BOOTS ON… In summer, a young Squid’s fancy turns to thoughts of bronc busting and bull riding, and while Squid has been refused entry as a contestant to the California Rodeo Salinas (“All those tentacles would give you an unfair advantage in terms of hanging on,” Rodeo officials allege), it hasn’t prevented Squid from putting on spurs and moseying. This weekend, in fact, found Squid moseying to Salinas, where the Oldtown Salinas Association put on one hell of a chili cook-off. There was a little somethin’ for everyone – a beer garden that (save for the lack of concertina wire) could have served as a federal detention facility; petty rivalries (“There goes Taco Bell,” sniped one losing contestant as he watched Jessica James and Mely Garcia, whose meat-and-sauce-only entry took the top prize, saunter past); and the hipster security guards of the Executive Security Agency (“It’s a fake turtleneck, and really, I don’t enjoy wearing it,” one guard was overheard telling a passerby, by way of describing his dickey). Next year’s contest will have to find a new location: Taylor Farms is about to break ground on its world headquarters on that giant parking lot across from the Maya Cinemas. Maybe if sudden mayoral candidate Rick Phinney, better known as the right-hand man to Irish “developer” (Squid uses that term loosely) Gerry Kehoe prevails in November’s race, the chili contest can take place in one of the half-dozen vacant buildings Kehoe has stockpiled around town. 


FASHION RULES… Squid’s been toting reusable bags since before they were cool, and before the city of Monterey’s plastic bag ban took effect July 1. So Squid was a little surprised to see bright yellow bags emblazoned with cheap clothing behemoth Forever 21’s logo still dangling from the wrists of tweens hanging out at Del Monte Center.


The new eco ordinance defines defines a reusable bag as one “with handles at least 2.25 mils thick.” That means the mass-producer gets to claim its extra-thick-plastic bags as green – even though Squid thinks those heavy bags, as well as the mass-produced clothes in them, are bound for the landfill sooner than most of Squid’s other impulse buys. 


SNACK TIME… Gentle reader, Squid misses you during the week. If a politician does something stupid on a Friday, should you really have to wait until next Thursday to hear about it? Squid thinks not, and that’s why starting July 23, readers can look forward to an extra helping of Squid, delivered straight to your inbox. Monday’s newsletter will lead you to the nuggets of news you might have missed during the weekend, the online return of “Ask a Mexican,” and yes, that extra helping of little old me. Email squid@mcweekly.com to make sure you’re included.