Good morning and greetings, Elvin Bishop fans. That’s right, “I fooled around and fell in love” with my Canon Digital Rebel and as a result, we’ve created, celebrated and consummated the Sunrise Santa Cruz experience. So you may be thinking, why Elvin Bishop, why not Leo “You make me feel like dancing” Sayer or Don McLean, “Bye, bye Miss American Pie,” cake and ice cream? Well, the answer is that there is no LeAnn rhyme or reason, or in the words Jesse Colin Young, “I live on a ridgetop and lord knows, I like it just fine. Where’s it’s windy and foggy and I’m thinking about the blog most all of the time.”

So for today’s photo fun box we return to last Tuesday, which according to my Lindsay Lohan lunar calendar was June 2. The afternoon sky was full of all kinds of exotic clouds, leading me to believe that we might be in for some sunset hijinks. But as evening rolled in I found myself over on the eastside, attending a psychology class on Earthquake Awareness entitled, “Stop the blaming, it’s not your fault.”

Thus, I was not home to receive a phone call from my Aptos-based field scout, Jerry Hoffman, who at the time was during his Tiger Woods impersonation at the DeLaveaga golf course. Quoting my former Sportstalk radio partner, “There’s an incredibly bright rainbow extending arch to arch over Aptos” who then went on to say that he hadn’t seen anything that impressive “since we were judges at the Miss Miller Light Swimsuit contest down at the Boardwalk in the late 70’s.” That was as close as I was ever going to get to the Supreme Court and to this day I still wonder if we made the right decision in the historic Roe vs bikini.

So I missed the rainbow but was determined not to miss the sunset. But I found myself in Scotts Valley as the sun was dropping and the clouds were changing in texture. So I raced home like Paul Newman on a triple mocha latte to catch this cloud convention. As I approached the sound barrier along Mission Street, I was thinking that I was probably missing another photo opportunity. This had been pretty much par for the course (Pebble Beach) since back in October when the Warriors fell out of the playoff race. Back then it seemed like I had a great future behind me.

But this night, lady luck, instant karma and Diet Sprite were on my side as I drove up to a little park near my home. I long jumped out of my car just as the sun was dropping thru the clouds (photo #1) before setting over the mountains behind UCSC. The sky then turned some interesting colors-we had orange creamsicle, purplish pink and a little cherry garcia. It was the most colorful sunset I had seen in months which left me with the feeling of hope, crosby and gleason.

And then came the highlight of this June juncture-lighting, thunder and mosquitos the size of Buicks. I failed to capture the lightning but I did corral the thunder. Much like my introduction to electroshock therapy, after three good rounds of bolts it was over, and then giants raindrops fell for 30 seconds as the curtains and drapes came down on the evening. I heard from my buddy Bruce Meyers up in Contra Costa County that on Wednesday during his son’s championship little league game, a rainbow was glowing out in center field. I believe this is what John and the lovely Michelle Phillips were referring to when they wrote, “California Dreamin, on such a winter’s, er, spring day.”

On to the late night comedy experience. “Talk about a guy who won’t go away. How about Osama bin Laden? I mean, come on. And there’s another one of those aggravating tapes that he sends out from time to time and they put them on the Al Jazeera network. People say, ‘Well, how do we know this is a current tape?’ Well I’ll tell you how you can tell that this is a current tape. At the end of the tape, he wishes Jay luck on the new 10 p.m. show.
And in the new tape, it’s a long, crazy man, lunatic rant condemning President Obama. Oh no, wait a minute, that’s Cheney. That was Cheney doing that. How about that Dick Cheney? He’s really quite busy here lately. He’s talking. He says now that Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with 9/11. Well, no harm done. And to get that information, Cheney admits that he had to waterboard himself.” –David Letterman

“Did everyone see Brian Williams’ special with President Obama? Yeah? Anyway, in the special, President Obama showed Brian Williams what tricks his new puppy, Bo, could do. Isn’t that cool? Yeah, in fact, Bo has already learned to sit up and beg for federal bailout money.” –Conan O’Brien “Rush Limbaugh said today he might change his mind about something. I’m like, what?! He said he might support President Obama’s nominee for the Supreme Court. Wow! Sounds like someone got a new prescription.” –Craig Ferguson

“A new poll shows that Americans have a more negative view of Muslim countries now than back in 2002. That’s because the media never reports any of the good bombings. As part of their restructuring plan, General Motors is selling off an entire division to a Chinese company. The new division will be called General Tso’s Motors. Today in New Hampshire, the state Senate approved a bill that would help legalize same-sex marriage. Yeah. Their new state motto is ‘Live Free or Bi.'” –Jimmy Fallon

So that’s it for today’s regularly scheduled program. Tune in again next week as we’ll circle the animal planet and take walk on the wildlife side. Until then, enjoy the last two weeks of spring as Donna summer is rapidly approaching. And remember, every day (except Thursday) is sacred. We’ll catch you down in low post. Aloha, mahola and later, Connie Hawkins fans.

Good morning and greetings, Grand Funk Railroad fans. That’s right, folks, “I’m your captain” and thanks to my paint-by-the-numbers GPS system, “I’m getting closer to my home.” And dammit, “We’re an American Band. I saw Grand Funk guitarist Mark Farner play last summer at the Friday night concerts down at the Beach Boardwalk and he rocked Santa Cruz. I also saw Mr. Eddie Money, “Back in the 70’s when I was here, I was snorting South American countries” and the Gin Blossoms. We are talking tremendous rock and roll shows for the price of free.

For many years I passed on these mini-Woodstocks down at the beach and then one evening checked out Peter Noone and Herman Hermits and I was hooked just like Mrs. Brown and her lovely daughter. The sand, waves, barking sea lions, annoying tourists, alcohol, litter and cigarette smoke-it doesn’t get much better than that with rock and roll music blasting out over Monterey Bay. To quote the great Duke Ellington, (not to be confused with North Carolina Ellington,) “Music is my mistress.” And as Pablo Cruise once told me, “Love will find a way.”

For today’s photo fare we are going back, as the Chambers Brothers would say, in “Time.” As I’ve mentioned before, I joined the digital revolution in 2005, and much like when I broke down and ate Chinese food for the first time, a new sweet and sour world opened up for me. I had been shooting with a Canon AE1 for many years and was happy as a clam with the format. Focus, shoot a roll of 24, develop and see what I’ve got. A surprise in every envelope. Sometimes joy, sometimes disappointment, like seeing my SAT scores. But today we are going with some jump shots that worked for me, like an open 18-footer from the left side of the key.

For our first image, I went with one of my many cypress sunrise shots, this one entitled “Sky on Fire.” For years I shot the sunrise in front of the cypress tree along West Cliff before one day I finally dawned on me (no pun intended,) that this damn tree was blocking too much of the sky. I then joined moveon.org and started shooting down at Lighthouse Point.

Which leads me to photo #2, which in honor of Tommy Gavin and the “Rescue Me” boys, I call “Fire Engine Sky.” For a month in my late youth I shot with the slide format, and this red alert is a result of my slide period, which I also refer to as my first year of Algebra 1. I was using some film called Kodak Extra Color and as you can see from the rouge and the purple haze in the sky, they definitely didn’t cheat me on the color front. Not to toot my own Lena horn, but the Communist Party named this shot their 2004 photo of the year.

For our next two vertical entrees we move north (although some might say west) along West Cliff Drive. For some reason this morning I mistimed the sunrise. I woke and saw a beautiful red cumulus ribbon covering the sky. I then scooted down to the cliff and caught the aftermath (or was it afterscience) of the sun rising over the fog bank which I call “Glory Clouds.” Karma, clouds, parsley, sage, rosemary and time were on my side that morning.

We then move up to Swift Street to see a double rainbow doing stand-up in the Pacific. This was the beach that I lived across from during my West Cliff wonder years from 1975-1989. Living on the edge of the continent and photographing rainbows was not easy, with the daily distractions of migrating whales, countless chains of sea birds and endless droves of roller skaters. And definitely not in that order.

For our last two shots we are moving out of town but staying in state. The fifth shot is from New Year’s Day, 2004, back in Palm Desert, when the sky lit up with brilliantly colored, cotton-puffed clouds that just blew my mind. As I’m writing this I’m reminded of another fantastic, blood-red sunset from Palm Desert that I will feature later this summer. Due to technical difficulties, I did not make it out to the desert this year but from what I hear Sherman’s Deli (with two convenient locations in Palm Springs and Palm Desert) is still doing major rye bread, corn beef and chocolate rugala business without me.

The final shot was taken in lovely Hermosa Beach sometime in the 1990’s. There weren’t a lot of memorable moments of color in the sky during my decade in the southland but this was one of the nights of photo greatness. Living in the most densely populated city in the U.S., I found myself engulfed in the warm Pacific while the sun was setting from April thru October. Throw in third row season tickets to the Lakers at the Fabulous Forum during the Magic Johnson years, which was a magical and James Worthy experience in itself and sunsets took a back seat to the Laker Girls. Hermosa Beach was like living in a giant outdoor health club, but that’s a sideout story for another blog.

On to the late night news. “Well, the big story is the Supreme Court. President Obama has found his nominee. She is a Federal appeals judge. Sonia Sotomayor, a Latino woman, how about that? So, you know what that means. Ruth Bader Ginsburg no longer the hot chick on the court. If confirmed, Sotomayor would be the country’s first Hispanic judge. In fact, her first order of business, deporting Lou Dobbs.” –Jay Leno “History was made today when President Obama nominated Judge Sonia Sotomayor as the first female Hispanic justice to serve in the U.S. Supreme court. Obama said this should help keep the court from leaning too far to the white.” –Jimmy Fallon

“North Korea tested another nuclear bomb. The fear is that North Korea will sell this nuclear weapon to some unstable, volatile world leader, you know, like Dick Cheney.” –Jay Leno “There are some people who are saying that maybe Dick Cheney is setting himself up to actually run for president. You know, it makes sense. Republicans are looking for fresh blood, and Cheney just had some yesterday.” –Bill Maher

“Barack Obama and Dick Cheney have been going at each other all week. This is like big-time wrestling, isn’t it? Man, it’s like charisma versus arrhythmia. I can’t believe Dick Cheney keeps giving speeches. He’s appearing on TV news shows. It’s like he thinks he is still president. A new pentagon report says that 1 in 7 inmates released from Guantanamo Bay has gone back to terrorism. Surprisingly, the other 6 are working in customer service.” –Jay Leno

So I hope you enjoyed today’s blast of colors from the past. And congratulations to the Lakers and the Magic, who will meet in the NBA Finals that begin on Thursday. What this means is no LeBron James, who put on an INCREDIBLE show during the playoffs but who failed to show up for the Game 6 postgame press conference. It guess it all comes down to the words of Mahatma Gandhi who once said, “Defeat is worse than death, you have to live with defeat.”

As you can imagine, there are few more Fuji like images in the archives that we will later revisit. On Friday morning, I took a few shots of a coyote in the misting rain which we’ll see coming down the pike. So enjoy the Kodak colors and we’ll catch at the Staples Center. And welcome to June. Aloha, mahalo and later, George McGinnis fans.

Good morning and greetings, Michelle Obama fans. I don’t want to say that I’m excited about our First Lady, but I have been going sleeveless for weeks. And the fact that her husband is the smartest guy around and is in charge of restoring this nation’s sanity thrills me on a daily basis. His presence provides real hope for our country’s future as we can show the world our strength and compassion. Throw in the fact that hosted a seder at the White House, is having a basketball court installed at Camp David and genuinely cares about helping the less fortunate almost makes me forget he’s a lefty. But then again, so was Jimi Hendrix. And the wind cries Obama.

Now you’ve heard me comment over the last few months that this has not been the year for color in the sky. Which is not to be confused with Lucy in the sky with diamonds. Except for a few moments back in early February, I haven’t shot a single sunrise in 2009. Well, that hitless streak came to an end this past Tuesday when I woke up, checked the horizon and saw clouds that could actually showed more promise than most of the new shows I watched this season. All I can say is, thank FX that Tommy Gavin and the firehouse boys are back on “Rescue Me.” And this follows of tremendous FX season of evilness on “Damages.” To quote the Backstreet Boys, “I just want to be Glen Close to you.”

So I was electrified as a Joe Biden hair plug as I put my kosher eggs benedict on hold and headed for Steamers Lane. The sky was just starting to light up and reflecting on the bay (photo #1) as I hit the cliff. It was a spectacular sunrise that, much like our new Commander-in-Chief, seemingly came out of nowhere. Something similar happened last March when there was a sunset that was just off the charts with nothing before or after. It’s as if the weather has a mind of its own. Or could it be the words of the group Spirit, “It’s nature’s way of telling you something’s wrong?” Or was that Al Gore?

At the exact moment the sun disappeared up into the clouds (shortly after photo #6) the bells chimed (or did they toll?) from the church along West Cliff. What was even more amazing about this magnificent morning was that it was the 15th birthday of my son, Jason and the 50th of my brother, Brad. It was a wonderfully, energizing way to start the day, for soon after the skies clouded up and only early risers knew the beauty that began this April day. Or in the words of the Young Rascals, “It’s a beautiful morning. I think I’ll just go outside for a while.. and smile.”

You can also see from photo #5 that the swell was up and that the waves were pumping like questions being thrown at Timmy Geithner at a Republican Finance Subcomittee hearing. All in all, a special morning for spring break 2009. But now it is history, or as Ronnie Van Zant of Lynyrd Skynyrd would say, “Tuesday’s gone with the wind.”

On to some good humor. “This week, President Obama attended what was either the G-20 summit or his high school reunion. I haven’t seen old white dudes this excited about meeting a black guy since Michael Jordan’s fantasy camp.” –Seth Meyers ” He was the 11th U.S. President Queen Elizabeth has met with, and the first one where she spent the entire meeting clutching her purse.” –Bill Maher “A lot of Americans don’t understand the role of the queen. The queen is merely a figurehead. She wields no real political power. Or, as we call it in this country, the vice president.” –Jay Leno

“At the G-20 summit, the White House accidentally listed a phone sex line for journalists seeking an on-record briefing call for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. To which Bill said, ‘Boy, did they get the wrong number.'” –Jay Leno “The Taliban has decided to modernize a little bit. They’re going to stop measuring the lengths of mens’ beards. I’m proud of those guys. I couldn’t be happier. Oh wait, I know how I could be happier: if they stopped trying to murder us.” And the Taliban will no longer require women to wear those burkas while in public. Spring Break! Let’s see those ankles!” –Jimmy Fallon

So that’s the Sunrise Santa Cruz report. To paraphrase the words of the great Terence Aloysius ‘Slip’ Mahoney (Leo Gorcey) from the Bowery Boys, “Sometimes matzo cast upon the waters comes back as burnt toast.” So enjoy the April skies, the last waning, breadless days of Passover and most importantly, the final week of the pro hoops regular season. We’ll catch you at midcourt. Oh, and here’s a shout out to the writers of “Friday Night Lights.” That show runs straight to my heart. Bring on the NBA playoffs. Aloha, mahalo and later, Jerry West fans.

Good morning, rock and roll fans. Today we are going to take a fast break from the Doobies, the Steely Dans and you Led Zepplin fans and instead focus on March Madness. No, I’m not talking about trying to get your tax information in order, or figuring out how you’re going to pay all your bills and still afford a summer vacation or wondering how Alan Greenspan is sleeping these days. I’m talking college hoops, and for the easy lovers of this sport, the next three weeks are SuperBowl Sundays. We are heading to the collegiate mountaintop. Simply put, we are climbing the NCAA Stairway to Heaven.

Now yesterday was Selection Sunday as 64 teams were chosen (while a few deserving teams got screwed) for the honor of playing for the national championship on April 6. What lies ahead are fantastic finishes, the joy of victory, the agony of defeat and most importantly, for basketball purists like myself, enough cheerleaders to drive off a battalion of Taliban.

So as a prelim to the Big Dance, Syracuse and the University of Connecticut went at it Thursday night at Madison Square Garden in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament. Having attended Syracuse for two years (before I was pardoned so I could live in a place were it didn’t go directly from winter to summer,) I still have a fondness for the Orangemen. Well, this was a game for the ages and the ageless, as this epic contest went SIX overtime sessions before Syracuse prevailed. I don’t want to say this game ran long but I’ve seen “Law & Order” marathons that took less time.

Now I realize that many of you don’t give a rat’s behind about sports so let’s move on to the photo highlights. For today’s photo synthesis we journey back to the morning of March 5. Coming off my typical night’s sleep which included dreams of not being able to find my car, not having studied for a test and in the words of Blind Faith, not being able to find my way home, I woke up to the sound of rain. I took a quick look out the window, saw the gray skies and went back to finishing my Jackson Five crossword puzzle.

Minutes later, I glanced outside and saw orange light painting the windows across the street. I quickly threw off my Jonas Brothers pajamas and headed down to West Cliff. On my ride down, the sky was turning a beautiful color, or in the words of George Costanza, “a pinkish hue.” By the time I got to the edge the color was in fade mode and the sun was rising, so I snapped the first two shots in today’s series. Despite missing the predawn pagentry, the morning was, in the words of Kool and the Gang, “Fresh, exciting. She’s so inviting to me.”

I then spent the rest of the day as I normally would, trying to solve the country’s economic problems, working out a mideast peace proposal and wondering what pasta goes best with eggplant parmigiana. And then around sunset time, I headed back down to the cliff to check out the western conference sky. There wasn’t the abundance of clouds I was looking for but what was there looked semi-inviting, so I put on my zoom lens and went to work. The results are photos 4 thru 6. This pick six combination is what you Jeopardy fans (and I know you’re out there) refer to as the Daily Double-sunrise and sunset from the same day. And now let’s meet our returning champion.

Not too much going on in the political humor front as Mr. Political Irony.com has gone on vacation and I haven’t been checking out any monologue action. But here’s one that made the cut. “Here’s a cute story. You know the Obama kids? They got a swing set there on the White House lawn. And here’s the nice thing. This is what you like about Obama. He is a very conscientious guy. Thinks of everything, because the swing set didn’t cost the taxpayers anything. They built the swing set out of old pieces of Dick Cheney’s guard tower.” -David Letterman

So in keeping with our humorous theme, here are a couple of jokes from one of the greats, Milton Berle. A husband and wife were visiting a zoo where the animals were in compounds rather than cages. Unfortunately, the wife leaned over too far at one of the compounds and was grabbed by a giant male gorilla. As the gorilla was carrying her off, the wife cried, “What should I do? What should I do?” The husband said, “Do what you do at home. Tell him you have a headache.”

As part of a fact-finding tour for the jungle animals,a female zebra went to the United States. Seeing a cow, she asked, “What do you do?” The cow said, ‘I give milk.” Then the zebra saw a sheep and asked, “What do you do?” The sheep said, “I grow wool. They take it and make clothes.” A moment later, a stallion ran up. The zebra said, “What do you do?” The stallion said, “Take off that silly housecoat and you’ll find out.”

That’s right, when it comes to Uncle Miltie and jokes, we always take the high road. So that’s our show. In the meantime, think about what you can do to make this planet a better place, enjoy the March skies and get ready for lots of college basketball. As far as my NCAA pick, I’m going to defer to my ex-college basketball correspondent from my SportsTalk radio days, Dr. Michael Schur. Michael, who is the Jay Bilas of Pediatric Anesthesiology, used to call Chapel Hill his home but now hails from lovely Satellite Beach, Florida. I believe it was he who first coined the phrase, “If God isn’t a Tar Heel fan, then why is the sky Carolina blue?”

Anyway, after speaking with Michael over my ham radio on Saturday night, he is picking John Calipari’s Memphis Tigers to take the title. “They’re long, they’re hungry, play suffocating ‘D,’ and most importantly, Hubie Brown used to coach in Memphis.” Now you can see the importance of four years of medical school. And here’s a little secret-Michael has told me that if he and his wife Jody have another child they’re going to name him Tarik Evans. He’d be a diaper dandy.

One final thought on the tournament. Coaches say winning is a habit. I prefer the words of the Doobie Brothers, as in “What were once habits are now vices.” And congratulations go out to my favorite point-guard playing son, Jason, who as a freshman was selected for Honorable Mention honors this season in the Mission Trail Athletic League. It just goes to show what hard work, dedication and New Jersey genes can do for a child. Aloha, mahalo and later, Jonny Flynn fans.

Good morning and greetings, February fans. Well, once again, the skies over Monterey Bay have been clearer than the broth in Golden City’s wor won ton soup so for today’s photo entree we’re going to have to go back into the archives.

We’ve had very little precipitation in January. Friday’s headline of the San Francisco Chronicle screamed, “Forecast: Worst Drought Ever.” That’s a scary proposition for us Californians. January is supposed to be our rainy season. Instead, we are having Donna Summer conditions when it is supposed to be Johnny Winter weather.

On to the photo ensemble for today. Yesterday was Super Sunday and I should say congratulations to the New York Giants for being the best team in football yet they didn’t appear in the Super Bowl. They beat the Steelers and crushed the Cardinals during the regular season but found themselves, like the rest of us, watching yesterday’s game on TV. No, I’m not bitter, but Eli Manning and Plaxico Burress, you owe us.

Today’s series of photos culminates with the final shot, which I call “Super Sunday.” This sunset harkens back to February of 2006. I shot it on West Cliff Drive from my old haunts along Stockton Avenue. You could feel something special was brewing in the sky from the texture of the clouds and the hundreds of spectators lining the cliff that night were not disappointed. I haven’t seen that deep shade of red since my no sunblock days back at Jones Beach in the 70’s. It was in the words of Davy Jones and company, “Another Pleasant Valley Sunday” although “charcoal was not burning everywhere.”

On to some late night political humor. Our former Commander-in-Chief is back in Texas. “This is kind of an awkward time for President Bush. He’s too young to retire, yet still too old to destroy the moral and economic infrastructure of another country.” -Jay Leno. And “Bush is not worrying about the country. No, it’s like he’s still president.” -David Letterman

And let’s not forget Joe the Plumber’s newest best friend, John McCain. “Did you know this? We have a brand-new Miss America, Katie Stam, from Indiana. They choose Miss America based on personality, how the young woman looks in a swimsuit, and how she looks in evening gowns. That is the competition. It’s the same way that John McCain chooses a running mate.” -David Letterman. And “The official temperature at the inauguration was 18 degrees. John McCain said it was so cold his teeth were chattering, and they were in his pocket at the time.” -Jay Leno.

And one more for the McCainster. Hey, earlier this week, all the e-mail service in the White House completely collapsed. No e-mails coming in, no e-mails going out. Everything had to be written down on paper by hand. It was like if John McCain had been elected president. ” -Jay Leno

But of course there are problems . “Listen to this. They’re closing Guantanamo. That’s how bad things are, ladies and gentlemen. That’s how bad the economy is. You know it’s tough, you know the economy is bad, when even the terrorists are being laid off.” -David Letterman. But there is hope. “Looks like the Obamas have already helped the economy. J. Crew stock has gone up 10%, because First Lady Michelle Obama has been spotted wearing their clothes. Which begs the question, Mr. Obama, how would you feel about wearing a Buick?” -Conan O’Brien

Cruising along, “President Barack Obama gave his first sit-down interview as president to an Arab TV network. He’s reaching out to the Arab world. In fact, he even made a cameo appearance on one of the biggest sitcoms in the Arab world, ‘How I Met Your Mullah.’” -Jay Leno. An finally, “President Obama still has not gotten used to the White House, apparently. This is true. Today, on his way into the Oval Office, he tried to mistakenly open a window that he thought was a door. That’s true. Yeah. White House employees said at first it made them laugh, then a wave of nostalgia washed over them.” -Conan O’Brien

I should really thank the folks at www.politicalirony.com for allowing me to spend less time transcribing from my TiVo so can I bring you the best in late night political humor at a time when most of us are in dream mode, or in my case, break dancing with the stars.

Since we all love kids, here’s a joke from one of the greats, Milton Berle. I think it will touch your hearts. Realizing that she’s been too permissive with her three youngsters, a mother decides to take them in hand by starting with their tendency to curse. On the next school morning, as the three wild ones sat a the breakfast table, the mother asks Teddy, “What do you want for breakfast?” Teddy says, “I’ll have some of that goddamn cereal.”

At that eptihet, the mother sees red and hauls off and slaps Teddy halfway across the room. She asks her second, Freddy, what he wants. Freddy says, “I’ll have some of that goddamn cereal.” Once again the mother goes wild and bounces Freddy off one wall and into another. The mother turns to Eddie, her third son. “What do you want for breakfast?” Eddie says, “You can bet your ass it won’t be that goddamn cereal.”

That’s all she wrote for today. I hope you enjoyed your Super Sunday, an afternoon and evening in America where more pizza is consumed than on any other day in the universe. I believe this festival of snacks and alcohol also includes the consumption of 130 trillion pounds of chips, guacamole and chicken wings and that’s just during the pregame show. It was quite the game, featuring everything that NBC, football fans and PETA activists could hope for. So enjoy the incredible sky, pray for rain and we’ll catch you on the baseline. Aloha and glory days, Bruce Springsteen fans.

Good morning and greetings, NFL playoff fans. It’s been a week of chilly mornings and clear skies here on the central coast so we’ll have to journey (or is it Foreigner?) back to December of 2008 for today’s photo highlights. But before we hit the North Coast, for a little taste of politics, let’s head to our nation’s capital. “Barack Obama’s daughters started at their new school in Washington, DC. Yeah, their teachers are really impressed and said that both girls are already reading well above President Bush’s level.” And earlier this week, Obama met with all three living ex-Presidents and one current brain dead President. Thank you, Conan O’Brien and Jay Leno. I’m going to miss our Commander in Chief. Our as the bumper sticker says, “Somewhere in Texas a village is missing its Idiot.”

Within ten miles of my lovely abode on the upper westside lie many spectacular North Coast beaches. We’re talking Wilder Ranch, Laguna Creek, Panther Beach, Bonny Dune, Shark’s Tooth and Davenport Beach, among others. But my personal favorite is Four Mile Beach, which according to the way the Black Crowes fly, is just four miles up the coast. As I mentioned in this blog before, it’s a beautiful feeling pulling off of Highway 1 and being the only car in the lot. As Dave Mason would say, “Alone, Together.”

I then hop out of my car and sprint like Usain Bolt to the railroad tracks where I always stop to take a couple shots and perhaps score a few brussel spouts that have swan dived off the passing trucks. You can see two of the tracks of my dreams moments in today’s photo display. The cloud cover on these two mornings was thicker than the swarm of golden raisins I add to my morning oatmeal which created a pleasant backdrop to highlight the always present groups of gulls that like to party at Four Mile.

But my favorite shot from this December cloud conference would be the first photo. The reflection of the clouds in the stream the feeds into the very surfable Pacific really works for me. Back in 2004 I saw a photograph of a sunrise by the now deceased photographer Galen Rowell. The sky was on fire and it was reflected in a lake in a mountain setting. When I saw that picture I said to myself, “This is what I want to do” and since than have always been fascinated by the reflection action. I believe I nailed it in this photo. Then again, I voted for Mondale.

What would be a blog without some jokes? Once again the credits go to my favorite son Jason. Two women were arguing over whose dog was smarter. The first woman said, “My dog is so smart that every morning he waits for the paper boy to arrive, then he takes the paper from the letterbox and brings it to me.” The second woman said, “I know.” “How do you know?” asked the first woman. The second woman said, “My dog told me.”

This next one is a little long but definitely worth it. A man was passing a pet shop when he saw a talking monkey advertised for sale. He was so impressed by its vocabulary that he bought it on the spot. That evening he took it to his local bar and bet everyone ten dollars that the monkey could talk. A dozen people accepted the challenge but despite the new owner’s coaxing, the monkey refused to say a word and the man had to pay up. When he got home, the man was puzzled to hear the monkey chatting away merrily.

The next evening the man returned to the bar and bet everyone twenty dollars that the monkey could talk. Again there were plenty of takers, but to the man’s anger, the monkey remained silent. After paying up, the man took the monkey outside. “I’m taking you back to the shop, ” he screamed. “You’re a complete waste of money.” “Chill out,” said the monkey. “Think about the odds we’ll get tomorrow.”

That’s the end of our programming for today. And the dream is over for the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants as Eli Manning and the Giant offense put on a pathetic display in the Meadowlands yesterday as they lost to the Eagles. I’m not a big Philadelphia fan but I do love their cream cheese. Shot that beautiful full moon rising on Saturday night that we’ll check out in our next blog. So until then, enjoy the magic that comes from living along the edge of the contintent and able being to see, hear and experience NBA basketball. We’ll catch you in the lockeroom. Aloha and later, LeBron James lovers.

Good morning and greetings, New Year’s fans. Well, according to my Laura Bush Memories calendar, 2008 is now just a fading memory as 2009 is upon us. And much like the day I strolled down the wedding aisle, there is no turning back. I have to admit, I’m going to miss 2008, just like I’m going to miss trips to the doctor, dentist and the free throw line. Speaking of which, not to toot my Lena horn, but my son Jason is 27 for 32 from the charity stripe for the PCS Pumas so far this season. I shot the same percentage (84%) in my playing days, but that was shooting layups by myself in practice.

Returning now to our regularly unscheduled program, the last trimester of 2008 was not the most glamourous or titillating when it came to brilliant colors in the sky. Of course, there were a couple of nights I missed due to Security Council meetings but on the whole this was not a year that will go down in the Hall of Flames.

But the last week of December did have its moments and today we will take a look at the most colorful and enchanting sunrise from that post Christmas Day action. These shots were taken on the final Sunday of 2008, the most 28th of December. I arose from a restful night of sleep, having had my usual arrary of dreams, which included not having studied for a test, not being able to find my car and not being able to dunk with my left hand. As I looked outside I could see a red tinge in the early morning clouds and took that as I sign that we were in for something very good this morning.

So I tore of my George Jetson pajamas, packed up my aura and camera and headed down to Its Beach. It was still kinda dark and the sand was as cold as a frozen mozzarella stick but one look at the sky said something special was on the way. And yours truly was not disappointed. As you can see from the photos, red was the color of the day as the sand blazed with the rouge from the Monterey Bay sky. It’s mornings like this that make me want to leave the cozy confines of my upper westside sports sanctuary to captures moments of early morning Santa Cruz magnificence that I can later share with you cyber readers and members of the NCAA, the NBA, the most importantly, those listening in with the NSA.

Now that we’ve got those photos out of the way, on to the comedy section of our program. This one courtesy of my Spanish-language loving, pre-med 9th grader Jason. Old Doctor Morris went to see a patient in her home. “Could you fetch me a hammer from the garage?” he asked the woman’s husband. The husband fetched the hammer. “Right,” said the doctor a couple of minutes later. “Now I’d like you to get me some pliers, a screwdriver and a hacksaw.” The husband became alarmed at the last request. “Just exactly what are you going to do to my wife?” he asked. The doctor replied. “Nothing until I can get my medical bag open.”

Love this one. A man walks into a psychiatrist’s office with a pancake on his head, a fried egg on each shoulder and a piece of bacon over each ear. “What seems to be the problem?” asked the psychiatrist. The man said, “I’m worried about my brother.”

And for you religion fans and canine lovers, a man lived alone in the country with his dog. One day the dog died and the man went to his parish priest and said, “Father, my dear dog is dead. Could you possibly say a Mass for the poor creature?” The priest replied, “I’m afraid not. We cannot have a service for an animal. But there’s a new denomination down the lane and there’s no telling what they believe. Maybe they’ll do something for your dog.” “Thank you, Father,” said the man. “I’ll go right away. Do you think five thousand dollars is enough to donate for the service?” The priest exclaimed, “Sweet Mary, Mother of Jesus. Why didn’t you tell me your dog was Catholic?”

So in the words of Chicago Transit Authority, this is “only the beginning” for 2009. We have more photo highlights from 2008 that will be coming down the pike during the month of January. And of course, lots more jokes. Until then, enjoy the winter sky, savor your friends and family and remember to take things day by day. We’ll catch you in the Meadlowlands. Aloha, mahalo and later, Darren Sproles fans.

Good morning and greetings, music lovers. Today (December 12th) is my birthday. It is also the birthday of my longtime friend and former radio partner, Jerry Hoffman, as we both share the 12/12 experience with Frank Sinatra, Bob Barker and the Allman Brothers’ Dickey Betts. ” Lord, I was born a rambling man.” I’m not going to share with you how old I am but put it this way-I would kill to be 26, 36 or 46. Or as I recently told a reporter from Sports Illustrated for Kids about my basketball playing, “I’ve got a great future behind me.”

They say it is better to give than receive (except in football, where it is better to receive than to kickoff.) Thus, being such a giver, on this day where I popped out of my mother’s womb backwards I thought I would give to the cyber audience a look at my favorite December sunrise. Thoughts of my early childhood harken me back to an old Rodney Dangerfield line, “My mother never breast fed me. She said she liked me as a friend.”

This Lighthouse Point experience took place back on December 8, 2006. What made it so interesting was that there had been a big swell the day before which created a rather large pool of water by the steps at Its Beach. So in shot number two which shows the reflection of the lighthouse, 362 days of the year this sand would be as dry as my midday martini. But the pool created some tremendous reflection action that you rarely see. The fifth shot is looking west at sunrise so as the sky is exploding with clouds to the east it is going pink to the west. In all my sunrise adventures I’ve never seen a brighter sky to the west. I hadn’t seen that much pink since I went to Mervyns and became lost and disoriented in the young girl’s clothing department.

For today’s final photo I moved on to Steamer Lane to shoot the sun coming up over Monterey Bay. All in all, a tremendously inspiring morning on the photographic front. “World class” sunrises like this really showcase the magnificence and spectacular beauty of Santa Cruz.

On to the joke of the week, this courtesy of my son Jason and the late, great Milton Berle. . A rabbi and a priest were at a picnic. As they rode in one of the boats on the lake, the rabbi stood up, stepped out of the boat and walked over the water to the nearest stretch of land. Astonished, the priest decided to see if he could duplicate this miraculous feat. He stepped out of the boat and immediately sank but luckily managed to swim to shore. As he dried off, the rabbi walked over and said, “If you’re a nice guy, next time I’ll show you where the rocks are.”

And in honor of the birthday here’s one more from Uncle Miltie. To improve his virility, an older man went to Europe and had an implant of monkey glands. In time and after many attempts, his wife became pregnant and ultimately went into labor. After an endless wait in the reception room, the father was thrilled to see the doctor appear. “Congratulations,” the doctor said. “You’re the father of a fine baby.” “Is it a boy or a girl?” “We don’t know yet. It won’t climb down from the chandelier!”

That’s our show for the week. I would write more but I have to go strangle the guy who coined the phrase, “You’re not getting older, you’re getting better.” I also want to send birthday wishes out to my good friend Carol Conta, who celebrates her special day tomorrow. Rumor has it last night’s sunset was phenomenal-unfortunately, yours truly was at a basketball tournament  in Los Gatos.  So enjoy the sky, have a fabulous sports weekend and we’ll catch you at midfield. Aloha, mahalo and later, Dwyane Wade fans.

Good morning, December fans and welcome to my 150th post, or blog for you sports fans. A beautiful sunset graced the skies above Monterey Bay on Saturday night (a friend described it as “endless”) but unfortunately yours truly missed it as I was vacationing in lovely Pescadero at the time. I was going to go with an array of sea anenomes for today’s photo display but decided that it has been too long since we’ve seen any arch action from Its Beach. But don’t despair friends and anenomes fans, they are on the way.

I love Its Beach. Before it was closed off to Swedish tourists and dogs, (much to the dismay of my golden retriever Summer) I would visit this spot eight days a week. I love shooting around the arch if for no other reason than, much like my outside shot, it will not be around forever. The constant wind and waves bring on the erosion that is always changing the look of the coast. Just like Natural Bridges once had three arches there is now one. And as Three Dog Night says, “One is the loneliest number that you’ll ever do.” I always feel that when I’m shooting at Its I’m not just capturing the moment but also documenting history.

The first shot is the initial photo I took at low tide with the view of the lighthouse through the arch. This was taken at around 10:30 in the morning. The next shot was taken on a late fall afternoon at the golden hour. Shot #3 was taken from the other side of the arch looking west. I caught a perfect reflection as the water was as still as the brain waves patterns coming from the oval office. The next shot features the beautiful aqua color in the pool of water beneath the arch. I have hundreds of shots of this arch as the rock and water change color with the sky, clouds and price of oil.

The arch is covered with all types of sea life that we’ll check out later in the month. While shooting the fifth shot I was waist deep in water which was helpful since my wallet and cell phone were still in my pocket. But I loved the look of the white water, the clouds and the fog so I didn’t mind getting a little moist. If you look really closely you can see a chain of pelicans and a UFO flying by in the far right hand corner. The final shot shows the contrast between a blue and gray sky day. And you know what they say, “Gray skies are gonna to clear up. Put on a happy face.”

On to some comedy. Today’s segment once again courtesy of Jay Leno. And this joke I can really relate to. “The economy is bad these days. How bad is it? The airlines are now charging $15 bucks for each of the bags under your eyes.” Now readers of this blog know that I’m a New York Giants fan, despite yesterday’s pathetic performance in a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. “As you know, Giant’s superstar receiver Plaxico Burress was arrested last week after his unlicensed firearm went off in his pants at a nightclub. Mayor Bloomberg wants to throw the book at him. Today he was given a choice. Either 3 years in prison or he has to play for the Detroit Lions.” And finally, “Hookers in New York are getting very creative with the economic crisis. They are now offering the Plaxico Burress special. For $100 bucks, they’ll make the gun go off in your pants.”

That’s the Monday experience. Coming up on our next blog I’ll be showcasing a sunrise that you’ll want to tell your friends, neighbors and pet sitters about. The reason I missed Saturday’s spectacular sunset was because I was attending my freshman son’s basketball tournament in Pescadero (who even knew that had a high school?) Jason’s varsity PCS team took third place as my point-guard playing son had 12 points, 9 assists, 9 steals and 3 blocked shots in the final game to earn all-tournament honors. It just goes to show that if you nurture your child, build their self-esteem and feed them the right combination of chewable steroids that the triple-double sky is the limit. So enjoy the arch and Veronica and we’ll catch on the goal line. Aloha, mahalo and later, Derrick Rose fans.

Good morning and greetings, post-holiday fans. As the captain of this photographic ship of fools, I continue to search for truth, justice and the American way along with magnificent color in the morning and evening sky. In a trend that continued throughout our eleventh month, the dawn experiences as of late have been weak, listless and dull, much like my performance on my high school math achievement test.

Each morning I awake with fresh and renewed hope that, along with getting dial tone, the day will bring the colors that my mind, body and digital soul so yearn for. Instead, it has been fog city with a marine layer sitting on the coast that prevents the red, orange and yellow light show extravaganza that the month of November has so often brought.

The one exception to this party cloudly, fog party was last Tuesday morning. Like a reptile smuggler going thru customs I hurried down to West Cliff and positioned myself like an Eagle Scout along Bird Rock. As you can see from the first three shots the sky put on a pretty good pre-sunrise performance as the Russian judge scored it as a 9.5. I would normally have driven over to Steamer Lane to shoot the clouds and the inspiring reflection over the wharf and Boardwalk but it was getting late and I heard my children’s french toast calling me.

The next three photos are from Monday night’s sunset on a day where we saw very little sun until it dropped thru the clouds in late afternoon. There has been some color in the evening sky but nothing to really text message the Weather Channel about. At this point in my first lifetime I am seeking only the spectacular, when the sky is just exploding with color and you just want to savor the moment and think, “Yeah, there is no other place I’d rather be.” Except Hawaii. This low tide sunset, much like a trip to the Hindquarter for the best burger in town, had it’s moments. Thus we are going with the sunrise, sunset, theme as tribute to “Fiddler on the Roof.” If only I were a rich man.

On to our comedy section of the show. Here’s the best thing I heard coming out of the late night monologues last week, courtesy of Jay Leno. “Looks like the government is going to bailout CitiGroup but they don’t want to bailout the auto companies. See, I don’t think this is fair for blue collar workers who make our cars, they don’t get the bailout but the white collar guys who work on Wall Street, they get the bailout. You know what I think they should do? I think they should work together. I think the guys in Detroit should keep making the cars and the guys on Wall Street should make the license plates.”

We continue with some bonus Thanksgivng humor. I used this joke last year but I thought it was amusing enough of bring back for a return engagement. A turkey farmer was always experimenting with breeding to perfect a better turkey. His family was fond of the leg portion for dinner and there were never enough legs for everyone. After many frustrating attempts, the farmer was relating the results of his efforts to his friends at the general store. “Well I finally did it! I bred a turkey that has 6 legs!” They all asked the farmer how it tasted. “I don’t know” said the farmer. “I never could catch the darn thing!”

That’s it for another week of what’s in the skies above Monterey Bay. I hope it was a pleasant Thanksgiving holiday for all of you out there in cyberspace or New Jersey. With the tragic news out of Mumbai it’s just another reason to be grateful for all we are blessed with. This includes the defending Super Bowl champion New York football Giants, who are now 11-1 on the season. Unbelievable. So as we bid farewell to November, let’s bring on December, which will hopefully be filled with peace and prosperity. We could use a good month to end this year. Aloha, mahalo and we’ll catch you on the end around. Later, LeBron James fans.