Short Takes Short Takes (February 08, 2006)

Trailer parks and tourist traps

At the Menlo Park City Council's January 31 meeting, a consultant presented a draft report that used some interesting terms to describe the area east of Chilco Street, near Tyco.

"Uses are mixed, including tourist-oriented development, trailer parks, multiple family-residential and single-family residences," said the consultant in the report.

But none of those things actually exist in the area, and Mayor Nicholas Jellins, who caught the mistake, wasn't amused that the report was way off the mark.

The consultant apologized, and said the sentence did not belong in the report.
BJ and Tyler's excellent adventure

Is there such thing as a low-profile MacNiven? Certainly a flair for making the most of the public eye seems to have passed from father Jamis, the impresario of Buck's restaurant in Woodside, to his son Tyler. Tyler and his buddy BJ are one of the 11 teams competing for $1 million in the next installment of the Amazing Race, a reality show airing on CBS on February 28.

Their team profile makes pretty clear the niche that Tyler and BJ will be filling -- bearded, Frisbee-playing hippie dudes.

Tyler's other media-grabbing exploits include walking the length of Japan in 2004 and campaigning vigorously to get into Stanford by painting his Cadillac red and plastering it with "Tyler for Student" signs back in 1998.
No curb, no problem

In Atherton, the 18-inch rule doesn't apply. Atherton streets' distinctive aesthetic -- rural lanes free of streetlights, sidewalks and curbs -- means that those irritating people who partially block the road with their parked cars can't be ticketed. Apparently, you can't be cited for parking your car more than 18 inches from the curb if there is, in fact, no curb.

E-mail a friend a link to this story.