Unpoppable at the Folly Bowl

 

Yes, this is a free jazz quartet, jamming on rubber-band-sax, balloon-bass, guitar and drums. We saw them at the Folly Bowl in Altadena on Sept 10, 2011.

A Fine and Pleasant Misery: The Backyard Safari

The chapter titled The Backyard Safari from A Fine and Pleasant Misery by Patrick F. McManus was forwarded to me yesterday. I was reading it by myself in the SJC airport and couldn't contain my laughter. (It's only six pages long) Enjoy:

Rain Wrap-up 2011

The rain season of July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011 ended with 30.70 inches recorded on the Stonehill News weather station. I also have made a tradition of reporting what my neighbors, Dan Gollnick, at the top of Stonehill has recorded, going back to 1999, and Bill Westphal (Wunderground call sign, KCAALTAD1) over near Loma Alta Elementary School since 2003.

Here are the available seasonal totals:

Season    PacRad     KCAALTAD1   SHN
1999-2000  19.76"      --        --
2000-2001  21.22"      --        --
2001-2002   8.27"      --        --
2002-2003  24.47"      --        --
2003-2004  15.47"     14.72"     --
2004-2005  62.56"     56.66"    61.61"
2005-2006  24.06"     22.37"    23.35"
2006-2007   6.81"     6.52 "     6.15"
2007-2008  26.04"     24.66"    23.64"
2008-2009  16.34"     15.77"    15.09"
2009-2010  26.50"     25.55"    24.92"
2010-2011  34.49"     34.17"    30.70"
--------------------------------------
(04+) Avg  28.11"     26.53"    26.49"

Snow in Altadena Feb 26, 2011

As the week progressed, and Saturday drew near, weather predictions of snow down to 500 feet persisted, leading many to hope it may actually come to pass. After a rainy night, morning broke Saturday, and it seemed like we might have missed our chance when some light brief hail and more rain started falling.

Then a strange thing happened late in the morning; the temperature dropped suddenly by about 10 degrees F, and an unusual kind of "soft hail" mixed with rain began falling. It was the source of much excitement. The entire neighborhood seemed to be out on their decks, judging from the periodic shrieks of excitement from various directions.