Category Archives: La vida Chico

Tennis grunting and you

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Much has been made of professional tennis players who grunt or otherwise emit loud noises as they swing at the tennis ball. BBC News did a large piece on it in late June. About 10 days later, ABC News did a piece, thus making the matter suitable for American consumption.

The BBC News article tells the story pretty well, including discussing why it’s an issue now considering that there have been a number of noisy players since the ’70s. Monica Seles and her auditory performances were cited as a landmark shift in the woman’s game.

Also, the article quotes trainer Nick Bollettieri who says the grunting (or just exhaling at the end of a maneuver) can be natural.

“I prefer to use the word ‘exhaling’. I think that if you look at other
sports, weightlifting or doing squats or a golfer when he executes the
shot or a hockey player, the exhaling is a release of energy in a
constructive way,” Bollettieri said.

I decided to put Bollettieri’s theory to the test. I wanted to see if grunting was a natural release of energy. So my friends and I went to the best court we could find — the table tennis set at The Oasis.

After a couple of warm-up rounds, I tested to see if grunting would help my game at all. With every swing of the tiny wooden paddle, I tried to push out a little more air and emit a loud “UGH” or a breathy “EH” as I reached out for the ping pong ball.

While it cracked my opponent up, I don’t believe it helped my game much. It also seemed artificial emitting a sound as I lined up my return.

Perhaps the field of play was too small — maybe table tennis isn’t ready yet for grunters. I wonder if grunting in tennis is necessary — I played racquetball over the years and don’t recall a lot of grunting.

I guess my experiment was rather silly, but at least it had a paddle and a ball. BBC Radio 1’s “Newsbeat” didn’t even have that — they asked people outside Wimbledon to play “grunt tennis,” where they pantomimed playing tennis grunting all the while.

So, to grunt or not to grunt? What do you think?

A matter of Deja “Sue”

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The real T. Rex named SueI experienced a moment of deja vu involving dinosaurs.

As part of my gig at Northstate Public Radio, I read public-service announcements of upcoming events. One of the ongoing events is for the “A T-Rex Named Sue” exhibit at the Turtle Bay Exploration Park in Redding.

I was surprised to see an online ad for another T. Rex named Sue on display at the Field Museum in Chicago.

Since it’s fairly hard for people and other unique objects to be in two places at the same time, I wanted to learn more.

Apparently, the dino on display in Redding is a replica of the original Sue.

The true blue Sue has been on display at the Field Museum since 2000. The museum has a couple of replicas floating around the world. One of them is up in Redding until September.

I actually had a chance to visit Sue in person at the Field last summer. I took a couple of photos because she’s very impressive. She loomed over the hundreds of convention-goers gathered for a party, much like the partiers loomed over the buffet tables.

Checking the Field’s Web site, the Sue on display in Chicago is the real deal — all of the bones are real, except for the skull. Even the real skull is on display elsewhere in the musuem.

I may journey up to Redding to see the Repli-Sue to learn more.

Image: Sue in her native habitat at Chicago’s Field Museum in July 2008.

Fighting back against excess airline fees

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Suitcase

I don’t fly the major air carriers very often. An experience with onerous fees during a recent trip makes it even less likely that I’ll choose to fly them again in the future.

At issue is the fact that airlines are seeking new ways to charge passengers more for services that have been included in the standard service for decades.

It’s been a gradual process that slowly removed in-flight meals and other amenities from the standard fare. Now, it’s come down to checked baggage — last summer they were charging for two or more bags. This year, they’re charging for the first checked bag and may have gone too far for my taste.

Charging for the first bag is a major hassle and an inconvenience heaped upon a stack of flying inconveniences that have increased since 2001. Checking a bag is the easiest option if you want to fly without making sure your liquids aren’t carefully rationed out and bagged.

In some ways, checking bags makes it a lot easier for passengers boarding and deplaning. I’m never one of those people you might see taking five minutes trying to cram a steamer trunk into the cramped overhead bin.

Earlier this month, I was traveling to the Midwest for a wedding. Because I was taking an extended trip and anticipated bringing some Michigan goodies back with me, I brought my larger suitcase to the airport.

Facing an early-morning departure and a desire not to park my car for $9/day at Sacramento for more than a week, I opted to fly out of San Francisco International Airport.

Getting there about eight hours before the flight, I hoped to check my bag in before heading into the city for some entertainment. No dice — the agent said rules prohibit checking in baggage that early. Given the post-2001 rules, I acquiesced and ended up lugging this big bag through the streets of San Francisco. I only got a few weird looks at the karaoke bar.

When the ticket counter opened in the morning, I was ready to check my bag and ran into another roadblock. For the convenience of checking a bag, Northwest (which is being absorbed into Delta) wanted to charge me $15.

Prompted to pay this new fee, I was a little testy when I told the agent that I was extremely unhappy. She noted it’s a fee that nearly all the airlines are now charging.

“Southwest is the only airline that doesn’t charge for the first bag,” the agent said.

“Exactly. That’s why I’m going to fly with them from now on,” I replied.

After clearing through security, I was still miffed by the fee. I called Northwest reservations to complain. They helpfully gave me the number of customer relations, but the call center wasn’t going to open for another hour.

For a few minutes, I delighted in thinking about what I was going to tell Northwest. I fantasized telling them that I would rather fly Southwest to Chicago and then take a 10-hour bus ride to my destination rather than giving Northwest/Delta another dollar of my business.

Eventually, I realized it was all a little silly and waited bleary eyed to board my flight.

The incident started to fade my memory after a couple of weeks and a relaxing train trip home without extra fees. I was content to let the matter drop until I read this quote in an article about fees:

“They’re going to keep nudging them up until they
run into market resistance,” said Ed Perkins, a contributing editor at
the Web site Smarter Travel.

If that’s the case, then it’s almost my duty to complain. After all, I wouldn’t like to see airlines continue to nickel and dime the passengers they rely on.

Now, it’s just a matter of waiting for that call center to open.

Steam train ride available … for $500 to $1,000

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I enjoy the Barenaked Ladies song “If I Had a Million Dollars.” This week, I’m singing about having a $1,000 to take a train ride. Not just any train ride — for a special excursion aboard a train pulled by a 65-year-old steam engine.
According to the Mercury-Register article, the engine is steam locomotive No. 844 — the last steam locomotive built for Union Pacific. The excursion was organized by the Western Pacific Railroad Museum in Portola for the 100th anniversary of the Western Pacific Railroad (since acquired by Union Pacific).
To ride the train this week, it will cost $1,000 to go from Oroville to Portola or $500 to go from Portola to Winnemucca, Nev. The money goes to a good cause — it’s a fundraiser for the Feather River Rail Society.
For people who don’t have a hole burning in their wallets, the train will be arriving in Oroville Thursday, spend the day there Friday for viewing near Mitchell Avenue and depart on Saturday morning.
It would be fun to go on the excursion, but it will be exciting to see a piece of history this week. It’s not just the train, the Feather River Canyon route was one of the scenic highlights for passenger rail travel for years.

Chico State back on Playboy party school list – sorta

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Chico State’s entry on the party school list. This is a simulation of my surfing a potentially “Not Safe For Work” site while at work.
I was interested to see the new list of top 10 party schools from Playboy magazine, especially how Chico State would measure up. Chico State was first and second on the first two lists, but disappeared from the third list in 2006.
As I reported in today’s Enterprise-Record, Chico State didn’t make the top 10, but managed to eke its way on to an expanded list of 25 campuses at number 20. The whole thing is fascinating, especially Playboy’s description of Chico’s “scene.”
I was pleasantly surprised to see Chico on the extended list. While the list could either be a badge of honor or mark of shame, I was just glad to see CSUC on the list after it was absent three years ago.
I almost missed it just looking at the top 10. I was interested in learning more about the list so I dug a little deeper on Playboy’s Web sites … while at work.
I was worried there would be images of naked ladies on the screen jeopardizing my professionalism and potentially my career. I shrunk the size of my Web browser window so I could navigate past any … obstacles. Thankfully, the specific pages the magazine referred to were devoid of nudity and I was able to quickly find the information.
So, until Playboy ranks the schools again next year, Chico State will be nestled between Michigan State University, a prominent Big 10 school, and Hampshire College, a school I had to Google to learn more about.
The magazine’s description of Chico State seemed a little off, at least in my eye. Here’s what they wrote:

Legendary party scene despite the fact that the student body is not made up of stereotypical meat-head party boys and Stepford sorority girls. Think green—and not the stoner green, the environmental awareness green.

While many Chico State students have helped promote increased awareness of environmental sustainability, I reckon it’s a stretch to say the campus is devoid of “party boys” and “Stepford sorority girls.” Just walking around Chico’s downtown core on a Friday or Saturday will uncover a decent number from both groups of people — and environmentalists too.
I couldn’t comment on the specific ratio of party boys to green sceners, but Playboy might. They developed a matrix of five categories (including a “bikini” composite category that looked at factors such as boy-girl ratio, the weather, etc.). It rated the schools in each of them and combined that information with input from students and others.
Having Playboy use algorithms to pick the top party school reminded me of the system the BCS uses to find the top football team in the country. I wonder if Playboy’s system is more worthwhile than the heavily criticized BCS.

My Earth Day editorial cartoon

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My third editorial cartoon was published in today’s Enterprise-Record and Mercury-Register. I call them “cartoons,” but they’re really more like photo-montages and computer illustrations to illustrate my thoughts.
In this case, I used Photoshop to modify an image from NASA’s Visible Earth site. That image was then imported into Freehand, where I added the ribbon of text.
These cartoons are unusual for me because I don’t divulge my opinion in such a permanent way very often. I don’t feel my opinions have any part of the reporting I do. I strive to make sure I cover people and issues as fairly and accurately as possible given deadlines and other constraints.
As further separation, I don’t report or cover the subjects of my cartoons (disc golf and the Earth, I suppose).
I’m curious about what you think when you saw this cartoon. I think it can be viewed in several different ways given our perspectives on the environment and the economy.
I think this is a modern version of an exercise I took part in growing up. I recall teachers in English classes asking me and others about what the author was “thinking” when he or she wrote the story we just read. The exercises were interesting and probably helped with critical thinking. On the other hand, I always thought part of it was silly — how do we _really_ know what the author thought especially when we’re looking back over decades of time and space?
Anyway, I’ve got a gallery of my other cartoons. The Enterprise-Record also keeps a small gallery of recent cartoons it has run on its ChicoER.com opinion section.
I’m curious about what you think about the cartoon. If you wish, please leave me a comment.

The sounds of the Chico streets

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Sometimes when I’m walking on the streets of Chico, the little things will catch my attention. They can be grotesque — like physical evidence of over-partying, but once in a while, the little things can be magical.
I was walking on East Third Street in March when I noticed an unusual clanging sound coming from the ground. I traced it to a Pacific Gas & Electric Co. grate between Main and Wall streets.
The sound was definitely mechanical, but the repetitive clanging and wheezing of the subterranean machine had an oddly musical quality to it. The sound was loud, but it diminished quickly as one moved away from the grate.
I don’t know what caused the sound. It was gone the next time I walked past it a week later. It was a nice addition to the normal sights and sounds that one might see on the street.
I recorded a snippet of the sound on my cell phone. Give it a listen and tell me what you think.

Tax time: Introducing my new credit card

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20090227_wallet_card.jpgWith the deadline to file taxes thankfully past (and hopefully buried), I wanted to introduce my new credit card. As you can see, I think it’s a design that fits well for the state of the new economy.
Using Well Fargo’s new credit card lab, I created a new design. I hope that whenever I pull out my card to buy something, the empty wallet will make me think twice about whether this purchase is something that I really need.
I was a little worried that Wells Fargo wouldn’t approve the design, but it was OK’d with no problems.
This card has been in use for a couple of weeks. While it’s an amusing novelty, it hasn’t stopped any of my purchases.

Corned beef and pizza — a winning combination

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When someone says St. Patrick’s Day, one might typically think about the traditional foods — corned beef, potatoes, cabbage, etc. Like most holiday foods, people try to mix things up with variations often with mixed results. I can report that the corned beef and cabbage pizza from Woodstock’s Pizza is a superlative success.

After my radio show, I headed out into downtown Chico to catch a little of the St. Patrick’s Day festivities. Most of the parties appeared to have wound down — I definitely saw a lot of people (and police activity) at about 8:30 p.m. Things were different post-midnight, and the crowds had largely dissipated.

The crowd at Woodstock’s was modest and there was no line. I quickly queued up for a slice of their evening special — the previously mentioned corned beef and cabbage pizza. The photo used on promotions was not totally appealing, it looked like a straightforward slice.

A regular-sized slice was $2.50, a steal for the treat I was about to eat.

The slice looked like a pretty normal piece of pizza. The melted mozzarella cheese concealed the thinly sliced cabbage and pesto sauce. The exception was the dark ruby-red chunks of corned beef scattered about.

Taking a bite, there was a great melange of flavor. The cabbage added texture and the tinniest bit of cabbage-y taste to the cheese and pesto sauce.

I was skeptical about the corned beef. The meat looked more like dry jerky instead of the roast served at the dinner table or the hash served at breakfast.

The corned beef succeeded beyond my wildest expectations. The texture wasn’t overly dry. The savory, salty flavor of the meat helped to bring the entire slice together. It reminded me of the Canadian bacon served on Hawaiian pizzas, but more nuanced and potent.

Without the corned beef and cabbage, the pesto may have been overwhelming and the slice wouldn’t have worked.

This cabbage and corned beef pizza definitely stands apart in the world of reinventing traditional foods.

The calm before a riotus storm

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I was chatting Thursday with a colleague who noted that this week’s police log was relatively quiet although Chico State University students were back in town. I theorized students might have been more studious because the economic downturn.
Well, Thursday night wasn’t so quiet with a disturbance that some called a riot.
As an observer, I find it interesting how these situations develop and where. It’s worth noting that the two incidents this school year (including one in October) didn’t necessarily revolve around calendar events or even specific days of the week. In years past, Chico riots seemed to most often be associated with holidays or events such as Halloween or Pioneer Days. Not necessarily the case now.