Newest articles and comments on The Sacramento Press written by Jeff McCrory

The Important Things

2010-06-03T03:12:15Z

[A note on the text: This is a little essay I submitted to another publication at the beginning of spring. It was never published, but I stubbornly persist on liking it and wanting others to read it. As gray skies have robbed of us this year of our little window of SoCal weather, I suppose reflections on the nature of spring are not very much in demand, but since this essay was written in the mood of Stravinsky much more than Vivaldi maybe it is fitting after all.]

The coming of spring always reminds me of the things that make the Sacramento region important. There are many things that do, but somehow they get overlooked in favor of sports teams, parking lots and human beings -- in other words, pretentious and trifling things. Of all the important things, I have three favorites.

Ground squirrels top my list. Heading East on the Elvas Freeway, a little ways past the 30th Street on-ramp, there is a wedge of undeveloped land on the right. A chain-link fence stands between it and the freeway. Presumably, the fence is there to keep anyone coming across the field from walking into traffic -- a pretty pointless precaution, if you ask me. However, the ground squirrels have found a use for it. On a sunny day, you will see them perched along the top of the fence, often in pairs.

The first time I saw the squirrels on the fence, I had to get off the freeway at Cal Expo and circle back around to make sure I hadn't hallucinated them. I look for them every time I drive that stretch of freeway, and I still can't quite believe my eyes. The sight of them is too miraculous not to be the result of some kind of perceptual anomaly.

Bee trees come second. Last week, I was sitting in the grass with my dogs. We were somewhere in Carmichael, listening to the relaxing and hopeful sound of bees buzzing. A couple of times a year, I check up on two feral bee colonies that have taken up residence in oak trees. Feral honey bees are bees who have parted ways with humans to try to make it on their own in the wild. I've read that they tend to have weaker colonies than those which people manage. Mite infestation can easily decimate them as well. So I'm always worried that the hives will be gone when I go looking for them. Thankfully, both hives remain intact.

Finally, I must mention copulating snakes. If you hope to see copulating snakes, you'll have to do a lot of walking around. In the decade I've spent walking around the Sacramento region, I've seen just one pair of gopher Snakes entwined in the sexual embrace.

According to Greek myth, the prophet Tiresias saw a pair of copulating snakes. Like me, he was utterly entranced by them. He squatted down and watched them for a long time. But the snakes sensed his presence and attacked him. In the struggle, he killed the female, and as a result he was turned into a woman.

I've never killed a snake or had a sex change, but the myth makes a lot of sense to me. My pair of copulating snakes eventually separated and slithered away. I felt vaguely guilty about invading their privacy, as if doing so might have interrupted something vitally important.

Photo by Jeff McCrory. Why no photos of the creatures? Sometimes you get what you pay for, I'm afraid. But if you want to see a YouTube video of a Bee tree, here.

Jeff McCrory on "A Trial"

2010-01-16T01:30:35Z

Edit: My car entered the intersection a half a second AFTER the light turned red.

A Trial

2010-01-16T01:17:52Z

The surveillance state is a miracle of convenience.

In the old days, if you ran a red light, you had to go through the rigmarole of being pulled over by a police officer. Today, by contrast, you are more likely to see a flash of light from one of the red-light camera mounted at intersections around the county and a week or so later receive a set of photographs in the mail: one of you behind the wheel of your car with a swear word still crinkling your lips; another of your car entering the intersection illegally; and, finally, a close-up of your licence plate. Just think: all the incriminating evidence sent directly to your home, and you didn't even have to ask for it. It's almost as clever as those gadgets for dicing radishes they hawk on TV at three a.m.

The downside is a red light violation will cost you $426. When I got my "courtesy notice" last November telling me I had to pay this sum for allegedly running a red light on Madison Avenue, I started screaming, "A boot is stamping on my face--forever!" George Orwell said something similar about the threat of totalitarianism, but for me it was just about the money.

Anyway, I vowed to fight the $426 injustice. I showed up at the Carol Miller Justice Center on the day of my court appearance, where I met a swarm of people who were there for the same reason. A comforting thought: the world is full of dummies just like you.

I entered the courtroom, and the bailiff, a giant Sheriff's deputy, began barking orders at everyone: take a seat, don't talk, line up when the judge calls your name. Maybe I've been watching too much Slavoj Žižek on YouTube lately, but the bailiff seemed refreshingly free of what Žižek might call "the chocolate laxitive of liberal, democratic ideology." He was there to enforce the iron will of the state, and he wasn't going to pretend otherwise. He wasn't even going to be nice about it. Whenever he caught someone whispering, he pointed a finger and said, "One more time, you're out."

The court reminded me of the Pentecostal church of my childhood. The rows of pews were the same. The preacher was at his pulpit, flanked by his deacons. I was called up to the altar, but instead of accepting Jesus into my heart or speaking in tongues I gave my plea.

"Not guilty," I said.

The judge told me to take a seat and wait for the DA to come talk to me. I got a little excited at this point. They were sending in the DA to rattle my cage. Did they really think they were going to break me?

Actually, I meet with an assistant DA. One always holds out the hope, in the back of one's mind, that the people one meets in real life will be like the people you see on TV. But the ADA I met was nothing like the flinty DAs that you see on TV cop shows. He wasn't a moral beacon in the murk of an evil world. He was more like a car salesman -- one who already knows he is going to sell you the shabby Honda on lot four.

"So have you seen your video?" the ADA said blandly.

There is a video. They don't tell you that. I followed the ADA into a tiny room, where another guy was already viewing his video. Clearly, he hadn't heard anything about a video, either.

"All I know is that I saw a car about to hit me," he said. "That's why I ran the red."

"Hm, I don't really see a car behind you," said the ADA working his case.

The went on jabbering about the car he'd supposedly seen behind him. He could have sworn it was there (though it was good he hadn't swore under oath that he had). I wanted to tell the guy give it up. His fib had been exposed. But I had my own video to attend to. In traffic court, everybody has to work out his own salvation.

It was a close call, but they had me. My car entered the intersection a half a second before the light turned red. The ADA played back the video four times for me. I asked to see the time stamp of the video. He was happy to oblige. Again, I had to marvel at such technology. Imagine a world where you could always go back play back the video: a world without uncertainty.

The ADA wanted to close the deal. He had the paperwork all filled out. I just had to sign on the dotted line. I hesitated. There was the issue of a small mistake. I had been charged with running a red arrow, not a red light. I hadn't even noticed the mistake until the ADA pointed it out to me.

"Looks like they gave you the wrong violation," he said. "You weren't turning left."

He scribbled out the mistaken charge with a ball point pen and wrote in the correct one.

Was there legal hay to be made from this mistake? Maybe or maybe not. The sensible thing would be to take the case to court and test the theory. But I wasn't feeling sensible. Not after seeing my video. Technicalities aside, I had run the red light. I had seen the proof with my own eyes. Was I going to be like the other guy who insisted that there had been a car behind him when everybody could see that there wasn't?

No, I couldn't do it. I signed, then I went before the judge and changed my plea no contest.

It appeared that the surveillance state, as it presently exists in Sacramento, at least, is not quite ready to abolish uncertainty and confusion from the world. It was a nice dream to have, though, even if it was short-lived and cost me $426.

Photos by Jeff McCrory

Music and Fashion Go Together Like Fire and Rain

2009-12-14T14:26:43Z

What: Review of Blow Up, a music and fashion show.

Where: Clubhouse 24.

Punchline: Pay no attention to the timid man behind the curtain.

It was raining Saturday night in Midtown. Not drizzling, raining. It was coming down so hard that any heads of hair not beneath an umbrella or the hood of a raincoat had that fresh-from-the-shower look. Meanwhile, on the sidewalk outside Clubhouse 24, a newly opened party space at 24th and J Street, there was some kind of sculpture/assemblage in the form of a tree. Christmas tree bulbs the size of disco balls decorated its branches, and it was on fire. Well, more accurately, it had been rigged with a large propane tank so that flames shot out of metal tubes that made up some of its branches, but it looked like it was on fire. It looked like a tree on fire in the middle of a rain storm. I stood in front of it and stared. As you might imagine, I was bewildered, but I was also getting wet, so I went inside.

The first thing I noticed when I entered Clubhouse 24 was the giant head on the wall. It was a cut-out of Twiggy, the eponymously slender fashion model. A psychedelic light projector cast a puddle of rainbows across her face. Again, I stood and stared, but unlike the fire tree the Twiggy head didn't confound me. A theme was emerging, and when I spotted some women dressed like Chelsea girls and some men dressed in retro mod attire it was confirmed: I had arrived at a costumed affair dedicated to 1960s decadence. All I knew about the event beforehand was that Th' Losin Streaks would be playing and that Joni Jacobs (full disclosure: she's a friend), proprietor of Opaline's Closet, was putting on a fashion show. Later, I learned that the DJ and promoter, Paul Tunkin, had come from London, England to give Sacramento a taste of his Blow Up club. The evening's entertainments were in honor of his arrival.

Balloons covered the floor in the room where the Th' Losin Streaks were setting up. Once in a while someone would pick one up and bat it into the air. I hate balloons, because they inevitably pop and startle me. By and by, someone smacked a balloon right into my face. This was an ice breaker for the guy standing behind me to strike up a conversation. We were both dressed unfashionably (I was wearing my "good" blue jeans) and had beards, so it made sense we should talk. I like small talk only inasmuch as it is mundane and practical. My intolerance towards prattle is the most macho thing about me. Some might give that award to my Grizzly Adams beard, but in fact my beard is not macho at all. It's what I like to call manly soft.

Happily, my interlocutor shared my bias against prattle, so we talked about the rising cost of liquor licences and remarked on the exposed rafters above our heads. He said the building reminded him of an auto mechanic's garage. I agreed that it did. Lots of empty space, lots of dark corners, a bit chilly, unadorned, clean but grungy.

We were just getting on to the topic of business opportunities in Placerville when his date arrived, so I went out into the patio, where I found my friend Joni, and she introduced me to her friend Tina and Tina's husband. Joni always introduces me to people as "a journalist." In reality, I am a feckless blogger who freelances on occasion, but this is usually too difficult to explain, so I just shrug my shoulders and go with the characterization. But this evening the white lie paid off.

"So you want to go back stage and take pictures of the girls?" asked Tina's husband.

"Take pictures of the fashion models?"

"Yeah."

I had my Nikon Coolpix with me, so why not?

We pushed our way through the crowd. Th' Losin Streaks had started their set while I was outside and filled the room. I paused to watch them a moment before my rendezvous with the "girls." I'm not sure what to think of the Streaks. Their songs don't do much for me, but they

are a mesmerizing band to see live.
Tim Foster looks angry and dangerous when he gets on stage. I don't know how else to explain it. The whole show you are expecting him to knife somebody or, more likely, fry them with his laser eyes. Yes, I secretly believe Tim Foster is the X-men character known as Cyclops.

Across the stage from Foster, Mike Farrell is having voodoo fits. His little leaps into the air and Mick-Jagger-ticulations seem at once to be postmodern quotations and genuine precognitive stimulus responses, as if God were tapping his soul with a rubber hammer.

Shrugg beats the living daylights out of his drums and bounces his sticks into the air, and Stan, the bassist, adds a little low-end melody to the simple changes.

The "girls" were standing in a semi-circle in a cramped room. A curtain kept them hidden from view of the audience. Most of them were dancing and flailing their arms to the manic rock'n'roll blaring from the other side of the curtain.

"Just tell them what you want them to do," said Tina's husband.

There was no way I was going to do that. I couldn't even look the women in the eyes, much less command them to pose for me. It didn't matter that I told myself that a model's job was to pose in interesting and provocative ways for the camera or, if you prefer, the male gaze. I'm too much of a nosferatu man (or, if you prefer, a creep), and I didn't know how to share in the joy these women felt about dressing up in beautiful clothes for exhibit. I snapped my shots in a hurry and made my escape.

The fashion show itself was anticlimactic after my moment backstage. Access has its downside, too.

I did get a few shots with all the models in front of the giant head of Twiggy. That made me happy.

The city police shut the party down some time after midnight. People wandered into the streets, many to finish off the night at the Golden Bear. It had stopped raining, and the fire tree was no longer burning. This time I didn't stop to puzzle over any apparent absurdity. Somehow it all seemed perfectly logical.

Jeff McCrory on "Sacramento Zine Symposium"

2009-07-09T18:19:25Z

I enjoyed your MM article, William.

Jeff McCrory on "The New West Sacramento Beat"

2009-05-28T21:21:23Z

Suggestion: People who live in the same geographical area and are interested in writing about their communities should use this site to network. Going to all the city council and school board meetings would be burdensome for one person, esp. since she or he is doing it for free. But if a group of people coordinated their efforts, they could cover a lot of ground and not run the risk of getting burnt out after a few months.

Jeff McCrory on "Demonstrators rally at Capitol in response to Prop 8 decision"

2009-05-28T20:55:58Z

LGBT is such an ugly acronym, in my opinion. I can never get myself to use it. I also think it confers a false solidarity among these groups. Let's be honest about male domination in our society: if gay men were granted the sexual prerogatives that men in Classical Greek times had, sexual orientation would be a non-issue. (On second thought, maybe this is too pessimistic, but there is a grain of truth to it). I guess I could use gays and lesbians to be more inclusive, but for me the term lesbians feels too sexualized. "Lesbianism" plays such a big role in pornography. The "male gaze" in this regard acts as a kind of veil that hides the experience of real lesbians. What about the term queer? It's a good word. It's a fun word to say. It has a good mouth feel, as it were. Do you think it is culturally acceptable for non-homosexuals to use the term?

Jeff McCrory on "Demonstrators rally at Capitol in response to Prop 8 decision"

2009-05-28T17:31:08Z

Even though the above argument has the threadbare quality of a talk radio staple, which it is, it does point to a fundamental problem with the argument that gay marriage is a civil right. At the end of the day, advocates for gay marriage are asking society to expand the notion of marriage to include gay relationships. Since gay relationships have become weaved into the fabric of our society, it seems, from my point of view, utterly uncharitable not to grant gay relationships the official sanction that gay men and women are asking for. However, a very tiny majority of Californians don't see things this way, thus here we are. That said, I believe Prop 8 is an unjust law because it enshrines into the state constitution a view of an issue that is in the process of evolving. The people who devised prop 8 know this. Prop 8 is tantamount to a scorched earth policy of retreating soldiers. Gay marriage is marching forward, and they can't stop it, so they are just going to make things as difficult as they can in the meantime.

Jeff McCrory on "Demonstrators rally at Capitol in response to Prop 8 decision"

2009-05-27T20:08:52Z

Here's an interesting bit of news: "In a bold move that takes a new approach to achieving marriage equality, two attorneys who argued opposing sides of the 2000 Bush v. Gore lawsuit before the U.S. Supreme Court have filed a challenge to Proposition 8 in federal court, The Advocate has learned. Theodore B. Olson, the U.S. solicitor general from 2001 to 2004 under President George W. Bush, and David Boies, a high-profile trial lawyer who argued on behalf of former vice president Al Gore, filed the suit May 22 in U.S. district court on behalf of two California gay couples." Full story: http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid86253.asp It's noteworthy that traditional ideological fault lines don't always apply to this issue.

Jeff McCrory on "Demonstrators rally at Capitol in response to Prop 8 decision"

2009-05-27T19:30:16Z

I have to say: what's so wrong with hate? Hate keeps me warm. It keeps me motivated. Anyway I think hate is probably less a reason for people's negative reaction to gays than the "yuck factor." Haven't you ever hung around rednecks before? All their homophobic jokes are about hairy men kissing. By all means, people should get over their childish reactions to other people's sex lives, but the problem with prop 8, imho, is that it is unjust, not that it is hateful.

Jeff McCrory on "Civil liberties advocates protest city's plans to install surveillance system"

2009-05-27T06:56:44Z

Unless you are a total hermit, your image is captured on CCTV cameras at least once a day. The difference here is that private businesses own the cameras, not the government. I'd support the city using CCTV cameras as long as a) the video footage was streamed live on the internet for all to see and b) went immediately into the public domain.

Jeff McCrory on "Prop 8 decision: initial reaction"

2009-05-27T05:23:39Z

"It's crazy to see a 'liberal' state speak out so vehemently against equality issues." California has gotten a lot bluer in the last decade, which means that California leans Democratic in state and federal elections, but most Democrats holding high office won't actually support gay marriage. Obama, for instance, was against gay marriage. California does have its liberal enclaves, but you've got to remember California is still a stronghold for sun-belt conservativism. We gave America Ronald Reagan after all. As I like to say: when you get right down to it, California is a rope stretched between Disneyland and Hearst Castle--a rope over an abyss.

Jeff McCrory on "Prop 8 decision: initial reaction"

2009-05-27T04:51:36Z

"The Gay/Left agenda is to teach homosexuality to children." Do you mean teach tolerance towards homosexuals at school? In real life, issues of sexuality don't come up at school until kids are on the verge of puberty. I don't see how the issue of gay marriage will have any influence on sex education policy. You might argue that legalizing gay marriage will have an effect on the broader culture, which in turn will eventually filter down to sex ed policy, but the proposition that gay marriage advocates have a hidden agenda to teach kids that homosexuality is normal or mainstream seems to me a lot like paranoid propaganda. According to opinion polls, it is young people who are on the leading edge of gay acceptance. For young people, gays are like the internet. They have a hard time imagining a time when there was no internet or gay people living together openly. They have grown up in a culture where gays are out of the closet and most people don't expend much effort repressing this fact. Kids don't need to be tricked into thinking gayness is a normal expression of human sexuality, because there is always at least one gay dude on America Idol. Gayness is normal to them already.

Jeff McCrory on "Roadside fire brought under control quickly"

2009-05-20T15:09:46Z

great photos

Jeff McCrory on "River Cats pull off come from behind win"

2009-05-14T06:19:59Z

Good to see some local sports coverage.

Jeff McCrory on "Too Much Gun Violence?"

2009-05-10T02:53:41Z

I used to be staunchly pro gun control, and while I'm still in favor of most of the regulations we impose on the selling of guns I don't lose any sleep when the NRA wins a legal battle. Having watched the 4th Amendment get curtailed and "worked around" by Executive fiat while the leaders in the Democratic party -- my party -- collaborated with the NSA on warrantless wiretapping, I have to say that I have begun to sympathize with pro gun people who get spooked whenever anyone wants to monkey around with their 2nd Amendment rights. More to the issue of the article, I appreciate that many people would like to see background checks and waiting periods done away with, but assuming that those laws are going to remain in place for the time being, will fingerprinting and logging the purchase of ammo really affect law-abiding gun owners that much? I understand the principled argument against it: get off gun-owners backs! But are there practical consequences that I, as some one who has never bought a gun, am missing?

Jeff McCrory on "Saving K Street"

2009-05-06T14:42:35Z

WB, I like your analysis, but I have a question about more recent history of K street. Do you think the "holes" in development were the result of forces beyond anyone's control? Or do you think redevelopment efforts crowded out (by driving up rents or something) businesses that would have otherwise taken root? I'm just curious about your off the cuff opinion.

Jeff McCrory on "Don't let rain fool you, summer is almost here "

2009-05-05T21:11:06Z

I'll never remember to bring it up, but I did enjoy arguing with you. Thanks.

Jeff McCrory on "Don't let rain fool you, summer is almost here "

2009-05-05T19:37:07Z

I'm trying to get my head around what you are trying to communicate to me. So you're saying something like, "It's too early in the month to say whether the weather is unseasonable, because May typically gets at least one storm a year, hence the 0.5 average." (I would say the mean rainfall would give us a better idea of what is typical, but nevertheless...) So if we get another storm at the end of the month, then THAT storm would be unseasonable. I'm saying that Friday's storm has already surpassed the monthly average, so that in itself would qualify it as being unseasonable. But again, semantics.

Jeff McCrory on "Don't let rain fool you, summer is almost here "

2009-05-05T19:10:58Z

I took a quick look around the web. According to http://countrystudies.us/united-states/weather/California/sacramento.htm, May gets an average of 0.3 an inch of rain. It is the forth driest month of the year. June, July and August see less rain. Now I guess it is a matter of semantics as to whether a record storm in the forth driest month of the year counts as unseasonable, but I'm sticking by adjective.

Jeff McCrory on "Don't let rain fool you, summer is almost here "

2009-05-05T17:58:02Z

From the Bee (http://www.sacbee.com/latest/story/1828786.html): : "A storm that moved into the Sacramento region late Friday morning set a new May Day rainfall record for the city of Sacramento. Felix Garcia, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sacramento, said 0.65 inches of rain fell in the capital city, topping the previous record of 0.59 inches on May 1, 1905."

Jeff McCrory on "Don't let rain fool you, summer is almost here "

2009-05-05T15:33:33Z

A link got lost in the shuffle, but for those two geeks still with me "the typical Fabaceae form" is the shape of flowers on, for instance, lupins and peas. here is a diagram: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wisteria_sinensis_nobackground_labels.jpg

Don't let rain fool you, summer is almost here

2009-05-05T13:31:52Z

Unseasonable rain showers have kept maypole dancing to a minimum for the first few days of May. But longtime dwellers of the Central Valley know to keep their shorts and tank tops handy. It is going to be scorching hot soon. Spring is effectively over. Like a clock-watcher at the end of her work shift, spring is so out of here the moment the summer sun arrives, and nobody is going to see her mild days and chilly nights again until 2010.

So forget looking up at the cloudy skies. Look down on the ground. Wildflowers -- or weeds, if you please -- tell us that summer is coming. If you've done any crawling around in the grass in the last week or two, you'll have noticed that most wildflowers have gone to seed. The bees and Persephone have done the work of regeneration. The biosphere gets another turn on the solar the merry-go-round.

This Storksbill fruit, for instance, has grown its full five inches. There is nothing left for it to do but dry up and get stuck in your sock.

The wild radish (yellow) and the ubiquitous hairy vetch (white-tipped purple) have both been knocked up and have seed pods to show for it.

(These wild radishes do in fact taste like radishes).

The rose clover below has a beautiful generic name: Trifolium, which is Latin for three leaves. It is in the pea family like the vetch. The writer is unsure where the clover keeps its seeds, but if you look very closely at its flower you can see the typical Fabaceae form of each of its florets.

All photos were taken by Jeff McCrory at the Sunrise section of the American River parkway

Jeff McCrory on "Firefighters dispute city's argument on layoffs; others fear planned cuts"

2009-05-05T08:24:34Z

JG et al, check out this bloggingheads: http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/19358?in=40:04&out=46:51

Jeff McCrory on "Swine flu info at 2-1-1 phone line"

2009-05-01T00:16:01Z

"If I were to say that this year 30,000 Americans would die from the flu, you’d probably think I was offering an alarmist take on the current swine flu outbreak. In fact, I would be offering an extremely optimistic take on influenza in 2009. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the country sees about 36,000 flu-related deaths in a normal year and around 200,000 hospitalizations. It’s standard for between five and twenty percent of the population to contract the flu in any given year. "Given all that, not only do we face the risk of an unusually bad pandemic of “swine flu” we also face a risk of panic. Apparently, very high levels of flu-related hospitalizations and deaths are actually pretty normal. But the media doesn’t normally cover them as national news stories. The heightened awareness of swine flu risks, however, means that anything flu-related is going to get dramatically inflated attention." --matt yglesias (http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/04/normal-flu.php) Sorry for the long quotation. It's was just too good not to share.

Jeff McCrory on "City Budget: City in talks with firefighters "

2009-04-30T03:22:43Z

"If it wasn't for the unions controlling each of our city council members we would not be in this pickle." Hmm, I think the real estate bust might better explain the City's budget problems. I googled and found these two interactive maps that show foreclosure rates on the one hand and state budget gaps on the other: http://www.newyorkfed.org/mortgagemaps/ http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/11/17/us/20081117_budget_graphic.html You can take a look and make up your own mind if there is a correlation.

Jeff McCrory on "Swine flu appears in Sacramento County"

2009-04-28T04:15:27Z

Thanks for the information and link. I think I had the swine flu at the beginning of the month, though I'll probably never know. I had some kind of respiratory disease, and it was miserable. I hope people don't panic too much. Remember media signals, which transmits our news, are always redundant, so sudden crises in media are always going to appear more dire and dramatic than they turn out to be. Eventually, some other news will overtake this flu scare, and/or you will become numb to its repetition. But for a short time your anxiety level can really soar.

Jeff McCrory on "K Street Subsidies "

2009-04-28T03:53:38Z

"The key to saving downtown is an energetic entertainment area and high-rise living" But there's the rub. One wishes city planning were more like Sim City, where moving a slider bar one way or the other resulted in more or less predictable outcomes. But in life the tools the city has to work with are much more blunt, and outcomes are very much more unpredictable. The city can zone. It can use the honey of subsidies to attract developers. And it can use or threaten to use the coercive means of eminent domain. I'm not aware of any zoning problems with K Street, but someone please correct me if I'm wrong about this. The City has slathered K Street with enough honey to bring the grizzly bear back from its exile. And it chased Moe Mohanna out of K street with a threat of eminent domain. The result? The City now owns a bunch of commercial property nobody wants, and K Street still has a big blighted hole in the middle of it. At the end of the day, I don't begrudge the City for trying to bring K Street back to life, but I also think it is time for the City to just walk away. Leave K Street alone for five years and see what becomes of it.

Jeff McCrory on "K Street Subsidies "

2009-04-27T18:58:05Z

"it is in no way controversial." Yeah, probably a bad turn of phrase on my part. It was early, and I hadn't got around to making my coffee yet. What I meant is that Sacramento is just keeping up with the Joneses. It's not like Sacramento is doing anything novel by pouring money into redevelopment. It is standard operating procedure within city and county governments, and the reason they do it is that it sometimes works. For the record, I'm suspicious of eminent domain, but quite honestly I don't know enough about it to weigh its pros and cons. It's my day off from work, so I'm too lazy to even read the wiki on Kelo v. City of New London: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelo_v._City_of_New_London I wonder if we are really as diametrically opposed on this issue as you assume. If you have information that there was corruption re: k street redevelopment, I'm willing to hear it. (And do you mean prosecutable corruption or just generally bad government?) But won't you concede that most bad public policy doesn't require smoky back rooms or a mustache-twisting villain?

Jeff McCrory on "K Street Subsidies "

2009-04-27T15:36:26Z

Cf., The Psychology of Previous Investment. I'm curious to see what information John Galt has about City corruption. Downtown revitalization happens all over the United States, and it is in no way controversial. My gut tells me that there has been some rent seeking from people like David Taylor who, one imagines, chuckled mirthlessly when he realized that he was going to take these Sacramento City rubes for all they are worth. But my head tells me that the reality is probably much more mundane than that.

Jeff McCrory on "Sacramento's Tea Party protest"

2009-04-17T17:38:49Z

"Hard reporting would consist of real interviews with tough questions." It's difficult to pose those sorts of questions in a group of people at a rally. Group interviews are challenging in general. You don't have much control. At a rally, your're not going to get thoughtful answers, and people will likely ignore you if you start arguing with them, and I think you have a duty to your readers to let them hear what people at the rally are talking about. What the above article maybe could have used is a reaction from a counter-protester or someone with a different POV.

Jeff McCrory on " Reporting on the “Tent City” media spectacle"

2009-04-17T16:16:27Z

Your angle on this story is smart. All the players in this story are very media savvy. I did some reporting on this story yesterday, talked to a city and police representives and homeless advocates, and the quotes they gave me were almost word for word the same quotes that gave Cynthia Hubert for her story in the Bee.

Jeff McCrory on "Sacramento's Tea Party protest"

2009-04-16T22:28:40Z

" How many democrats voted to go to war? All but one?" You probably should try fact checking once in a while. 156 Congress members voted against the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002. 149 of them were Democrats. But aren't you avoiding my larger point?

Jeff McCrory on "Sacramento's Tea Party protest"

2009-04-16T17:22:22Z

Galt, turn-out double my estimate. FYI. The conservative blogger cum soon-to-be-NYT columinist Ross Douthat has a pretty good post (http://rossdouthat.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/04/the_tea_parties.php) on the Tea Parties. He compares them to the anti-war protests of Bush's first term and writes: "Still, here we are in the sixth year of the Iraq War, and all those anti-war protests, their excesses and stupidities notwithstanding, look a lot more prescient in hindsight than they did (to me, at least) when they were going on. So if you're inclined to sneer and giggle at the Tea Parties, keep in mind that just because a group of protesters looks ragged, resentful, and naive, that doesn't necessarily mean they're wrong to be alarmed." I'm one of those people Douthat is talking about, who are inclined to sneer and giggle, so I take his point. I'm not all that excited about TARP, either, and we can't be 100% sure or even 75% sure that current stimulus schemes will work the way we want them to. We may end up adding a lot of debt for a jobless recovery like we had after 9/11. However, Douthat overlooks a very important point. The Tea partiers had eight years with the Republicans in power. The Republicans share the same low tax, limited government ideology that the tea partiers espouse. They had their chance to pressure their Republican leaders to bring that vision of government to America. They failed. They let Bush start an unnecessary war that ate up all the budget surplus of the 1990s. They allowed Bush and the Republicans to expand the federal government and start a huge new welfare program (Proscription Drug Benefit). The all stood by idly while Bush installed a domestic spying program, and now they are complaining that Obama is going to use that program against them. I say: you had your chance. You blew it. Now you are just in the way. There are no "do overs" in politics.

Jeff McCrory on "Homeless advocates vow to stop the disbanding of Tent City"

2009-04-15T03:47:37Z

edit: homeless advocates and charity workers are asking community members to hold vigils this week Jeff, edit your copy better from now on!

Homeless advocates vow to stop the disbanding of Tent City

2009-04-15T03:45:38Z

The Midtown Monthly blog is reporting that homeless advocates and charity workers are asking community members vigils this week as the police disband the homeless encampment known internationally as Tent City. In a letter to the Monthly, Greg Bunker of Francis House of Sacramento writes, "We are willing to be arrested on behalf of our homeless folks rather than see them be moved or be threatened with an 'arrest' if they do not move when they have NO SAFE PLACE to go!!!!"

Sister Libby Fernandez of Loaves & Fishes, Paula Lomazzi of SHOC and Mark Merin of Mark Merin Law Firm also signed the letter.

The letter calls on community members to "bare witness" to police action at the Tent City this week, even if they do not wish to participate in civil disobedience.

Jeff McCrory on "Tax Day Tea Party brewing"

2009-04-14T22:13:47Z

The number? Sure.

Jeff McCrory on "Tax Day Tea Party brewing"

2009-04-14T21:28:19Z

Another thread about the tea parties. Yea. Let the rants begin. I am curious to see how large Sacramento's party will turn out to be. Anyone dare to wager a rounded guess? The population of Sacramento County is 1,374,724. Obama's national approval rating is 71%, leaving 29% of the population who would likely show up to a tea party. If you rounded that number up to 30% of Sacramento County's population, you could surmise that attendance could theoretically be in the 350,000 to 400,000 range. My guess is that the actual number will in the 2,000 to 2,500 range, which is still a pretty good turn out for a protest. Protests, even big ones, don't change anything (MLK's march on the mall is the one exception), but they usually make good spectacles. Any baggers out there bringing big puppets? I love big puppets. (PS, just so you know, I suck at math).

Easter Bunny

2009-04-13T01:30:16Z

American River Parkway, 5:33 PM.

I'm not saying this bunny is necessarily the one. I'm just saying I photographed him on Easter.

Jeff McCrory on ""stephenm" Asks Officer Michelle About Concealed Weapons Permits"

2009-04-13T01:23:26Z

"The police aren't any more obligated to defend you from an attacker than it is your dentist's job to brush your teeth for you." Nice analogy. I've never thought about the police in those terms. I've watched too many cop shows on TV. TV cops always feel responsible.

Jeff McCrory on "The Sacramento Coffee Tour"

2009-04-11T21:53:49Z

I vote for coffee works for taste and temple for atomosphere

Jeff McCrory on "Hear Me Roar"

2009-04-08T00:13:37Z

I just saw that the "gadfly" wrote for that blog, so I was wondering if that was you. You seem to pay attention to city politics and with the same POV as that blog, so I was just trying to place you.

Jeff McCrory on "Hear Me Roar"

2009-04-08T00:07:31Z

Yeah. That's me.

Jeff McCrory on "Hear Me Roar"

2009-04-07T22:10:11Z

Galt, I asked you this in another thread. I don't know if you saw it. Do you run the Sacramento Insider blog? http://www.thesacramentoinsider.com/

Jeff McCrory on "Sacramento's Next Assembly Member: The Battle Begins"

2009-04-07T06:19:42Z

Hey Galt, Do you run the Sacramento Insider blog? http://www.thesacramentoinsider.com/

Jeff McCrory on "Gossip"

2009-04-03T15:42:31Z

For me, it's not the "lesser individuals" who bother me. When I am certain that someone stands below me in the social hierarchy, it is usually quite easy for me to be kind to them. My animus is concentrated on my superiors. When I can clearly understand why a person is more esteemed than I (he is more sexually attractive; she is smarter; he is more virtuous; she has more money), I usually have no problem coming to terms with it. The universe is unfair; get over it. But when I see that a person stands above me for no other reason than mere happenstance, then it is my duty -- or, at least, my pleasure -- to knock him down. Gossiping, as you say, is usually counterproductive. It worked for Iago, but Iago was a villain. The problem with gossiping is that people see it as a skulking, dishonest and illicit behavior. It bestows no honor. I want to add, however, that gratuitous gossiping has some value as sheer fun. Is there anyone who doesn't occasionally enjoy making a snide comment about someone's foolishness or vanity? A late-night talk show host is basically a person who spreads gossip in a public forum. If you wish to demean someone, it is better to humiliate him in front of mutual peers. Like prison violence, this has to be done swiftly and without mercy. You probably will not get a second chance at it. Of course, social violence, like any other kind, should be done conscientiously and with an understanding of how it will affect others. Happily, though, if you feel that someone needs to be taken down a notch, others probably do, too, and your actions will be appreciated, maybe even applauded.

Jeff McCrory on "Game Plan Academy is awesome"

2009-04-02T07:51:08Z

Great photos. They tell the story.

The Stonehenge of Fair Oaks

2009-04-02T07:33:50Z

A megalithic ruin, built who knows when -- probably "hundreds of years before the dawn of time" -- the Stonehenge of Fair Oaks is not hard to find. Go to the Sunrise Area of the American River Parkway, walk east from the boat launch until you find an inconspicuous trail head on your right and follow it to the ruin.

Other than being a meet-up location for teenagers on four twenty and a canvass for taggers, the ruin has no discernible purpose. Conceivably, you could make a wish there and hope the ruin has special powers to make it come true. Dancing naked near the ruin sounds fun in the abstract, but it is not advisable due to its proximity to the fire road, which the rangers patrol frequently. It might be a nice spot for making out, assuming you haven't grown too jaded for such frivolity. (I know many of you have, alas). Patches of moss cover its east side; everyone knows that moss is conducive to romance.

Whatever purpose you give to the ruin, it awaits you in silence. Life is fleeting. Don't miss your chance to visit the Stonehenge of Fair Oaks.

Postscript.
The writer does not understand why people spend time and money geocaching, but if he did he might hide a message for you that read, "I don't know about you, but I was dragged here by an Angel. Note: This Angel, who is now become a Devil, is my particular friend; we often read the Bible together in its infernal or diabolical sense, which the world shall have if they behave well. So behave well."

You know, just to blow your mind.

Jeff McCrory on "Sacramento Press to produce first print edition"

2009-04-01T17:51:38Z

I hope the Sac Press does the right thing and gives the ghosthunter guy a column.

Jeff McCrory on "City Council to Throw Out Fair Election Ordinance"

2009-03-31T21:05:59Z

Sneaky, sneaky City Council. Thanks for the catch, William.

Jeff McCrory on "Our new mayor vs. federal money: What if we have to choose?"

2009-03-31T20:56:18Z

Tanyainsac, It's been a while since I read the article in the Bee, but as I remember it the mayor is on a list of people who can't receive federal funds because it has been alleged that his charity St Hope misused federal money. The problem is...oh hell, let me just Google it, "The question, he said, is whether federal agencies consider the mayor a "principal" in city financial decisions; if the answer is yes, he wrote, it would "prevent the City from obtaining … federal grants, subsidies, or cooperative agreements." That's one lawyer's interpretation of the law.

Jeff McCrory on "Our new mayor vs. federal money: What if we have to choose?"

2009-03-31T05:47:57Z

Ryan Lillis got a juicy leak, but it hardly means the levy is going to break. When I read in the papers that Sacramento has actually been denied funds, I'l believe it. As for this: "I think it would be appropriate and responsible for the mayor to issue a statement about what would happen if the city is denied federal funds." Come on, man, you know that no sane politician would do that. Maybe it would be a fair to ask the mayor if he would pledge to step down if funds were denied. (You should call him and pose the question). But as a dewy-eyed appeal to noblesse oblige, well, I hate to use the term, but it's a tad wankerish.

Jeff McCrory on "The future of news, part 2, one week of The Bee"

2009-03-30T18:21:57Z

I hope you'll write about the people who, as far as I can tell, are going to be the real losers in the media transformation, namely, the professional writers, journalists, photographers, et al who currently make a living working at old media jobs. Do you see a future where the "content providers" will eventually be able to profit from their labor?

Another spring walk

2009-03-29T02:41:58Z

Good taste prevents me from spelling out for you what it is about spring that really excites us, but the pipevine swallowtail butterflies (Battus philenor) in the photos above will give you some idea what I am talking about. After this all too literal hookup, the female will lay her eggs on the undersides of the leaves of the California Dutchman's-pipe vine, which is endemic to California.

The California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica) is hard not to love, being our state flower and all, but to tell you the truth its floppy, orange pedals annoy me. For one, the pedals are difficult to photograph. Secondly, they are too obviously beautiful. Like movie stars or fiscal years with never-ending budget fights, you can barely distinguish one from the next.

However, the poppy bud is really fantastic. It looks like a witch's hat.

By shooting up close and in underexposed natural light, I've made the blue dicks (Dichelostemma capitatum) above seem a bit more haunting than they really are. You'll mostly find this pleasant native of the West Coast of the United States in shady areas.

Finally, here is a rare glimpse of the Sacto Sasquatch (Sasquatchus Sacramentis). In addition to its unkempt beard, you can recognize this species by its habit of wearing horizonally striped shirts and being an annoying know-it-all. As Ms. Sasquatch has said on occasion, "Okay, let's hear what the expert has to say on the subject."

Jeff McCrory on "Local honey combats allergies"

2009-03-28T21:51:28Z

The clinical evidence showing that eating local honey prevents allergies is nil (or was the last time I checked), but, as Mr. Floyd indicated, it has other health benefits and tastes good.

Jeff McCrory on "Legislators Get Educated in Second Annual Oceans Day in Sacramento"

2009-03-28T21:34:22Z

Nice article. I'd loved to have seen a photo that complimented your lead.

Sore throat last minute blues

2009-03-27T07:55:47Z

Despite a sore throat, I made a last minute decision to catch some improvisational music at Fox and Goose pub Thursday evening. I missed most of Antennae's and Kairos's set, but the Lost Trio made coming out worth the trouble. Ranging from bebop standards to Radiohead and orginal compostions, the trio's set went for a little over an hour.

Jeff McCrory on "Science website a success, started by Folsom resident"

2009-03-24T20:57:05Z

Thanks for pointing me to this site.

Jeff McCrory on "The future of news"

2009-03-24T16:45:38Z

Did you all see this? "Senator proposes nonprofit status for newspapers" http://www.sacbee.com/838/story/1724840.html? The catch is that they can't endorse political candidates. Since endorsements don't have must influence anyway, it seems like a good trade, but I'm doubtful that many papers will accept this until they are at death's door.

Jeff McCrory on "March Madness: The Mayor's Brackets"

2009-03-24T16:42:08Z

Although to be quite honest, I've been in the habit of using kj in comment threads myself.

Jeff McCrory on "March Madness: The Mayor's Brackets"

2009-03-24T16:39:22Z

Don't you think Mr. Johnson deserves the honorific Mayor Johnson? I'm being the politeness police here, so savage me if you must.

Jeff McCrory on "The future of news"

2009-03-23T17:14:45Z

Gadfly, why don't you write an article on how to use the CPRA? I'd read it.

Jeff McCrory on "The future of news"

2009-03-23T06:44:40Z

Though I think I would count myself in the Morford/still-skeptical-of-new-media camp. Erza Klein has some interesting things to say about shirky's post, http://bramble.tumblr.com/post/87501472/some-more-deep-think-on-the-future-of-newspapers.

Jeff McCrory on "The future of news"

2009-03-23T06:28:09Z

I've already read the Clay Shirky post (above), and I highly recommend it.

Jeff McCrory on "Vernal Equinox 2009"

2009-03-21T22:24:07Z

I probably should have added that the equinox took place this year at 7:44 a.m. ET on Friday, March 20, 2009. The photos were taken the day after the equinox.

Vernal Equinox 2009

2009-03-21T22:13:25Z

The equinox happens twice a year: once in the spring and once in the fall. Due to the tilt of the earth as it orbits the sun, the relative length of daylight expands and contracts throughout the year. At the equinox, the length of the day is exactly equal to the length of the night. Actually, according to National Geographic News, "The true days of day-night equality always fall before the vernal equinox and after the autumnal, or fall, equinox." Traditionally, the equinoxes mark the beginning of spring and fall, whereas the solstices mark summer and winter.

Photos taken on the American River Parkway, near Sunrise Blvd.

Jeff McCrory on "Nag, nag, nag"

2009-03-20T06:47:22Z

WB, Building affordable housing for the homeless would be a good idea in a society that treated housing as a public good, but in this society, the last time I checked, housing is treated as an investment for private wealth. The fact that Americans have watched the value of their investments go down the toilet with the over-leveraged banks has not changed anything, as far as I can tell. Or have you heard some great hue and cry for public housing? All I've heard were the bitter complaints of the homeowners in North Natomas against Fargo for letting all the low income housing get built in their neighborhoods.

Jeff McCrory on "100 Miles of Visibility Photos"

2009-03-18T21:37:30Z

nice.

Jeff McCrory on "City Council meeting draws hundreds"

2009-03-13T05:01:42Z

Gadfly...or MADFLY? In any case, you seem like a very angry insect.

The Scoop

2009-03-13T04:46:06Z

While strolling beside the American River during my daily walk with the dog this evening, I heard the sound of a siren in the distance. A moment later I spied a plume of blue smoke rising in the sky. My first thoughts were that I had run across a wild fire, and if I were able to get some good photographs of the fire fighters taming the flames, I'd have my first real scoop for the Sacramento Press. In fact, I thought, if the fire got big enough, and I got my reporting done quickly enough, and my step-daughter wasn't playing Sims on the computer when I got home (or if I could bully or bribe her out of the computer chair) and my wife didn't rush home from work, wanting to know what was for dinner, then I could get the story bashed out and even scoop those jokers from the TV news. Their "Livecopters" and satellite hookups could not help them now. I was there first!

I rushed to the crest of the hill. Instead of an inferno, I saw about eight teenagers kicking sand into a campfire. Some of them were clutching skimboards. Obviously they had been playing in the bird pond I wrote about recently, and they had probably built the fire to dry their clothes. I glowered at them. Camp fires are prohibited in the Parkway, and I was especially angry that they were befouling the sandy beach of the bird pond.

However, timidity and cowardice got the better of me, and I let them run away without yelling down at them the curses that were resounding in my head. I went down to the beach. In addition to leaving a smoldering fire, they had left beer cans, potato chip wrappers and a dirty sock behind. The was no danger of the fire spreading, so I walked on towards the siren. Perhaps I'd run into a Sheriff deputy or a Park Ranger, and I could give a description of the fleeing arsonists.

"Yes, deputy," I imagined myself saying. "There were about eight of them, mostly boys, but a few girls, too. (There's always "a few girls" with that sort, eh?) They were heading in the direction of Bannister Park last I saw them. I'm sure you could still catch them. And, you know, they haven't completely closed down Guantanamo Bay. In case, I don't know, you think striping them of their Constitutional rights might be merited."

I arrived at the bend in the river a half a mile or so north of the San Juan Rapids. It was obvious by then that the siren had come (they were silent now) from the other side of the the river from me. I should have figured that from the start, since there were no roads on my side of the river. But visions of scooping Dann Shively had clouded my reason.

There were no firetruck to be seen, just an ambulance and a Ranger's vehicle behinds some trees. I could not see what was happening. Would a real reporter swim across the river to find out? I wasn't sure, but I decided that in any case I wasn't swimming. A man and a woman were picking their way down the steep river bank on the other side.

"What's going on over there?" I cried, feeling, for a moment, like I belonged in a Mark Twain novel.

"A biker wasn't wearing a helmet. He got hurt in an accident," the woman yelled back. She meant a bicyclist, I assumed.

I went back to the bird pond and put out the fire completely, then I picked up the trash off the beach, save for the dirty sock, which I couldn't bare to pick up without latex gloves.

My scoop had been seriously demoted in newsworthiness. Bicyclist wipes out on the parkway, not wearing helmet, ambulance called out. But a citizen-journalist has to follow the story where it leads like any other reporter. And I had.

That was good enough.

Jeff McCrory on "A third way for the marriage debate"

2009-03-12T23:45:39Z

When I paraphrased the AP article, I did fail to mention the student's names, but I did link to the article. The hyperlink is kinda what makes new ~~journalism~~ media different from old. But in any event... The student's names are Ali Shams and Kaelan Housewright. They have a Facebook group here: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=42833687407 I doubt that their organization is a right-wing Trojan Horse, since Mr. Shams proposed the initiative as a way to make good on a promise to a gay friend to overturn Prop. 8, but you can visit the Facebook group and make up your own mind.

Jeff McCrory on "Wild Turkey in Newton Booth"

2009-03-12T19:24:22Z

Around fair oaks, the wild turkeys are almost as numerous as the deer and roosters, and all three have become used to humans. They are more like feral pets than wild animals. What's weird about the turkeys is that they get way up in the tops of the live oaks and gobble gobble. I always had the impression that turkeys couldn't fly.

Jeff McCrory on "A third way for the marriage debate"

2009-03-12T03:55:03Z

From what I understand, it's DOMA that bars gay couples from those benefits and programs. Overturning prop 8 won't change anything on the federal level. If the Democrats repeal DOMA, then gays would be eligible as domestic partners for those benefits. However, I'm opining from memory here. Am I missing something, Dale? I emailed the Domestic Partnership Initiative organization with the same question. Maybe they will have more information.

Jeff McCrory on "A third way for the marriage debate"

2009-03-11T18:30:46Z

Here is the text of the initiative, if anyone is interested. It's less than a page long. http://ag.ca.gov/cms_attachments/initiatives/pdfs/i800_09-0003_domestic_partnership_initiative.pdf

Jeff McCrory on "City Council meeting draws hundreds"

2009-03-11T15:43:19Z

Nice article, and I love the photo of the no mermaid t-shirt.

Jeff McCrory on "A third way for the marriage debate"

2009-03-11T07:05:40Z

I love this idea myself. Why should the state be the middle man in a fractious cultural war? The state ought to step aside and let civil society define marriage.

A third way for the marriage debate

2009-03-11T06:44:42Z

The AP is reporting that a pair of college students have proposed a ballot measure that will replace the word "marriage" with the term "domestic partnership" in all state laws. Secretary of State Debra Bowen said today that supporters can begin collecting the 700,000 signatures to get the measure on the ballot. Domestic partnerships will retain all the rights of marriage, and all couples will be eligable for domestic partnership, regardless of sexual orientation.

Is this a good or bad idea? Please express yourself.

Bird pond

2009-03-11T04:57:35Z

These photos were taken at a pond near the American River at Sunrise Blvd. Birds, who have spent all day feeding in the river, flock to the pond at sun down to spend the night. There are turtles, too. But turtles are much more camera shy than birds.

Jeff McCrory on "The Sacramento Bee's crisis of relevance"

2009-03-10T03:59:17Z

It is looking like the Bee is going non-profit whether it wants to or not. Matt Yglesias argues that the quality of journalism will probably rise as the profitability of newspapers falls, as happened during journalism's heyday of the postwar period. (LINK: http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/01/newspapers_without_profits.php) Who exactly, though, is going to step in and create a foundation to fund the Bee? I don't think most Americans would support a government funded media. I don't think I'd support that. I also question how great the demand for local news is, esp. serious-minded or issue-oriented local news. Those splashy national headlines draw a lot of attention. There is probably a good reason that most of the purely local news gets relegated to a subsidiary section. It is obvious that we Sacramento Press readers like local news. But how representative are we of the population at large?

Wildflower season has begun

2009-03-09T21:06:10Z

Besides hayfever, what do weeks of rain followed by blue skies and balmy weather bring to Sacramento?

Wildflowers, of course.

There are preserves in the area where you can see rare, native wildflowers. But for people who are taking a walk along the American River Parkway or just poking around in the backyard, here are four wildflowers you are almost sure to enoucounter.

(The common name of the flowers are linked to hi-res photos)

1. Shepherd's purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris) This pretty weed is a great wildflower to point out to children. It's unmistakable seedpod appearently looks like a shepherd's purse, but to our modern eyes it looks like a valentine's heart. The child will probably be able to idenify this wildflower easily after the first time it is pointed out to him. If look at the base of the stem, you will see a a rosette of lobed leaves. The flowers are small and white.

2. California manroot (Marah fabaceus) is in the Cucurbitaceae family, which includes melons, gourds, squashes and cucumbers. M. fabaceus produces a small, spiny cucumber in the summer. You will find this clinging vine in shady areas. It likes to climb small trees or insinuate itself among brambles. Look for its white, star-like flowers and its coiled tendrils. M. fabaceus has both male and female flowers. The male flowers grow in clusters, while the female flowers grow singly.

3. Wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum) You can see this wildflower along any stretch of Sacramento's freeways. You will know this invasive weed by its cruciform flower pedals. The pedals vary in color from white to purple to yellow. Towards summer, it bears a fruit called a silique that smells and tastes, not suprisingly, like a radish.

4. Henbit or dead nettle (Lamium amplexicaule) to appreciate this flower, you've got to get down on your belly and examine it up close. Standing over it, you will think it is an ugly thing. You'll notice its leaves first. They cling to the stem at three to several levels. When you get your eye up close to the purple flowers, you'll notice that they begin as a long, delicate tube that expands into a two-lipped corrolla. The pedals are spotted and hairy.

Jeff McCrory on "Drought, eh?"

2009-03-05T00:57:13Z

"Big gap in public understanding." Such a nice way to put it! I'd say something like, "Just like the maxim "when it rains it pours," when the Bee comment troll speaks his mind, all the reservoirs in California could not contain his stupidity."

Jeff McCrory on "City (Finally) Gets Tough on Bin Scavengers"

2009-03-04T23:11:12Z

This seems like a reasonable law as a nuisance deterrent. I've read all of the objections on this thread, and most of them are in need of a strong dose of Satisficing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satisficing

Jeff McCrory on "City Council Demands Transparency and Public Input in Efforts to Overhaul City Development Oversight"

2009-02-27T01:27:36Z

What are the rules for city volunteers?

Jeff McCrory on "Sacramento's Catch Phrase"

2009-02-17T05:55:57Z

How many times has Sacto been put on the couch to get to the bottom of its inferiority complex? The reality is that there is no bottom. It is time we accepted our neurosis as integral to our identity. So how about this for a catch phrase: Sacramento has nothing to be ashamed of...nothing whatsoever...It's a great place to live, raise a family...so we're not as well known or regarded as those folks on the coast...we've been called a cow town, whatever that means...not that that kind of name-calling bothers us...we're above that...okay, I mean, it's irritating because Stockton's the cow town, we're the burg of bureaucrats or whatever...couldn't the naysayers at least keep their insults straight?...SEVEN HOURS LATER...I love Sacramento, and I just can't understand why people feel the need to knock it down all the time, and furthermore...

Mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful

2009-02-14T04:12:18Z

"The world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful." — E.E. Cummings

Photos taken ARP/Sunrise Bridge.

Jeff McCrory on "Cheryl Dell, Melanie Sill, are you listening?"

2009-02-12T17:25:18Z

And speaking of hare brained ideas, what do you think of Walter Isaacson's idea in TIME (http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1877191,00.html) of newspapers and magazines charging per article like iTunes? Would you pay two cents for a Sacramento Bee news story?

Jeff McCrory on "Cheryl Dell, Melanie Sill, are you listening?"

2009-02-12T16:27:35Z

You make a persuasive case, Dan. My Twitter ads scheme was a late night hare brain idea, borne from a) noticing that the Bee had less than 500 followers on its Twitter page and b) wishing thinking. As I said, it disturbs me that traditional media is failing, and I want there to be a solution. Thanks for the great critique!

Cheryl Dell, Melanie Sill, are you listening?

2009-02-12T06:46:02Z

I have a simple suggestion for the Sacramento Bee. It's an experiment. It might not work, but since the ad revenues for newspapers are drying up faster than the lakes and reservoirs of our drought-ridden state it's time the Bee took a few chances.

Why doesn't the Bee try to sell ads on its Twitter page?

Now before the Bee did that it would have to promote its Twitter page. Currently, it has only 468 followers, about half as many followers as the Sacramento Press's Twitter page has. This fact is indicative of the Bee being at sea where new media is concerned.

Twitter works really well for aggregating the content of the Bee's online paper. I unsubscribed to its RSS feed in my Google Reader, because I found it difficult to follow in that format. However, I check my Twitter page all day, and I almost always read the Bee headlines. In fact, the Bee is one of the reasons I check my Twitter page all day.

Now let's assume that I am not an outlier, but the norm for Twitter users. I like hiking. So let's say the Bee sells an ad to REI that gets posted in tandem with every article it posts about outdoors activities. Maybe the ad is doubled as a banner on the acticle's actual page. Maybe the Twitter posting is sold as a value-added with the banner ad. Whatever the details, the Bee would be taking a bold step in the direction of micro advertising.

Again, this idea may have already been mulled over and found wanting. I'm putting it out there because the idea of the Bee folding up or getting entirely eviscerated disturbs me. I want the Bee to everything it can to adapt to the changing media landscape. I want it to try new things until it hits upon a business model that will make it profitable again. I love new media outfits like The Sacramento Press, but they are not yet ready to take up the slack if local, dead-tree newspapers go the way of the horse and buggy.

Jeff McCrory on "INTUITION"

2009-01-30T01:27:29Z

Here a link to a video that discuses those studies about infant psychology. http://bramble.tumblr.com/post/67179052/what-experimental-psychology-tells-us-about-how

Jeff McCrory on "INTUITION"

2009-01-30T01:21:10Z

It sounds like you describing a kind of magical thinking. Magical thinking is fine for deciding whether or not to hook up with the fox from the cafe (I actually see zero dilemma here; isn't the answer obviously "hells yeah?"), but what if you are George W. Bush and have to decide whether or not to invade Iraq? Do you weigh the known evidence as objectively as you can? Or do you go with your intuitive knowledge? To some degree, we may be talking about apples and oranges, but my point is that I think you are romantizing intuition too much and dismissing rationalism too readily. Consider this. Studies of infants show that babies show a marked preference for the faces of people of their same race and the vocal accents that their parents have. Therefore, there may be something deeply intuitive about racism and tribalism, but that does not justify these banes of humanity. In this case, you are morally obligated to reject your deep-seated fear and distrust of the Other and do your best to judge people on a person by person basis. In other words, it is your duty to be rational.

Jeff McCrory on "INTUITION"

2009-01-28T04:59:46Z

II offer the hypothesis that almost ALL of our intuitions are mistaken as a matter of objective truth, but the disutility of being wrong IN MOST CASES is not significant enough to cause us concern. Moreover, our brains are good at learning things by trial and error, so even when we are mistaken our brains are using that data to help us make better choices in the future. Being a prudent person is knowing when it is not safe any longer to trust your gut. When money and my immediate health and safety are on the line, I try to rely on more than just my intuition. But I haven't always. Sometimes there just isn't time to think through a situation and make a rational choice. If we had a 1000 year life span, we'd probably be better decision makers.

Be Grateful for cloudy skies

2009-01-25T03:50:25Z

The Bee was full of cloudy skies today with news of soaring unemployment rates and the fiscal undoing of my employer, the County of Sacramento. It put me in a gloomy mood.

Yet when I took my dog out for his walk this afternoon the actual cloudy skies brightened my outlook. The clouds were beautiful to look at, for one, and made me feel grateful for the rain they carried, which our drought-ridden state needs so badly.

So I took some pictures of them.

Olmstead loop trail

2009-01-21T04:41:09Z

A few pictures from hike I took on Sunday near the town of Cool. Directions to the trailhead and GPS tracks can be had here. Apparently, this area is popular among geocachers. More photos here.

Jeff McCrory on "Keep right and straight on to the birds"

2009-01-17T01:09:40Z

There's a lot of birders out where I walk, and I think I have overheard them refer to these birds as cormorants.

Sunsets are too easy

2009-01-16T23:19:05Z

Sunrise Blvd Bridge

Keep right and straight on to the birds

2009-01-16T22:59:59Z

AR Parkway, near Sunrise Blvd.

Jeff McCrory on "A Walk at the American River "

2009-01-15T06:36:06Z

thanks. I used a fuji finepix s700.

Jeff McCrory on "What are fixed gear bikes?"

2009-01-15T06:32:40Z

I've often seen fixed gear bikes mocked as a badge of hipsterdom, but I never really knew what they were. Thanks for the FAQ.

Sunset on the American River

2009-01-07T04:59:56Z

These were taken on a foot bridge, near the Sunrise Blvd overpass.

Mushroom Hunt

2009-01-07T04:07:01Z

I took some pictures of mushroom on my walk by the the American River, and I geocached them here on Google maps. I only spotted four. I went for my walk after work, and it got dark before I had even gone two miles.