Do we believe the weather prognosticators that these incoming storms will be of Biblical proportions?

I, for one, am not taking chances.

I’m about to go top off my gas tank so I won’t have to stand outside at a gas station at any point in the next few days. I’m also about to go take down the Christmas lights now so they’re not knocked off by Mother Nature and so they’re not up for several more days (I realize some will say we’re OK ’til Epiphany for leaving them up.)

What are your storm plans?

It’s raining!

I’m speculating that we can all look forward to team coverage on “Rain Watch ‘07: Holiday Edition” since we haven’t had nearly enough of this wet stuff in some time.

Who are the most rookie reporters who will have to report from Blue Canyon today and tonight?

This morning on the way to work I saw 3 or 4 V-formations of Canadian geese flying south. It got me thinking about other sure signs around Sacramento that winter is coming…

Continue reading “Seasonal signs” »

..you can see across California!

While flying home yesterday morning from a conference in Minnesota, I stared out the window and watched the west go by. Barren mountains and alkali flats were the lay of the land, with nary a tree to be seen.

As we crossed over Carson City and into California, it was like the scene in The Wizard of Oz where Dorothy escapes her black and white world and into a technicolor dream. Continue reading “On a clear day..” »

Sorry for the lapse in entertainment recommendations last weekend.  We hope to make it up to you with a prime time, Sacramento-sized deep fried bucket of weekend entertainment:

FRIDAY- Perhaps the greatest musician to come out of Berkeley High School, and a former Sacramento resident, Charlie Hunter and his ultra funky 8-string guitar (that’s 3 strings of bass and 5 strings of guitar for those keeping score at home) will be performing with his trio tonight at Marilyn’s on K St.  I’ve personally seen Charlie dozens of times, from his formative gigs in Bay Area clubs to his more polished later group outings.  He is one of the most popular figures on the jazz scene and only comes to Sacramento once every two or three years.  Check him out.  Buy tix here.

SATURDAY- (from Runnergirl) If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to run up what people ski down, here’s your chance this Saturday.  It’s the Squaw Mountain Run and it’s a 3.6 mile jaunt up from the valley floor to the Escarpment. At the top, participants will enjoy music, food, beer, and raffles.  The less energetic can take the cable car to the top of the mountain and take part in a three mile “flower walk.” This is also the first few miles of the Western States course, and the views of Lake Tahoe are amazing. Continue reading “Watcha Doin’ This Weekend?” »

So I’m reading that four northern counties will undergo aerial spraying for West Nile virus beginning Monday and I couldn’t help but wonder how this came about so quickly.  Then I hop over to sacbee.com and check out an article about two new cases of West Nile being discovered this week.

From the Sac Bee article:

District officials were sharply criticized in 2005 when, during a West Nile epidemic, they began aerial spraying in Sacramento and Yolo counties with little public notice. As a result, the district initiated an intensive awareness campaign to publicize every facet of its mosquito control efforts.

From the News 10 article:

The decision follows Thursday’s announcement that two human cases of the virus have been detected in the county.

Now that’s an intense effort to publicize EVERY facet, huh?

HeyMeg brings up an excellent point today about inevitable zombie attack, one that deserves more than a passing mention. Also it’s Thursday and everybody needs a little pick-me-up on Thursday afternoon. For more clarification I turned to her husband, The Game Guy, who asks:

If Zombies attack, where’s the safest place in Sacramento to hide out/what’s the best escape route.

I mean, contemporary wisdom would say Arden Fair mall, but I don’t think that’s such a great idea - given its land-locked location, and close proximity to soon-to-be jammed freeways.

And K Street Mall is looks like its basically infested with zombies right now, so I think it’s something worth thinking about.

I say secure the levees. Get to high ground.

Cal Fire’s incident page on the Angora Fire reports that the fire is 40% contained as of 6:30 this morning with full containment expected by the end of the weekend. Here’s hoping that most of the damage to populated areas is over. The extended CoolDMZ family has a summer cabin at Echo Summit, so the Angora and Seneca Pond (where apparently the fire originated) is a familiar area to me. The Sac Rag extends our best wishes to the people of South Lake Tahoe and our hopes that no more damage will come to the area.

Grilling out

This weekend’s outing brought the CoolDMZs to Jenkinson Lake, in the Sly Park Recreation Area of El Dorado County. Longtime residents know Sly Park from the various youth camps located there, most notably the Sacramento Trad Jazz Camp and Sly Park Basketball School for grade-school hoopsters.

Continue reading “Jenkinson Lake, Sly Park” »

The Bee reports that a civilian boater reported seeing a dead 50-foot long whale floating near the Golden Gate Bridge early this morning. Since it’s been a while I’m going to go out on a limb and say it could be a hoax. Or it could be this guy:

But it could be a dead whale, not related to Delta and Dawn, that the Coast Guard has observed floating near Angel Island for several days.

Naah, it must be one of the 2 that we know by name…