Today we crossed the bridge and the bank of fog that covers San Francisco can be seen out to sea. We enjoyed the sun in Sausalito. Note to self - next time, stay in Sausalito. We returned by the ferry and travelled on the bus through Haight Ashbury. We alighted with some architectural imperative in mind and were nearly knocked flat by the wafting THC.
I think one would say 'redolent of the sixties'. Anyway that may explain why the architecture on the right was photographed upside down. The camera you understand, nothing to do with the operator in lalaland. The tops of the tower blocks are lost in the fog.
I think one would say 'redolent of the sixties'. Anyway that may explain why the architecture on the right was photographed upside down. The camera you understand, nothing to do with the operator in lalaland. The tops of the tower blocks are lost in the fog.
Helen and I went to visit an old friend, Graham Williams near San Francisco, and he took us to a Western Ranch Cutting Competition. Graham is a competitive rider and he and his horse, Lil' Katy Badger, can be seen here, having a successful time separating out steers from the bunch. Katy is a registered American Quarter horse and is a very friendly, sweet animal.
Graham and Mary have two sons and triplet daughters!
Graham and Mary have two sons and triplet daughters!
San Francisco
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San Francisco in the merry month of May is cold, drizzly, foggy and this guy illustrates the lengths to which the natives will go to warm up. OMG!
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The 1906 Quake, the Drought and TV
The infamous 1906 Earthquake and fire is not well covered here in the city. There are mentions and pictures at the Tram Museum, but little else. One sad thing for me was that many of the houses were made of wood from huge old Redwoods, 1000 yrs old.
A few districts survived the fire because they blew up houses to form a fire-break. Only one hydrant had any water. They saved the Mint because brave workers stayed to withstand the incredible heat and they used an underground river to keep dousing the walls.
Everything over 490 blocks was razed to the ground. People who returned after the fire to check underground vaults found they were still so hot that they back- drafted and the super-hot paper inside burnt as soon as they were opened.
California has a 1000 yr drought, San Francisco is colder than usual, Texas is flooded and there are tornadoes in Oklahoma. Congress has accepted climate change is a reality, but not that humans have any causal effect, therefore they don't have to stop fracking. There has been no rain for four years and California has only just come to the point of regulating the agricultural take out – which comprises 80% of the whole. They have a year’s water supply in the reservoirs, but there will be no rain until at least December 2015. Commercial agriculture has unfettered access to ground-water, digging deeper and deeper to find it. They risk collapsing the aquifers if they take too much, and no one is monitoring it.
A run-down of TV (not hard to do)
Once more the elusive quest for something of World News on TV. There is only one channel, of the three hundred available, that has any news, and most of the 'News‘ is about celebrities or sport. Sport leads the news, and Texas qualifies as ‘World News’ here in California. Adverts are on over 50% of the time. Other news is on local police standoffs, car chases and fires. There are no current affairs programs nor discussions on world events. American TV is completely insular with re-runs of the Lucy Show available on tap.
The infamous 1906 Earthquake and fire is not well covered here in the city. There are mentions and pictures at the Tram Museum, but little else. One sad thing for me was that many of the houses were made of wood from huge old Redwoods, 1000 yrs old.
A few districts survived the fire because they blew up houses to form a fire-break. Only one hydrant had any water. They saved the Mint because brave workers stayed to withstand the incredible heat and they used an underground river to keep dousing the walls.
Everything over 490 blocks was razed to the ground. People who returned after the fire to check underground vaults found they were still so hot that they back- drafted and the super-hot paper inside burnt as soon as they were opened.
California has a 1000 yr drought, San Francisco is colder than usual, Texas is flooded and there are tornadoes in Oklahoma. Congress has accepted climate change is a reality, but not that humans have any causal effect, therefore they don't have to stop fracking. There has been no rain for four years and California has only just come to the point of regulating the agricultural take out – which comprises 80% of the whole. They have a year’s water supply in the reservoirs, but there will be no rain until at least December 2015. Commercial agriculture has unfettered access to ground-water, digging deeper and deeper to find it. They risk collapsing the aquifers if they take too much, and no one is monitoring it.
A run-down of TV (not hard to do)
Once more the elusive quest for something of World News on TV. There is only one channel, of the three hundred available, that has any news, and most of the 'News‘ is about celebrities or sport. Sport leads the news, and Texas qualifies as ‘World News’ here in California. Adverts are on over 50% of the time. Other news is on local police standoffs, car chases and fires. There are no current affairs programs nor discussions on world events. American TV is completely insular with re-runs of the Lucy Show available on tap.
