Erin worked hard on getting out the February issue of The Voter, the newsletter of the League of Women Voters. Events around Women’s History Month are coming up so there is lots associated with that celebration. Be sure and join their LWV group on Facebook, and help us grow the number of local people who appreciate non-partisan voter education.
Happy New Year! From Really Redding. Our site is re-launched
Last year was, uh, interesting. Time for a new one. Today we wish you a Happy New Year.
Today we are re-launching our main real estate website, RedHotHomes.com It was sort-of cutting edge back in the day (like last year), but was starting to look a bit stale.
Some of it needs more work, but what doesn’t? Click on the image to take a peek. And thanks to all our viewers last year. May the next year and decade see all your real estate dreams realized.
The Voter published for December
November Voter publishes podcasts
Erin and I worked on the November issue of The Voter last night. We added an innovation to the online article about the State Senate 4th District candidates. We included the Podcasts of the 2 Republican candidate talks recorded at the Shasta Association of REALTORS. So you can see them and listen to them too. Hopefully we can do this with the Democratic candidates as well. Click on the image to view.
The 4th District has been repesented by Sam Aanestad, who has termed out. The 2010 candidates so far are listed below.
Republican:
Doug LaMalfa
Rick Keene
Democrat:
Paul Singh
James Reed
Lathe Gill
Redding League of Women Voters growing online
Erin and I have been working on helping to get the Redding League of Women Voters more online. They have long had a website and a print newsletter, but it’s a real adjustment to go more online. It will be worth the effort. The League has always played an important role in offering non-biased information of public interest, and surely in this wired world, the need is stronger than ever. Your right to accurate and factual information before a vote is a right worth fighting for. They are just getting started. You can join the group on Facebook.
You may also read and/or subscribe the online newsletter at The Voter (http://www.LWVRedding.info). Better yet, you can contribute to the information and discussion at either place. Get on board!
What is happiness, and how to get it.
The Shasta Association of REALTORS hosted speaker and author Edwin Edebiri on Wednesday. He talks about happiness.
He grew up in Nigeria and now lives in Corning. He is a professional speaker and self-titled Inspirator. He shared his research and thoughts on happiness with our REALTOR membership. A group hit hard by the downturn in the market. His words and ideas were indeed inspiring. What is happiness? How can you achieve it?
His talk was recorded for a Podcast. It runs about 50 minutes. I guarantee you’ll find it well worth your time. Edwin is an engaging and thoughtful speaker, with a dramatic style of presentation. He offers 10 ways to put his ideas into practice here as MP3 file you can click on to play, or left-click to save for your iPod.
Edwin Edebiri on happiness
Here is a link to the list of 10 things:
EdwinEdebiri PDF file of 10 things
My sincere thanks to Edwin Edebiri and the Shasta Association of REALTORS for this post.
Sundial bridge time is correct once a year
Yesterday a group of folks gathered at the north end of Redding’s Sundial Bridge to observe the Solstice, and perhaps to verify that their cell phones report the same time as the planet. Noon. Yep.
There was a band, and some booths. At one of the booths you could look at the sun, but there were no sunspots or flares, so it pretty much looked like just a bright disk.
Redding lays claim to the tallest known sundial on the planet at 217 ft. We humans have a history of building large and relatively permanent structures to observe the planetary movements.
Hopeful message spotted on Redding sign
Happy Father’s Day to me, and to you and/or your father. I spotted this sign a few days ago and it made me smile. This is the Methodist Church on the corner of East and South Street in Redding. The church is a handsome and utilitarian building in a classic Redding style, and the thoughtful sign is appropriate today. I went looking for them on the web, and they are a very interesting church. Check it out HERE.
A tale of two empires.
I’m not a doomer. Well, not exactly. But I occasionally read some of the doomer stuff, and one of the more interesting authors I have come across online is Dimitry Orlov. He was a citizen of both the US and the former Soviet Union during the period of the old USSR’s collapse, and traveled between the two. He has a really unique perspective. He sees parallels between our two empires that citizens of only the US might not have considered. In his opinion, we have much more in common with the old Soviet Union than we usually think. And because of our relative wealth, a greater distance to fall….
Anyway this video goes on for quite a while, but I found it worth a watch. Dimitry has that dry Russian style that can be so endearing and so disturbing all at once. His ideas are quite thought provoking. Whether or not you agree with his conclusions, you can learn from his experience. It’s hosted by Stewart Brand, who is a very interesting character himself. If you have the time, take a look:
Mr. and Mrs. Black Phoebe eat flies and have babies
An outdoor speaker under the pool shed eaves in our backyard has proven to be suitable housing for a family of Black Phoebes.
I put a small videocamera on a stick and gently shoved it in the eaves to see if I could see what was happening in the nest, a la Turtle Bay eagle cam. Last week there were a few eggs, and yesterday there were a couple of pink blurs with yellow beaks. It’s too close for my cheapo videocamera to really make much out, but in any event, there’s obviously a family here.
The Black Phoebes are a species in the family “Tyrant Flycatcher.” That’s something they do well.
Every so often, they fly off in a loop, to catch flying bugs I can’t even see. I tried to get an action shot, but good luck on that. They’re fast! These still shots will have to do.
Apparently, they like streams and ponds, but evidently they think our swimming pool is just fine too. Thanks to Karry for identifying the species for me.
