Bear sighting creates a buzz

The bear photo I captured the other day from out my front door generated some local media attention. I was interviewed by KHSL TV Action News Now reporter Charlene Cheng.

I enjoyed chatting with Charlene as she worked. The life of a modern multimedia reporter is complex. You must master video and audio production along with journalism.
White balance, sound check, b-roll, good questions. And in the rain.
Impressive. Not at all just a talking head.
Charlene all-weather Cheng 1280“Bear stories are always interesting,” she tells me.
You can follow Charlene on Twitter @charlenecheng and catch her work at http://www.actionnewsnow.com/home/

I was also interviewed by reporter Clay Duda of the Record Searchlight, and my photo made the front page, below the fold.
RS article about bearYou can follow Clay on Twitter @clayduda_RS. It’s often fascinating to see Clay report the news via Twitter as it is happening. The tweets are somewhat cryptic, and then you can read the fleshed-out story later at redding.com. Or in the newspaper, as above.
Bear TweetsAn interesting (to me) Twitter side note.
I was pretty excited at 1:00 am when I snapped the bear photo.

I decided to tweet about it.

To my surprise, almost immediately I got a response from @jennyespino_RS, also a reporter for the Record Searchlight/redding.com.

This exchange of tweets took place almost immediately following the bear sighting, at an unexpected time of day.

Such is the nature of Twitter and our present culture’s near instantaneous news cycle.

Reporters sensed the bear story would be interesting to their audience.

It’s easy to see why that is true. Bear Spirit is well established in our species.

From SpiritAnimal.info:

“In the kingdom of spirit animals, the bear is emblematic of grounding forces and strength. This animal has been worshiped throughout time as a powerful totem, inspiring those who need it the courage to stand up against adversity. As a spirit animal in touch with the earth and the cycles of nature, it is a powerful guide to support physical and emotional healing.”

Also, Bear Stew. Bears are tasty.
“Recipe by Kyle”

“If you kill a bear, you better have something good to make out of it! This stew is delicious! Serve with a crusty bread!”

The duality of bear. Both Spirit and Entree. That’s Really Redding.

A decent rain breaks a long dry spell in Redding

So, we’re having this drought in Redding California. Today, we got some good rain for the first time in a long time. My grandson has lived much of his short life in a world without rain, during our extended drought. Today, he gets a taste.

Joy in the rain. This year, that’s Really Redding.

Siskiyou Wanderers set out on the trail for fun

Not all who wander are lost, or so the saying goes. For those Redding folks who’d like to see more of fabulous Siskiyou County, there is a group of hikers. And they have a website:
Siskiyou Wanderers websiteOur unseasonably dry Winter makes for some tough sledding as of now. But it’s great for hikers. Looks like they have about a dozen great hikes scheduled for the near future. Siskiyou County holds a vast treasure trove of natural beauty. All starting just an hour or so drive north of Redding. Check it out. Thanks, Wanderers.

Etna brewery by Skip Murphy
Etna Brewery in Siskiyou County, dressed for Halloween 2013, by Skip Murphy

A typical Siskiyou County vista by Skip Murphy 2013
A typical Siskiyou County vista by Skip Murphy 2013

Aaron and Erin are having a baby

Finding out a baby’s gender is one of the most exciting parts of pregnancy. How and when couples do this differs greatly. Some people are guessing as soon as they find out they are pregnant and will have a gender test at their 20-week-scan. This means that they can purchase gender-specific baby products and generally prepare for their new baby in relation to its gender. This has led to the recent craze of gender reveal parties, where people find out their baby’s gender and reveal it to family and friends in a number of different, inventive ways. In fact, some people are so desperate to find out the gender of their baby as soon as possible that people have started to test a method called the Ramzi Method. It’s suggested this can work out your baby’s gender right at the start of pregnancy, during the 8-week-scan. On the other hand, other parents don’t want to find out and will hold off knowing until the baby is born. Perhaps they like a surprise!

Modern ultrasound tests (similar to those used in other medical worlds that you can click here to see) take the guesswork out of baby genders long before birth. In our case, we wanted to find out, but wanted to share that experience with our loved ones. Erin had gone in for the test earlier in the day, but instructed the operator not to reveal the gender. Instead, the result was put in a sealed envelope. Later, we gathered some family and friends together at Old School Restaurant in Redding for our own little Gender Reveal Party. Here’s the results:


Photo by Skip Murphy Redding CA 2013

Got this tweet from Bruce Ross (@bross_RS):

“Careful with that. OB’s gave us two boys — Sophia and Lucia. // RT @ReddingFDotD: A #Redding Gender Reveal Party ReallyRedding.com/?p=8045”

That would be funny! Guess there’s limits to this science stuff.

Chicks dig Ferraris

Problem: You drive a Chrysler. Solution: Re-badge it as a Ferrari. Problem solved FTW.
ferrari in redding caferrari in north redding ca“Wait, what? I paid good money for this Ferrari! I bought it on Craigslist.” As seen in a north Redding parking lot yesterday. This strategy probably actually works around here. Fake Ferrari, it’s ReallyRedding.

Total e-clips photos from Redding

I really wanted to take images of last night’s rare total eclipse of the moon from Redding, but it was too cloudy. So I went and found the total of e-clips that I had in my shop instead. All 5 of them.
I also found d-clips, c-clips, and snap-rings too. Save ’em for later. I have blogspace to fill, you know.

If you think my blog headline was misleading, check out this doosey from the RS yesterday, and then do the math per-capita. Reading the post, I reached the exact opposite conclusion than that of the headline. Made you click though. I’m sympathetic. Like I said, I’ve got blogspace to fill too. But I don’t pretend to be a newspaper.