Over the weekend a man was attacked by a mountain lion in the Palo Alto area.

Here's the url to the full story: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/localnews/ci_9877435

What really pisses me off about the incident is that a federal trapper has been brought in to catch the cat. Now I wouldn't be quite as irritated if they planned on potentially relocating it a little deeper into the woods, or something of that nature, but no... they plan on euthanizing the poor thing. Are you kidding me?

Look, this is not a new story... Man encroaches on the territory of other animals... man feels that "his" new land is unsafe with these creatures that supposedly now have no right to their territory... man decides to "eliminate" the threat.

Now what kind of sense is this? Have we lost our minds (obviously)?

It wasn't the cat's fault folks. It was just doing what came naturally to it. Its the hiker's fault for (apparently unknowingly) being on the cat's land.

So to solve this problem, do we scold the hiker for being where he was? No. As well we shouldn't. But instead we punish the cat. And by killing it of all things.

There are easier ways of handling this situation. Have the local authorities considered putting up signs warning anyone in the area that they should proceed into the park at their own risk?

Leave the kitty alone.

We lost another great one this month...

On June 2nd, it was the originator, not the imitator, Bo Diddley

And on June 22nd, it was George Carlin

There is really not enough space on this page for me to really express how I felt about George. I can pretty much sum it all up by saying that he was my hero. Plain and simple. George was to me, what Jesus is to the Pope. He has always said what I've been thinking. At any point in any of his bits I could say "yea... I totally agree with that." When I got to high school and started to question the plausibility of religion, he lead me to where I am now because he made more sense than any philosopher, politician, preacher, or teacher. I loved him because he was smart.

Quite possibly the funniest thing that I've ever seen was George at the Santa Cruz Civic in 2005, when he was warming up for what would eventually become his special "Life is Worth Losing." Just last Friday I listened to it and thought "boy he's old, but he's still a god damn genius."

I'm happy and sad as I write this. Sad that one of the greatest minds in the world is gone. Never have I been so sad to hear of the death of someone that I never knew personally. But happy that I got to see him. Happy that I can still listen to, read, and be enlightened by his material. And happy that I found these quotes to finish this post.

"I wanna live. I don’t wanna die. That’s the whole meaning of life: Not dying! I figured that shit out by myself in the third grade."

"No one who has had “Taps” played for them has ever been able to hear it."

R.I.P. George Carlin

I just logged in to make a blog post... but I forgot what I was going to say...

oh well, it'll come to me eventually

This is an amazing place and I'm so glad she let me do my thing here.

Ok Swine, I've got someone else for you to check out if they're in your area.

On Saturday we had a show at VideoRanch that many of you heard here on KPIG, and that was Smokin' Joe Kubek and Bnois King. I've gotta tell you, never in my life have I been sitting there waiting for a band to start their soundcheck, an all of the sudden gotten karate kicked in the chest by a sudden explosion of sound (no joke, I almost got knocked completely off my feet when they started). These guys play big-time, balls to the wall, Texas-blues, and they're outstanding. Joe's got some flame-throwing chops when it comes to his guitar (both with and without a slide), and Bnois is an excellent jazz-like blues guitarist himself. I had a smile on my face the whole time. Check them out at smokinjoekubek.com

Pigs, I have someone that you really should check out if he comes to play near you. We had Steve Poltz down at VideoRanch 3D last weekend, and I wasn't expecting much out of him. But by the end of the show, I was so sad that we only had him for an hour. He's got some really rocking songs, he's got a wacky/very odd side to him, and he and his band, "The Cynics," were just a lot of fun. Check him out at poltz.com. I give him the Warren T Stamp of Approval.

Hey swine,

Well, last night's Mudcrutch show was everything that I was hoping it to be, and more than I was expecting. You pretty much know what you're going to get when Tom comes around with the Heartbreakers, but I didn't know quite what to expect from this band of musicians. The fact of the matter is, Tom blew the place away (with a little help from lead-guitarist extraordinaire, Mike Campbell, and others). Unfortunately I got there a bit late, right in the middle of their third song, a fantastic rendition of Six Days on the Road. Everything else made me very excited for their album to come out at the end of the month. The last song before their encores was Dylan's "Rainy Day Women," which as you can imagine, went over very well in Santa Cruz (Eeeeverybody must get STONED!!). The whole Civic joined in singing that tune, as well as the first encore song, Summertime Blues. All in all, it was one hell of a show.

I will also put this out there. I have no apologies for all the people that my friend and I squeezed in front of during the show as we slowly creeped towards the stage (despite the repeated nudges to my back). The way I see it, if you aren't occupying the space between yourself and the person in front of you, you're giving it up to any and all who wish to occupy it themselves. Its rock and roll folks, don't be afraid to pack it in tight close to the stage. Oh well, I guess you can just classify me as one of those "damn kids." That don't bother me any.

Oh yeah, and to the guy who reached up and closed my phone when I was trying to take a few shots of the show... shove it pal.

And to the guy who shushed my friend when she said something to me between songs... you know where to shove it too... I'm sorry, I didn't realize we were watching the New York Philharmonic.

woof woof!