We try to bring something new [to the festival] every year. We've seen the popularity of chef competitions at other festivals and on television and we said this was something we had to do here.

It is the Year of the Dog and it was easy for us to do. Hopefully we can find some puppies a home.

In the last year and a half, (A9) hasn't skyrocketed in popularity.

I don't believe that anyone who is a legitimately interesting person can be popular as a teenager," Mel went on. "Or ever, maybe. Popularity rewards the uninteresting.

The hossanas of the multitude can never bring satisfaction to the discerning. Yet there exist those chamaleons of popularity who find their joy, not in the sweet breath of Apollo, but in the smell of the crowd. And not in mind: Do not be taken in by what are miracles to the populace, for the ignorant do not rise above marveling. Thus the stupidity of a crowd is lost in admiration, even as the brain of an individual uncovers the trick.

Beware of over-great pleasure in being popular or even beloved.