Cruz

[Drunk Monk]

...how the pom got in my tevas, I'll never know.

There is a dark side to the Cruz. There are a lot of parasites. I remember having issues with this a quarter century ago. Not only are there the homeless and the egocentric hippie kids, there are the fleas. I am at war with fleas. The pom and the cat bring them in despite regular doses of frontline and advantage. My veg family doesn't attract them like me. They don't have all that tasty fish oil and rich shellfish bottom feeder sludge (like biscuits and gravy of the sea) coursing through their veins. Cruz fleas are highly evolved. They can penetrate the thickest sun-tanned and sea-toughened surfer skin, straight through the wetsuit even. They can cope with the wickedly illicit bloodstreams of Cruzians, dropping a bolus of non-coagulant that expands to 10 times their mass, like PPFY dropping a post-hulkburger bomb at Lynch manor, leaving an itchy scar the size of a fava bean that lasts for weeks. And they target the soft and tenders. You know what I mean. Embarrassing places to scratch. Man, I wish I could be that toxic to my enemies.

The neighborhood cats have been bullying my poor tamed feral, who thinks she's a street cat, but was really adopted by us at such a young age that she only retains the attitude, but not the street fighting skillz. They have intimidated her into staying in the bungalow at night, so she's taken to pooping in the shower, which is just the loveliest thing to wake up to as I groggily prep for HWY17. She has ruined two of our throw carpets now (cat pee is so freaking persistent).

[thatguy]

The neighborhood cats have been bullying my poor tamed feral, who thinks she's a street cat, but was really adopted by us at such a young age that she only retains the attitude, but not the street fighting skillz. They have intimidated her into staying in the bungalow at night, so she's taken to pooping in the shower, which is just the loveliest thing to wake up to as I groggily prep for HWY17. She has ruined two of our throw carpets now (cat pee is so freaking persistent).

I was going to say that this sounds like the makings of a martial arts movie, but you'll have to take some liberties with the story...

--tg

[Drunk Monk]

I can't remember the name of it tho. It's really funny. Maybe it was Blue Jean Monster.

Here's an NYT article that explains why sea watching has been just amazing this year in the Cruz.

With Extra Anchovies, Deluxe Whale Watching

Whales and Anchovies: A spike in the anchovy population in California's Monterey Bay has made for exciting wildlife viewing as humpback whales, dolphins, sea lions and pelicans swarm to feed on the small fish.
By ERICA GOODE
Published: November 24, 2013

MONTEREY, Calif. — It began with the anchovies, miles and miles of them, their silvery blue bodies thick in the waters of Monterey Bay.

Then the sea lions came, by the thousands, from up and down the California coast, and the pelicans, arriving in one long V-formation after another. Fleets of bottlenose dolphins joined them.

But it was the whales that astounded even longtime residents — more than 200 humpbacks lunging, breaching, blowing and tail flapping — and, on a recent weekend, a pod of 19 rowdy orcas that briefly crashed the party, picking off sea lions along the way.

“I can’t tell you where to look,” Nancy Black, a marine biologist leading a boat full of whale watchers last week, said as the water in every direction roiled with mammals. “It’s all around.”

For almost three months, Monterey and nearby coastal areas have played host to a mammoth convocation of sea life that scientists here say is unprecedented in their memories, inviting comparisons to African scenes like the wildebeest migration or herds of antelope on the Serengeti.

Humpback whales, pelicans and sea lions are all common summer sights off the Monterey coast, with its nutrient-rich waters. But never that anyone remembers have there been this many or have they stayed so long, feeding well into November.

“It’s a very strange year,” said Baldo Marinovic, a research biologist with the Institute for Marine Sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

What has drawn the animals is a late bloom of anchovies so enormous that continuous, dense blankets of the diminutive fish are visible on depth sounders. The sea lions, sea birds and humpbacks (which eat an average of two tons of fish a day) appear to have hardly made a dent in the population. Last month, so many anchovies crowded into Santa Cruz harbor that the oxygen ran out, leading to a major die-off.

Marine researchers are baffled about the reason for the anchovy explosion.

“The $64,000 question is why this year?” said Dr. Marinovic, who noted that anchovies had been unusually scarce for the last five or six years and that when they do thrive, they usually appear in the spring and early summer.

He and other scientists speculated that a convergence of factors — a milder than usual fall, a strong upwelling of colder water, the cycling of water temperatures in the bay — have created what Dr. Marinovic called “the perfect storm.”

“Now they’re all kind of concentrating on the coast,” he said of the anchovies. “They seem to seek out Monterey Bay because the water tends to be a little warmer and the eggs will develop quickly.” The fish, he said, “are providing a feast for all these things that feed on them.”

The frenzy has been a boon for whale-watching companies like Monterey Bay Whale Watch, of which Ms. Black is the owner, and for their customers.

In a normal season, passengers are lucky to see one or two humpbacks and a single whale breaching. On the trip last week, more than 60 whales were spotted feeding in the deep water of the canyon offshore, and the breaches were almost too numerous to count — in one case, two whales arced their bodies out of the water in unison, like competitors in an Olympic synchronized swimming event. Foul-smelling whale breath occasionally permeated the air.

Ms. Black said that for the first time this year — she has studied whales here since 1986, specializing in orcas — she has seen evidence that the humpbacks are feeding cooperatively with groups of thousands of sea lions. The sea lions dive simultaneously, surfacing a few minutes later. They herd the anchovies into tight balls, called bait balls, and the whales scoop them up, several hundred in a mouthful. Food is plentiful enough that the giant cetaceans — an adult male humpback measures 45 to 50 feet in length, Ms. Black said, and weighs a ton per foot — can afford to take breaks to play.

The humpback population off the California coast, once rapidly decreasing, has rebounded with restrictions on hunting, to about 2,000, experts say. Many whales and sea lions have been congregating to feed near the rim of the Monterey Submarine Canyon offshore. Bottlenose dolphins — groups of 100 or more have been spotted this year — feed closer in.

In most years, the humpbacks would have departed for Mexico weeks ago and the pelicans flown south. But with the anchovies still in abundance, no one is sure how long they will stay. They could remain through December, scientists said, or depart any day.

“I hope it doesn’t end,” Ms. Black said. “But it will.”

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/25/us/with-extra-anchovies-deluxe-whale-watching.html?hpw&rref=science&_r=0">http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/25/us/wi ... ience&_r=0</a><!-- m -->

[Drunk Monk]

It's been a rough month in my 'hood.

Two weeks ago, someone drove their car into the lobby of the Rio, our local theater, took out the ticket kiosk, and slashed himself with the broken shards of glass. He cut an artery and died.

Last week, just after the rains, Seabright beach was closed because some 300 hypodermic needles washed up on the shore, run-off from the rains no doubt.

Yesterday, Seabright went on lockdown in search of two felons, one armed and dangerous. They escaped capture.

I blame Mercury-in-retrograde.

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

Wow. I'm staying in the Heights.

Except for last weeks drive by of five people.

On Tuesday, just after 3:00pm, a group of guys (5) in a black vehicle drove up Mercury and shot 14-15 rounds at Neighbors standing around the area. It just happened that an unmarked patrol unit was very close and observed the incident and pursued the fleeing suspect vehicle toward Lincoln Heights, where several guys jumped out of the car, as the driver continued at a high speed to China Town. It is really sad with all the improvements and positive change in our community, that outsiders come and target our community with violence.
The news and update is that all (5) suspects were caught and not no injuries to the victims. This is a close call and shows why we need to be vigilant and report all suspicious activity.

[Drunk Monk]

Our armed felon and our hypo dumper are still at large. The Rio crasher, well...he dead.

Tomorrow T's class goes out on a beach clean-up field trip. It's with Save Our Shores, which is a great group and they have protocols for dealing with hypos.

Did I ever tell you of when we got sent a dirty hypo here at the mag office? I must have.

the driver continued at a high speed to China Town.

This is a great line. I hope I can poach that for something.

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

I vaguely remember the dirty hypo story.

[thatguy]

When I hear the sirens, I tune into:

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.broadcastify.com/listen/feed/344">http://www.broadcastify.com/listen/feed/344</a><!-- m -->

I had the app, but the updated it and it doesn't work with my version of iOS anymore. :-p

--tg

[Drunk Monk]

...whether I run towards them or away from them depends on what's in my pockets at the moment.

Actually, that's the old DM. Nowadays, dm typically only packs two knives and a tactical pen. Quite tame, really, quite tame.

The dirty hypo story
In my work with RM & JM, I deal with more than my share of hypos. Ever try to stick someone in manual restraint? If they jump, the needle could break, or go flying. One of my RN friends died from AIDS because of a needle stick he got at work. Very sad. So I'm touchy about needles - or 'sharps' as they say in medicine - which is ironic since I work with sharps all the time.
We get a lot of weird mail here in the office - psycho stuff, manifestos, a lot of stuff from prisons (I swear I could double our subscriber numbers if we weren't blocked by such institutions). We had this guy from a UK asylum mailing us some crazy manifestos. He mailed us one with a package of powdered cheese soup. He mailed us another with a dirty hypo. G2 stuck her hand in the envelope and pulled out the hypo and said "what's this?" I told her to freeze and delicately removed it from her grasp. I contacted my friends in NPD as well as the local post master and they both said there wasn't too much to be done but keep in as evidence in case more came. I now have to keep an X file, where I deposit all of the wacky missives. It's two folders thick now and overflowing. There's some great stuff in there if you like reading manifestos. There's also a securely wrapped dirty hypo.

[cranefly]

Don't forget to be updating your KFTCM X Files thread now and then.

http://brotherhoodofdoom.com/phpBB3/view...ile#p17013

[Drunk Monk]

We haven't had any really good nutty letters lately. Nothing worth sharing.

[Drunk Monk]

[youtube]A3ytTKZf344[/youtube]

[Drunk Monk]

I stayed at my moms last night and read my notebook from my first year in grad school at ucsc. I've kept notebooks all my life...a writer affectation perhaps. I was really messed up back then, really drugged out, trying to find my way. It's hard to read because it gets rather incoherent during my binges. Trying to describe those trips reminded me what a hack writer I can be.

I was struck by how often DOOM came up as a grounding source between dead shows and such. Ppfy, tg, ed, even Greg...I even found my notes for my best man toast for lb's 1st wedding.

This is over a quarter century late but thanks brothers. Santa Cruz is a much better place for me now

[cranefly]

...to be titled, Not a Metaphor but It Should Be.

[Drunk Monk]

Just before I was about to take the hill (HWY17), I was outside tossing the ball for my pom (Not a Metaphor but It Should Be). This guy comes from across the street, shirtless, tattooed, and carrying a baseball bat....