Living, a magazine that allegedly exists.

Squid’s not sure if the city will crack the top 10 in the 2016 contest, but for anyone who witnessed what happened to local mom and business owner Laura McKinnon at the Old Monterey Farmers Market Sept. 8, they would have seen a very unhappy resident. McKinnon, owner of Seaside Yoga Sanctuary, is pregnant and was out with her young son. She sat down on a stoop in the shade while the vendors finished setting up. Then, she writes on Facebook, a security guard told her she was in violation of the city’s sit-lie ordinance, and suggested she move to benches on the other side of the street. McKinnon told the officer she was pregnant, and needed to be in the shade. “Didn’t matter,” she writes, “I had to move.”

Oh, sit-lie ordinance, how Squid loathes thee.