March 17, 2006
Church of Bowling

The Zodo’s building looks a lot like the house where George Jetson lived with Jane-his-wife. The building was built when the future was now. It used be called Orchid Bowl - a classic old-time bowling alley. In 2001, Steve and Terry Davis took over the joint. It was like that TV show about the lawyer who returns to his hometown and buys the bowling alley. Can anyone remember the name of that show?

Paul Orfalea, local boy-done-good, is an investor in Zodo’s. We were told yesterday, that the founder of Kinko’s likes to bowl, and that he comes in often.

The first thing the new owners did was to fix up the lanes - the foundation of a good bowling alley, you might say. Next, they changed the exterior, added the bar, and now they’ve upgraded the arcade. But it’s the exterior we’re talkin’ about. It’s what we showed in the picture. The new owners didn’t change the structure. With its curved roof, irregular windows, and large wing-shaped awnings, it’s still a 1950’s vision of the modern world. But, in 2002, the new owners painted the building bold shades of purple and yellow, and added small blue tiles up and down the side.

The name Zodo’s, by the way, comes from a nickname of a friend of the owners. Kinko’s was Paul Orfalea’s nickname in college. Maybe the nickname thing is a formula for success. Maybe we should rename Edhat, Space Warrior.

Zodo’s was an easy spot for many of our dedicated subscribers, but not as easy as the open front door of Church of Skatan. Shorty’s, a local brand on the skate world brand-scape, owns the store. The store was originally located a block away, where the hemp store is now. Considering the name, moving to the old church (former location of the Second Baptist Church) worked out well for the store. As is evidenced by yesterday’s contest response, just about everybody in town knows about it.

The dedicated staff of edhat.com tried calling the store to get some background info for our story. The person who answered the phone was about as enthusiastic as a dog before a flea dip. He said he was too busy to talk. So, we never found out whose nickname Shorty was.

Check out the current March Ed-Ness standings. Also, read comments from our subscribers as they entered yesterday's contest.

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