25 RANDOM THINGS… Attorney General Jerry Brown likes arugula. Squid likes arugula! Brown was a high school cheerleader. Squid was also a high school cheerleader! Brown worked with Mother Theresa in India at the Home for the Dying. Squid… sometimes does good stuff, too. But isn’t quite as clever as Brown, who appears to be using Facebook’s “25 Random Things About Me” as a political tool.

Brown, aka Governor Moonbeam, served two terms in the mid-1970s. And while he has yet to officially throw his hat into the ring for the 2010 race, Random Notes Number 6 – “My official portrait as Governor [by modern artist Don Bachardy] was quite controversial and the Legislature refused to hang it. My father said if I didn’t get a new one, I could never run again. It is now hanging and I am still running,” – and Number 24 – “The first time I became Governor, I followed an Actor (Ronald Reagan)” – seem to indicate another run for governor.

And, for the record, Brown doesn’t like shopping (Number 8) and his favorite cereal is Flax Plus Multibran (Number 19). A politician after Squid’s own heart.

NO FREE LUNCH (OR JAZZ)… Squid had such a good time at Asilomar Conference Grounds during the Eco-Farm confab, Squid got all rared up to return for the free Fireside Jazz concerts every Thursday in February. Nothing says hip like a cup of steaming beer by the fireplace while local jazzies blow their horns.

Woe to Squid, then, to get a cryptic email from Front Desk Supervisor (and gothic roleplaying gamer) D. Scott McQuiston, who wrote, “Due to recent events at Asilomar Conference Grounds, the Fireside Jazz program will be discontinued.”

Recent events? Could McQuiston be referring to the fires in Australia? California’s $42 billion budget boo-boo? Or maybe the state Parks Department’s decision to award Asilomar’s 20-year operation contract to ARAMARK Parks & Destinations rather than the current operator, Delaware North Companies?

Squid smells job insecurity as Asilomar’s 240 unionized workers wonder will happen to their jobs once their contracts are up. Delaware has appealed the decision, suggesting dirty play at Parks.

Luckily, McQuiston’s gamer ego is part of a clan “known for their cold, ruthless and often brutal means of upholding the strength of the First Estate.” Perhaps this is nothing a little bloodsucking couldn’t fix?