Monday evening, after my San Francisco Giants suffered their heartbreaking loss in Chicago, I started knocking around the internet catching up on the latest bicycle racing news and intel. I've got about 36 hours left to chose my Fantasy Bicycle Racing teams for the Tour de France.
I deployed the full compliment of tools...web browser, Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter...all guns a-blazing so to speak.
While reading about the "new kit" (read racers' uniforms) of Team Garmin-Cervélo, I saw a tweet from Anthony Watts: "Yet Even More Discussions About the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO)"
Now nothing is more in my wheelhouse than climate stuff pertaining to the Pacific Ocean, and the PDO in particular.
Doing a quick scan of Anthony's blog Watts Up With That?, I found a week's worth of Climate Gold! Especially attractive to me was the article titled: "Earth’s Climate System Is Ridiculously Complex – With Draft Link Tutorial"
Talk about a home run! I'm always up for a thick read that wrestles with the chaotic factors in climate!
OK, TeamCorduroyPlanet has it's nine riders now, and is enrolled online for the Tour de France Fantasy League. The racing begins Saturday. It's looking like it will be an epic edition of Le Tour, and I'm feeling like the kid on Christmas Eve today!
Friday morning on my way to read up on the last minute pre-Tour news, I clicked through my usual weather sites to get a handle on the holiday weekend weather outlook.
I stopped by Watts Up With That? and looked at the Climate System post. It's going to be an all weekend read...I counted the Tutorial Links...there's 128 links! Clearly this counts as "Ridiculously Complex"...I'm especially intrigued by the Internal Earth stuff like Magma Tides...the Earth's core rotates too, and at a slightly different rate than the surface of our planet.
This is starting to look more like an all Summer read than a weekend read...
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Friday, July 1, 2011
This 'n That
The rainy end to June kept me inside for a couple of days. I would have really been cranky, but there was plenty of San Francisco Giants baseball to keep me feelin' good.
The Giants hit the road after taking five in a row from the American League's Twins and Indians, and headed to Chicago's Wrigley Field, one of the last surviving old ballparks. Bought with the chewing gum fortune in 1927, Wrigley Field began life as Weegman Park in 1916, home to the Chicago Whales of the old Federal League.
I love Wrigley's ivy covered brick walls in the outfield, the way the setting sun blazes through the park and across home plate, and especially the outfield grand stands built on top of the buildings across the street.
During Thursday's game I saw a chef in starched whites and a tall toque serving fans on the top floor of one of the "across the way" bleacher buildings...style points for those Cub's Fans! Kudos to the cameraman for the inside glimpse, too.
The Chicago Cub's fans are good, old-timey baseball fans. Wrigley was the last major league park to add lights for night games. I decried the lights at first, but the Cubs held out against Big Sports Television as long as they could.
Add to baseball's Missing In Action List the Double Header. Scheduled Double Headers have gone the way of the passenger pigeon in modern baseball. So it was with extra joy that I watched the Make-Up Double Header Tuesday. The last time the Giants were at Wrigley Field, their game was rained out early hence Tuesday's rare Double Header.
Watching the games from muggy and hot Chitown while the steady rain fell outside here in the Inland Valley was really cozy. That the Giants got a week's worth of hits in the two games was a plus too! Thirty hits...18 in the day game, and 12 in the sunset contest was the tonic I needed to fend off the gray feelings from the gray, wet weather.
'n That
Up the hill, summer seems to be making a quick comeback after the Tuesday/Wednesday Winter Storm blew through. At Sutcliffe, north of Reno, on Pyramid Lake, a brush fire burned a car and a fencepost, and threatened a home before the fire department extinguished it.
The Teams are now set for the Saturday start of Le Tour de France. After dinner I'll pick my Fantasy Team. This years' Tour looks to be Epic! Lots of mountaintop finishes, with L'Alpe d'Huez just two days from the finish in Paris, and the day before the Individual Time Trial in Grenoble!
Le Tour is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Tour first climbing the Alps this year, so the final week will be contested in the Alps. Nearly as good, Stage 2 is a Team Time Trial, easily the most beautiful and intriguing test of the riders and teams.
This
Wednesday night, Blogger was acting up again, even though I stayed up until nearly 3AM, I couldn't save, schedule or publish CorduroyPlanet so I put it in my CorduroyPlanet Tumblr que. I strive to have new content five days a week, posted by 6AM Pacific.
Should you be one of my early-bird readers, and the new CP is MIA, try the Tumblr Link in the CorduroyPlanet Toolbox, unless it's one of those rare tardy blogs, CP will be there. When Blogger rights itself, I'll get the days' offering up as soon as I can.
Thanks again for reading!
The Giants hit the road after taking five in a row from the American League's Twins and Indians, and headed to Chicago's Wrigley Field, one of the last surviving old ballparks. Bought with the chewing gum fortune in 1927, Wrigley Field began life as Weegman Park in 1916, home to the Chicago Whales of the old Federal League.
I love Wrigley's ivy covered brick walls in the outfield, the way the setting sun blazes through the park and across home plate, and especially the outfield grand stands built on top of the buildings across the street.
During Thursday's game I saw a chef in starched whites and a tall toque serving fans on the top floor of one of the "across the way" bleacher buildings...style points for those Cub's Fans! Kudos to the cameraman for the inside glimpse, too.
The Chicago Cub's fans are good, old-timey baseball fans. Wrigley was the last major league park to add lights for night games. I decried the lights at first, but the Cubs held out against Big Sports Television as long as they could.
Add to baseball's Missing In Action List the Double Header. Scheduled Double Headers have gone the way of the passenger pigeon in modern baseball. So it was with extra joy that I watched the Make-Up Double Header Tuesday. The last time the Giants were at Wrigley Field, their game was rained out early hence Tuesday's rare Double Header.
Watching the games from muggy and hot Chitown while the steady rain fell outside here in the Inland Valley was really cozy. That the Giants got a week's worth of hits in the two games was a plus too! Thirty hits...18 in the day game, and 12 in the sunset contest was the tonic I needed to fend off the gray feelings from the gray, wet weather.
'n That
Up the hill, summer seems to be making a quick comeback after the Tuesday/Wednesday Winter Storm blew through. At Sutcliffe, north of Reno, on Pyramid Lake, a brush fire burned a car and a fencepost, and threatened a home before the fire department extinguished it.
The Teams are now set for the Saturday start of Le Tour de France. After dinner I'll pick my Fantasy Team. This years' Tour looks to be Epic! Lots of mountaintop finishes, with L'Alpe d'Huez just two days from the finish in Paris, and the day before the Individual Time Trial in Grenoble!
Le Tour is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Tour first climbing the Alps this year, so the final week will be contested in the Alps. Nearly as good, Stage 2 is a Team Time Trial, easily the most beautiful and intriguing test of the riders and teams.
This
Wednesday night, Blogger was acting up again, even though I stayed up until nearly 3AM, I couldn't save, schedule or publish CorduroyPlanet so I put it in my CorduroyPlanet Tumblr que. I strive to have new content five days a week, posted by 6AM Pacific.
Should you be one of my early-bird readers, and the new CP is MIA, try the Tumblr Link in the CorduroyPlanet Toolbox, unless it's one of those rare tardy blogs, CP will be there. When Blogger rights itself, I'll get the days' offering up as soon as I can.
Thanks again for reading!
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Summertime, and the Livin's Easy
The weather forecasting isn't though!
Yuppers, our weird weather continues. Yesterday the Tahoe Sierra had Red Flag Fire Warnings to begin the day with snow and thunderstorms to round out the clock.
Here in the Inland Valley it rained all day Tuesday, then Wednesday was grey and cold until late afternoon.
KCRA3's weatherman @MarkFinan was on the case. In the past 24 hours he tweeted:
"Updated rain total for Sac... .55. Only .01 from the record for the date. Another perspective.. we average .18 for the month" at 8:43PM Tuesday
"Approx 70 lightning strikes in the last hour near Sonora, Twain Harte-Yosemite" at 9:18PM Tuesday
"1991 deja vu... June 28 .56'' then temps 105-111 for 4th of July. 2011: June 28.. .56'' then temps warming to over 100. Weird" at 9:47PM Tuesday
" Temps still only in the low 70s. Ave is 92 at this time of year." at about 4PM Wednesday
"The high today was only 74" about 7PM Wednesday
My other go-to WeatherDude, KTVU2's Bill Martin posted this YouTube Video on Facebook Wednesday at around 7PM
Yuppers, our weird weather continues. Yesterday the Tahoe Sierra had Red Flag Fire Warnings to begin the day with snow and thunderstorms to round out the clock.
Here in the Inland Valley it rained all day Tuesday, then Wednesday was grey and cold until late afternoon.
KCRA3's weatherman @MarkFinan was on the case. In the past 24 hours he tweeted:
"Updated rain total for Sac... .55. Only .01 from the record for the date. Another perspective.. we average .18 for the month" at 8:43PM Tuesday
"Approx 70 lightning strikes in the last hour near Sonora, Twain Harte-Yosemite" at 9:18PM Tuesday
"1991 deja vu... June 28 .56'' then temps 105-111 for 4th of July. 2011: June 28.. .56'' then temps warming to over 100. Weird" at 9:47PM Tuesday
" Temps still only in the low 70s. Ave is 92 at this time of year." at about 4PM Wednesday
"The high today was only 74" about 7PM Wednesday
My other go-to WeatherDude, KTVU2's Bill Martin posted this YouTube Video on Facebook Wednesday at around 7PM
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Head Spinning Time
There I was...minding my own business...just relaxing while doing some online planning for my Monday Fishing Trip...A new tweet appears in my Twitter Timeline...for the second time in as many days I felt my blood chill...
It was Anthony Watts' @wattsupwiththat tweeting some High Sierra Weather News: "Winter Weather in California in June" I clicked the link and that's when my blood suddenly ran cold when I read:
"WEST SLOPE NORTHERN SIERRA NEVADA-
233 PM PDT MON JUN 27 2011
…WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 2 AM TO 2 PM PDT
WEDNESDAY ABOVE 7000 FEET…
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SACRAMENTO HAS ISSUED A WINTER
WEATHER ADVISORY ABOVE 7000 FEET FOR SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW OVER
THE WEST SLOPE OF THE NORTHERN SIERRA NEVADA…WHICH IS IN EFFECT
FROM 2 AM TO 2 PM PDT WEDNESDAY.
* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS: UP TO 5 INCHES OF SNOWFALL OVER THE CREST TO
INCLUDE CARSON PASS ON HIGHWAY 88…EBBETTS PASS ON HIGHWAY 4
AND SONORA PASS ON HIGHWAY 108.
* ELEVATION: EXPECT SOME SNOWFALL ABOVE 7000 FEET WITH MOST
ACCUMULATION ABOVE 7500 FEET.
* TIMING: BEGINNING AFTER MIDNIGHT AND ACCUMULATING BY 3 AM PDT."
The WWA was issued by the Sacramento NWS Office. I regained my composure and hit the Reno AFD for some reassurance...and there was a Red Flag Warning for much of the Eastern Tahoe Region for high winds and low humidity before the cold front arrives Wednesday.
The Reno office, obviously in Fire Drill Mode, said nary a word of snow, but the AFD did say an inch of precip was possible Wednesday.
Bedtime Tuesday Update:
Before bed I looked at the latest Reno AFD. It's all over but the crying:
"WENT AHEAD AND DROPPED THE RED FLAG WARNINGS FOR THE REST OF THIS
EVENING. WITH THE SUN GOING DOWN AND COLD FRONT MOVING THROUGH THE
REGION... THE HUMIDITIES HAVE RISEN WELL ABOVE THE RED FLAG
WARNING CRITERIA OF 15%.
WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO GUST THROUGH AROUND 11PM...SO WILL LEAVE
THE LAKE WIND ADVISORIES INTACT FOR NOW. MAY END UP DROPPING THOSE
BEFORE 11PM AS WELL...BUT WIND READINGS STILL SHOWING GUSTS OVER
30 MPH NEAR AREA LAKES.
REST OF THE FORECAST LOOKS GOOD. CONVECTION ON THE WEST SIDE
OF THE SIERRA DEVELOPING PRETTY WELL...WITH SOME LIGHTNING SHOWING
JUST HOW UNSTABLE THE CONDITIONS ARE. PRECIP IS STILL GETTING
SHADOWED FOR OUR EAST SIDE FOR NOW. AS THE LOW GETS CLOSER INTO
THE RENO- TAHOE AREA OVERNIGHT...EXPECT PRECIP TO SPILLOVER
FAIRLY EASILY WITH WETTING RAINS INTO WESTERN NV AFTER MIDNIGHT
AND INTO WEDNESDAY MORNING."
I looked at all the webcams before sundown...all rain and no snow. Down here in the Inland Valley the rain was quite heavy at times. I was happy to luxuriate indoors watching a rare SF Giants double-header from Wrigley Field in Chicago. The Giants extended their winning streak to seven games, the longest of this season. #GoGiants!
It was Anthony Watts' @wattsupwiththat tweeting some High Sierra Weather News: "Winter Weather in California in June" I clicked the link and that's when my blood suddenly ran cold when I read:
"WEST SLOPE NORTHERN SIERRA NEVADA-
233 PM PDT MON JUN 27 2011
…WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 2 AM TO 2 PM PDT
WEDNESDAY ABOVE 7000 FEET…
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SACRAMENTO HAS ISSUED A WINTER
WEATHER ADVISORY ABOVE 7000 FEET FOR SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW OVER
THE WEST SLOPE OF THE NORTHERN SIERRA NEVADA…WHICH IS IN EFFECT
FROM 2 AM TO 2 PM PDT WEDNESDAY.
* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS: UP TO 5 INCHES OF SNOWFALL OVER THE CREST TO
INCLUDE CARSON PASS ON HIGHWAY 88…EBBETTS PASS ON HIGHWAY 4
AND SONORA PASS ON HIGHWAY 108.
* ELEVATION: EXPECT SOME SNOWFALL ABOVE 7000 FEET WITH MOST
ACCUMULATION ABOVE 7500 FEET.
* TIMING: BEGINNING AFTER MIDNIGHT AND ACCUMULATING BY 3 AM PDT."
The Reno office, obviously in Fire Drill Mode, said nary a word of snow, but the AFD did say an inch of precip was possible Wednesday.
Bedtime Tuesday Update:
Before bed I looked at the latest Reno AFD. It's all over but the crying:
"WENT AHEAD AND DROPPED THE RED FLAG WARNINGS FOR THE REST OF THIS
EVENING. WITH THE SUN GOING DOWN AND COLD FRONT MOVING THROUGH THE
REGION... THE HUMIDITIES HAVE RISEN WELL ABOVE THE RED FLAG
WARNING CRITERIA OF 15%.
WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO GUST THROUGH AROUND 11PM...SO WILL LEAVE
THE LAKE WIND ADVISORIES INTACT FOR NOW. MAY END UP DROPPING THOSE
BEFORE 11PM AS WELL...BUT WIND READINGS STILL SHOWING GUSTS OVER
30 MPH NEAR AREA LAKES.
REST OF THE FORECAST LOOKS GOOD. CONVECTION ON THE WEST SIDE
OF THE SIERRA DEVELOPING PRETTY WELL...WITH SOME LIGHTNING SHOWING
JUST HOW UNSTABLE THE CONDITIONS ARE. PRECIP IS STILL GETTING
SHADOWED FOR OUR EAST SIDE FOR NOW. AS THE LOW GETS CLOSER INTO
THE RENO- TAHOE AREA OVERNIGHT...EXPECT PRECIP TO SPILLOVER
FAIRLY EASILY WITH WETTING RAINS INTO WESTERN NV AFTER MIDNIGHT
AND INTO WEDNESDAY MORNING."
I looked at all the webcams before sundown...all rain and no snow. Down here in the Inland Valley the rain was quite heavy at times. I was happy to luxuriate indoors watching a rare SF Giants double-header from Wrigley Field in Chicago. The Giants extended their winning streak to seven games, the longest of this season. #GoGiants!
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Things of Beauty
What a pitching clinic I watched this evening!
On his first trip back to the mound after getting destroyed in his last start, 21 year old San Francisco Giants pitcher, Madison Bumgarner put his previous debacle behind him and fanned 11 batters while giving up only one walk to tally the win.
In his last start, the first eight batters he faced got hits...yes eight hits in a row! He was pulled after getting the first out, but all eight hits became runs. Bumgarner struck out the opposing pitcher, gave up a ninth hit, and got the hook.
Tonight it looked like the young pitcher had ice water flowing through his veins.
The rest of the team looked like the World Champions they are too.Besting the Cleveland Indians 3-2 to sweep the three game series, the Giants are back on track, and back atop the National League West.
If Bumgarner's amazing comeback wasn't enough, the Giants' relief pitcher Jeremy Affeldt got the save by striking out five of the six batters he faced. Affeldt who's been on a roll for the last three weeks or so, had a curve ball that was flat-out un-hittable tonight. It was an amazing thing to see. A thing of beauty if you will.
The game was the national game on ESPN, seen in much of the country. (The Giants are the defending World Champions after all!) I put my new gadget the radioSHARK2 to good use synching the radio play-by-play through my computer with the High Definition TV broadcast via Comcast cable.
The Giants' broadcasters are too good not to listen to. Giants' play-by-play announcer, Jon Miller is a Hall Of Fame broadcaster bestowed with Cooperstown's Ford C Frick Award in 2010.
Miller cracked me up during a lull in the action when he did his Vin Scully impression. It was truly laugh-out-loud funny. Scully is the Hall Of Fame radio voice of the LA Dodgers. Miller's impression was spot-on and good natured, but still wickedly funny because it was so unexpected.
After the game I started scanning the web for some San Francisco Bay Halibut intel. SturgeUrge and I are heading onto the Bay Monday to salve our sturgeon wounds from last week's Monday fishing trip.
While looking at a "Halibut Try Report" from Tomales Bay, I read: "The water is still a little cold north of Hog Island. I guess it's late again, and things will heat up soon..."
That was like a light switch going on in my memory. I've heard something akin to that every year now since at least 2002...it's always a fishing report...salmon, Baja Bluewater Big Game, NorCal Albacore, even Sacramento River Shad...
I'm calling it a Bona Fide Trend...make that a Bona Fide Decadal Trend!
Did I mention that we may get rained on mid-week? Of course there'd be a Gulf of Alaska, mid-winter style cold front headed my way...I've been entertaining a trip up the Hill for a few days of R&R on my Pickup.
I'm really wondering what my pickup did to incur Mother Nature's Wrath like it has this year!
On his first trip back to the mound after getting destroyed in his last start, 21 year old San Francisco Giants pitcher, Madison Bumgarner put his previous debacle behind him and fanned 11 batters while giving up only one walk to tally the win.
In his last start, the first eight batters he faced got hits...yes eight hits in a row! He was pulled after getting the first out, but all eight hits became runs. Bumgarner struck out the opposing pitcher, gave up a ninth hit, and got the hook.
Tonight it looked like the young pitcher had ice water flowing through his veins.
The rest of the team looked like the World Champions they are too.Besting the Cleveland Indians 3-2 to sweep the three game series, the Giants are back on track, and back atop the National League West.
If Bumgarner's amazing comeback wasn't enough, the Giants' relief pitcher Jeremy Affeldt got the save by striking out five of the six batters he faced. Affeldt who's been on a roll for the last three weeks or so, had a curve ball that was flat-out un-hittable tonight. It was an amazing thing to see. A thing of beauty if you will.
The game was the national game on ESPN, seen in much of the country. (The Giants are the defending World Champions after all!) I put my new gadget the radioSHARK2 to good use synching the radio play-by-play through my computer with the High Definition TV broadcast via Comcast cable.
The Giants' broadcasters are too good not to listen to. Giants' play-by-play announcer, Jon Miller is a Hall Of Fame broadcaster bestowed with Cooperstown's Ford C Frick Award in 2010.
Miller cracked me up during a lull in the action when he did his Vin Scully impression. It was truly laugh-out-loud funny. Scully is the Hall Of Fame radio voice of the LA Dodgers. Miller's impression was spot-on and good natured, but still wickedly funny because it was so unexpected.
After the game I started scanning the web for some San Francisco Bay Halibut intel. SturgeUrge and I are heading onto the Bay Monday to salve our sturgeon wounds from last week's Monday fishing trip.
While looking at a "Halibut Try Report" from Tomales Bay, I read: "The water is still a little cold north of Hog Island. I guess it's late again, and things will heat up soon..."
That was like a light switch going on in my memory. I've heard something akin to that every year now since at least 2002...it's always a fishing report...salmon, Baja Bluewater Big Game, NorCal Albacore, even Sacramento River Shad...
I'm calling it a Bona Fide Trend...make that a Bona Fide Decadal Trend!
Did I mention that we may get rained on mid-week? Of course there'd be a Gulf of Alaska, mid-winter style cold front headed my way...I've been entertaining a trip up the Hill for a few days of R&R on my Pickup.
I'm really wondering what my pickup did to incur Mother Nature's Wrath like it has this year!
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