Why So Weird was cancelled

Okay, so if you haven't heard of it, So Weird was a show that used to be on the Disney Channel back in the late 90's. It was about a girl named Fi Phillips that toured the country with her rockstar mom, brother, a roadie, a tour manager, and their kid. Not only that, but she encountered paranormal phenomena on an almost seemingly regular basis. From Will 'o the Wisps to banshees, she saw it all.

Then, Disney Channel proceeded to wreck the series because they thought it was getting "too dark." So, they brought in new producers, new writers, and the all-new, brighter, more colorful So Weird with blond, up-and-coming Canadian actress Alexz Johnson in place of Fi. Of course, paranormal stuff happened to her, too, but it wasn't as exciting.

Personally, I think Disney dropped the ball on that one, as the practice of cancelling programmes regardless of how popular they were was running rampant at the time. The once-awesome series went out with a clip show, and now there's not so much as a box set out to remember it by. Thank god for this saint of a person who uploaded the episodes to YouTube. Go to http://www.youtube.com/soweirdtv and check it out.

Anyway, I don't get why Disney decided to cancel the programme, as it was amazing the way it was. I guess Disney's neverending quest to be the premiere source of family entertainment got in the way. Whatever it was, it happened and now it's gone, save for YouTube.

I guess one has to take the changing tastes and times into consideration when debating this, as perhaps the swing toward the more boy-band-centric 2000 comes into play. It's a complicated business, as perhaps the "College Hippies" were right when they said that "the Corporations are taking over the world, man." It's odd that boy bands are created by corporations, but I digress.

Perhaps we'll never know why Disney cancelled So Weird, but thank god for YouTube.

Mall parking lots

Well, it seems like malls where I live are pretty cool. I mean, there are stores like Build-A-Bear, the cookie place, and pet shops, not to mention food courts with places that actually serve decent food (one mall has a restaurant with fish tacos that I absolutely love). Sure, the malls are great, but...

...well, it's pretty much the damn parking lots.

One of my friends and I decided to chance a visit to the local mall because she wanted to pick up her favorite hand sanitising spray (it's orange-vanilla scented, but I swear, it smells like the Orange Tylenol Cold & Flu). Anyway, as soon as we got into the outskirts of the parking lot, it was madness.

Apparently, the laws of traffic are lightly regarded, at best, and stop signs seem to be nothing more than decorative signs placed there for mall security's amusement. Disregard for parking lot speed limits runs rampant, and two types of people seem to be dominant: the "I've got to get to that sale in [such-and-such department store] RIGHT NOW," and "I've got to get out of here because I spent too much time looking for that top they advertised." Those kinds of people are hell to be around, even more hellish to drive around.

So, I guess what I don't get is why people, who seem to obey traffic laws for the most part outside of the parking lot, seem to deliberately flout those same laws within the confines of the parking lot? Is that top/pair of jeans/perfume/cologne/whatever REALLY worth almost killing you/your kids/your spouse/everyone around you? Apparently, as people seem to be in a hurry regardless of whether they're coming or going.

Apparently, this phenomenon is extremely bad on the weekends, when soccer moms and single dads have the opportunity to get the kids out of the house and tote them around at the mall, where they look in window displays, admire things they can't afford, and daydream that somehow, through some minute miracle, they aren't lugging around several screaming children who want nothing more than an ice cream cone or cinnamon bun.

Anyway, I wouldn't normally have a problem, except for when I'm almost killed trying to run in for hand sanitiser. I mean, come on people, it's the mall.