NICE BUNNS... Like father, like Bunn, err, son. Squid's talking about Chris Bunn, Jr., son of the ex-Farm Bureau prez and local Salinas-area grower of the same name. Oops, and (Squid almost forgot to throw in): would-be developers. The Bunns and other families want to rezone 875 acres of farmland off River Road near Pine Canyon for as many as 375 houses. So Squid read with great interest a recent opinion column in the Californian, written by none other than Bunn, Junior. "Why is 100 percent consensus suddenly so vital for the new Refinement Committee," he whined in print. Sounds like he and his farmer/grower/developer friends have suddenly changed their tune. Wasn't this the same crowd Squid saw on their knees before the Supes, begging for a so-called consensus committee to review the county's growth document? "Please," Squid remembers them pleading, "give us a committee and we will reach consensus." But now that the pro-go-go-development forces make up a majority of the "Refinement Group," consensus doesn't seem so important after all. Forget Bunns, Squid's pretty darn impressed by those balls.

DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS... Squid got a breathless phone call on Friday from a starstruck Mission Ranch employee saying that Monica Lewinsky had just checked in. At first Squid wondered why this was news. But Squid understands the excitement: Squid's impressed too by Monica's ability to milk her 15 minutes of fame into a career. What does one say exactly when meeting Ms. Lewinsky? I've never checked out her Internet handbag business, but boy, is it great to meet someone who's really gotten to know the ins and outs of politics. No matter how you put it, it just sounds crass. Squid can't imagine keeping a straight face, but even if the jokes are old and tired, Squid thinks people still get a little excited meeting someone who is both a lady and a tramp. Squid's personal recommendation is that while visiting Carmel, Ms. L. might enjoy inhaling at The Humidor at the Carmel Crossroads.

BURN, BABY, BURN... Unlike many sea creatures, squids have complex brains. Yours Squiddly believes that the ability to hold conflicting views simultaneously is a sign of intelligence, not hypocrisy. F'rinstance: Squid considers Squidself a kelp-hugging, bike-loving environmentalist sort, and yet there's nothing Squid likes better than a lithe, powerful automobile. Except maybe a good, deep breath of black toxic fumes and eardrum-piercing noise. Lucky for Squid--and likeminded mollusks--Squid can find both at this year's Concorso Italiano, part of the annual "car week" celebration of the automobile-as-art-thing. Held this year at the Black Horse Golf Course in Seaside, the Concorso is featuring a new event: the Burn Out: "A new dimension in smoke, noise and action." The event promises "high-revving engines and spinning, smoking tires." Generally Squid prefers ogling the Pininfarina-designed Ferraris and Pietro Frua-designed Lamborghinis, but the prospect of screaming engines and burning rubber...huh? what? WHAT? (Ouch! Squid's eyes are burning.) WHAT!?