WINE AND DINE SNOB IS BORN!

From the desk of Leigh:

Recently, I had the pleasure of meeting Kelly Cook, founder of and editor for
the snob empire, (www.bagsnob.com, www.jewelsnob.com, www.totsnob.com,
www.beautysnob.com) and we got to talking about food – and lo and behold, we
have birthed the latest addition to the snob empire...
http://wineanddinesnob.blogspot.com

More reviews forthcoming folks – and no, they won’t all be scathing. This is
merely a coincidence. Kelly got food poisoning at London - and my experience at
Ciudad was just far less than great, period.

My review of Bond St. is pretty positive - you'll see. We’re just waiting on
pretty photos from their camp.

We have four editors on-board - who will be scouring the states for delectable
delights - and sharing the good, the bad and the ugly with you - including Kelly
Cook, Eva, (Kelly's East-Coast-Based sister) Dan Dunn, (the Imbiber and
Contributing Editor to Maxim and its Sirius radio program, Playboy and AM New
York - and possibly others I'm unaware of and the man gets paid to drink too,
which is just plain remarkable) and finally - little ol' me.

There will also be occasional 'napkin art' illustrations (shown above)
by my husband John to captureany visual uniqueness we come across.

Between the four of us, we will undoubtedly have differing perspectives of the
same place(s) from time-to-time and will therefore be reviewing restaurants as
often as we see fit.

So, enjoy... and please visit the other snob sites too!

Sincerely,

Leigh Hope Fountain, (Self-Proclaimed Food Critic Extraordinaire)

HOT MEXICAN LOVE NUMERO OCHO!

That's right, amigos and amigas... HOT MEXICAN LOVE COMICS #8 is out there and ready for your dineros! It features a story in rhyme that is - for the third time - written by my lovely wife Leigh and illustrated in my "anti-slick" style.
This particular story brings our "water trilogy" (i.e. three stories about the unique properties of Mexican water) to a bombastic, zombie-filled conclusion.
Need a taste? Here's yer taste:

Now if that's not enough to get your PayPal or credit card jamming on over to the HMLC web site and ordering a hundred copies then I just can't help you. Oh wait - yeah I can... here's the link:

http://www.hotmexicanlovecomics.com/

Also, check out the blog for ComiCon appearances and updates:

http://hotmexicanlovecomics.blogspot.com/

And while you're at it, shouldn't you complete your collection of our books, paintings and other merchandise at:

http://fountainspenproductions.blogspot.com/
http://fountainspen.deviantart.com/

Okay... enough plugging and pitching... JUST BUY STUFF, OKAY?! SHEESH...
Oh - and enjoy the comic!

OFFENSENSITIVITY

It never fails to amaze me how easily offended people are over the dumbest, most benign things imaginable.

No, I'm not talking about the political cartoon from the cover of The New Yorker, I'm talking about really, truly stupid shit.

I've had people take offense that I politely decline the dessert they're serving because I simply don't like the taste of strawberries. I've had people take offense that I don't think Sarah Silverman is particularly funny. I've had people take offense that I no longer get a kick out of 'Scooby Doo' any more. I've had people get offended that I not only don't support their favorite sports team but that I'm not particularly into sports at all.

I've been in conversations where people will scream and shout and get all worked up over which is better, Beatles vs. Stones, Superman vs. Batman, Mac vs. PC...

Don't get me wrong... I'm an opinionated person (some would say TOO opinionated) but at the end of the day, isn't it a little silly to be OFFENDED by someone's opinion? You could say to me "In my opinion, you are an idiot" I would not be offended because I know that I'm not an idiot (a fool, perhaps, but not an idiot). You could say to me "In my opinion your cartoons suck" and while I would be disappointed, I would not be offended because not everyone likes the same things - just like I don't care for strawberries.

Something amazing happened recently... I was having a discussion with a friend of mine over a variety of topics, and on two of those topics we vehemently disagreed with one another on a very fundamental level. And guess what? WE'RE STILL FRIENDS! GASP! We were actually able to debate about a topic, agree to disagree and then just move on as jovially as ever.

It's getting harder and harder to have conversations like that any more because people get offended so easily. When did we all develop such tissue-thin skin? It's depressing to me because when people don't discuss their differences, it feeds into the cycle of misunderstanding that keeps our society from evolving.

I'm sure I'm guilty of it as well, but I like to think that I at least try not to let it control my life.

Anyway... that's my rant for now...

I hope I didn't offend anyone.