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Ryn Gargulinski

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Odd Pueblo: Snappy or crappy?

This fun Odd Pueblo feature asks the audience to rate a trend, topic or sighting of something around town: is it snappy or crappy?

The last snappy or crappy, a gussied up truck, crashed into crappy. Forty-one percent said the thing stank, while 33 percent gave it a snappy and 20 percent said it was both snappy and crappy. A mere 5 percent were too dizzy from the design to decide.

At least the truck was unique, unlike other landmarks popping up around Tucson – such as these dang In-N-Out Burger signs.

Tucson landscape/Ryn Gargulinski
Tucson landmark/Ryn Gargulinski

Fast food signs are sprouting like weeds all over town – and the nation – killing off any hope of having natural, beautiful or even regional landscape.

This particular sign is near Interstate 10 on Ajo Way, letting highway drivers see what’s in store if they take the Tucson off-ramp.

What a gorgeous sight to behold/Ryn Gargulinski
What a gorgeous sight to behold (please note sarcasm)/Ryn Gargulinski

Such signs are becoming the face of Tucson. Never mind giant metal cactus, painted overpasses or other visual delights that add to our town’s quirkiness. Never mind pristine. Not that this particular sign’s location on Ajo Way is especially pristine, but you know what I mean.

Every city in America is a study in yellow and red fast food franchises and their oversize signs. It’s enough to make us sick – even before we eat the greasy food. In-N-Out Burger is just one of the violators, but they do seem to erect some of the largest eyesores.

If you haven’t guessed, my vote is crappy on this one. Crappy on the colors, crappy on the size and crappy that Tucson is blending into America’s fate as one big, ugly strip mall.

What do you think?
Please vote snappy or crappy below.

[tnipoll]

wb-logolilDo you even eat fast food?

What’s your favorite? What’s your least favorite?

Why are Wendy’s hamburgers square?

Where have all the White Castles gone?

Did you ever get hives from Arby’s chicken sandwiches?

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What do you think?

Filed Under: blogski, crime, danger, environment, gross stuff, life, odd pueblo, snappy or crappy Tagged With: america landscape, america strip mall, american landscape sucks, bad food america, bad food tucson, environment, fast food american way, fast food franchises, fast food landscape, gross, highways tucson, in and out burger, in-n-out burger tucson, rynski's blogski, snappy or crappy, tucson, tucson art, tucson burger joints, tucson disgusting, tucson fast food, tucson greasy food, tucson landscape ruined, tucson quirky, tucson strip mall, twisted, ugly signs america, ugly signs tucson, ugly tucson landscape

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. leftfield says

    April 28, 2010 at 7:47 am

    What’s more American than bad food and ugly signs?  When health and beauty run up against the profit motive… well, you know the rest of the story.

    was shutdown

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    • Rynski says

      April 28, 2010 at 8:15 am

      hahahahh! dear was shutdown,
      wish your CAPTCHA applied to the plastic signs.
       

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  2. Andrew Ulanowski says

    April 28, 2010 at 8:25 am

    Good morning your Ryn-ness! I voted snap/crap:
    1) Crap – the sign and the food
    2) Snap – if you take the words for In N Out Burger
    and remove a couple letters:
    IN N OUT
    URGE
    We get another message altogether. 🙂
    Don’t eat fast food but must admit I used to fond of the Monster Tacos at Jack’s place. Kind of scary because it is difficult to identify exactly what goes in one of those things.
    captcha=speckled manhattan

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    • Rynski says

      April 28, 2010 at 8:36 am

      mornin’ speckled manhattan!
      wonder if the speckles was from eatin’ too much fast food? hahahah.
      very clever, andrew, on the letter removal idea for the sign – love it!
      i, too, am done with fast food. but also have to admit i found of some in the past – until the arby’s chicken sandwiches gave me hives.
      oh! and had a similar fare to your monster taco with harry’s burritos (in manhattan, btw). never knew what was in them, either – and we did find a big fat cockroach floating in the little jalapeno cup once…

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      • Andrew Ulanowski says

        April 28, 2010 at 8:40 am

        the new sign idea isn’t mine but I always thought that was cute like the day I saw this word on someone’s license plate ‘assuage’ – I had never seen this word which means ‘to sooth’ and I though they just had an anagram for ‘sausage’ . . .

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        • Andrew Ulanowski says

          April 28, 2010 at 8:41 am

          cockroaches are gross!

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        • Rynski says

          April 28, 2010 at 8:48 am

          i love playing around with words – except that newspaper JUMBLE is pretty lame.
          wonder why someone would put ‘assuage’ on their vanity plate? were they driving a steam roller that would soothe as it smoothed?
           

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          • Andrew Ulanowski says

            April 28, 2010 at 9:30 am

            it was a friend’s mom who had the plate Ryn and ‘assuage’ is her favorite word . . .

          • Rynski says

            April 28, 2010 at 9:49 am

            ‘assuage’ is a nice word – reminds me of ameliorate, another fine word with a fine definition.
             

  3. Andrew Ulanowski says

    April 28, 2010 at 8:36 am

    P.S. Biblical passages can be found on the cups and wrappers that INO uses. Perhaps that gives them the status of a religious organization and therefore, there BUS (Big Ugly Signage) may be holy . . .

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    • Rynski says

      April 28, 2010 at 8:50 am

      hahhah! that’s too much – i’ll bet that’s why though –
      the biblical passages could also be a necessity, like people are  getting a mini version of their last  rites while they eat the stuff…

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      • Andrew Ulanowski says

        April 28, 2010 at 9:32 am

        last rites . . . that’s what i was thinking . . . 🙂

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  4. jennatoolz says

    April 28, 2010 at 9:18 am

    Crappy crappy crappy, Ryn! They’re throwing up an I-N-O Burger on Broadway/Kolb — in the same complex where my fiance works. It’ll probably bring his store more business, but I feel bad for the lil restaraunt a couple doors down from his store (Chicago Fast Food). I’d prefer their food anyway. Can’t get a pork chop sandwich or a juicy bratwurst at I-N-O!

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    • Andrew Ulanowski says

      April 28, 2010 at 9:31 am

      I’m from Chicago Jenna – I love poke chop sangwiches

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      • andrew says

        April 28, 2010 at 9:36 am

        Too funny! I thought I was the only one who liked P.C.S. Hey! everybodies using my captua thingy. Prance Full

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        • Andrew Ulanowski says

          April 28, 2010 at 9:47 am

          we like the captcha thingy Andrew

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          • Andrew Ulanowski says

            April 28, 2010 at 9:48 am

            P.S. The captcha WAS = into moussed
            And that’s for Azmouse!
            sophists not (sophist snot)
             

          • azmouse says

            April 28, 2010 at 9:58 am

            🙂

          • Rynski says

            April 28, 2010 at 11:28 am

            i’ll bet you rule at scrabble, sophists not!

    • Rynski says

      April 28, 2010 at 9:47 am

      hey jenna,
      yaaay! on crap x 3! i saw that new one being erected at bway/kolb…seems everywhere you turn another is blasting through the landscape.
      i never tried chicago fast food, but even without trying it i’ll vote on that over i-n-o. also yes, these giant red and yellow monsters just come and squash everything – including o/ restaurants – in their paths.

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  5. azmouse says

    April 28, 2010 at 10:09 am

    I do like signs, but not these. I like old fashioned, retro-looking neon stuff.

    Never been to in-n-out burger but the Broadway and Kolb one will be fairly close. I’d rather try the place Jenna’s talking about and go visit Aaron and give him my warm regards on the pending nuptials!

    The only fast food I’ve ever had is Eegee’s or the occasional mexican food drive thru…love my mexican food! I was raised by health fanatics so that was always a no-no. I’ve never, ever had McDonald’s in my life. Used to go to Jack in the Box as a teen, mostly because all my friends went there.

    on wiggler

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    • Andrew Ulanowski says

      April 28, 2010 at 10:51 am

      hola wiggler 😀

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      • azmouse says

        April 28, 2010 at 2:35 pm

        Hello moussed!

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    • Rynski says

      April 28, 2010 at 11:28 am

      bonjour wiggler!
      retro neon signs ROCK – i am very very fond of the old motel signs and other cheesy-looking stuff.
      fast food places don’t have any of the charm yet all of the garishness.
      eegee’s is tolerable, as are subway subs – if i’m REALLY starving on a road trip or something. i’ll pass on the rest. oh! and i like the eegee ice things with little lemon slivers in them.

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      • azmouse says

        April 28, 2010 at 2:37 pm

        Those drinks are the best at Eegee’s…flavor of the month is peach!! Soooo delicious!  Veggie grinder is yum too…

        million hogwarts

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        • Andrew Ulanowski says

          April 28, 2010 at 2:46 pm

          My favorite Egees drink is Mango Tango behbeh!
          lumbago under

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  6. radmax says

    April 28, 2010 at 9:51 pm

    Snappy because I like burgers…crappy cos I don’t like theirs, or any mass produced fare. Therefore the sign sucks. Hi Rynski!

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    • Rynski says

      April 29, 2010 at 9:12 am

      heya radmax –
      thanks for vote – and explanation. i’ll have to wholly agree with your take on the sign – hahaha.
       

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  7. eleanor says

    May 14, 2010 at 4:37 pm

    I saw the one going in at BROADWAY/KOLB. Say, do you know what it is going in next to it, is it a CVS to replace the one further east on Broadway, or what? I don’t think it looks like a Walgreens, and the one further west on Broadway seems like it is fine there.

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