So, those new digital billboards next to the roads in LA and some other parts of AMERICAISTHEBEST are great. It’s like watching TV except — oh shit! I’m at the wheel of a moving car under my control!

Sometimes they are quite distracting. Usually if there’s a pretty lady or something, then it turns to HOUSE in clown shoes, and I’m like, “Bring back the pretty lady!” right before I rear end the car in front of me.

This morning, though, there was a WHEEL OF FORTUNE one that caught my attention. I tried to find it online, but a quick search proved fruitless. It was a puzzling one…

CATEGORY:  Living things.

LETTERS: B L _ _ K  _ A T

Now, okay, Halloween is close, so we know it’s “BLACK CAT.”

But, buuuut! If one chooses an “A,” it’d show up in “BLACK” as well as “CAT,” right? So… this billboard is impossible!

It should be…

CATEGORY:  Living things.

LETTERS: B L A _ K  _ A T

Right?

I’m not a Wheel watcher, though. Am I missing something?

Aside from a life?

Hamboning. Hambonin’. Hambonin’! It’s all I can think about lately. Just the word makes me happy. To be honest, I’ve never heard the word “hambone” in regard to anything other than the bone of a ham before co-worker Doug showed me a clip from REGULAR SHOW. This clip, though, this clip made me want to do two things: 1. Watch REGULAR SHOW. 2. Hambone.

I dunno. That clip just makes me laugh. The character designs are kinda wacky in a way that is wacky, but the voices have an easygoing tone and vibe that is fun. I dig it.

And, yeah, I hambone. Sure. I didn’t know it was called “hamboning” until seeing this delightful cartoon clip, but I’ve slapped little beats and rhythms on my belly before. I’m glad to know there’s a name for it — especially such an awesome one. Hambonin’.

Now I find myself wondering if hambonin’ could be the career I’ve been looking for during the malaise that started with adulthood. That sounds silly, sure. I mean, there ain’t no work in hamboin’… or is there?

Not what I was expecting — seems like possibly a quite different show. Interesting.

Ah, can’t wait for Easter…

Conan went out with a great show, and this final speech is wonderful. Yes, I realize that this whole story isn’t important in the grand scheme of things, but the sentiment here is indeed important and well said.

My interest in this whole Leno vs. Conan thing isn’t some misguided worrying about the financial or career fates of millionaires. Honestly, I’m just sick of unfunny comedy being more popular than funny comedy. It’s that simple. Two & A Half Men is the most popular sitcom on television while Community struggles in the ratings. This is ridiculous and fairly embarrassing to God’s America in my admittedly kind of comedy snobby opinion, but so long as they’re both on for their respective fans to enjoy, fine.

Now, if Two & A Half Men wanted Community‘s time slot? I mean, not just to go up against it on another network, but to actually kick Community off the air and in that very time slot instead show Charlie Sheen and Jon Cryer say horrible, unfunny things about women? Well, then I’d be up in arms! (By “up in arms,” I mean blogging on my less popular than seems possible bloggy blog here, I suppose.)

If Leno gets the Tonight Show back at the expense of Conan, it’s just another example of mediocrity winning. Now, maybe I should be happy about this, as it bodes well for my writing career, but, be that is at may very well be, I don’t want mediocre material rewarded. It’s not a major catastrophe or something important in a real world sense, no, but it isn’t completely trivial. Good humor is smart humor (even good dumb humor has intelligence behind it). The once funny Leno represents the dumbing down of comedy, specifically, American comedy. I don’t want America to be a dumb country of Jaywalkers.

Hopefully, at the very least, Conan will go to another network with his entire crew in tact and thrive. This is all very disappointing, though, just in the sense that quality doesn’t always prevail.