Hat tip to Gene Autry!
So I was laid off in the first week of February, 2012 due to low snow and lower skier interest after My Mountain lost both Christmas weeks and MLK weekend. It was grim...
When Mother passed away in 2016 I was nearly free to get back in my tractor, save for getting the Ancestral Digs ready to sell. Believe me, it was torture watching My Mountain via webcam and seeing all that beautiful snowfall last season, and not being able to join the fray!
So this is the season! I've moved to the Delta to be nearer to the fishing opportunities that do it for me now: Dungeness Crab, Chinook Salmon, and California Halibut. I've decided to give Sierra Trout a break, catch and release isn't perfect, and I probably shouldn't be tromping around through rivers and streams anyway...
This month Sturge Urge and I are keeping our ears to the rail for the impending Pacific Herring Spawn.
There have been a couple of spawns in our neighborhood on San Francisco Bay, but no early enough intel as of yet. One good herring trip and we'll have bait for a year, and some pickled herring to boot!
So far I have worked four shortish shifts back on My Mountain. To say it's a little thin at the base is PR Gold! We got 2 inches overnight, with a chance for another few inches through the weekend. All is not lost, I remember a couple of seasons that turned out fine after similar dismal starts
The dry start has blackened the hearts of locals...now instead of imploring everyone to "Pray For Snow" and "Time for a Snow Dance" I'm hearing: "It might be time for Human Sacrifice"...
Thursday, January 4, 2018
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Aftershocks
The Napa Earthquake held the local TV News Cycle through the end of the Late Sunday Night News. It's dialed back Monday morning, however the clean-up will take weeks and the recovery years. I saw photos of the Trefethen Winery, it looks like a total loss. Monday's Noon News is reporting sixteen structures are red-tagged, meaning they are unfit for habitation. The 4PM News says there's nearly 50 red-tagged structures.
Many wineries are reporting big losses of bottled wines and wine in the barrel.
Closer to home, Kirk Vallus messaged me via Facebook: "Spoke with Richard tonight, good news, went up to the Ranch today and not a stone had moved in the ruins..... That is a good thing...."
Richard owns quite a bit of the historic Napa Soda Springs Resort in Soda Canyon on the flanks of Atlas Peak. Richard's place has ruins of some of the original buildings that date to the 1860's, and many of the named mineral springs still flow. Soda Canyon is on the east side of the Napa Valley, well above the destruction of old downtown Napa.
Today drone images of downtown Napa's damages were posted to YouTube:
My heart goes out to the People of Napa...lots of work ahead...
It's certainly stunning footage, and drones are all the rage lately, but it's another Information Age connection that caught my fancy today: Jawbone UP
What's Jawbone? What's UP? I'd never heard of them before I saw this tweet this morning: "Wearable tech maker @jawbone says 93% of its users woke up at 3:20AM during earthquake"
I read the linked blog, perused Jawbone's UP website, and my blood's running a little colder now. It turns out I do know what Jawbone is...they are makers of the Bluetooth ear pieces that make mobile phones "hands-free", and they make Bluetooth speaker systems to stream your phone or iPod music to.
Jawbone UP is an "Activity Tracker", favored by people who want their entire lives and beings digitized for use by Mobile Apps and computers. A bracelet interfaces with your phone and records many channels of data including heart rate, physical exertion, time at rest or sleeping. Once saved and accessed the data is your to "Share" on social media, or embellish your daily diary or exercise planning. UP tracks your activity, diet and sleep. UP's website touts:
I removed the Facebook App from my smartphone 3-4 weeks ago, when the latest Facebook "Feature" seemed too invasive for my sensibilities.
Being awakened by earthquake tremors is one thing...plugging in my vital signs to the cloud would keep me up all night!
 |
| Trefethen Winery |
Many wineries are reporting big losses of bottled wines and wine in the barrel.
Closer to home, Kirk Vallus messaged me via Facebook: "Spoke with Richard tonight, good news, went up to the Ranch today and not a stone had moved in the ruins..... That is a good thing...."
Richard owns quite a bit of the historic Napa Soda Springs Resort in Soda Canyon on the flanks of Atlas Peak. Richard's place has ruins of some of the original buildings that date to the 1860's, and many of the named mineral springs still flow. Soda Canyon is on the east side of the Napa Valley, well above the destruction of old downtown Napa.
Today drone images of downtown Napa's damages were posted to YouTube:
My heart goes out to the People of Napa...lots of work ahead...
It's certainly stunning footage, and drones are all the rage lately, but it's another Information Age connection that caught my fancy today: Jawbone UP
What's Jawbone? What's UP? I'd never heard of them before I saw this tweet this morning: "Wearable tech maker @jawbone says 93% of its users woke up at 3:20AM during earthquake"
I read the linked blog, perused Jawbone's UP website, and my blood's running a little colder now. It turns out I do know what Jawbone is...they are makers of the Bluetooth ear pieces that make mobile phones "hands-free", and they make Bluetooth speaker systems to stream your phone or iPod music to.
Jawbone UP is an "Activity Tracker", favored by people who want their entire lives and beings digitized for use by Mobile Apps and computers. A bracelet interfaces with your phone and records many channels of data including heart rate, physical exertion, time at rest or sleeping. Once saved and accessed the data is your to "Share" on social media, or embellish your daily diary or exercise planning. UP tracks your activity, diet and sleep. UP's website touts:
- Healthy Food Score
- Simple Water Logging
- Popular Restaurant Menus
- Enhanced Calorie Tracking
I removed the Facebook App from my smartphone 3-4 weeks ago, when the latest Facebook "Feature" seemed too invasive for my sensibilities.
Being awakened by earthquake tremors is one thing...plugging in my vital signs to the cloud would keep me up all night!
Monday, August 25, 2014
Again With the "No Rest For The Wicked" Deal
I was awakened by the shaking at 0320 Sunday morning. I don't know if I thought it or said it out loud: "Wow, this is a good one!" I was expecting to be awakened at 0430, I'd set my alarm clock so I could watch the Belgian Grand Prix LIVE from Spa-Francorchamps.
I didn't even need to "rub the sleep outta my eyes" I was wide awake! I hit the internet running, and in under a minute, I had the USGS Quake Sheet up informing me of the (then) Magnitude 6.1 quake four miles south of Napa, CA.
At the Ancestral Digs, the local TV News outlets were wall-to-wall in under a half hour, while the local 24/7 News Radio Station was taking calls while their reporters got to the scene.
Twitter was on it like white on rice. I tweeted the quake at 0323...three minutes after it shook.
I heard from Chico Dupré in mere moments. He didn't feel it, though it was felt up to 400 miles from the epicenter...Carson City, Nevada...on the far side of the Sierra Nevada mountain range!
The radio had harrowing stories of damage and shaking, and this kept me in rapt attention until the TV Newsfeeds began. There were fires...why is it always trailer parks? Tornadoes love 'em it seems...
At 4:30AM, I changed the channel to the Formula One Pre-Race Show. The three weeks of "Summer Break" were over and the racing would resume in just under 30 minutes!
I switched up my Twitter Feed to a Formula One List...of course it was sprinkling in Pit Lane! Spa-Francorchamps is high in Belgium's Ardennes Forest, it's the longest track on the F1 calendar and it often rains up there...sometimes it'll rain on one end of the circuit while there's bright sunshine at the other end. It always makes for dramatic racing, and I expected nothing less than Broadway-Worthy Drama!
I wasn't disappointed! The rain never was a factor...it was the human side of F1 that provided the drama. The two Team AMG Mercedes teammates were on the front row. Together they have the top two spots in the Drivers' Championship.
The lights went out, the Mercs sped towards Turn One and it was ON! Points-leader and Pole-Sitter Nico Rosberg was bested by teammate Lewis Hamilton, with my guy, Red Bull Racing's Sebastion Vettel right in the mix. On lap two, Nico made his way outside Lewis and they touched! Nico's front wing clipped Lewis' rear tyre and all hell broke loose. Lewis' tyre went flat, and part of Nico's wing went flying.
There was good racing up and down the track, the rain stayed away and the race was decided on the merits, not the luck of the draw (as is so often the case with wet races)
It was all over but the post-race chatter when I plugged back into the earthquake coverage...which I quickly grew weary of. I turned it down, reset my alarm for 8AM and shut my eyes...baseball pre-game chatter would start at 0800, and my San Francisco Giants are in a pennant race with the Los Angeles Dodgers!
More later...No Spoilers...You're Welcome!
I didn't even need to "rub the sleep outta my eyes" I was wide awake! I hit the internet running, and in under a minute, I had the USGS Quake Sheet up informing me of the (then) Magnitude 6.1 quake four miles south of Napa, CA.
At the Ancestral Digs, the local TV News outlets were wall-to-wall in under a half hour, while the local 24/7 News Radio Station was taking calls while their reporters got to the scene.
Twitter was on it like white on rice. I tweeted the quake at 0323...three minutes after it shook.
The radio had harrowing stories of damage and shaking, and this kept me in rapt attention until the TV Newsfeeds began. There were fires...why is it always trailer parks? Tornadoes love 'em it seems...
At 4:30AM, I changed the channel to the Formula One Pre-Race Show. The three weeks of "Summer Break" were over and the racing would resume in just under 30 minutes!
I switched up my Twitter Feed to a Formula One List...of course it was sprinkling in Pit Lane! Spa-Francorchamps is high in Belgium's Ardennes Forest, it's the longest track on the F1 calendar and it often rains up there...sometimes it'll rain on one end of the circuit while there's bright sunshine at the other end. It always makes for dramatic racing, and I expected nothing less than Broadway-Worthy Drama!
I wasn't disappointed! The rain never was a factor...it was the human side of F1 that provided the drama. The two Team AMG Mercedes teammates were on the front row. Together they have the top two spots in the Drivers' Championship.
The lights went out, the Mercs sped towards Turn One and it was ON! Points-leader and Pole-Sitter Nico Rosberg was bested by teammate Lewis Hamilton, with my guy, Red Bull Racing's Sebastion Vettel right in the mix. On lap two, Nico made his way outside Lewis and they touched! Nico's front wing clipped Lewis' rear tyre and all hell broke loose. Lewis' tyre went flat, and part of Nico's wing went flying.
There was good racing up and down the track, the rain stayed away and the race was decided on the merits, not the luck of the draw (as is so often the case with wet races)
It was all over but the post-race chatter when I plugged back into the earthquake coverage...which I quickly grew weary of. I turned it down, reset my alarm for 8AM and shut my eyes...baseball pre-game chatter would start at 0800, and my San Francisco Giants are in a pennant race with the Los Angeles Dodgers!
More later...No Spoilers...You're Welcome!
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
California Halibut Fishing On San Francisco Bay
We launched the F/V SturgeUrge from Richmond
into a bit more Southerly wind than forecast about 9AM.
We turned the corner and headed south towards
Southampton. It didn't take long for the lump to get to us. SturgeUrge was really
working hard to make way, so we turned tail and headed towards Red Rock.
For some reason...maybe the week's worth of
hot days and nights' toll on my sleep schedule...made everything seem like
pulling teeth today...
The first three sets of our
Dodger/Hoochie/Frozen Herring rigs totally got gongered and came back looking
like macrame plant hangers. My apologies to the SturgeUrge as my 'Cranky Pants'
must have been 'riding-up' cause I was whining in stereophonic
Wall-Of-Sound-style.
You know what they say: "Three's A
Charm"... after the third untangle/rebuild/redeploy, *Bang* FishOn!
I felt the head shakes and pumped her up a
little fast...then she saw the boat and turned tail and ran...fast! For a
minute I was almost convinced I'd hung a Mud Marlin, but the fight was up and
down only, no crazy bat ray antics. A couple more ups and downs and SturgeUrge
did a perfect net job!
Before the net even came over the rail that
fish went ballistic! Think rolling surgeon next to the boat! There went a brand
spankin' new $8 sinker! The fish wrapped itself up in the net like a mummy!
That was it for the day. Fish came about 2/3
of the way towards Red Rock on a line from Paradise Pier to Red Rock, just west
of the channel...about an hour before the bottom of the small ebb.
We trolled the mark for a couple more hours
before switching to drifting to give SturgeUrge a break and to make lunch...I
was afraid the top slice of Jewish Rye might blow off the pastrami sammiches I
was building.
We haven't had a drift halibut all year, but
trolling has been golden so far...we've been sticking to halibut tides
exclusively.
Friday, February 21, 2014
Unseen Things
A lot of things I like are happening this week: Sochi Olympics' second week, NASCAR is ramping up to the Daytona 500 on Sunday, Formula One teams are testing in Bahrain, and another cold front is approaching the Northern California Coast.
Unfortunately, there's lots of stuff happening that I wish I wasn't seeing...Venezuela and the Ukraine are aflame as their citizens are protesting in the streets against their respective tyrannical rulers. Many are dead in Kiev, and blood is beginning to flow in Caracas...
NASCAR kicks off their season with their Super Bowl, the Daytona 500. The teams have been at the Daytona International Speedway for a week, practicing, qualifying, racing an All-Star race, the Sprint Unlimited, and running the Twin Qualifiers to decide the running order for The 500. The front row is locked in during qualifying...the two fastest runs take the Pole Position, and the other front row slot.
NASCAR is pretty tame stuff as motorsports go...I do love the Daytona 500 though, it means that Formula One is coming over the horizon, and that Spring is just weeks away. Still, there are surprises from Daytona. Long time readers will remember the weird Red Flag during the 2012 500.
This week, the Sprint Unlimited provided another head shaker...
That's the Chevy SS Pace Car on fire...during the race! Everyone got out OK, a back-up Pace Car took care of things, but it was really weird to see the Pace Car towed behind the Pit Wall by a wrecker!
NASCAR has a new aero package for their Restrictor Plate Races (Daytona and Taladega) this season, and it's the best they've had in many years! The draft looks like the draft form the Golden Years, long trains of cars nose to tail are gone, as are the two-by-two pairings for the last few years. I think they finally got it right!
During Thursday's second 125 mile qualifier, they had "The Big One'" on the final lap when Jimmy Johnson's number 48 Chevy ran out of fuel causing a huge melee...one unlucky racer ran into a spinning car, turned sideways at 185 mph, lifting off the track and did a 360° barrel-roll, landed upright, blasted through the infield grass, and finally drove, under control into the pits! The onboard footage was awesome...good television!
I've mostly forsaken the TV coverage of the Olympics in favor of streaming the events LIVE. Seeing every racer from the first bib number to the last is storytelling in it's most visceral form.
Conditions are a huge part of the Sochi2014 story, you can see and hear the conditions change when you see the whole event. The PrimeTime Package barely qualifies as a 'Highlight Reel', much less storytelling. I will watch the NBC package tonight on Women's SkierCross to see how they handle the mid-qualifying delay while some clouds blew through the middle of the course, causing local whiteout conditions, and holding up the proceedings for 10-15 minutes.
Who knew that Iran sent a Giant Slalom racer to Sochi? Did NBC show their run?
The Formula One circus is in Bahrain testing. No TV, no LIVE Stream...Still there is an information stream or two online. BBC Radio is doing a LIVE Text stream, as are several Grand Prix magazines and websites. These are informative and can be dramatic. Most of these chat-like streams include comments or tweets from fans.
Most compelling is Twitter of course, F1 Teams, drivers, F1 journalists all tweet every interesting tidbit of on-track info-tainment...in RealTime.
As the preeminent technological racing series on Planet Earth, it amazes me that F1 doesn't have an internet streaming service for sale like Major League Baseball's MLB.TV.
This gem gives you every MLB game, from every team, across every device including your Big Screen HDTV LIVE with your choice of home or visitor audio for $129/year. Every single game is available, except in local blackout areas (generally within a team's 'FanSphere')
All games are available On Demand all season, again with choice of broadcasters...worth every penny to rabid baseball fans.
I'd happily plunk down $130/year for the Formula One equivalent!
That's all for today, the San Francisco Giants are streaming LIVE from Spring Training at 10AM PST Here If you can't stream the full screen version, clear your browser's cache.
Play Ball!
Unfortunately, there's lots of stuff happening that I wish I wasn't seeing...Venezuela and the Ukraine are aflame as their citizens are protesting in the streets against their respective tyrannical rulers. Many are dead in Kiev, and blood is beginning to flow in Caracas...
NASCAR kicks off their season with their Super Bowl, the Daytona 500. The teams have been at the Daytona International Speedway for a week, practicing, qualifying, racing an All-Star race, the Sprint Unlimited, and running the Twin Qualifiers to decide the running order for The 500. The front row is locked in during qualifying...the two fastest runs take the Pole Position, and the other front row slot.
NASCAR is pretty tame stuff as motorsports go...I do love the Daytona 500 though, it means that Formula One is coming over the horizon, and that Spring is just weeks away. Still, there are surprises from Daytona. Long time readers will remember the weird Red Flag during the 2012 500.
 |
| Jet Dryer spewing flaming fuel after Juan Pablo Montoya sideswiped it under caution! |
This week, the Sprint Unlimited provided another head shaker...
That's the Chevy SS Pace Car on fire...during the race! Everyone got out OK, a back-up Pace Car took care of things, but it was really weird to see the Pace Car towed behind the Pit Wall by a wrecker!
NASCAR has a new aero package for their Restrictor Plate Races (Daytona and Taladega) this season, and it's the best they've had in many years! The draft looks like the draft form the Golden Years, long trains of cars nose to tail are gone, as are the two-by-two pairings for the last few years. I think they finally got it right!
During Thursday's second 125 mile qualifier, they had "The Big One'" on the final lap when Jimmy Johnson's number 48 Chevy ran out of fuel causing a huge melee...one unlucky racer ran into a spinning car, turned sideways at 185 mph, lifting off the track and did a 360° barrel-roll, landed upright, blasted through the infield grass, and finally drove, under control into the pits! The onboard footage was awesome...good television!
I've mostly forsaken the TV coverage of the Olympics in favor of streaming the events LIVE. Seeing every racer from the first bib number to the last is storytelling in it's most visceral form.
Conditions are a huge part of the Sochi2014 story, you can see and hear the conditions change when you see the whole event. The PrimeTime Package barely qualifies as a 'Highlight Reel', much less storytelling. I will watch the NBC package tonight on Women's SkierCross to see how they handle the mid-qualifying delay while some clouds blew through the middle of the course, causing local whiteout conditions, and holding up the proceedings for 10-15 minutes.
Who knew that Iran sent a Giant Slalom racer to Sochi? Did NBC show their run?
The Formula One circus is in Bahrain testing. No TV, no LIVE Stream...Still there is an information stream or two online. BBC Radio is doing a LIVE Text stream, as are several Grand Prix magazines and websites. These are informative and can be dramatic. Most of these chat-like streams include comments or tweets from fans.
Most compelling is Twitter of course, F1 Teams, drivers, F1 journalists all tweet every interesting tidbit of on-track info-tainment...in RealTime.
As the preeminent technological racing series on Planet Earth, it amazes me that F1 doesn't have an internet streaming service for sale like Major League Baseball's MLB.TV.
This gem gives you every MLB game, from every team, across every device including your Big Screen HDTV LIVE with your choice of home or visitor audio for $129/year. Every single game is available, except in local blackout areas (generally within a team's 'FanSphere')
All games are available On Demand all season, again with choice of broadcasters...worth every penny to rabid baseball fans.
I'd happily plunk down $130/year for the Formula One equivalent!
That's all for today, the San Francisco Giants are streaming LIVE from Spring Training at 10AM PST Here If you can't stream the full screen version, clear your browser's cache.
Play Ball!
Saturday, February 15, 2014
Warm And Fuzzy
The weatherman says we might get some drizzle overnight tonight...we'll take whatever we can get! They say the wet will hold off until the Chinese New Years Parade is over, but the truth is most of this system is trending north of the Bay Area...
Friday morning felt like Spring had sprung...I didn't get out, though the temps were Spring-like, instead I spent a very generous morning LIVE streaming the San Francisco Giants #SFGLive. They were streaming from Scottsdale, AZ where Pitchers & Catchers were reporting for Spring Training. #SFGLive went a little over Four Hours! The Giants' Opening day is 44 days away.
I didn't watch much Olympic coverage, opting to luxuriate in all things Giants' Baseball. The webcast featured interviews with new and returning players and coaches, Giants beat writers, even groundskeepers. They threw in some studio features on Giants' Promotions for the coming season...everything from Bobbleheads to R2D2 stocking caps!
You know Spring Training is almost magic to baseball fans...during spring training reality doesn't carry as much weight as dreams. During Spring Training, every baseball fan's team is going to the World Series!
Sure reality is still reality...players will make the team...or not. Some will be surprises, some will fall to injury, but overall Spring Training is like Springtime, a time for renewal and rebirth. 3rd Baseman Pablo 'Kung Fu Panda' Sandoval played Winter Ball in Venezuela, and worked really hard losing around 40 pounds. Back-up catcher Héctor Sánchez lost 20 or so pounds too...that will help his endurance when he starts behind the plate.
Everyone's champing at the bit to get going, lots of position players are in camp already too. Groundhog Day is behind us and baseball season is just six weeks away. That'll take care of that pesky Seasonal Affective Disorder!
As I write tonight, I'm listening to Baseball Talk on KNBR 680AM...more specifically I'm listening to Marty Lurie do his first show of Spring Training. Marty's Twitter handle is @baseballmarty Marty loves baseball, and the Giants...he has Reverence for baseball. He does KNBR's SF Giants pre- and post-game shows on weekends, and he's their Super-Substitute, sittin' in whenever they need him during baseball season. There is a LIVE Stream, and you can tune in KNBR on your smartphone with the iHeartRadio App.
As a Talk Radio listener for 35+ years, I hate SportsTalk...on talk radio, sports is like religion...nobody is persuading anybody...they're just spewing their 'doxies, and there's no genuine discussion. Marty's shows are different...yeah there's still SportsTalk Dolts that make it past the CallScreener, but for the most part it's compelling listening. Thanks Marty.
I'm off to watch some Olympics with the sound off...
Friday morning felt like Spring had sprung...I didn't get out, though the temps were Spring-like, instead I spent a very generous morning LIVE streaming the San Francisco Giants #SFGLive. They were streaming from Scottsdale, AZ where Pitchers & Catchers were reporting for Spring Training. #SFGLive went a little over Four Hours! The Giants' Opening day is 44 days away.
I didn't watch much Olympic coverage, opting to luxuriate in all things Giants' Baseball. The webcast featured interviews with new and returning players and coaches, Giants beat writers, even groundskeepers. They threw in some studio features on Giants' Promotions for the coming season...everything from Bobbleheads to R2D2 stocking caps!
 |
| Hunter Pence Bobblehead Wed April 9th, giveaway |
 |
| STAR WARS Day Sunday August 31st giveaway |
You know Spring Training is almost magic to baseball fans...during spring training reality doesn't carry as much weight as dreams. During Spring Training, every baseball fan's team is going to the World Series!
Sure reality is still reality...players will make the team...or not. Some will be surprises, some will fall to injury, but overall Spring Training is like Springtime, a time for renewal and rebirth. 3rd Baseman Pablo 'Kung Fu Panda' Sandoval played Winter Ball in Venezuela, and worked really hard losing around 40 pounds. Back-up catcher Héctor Sánchez lost 20 or so pounds too...that will help his endurance when he starts behind the plate.
Everyone's champing at the bit to get going, lots of position players are in camp already too. Groundhog Day is behind us and baseball season is just six weeks away. That'll take care of that pesky Seasonal Affective Disorder!
As I write tonight, I'm listening to Baseball Talk on KNBR 680AM...more specifically I'm listening to Marty Lurie do his first show of Spring Training. Marty's Twitter handle is @baseballmarty Marty loves baseball, and the Giants...he has Reverence for baseball. He does KNBR's SF Giants pre- and post-game shows on weekends, and he's their Super-Substitute, sittin' in whenever they need him during baseball season. There is a LIVE Stream, and you can tune in KNBR on your smartphone with the iHeartRadio App.
As a Talk Radio listener for 35+ years, I hate SportsTalk...on talk radio, sports is like religion...nobody is persuading anybody...they're just spewing their 'doxies, and there's no genuine discussion. Marty's shows are different...yeah there's still SportsTalk Dolts that make it past the CallScreener, but for the most part it's compelling listening. Thanks Marty.
I'm off to watch some Olympics with the sound off...
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