Groundhog Day! Is that Bill Murray?

Well, it's all good now. All of you who have been suffering from terrible ice storms and record snowfall can relax. Punxsutawney Phil didn't see his shadow, so it's an early spring! Yay! Thank heaven for cute, furry rodents - otherwise we wouldn't know WHAT's going on.

Speaking of not knowing what's going on, did you hear about the fiasco in Boston? The Cartoon Network has some show called "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" apparently. I say "apparently" because I wouldn't know. I avoid anything with the word "teen" in it like the plague. Well, Turner Broadcasting System, the parent company, decided to do some kind of marketing campaign for this show, and the campaign included putting up a bunch of signs in 9 cities around the country "displaying a profane, boxy-looking cartoon character" (as USA Today put it). In Boston, "Officials found 38 blinking electronic signs on bridges, a subway station, a hospital, Fenway Park, and other high-profile spots in and around the city."

Well, apparently, TBS didn't think to get permission from the cities they targeted - or if you shun authority because developmentally you've never progressed past adolescent rebellion, then I'll say they didn't "notify" the cities they targeted. It didn't matter much in 8 of the cities, but in Boston, city officials freaked out, shutting down areas where the signs were until they could verify that that's all they were - simple advertising signs.

Well, you know what? Good for them. I haven't seen the signs - I don't know what they look like and if there's anything that makes them look questionable compared to the neon signs in the local bar, but for chrissake, this is city from where the f-ing 9/11 hijackers launched their attacks. They boarded the planes in BOSTON, you morons at TBS. Do you not think that city might be on heightened alert about unauthorized electronic devices popping up on infrastructure around the city - places that have been the targets of terrorist attacks in other cities? Are you that friggin' clueless?

Some of the "fans" of the show, which I'm sure is just riveting, went on record saying how it was "silly and insane" the way Boston reacted and gee, in Seattle, where the signs didn't cause a stir, people are just more laid back. Well, when Seattle gets blown up by terrorists sneaking over the Canadian border, maybe they'll feel less laid back about unexpected electronic devices popping up on their bridges. Try this little stunt in London and see where it gets you. Maybe it was obviously a sign and nothing more. Maybe if I saw one, I'd also wonder what about the sign made the city nervous. Maybe I'd change my mind and totally agree that they went beserk for no reason. But the fact that the city DID feel immediately concerned makes me think there was *something* that didn't seem right. But honestly, even if they do seem like regular, lighted signs, I still get why the city was worried, considering where they were placed, with no authorization. These weren't paper posters. We're talking about activated, electronic devices that were put on high-profile infrastructure without the city knowing about them. That's a really stupid thing to do. Just plain stupid.

TBS is, to their credit, apologetic. The executives there seem to get it. Too bad their viewers and some of the "young, hip" idiots USA Today interviewed in Boston don't. Why am I guessing that if these marketing signs HAD been bombs, these idiots would be the first ones screaming at their government for not protecting them and lining up for an assistance check?

Before you harangue the city for trying to keep its citizens safe, I give you just ONE thing to think about. The next time you're on a bridge or a subway or a plane, and you see some unexpected, unapproved, unmanned out-of-place electronic device, wired, possibly blinking and activated, maybe looks like a sign but clearly isn't supposed to be there, ask yourself if you *really* want the officials entrusted with your safety to just ignore it and assume it's part of a marketing campaign they know nothing about. Better yet, ask yourself the same question if it's your child or your spouse entering that subway. Just a thought.