As I mentioned in my earlier post I attended the Santa Clara County Fair last weekend.

Making my way through the exhibit halls I saw the booths for the San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose Police Department. Each booth had stickers and coloring books for the kids, and job application information for potential recruits.

Just across from the SJPDfolks was a booth selling wallets, purses and other “designer” items from Coach, Gucci, Chanel and LV. Knowing full well a Chanel bag costs several hundreddollars - not $15, I had a pretty good idea it was less than legit.

So, again me being a good citizen, I politely asked one of the uniformed SJPDbooth-jockeys if he realizedhis neighbor was hawking fake goods. He looked over in that direction, giving a response while chuckling, “Ya know, lots of people like that stuff.”

At the next booth, there were two uniformed Santa Clara County Sherrif deputies, that I posed the same query to. Their response…”You’d better call Customs, it’s not our job.”

Maybe they are correct…who cares? Bootleg music, DVD andcomputer software, who does it hurt? Fake autographed sports memorabilia and licensed Sponge Bob stuff. So what.

Hello, Chuck Reed, mayor of San Jose. Your city, your cops, your citizens. Just wanted you to know.

Santa Clara County Fair Organizers claimed the Fair would cease to exist if they didn’t at least break even this year. So, me being a good citizen, I decided to check it out.

My opinion? Cancel the damn thing.

Why? OK, first off, $8 to park + $8 to get in. $24 off the bat. Overpriced lousy food that I could get at the San Jose flea market on Berryessa; vendors that sell nothing of relevence that are also flea market regulars; overpriced games…and thugs. Lots and lots of thugs. $75 later, I walked out with a tiny stuffed bear.

If they were attempting to attract families, couplesor upstanding citizens, they failed miserably. I saw very few couples, and even less families. Mostly it was groups of individuals wearing some sort of clothing that could be considered gang-related (color-coordinated hats, shirts, etc.) with body art on necks, backs and hands.

Is there anything wrong with this? Maybe not. Am I being prejudiced in any way? Possibly. But since I have been around this environment myself in a “past life” I know who likely is and who likely isn’t associated. Of course you cannot judge a book by its cover - but, if you don’t want to be judged, don’t look the part.

I am the first to admit, I have not been as blog-happy as I hoped to be in the last few months. What with having to travel quite a bit, andbusiness responsibilities, I think daily what I need to touch on…but when I finally have a moment to sit at the keyboard, I am nodding off past midnight.

There are several noteworthy events that have happened in the last few weeks, most notably the AIDS Walk in San Francisco, as well as other events held around the country and globe that many of you have written to tell me about. Any of you reading this who have attended or participated - and have snapped pictures, please do us all a favor and post them in your BigJock.com photo album!

My computer was still open to The San Francisco Chronicle artcle on the Bevan Dufty vs. Chris Daly fight/argument/tussle, with Daly being called a bully, among other things. Yes, the same Chris Daly that accused Gavin Newsom of using cocaine. I’ve never met Mr. Daly, but he seems to be a real…um….Hey Chris, why not have a Coke and a smile, and take a chill pill!

Another issue I thought was funny was Albert Gore, III, the son of former Bill Clinton VP, Al Gore, being clocked at 100mph in a Toyota Prius! Never mind that he was stoned or had drugs in hand….a Prius hitting the century mark?? That’s what the cops said about Rodney King’s Hyundai in the early 90’s - that we was going +100. Uh-huh…!

Barry Bonds keeps on swinging, even at a few days short of his 43rd birthday. Say what you will about Bonds, whether it is regarding the steroid allegations, him being something short of a nice guy; but he is about to do something pretty darned amazing in breaking Hank Aaron’s homerun record. As one who has actually swung and missed in a slow-pitch softball game, I can’t imagine squarely hitting a round ball with a round bat, while that round ball is approaching Prius speed.

Let’s enjoy the chase and the laserbeam homers, and save our athlete distaste for Michael Vick, he of the dog fighting ring. Nike has pulled his shoe line, but the NFL has yet to suspend the guy who was sued for spreading herpes and staying in hotels under the name Ron Mexico. Along with his brother, Marcus, who was kicked off his college team for brushes with the law, and stepping on an opponent, the Vick brothers are what we need in sports - to realize what we do not want in roll models for our youth.

Not to be too United States-centric, but I wanted to wish everyone a happy July 4^th.

Please enjoy your day off (OK, not everyone has this day off, lord knows there were many 4^th’s that I had to work) with family and/or friends, have a great meal, enjoy the fireworks, and stay safe.

Don’t forget, this weekend in San Francisco!

This is why I love San Francisco politics. From Joe Alioto and George Moscone to DiFi and Frank Jordan to Willie Brown and Gavin Newsom.

This is also why people become so blase about voting, our political system, and the lack of good candidates.

The latest was supervisor Chris Daly publicly accusing mayor Gavin Newsom of using cocaine, and the mayor blasting back in denial.

I like Gavin because he seems like a common sense guy, one who tries to do the right thing even if it pisses people off. I am also fairly certain he has aspirations for higher office, possibly governor or the senate, as Arnold is done in a few years and the tag-team of Boxer and Feinstein is not getting any younger.

My rhetorical question is, why would anyone in their right mind enter the political arena when true or not, an opponent can make an accusation and right away your character is questioned. Did Gavin roll up a Benjamin and do some lines? Lots of people have over the years, and I will bet, a lot of people nowin City Hall. If it was 20 years ago in college would that really matter how he does his job today?

Chris Daly is loved and hated in The City. He is an advocate for affordable housing, which is a good cause. However, when he and his cohorts make it nearly impossible to build in town, Economics 101 comes into play: supply and demand. Who is to blame a homeowner from taking $800,000 for a home he paid $80,000 for 30 years ago and heading to Truckee to live in comfort?!

Pet Peeve: I would love for teachers to be able to live in the same city they work, but on a measly paycheck, few can afford anything more than a one-bedroom rental.

My solution: The City, and in particular, the School Board owns quite a bit of land. One lot in particular comes to mind, at a school I once attended, Cabrillo. Located on 24^th and 25^th avenues between Balboa and Cabrillo, the school was closed a couple of years back. The land is nearly 1/2 city block in size.

City Hall, please read this: Use your own land and build a Teacher Colony of townhouses and condominiums, and let your most valued employees become homeowners. You can sell half of the units for market rate to cover your construction costs, and look at the cut-rate units as an investment in the future of the children.

So there you have it…/font>