When the ancient Polynesians invented surfing, they often used a paddle to help them navigate. Fast-forward a few millennia, and Stand-Up Paddleboarding, or SUP, finds itself trendy again. Part of its increasing popularity is that standing upright allows surfers to spot waves more easily and thus catch more of them, multiplying the fun factor. Paddling back to the wave becomes less of a strain as well. The ability to cruise along on flat inland water, surveying the sights, is another advantage. Finally, it’s a good core workout. If you’re sold on the idea, schedule an intro SUP lesson, free with board and paddle rental, and you may find yourself riding the waves like a Polynesian king.More
Many of us remember coming home from our elementary schools with freshly glazed pinchpots, cups, or whatever else our young imaginations could conjure up. Saturday mornings at the Randall Museum can bring that memory back, or create a new one for the youngsters. Ceramics make great gifts — especially on Mothers' and Fathers' Day. Hop on board for the Randall's once-weekly class, and for $6 and two weeks to have your work fired and glazed, you'll have all the materials you need.More
December is almost over - the New Year is coming up and everyone is busy drying off from the rain or holiday shopping. Let's take a look at what's happened this month.
The city of Los Angeles completed the process of dumping 96 million 4-inch plastic "shade balls" into the LA Reservoir yesterday, the Los Angeles Times reports, proving that when it comes to dumping millions of plastic balls into the public water supply, LA totally has SF beat.
According to the LA Times, the shade balls help prevent evaporation and will save three billion gallons of water over ten years. That's apparently worth the $36.5 million price tag (about $0.36 a ball) for the drought-ridden city, especially considering that a tarp would (outrageously) cost $300 million.
Still, science and cost-saving aside, whoever came up with shade balls was a hilarious, crafty, possibly evil, and presumably rich genius. Who looks at a reservoir, imagines turning it into a bouncy ball pit, and manages to convince the government of one of the nation's largest cities to give him the money to do just that?* A genius, that's who.
Here is a mesmerizing video of shade balls being deployed into a reservoir in Las Virgenes. It's amazing.
And here's a video of a shade ball deployment in Los Angeles from over a year ago. It takes a long time to dump 96 million balls out of trucks.
And here's a video of LA Mayor Eric Garcetti helping dump in the final 20,000 balls on Monday.
LA just completed a project at the LA Reservoir to save 300 million gallons of water by deploying shade balls on its surface, saving our city over $250 million dollars while keeping our water clean & safe.
Bio:
Julia Carrie Wong's work has appeared in numerous local and national titles including 48hills, Salon, In These Times, The Nation, and The New Yorker.
Sub Pop recording artists 'clipping.' brought their brand of noise-driven experimental hip hop to the closing night of 2016's San Francisco Electronic Music Fest this past Sunday. The packed Brava Theater hosted an initially seated crowd that ended the night jumping and dancing against the front of the stage. The trio performed a set focused on their recently released Sci-Fi Horror concept album, 'Splendor & Misery', then delved into their dancier and more aggressive back catalogue, and recent single 'Wriggle'.
Opening performances included local experimental electronic duo 'Tujurikkuja' and computer music artist 'Madalyn Merkey.'"
