Got kids? Bring them on down to Tucson.

Two cute Tucson kids/Ryn Gargulinski

Old Pueblo is the top place in Arizona for families to thrive, according to BusinessWeek’s annual “Best Places to Raise Your Kids” rankings.

Tucson hit Arizona’s top spot, with the runners up being Yuma and Casas Adobes.

We have a feeling the ranking committee has never been to Yuma.

We also have a feeling they may not have come to Tucson, either – or at least tried to get anywhere on a bus if they did.

“It’s (also) a relatively affordable place to live,” the report said of Tucson, “with more than 100 parks, a good public transportation system, and many public and private golf courses.”

Tucson school yards are counted as parks, by the way.

But the golf courses are important. We know how much kids love to golf away their Saturday mornings.

The ranking focused on towns that have a population of at least 45,000 and a median income of $40,000 to $125,000. BusinessWeek picked one top spot from each state, and two runners up, if applicable. Alaska’s Anchorage had no runners up.

Natural sandbox option/Ryn Gargulinski

Towns were then judged on their air quality; family income; job growth; theaters; diversity; household expenditures; crime rate; number of schools and their performance; museums and those school yard parks.

Based on those categories, it’s obvious why Tucson made the cut. Our air quality definitely beats out places like Los Angeles. We only get air quality warnings when there is a blinding, dusty wind or massive brush fires in the distance spewing ashes into our atmosphere.

Families usually make enough to live on – as long as they still have their jobs. But we are not sure why the job growth category didn’t kick us out of the mix altogether, as it seems Tucson jobs are shrinking.

The report mentioned University of Arizona as being one of the biggest employers, but it failed to mention the school’s hiring freezes.

For theaters, we got the Fox, The Loft and that cheapie place with $2 tickets at Grant and Swan roads.

Household expenditures often lack snow pants, furry boots and ski masks.

Pima Air and Space Museum probably got us hovering near the top in the museum category, and bless those school yards, as they helped us kick butt in the parks category. Tucson also has six dog parks, eight if you count the two in the county.

Not bad.

The rankings also left out some other reasons why Tucson is a great place to raise kids:

Bilingual studies. Children will automatically be immersed in the study of the Spanish language, hopefully learning key phrases, like “Your mother wears combat boots,” from their classmates.

Natural sandbox. Never mind those chintzy plastic backyard boxes, Tucson has a glorious sandbox created by God. Kids can find hours of pleasure in the dry riverbeds and washes, like the diapered child I once saw frolicking in the sands of the Rillito. All the rocks, glass shards, coyote feces and horse manure makes for some very interesting mud pies.

Less environmental dangers. Sure, we have prickly, eye-poking cactus and those pesky killer rattlesnakes, but there is absolutely no chance a kid will drown in the ocean or be swept out to sea. Few Tucson children are injured from slipping on ice or getting lost and buried in the snow.

Even though I am poking fun, I think Tucson can rock for anyone.

What do you think?

Is Tucson an awesome place to raise kids? Why or why not?

What about Yuma or Casas

What criteria would you use for ranking a place good for kids?

Where were you raised? Was it good for kids?

Recruitment is on for one of the most heroic jobs out there – but you must be cute, strong and willing to risk your life for total strangers.

These kids got the cute down pat/Ryn Gargulinski

Well, you don’t technically have to be cute – but you do have to pass a physical and be willing to put your life on the line when duty calls to apply for a position as a Northwest Fire District firefighter.

Candidates must be at least 18 years old; have a valid driver’s license and at least a high school diploma or GED; get certified in CPR and as an EMT and, of course, be willing to swoop into burning buildings in a single bound. Northwest is expecting to hire for at least 10 positions. See more details under “Firefighter Recruitment” at NorthwestFire.org.

Other ideal characteristics for a firefighter include a willingness to spend long nights away from home, having an adaptable sleep pattern and being a very good cook. My grandpa John was a Detroit fire chief who was known around town as the Kielbasa King.

Even in the crappiest of economies, certain occupations will continue to be in need.

Firefighters are definitely one of them. Others include funeral directors, doctors, garbage collectors and hair stylists. No matter how bad it gets, folks still want a good haircut.

A list from Money Magazine posted on FiveCentNickel.com includes a number of other careers that will never go out of style – and are even growing in demand. Thank goodness the list includes hydrologist:

Some jobs are not going up in smoke/Ryn Gargulinski

1. Financial adviser – 47% growth rate – $74,000 median income
2. Software program manager – 29% growth rate – $103,000 median income
3. Database administrator – 29% growth rate – $77,000 median income
4. Physical therapist – 27% growth rate – $67,000 median income
5. Physician’s assistant – 25% growth rate – $84,000 median income
6. Environmental specialist – 25% growth rate – $53,000 median income
7. Hydrologist – 24% growth rate – $59,600 median income
8. College professor – 23% growth rate – $79,000 median income
9. Certified public accountant – 18% growth rate – $64,000 median income
10. Teacher – 12% growth rate – $48,000 median income

If we analyze the list, it’s a very telling tale of our society.

We’re living longer and becoming unhealthier as we sit in front of computers all day – hence the need for medical positions and computer software and database experts.

We are also squirreling away our money instead of enjoying it, hence the financial advisors and accountants.

Teachers and professors are always a plus – we can chuck our children at them instead of raising them ourselves. We can also continue to rape the environment and wreak havoc on the water supply, since there will be a steady stream of environment specialists and hydrologists to clean up after us.

Writer Clare Kaufman also noted an ongoing and future need for high security corrections officers and sales associates, especially those in the pharmaceutical industry.

This means we can keep throwing people in prison and buying, buying, buying things – especially those prescription drugs that make it easier to ignore everything else.

Oh, yes, and we can also burn the house down. As long as our fire departments keeps those positions fully filled.

What do you think?

What other careers are always in demand? Is yours one of them?

What careers are going quickly out of style?

November’s here and that means one thing – it’s time to hurl ourselves face first into the upcoming holiday season.

Photo Ryn Gargulinski

Arizona is doing that in a big way by slaughtering a mighty blue spruce as instructed by the federal government.

Yes, our state has the honor of supplying this year’s United States Capitol Tree.

No, it won’t be placed inside the White House, but rather outside in front of the Capitol Building.

The 85-foot beauty from the White Mountain area’s Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests will be chopped at the knees on Nov. 7, according to a news release from the National Forest Service.

Everyone is welcome to attend this historic event – as it’s the first time ever that a forest in Arizona has been chosen to deplete its resources in the name of tradition.

The tree slaughtering ceremony will feature White Mountain Apache Dancers, an Apache blessing, choral music and Arizona’s official historian Marshall Trimble commemorating the event.

That’s quite a funeral.

The dead tree will then “tour Arizona” and other parts of the nation on the way to its Nov. 30 delivery to the United States Congress in Washington, D.C.

A dead tree is taking a tour? Isn’t that kind of like pulling a casket behind a sled and telling the corpse to enjoy the view?

I am not anti-Christmas trees. They are a fine addition to holiday décor, with their stately stance and fragrant boughs.

With a population of more than 300 million, if only a quarter of the nation’s residents wanted a fresh Christmas tree, 75 million trees would be killed.

But fake trees may not be the answer, according to a report on MSN.com, as they will eventually rot in a landfill when they become too ratty for display.

In fact, the report goes on to explain that Christmas trees and other live holiday décor are grown as crops specifically for that purpose, and not raped from Mother Nature.

That’s good to know. That’s probably why we haven’t encountered any “Save the Spruce” groups, too.

But that still doesn’t excuse the 85-foot slaughter, which is indeed being taken from its natural habitat. But in the big scheme of things, does one dead tree from the White Mountains actually matter?

What do you think?

Are you honored Arizona was chosen to supply the Capitol Christmas tree or do you wish the feds would pick on another state?

Are you a fan of Christmas trees? Do you recycle yours properly when you’re through with them?

Should we forget Christmas altogether and just sit around grouchy like a bunch of Grinches?

Yes, kiddies, even though Halloween is all in fun and frivolity, that doesn’t mean you have to ruin the environment.

DO decorate with organic pumpkins/Ryn Gargulinski

You can be green for Halloween – which means saving the Earth, not necessarily dressing as a frog or a witch.

Forget the Butterfingers. Many of you kids are too fat, anyway, since all you do is sit around and play video games.

Rather than candy, tell all your big people friends to mete out “organic, fair trade fruit snacks, raisins, juice boxes, snack bars, trial size packs of veggie chips.” Obesity and overweight statistics are already at a hefty 67 percent. Don’t make it 68.

Forget the stupid plastic costumes. Those store-bought atrocities are never original and wholly disposable. They are also made of thin, icky plastic that will eventually clog our waterways and feels gross against the skin. Rather than investing in yet another landfill item, borrow stuff from your adult friends for costumes.

If you know a beekeeper, I’m sure he’ll be happy to hand over his hat and netting. Belly dancers will be glad to let you wear their tasseled bikini tops and finger chimes. And don’t forget your neighbor, Mr. Policeman. You can borrow his hat, badge and gun.

A big, inflatable DON'T/Ryn Gargulinski

Don’t make dad inflate Frankenstein in the middle of your yard. Sure, those big, inflatable Halloween decorations may look snazzy, but all that air being pumped inside is wasting energy and probably screwing up our ozone.

They are also known to randomly deflate and rip. This becomes a choking hazard for any kittens, coyotes and babies that may randomly crawl across the lawn.

Instead make Halloween decorations out of recycled materials or something strong and durable so you can later hang them in your bedroom all year round. Use washable, re-usable pillowcases instead of plastic pumpkins to gather your loot.

Walk already. Don’t have your parents drive you around and idle the engine outside every house from which you will gather your organic, fair trade fruit snacks. Get out and walk. Have mom or dad park on the corner and walk around the whole block.

Better yet, carpool with neighbors so you can cram as many kids as possible into one vehicle. This will cut down on pollution and put fewer cars on the road, which means less chance of running over a child who haphazardly darts across the street dressed as a ghost.

It will also let a host of adults get out of the trick or treating gig, as they can claim they cannot fit in the car and the person driving will be stuck with the whole gaggle of children.

Source: Some original ideas but mostly highly embellished news release from the Pima County Department of Environmental Quality.

Are these durable enough to be used year round?/Ryn Gargulinski

Disclaimer: Although this was written with sarcasm, some of these are actually pretty good ideas. But please don’t loan a kid your police badge and gun. And we’re not sure how excited kids will get over organic, fair trade veggie chips.

This kid's got the costume right, but tsk, tsk, he's using a plastic pumpkin/Ryn Gargulinski

What do you think?

Should folks concentrate on going green and feeding kids fruit snacks instead of candy?

Is the “go green” movement something you try to embrace or is the whole thing getting on your nerves?

Tucsonan Joe Gardner was on one of his favorite day trips to Lochiel, about 100 miles southeast of Tucson, where the air is clean and the land pristine – usually.

Except when he finds a dead duct taped coyote.

Duct taped coyote/submitted photo

During his trek about two weeks ago, the 62-year-old who grew up in the Lochiel area noted buzzards circling about and followed their feast to find a mutilated carcass.

The coyote was definitely dead, with a hole in his underside where something had chewed out his entrails. He had not been skinned, but the two front legs and two back legs had been secured with tape, leaving him defenseless, provided he had still been alive when taped.

“I was surprised and puzzled and wondered about mutilation stories I had heard in the past,” Gardner said, “but those involved livestock, not wild animals. I also wondered if it was some kind of sick message for human smugglers, who are also referred to as coyotes.”

He vaguely recalled stories of livestock’s organs and genitalia being removed with “precision-appearing incisions” some time back in Cochise County. Perhaps Jack the Ripper of the cattle world.

Yet he had never seen such abuse of coyotes.

Lochiel school house/submitted photo

“I have not an inkling as to who or why would bind a coyote and leave it out for the buzzards,” he said. “I was born and raised in the area, and as a matter of fact, this was right in front of the one room school I attended when I was a kid. I know just about everyone who lives in the area, and can’t imagine any locals doing this, as they live in the area because they love and respect the land.”

Nothing respectful about a duct taped coyote.

Arizona’s animal cruelty felony law, ARS 13-2910, slaps a felony on anyone that “intentionally, knowingly or recklessly inflicts unnecessary physical injury to any animal.”

Awesome law. But it may not apply in the case of the duct taped coyote.

“Law enforcement would have to successfully allege that it was cruelty,” explained Marsh Myers, spokesman for the Animal Cruelty Taskforce of Southern Arizona. “Since coyotes can be legally hunted, an investigation would have to rule this possibility out. Sometimes the animal is hunted and then the carcass is just left to rot. It’s a sloppy practice but it happens all the time.”

In that case, it’s OK.

Many hunters are respectful – even reverent – about nature and engage in the sport for much more than just the kill. But there are always the idiots.

In another coyote case earlier this year, six mutilated carcasses were found dumped in a creek near an Oklahoma high school.

The critters had been skinned, with their front legs chopped off at the knees and their remains unceremoniously hurled where teens could easily find them.

The animals were originally thought to be dogs and all hell broke loose. Necropsies revealed they had been a half dozen coyotes. Hell kind of subsided.

While Oklahoma, like Arizona, does have animal cruelty laws with severe penalties, it would probably not apply if the animals were being hunted for their fur.

Authorities in Ohio were going nuts in 2007 trying to find the sicko who apparently skinned and boiled a dog – while it was still alive.

The animal, identified by a vet as a chow/pit bull mix, was fully skinned except for fur left on its paws, had cuts on its legs and neck and had wire wound around one of the back legs.

Someone finally did come forward to confess – that the animal was not a dog at all but simply a coyote he hunted but didn’t dispose of properly.

Even though the vet had initially been wrong about the animal’s identification, calling it a dog, the doc was not wrong about the animal having been still alive when it was boiled and skinned.

No matter. It was just a coyote.

The case was immediately closed and all pending criminal charges promptly dropped.

__

Ryn Gargulinski is a poet, artist, performer and TucsonCitizen.com Ryngmaster who loves coyotes as much as she loves wolves but not as much as she loves her dogs. Her column appears every Friday on Rynski’s Blogski. Her art, writing and more is at RynRules.com. E-mail rynski@tucsoncitizen.com.

What do you think?

Is there a way to better enforce – or even prove – the animal cruelty felony law?

Can anything be done to better protect hunted wildlife from undue abuse?

While we may occasionally run across a used diaper in the supermarket parking lot or a wayward plastic bag billowing from a cactus, Tucson is overall pretty clean.

Photo Ryn Gargulinski

Sure, the city has its stenches – especially that garbage can by the drinking fountain near the Rillito River Walk Park – but at least its contained to a garbage can.

One of the reasons behind Old Pueblo’s pristine nature is the Tucson Clean and Beautiful projects.

Since I’ve received three recent news releases about folks cleaning stuff up, it’s only fair to give them some recognition.

Kudos to these folks who are part of the Adopt-A-Park and Public Areas Program:

CITI employees – Workers from this financial services company have been cleaning up the 2-mile stretch of Rita Road near Interstate 10 and their offices at 9060 S. Rita Road. Their efforts, which began this spring, will be recognized at a ceremony at their offices at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 29.

Kino School – These students, who range in age from kindergarten to high school, took on Children’s Memorial Park, 4851 N. 15th Place, in September of last year. Their efforts will be honored at a ceremony and picnic at the park starting at 11:15 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 30.

Sahuaro Girl Scout Council, Starcatcher Service Unit – These do-gooders have spent the past two years maintaining their adopted Linden Park, 300 S. Desert Ave. They were honored this past weekend.

Thanks! for helping to keep Tucson Clean and Beautiful.

Photo Ryn Gargulinski

Now if we could just get someone to adopt the garbage can by the Rillito River walk, we’d be set. And there still are a few other areas that need work.

Shockingly, some apartment complexes don’t even offer recycling programs.

Other folks don’t seem to care about where they chuck their trash. I’ve seen piles of cigar butts, weeds – and even banana peels – simply hurled over backyard fences into an alleyway.

Some trim their trees then throw all the branches in a wash.

And where does that mattress come from that always seems to end up in a riverbed?

Another poor trash habit is from folks who gingerly pick up their dog waste, scoop it neatly into a plastic bag, tie the bag shut – and then promptly throw the bag on the side of the path.

One man went all out not too long ago. He collected bags and bags of dog waste near the Rillito River walk – then threw them all in a pile under one of those signs that says it’s the law to clean up after your dog.

With that much time on his hands, he should have volunteered for a Tucson Clean and Beautiful project. Or at least thrown the dog doo in the trashcan, since the can already reeks.

In addition to the garbage can stench, two other smells around town seem to waft from the depths of hell.

The first is whatever sludge plant is churning out the stench that reaches a far south as Prince Road and Interstate 10.

The second is the mystery aroma that hits you in the face like a moldy, wet sponge the minute you get to the pinnacle of Veteran’s Memorial Highway overpass.

Not to leave you on a sour note, the litterbugs and dog doo man are offset by the more than 125 locations around town that have been adopted and cleaned up by the slew of volunteers.

If you want to learn more or volunteer yourself, check out TucsonCleanAndBeautiful.org or call 791-3109.

The mysteriously appearing mattress/Ryn Gargulinski

What do you think?

Are you a litterbug? Do you yell at litterbugs when you see them littering?

What’s the worst example of littering you’ve seen?

How do you contribute to keeping Tucson clean and beautiful?

Photos are part of the fun of getting away, preserving the memories forever – or at least until your computer goes haywire and deletes them all.

Since TC.com just implemented a new slide show feature, let’s go through the alphabet and check out some pix of San Diego.

Slide 1 of 26.
Art with skyline/Ryn Gargulinski
Slide 2 of 26.
Boats/Ryn Gargulinski
Slide 3 of 26.
Car trunk adjustment/Ryn Gargulinski
Slide 4 of 26.
Disobedience/Ryn Gargulinski
Slide 5 of 26.
Evening/Ryn Gargulinski
Slide 6 of 26.
Freaky motel (no, we didn't stay here)/Ryn Gargulinski
Slide 7 of 26.
Grapes!/Ryn Gargulinski
Slide 8 of 26.
Hogging the passenger seat/Ryn Gargulinski
Slide 9 of 26.
Interstate 5/Ryn Gargulinski
Slide 10 of 26.
Jonathan/Ryn Gargulinski
Slide 11 of 26.
Kayak/Ryn Gargulinski
Slide 12 of 26.
Little Mama/Ryn Gargulinski
Slide 13 of 26.
Marina/Ryn Gargulinski
Slide 14 of 26.
Nevermore/Ryn Gargulinski
Slide 15 of 26.
Ongoing search for missing kids posted at rest stop/Ryn Gargulinski
Slide 16 of 26.
Perfect gravesite in the middle of Old Town Avenue/Ryn Gargulinski
Slide 17 of 26.
Quality time/Ryn Gargulinski
Slide 18 of 26.
Really tacky sculpture/Ryn Gargulinski
Slide 19 of 26.
Spooky Whaley House, the most haunted in America, complete with orb near the tree/Ryn Gargulinski
Slide 20 of 26.
Tandem bike we were going to rent but never did/Ryn Gargulinski
Slide 21 of 26.
Ugly building we kept complaining about/Ryn Gargulinski
Slide 22 of 26.
Vertigo/Ryn Gargulinski
Slide 23 of 26.
Wayward buoy/Ryn Gargulinski
Slide 24 of 26.
Xceptional prints/Ryn Gargulinski
Slide 25 of 26.
Yellow thing still life/Ryn Gargulinski
Slide 26 of 26.
Zeal/Ryn Gargulinski

Which photo is your favorite?

Would you stay at the freaky motel that looks like Norman Bates lives there?

The throng of thousands of University of Arizona students that descend on Tucson every August is a mixed blessing.

Students terrorizing neighborhood?/Ryn Gargulinski

It’s great for the overall economy, the university, and campus-area clothing shops that charge $50-plus for a T-shirt.

But it’s not so great for at least one Tucson neighborhood, according to one longtime Feldman’s resident who would rather her name not be used.

She said Feldman’s Neighborhood has become a menagerie of “mini-dorm ghettos” with students “acting like a pack of wolves.” The pack, she said, comes complete with loud late-night parties, gallons of booze and now, even destruction.

She lodged a complaint with the police against one of those loud parties, at Fourth Avenue and Adams Street, at about 1 a.m. Wednesday (today), she said, only to meet retaliation.

The partiers got her name and address and she suspects took it upon themselves to smash two windows of her tenant’s van out front.

She said another Feldman’s resident has also been terrorized by this pack while the resident’s husband was not home.

“The students threw beer bottles through every window in her home while she was trapped inside. They have been terrorizing her for loud party complaints to the point where she is afraid to answer the door or talk to anyone,” the woman wrote in a Wednesday morning letter to President Robert Shelton.

“From what I can see, the kids in the mini-dorms have no ethics or interest in a higher education,” she wrote. “They are here to party out-of-state and let their parents just pay all the bills.”

Illustration Ryn Gargulinski

While I have not lived in Feldman’s, I have had the opportunity to live next to one of these types of students. Yes, he had rich parents who paid the rent on the property’s main residence while I scraped together my rent for the property’s guest house.

He also had no regard for others.

This kid’s parties would snake deep into the night and I would often be greeted the next morning with beer cans lining the outside of my living room windowsill.

Thankfully, no violence ever erupted – but then again, I never called the cops on him, at least not for his parties. I was also able to drown out most of the noise with triple-pane windows and a bedroom far from his side of the yard.

But that doesn’t seem to be happening in Feldman’s.

“In order to justify the destruction of this historic, diverse, downtown, quiet neighborhood, Mr. Michael Goodman (minidorm developer) has argued that the kids need to be near the university,” the upset resident wrote. “The university has also tried to brand itself as having ‘sustainable’ features and culture. These mini-dorm kids, however, always drive to campus in their BMWs despite the fact that they are a 10-minute walk away from Park and Speedway.

“The creation of a ghetto full of undergrad adult male child boarders from out of state with no supervision and lots of money to burn is not only short sighted and negligent in a number of ways, it is dangerous.”

What do you think?

Have you ever had similar problems?

What should be done to correct situations like this?

What about the landlords who rent to these kids – what role do they play?

After dozens of detours, hordes of headaches and folks finding themselves stuck at a dead end, the Fourth Avenue underpass is reopening with hoopla, hype and a brand new look.

Kitschy stuff, even when misspelled on a Reid Park garbage can, makes Tucson charming/Ryn Gargulinski

Some may say hip-hip and hooray but I have another thing to say: I liked the old one.

I am in no way downing the renovation or the fact that the new underpass is safer, more practical and – yaay! – finally getting rid of that dead end.

Nor am I trying to throw a wet towel on the celebration, which sounds like a gas.

I am simply lamenting the passing of another chunk, albeit crumbling, of Tucson’s past.

I fell in love with Fourth Avenue’s creepy, cavernous underpass during one All Souls Procession, when the masked and bone-clad creatures frolicked out of its mouth like a throng of glorious souls from the depths of the Earth.

Our Logical Lizard blogger, Geoffrey Notkin, agrees. In fact, I think he’s the one who pointed out that phenomenon at the event.

Frolicking out of shiny new tile just won’t have the same effect.

Sure, the previous underpass may have been ready to crumble and was so low it may have possibly behead someone, but it was also quite charming.

Part of what drew me to Old Pueblo was its ancient buildings and dilapidated underpasses. Let’s call it Tucson charm.

Not that I’m against progress – some things need updating. But it would be wise to ensure we keep that primitive feel that makes Tucson so alluring.

"Progress" in action on the desert patch/Ryn Gargulinski

Other “progress” around town includes new construction tall enough to block mountain views in Feldman’s Historic Neighborhood, as outlined in a letter by resident Kathleen Williamson.

A fine rambling patch of desert near the Rillito River along my daily dog walk was once haven to coyotes, lizards, rabbits and twisted debris that made for great art supplies.

Now it’s a parking lot.

While my dogs do enjoy the water fountain the parking lot came with, I’m still wondering if it will ever house more cars than the usual zero to three I see there.

I’m also still wondering why an open-topped, concrete garbage can that gets stuffed with dog doo was placed mere inches from the water fountain.

See, sometimes “progress” can really stink.

What do you think?

Should developers try to retain Tucson’s kitschy charm?

Should all the old stuff be razed to make way for newfangled buildings?

Should we all just move to Phoenix?

This fun Odd Pueblo feature asks the audience to rate a trend, topic or sighting of something around town: is it snappy or crappy?

The last snappy or crappy, a happy mustard face on bread, generally got an all-around snappy. It also elicited fond memories of triangular pancakes and other foodstuff we make into funny faces or shapes.

The latest snappy or crappy is also smiling – but with a toothier grin. Meet the giant T-Rex (as if a T-Rex could be anything but giant).

Snappy or crappy?/Ryn Gargulinski

This dude stands on the corner of East Tanque Verde and North Kolb roads in front of a McDonald’s.

Even though he’s not as funky as some other Tucson art, he is handsome and fun. He gets a snappy from me.

What do you think? Please respond:
a. Snappy. Dinosaurs bring back fond memories of visiting natural history museums.
b. Snappy. Dinosaurs bring back fond memories of being mauled by large-toothed dogs and other creatures.
c. Crappy. Just another hunk of junk marring our gorgeous landscape.
d. Crappy. Although I like the dinosaur, I don’t like that my kids insist on going to McDonald’s every time we pass it.