A blog about Technology, News, and Kern County.
Address: 1707 Eye St. Bakersfield, CA 93301 Member Since: May 14, 2007 Last Signed In: November 05, 2009 Profile Views: 2886 Blog Views: 183506 Bakersfield man with colorful record in middle of billion-dollar Chevron dispute Mobile haiku puts Bakersfield in new light Songs do more than namedrop Bakersfield Pedro Martinez taken back to his Bakersfield Dodger days Fresno piles on the hate for Bakersfield Bakersfield man files suit over Sidekick debacle Simulation suggests major SoCal quake could maintain intensity on way to Bakersfield Speaking of office romance ... Local blogger recounts horror of traffic accident Best french fries in Bakersfield? May 07 June 07 July 07 August 07 September 07 October 07 November 07 December 07 January 08 February 08 March 08 April 08 May 08 June 08 July 08 August 08 September 08 October 08 November 08 December 08 January 09 February 09 March 09 April 09 May 09 June 09 July 09 August 09 September 09 October 09 November 09 Submit your local links to bakosphere@bakersfield.com. Bakersfield Observed CompuDave greener bakersfield 
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We love the Kern County Fair as much as the next gap-toothed goofball hopped up on speed and fried twinkies, but we certainly don't go there for the musical acts. So thank goodness for our northern neighbors Fresno who have at least tied us (and maybe won — Bret Michaels and Great White for crying out loud) in terms of lame fair linueps. You be the judge FRESNO LINEUP (More info) KERN COUNTY LINEUP (More info)
If you're a keen follower of our daily poll on bakersfield.com you may have noticed we've got more responses lately than would a fictional breaking news story involving Chad Vegas, a hairy runaway bear and a gleaming white spaceship piloted by Carl Cole. We're almost at 2,000 responses to today's poll about John McCain's expensive shoes, while yesterday's question about atheists and public office elicited a monumental 4,063 responses. The day before that a paltry 184 of you weighed in on the disappearing Piute bear. OK, so the answers provided were a little silly (of course the bear isn't shacking up with a lovelorn Moe the chimp), but still, 184? Pathetic! So why so many responses to the last two polls? For that we can thank the bloggers over at Pharyngula, who decided to boost our poll. Now as fun as that sounds, we feel a little violated! Geelizzie is not impressed with Bakersfield drivers. Read her blog post here. We're not allowed to wear shorts to work here, but judging from this New York Times style piece, that may not be a bad thing. Think New York Times is rubbish? You'll like this blog post (language warning). Thanks to the Bakersfield Republican Assembly for discovering why your PG&E bill is so high. And while we're on the bender agenda, here's gawker.com on Anderson Cooper.
Each week our visual team leaders choose their favorite local photos of the week and explain their picks. Which one is your favorite? Latest on the chosen one: School board savior decides to run for re-election, wants police dogs in schools. Trustee of truth tells Inga Barks he doesn't want nonbelievers in public office. In his own words: The vessel of veracity on what his oath really means and the "tyranny of liberal secularism" And finally, the preacher's proclamation to The Californian about his Inga Barks statement.
If this demonstration doesn't persuade McCain to abandon his campaign, we're not sure what will.
Check out this Washington Post story on the California oil rush which began along the Kern River bank in 1899. This is the headline of the story: Calif. Field Goes from Rush To Reflection of Global Limits There's also a great slideshow showing historical photos of the area.
Kern County Fair makes list of reasons to visit the U.S. No joke. "famous places are waiting for you"
Blogger volunteers at McCain's Bako fundraiser Monday. McCain shakes blogger's hand. Blogger impressed. You have $1,000 burning a hole in your pocket. Do you: A) Head over to Seven Oaks to rub shoulders with presidential hopeful John McCain? B) Put a .5 percent down payment on a space trip aboard WhiteKnightTwo? C) Take a day off work, rent an ATV and go hunting for the Piute bear? D) Buy a cowboy hat from Big Al? E) Watch "The Dark Knight" 100 times. F) Treat yourself to lunch at a struggling local restaurant every day for the next 100 days. G) Buy 5,000 hot dogs, cook them and sell them outside the Crisp and Cole hearings downtown for $2 each, thus making a profit to the tune of $9,000. A national survey shows gas prices have dropped a fraction below the $4-dollar mark.
Prices are at their lowest level since May 16 and are an average of 11.7 cents less per gallon than two weeks ago. Read the story here. Find Bakersfied's cheapest gas here.
Californian photographer Casey Christie took this picture last week at a ranch off South Union Avenue. Here's Bakosphere's caption: "Moo's your daddy?" At least that's one blogger's take. "This town should be booming right now, new houses, new cars all that comes with wealth in an oil boom town." Check out his the post here. The report gets off to a shaky when FOX's newscaster says the attack took place in a "remote part of Bakersfield." Anyway, here's the report. FOX talks to Kern County Fire Captain Curt Merrell and late in the interview asks him if the woman's dogs saved her life: Merrell replied: "I would say so yes. Absolutely."
The dog likes Bakersfield. The owner? Not so sure. Check it out here. Bakersfield.com blogger meandpete has posted a very personal story about her 14-year-old daughter who is due to give birth in October. Read how she's coping and comments from fellow bloggers. Perhaps she can find solace in Mas magazine's latest cover story, about a local woman who got pregnant at 14. Now, at age 23, she is not only a mother but also a successful student at CSUB and recently had the starring role in the school's production of the musical "Evita." In both stories, the girls' mothers play an important role in their support and say that kicking out their daughters was the last thing they would have done. Age 14 may be young to become a mother, but these families show that with love and support, it can be done. July is the dog days of summer — life seems to be crawling by right now. News is slow. Co-workers and fellow bloggers are gone on vacation. The county supervisors seem to be the only ones with purpose, hammering out a new budget over three days. Meanwhile, a Tuscon blogger deems Bakersfield for the dogs — lazy dogs, like her shih tzu who enjoyed the air conditioning and IHOP leftovers during a stop-over in our town. That's about all they found to do, apparently. This is the time of year when things are put off 'til tomorrow and our pulses slow to survival mode. Then again, it was this time of year in 2003 when a school vice principal named Vincent Brothers killed five of his family members and our town turned to a frenzy. So let's all knock on some wood, and maybe then put our feet up and knock back an iced tea or margarita. Raisingbakersfield.com is a new site which lets local parents find family events, meet up, buy and sell stuff, and more. Check out this post, where a father asks for advice for an upcoming trip to Disneyland. Check out Raising Bakersfield here. Each week our visual team leaders choose their favorite local photos of the week and explain their picks in an audio slideshow. Which one is your favorite? Check out our photography page for more great shot and shows. Sage may be the only RFB fan out there, but can anyone really argue with almost 60 minutes of twang, crunch and oomph? Listen to this week's show here. Bakersfield Life magazine has compiled a bracket of the 64 best things about Bakersfield and it needs your help whittling the number down to 1! Check out the bracket here. And here's a reader blog on the topic. Los Angeles looks down on Bakersfield, Bakersfield looks down on Shafter, Shafter looks down on Wasco. Wasco: Find your Buttonwillow! Who knew? Read more here. An 'incident' goes down in Bakersfield and the assassin works on his new novel Welcome to the adventure fiction of BernardL. Read the latest chapter here. From a post on the center-right politics blog, Red County, introducing its new Central Valley section: "We are excited to represent California's great Central Valley on the Red County site! It is appropriate that this very "red" part of the state be given a voice and we hope to keep you all in-the-know during this important election cycle." Who'll be blogging? " ... our inaugural Central Valley blog team will include Dr. Adrian Moore, a vice president with Reason Foundation; Marylee Shrider, a terrific conservative newspaper columnist; Inga Barks, the talk radio host covering more of the valley than any other through KMJ Fresno and KERN Bakersfield and Ken Mettler, Kern High School District Trustee and vice president of the CA Republican Assembly." So far, the blog has linked to a few political-type stories from The Californian and Fresno Bee. There's one comment posted as of 8 this morning. It's from our own James Geluso (city government reporter) correcting one of the blog headlines! Check out the blog here. I think they're being sarcastic, but you never can tell: "As the debut for our new column, In The Lineup / Washed Up, we traveled to Bakersfield, CA, the epicenter of fashion and fabulousness ... " Check out what to wear (and what not to wear) for the upcoming high school year.
Got eight and a half minutes to spare? Here's Taft's Billy Nelson qualifying for the Beijing Olympics in the steeplechase. A local musician featured in Eye Street's "My Favorite Day" feature has more to say on Bakersfield, being recognized by the po po, and how she used the article to get some business for her buddy! Here's a sample: 1. being in bakersfield is kind of like being in a bad relationship: it'll often let you down, but you stay w/it because it's cheap, familiar, & at times surprises you by being a real good time. Read jenny's blablablog here.
Bakersfield gets some love (sort of) in the new Terminator movie. Would love to know exactly where these shots were taken. Check them out here. More interested in "The Dark Knight"? Go here. Was having a conversation at lunch with a coworker about the video on Around the Web where the woman got hit by lightning as she was filming a thunder storm while holding onto a metal railing. The conversation then moved on to that epic physics class contraption, the Van de Graaff generator, and the fun physics teachers seemed to have while sending a mild electric shock through the class member. I thought to myself, YouTube. My particular physics teacher would make us stand on metal stools and wet our fingers. His name was Mr Sewell and he once said he's rather get boiled than steamed because it would hurt less. He was as mad as the bicycle he rode to school on. — Andrew Mockett Californian staffer takes 3-year-old to kid-friendly concert by Barenaked Ladies. Barenaked Ladies singer arrested on drug charges. Purple dinosaur chuckes to himself. These amazing photos of canyons on Mars taken from U.S. and European spacecraft support growing evidence that Mars was once a water-rich planet — capable of supporting life. Speaking of "Life on Mars," it's a brilliant TV show on BBC that's being made into an American version. Before you groan, "The Office" didn't turn out too bad. We call this photo, "Life in Taft."
"Don't drop that baby!" The crew of Kern County Fire Department Helicopter 408 hover over a home where a family of three await rescue near Lake Isabella. The crew successfully rescues a baby before returning for the mother and father. Watch the fascinating video here.
See the top Californian photos of the week and listen in as our Visuals Team co-leader explains the choices. Watch the slideshow here. Visit our photography page here. Former Taft High runner Billy Nelson made the Olympic team in the steeplechase recently. There's a movement afoot to raise funds to send his family to Beijing (in under a month) to cheer him on. Want to help? Go here. A 108-year-old Australian woman who was promoted as the world's oldest blogger has died two weeks after making her last post about "singing a happy song." Or go to the woman's blog here. Great on-location pictures and words from the Laguna Interagency Hotshot Crew are here. A family leaves the beach for a weekend in Bakersfield. And another trip to Bakersfield for the 4th of July. Snapshot images from in and around Bakersfield.
Blogbakersfield has created a user-friendly Google map of the cooling centers around Bakersfield. Seeing as it's supposed to be 108 today and tomorrow, maybe you'll find this map useful. Bakosphere wonders what goes on at a cooling center. Is it Dixie cups of water and a humming AC? Or do cabana boys bring you mai tais and fan you with palm fronds? The latter sounds wonderful ...... Marcus Wolf, 22, of Bakersfield will now have an infamous scar on his buttocks. On day 3 of the annual Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain, a bull apparently gored Wolf in the back side, causing a 5-inch laceration that required stitches. The AP story quotes Wolf as saying although it was his first and final run, he'll definitely return as a spectator. "I love it," he told the AP. Ouch! Here's a novel way to clear out the overcrowded animal shelters in Bakersfield and elsewhere. All pound dogs and cats are tax deductible. Not only the purchase of the animal, but every bag of food, every trip to the vet, every collar and bowl. Just keep your receipts. The only stipulation is you must agree to have your pet and its living arrangements checked (on an unannounced visit) four times a year (to make sure you're not trying to scam the system). Great idea, right? Now we've seen the surveillance video we all feel a bit sorry for the attorney/Manchester United fan who wasn't happy with his Sausage McMuffins and took matters into his own hands. He was completely exonerated. But now this revelation: According to an eagle-eyed editor at KERO 23 there was a "schoolyard shove." Here's an excerpt from the local TV blog: While I watched it, one of our editors said he saw a “schoolyard shove.” That means he saw contact between the employee and the attorney who walked behind the counter where he clearly shouldn’t have been nabbing bag of McMuffins. Of course it wasn’t a real shove, just intimidating contact between a man bent on obtaining McMuffins and a worker who tried to stand her ground. Read the whole blog and see a still of the "schoolyard shove" here.
It's so hot in Bakersfield that ... you know someone's going to post an "It's so hot in Bakersfield" list! Thanks to b.com blogger, Tiffanilynn, for getting us started this summer. We particularly like No. 4: "You find out in August that it only takes two fingers to steer a car!" Blogger TomW is starting a Drinking Liberally group in Bakersfield, and he has already shown leadership abilities by choosing a place where draft beer is $1.25 a mug. Join him and others at Pizzaville on Oak Street tonight at 7:30. Find out more at his blog, All Politics Are Local, and wonder to yourself why so many of our bloggers are teetotalers! To figure out what went wrong at powerful Wall Street firm Lehman Brothers, look no further than Bakersfield's McAllister Ranch. The Greg Norman designed golf course looks like one heck of a sand trap! In our ongoing search for all things lovely about Bakersfield, we stumbled across this gem from Breeder's World: A blog poster wants to know about a judge's preference for sheep at the Kern County Fair. Wool you please check it out here? So not only was that attorney guy mad that McDonald's messed up his Sausage McMuffin order, but now we've seen the video it comes to light he was wearing the replica soccer jersey of one of the biggest tools in the game. Ok, so he was exonerated of all charges, but that doesn't change his poor judgment in sporting idols! So whose sporting jersey would you not wish to be wearing should be be caught on camera acting somewhat unsavorily? (is that even a word?) Have no idea what we're on about? Watch this. A blog has no patience for a woman interviewed by local TV after she was spotted talking on the cell phone while driving. (Update note: Starbucks told us they are not releasing the locations of the affected stores) The coffee giant needs a pick-me-up. It's closing 600 underperforming stores in the U.S. One of our Growth and Economy reporters is trying to find out if any local stores are affected. We'll let you know what we find out. I've got nothing against Starbucks. They provide a service when I need it. It annoys me that they don't sell our newspaper inside the store, but I'm sure the average American coffee drinker will survive with 600 less Starbucks dotting our street corners. I'm reminded of a story we ran a while ago, when all Starbucks stores closed early one night so the baristas could be taught how to brew coffee. Sadly, many of them will now have a lot more time on their hands to perfect the art. — Andrew Mockett Many of us would be quite satisfied with a zero-day workweek, but unfortunately that's unlikely to happen unless you get laid off. We mention this because Cal State Bakersfield just announced that its main campus will operate on a four-day work week during the summer. The move, says the university, is designed to save energy costs for the campus and save commute costs for their employees. And Utah has instituted a mandatory four-day workweek for the majority of its state employees. We like Utah's style. Ten hours a day, four days a week would be quite palatable for us. An additional day off during the week would be icing on the cake for the 20 percent savings on gas money we'd benefit from. And all this despite the scary proposition of being in the office for 10 whole hours! A reporter is working on a story about this trend (and researching whether it is actually a trend), but in the meantime, would you like to switch to this type of workweek? Check out this USA Today story on the issue. Regular b.com blogger, bakobornnraised, describes her first skydive. Thanks bakoborn for the great blog post. |
