Great idea... if you ignore that people get shot, assaulted and their vehicles vandalized for doing stuff like that.  (And that's just the cases that make the news.)

Even I'm not dumb enough to walk out and tell the six huge drunks that they're being too loud.

If the laws are good enough to have-- and note, this service just makes people aware of wrongdoing, and I'd insist that any action against the vehicles would require an actual officer or properly authorized authority on location, which would probably be the owner calling the towing company-- then they're worthwhile to enforce.

I_don't_support_redlight and other "automatic" punishments because they have been shown to be...well, dumb machines.  They ticket people who aren't actually speeding, can't tell the difference between avoiding a poorly driven truck and running a red light because you're hurrying, and have frequently been shown to "catch" people who didn't do anything wrong. (even before you look at shortening the yellow lights, etc.)

Hurry up and make a version where I can report other petty crimes and get some kind of response.

Somebody tried to jimmy our car, and as soon as the found out that it wasn't in progress with someone inside the car, they sent us to a website.  That didn't work if you followed the directions.

I don't want computer enforcement (red light cameras are evil and dumb), I want some sort of recourse; if it's important enough to make legally enforceable rules, it is our business. 

Aaaaawwww!

In spite of things like the blessed silver pie servers, or awesome-yet-scary dental floss.

Speaking of which, Elfen Lied is that turned up to 11.  Psychological horror, gore, body horror, etc.

TV tropes' pages are actually rather good to explain these things.... (Please Save my Earth's page)

Another reason that anime may be very popular: it's pretty, generally, especially compared to South Park and such.  I can't think of anything the US has that's even close to the Bishonen trope, even in the more serious less creepy flavors. 

About the biggest hit against anime is that I think it is to blame for hipsters-- the fansubs are often so much better than the English dubs that it's better to be a fan before it's big....

*************

Got_my_niece_hooked on anime with Magical Meow Meow Taruto-- if you can survive the sweetness, it'll make you laugh, cry, and generally enjoy it.

The Twelve Kingdoms is rather like something Robin McKinley might write.

Hellsing is interesting, creepy, etc.-- consider it an antidote for Twilight. 

Saiyuki is flat-out strange, but in an interesting way; retelling of Journey to the West... sort of.  Pretty sure the original didn't have a monk/priest with a pistol, or a firelizard that turns into a jeep.  

Inu Yasha is_rather_good, but I'm biased against it because I like the manga and fansubs so much-- the English translation cut off a lot of mythology.

Slayers_is_flatout FUN!  Blowing stuff up, cartoon style violence, one of the few my husband suggests the English version over subtitled.

Trigun_is_another_classic, scifi, two insurance agents trying to keep the most dangerous man alive from causing damage.  He's a goofball, folks hurt themselves trying to catch him.

Even more expensive, though.

Oh, and coffee is quite literally double the price of Safeway.  Don't get me started on beer.

The local grocery store where I grew up is smart-- Hank's a genius at levering deals-- but some of the prices that I remember from last time I visited vs what it costs at Safeway here:

$4 vs 2.50 milk
$6 vs 3 pizza on sale
$8 vs $6 bulk eggs
$6 vs $3 cereal 

Depending on what the gas distribution is like, and what kind of mileage your vehicle gets, you can gas up for 50-60c less a gallon; make sure you're bone dry when you get there, and gas up before leaving town again, and you can make it work.  If I lived local, I'd probably do my folks' shopping that way.  If the stupid grocery store was the only one in the valley, my folks would have to go over the mountain to make ends meet.

Thought you were going to do the "eat a live toad and nothing for the rest of the day will challenge you" quote.

Saving face or giving plum assignments? 

Oatmeal Squares are the best-- crunchy, slightly sweet, lots of iron and fiber, and the kids will eat them as snack food.

Not sure how they are with milk, though-- they never make it that far in our house.

T-bone steak from my folks' place, and just enjoying him finally being back!

Really odd that this comes up now; I was just talking about it from a different angle (in the format of urban fantasy) yesterday.

My dad knew a family that did dowsing.  My grandmother read tea leaves for fun, until her "oh I'll just make stuff up for fun based off of what it looks like" readings were consistently accurate to the point that she banned fairy tales from her house.  Not even any books with talking animals for her future children.  There's the whole ESP thread a month or two back.

From the other direction, I've had folks assure me that coyote dogs are a myth, or that they "can't" happen in the wild, without IVF.  They are... um... mistaken, to be generous.

The assumptions folks make matter a lot in what they'll see evidence of existing. 

I'm rather heavily influenced by having figured this out at the same time I found out the same thing about the myth of "Hitler's Pope." 

The Crucible was probably a bit less maliciously designed.

Still annoyed at decent history, and some rather awesome folks, being tainted by the association. 

Shrieking, putting your index fingers in the sign of the cross, and running away in terror sound pretty informal to me.... *flashes back to English class.  Again.*

I know it's ranch kid heresy...but other than grandma's 's**t on a shingle,' I've never liked any gravy.   And she was able to make mutton pass as great lamb.

Also think that hashbrowns should be treated as the breakfast version of rice in fried rice.

Other than that?

Yum!