A blog about Kern County, News, and Technology.
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1707 Eye St.
Bakersfield, CA 93301
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Previous Posts
Bakersfield: Not the world's greatest joke
Only 171 days left!
Jumping death sad for all
Chris McCandless lives!
Comics poll is deadly serious
Killing bears with kindness
Lock up your restaurants: The Angelenos are coming
Amtrak customers 'interesting'
10,000 songs in a row
Freedom Fries live on in Bako!
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The Bakosphere Blogroll

Submit your local links to bakosphere@bakersfield.com.

A Bakersfield Biker
America the Bold
Amy's Musings - Tales from an Anti-Soccer Mom
AndyNoise.com
As simple as it should be
Atheist Community of Bakersfield
Atheist in a mini-van
Bad Carma
Bake Town, CA
Bakersfield Bubble
Bakersfield Hash House Harriers
Bakersfield SkyWatch Blog
Bakersfield Underground Music Scene
BakoFashionDo
Bako Life
Becky in Bakersfield
The Black Dog Experience
Blog Bakersfield
The Church / State Wall
CompuDave
Condors Blogs/The Neutral Zone
Contingencies
daddy in a strange land
The Dalloways Blog
Diary of a Madwoman
Digital Chain
Downtown B-Town
Every Lie They Print
FHS 1986
Fight the Bite!
Films in Bakersfield
Flaunt Vidalma
The Four Dimensional Vector of Becca Jennings
From the Ground Up
GagFilms.com Blog
Girls Talkin Smack
Glutton Bakersfield
Hockey Talk/Trash Talk (N.L. Bobblehead)
Housewife in Bakersfield
Indigenous Geek
Inevitably Keely
Its my right to be left of the center
Jenny's Blablablog
Julia Heatherwick - Ar tSpeak
Julie Unplugged
Kern County Democratic Party Weblog
Kern Gamers
Kern Valley Vulture Watch
Mexican on a Diet
The Moron Parade
New Leaves in March
On the Go...
One Bakersfield Woman's Blog to All Mankind
Paperback Writer
Pawprint City Times
Rob Shock
Seven Bates
Sirens Chronicles
Sonicrusk Blog
Sumo Merriment
Theatre Addict
Update on Vicki
The Village News
Volkslaugh.com Blog

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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)
Chicago
Gretchen Wilson 
Doodlebops
Sean Kingston  Baby Bash 
Earth, Wind,  Fire
Newsboys
Tower of Power  Average White Band
Smokey Robinson
Randy Travis
Lloyd, The-Dream,  Colby O'Donis
Bret Michaels with Great White

KERN COUNTY LINEUP (More info)
The Bangles
Tower of Power
Little Anthony & The Imperials
Life in the Fast Lane -- The Songs of the Eagles Musical Journey
The Bellamy Brothers; Williams & Ree
Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
Boyz II Men
Mark Chesnutt
Lincoln Brewster
Average White Band
Herman's Hermits starring Peter Noone


 

Posted in these Groups: Arts & Entertainment, News, Travel
Topics: Fresno, Kern County Fair, musical acts, lineup
posted by bakosphere on Thursday, July 31, 2008 at 03:10 PM
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Viewed 270 times

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!

Posted in the News interest group.
Topics: poll, bakersfield.com, pharyngula
posted by bakosphere on Thursday, July 31, 2008 at 01:39 PM
Permalink - Comments [54] - Leave a Comment - Report a Violation
Viewed 10334 times

Geelizzie is not impressed with Bakersfield drivers.

Read her blog post here.

Posted in these Groups: Neighborhoods/Regions, News, Travel
Topics: drivers, bakersfield, Crosswalks
posted by bakosphere on Thursday, July 31, 2008 at 09:11 AM
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Viewed 87 times

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).

Posted in these Groups: Business & Finance, Shopping
Topics: shorts, dress code, new york times
posted by bakosphere on Thursday, July 31, 2008 at 08:53 AM
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Viewed 50 times

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.

 

 

Posted in these Groups: News, Politics
Topics: PG&E, anderson cooper, gay, republicans
posted by bakosphere on Wednesday, July 30, 2008 at 07:27 AM
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Viewed 376 times

Each week our visual team leaders choose their favorite local photos of the week and explain their picks.

Slideshow here.

Which one is your favorite?

Posted in these Groups: Arts & Entertainment, Photography
Topics: pictures of the week, photo staff, Californian
posted by bakosphere on Tuesday, July 29, 2008 at 11:15 AM
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Viewed 40 times

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.

 

Posted in these Groups: Politics, Schools & Education
Topics: Chad Vegas
posted by bakosphere on Tuesday, July 29, 2008 at 10:54 AM
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Viewed 259 times

If this demonstration doesn't persuade McCain to abandon his campaign, we're not sure what will.

 

Posted in the Politics interest group.
Topics: John McCain, protest, democrats
posted by bakosphere on Tuesday, July 29, 2008 at 10:18 AM
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Viewed 128 times

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.

 

Posted in the News interest group.
Topics: oil fields, Kern River
posted by bakosphere on Tuesday, July 29, 2008 at 08:23 AM
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Viewed 35 times

Kern County Fair makes list of reasons to visit the U.S.

No joke.

"famous places are waiting for you"

 

Posted in the Neighborhoods/Regions interest group.
Topics: Kern County Fair, tourists
posted by bakosphere on Tuesday, July 29, 2008 at 07:44 AM
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Viewed 49 times

Blogger volunteers at McCain's Bako fundraiser Monday.

McCain shakes blogger's hand.

Blogger impressed.

Details.

Posted in the Politics interest group.
Topics: John McCain, Volunteer, bakersfield
posted by bakosphere on Tuesday, July 29, 2008 at 07:27 AM
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Viewed 112 times

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.

Posted in the News interest group.
Topics: John McCain, hot dogs, Crisp and Cole, WhiteKnightTwo, big al, the dark knight
posted by bakosphere on Monday, July 28, 2008 at 11:14 AM
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Viewed 155 times

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.

 

Posted in the News interest group.
Topics: GAS PRICES
posted by bakosphere on Monday, July 28, 2008 at 07:38 AM
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Viewed 123 times

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?"

Posted in the Arts & Entertainment interest group.
Topics: Horse, calf, caption, photo, casey christie
posted by bakosphere on Friday, July 25, 2008 at 11:01 AM
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Viewed 118 times

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.

Posted in the News interest group.
Topics: oil boom, bakersfield
posted by bakosphere on Friday, July 25, 2008 at 07:52 AM
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Viewed 141 times

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."

 

Posted in these Groups:
Topics: bear attack, Fox News
posted by bakosphere on Thursday, July 24, 2008 at 03:20 PM
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Viewed 72 times

The dog likes Bakersfield. The owner? Not so sure.

Check it out here.

Posted in these Groups: Animals, Travel
Topics: bakersfield, dog, Travel, sites, interesting
posted by bakosphere on Thursday, July 24, 2008 at 07:56 AM
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Viewed 76 times

This is just plain weird.

Who sells these creatures?

Monkey for sale.

 

Posted in the Animals interest group.
Topics: monkey for sale
posted by bakosphere on Thursday, July 24, 2008 at 07:19 AM
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Viewed 38 times

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.

Posted in these Groups:
Topics: Bakosphere, bakersfield, teen pregnancy
posted by bakosphere on Wednesday, July 23, 2008 at 11:12 AM
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Viewed 223 times

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.

Posted in these Groups:
Topics: bakersfield, Travel, dogs, summer
posted by bakosphere on Wednesday, July 23, 2008 at 09:00 AM
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Viewed 50 times

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.

Posted in the Travel interest group.
Topics: Disneyland, tips, visit, raising bakersfield, RaisingBakersfield.com
posted by bakosphere on Tuesday, July 22, 2008 at 11:56 AM
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Viewed 100 times

Each week our visual team leaders choose their favorite local photos of the week and explain their picks in an audio slideshow.

Watch it here.

Which one is your favorite?

Check out our photography page for more great shot and shows.

Posted in these Groups:
Topics: local photos, slideshow
posted by bakosphere on Tuesday, July 22, 2008 at 07:54 AM
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Viewed 46 times

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.

Posted in these Groups:
Topics: Radio Free Bakersfield, Podcast, music
posted by bakosphere on Tuesday, July 22, 2008 at 07:40 AM
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Viewed 45 times

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.

Posted in the Neighborhoods/Regions interest group.
Topics: bakersfield, bakersfield life magazine, greatest thing about bakersfield
posted by bakosphere on Monday, July 21, 2008 at 11:28 AM
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Viewed 293 times

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.

Posted in these Groups:
Topics: Wasco, Shafter, snobby, pixley, buttonwillow, image
posted by bakosphere on Monday, July 21, 2008 at 08:00 AM
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Viewed 85 times

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.

Posted in these Groups:
Topics: adventure fiction, bakersfield, bernardl
posted by bakosphere on Monday, July 21, 2008 at 07:53 AM
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Viewed 22 times

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.

Posted in the Politics interest group.
Topics: red county, Central Valley, james geluso, blog
posted by bakosphere on Friday, July 18, 2008 at 08:06 AM
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Viewed 124 times

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.

 

Posted in the Shopping interest group.
Topics: high school fashion, bakersfield, what not to wear
posted by bakosphere on Friday, July 18, 2008 at 07:19 AM
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Viewed 67 times

Got eight and a half minutes to spare?

Here's Taft's Billy Nelson qualifying for the Beijing Olympics in the steeplechase.

Posted in these Groups:
Topics: olympics, billy nelson, Taft, steeplechase
posted by bakosphere on Thursday, July 17, 2008 at 01:54 PM
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Viewed 67 times

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.

 

Posted in the Neighborhoods/Regions interest group.
Topics: my favorite day, the Californian, jenny angel
posted by bakosphere on Thursday, July 17, 2008 at 07:43 AM
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Viewed 39 times

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.

And here.

More interested in "The Dark Knight"? Go here.

Posted in the Arts & Entertainment interest group.
Topics: terminator 4, terminator salvation, bakersfield, special effects
posted by bakosphere on Wednesday, July 16, 2008 at 03:35 PM
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Viewed 116 times

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.

And YouTube obliged.

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

Posted in the Schools & Education interest group.
Topics: van de graaff generator, physics teachers
posted by bakosphere on Wednesday, July 16, 2008 at 01:38 PM
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Viewed 31 times

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.

Posted in the Arts & Entertainment interest group.
Topics: Barenaked Ladies, raising bakersfield, barney
posted by bakosphere on Wednesday, July 16, 2008 at 08:12 AM
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Viewed 94 times

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."

 

 

Posted in the Travel interest group.
Topics: mars photos, Taft, life on mars
posted by bakosphere on Wednesday, July 16, 2008 at 08:01 AM
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Viewed 27 times

"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.

 

Posted in the News interest group.
Topics: firefighters, rescue, video
posted by bakosphere on Tuesday, July 15, 2008 at 09:32 AM
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Viewed 53 times

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.

Posted in the Arts & Entertainment interest group.
Topics: local photos, slideshow
posted by bakosphere on Tuesday, July 15, 2008 at 09:24 AM
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Viewed 67 times

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.

Posted in the Sports & Recreation interest group.
Topics: billy nelson, olympics, steeplechase, beijing
posted by bakosphere on Tuesday, July 15, 2008 at 08:18 AM
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Viewed 36 times