Chicken Corner would like to thank Gil Cedillo. Our Assemblyman stepped up Friday and joined 40 California Assembly members who asked Cali Fish and Game Commission President Dan Richards to step down -- after the commissioner shot a mountain lion in Idaho and bragged about it all over the place.

Apparently, the Fish and Game President "traveled outside of California, hired guides, and used a pack of dogs to chase and kill a mountain lion -- an animal whose protection has twice been approved by California voters -- and then posted a photo of himself with the dead lion on the internet," according to Echo Park Animal Rights Activist B.J. Hollifield.

The trophy pic also appeared in Western Outdoor News.

Care2's Petition Site already has 3327 signatures demanding that Richards, a real estate developer, clear out of his office. The signature goal was 1,000.

Which is not to say Richards feels badly about the killing the animal.

Western Outdoor News reported:

Asked about California's mountain lion moratorium, Richards didn't hesitate. 'I'm glad it's legal in Idaho.'"

Chicken Corner wonders what an active member of the National Rifle Association is doing in the highest office at the California Fish and Game Commission. ... Never mind, I know what he's there for -- to remove its teeth, shoot it, and hang the commission over his double wide mantelpiece. But who let him in?

Chicken Corner's Plumbean Report celebrates the efforts of people who have used their houses as a medium to express their inner-selves -- beyond the inner-self that wants to fit neatly into neighborhood norms in housing. The inner-self that wants to turn their home into the Shark House or a Blue Bottle Palace. The inner self that can't help itself, in some cases. Those are Plumbean material.

Then along comes a marketing firm called Brainiacs from Mars and their evil-genius method for making a house look like a Plumbean, while doing the opposite: Turning said house into an Anti-Plumbean, a billboard to be precise. A billboard that has nothing to do with the inner lives of its inhabitants, except as regards financial distress. Yes, billboards now have inhabitants.

The ideas is this: People facing foreclosure can apply to Brainiacs to have their house turned into a billboard. If selected, Brainiacs will pay their mortgage as long as the house is a billboard. I don't know whether they get to vet the product, if it's other than Brainiacs.

Chicken Corner wonders whether billboard restrictions would inhibit such efforts. For example, in Echo Park, billboards in yards are not allowed. I assume the rule would extend to houses.

Marketing official David Le says the company painted its first house -- in Orange County -- last weekend and that they have received thousands of applications from Los Angeles County homeowners.

They're coming!

Here's the press release:

ANAHEIM, CA February 15, 2012 - El Dorado Drive in Buena Park, California may seem like any other street in the United States, until you get to the two story home owned by Scott and Elizabeth Hostetler.

It's not just the sunrise orange and broccoli green paint job that make the home stand out, it's the large nine foot BrainiacsFromMars.com logo, that has you taking a second look.

"If a homeowner lets us advertise our business on their home," says Romeo Mendoza, CEO of BrainiacsFromMars.com, "we'll pay their monthly mortgage."

With over 250,000 new families entering into foreclosure every three months, a billboard home may be the solution the housing crisis needs.

"The government is doing all they can but the money is in the private sector. If we could grow this to scale we could significantly impact foreclosure rates across the country," says Romeo.

BrainiacsFromMars.com is looking for homes that are owned and not rented or leased. The entire outside of the house is painted, minus the roof, the windows and any awnings. Painting takes approximately 3 - 5 days. BrainiacsFromMars.com will pay the mortgage every month for as long as the house is painted, which can be up to a year. Homeowners can apply at http://brainiacsfrommars.com/paintmyhouse.html

Ask Scott what his neighbors think and he'll tell you "At first they were shocked. But when you explain it to them and let them know that the alternative is foreclosure, they're on board."

Happy Valentine's Day! xoxo, Chicken Corner.

In the photo: It's Rainbow, the most photograph-able of my three hens. The other two, Sparkle and Cutie Patootie peck at the camera, hop up and down and are generally too busy to pose for pictures. But not Rainbow. If you had nothing better to do than read Chicken Corner in September and October, 2010, you may remember the girls when they were chicks. And when they were gawky.

A belated Tu Bishvat to all of Chicken Corner's tree lovers. It happened a few days ago, but better late than never -- Tu Bishvat is the Jewish new year for trees. It take place on the 15th day of the Jewish month of Shevat, which was Feb. 8.

Chicken Corner is lobbying for a Valentine's Day for trees.

This said, despite the holiday, it hasn't been a happy new year for tree lovers in Echo Park. About two dozen were cut down on the site of the former Semi-Spiritualists' tract and adjacent lots (near Alessandro and Moran), and according to some residents permits hadn't been granted for their removal. Which doesn't mean they're not gone.

The neighborhood seen: Rik DeLisle sent me these pictures of Elvis on the Avenue. Echo Park Avenue, that is, where the cultural landscape can be quite surprisy. Que viva Elvis!