Columnists

Ah, Super Bowl weekend. Let the parties begin! More importantly, let those television commercials begin! Last year, a pug with a passion for Doritos made the top 10 list for commercial success, along with a group of dogs throwing a party and serving Bud Light. This year, we'll have rottweilers and Doritos, and a chorus of dogs with Volkswagens. All designed to make us laugh while we go out and buy their brand.

It's the most wonderful time of the year. No, no, not Christmas, silly! Super Bowl Sunday is coming for crying out loud.

The following editorial appeared in the Los Angeles Times on Friday, Jan. 27:

There is probably no more popular law in California today than term limits, the result of a 1990 ballot proposition limiting state legislators to six years in the Assembly and eight in the state Senate.

In his State of the Union address to Congress, the very Democratic President Obama made good use of a thought from the first Republican President, Abraham Lincoln. As he transitioned from talking about education to an outline of his plans for energy and the environment, Obama said that "Government should do for people only what they cannot do better by themselves, and no more."

Located in a nondescript commercial building at 7455 Eigleberry St. is Gilroy's Pleasant Valley Church. The facility's modest exterior masks an amazing facility that allows the congregation to offer a wide variety of ministries to the community.

Each new year brings the introduction of new products at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. And several MHAT-19 members attended this year's show to see the latest in high-tech gadgets. What really stood out at the CES 2012 show was the amazing high-tech advances making television sets smarter and more Internet friendly electronic devices.

James M. Cain's original 1935 novella "Double Indemnity" (the 1944 movie starred Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray) spun a tale of intrigue, adultery and murder. He was a master of edgy, noir and suspenseful plots like "The Postman Always Rings Twice" (the 1934 movie starred Lana Turner and John Garfield and the book was banned in Boston) and "Mildred Pierce" (the 1945 movie starred Joan Crawford and Zachary Scott).

I have long been a proponent of meat, often expounding on the virtues of pig fat and beef cheek. However, I do not hesitate to declare, in black and white, that there is very little more delicious than a perfectly ripe pear or local ear of corn in season. In an interview with "60 Minutes" last year, my friend and constant inspiration, José Andrés, called meat "overrated." He added, "I believe the future is vegetables and fruits."

Forty three years is a long time. That's how long my parents, who celebrated their anniversary this week, have been married. I wonder - more in amusement than in awe - how two people can put up with each other for that long and be as content as they are.