A generation ago Grandmaster Flash had a huge hit with The Message, with a chorus that went like this: Don’t push me ’cause I’m close to the edge I’m trying not to lose my head It’s like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder How I keep from going under That was 1982, twenty-seven years ago,Continue reading “Don’t Push Me Because I’m Close to the Edge: 2019”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
California Weather Outlook: Dry or Wet 2019?
In recent years, the mighty California Department of Water Resources has committed to researching the possibility of extending weather forecasting beyond the 3-14 days that is currently “skillful” according to statistical measures. In the fall they have been hosting a discussion of these questions at the National Academy of Sciences outpost at UC Irvine. ThisContinue reading “California Weather Outlook: Dry or Wet 2019?”
A Gillum test: a “brilliant” idea
Some of the best — and most amusing — coverage of our very stable genius has come from the often-stunned but ever-indefatigable opinion writer and interviewer Virginia Heffernan, of Slate, and the Los Angeles Times, but most of all of the podcast Trumpcast. Never thought I’d like a political podcast so much, but it’s the free-wheelingContinue reading “A Gillum test: a “brilliant” idea”
Sea lion attacks kayaker with octopus
In an extraordinary incident, a sea lion flung an octopus at a young man kayaking near a New Zealand shore, and was caught live on a digital camera. The clip went viral around the world. National Public Radio’s Rachel Cohen followed up with a wonderfully thorough and appropriately playful story. Check it out: it’s astonishing:Continue reading “Sea lion attacks kayaker with octopus”
Cowboy camping on the PCT: from Crater Lake Nat’l Park to Timberline Lodge in Oregon
What does it mean to cowboy camp the PCT? Put simply, it means camping without a tent. Throwing down a mat and your bag (or your lighter and maybe even warmer down quilt) and using the stars for your night light, and dawn for your alarm clock. But expand the definition a little and cowboyContinue reading “Cowboy camping on the PCT: from Crater Lake Nat’l Park to Timberline Lodge in Oregon”
“Puttering About in a Small Land” — Philip K. Dick in Ojai (review)
Philip K. Dick in Ojai Philip K. Dick, now widely considered the most brilliant of all science fiction writers, wrote hundreds of extraordinarily imaginative stories and forty-four novels, and — like an innovative artist who only becomes famous after his death — in recent years has had his work splashed across all sorts of screens,Continue reading ““Puttering About in a Small Land” — Philip K. Dick in Ojai (review)”
Kurt Cobain will never die
In its heyday Nirvana would end live shows in classic rock style by smashing up instruments, sometimes to a guitar freak out called Nameless Endless (which kind of has to be seen to be believed). Being Nirvana, this began as an over-the-top squall of noise, the rawest slab of guitar scream smacked up against aContinue reading “Kurt Cobain will never die”
Visiting winter in the Topa Topas after the fire
Though it’s been three months since the Thomas Fire, those of us in the burn zone can still see the blackness on the burned hillsides all around Ojai, all the way up to the ridge of our local mountains, the Topa Topas. Every winter for twenty-five years I have gone up to our mountains afterContinue reading “Visiting winter in the Topa Topas after the fire”
Ta-Nehisi Coates: Not an optimist. Not on Twitter
The writer, journalist, and thinker Ta-Nehisi Coates has been embroiled in controversy for years now. Seemingly his every move attracts controversy, (for reasons mysterious to small-town hick yours truly). Near as I can tell Coates has not been doing anything another prominent and successful writer wouldn’t like to do, such as moving to Paris forContinue reading “Ta-Nehisi Coates: Not an optimist. Not on Twitter”
“Biology we haven’t discovered yet”
Ever stumble across something — even something you’ve not thought much about — and then suddenly see it everywhere around you? This strange stumbling-into-obsession has caught me in the last couple of weeks with the concept of consciousness. What the hell? What is it? When do we have it? When do we have too muchContinue reading ““Biology we haven’t discovered yet””
Kit Stolz 