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Ideas, issues and life in nevada county CA
it's a weblogBelaboring the obvious since 2003
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Saturday, May 10, 2003
minutiae coming into town this morning everything seemed somehow crisper, brighter, more appealing. then the cranial dim bulb went on: oh, yeah, now i remember, that's "sunlight" it's been a long time. Salam Pax made the Bee today. When he shows up in The Union we'll know he's really hit the big time. a question - what is the difference between a political operative and a political activist? is the former a loaded term? reporter appreciation dayDoug Mattson, we are inordinately lucky to have you here.Two more growth articles today:
going around in circlesDoug Mattson article back on May 7, covering proposal to put a roundabout aka rotary in at Idaho-Maryland and East Main St. intersection, also mentioning that CalTrans is thinking of putting one at Gold Flat / Hwy 20. I hope they'll do the same at Gold Flat/Ridge/Zion/Nevada City Highway intersection, whereThe official distinction between roundabout and rotary is that rotary is big, roundabout is small, and that roundabout is empirically? better. But the ultimate in roundabouts, if you keep shrinking, is a blind intersection, and that is not so good, so size can't be the whole story. Rotary seems to me better, since the increased circumference gives you more space for merging in. One surprising statement in the article was that signal lights were 'deemed' cheaper. How can that be - after all it's just a round road with dirt in middle - unless part of already-built-up neighboring property is needed for roundabout. Note to NC (county? city?) officials- not all of the GF/R/Z/NCH intersection is built up yet, act now please. Friday, May 09, 2003
goodbye privacy, hello housefliesvia meta.popdex.com, robot houseflies:The science fiction fantasy of flying robots the size of houseflies may become a reality within five years, if UC Berkeley researchers have their way. and via metafilter, e-newspaper can't be folded yet but it's close: The screen is less than 0.3 millimetres thick, flexible enough to be rolled into a tube just 4 mm across and can be viewed from almost any angle. Thursday, May 08, 2003
binocular vision and premature complaintTwo ways of reporting the discussion of anomalous San Juan Ridge park survey results in the Board of Supes meeting:
to me, the discrepancy between results of previous surveys and the current one - and the direction of that discrepancy - would seem to be valuable information. The complaint: The Nevada County Public Law Center's upcoming easement class is filled up; I sure hope (but, being a cynic, doubt) that they'll be putting a transcript of the info covered, and Q&As, up on the web. Are they not publicly funded? do we not wish our famed taxpayer dollars to be spent in the most cost-effective fashion? will not county residents (other than the 70 who will be taking time out of their day to show up in person) get vastly more benefit for their tax dollars if they have full, rapid, easy access to what was covered in the class? public interest is not being served if public experts needlessly limit public access to their expertise. Wednesday, May 07, 2003
lazy postquotes, found here:May is a pious fraud of the almanac. no sun though. and no heat. prediction: Richard Bear (Stony Run) and Robert Brady (Pure Land Mountain) will turn out to be identical twins raised apart. Tuesday, May 06, 2003
NC Free Press awakesalthough likeglad to see it up and running again. a man, a plan...Inspiring column today by Union publisher Jeff Ackerman on Nevada City's Steve Cottrell, who is always a city councilman, never a mayor:the mayor of Nevada City is kind of a token position. ...The mayor gets to gavel the meetings, kiss babies, lead parades, sign proclamations and pretty much be the person everyone points to when an unhappy citizen storms into City Hall demanding to "see the mayor."Mr. Ackerman isn't the only one to see the position of mayor as more honor than duty; I've heard the "Steve's been a councilman for so many years that it's only fair to let him be mayor" sentiment from other quarters as well. But duty matters too, and the mayor's position is not a token one: aiming for consensus rather than divisiveness (the former of which is part of "being a team player") is an important aspect of the job, and as we've seen in other quarters lately, it is not always found in our local public-servant leadership. And I'd hate to see that quality, where we do have it, potentially sacrificed in order to honor any citizen, even one as deserving as Mr. Cottrell. Hence the inspiration: let us do as the English do, and separate the crass business of government from regal ceremony. I wholeheartedly support honoring Steve Cottrell, but we can do better than make him mayor: let us anoint him King of Nevada City. There is precedent for this action: Ukiah has a King, albeit self-appointed and low profile, and Nevada County has an Empress (also self-appointed, somewhat higher profile). But to have an official King to lead parades and sign proclamations, instead of just a mayor or a self-proclaimed one, would set Nevada City far above any other tourist town in California. He'll need a conveyance, and appropriate garb: crown, robes, sceptre, throne. For the conveyance, perhaps the carriage horses outside the National Hotel, or, depending on the desired tone to be struck, a truck like Mike's. As for crown and sceptre - this is an artistic community, and I (no artist) am sure others would have creative yet fitting ideas. Throne: wrought of local manzanita, it has been sighted at Nevada City Picture Framing. Robes: ermine is in short supply locally, so we could take the " Deodorized first of course, we want the impact to be visual. I expect to be overruled on the robes suggestion (he is a King, after all, that means he gets to overrule) - but i humbly submit that the general idea is utterly perfect and should be implemented forthwith. We could do with some royalty around here, and Mr. Cottrell would be a fine man for the job. Long may he reign. (It looks better on a resume too.) misc quotesi do love the british language. From the BBC:For when he is not climbing mountains, Mr Gariano has a much more mundane day job - tending the pot plants at the KMI's laboratories. Peter Mayle via metafilter via Richard W Bruner in Budapest Sun, on the downside of using pigs to hunt truffles: "The pig is not content to wag his tail and point when he has discovered a truffle," wrote Mayle. "He wants to eat it. In fact, he is desperate to eat it. And you cannot reason with a pig on the brink of gastronomic ecstasy. He is not easily distracted, nor is he of a size you can fend off with one hand while you rescue the truffle. There he is, as big as a small tractor, rigid with porcine determination and refusing to be budged." From Howard Rheingold's article in Wired on Amish use of technology: "We don't stop with asking what a tool does. We ask about what kind of people we become when we use it." Monday, May 05, 2003
future shockAssociated Press article in The Union today (from here, under "May 5", click on "New bills signal latest push for tough growth regulations") on (small) plethora of state bills in the pipeline aimed at curbing sprawl/ensuring sufficient water/increasing the % of affordable housing. The most interesting part for us foothillites was down toward end of article:...a Senate Local Government Committee analysis of the bill (SB898) suggests it could trigger a "land rush" into [nonprime farmland and grazing land] in the state's Sierra and coastal foothills.Urp. So it's another one of those moments, like reading about how all our jobs are moving to India; on the whole, it's probably a sensible/thoughtful/equitable shift and the world will be the better for it, but that doesn't mean it's not going to hurt at this end. If only all the developments could be like the Loma Rica Ranch, the population increase would be a lot more bearable. (homepage, not yet active, will be here) actually maybe the growth pressures on Calif. will be reduced since the commute from here to India takes so long. And then there's SARS. (BTW here's MedlinePlus on SARS and the future). p.s. a big THANK YOU to Jean Brook(e?) Dunning for all her work in keeping Loma Rica Ranch from becoming a money-at-all-costs development. We owe you big time... Sunday, May 04, 2003
consumer reports IIhighly recommended, especially for the girl(s) in your life:
six-legged houseguests update: many fewer, and they seem strangely subdued. |
