I did some digging in my hometown newspaper and found that some 40 years later now "that guy" was given an award for civic service, not by the village where he was elected mayor, but by my little college town. For many years he spearheaded the annual town festival ("Defeat of Jesse James Days"), served on boards, presided over the local historical society, and did everything that needed to be done. He was a regular Leslie Knope, except that he never again worked for the government. Yet the first thing that is ever mentioned about him, including at his award ceremony, is "Weren't you once the teenage mayor?"

Speaking of Leslie Knope and crossing TV-real-life boundaries, the Indiana University alumni magazine continues to slip in the occasional entry about her in the class-notes section for her year of graduation. It seems that she was recently elected to the city council of Pawnee.

Speaking of Parks and Rec, it was pretty flippin' funny tonight!

Yup.

That's so interesting, Rick, I had no idea.

I miss Troy. And I hope an asteroid doesn't destroy all of civilization.

Community shirts are currently on 25% off sale at the NBC store (I think they promote it more in sale email than on the air), and the messenger bag is back in stock, for those what are interested: [link] (code=GCC25).

So how about that Parks and Rec finale? I love this show.

Man, I could never get traction with that show. I've watched five or so episodes, and despite liking individual characters and relationships, I don't feel an urge to come back and watch more.

Does marathoning help? Is it worth it?

I think it's one of the most consistently funny and enjoyable shows on television. It always puts a smile on my face.

If you've watched five scattered episodes, as opposed to the first five episodes of season one (which are not the best the show has to offer by any means), I'm not sure whether marathoning would help. It definitely has continuity, but if it's not grabbing you, it may not be your style. Marathoning a show generally does help it put its best foot forward, though.

I'm in the middle of marathoning it. There's definitely stuff I really like, and a couple of things that irritate me and never get better. I feel like it really kicked in during Season 3.

I love April. I kind of am April. But I haven't really watched since last year.(Leslie sometimes gets on my nerves, even though I kind of relate to her civics-geek optimism.)

There were more Buffy references in this week's The Crazy Ones with "fire bad" and Sydney saying "this reminds me of something" at the accidental book burning.