Read Part I and Part II of Devoted to a Fault. You can download the entire text (without images) as one file here. The following was reported in late 2007 and early 2008.
The 1868 Earthquake Alliance held its April 2008 meeting in an Oakland building undergoing a seismic retrofit. In the lobby, plywood [...]
This is Part II of this article. Read Part I here. You can download the entire text (without images) as one file here. The following was reported in late 2007 and early 2008.
At 7:53 in the morning on October 21, 1868, a major earthquake struck the Bay Area. It had a magnitude of about [...]
The following is part one of a three-part series of posts. You can download the entire text (without images) as one file here. It was reported in late 2007 and early 2008.
Hayward Phil Stoffer squinted through the glass to see a sign of the past and, almost certainly, the future of this part of [...]
When the economy started its downward spiral in mid-September, the Chronicle asked some Bay Area businesspeople and economists for their perspectives on what was happening. Most struck a note of caution, the wait-and-see stance typical of that moment, since nobody really had any idea of what was happening.
A couple of sources seemed less worried. [...]
In my last post, I mentioned that the spill isn’t just oil, but bunker fuel. What’s bunker fuel?
It’s the stuff that runs big engines, like in an oil tanker or cargo ship. And it’s cheap, which is why these high volume users use it.
Last year, I interviewed Dave Culp, an engineer who designs ship sails [...]
“Crunch!”? Really?
A huge cargo ship bumps into the Bay Bridge and spills 58,000 gallons of bunker fuel–not just oil, but bunker fuel–and this is the Chronicle’s headline? Is it supposed to be a joke?
When I looked at my copy this morning, I originally thought this was a feature recapping some little disaster that I hadn’t heard [...]
In June, the Chronicle ran a good story about a woman who discovered—and pursued—the person who had stolen her identity. It is engaging to read and a lucky score for the Chronicle, a story like that, one that unfolds cinematically and neatly. There are advantages to being the only show in town, as far as [...]
If you’ve ever wondered what that rusty red island off the eastern end of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge was, turns out it’s actually called Red Rock Island. And it’s the only privately owned island in the bay. And it’s for sale.
Image from Google Maps
Photomontage from the New York Times Magazine by Horacio Salinas
This has been a busy fall. Fortunately, I have a few things to show for it.
One published clip, for example.* It’s in this weekend’s New York Times Magazine (December 10, 2006), the “Ideas Issue.” It’s a short little idea entitled “Sailing an Oil Tanker,” and it [...]
Who said that even if you aren’t interested in sports, you should still read Ray Ratto’s sports column for the San Francisco Chronicle? Because that person is probably right. Ratto’s columns are articulate, sharply observed, and appropriately sarcastic. Today’s column, for example:
“Newsom indulges stadium delusion” stands as evidence that when we talk about sports, [...]
Today may be the hottest day of the year. The hot weather wreaks havoc with our air quality, and a few friends have remarked on the thick layer of smog that settled over San Francisco yesterday (imagine the view in this photo, but browner). Normally, Pacific winds keep us cool and blow all of our [...]
I don’t have much patience for those blogs that dwell on the minutiae of their authors’ lives, so I will probably hate this post. But, I can take some satisfaction in the fact that this post is about one of my favorite subjects: Tim. And Tim had an interesting week, so I’m calling this “This [...]
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