PHOTO FINISH… Squid is street-wise enough to know that to the victor go the spoils, but Squid hears County Superintendent of Schools Nancy Kotowski has taken things way too far. She’s forbidden the display of a photo of her former opponent, Donna Alonzo Vaughan, in county office bulletin boards, and PR flak Ron Eastwood says she has a legal opinion to back her up. Those legal pearls likely didn’t come cheap – the firm that produced them, Breon and Schaeffer, billed the county office nearly $50,000 last year and more than $216,000 in 2008-09. A county office union whose members posted the photo is fighting back, which no doubt has legal eagles planning Caribbean cruises and county taxpayers shaking their heads.

REEL DEAL… Squid loves the cinema, whiling away hours at the Osio, checking out Netflix and debating the relative merits of Quentin Tarantino versus Jerry Bruckheimer. All the more reason to take heart in the news that Pacific Grove’s own butterfly defender, Robert Pacelli, has had a film accepted into the San Francisco Short Film Festival. Pacelli’s oeuvre, Return to Bradford, is described on the film fest site as “a strange footnote in history.” The documentary recounts the tale of Allegheny Airlines Flight 736’s crash on Christmas Eve, 1968, outside Bradford, Penn. Pacelli’s film documents the reunion of the survivors and rescuers 40 years later. It’s a reminder to always carry a piece of good-luck Big Sur jade when Squid flies.

YELLOW HAZE… Leave it to the Wild Big Sur e-mail list to inspire Squid to head south. Community pep squad leader Jack Ellwanger noticed a lemony spread on Mount Manual well past wildflower season, as if “some extra-spiritual Irish phairies [had] come in the night with their paint brushes.” A photo challenge on Kate Novoa’s blog (bigsurkate.wordpress.com) and insight from Steven Harper soon sprouted identifications for the splashy flora: mostly native deerweed, golden yarrow, lizard’s tail and dried-out black sage. Also contributing to the fairy-paint is one of Squid’s favorites, sticky monkeyflower, of which Josh Bleibtreiu wrote: “The light it brings is like the sun is shining even though it has been so foggy.” How Squid drinks in that inspired Big Sur nature prose! Henry Miller, your spirit lives on.

TASTE OF AWESOME… Squid’s a sucker for foodie festivals, and not just hoity-toity ones like Cooking for Solutions and Pebble Beach Food and Wine. Count Squid in for the Taste of Seaside event, a savory benefit for the Police Activities League, this Friday, July 23, at the usually sleepy City Center. Hope to see you there.