Yes, this is (according to the Chinese New Year) “The Year of the Dog.” The commemorate the celebration, we went to The Power Paws Assistance Dogs fund-raiser at Tempe Town Lake. The highlight--I mean the real highlight--had to be the Arizona Great Dane Drill Team. No need to imagine what it’s like to see the giant, regal animals move in unison (a form of obedience training), just take a look. In fact, this is one of two clips.

One of our favorite Phoenix haunts, Luby’s, is out of our life. The Luby’s, located in Paradise Valley Mall, closed, leaving the area with one cafeteria, that being WAY OUT on Bell Avenue on the way to Surprise Stadium. Some folks think Luby’s is a restaurant for seniors, but it has great, fresh food with a wide selection. I think, as I said in the clip, it makes me doubly sad as it’s a place we used to go with my father when he lived in the area. Guess, it’s one more reason to visit Texas--Luby’s stronghold (as well as corporate headquarters).

Sunday the 15^th of January is the annual P.F. Change Rock’N’Roll Marathon here in Phoenix. We went down to the pre-race event, a health & fitness expo at the Phoenix City Plaza to nose around, see runners pick up their packets and patrol the booths.

As you might expect, there were lots of freebies, lots of freeloaders (admission was free). Of note, we spoke to “Gina,” who is an on-air spokesperson for Channel 45, the local UPN station. Gina also is a Phoenix Suns cheerleader. Also, we met Dave Newman who created the official race poster (we entered a raffle to win the original).

As is the custom, Arizona kicks off the New Year with the Jan. 2^nd Fiesta Bowl. It’s a pretty big deal in the Phoenix area as it brings in lots of money and tourists to the area, specially given that it’s about 50 degrees warmer here than it is elsewhere in the continental U.S.

This year, it’s Ohio State vs. Notre Dame, and we went to both school’s local hotel headquarters in search of…well, I am not sure what we were in search of. We didn’t see any famous alums (Regis, Jack Nicklaus, Bobby Knight, etc…) but saw some of the Notre Dame players (my wife says she saw Brady Quinn) and lots of fans escaping the cold.

This is the last year the Fiesta Bowl will be held at ASU’s Sun Devil Stadium; beginning next season, the game moves out to Glendale at the Cardinals new facility.