Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Close to Home — What it’s like on the street where you live
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
Beauty goin' down
You're one helluva researcher, Jeff! I'd still like you to take over that 1850 manuscript I once mentioned some months ago and give it the story-telling treatment it deserves. I'm just not up to the job.— February 1, 2013 2:44 p.m.
Anatomy of a tuna clipper
My first trip to San Diego was in 1957. I was in college. The fishermen down on the quay had biceps like thighs. If pole fishing were still the way to fish, there'd be more fish and more real men who actually work for a living rather than swindle. We've let real living slip out of our hands, our birthright for a mess of pottage. We should all be living lives that are full--doing things for people rather than to people.— February 1, 2013 2:30 p.m.
The Lone Wolf hits a Royal Flush
Man, keep 'em comin'! I hate to puff you up, but you are one helluva writer. If you want to get these interviews on video, I have a Panasonic AG100A and some good mics, lights, etc.— February 1, 2013 2:20 p.m.
San Diego City Council finds funds to trim palm trees
I have posted further information at http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/earth-fire-…— February 1, 2013 2 p.m.
Love, Death, Poverty, and Beauty: Urban Trees
A pilot Urban Forest Management Program was done in-house, using "free" interns and a little staff time for training around 1971. The administration at the time did not like the idea and apparently no trace of it remains (e.g., maps depicting the location of each tree, herbarium specimens, dbh, height, and condition). I presume the herbarium specimens are still in the Natural History Museum, but am not sure. A major purpose was to assess tree heath and conditions, especially with respect to public safety and cost of management. Let's hope that something even better comes out of spending 75k on another one, but it will be interesting to see what is actually produced.— February 1, 2013 1:57 p.m.
San Diego City Council finds funds to trim palm trees
I hope that mngcornaglia and others will spread the word by sending links to these articles to their friends, who in turn do the same with their friends. This is the only way that the word will get out and gain a constituency for urban tree safety.— January 31, 2013 10:39 p.m.
Love, Death, Poverty, and Beauty: Urban Trees
dwbat, I hope you have broken the spell that I referred to in my one successful post (out of three) to the moderator above. I will now try to remember what I tried to post first. I believe I said that I did not intend to leave the impression that I believed that the falling frond-bases would cause GREAT bodily injury or damage, but they can cause “minor” injuries, especially to children. Sometimes the recurved spines that line the frond’s “stem” can be retained, depending upon how closely the fronds are cut off (it would be interesting to see the specifications for palm-trimming), and could cause a nasty, painful cut or scratch. Not all such injuries end up being so minor as they appear, however, as such cuts can become infected (keep tetanus shots up to date). Rats find the fruit and the cover quite attractive, and can sometimes be seen running up and down the trunks with great ease. They like the palm fibers for nest material (so do some birds, for that matter, but there is no shortage of nest material. Admittedly, I am most interested in the most dangerous aspects of urban tree management and mismanagement.— January 31, 2013 10:34 p.m.
Love, Death, Poverty, and Beauty: Urban Trees
dwbat, I have posted additional material to your article, which supplements my remarks here. All readers of my article should visit yours frequently if they want more information than I have presented here, so should see all of the comments at http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2013/jan/29/st… .— January 31, 2013 10:08 p.m.
San Diego City Council finds funds to trim palm trees
Yes, they do burn like roman candles, and can throw off glowing embers for great distances, depending upon the strength of the convection current and the wind. Embers are well-known for their ability to start "spot" fires. Most urban palms in the streets and parks are well-enough trimmed that the risk of fire from them is small, but those planted in canyons all over San Diego (by some self-appointed "Johnny Palmseed"), are rarely if ever trimmed, and in the case of canyon fires could produce a major hazard, not only to native canyon trees and other vegetation, but to structures within the range of the embers. Radiant heat produced from such fuel also can have a serious effect on any canyon fire, inducing almost explosive burn rates in other vegetation. The great heat produced by palm fires can produce much larger embers that can travel farther and last longer than those produced by native vegetation, which are usually quite small, unable to "fly" as far and are and relatively short-lived. The palm frond material is almost ideal for the generation of large embers, due to their light weight and fibrous content. It has been said that nine-tenths of the hell being raised in the world is well-intentioned. I'm sure Johnny Palmseed was/is well-intentioned. There can be no doubt that our canyons would be markedly more fire-safe without the palms (mostly Mexican fan palms and Canary Island date palms).— January 31, 2013 9:58 p.m.
Love, Death, Poverty, and Beauty: Urban Trees
To the Moderator: I must have broken some rule, but I don't know which one. I posted a clarification yesterday, and it has been removed. What did I do that was so wrong? I don't have a copy, so if I am to edit the content, I will have to re-write it. It would be nice to get an email about such actions, and to include the offending text.— January 31, 2013 1:29 p.m.