What next?

Oh great, now a new form of dog flu is infecting dogs within the U.S. Just when will that jump to humans and then how long before it spreads human to human? The Avian flu has already jumped to humans but to date human to human infections have been relatively small but that will change.

Then the illness of politicians in Washington D.C. continues unabated with corruption at most every level of government then the idiots wonder why voter turnout is so low. Who can you trust anyway? There are times when I think the human race is out of control and that something needs to be done to put a stop to all of this foolishness.

Human history is filled with plagues ravaging whole continents and wiping out large numbers of people. During the past one hundred years however we have been in a quiet period but now the barn door is about to be opened once again and all sorts of viruses are about to spread and ravage this planet. Even the vaccines now available to prevent some forms of flu and losing their potency as the viruses are showing greater and greater resistance to the vaccines. Let's face it, the viruses are winning and the human race is losing this war and should the human population of this planet be greatly reduced as a result, perhaps the remaining people will get their act together and act responsibly.

New arrivals?

Good lord, what turnip truck did our current crop of TV weather forecasters fall off of. As I write this the woman on Channel 5 here in SF just said an off-shore wind flow is bringing us unseasonably warm weather. Good grief...September and October are the warmest months of the years and have been for many years. This year of 2005 however, has seen very few warm days in San Francisco and absolutely no hot days. Last year I was able to go to Giants games and relax in mild to hot weather in the day and reasonably mild weather at night but not this year. Where are these so-called weather people getting their information? I REPEAT...September and October ARE the warmest months of the year, or at least they are supposed to be. Another thing these TV people fail to do is to clearly differentiate between San Francisco and inland weather which is typically warmer than San Francisco in the summer. They tend to lump everything together or gloss over it so quickly that they tend to confuse many people. Perhaps there are time constraints on their reporting but they need to find a way to make things clearer. Too many times at work co-workers from Concord or Walnut Creek would arrive in SF unprepared for the chilly weather because it was supposed to 85 or 90 or so they thought but that forecast was for their hometown, not San Francisco. Yes, I do hear "cooler along the coast" but then that can be a fairly big area which doesn't really help people pinpoint weather conditions in their own city.

BIG TENTACLE LIVES

So far there is no evidence that Big Foot lives but we now have photographic evidence of a Giant Squid 3000 feet below the surface of the ocean.

In the meantime "Tiny Brain" continues to operate in and around the Washington D.C. area as explained by Mark Morford but has he really seen the light yet?

World Wide Problem

People in the U.S. who are concerned about big box stores such as Walmart moving into their areas and causing problems for small locally owned businesses could take some comfort from knowing that such problems exist in other countries as well. Thailand is having to deal with similar situations according to this article in the Bangkok Post.

Vacation - Not!

I know it has been several days since posting anything here but I have not been on vacation. Perhaps my brain has but I have not. There are just some days in which nothing inspires me to write anything. It is a good thing that I do not have any deadlines to meet other than the one known as death. Like someone once said, "there are only two certain things in life - taxes and death and we can do nothing about either". As for my postings on this website, I can do something however WHAT?

At least the opera season is going well. On the 17th of September we had Handel's Rodelinda with Catherine Naglestag in the title role along with two very good counter-tenors, David Daniels as Bertarido and Gerald Thompson as Unulfo, in a modern production and last night we had an updated versioin of Rossini's L'Italiana in Algeri which was even better. Especially noteworthy last night were mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux as Isabella. Sounding like but not looking like Marilyn Horne, she could have stole the show but for some reason audience favorites were tenor William Burden (Lindoro) who has a bright clear ringing voice similar to Juan Diego Florez and Dean Peterson (Mustafa). The production team took a page out of Jean Pierra Ponnelle's playbook by having an airplane flying over the audience and then have it come down on stage in the second scene with cast members watching its progress along the way. This is reminiscent of his Pagliacci production in which a miniature truck comes down a winding mountain road as people watch and then the full sized truck rolls on stage shortly after that to be greeted by the villagers.

Today the weather actually warmed up for a change. I even sat in Huntington Park in a short sleeve shirt for a change. As usual though, our "heat wave" will only be one day in length as they are predicting cooler temperatures for tomorrow. Booo...

And before I wrap this up, remember, only three months until Christmas. Do YOU have your Christmas shopping done? #$%&*%$#@*&

Bye y'all.

Donner und Blitzen

There was a little excitement here yesterday for us weather freaks who are starved for viable thunderstorms. As so often happens during the fall when tropical storms off the west coast of Mexico send upper level moisture streaming north, we had widespread thunderstorms as a result. Local news reporters either just fell of the turnip truck or they have very short memories as they were calling this unusual. Yes, thunderstorms right along the coast are rare but no, having them occur at this time of year is not unusual. Anyway, for a brief time I heard the sound of thunder instead of screaming fire trucks and ambulances. I only wish I had an apartment with a view so I could have watched the heavenly light show. Of course, they can get too close as happened one time in rural southern Georgia when the storm was just above the house. Never had I heard thunder of such intensity as in that storm nor seen so much lightning up close. That was a bit frightening to say the least. Fortunately it did not last long.
Today the Bay Area is quiet, sunny, and mild.

Film Noir

Joshua Kosman, music critic of the San Francisco Chronicle, calls the San Francisco Opera's production of Handel's Rodelinda Film Noir. I suppose there is some validity in that with regard to the mood but I totally disagree with his comment about tempos dragging or being sluggish. In fact, they were so brisk that soprano Catherine Naglestad had trouble keeping up with the orchestra in Act One. I do agree with Mr. Kosman about counter-tenor Gerald Thompson. David Daniels may be the big name in the world of counter-tenors these days, but I have heard others that I prefer over him and now I can add Gerald Thompson to that list. I am now waiting to see what Robert Commanday or one of his staff at SF Classical Voice have to say about the production. I woke up so early this morning that I am running two hours ahead of schedule and these various websites have yet to be updated. As a result I will return to this posting later today.

Later this morning...

The review of Rodelinda from the San Francisco Classical Voice Newsletter has been posted and I find I am more in agreement with this one. I tell you, I just don't understand where Mr. Kosman's head is sometimes so it good that we have the San Francisco Classical Voice Newsletter to keep us informed about Bay Area events and publish reviews of same.

Monday Blues?

Not sure what is going on here but I was sure dragging all morning. Really felt in a funk but getting out of the apartment and to the gym helped out and things seem to be returning to normal.

The MLB season winds down now with most everything in place except possibly the AL-West where the A's and Angels continue to battle it out for first place. The AL Wild Card slot is still up for grabs with Cleveland (?) leading that race. How did they get there? The method of computing these wild card teams still puzzles me. Anyway, the Giants are most likely finished for this season but someone once said "never say never". I wonder who that was?

The first opera of the 05/06 season for me was seen this past Saturday evening. It was Handel's Rodelinda. Handel can be tedious despite the lovely melodies along the way but our cast eased the burden of that 3-1/2 hour baroque work especially soprano Catherine Naglestad (Rodelinda) and counter-tenors David Daniels (Bertarido) and Gerald Thompson, an Adler Fellow (Unulfo). It always amazes me to hear a man sing in that range and then to toss off coloratura in such an effortless sounding manner. This was a modern production in which they had room to inject some humor which I am sure Handel did not intend. Perhaps that was the reason for the minor earthquake over the weekend. Ha! I wonder if incoming General Director Gockley will be so enamored with these Euro-trash productions? I hope not. Since Saturday night was opening night for that production I am anxious to compare notes with Joshua Kosman but for some reason his review was not in the Chronicle this morning. I have been assured by Datebook staff however that it will appear Tuesday morning. I probably won't agree with him anyway but that is neither here nor there. Then there is also the San Francisco Classical Voice Newsletter website which should have a review as well. They publish every Tuesday.

The new TV season has arrived. I don't watch too much on the boob tube however I got interested in all three CSI programs last season and will watch them again this year. My favorite of the three is the NY version. I miss NYPD Blue but there are some re-runs of that show on the Court TV channel.

Whose god?

I pledge Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, Buddha, Allah, Vishnu, Shiva, Krishna, Durga, Zeus, Poseidon, Aphrodite, Apollo, Athena, etc., indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all.

Oh, I forgot the name of YOUR god? Well, please click on the comment button and send the name to me and it will be included in reposting of this pledge.

Thank you.

Openings and closings

This is what I call my busy season. No, it is not tax season but with so much happening this month there is almost too much to do. Since I am a season subscriber to the opera and symphony I will be busy on many Friday and Saturday evenings with those events. Since I am a Giants fan I try to watch their games on TV and this week I will attend two games. The game against the Padres tomorrow night will see the return of Barry Bonds. Then I return to SBC Park on Thursday evening for the game against the Dodgers. The football season opened this weekend and the 49ers beat the Rams at home. The baseball season is winding down and the Giants will not make the playoffs so I can now concentrate on other events such as the opera, symphony, and NFL games. Grace Cathedral has a full schedule of Sunday afternoon organ recitals also. I plan to attend some of those and combine those events with the Choral Evensong service.

On a completely different note, there is also Happy Hour at N' Touch where you get more bang for your buck at the reduced prices. They have assembled a great crew there for Happy Hour and for the late evening events as well.

They say you should count your blessings. Well, my plate is full and I do. I have travel events to look forward to also with a short trip to the Washington D.C. area in late October and then a three week journey back to Thailand in January with stops in Pattaya, Chiang Mai, and Bangkok.

The last four months of the year always seem to zip by especially since the Christmas shopping season comes barreling in at warp speed and leaves my bank account somewhat leaner.

Well, I know I am rambling here but what the heck. There don't seem to be any important items to report on so I guess you could consider this a "slow news day." I am content if somewhat tired from a late night out Saturday.

Electrical problems II

Now I am not so sure if PG&E's ongoing work in this neighborhood is the problem or not however my microwave and coffee make exhibited the same loss of memory this morning that they did yesterday. And again, nothing else happened in the apartment to indicate a fluctuation in the power. There was not an outage, not even blinking or dimming lights. What in the world is going on?

Bench with a View

Today, being the first mild and sunny day in several days, I decided to head over to Hungtington Park to get some fresh air and do some reading. I took my camera along also and here are two views from that bench. The first is of an apartment building (or are they condos?) near Sacramento and Mason, and the second photo is of the Mark Hopkins Hotel at California and Mason. The book I just started is written by one of my favorite SciFi writers, Ray Bradbury, and is entitled A Graveyard for Lunatics. It was first published in 1990 which surprised me as I thought Ray had died many years prior to that. Or has he died since? These days I am never sure who is alive and who is dead, including myself. Ha! Anyway, it was a pleasent afternoon there. I also enjoyed a Cafe Mocha from Peet's Coffee shop which has an outlet in the basement of Grace Cathedral.

Electrical Problem?

There was a strange incident this morning in this little studio apartment. One circuit went out long enough so that my coffee maker and the microwave lost track of the time. No, no circuit breaker was tripped but the power was off long enough to cause that loss of memory on those two items. Let me explain. There is only one wall outlet in my tiny kitchen. It is next to the counter and I have a microwave oven there plugged directly into one of the two outlets. Since I also have a toaster and a coffee maker sitting on top of the microwave, I have a heavy duty multiple outlet strip to which the coffee maker and the toaster are plugged into. Sometime after I finished with my coffee and turned that appliance off, everything lost power. I had poured my final cup of coffee, turned the coffee maker off, and had returned to my computer to continue reading the news and various e-mail messages. Upon returning to the kitchen I found the two appliances blinking at me. Now there were no power failures in the building or neighborhood and the lights did not blink anywhere in the apartment nor did I hear any stranges noises. So why did the power fail temporarily on that one circuit only. It is on now but I wonder for how long. If any electricians happen to read this and you have any ideas as to what the cause of that might be, please let me know by clicking on the comments button below. Thank you.
---------------
A short time later...

I think I found the source of the problem as I went to the grocery store. There were three PG&E generators on my street, one block apart, feeding the main lines underground as they worked on something beneath streets. I can only assume that in cutting those in, the whole system hiccupped which resulted in my partial and instantaneous power failure. I also notice that the courtyard waterfall has failed and is now silent.

Formatting error

It wasn't supposed to look like that but now that it has been posted I can do nothing about the small amount of text appearing to the right of the photos in my previous posting. All text was supposed to start following the photos. Ah, computers, you love 'em or you hate 'em.

SLOW

Slow describes the painfully long journey via Amtrak through the Sierras to Reno, Nevada. After experiencing trains in France and Europe, this all day trip to cover approximately 200 miles was somewhat of a torture test which only became pleasant because of the scenery and the delightful Amtrak crew. The long journey time cannot be blamed on Amtrak however. This run, and many others, are slow these days due to the fact that the boss, Union Pacific which owns the tracks and rights-of-way, has issued a lot of "slow orders" during infrastructure rehabilitation. Sometimes, too, they give preference to their super-sized freight trains. If and when this country decides to invest in high speed rail Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Japan have done, then we might truly make this an alternative form of transporation and not just a land cruise for Aunt Ethel and the kids.

The problem with much American equipment is that is it so darn big and heavy. It lumbers along even under the best of circumstances. The Amtrak locomotive seen above is the Genesis series from G.E. Until American railroads convert to all electric operation utilizing lighter and faster equipment, we will never get anwhere. Perhaps this is the latest diesel/electric equipment available but it seems so archaic when compared to Europe and Japan where the schedules mean something.

As for my former hometown of Reno, it is getting a little shabby in some parts of the downtown area. Business open and close and may or may not be replaced by something else. Now the Virginian Hotel on Virginia Street next to the Club Cal-Neva is closed (temporarily according to the signs on the doors) but a new hotel has opened across the street in the building that once housed the Onslow Hotel. When it had closed that building had remained empty for a number of years. Next to that the building at W. First and Virginia Streets a building which had been constructed in the sixties and originally housed Woolworths and then other businesses after that chain closed, now sits empty and boarded up. A couple of other hotel buildings to the west and northwest of that corner are also empty and dark.

Only the Circus-Circus/Silver Legacy/El Dorado complex on North Virginia Street as well as the Fitzgerald Hotel and Harrahs appear to be doing well. Reno is a bit run down and tacky when compared to Las Vegas' bustling tourist businesses and since airline fares to Las Vegas are little more than those to Reno, why bother with Reno in the first place?

Incidentally, that other photo at the top of this posting is of the old Riverside Hotel building, now living studio space for artists. It sits next to the Truckee River and Island Avenue has been converted into a pedestrian mall known as Riverwalk. At least the Reno Redevelopment Agency managed to save that building and find a use for it, something they failed to do with the old Mapes Hotel building which they blew up a few years ago. That lot had remained empty since but now some sort of ice rink and mini-park is under construction at that site. I hope that is an indoor rink as I do not know of any refrigeration equipment that could successfully deal with the hot summer temperatures there.

And now some people are talking about the possibility of covering over the big new railroad trench. Great, I wonder how they would propose to vent the diesel exhaust fumes?

Anyway, it is there and I am here, so that is that and I am outa here. Bye y'all.

Labor/Labour Day

It seems rather quiet around the apartment complex today however an odd thing happened a short time ago. When the tennant upstairs had a plumbing problem in the bathroom, the water leaked into mine (briefly) through a light fixture in the hallway. How odd! It was actually coming down the light fixture but was being contained by the globe that covers the light bulbs. It was if I suddenly had acquired an aquarium hanging from the cieling, sans fish.

Well, there is good news out of Washington this week. Bush has nominated John Roberts to fill the post of Chief Justice. While Roberts may not be the best possible choice for the court, the fact that he could be approved for the top spot sidetracks a possible Antonin Scalia appointment to that post and for that I and I am sure many others, will be grateful. (Greatful?) Hmm...neither word looks right there but in checking my dictionary, grateful is correct. Oh, some days I think I am forgetting everything I ever learned in school. Is this a sign of old age?

The Giants, while not necessarily in the running for winning the NL-West or even being in the Wild Card race, could make an interesting run for something this month as they are now in second place for the first time since last spring. Also, they have seven games against the Dodgers, seven against the Padres, and three more against the Diamondbacks. It could be a very interesting month indeed.

I got caught in a terrible traffic jam yesterday afternoon in the vicinity of the Ferry Building. I had forgotten about the San Francisco Grand Prix. In fact, I did not even know the route nor the start times. Anyway, I went to Sur la Table in the hopes of finding something I could not locate at Bed, Bath & Beyond (I didn't) and had a difficult time walking to and from the building and then my # 1 bus seem to be nowhere in sight when I was ready to go home, so I walked home. Of course, had it shown up, it would have been stuck in a traffic jam anyway so walking was the easiest and fastest method of transport at that time.

Will be off to Reno tomorrow via Amtrak. This will be the first time going by train and since I am a train buff or whatever, that will be new to me as I have never taken the train any further east than Sacramento. Actually, since the Zephyr is a long distance train and you must make reservations in advance, I was surprised that they actually had tickets remaining at this late date. That is one week prior to departure. This journey will be a quick one. The train ride is the main indgredient in this little excursion. As for my one night in Reno, that should be sufficient time in which to get hopelessly bored. For example, twenty minutes at a slot machine is enough to drive me up the wall. Keno is too much like the state lotto which I never win and I know little to nothing about the table games.

Labor/Labour Day Weekend

What do people do on a three day weekend such as this, especially retired or unemployed people? As for me, I have no plans although I may do some reading, a little walking, a little drinking, a little snoozing, a little farting (yes, I have a gas problem of late so hold your nose), a little eating, a little of this and that, you know, or don't you. What am I doing here? Hmm...

Ain't That a Shame

Yes, it is, what is happening in New Orleans and surroudings areas but now Fats Domino is among the missing in New Orleans.

Before and after

Here are some aerial before and after photos of New Orleans. Note the Super Dome in the lower part of the photos.

What a mess!

The Bush seems to be preoccupied with Iraq and is only now taking notice of an immense tragedy in Mississippi and Louisiana. The anger and desperation is growing and there is sharp criticism now to the U.S. reaction to this event. And if that weren't enough, the city of New Orleans has been rocked by some explosions at a chemical storage plant this morning. Bush fiddled while New Orleans flooded. That could be an interesting campaign slogan for the opposition if he were up for re-election. I wonder if congress will wake up to his ineptness and find a way to impeach him for dereliction of duty.

How about a new-New Orleans?

"Editor -- Why would a major city be built below sea level with levees to keep out the water? Rebuild New Orleans? For what purpose? So that it can be destroyed by another hurricane?
It's time we put some effort into evacuating major hurricane areas. The annual cost of hurricane cleanup, not to mention the toll in human life, is astronomical.

It's the taxpayers who foot the bill. And it seems that the hurricane season is getting only worse, more than likely as a result of the Earth's warming.

In any event, it seems pointless to constantly rebuild towns and cities in the path of hurricanes when those areas could be evacuated. And we could start with New Orleans."

Comments from around the world

Good post here by Julie with comments from other countries and people regarding the hurricane damage in New Orleans.

Say What?

I don't know if it is me or what but many of these blog spots are unintelligible. What in the world are they saying and I am referring to the ones written in English. Is there THAT much difference between my generation and the younger generation of today? Are they high on someting or have their brains been previously fried by some unknown substance?

Stadium...stadium...whose got a stadium?

The NFL and the N.O. Saints are still trying to figure out where they can play their home opener against the N.Y. Giants on Sept. 18th. Also, in question is the entire season. What a logistical nightmare that is!