Let’s face it. Gas wars or not, Americans like trucks. While many Americans own them as a necessary tool for their occupation, there are plenty who also own a truck because they like how it looks or the size or they enjoy going off-road on the weekends. I fall into the last category. Actually, I think I fall into all the categories. When I owned my truck, I used it to haul my DJ equipment, I loved how it looked, I liked being bigger than most other vehicles and I LOVE to go off-road! The only problem is, for that last group, the off-road enthusiast, there really have never been any truly off-road capable trucks you could buy off the dealer’s floor. Sure there was the Hummer, but who has $100,000+ to spend on something that’s not even really capable of being a daily driver? How can we get our off-road fun toy without spending many thousands of dollars on conversions, just to make the thing unbearable to drive to and from work??

Thankfully, Ford not only heard our calls for help, but they decided to spoil the hell out of us. Drum roll please…..ladies and gentlemen, I present my new obsession……The Ford F-150 Raptor.

Bringin' the Orange to the County

I highly suggest you follow me past the jump for more pictures and information that will make many of you want to run to the nearest Ford dealership. Yes, really! (more…)

Did you know we had an OC Pride event this year? Yeah me neither. They really need to get the word out a little more. Finally there is an official event in OC for LGBT pride and I missed the damn thing. Poor Gay Days in Anaheim has been carrying the unofficial OC Pride torch for so long it seemed likely we should just officially call it OC Gay Pride and get it over with.

Anyway! I am just a wee bit irritated about the complete lack of visibility for the event. Maybe the organizers (listen up boys) should have reached our to their popular queer friendly community blogs (not unlike this one) and let them know it was even happening. Also, lets be real, if we’re gonna have OC Pride shouldn’t we be having it in Laguna Beach? Why Irvine? Oh well, here’s hoping there will be one next year and here’s hoping they actually, you know, tell people about it!

Did you know there was an OC Pride Picnic this year? If so, did you go?

Don’t let the media fool you, it is NOT a buyers market. Maybe it is, if, and only if, you are willing to wait month upon month upon month – you get the idea – for approval from the bank for that short sale property. There are good deals to be had, but you have to be willing to wait. A lot of people think they can, but since the process is so long and the banks are so overwhelmed, potential buyers are pulling their offers and moving on i.e. when an equity home is on the market people are overpaying.

When the short sale buyers pull their offers they are so ready to buy a home they act irrationally. Irrational in the fact that they are willing to pay well above the asking price for no other reason than they HAVE TO BUY A HOUSE BECAUSE THE “EXPERTS” ARE TELLING THEM TO BUY NOW. Irrational because they are willing to waive appraisal contingencies – for example the house appraises at $450,000, but sells for $510,000. Typically a bank won’t finance a loan for more than the house appraises for, but like most things there are ways around this. You buy a mortgage origiation point or more likely the bank will require you to make up the difference in cash. Of course, you can always pay in cash, in full, and believe it or not people do. We lost a house to an all-cash offer. We were also asked by a sellers agent to waive the appraisal report, needless to say we did not put in an offer, but four others did. WTF???

Let’s not forget those that are going to rush to buy and close escrow before 30 November 2009 just so they can claim the $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers. The way I see it, and I could be wrong, I think there is going to be a mad rush and even more competition in the next two months. Basically you have to be in escrow no later than the end of October if you wish to claim the credit. As the law is currently written any home purchase that closes escrow beginning 1 December 2009 is not eligible to receive the tax credit.

I realize the Southern California market is markedly different than 95% of the rest of the country. However, by rushing to buy and pushing prices back up is doing no one any favors. If you buy a home for more than it’s worth that is exactly what you are doing. Even if it’s worth that price to you, it’s not a sound financial decision. So basically all this irrationality coupled with so many short sale/REO properties is making for a very small sellers market. As my husband likes to quote the age-old proverb: “a fool and his money are soon parted.”

Gary Robbins reports that Cal State Fullerton has officially fired Tuffy the Titan, the school mascot for over fifty years.  Tuffy was a prominent part of the University’s identity, as Tuffy was featured on almost everything.  Well, Tuffy will still be featured at sporting events, since it’s pretty hard to get inspired by a tree, which is part of the new logo.

The reason Fullerton chose an elephant as a mascot is due to the fact that early in the school’s history, some silly elephant races were held on the fields that are now the Student Union buildings.

As many commenters on the Register noted, I’m suprised that in the budgetary crisis we have, CSUF can justify all the money it will take to change the logo.  Guess that’s what those fee increases were for!

So, now Tuffy is gone, replaced by an extremely generic looking logo.  Ugh.

“Man panties? Testosterone filled fights? Surprise appearances by secret girlfriends? That can only mean one thing…the “tools” are back!“ Get ready to lose your lunch people, because VH1’s Tool Academy 2 is hitting the airwaves Monday August 31st. As expected there are a couple tools from Orange County on the show this season too. Of course.

By the looks of these two they are a couple of real winners. Up first is Mike from Mission Viejo and from the looks of his MySpace page he has a fondness for pink mandannas and drunkenly groping hot girls in Vegas. Mike should not be overshadowed by the lovely and talented male model from Irvine who goes by the name of Charm. That’s right, his name is Charm. Oy vey. You should check out his MySpace page if you like to look at pictures of his naked torso – something he has dozens of depictions of. He gets bonus douche points for appearing in an Ed Hardy advert.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jY6z4NytS1E[/youtube]

I know it has a lot to do with our proximity to El Lay but why oh why are there always people frontin’ for OC on these shows? I am sure there are plenty of Tools from, um, let’s say Akron Ohio, that would love love LOVE to be on VH1. Of course maybe our tools are just bigger, better and more naked than Ohio’s. That is our legacy: our Tools are more douchey than yours.

This might be fun! ABC’s Wipeout wants you to compete on their show while snarky hosts John Henson and John Anderson make fun of you. Why would anyone put themselves through that? For 50,000 dollars of course!

An open call casting will be held in Anaheim at ESPN Zone in Downtown Disney from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Aug. 29th – you don’t need to be an athlete to participate. They are looking for men women over 18 years of age, legal residents of the U.S., strong swimmers and fun, outgoing, people with a great sense of humor.

[poll=32]

Above is a screenshot of a story The Register posted yesterday about Ryan Jenkins being found dead in his hotel room in Canada. Now look to the right at the ad for “Killer White Teeth”. So tacky!

If you haven’t been following, it is alleged Jenkin’s committed suicide because he was suspected of killing his wife, whose “body, found in a suitcase in a Buena Park dumpster, was missing her fingers and teeth.” The OC Register’s ad-generating-gizmo apparently picked up on the fact that the article was about ‘teeth’ and decided depositing an advertisement next to it exclaiming “Killer White Teeth” was appropriate.

Now, I know this wasn’t on purpose but still… they need to rethink their advertising strategy and make sure someone vets inappropriate ad-couplings before they publish. I suppose it could just be a tacky coincidence but somehow I doubt it.

Recent news about Robert Zemeckis’ negotiations to remake the 1968 animated Beatles movie Yellow Submarine, is all over the web. Good Christ! Really? Ugh. I am sure The Last Unicorn is up next.

It should be noted that the director is specifically in negotiations with the Walt Disney Studios. This of course begs one question: If the deal goes through, how long will it be before we have to endure the inevitable attraction overlay at Disneyland? If you think I’m over reacting, I’d like to point you to Pirate’s Lair at Tom Sawyers Island, an ill-begotten idea that seems to stick out like a sore thumb now that the pirates craze from earlier in the decade has blessedly subsided.

Success! After I suggested getting our fair county a publicist to counteract all this reality television douchiness, a quick web search lead me to this: The Advertising Slogan Generator! You just plug in your product and it spits out slogans for your campaign. This is fun! Here’s a few of my favorites:

Why Can’t Everything Orange be Orange County?
There’s First Love, and There’s Orange County Love
Half the Orange County All the Taste
Aaahh, Orange County!
If You Can’t Beat Orange County, Join Orange County
Unzip an Orange County
Make Orange County Yours

Let’s not forget my absolute favorite:

Careful when you click that link, you can waste an awfully long time playing with The Advertising Slogan Generator. Before you know it you will have wasted an hour playing with this thing when you should have been doing something productive, like homework, or actual work.

More proof of the pervasiveness of the stereotype put forth in a previous post about OC being one of the douchiest places in the nation. If the looks (and actions) of Big Brother 11’s latest castoff is any indication we are really circling the cultural drain down here in Orange County. The fellow in question is Jessie Godderz, a 23 year old bodybuilder from Huntington Beach who sports many of the offending characteristics listed by Jay Louis in his interview. There’s that trademarked db-pout that still manages to irritate no matter how many times I see it.

[Image via ARTUJI]

Maybe we need to hire a publicist to improve our collective image as a county. Just sayin’….