The Hive - A community site of the Modesto Bee

I love storage!

Fri, 09 May 2008 18:58:05 -0400

My garage project is still some time away, but I continue to look for products that I might be able to use (a guy can dream, right?).

Here are two:

1. Garage floor tiles that come in various colors. They're about $2.80 a square foot. Go here for info.

2. A storage unit that makes use of ceiling space, but also can be lowered for easy access (pictured above). It's $140 at Costco.com. Go here. It includes a video demonstration.

9_to_5_to_9: Better Michelle Duggar than me

Fri, 09 May 2008 16:03:40 -0400

I am a wimp.

A selfish, whiny little wimp who complains about lack of sleep. Who gripes about cleaning a 1,600 square foot house and ever-climbing food bills. Who will quickly complain about 18 months of foot-in-the rib pregnancy. Strike that -- 17 months, because both guys were two weeks early.

I am nothing when compared to Michelle Duggar of Arkansas -- no word on whether she lives near Opossum Trot -- who just announced that bun No. 18 is in the oven.

Michelle's latest is due New Year's Day, so no extra tax deduction for this year, dang it. She's already has spent 135 months pregnant with children range in age from 20 years to nine months.

She and her husband, Jim Bob -- definitely a solid Opossum Trot name -- own a 7,000 square foot house and spend $2,000 a month on food.

I have the nerve to bemoan five years spent changing diapers -- the Duggars have gone through 90,000 to date. The family built their own home -- I can't even keep hammer in a nail straight.

Editors Desk: The Bush wedding

Fri, 09 May 2008 15:16:01 -0400

Did you get your invitation to the Jenna Bush wedding? Neither did I.

The wedding of Miss Bush and Henry Hager on Saturday is private, on President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas. No press photo coverage is permitted.

So we're going to have to wait with the rest of the world for the "official photograph" to be released by the First Lady's press office. We hear from The Associated Press that the photo will be released Sunday morning, so it presumably will be available on modbee.com shortly thereafter.

Dan Day, managing editor

New compositions inspired by Modesto

Fri, 09 May 2008 14:52:37 -0400

Berkeley composer Gabriela Frank spent a year learning about the Modesto area as the Modesto Symphony Orchestra's composer-in-residence. Her new valley-inspired compositions "San Joaquin" and "Two American Portraits" debut at this weekend's Modesto Symphony Orchestra concerts at the Gallo Center. Hear what she has to say about the pieces at this online video interview:

http://videos.modbee.com/vmix_hosted_apps/p/media?id=1867665

Inside the Shell -- Nuts' Rut Deepens

Fri, 09 May 2008 15:30:21 -0400

Bakersfield 7, Modesto 3
Game 34 of 140 at Modesto

GAME IN A GRAF – The scoreboard read three errors, but there were at least three other plays simply not executed behind Keith Weiser, who fell to 2-4. Because of the extra outs Weiser was forced to get, he lasted only 4 2/3 innings, throwing 117 pitches in the process. Two errors came in the fifth inning, when the Blaze scored twice to break a 3-3 tie. Reliever Will Harris was greeted with four straight hits to open the seventh as Bakersfield added two more runs. Anthony Jackson and Daniel Mayora had two hits apiece to account for half of Modesto’s attack.

WHERE’S THE BALANCE? – Lake Elsinore’s 4-2 loss at San Jose on Thursday dropped the Storm to .500 at 17-17, a record good enough for first place in the California League’s South Division.
The imbalance in the league so far this season has been amazing. Heading into this weekend's games, the North Division was 43-19 against the South, with all of the five northern teams sporting a winning record.
Stockton is a remarkable 8-0 against the south, while Modesto is 8-2, Bakersfield 9-5, San Jose 8-5 and Visalia 10-7.

9_to_5_to_9: Sleep? Who has time?

Fri, 09 May 2008 01:26:11 -0400

God love the Centers for Disease Control.

Just when I had made peace – again – with my night owl habits, along comes a new study linking less than six hours’ sleep a night to health problems such as obesity.

Six hours? Only in my wildest dreams – and I rarely hit REM sleep long enough to have even mild dreams these days.

I get up at 5. OK, I’m lying -- I pound the snooze alarm until 5:30. Tonight, the guys didn’t give it up until after 9. Which means that only if I went to bed as soon as they fell asleep would I come close to the eight to nine hours the government says is optimal.

And that’s assuming I could conk out as soon as my head hit the pillow. Which I can’t – my mind’s always too jumbled with the many things undone on the day’s to-do list and the equally daunting list for tomorrow

Bat Abraham/The End of Israel?

Thu, 08 May 2008 23:58:08 -0400

Israel marked its 60th anniversary this week with fireworks and funny glasses and headbands with light-up Israeli flag antennae.

Israel's national anthem is "Hatikva," or "The Hope." - the hope of the Jewish people for a Jewish state; for Israel must be re-founded for the Messiah to come.

But for Palestinians, the past 60 years have been the "al-nakba," or "catastrophe." Sixty years of loss, struggle and refugee camps.

So it is appropriate to turn to the Israel-Palestine conflict.

You might be familiar with the phrase "two-state solution" to the Israel-Palestinian conflict - one state for Jews, one for Palestinians. There's a movement afoot for a single-state solution that gives equal rights to Jews and Palestinians. The movement is spearheaded by moderate Palestinians.

As good an idea as it sounds on the surface, I don't see it happening - at least not while Israel is dominated by Jews. But that won't be the case for long -- demographers project that the Jewish population of Israel will become a minority in about 20 years.

Editors Desk: Coming together to break the gang cycle

Fri, 09 May 2008 15:16:35 -0400

We've heard from lots of readers about the alarming increase in gangs and gang violence in Modesto and surrounding communities. And, our coverage of Wednesday night's community forum brought some quick feedback this morning.

Here's what one reader, Charlie McReynolds, told us in an email:

"I am one of the very few young men that came out of a very bad neighborhood in Stockton. Many of my friends engaged in the gang lifestyle and the protection that came with it, only to find themselves locked into committing crimes that in their heart and in their family's best interests were not right.

"The gangs pull in our young with the promise of brotherhood and protection and soon they are doing and saying what they are told to do. Before they know it they are in jail or have committed a crime that they most likely would have never committed had they not got involved in the first place.

The Veterinarian's Notebook: Pink-eye

Thu, 08 May 2008 12:09:12 -0400

A small kitten came back to my hospital three days ago with an eye infection that would not go away. I had tried three of my best ophthalmic antibiotics and still the red, swollen eye remained.

A lot of kittens get eye infections. It is so common that I always lecture new kitten owners about it on their first visit with me. When the owner brought the kitten in for the re-visit appointment, I told her to leave the kitten and I would make sure it didn’t go home until the eye was clear. The owner had already spent over $200 on this kitten so I also told her there would not be any charge.

In truth, I thought the owner was incorrectly applying the medication, though this had never happened in 17 years of practice. I treated this kitten myself for the next two days but the eye did not get any better. This one had me stumped.

The owner called me back saying that her child had gotten pink eye after they got the kitten. I told her that pink eye is not zoonotic (a disease that is transmitted from animals to people). Apparently, the child’s physician told her the same thing. Out of curiosity I asked her what antibiotic her physician prescribed for her child. Well, I ordered the medication and started applying it to the kitten’s eye. Within 2 hours the kitty started to open her eye. And today (12 hours later) she is almost 100% better.

9_to_5_to_9: The Black Widow of Horticulture meets the gardening guys

Thu, 08 May 2008 11:31:41 -0400

It wasn’t long after we got home from a recent birthday party that Big Guy started peering anxiously every half hour at the dirt-filled plastic cup. Planting sunflowers had been a combination favor/activity at the kid-friendliest gathering the guys have ever attended. “When’s it going to grow?” he’d ask.

“You have to give it a while,” I’d reply, quickly remembering that he defines “a while” as the time it takes to microwave popcorn, while I view it as at least the period between pay checks.

“When’s it going to grow?” he’d ask again 30 minutes later.

“Tomorrow. We’ll check it tomorrow.”

It was three more tomorrows before the first tiny sprout appeared. “But where’s the flower?” he asked.

My love, you’ll be lucky if there’s ever a flower, I thought, but didn’t vocalize. Your mother is the Black Widow of Horticulture – she plants, she kills.

Inside the Shell -- Another Big Hole

Wed, 07 May 2008 22:09:28 -0400

Bakersfield 10, Modesto 6
Game 33 of 140

GAME IN A GRAF -- Simon Ferrer and Tommy Baumgardner both got hit hard as the Nuts fell for the fifth straight game and seventh in their last eight. Ferrer allowed five rus on nine hits in his five innings of work, while Baumgardner allowed five runs in two innings. The Nuts have no answer right now for that kind of offensive output. They did come up with a four-run seventh inning on five hits after falling behind 10-3, and finished with 11 hits, but fell far short.

SHORT-HANDED -- The Nuts have been playing with 24 players _ one short of the maximum _ on their roster for the last eight games since the promotion of Tony Blanco to Double-A Tulsa. That situation could be resolved as early as today if James Burok is cleared to play. The reliever has been sidelined with an elbow strain since last pitching on April 14, but threw a simulated game on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Blanco _ who hit .550 for the Nuts in five games _ entered Wednesday’s action hitting .323 in eight games for the Drillers and is hitting .400 during his current six-game hitting streak.

Perata: Denham recall off

Wed, 07 May 2008 19:54:29 -0400

Here's a press release you don't want to miss. Don Perata says the campaign to unseat Sen. Denham of Merced is over, even though it's on the ballot.

Senate President Perata Issues Recall Statement

Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata issued the following statement regarding the campaign to recall Jeff Denham:

"Like all of you, I've been worried a lot about the economy - falling home prices, rising gas prices - and how hard it's getting for people to find a job.

I've talked with both Treasurer Lockyer and Controller Chiang about the state's cash situation - and the need to do everything we can to reach an agreement on the budget.

A long stalemate is the last thing we need. Without a budget - we run out of cash - the richest state in America gone broke!

Emo Kermit needs a hug

Wed, 07 May 2008 16:19:56 -0400

Apparently, it’s really, really, not easy being green. If you’ve been around the web-block, you might have stumbled across Sad Kermit. The online parody of everyone’s favorite amphibian has been online and bumming us out since 2007. Why so sad?

“Soon after the death of Jim Henson, Sad Kermit spiraled downward into a life full of addiction, romance and pain. The songs and videos on this webpage shed light on Sad Kermit's descent into his dark, hurting world.”

The site has a series of song parodies sung by Kermit including covers of Nine Inch Nail’s “Hurt,” Jeff Buckley’s “Hallelujah” and Radiohead’s “Creep.” Now, depressed Kermie has released his second video, this time for Elliott Smith’s melancholy “Needle in the Hay.” The clip is a parody of the suicide scene from “The Royal Tenenbaum” which uses the same song. Check them out side-by side. And then come back for a group hug. You’ll need it.

p.s. Wow, how much free time do those Sad Kermit peeps have? That was both incredibly professional and incredibly weird. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Probably both.

Tips from Vern

Wed, 07 May 2008 15:25:46 -0400

If you watch as much of home improvement TV as I have over the years, you are familiar with Vern Yip, who made a name for himself on "Trading Spaces" and now has his own show on HGTV called "Deserving Design." I'm not a design/decor expert by any means, but in my opinion he's one of the better designers on TV.

I found these simple tips from Vern in a recent story:

1. Start with a space plan before you buy anything.
2. Embrace color: It’s just paint.
3. Invest in quality furnishings.
4. Seek out environmentally friendly products.

For more on Vern and some great design ideas, go to his Web site.

Quirky tips coming in over Weidman-Chiesa race

Wed, 07 May 2008 14:57:52 -0400

I’m not ready to recant the way I framed my profile on the civil race between former Sheriff Les Weidman and farmer Vito Chiesa for the District 2 seat on the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors.

But I’m getting a few anonymous tips poking around the candidates for weaknesses. All of the tips are good to note, but they’re not ready for the paper.

For the anti-Chiesa camp, I submit the anonymous letters many reporters at the Bee are receiving containing a flyer advertising a reception Road Dog Cycle owner Robert Holloway held for the candidate on April 29. That would be the Holloway whose motorcycle shop was raided by federal agents on Feb. 1.