In case you missed my ramblings on WJCT’s First Coast Connect this morning, here are some of the events coming up this weekend.

Please note: event times, dates and locations are subject to change, so call before you haul (call the venue, that is, not me).

Friday, April 24–Sunday, April 26
First Coast No More Homeless Pets Mega Adoption Event, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Jacksonville Fairgrounds

Saturday, April 25
Butterfly Festival, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Tree Hill Nature Center

A Taste of St. Augustine, noon-7 p.m., St. Augustine Amphitheatre

Taste of St Johns Town Center, 4-8 p.m., St. Johns Town Center

#FreeKHG Silent Auction, 6-9 p.m., Smorgasbord

Jacksonville RollerGirls: New Jax City Rollers vs. Tampa Tantrums, 6:30 p.m., Mandarin Skate Station

Riverside Fine Arts presents the Becca Stephens Band, 8 p.m., Underbelly

Tommy Harrison Group, 8 p.m., Freebird Live

Saturday, April 26-Sunday, April 27
RAP Spring Tour of Homes, Saturday: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sunday: noon-5 p.m., various locations throughout Riverside and Avondale

Sunday, April 27
HEAL Zoo Walk, 8:30 a.m., Jacksonville Zoo

First Coast Fresh Farm Stroll, noon-5 p.m., various locations

Ongoing
“The New York Times Magazine Photographs,” April 26 though August 24, MOCA Jacksonville

In other weekend news

• Pamela will be weeding her flower bed.
• Ray will be soldering a DC power jack onto a laptop motherboard.
• Tony will probably still be in Europe.
• Ben _America will continue to spread #jaxmojo.

Yours truly appears on First Coast Connect on WJCT every Thursday at 9:45-ish-ish. If you have an event you would like to be considered for the show or other promotional opportunities, feel free to email me.

Since “Throwback Thursday” is such a hit on Facebook, I’m going to use it as an excuse to be lazy and recycle posts from my former Folio.com blog (did I mention it’s award-winning?).

Original post: Oct. 9, 2013

In an effort to “improve roadway safety … and prevent crashes related to the act of text messaging while driving a motor vehicle,” the state legislature passed the “Florida Ban on Texting While Driving.” Despite the law going into effect more than a week ago, many Jacksonville residents are just now hearing about it. One reason is because no one can shut up about the Mathews Bridge or the return of Cinottis’ pumpkin donuts long enough to listen (apparently, the federal government shut down too—whatever that means). The lack of knowledge and/or interest regarding the ban might also have something to do with the law’s exclusions and limitations, and the fact that it’s only a secondary offense, meaning law enforcement can’t pull a driver over just for texting.

While I applaud lawmakers for the effort, I’m not sure how much of an impact it will actually have, especially since there are so many other distracting activities done while driving.

Driving while primping: includes but is not limited putting on make-up, shaving, eyebrow plucking, doing your hair, flossing teeth, applying self-tanner and popping zits

To read Florida Statute 316.305 in its entirety, click here. Just please don’t do so while you’re driving.

Selfie-gate will live in infamy. That said, here is today’s Mayor Brown photo of the day. I call this one “Wrong Turn at Colonial Williamsburg.”

Photo source: City of Jacksonville flickr

For more photos of things Mayor Alvin Brown would rather do than take a selfie with me, visit my Tumblr blog: “Things Mayor Alvin Brown would rather do than … take a selfie with me.” Updated daily! And now with FUN FACTS!

Selfie-gate will live in infamy. That said, here is today’s Mayor Brown photo of the day. I call this one “Happy Feet.”

Photo source: City of Jacksonville flickr

For more photos of things Mayor Alvin Brown would rather do than take a selfie with me, visit my Tumblr blog: “Things Mayor Alvin Brown would rather do than … take a selfie with me.” Updated daily! And now with FUN FACTS!

Since “Throwback Thursday” is such a hit on Facebook, I’m going to use it as an excuse to be lazy and recycle posts from my former Folio.com blog.

Original post: Nov. 13, 2013

At a recent Duval County School Board meeting, the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition presented 1,600 surveys of which 92 percent of the individuals surveyed were in favor of changing the name of Nathan Bedford Forrest High School. I do not disagree with the idea, considering Forrest’s unspeakable war crimes during the Civil War, including the execution of surrendered soldiers, and his post-war co-founding of the Ku Klux Klan. However, I would like to bring to your attention that Forrest High School isn’t the only place in Jacksonville with a name that might be perceived as offensive.

Burro Bar: “Burro” is a synonym for “ass,” so Burro Bar = Ass Bar.

Broad Street: While I personally don’t have a problem with it, the word “broad” is considered by some to be degrading to women. Some less offensive replacements might be: Lady Street, Gentlewoman Street or Female Street.

Felch Avenue: If you really want to know why “Felch” is a horrible name for a street, check out its definition on Urban Dictionary. Consider yourself warned. Seriously.

Jaxx Sports Sports Bar: Besides the fact that adding a second “X” to “Jax” serves no real purpose, Tristan Jaxx is the name of a gay porn star. He has an, ahem, lengthy filmography with titles including “Fleet Week,” “Best Men,” “Endless Crush” and others not appropriate to repeat here.

Nero’s: Nero was a Roman emperor. He also seduced married women and young boys, killed innocent people for no reason, castrated slaves … oh, and murdered his mother. He’s also believed to have started The Great Fire of Rome. Enjoy your spaghetti.

I just read “Five Facts about 49ers QB Blaine Gabbert.” (Don’t ask me why since he doesn’t even play for the Jaguars any more. Perhaps I thought there would be a mention of some deep-seated issues that cause him to block good, kind-hearted people on Twitter—for no apparent reason.)

After reading the article, I’m no closer to learning why I’m #blockedbyblaine … or  anything else for that matter since the article is pretty lame.

As a service to the good people of San Francisco—and to show Gabs I harbor no ill will toward him—I’ve gathered some facts about the QB that are actually interesting.

1. He’s really good at ironing.*

2. He loves watching movies and offering succinct reviews.

• “Hangover 2 was epic.”*
• “Billy Madison cracks me up.”*
• “Ironman 2 is legit.”*

3. He calls burgers “burgs.”*

4. He has one of the best quarterback bodies.”** (Can Tim Tebow at least get honorable mention?)

5. The letters in “Blaine Gabbert” can be rearranged as “blabbing eater” or “tan gerbil babe.”***

* Source: @blainegabbert Twitter
** BuzzFeed
***Internet Anagram Server