Jack back to school

We were up at 4:30 am to take Jack to the airport. With the Spring forward daylight savings time change, this felt very, very early. We left the house at 5:15 am. Jack caught a 7:00 am Southwest flight nonstop from Sacramento to Baltimore.

Sharon and I have had a big debate on whether or not Baltimore makes sense as an alternative to Dulles or Reagan Airports. Jack landed at 2:45 pm Eastern Time. He caught a Uber at 3:25 pm and it took just over hour (1:03) to get back to the campus. When we flew into Dulles last October, it took us just under an hour to get the hotel. It would be interesting to see how long it took from Baltimore Airport to Georgetown in traffic on a weeknight...

Jack will be finishing up the second half of his Freshman Spring Semester at Georgetown University. He is done with class about the second week of May.

Background on the Heringers for Jack's Interview

On Friday, Jack had an interview with an export company in Sacramento. The founder grew up in the delta and knows the Heringers. I put together the following summary so that Jack would have some background on the family.

My dad, your grandfather, was the youngest of eight sons of Stephen and Mabel Heringer. During the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, the six surviving sons and five first cousins farmed together. My dad was Richard (Dick) Heringer. The other five surviving brothers were Fred, Les, James (Scotty?), Wilfred (Bill?) and Bob. Two brothers, Joe and Stephen, died at a young age.

My dad’s cousins, Stephen’s brother John Heringer’s kids, were Donald, John, Jr, (Bud), Alta Genette (the only girl), George and Ned.

It gets complicated quickly when you start to talk about knowing the Heringers. Between the eleven surviving families, there were almost 60 people in my generation. My sisters and I are the youngest of this generation. I really only knew Uncle Bob’s kids (Pete, Doug, Diane, Robbie), Les’ boys (Steve, Les and Duke) and Fred’s kids (Haig and Christine).

Les’ son Stephen and his sons are the ones that are now involved in Heringer Wines.

Fred and Les were particularly prominent in the California agricultural community. Fred was very involved in the California Farm Bureau Federation. He served as President of the California Farm Bureau Federation in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Les helped organize and provided leadership to many Agricultural organizations including California Tomato Growers Assn., California Canners and Growers, Council of California Growers, Valley Nitrogen Producers, UC Davis Advisory Board and The California Agricultural Leadership Program.

After college and a short tour in the army, Dick started farming in Northern California with his brother Fred. I was raised on this farm. It was 2,000 acres of peaches, pears and prunes.

In the delta, Heringers grew mostly tomatoes, sugar beets and alfalfa around Clarksburg and pears around Courtland.. They had a large alfalfa-pelleting mill that exported pellets around the world. At one point, the Heringers farmed over 6,000 acres.

The Heringers were very involved in popularizing the use of the mechanical tomato harvester.

My dad and a number of the other brothers and cousins sold out of the farming operation in the late 1970s. The remaining family got in financial trouble in the mid-1980s. This was probably due to the amount of debt that they took on to buy out the other family members. Most of the property was sold to a large Southern California corporation.

Madi Sipes brings sassy indie soul pop to Harlow’s

Madi Sipes brings sassy indie soul pop to Harlow’s | The Sacramento Bee

Keep your eyes peeled for the forthcoming debut album from San Francisco-based (by way of Placerville) Madi Sipes. “After Hours” was recorded with help of pal and former Milo Greene touring member Andrew Heringer. Sipes’ sassy brand of ultra-hip, soul-based and jazz-tinged indie pop has sparked plenty of interest in the record.

Jack is back!

Finishing up his spring break in Southern California, Jack and Drew spent Wednesday night at Nicki's. Jack and Norah slept on the couch. Thursday morning, Jack flew from Burbank back to Sacramento. Sharon picked him up at the airport.

It is nice to have Jack home for a few days... He is just about half way done with the spring semester.

Sharon, Jack and I finished the day with dinner at Mikunis.

Death's End by Cixin Liu

My book for March is Death's End by Cixin Liu. This is the final installation of a trilogy. I read the first book, The Three-Body Problem, in May of 2015. I finished the second book, The Dark Forest, in February of 2016.

Death's End has a number of interesting ideas, including 2-dimensional and 4-dimensional space, a "Black Domain" with reduced light speed, lightspeed by curvature propulsion and trails left by curvature propulsion.

The plot of all three books revolves around a race of aliens called the Trisolarans. It was a little dissatisfying to me that over the course of the three books you never really met these aliens or any of the other aliens that populated Liu's universe. I guess that is part of the point of the "Dark Forest" analogy.

Overall, I enjoyed this book a lot more than than the second book. Although reading the first two books provides some background, this book could stand on its own. I give it a strong "B". I wonder if Liu will write any other books set in his universe...

Kenkoku Maru Grounding

Sharon and I walked out to Black Point on Friday night when we were at Sea Ranch.

Kenkoku Maru Grounding
1951
Marker 1-24
See this location on Google Maps
This site is located at the end of Black Point Reach near the Black Point Bench Access at Sea Ranch, California. The Sea Ranch Archives Committee has identified twenty-six historic sites scattered about The Sea Ranch. They have constructed trail markers with information explaining the significance of each place. They were placed as part of The Sea Ranch 50th anniversary being celebrated from Memorial Day 2014 to Memorial Day 2015. The GPS coordinates for this location are 38° 40' 59.6" N 123° 25' 53.6" W.



Enroute to San Francisco this 7,000-ton Japanese freighter went aground on the south end of the Black Point Beach. Efforts to reflect her lasted almost a month. Eventually a high high tide assisted a large tug in pulling her off the beach, after which the ship returned to Alameda for repairs.

Drew, Norah and Jack

Jack's Spring Break

Jack started his spring break on Friday. He flew from Washington, DC to St. Louis to San Diego. Jack spent Friday and Saturday night in San Diego with some high school friends.

Today, he took the train from San Diego to Los Angeles to connect with Drew. Jack is then taking the train to Santa Barbara on Monday.

Wednesday, he is going to take the train back to Los Angeles and spent Wednesday night with Drew again. Thursday morning, Jack is flying from Burbank to Sacramento.

We are looking forward to seeing him on Thursday!

Hateful Eight

With Sharon away for the weekend at the retreat, I watched the Hateful Eight. The film received a couple of Oscars nominations in 2016.

I have two general comments about the film. First, it is really long. The version I saw was 2 hours and 47 minutes. Apparently, there is a version that is more than three hours long. Second, the scenery in the opening chapter is amazing. The footage of the stagecoach in the snow in Wyoming is incredible.

Hateful Eight was written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. The casting is great. It stars Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Bruce Dern. The story revolves around eight strangers who seek refuge from a blizzard in a stagecoach stopover some time after the American Civil War.

The film received three Oscar nominations in 2016. Ennui Morricone won his first Academy Award for Best Original Score. The other two Academy Award nominations were for Best Supporting Actress (Leigh) and Best Cinematography (Robert Richardson).

While there are some great performances, I have mixed feelings about recommending the film. It is a solid movie with an interesting story, but like most Tarantino films the violence is over the top. It is also really long.

[Note to self], I do need to see Django Unchained... Tarantino originally envisioned the Hateful Eight as a sequence to that movie.

El Retiro San Inigo 2017

Sharon, Janie and Tom are spending the weekend at El Retiro San Inigo, the Jesuit Retreat House of Los Altos. They are attending a silent retreat for members of the legal profession titled Recollecting the Holy: 34th Annual Retreat for Members of the Legal Profession.

From 1994 to 2011, Sharon went to this retreat 17 out of 18 years, missing only the year after Jack was born. After missing 2012 and 2013, she got back on track in 2014. Sharon has now gone to this retreat twenty-one of the last twenty-four years!

Visalia to Hanford to SMF to Carmichael

Traveling for work, I spent the night at the Visalia Marriott. Thursday morning, we headed to Hanford for a series of meetings. We finished the meetings about 2:30 pm and started north. It has been a long time since I drove the section of Highway 99 south of Modesto. We fought our way through the Sacramento commute and finally got to the Sacramento Airport about 6:40 pm. Dropping the rental car and picking up my car, it was about 7:20 pm by the the time I got home...

Sacramento to Burbank to Bakersfield to Visalia

Traveling for work, I flew from Sacramento to Burbank and then drove to Bakersfield for a series of meetings. After the meetings, we drove to Visalia.

Sharon pushed me to go to dinner at Jack & Charlie's in downtown Visalia. The food was good. We had a series of small plates including: meatballs; scallops; devil eggs; spaghetti squash and brussel sprouts.

Cinque Terre Puzzle

While we were at Sea Ranch, Phil, Sharon and I did most of a Cinque Terre puzzle. Sharon and I finished it up last week after we got home. Morgan, Jack, Sharon and I visited Manarola when we were in Italy in 2012.

Jackie

Saturday night before the Oscars, Sharon and I watched Jackie. This is part of our continuing effort to see all of the Oscar nominated films.

The film stars Natalie Portman as Jackie Kennedy. Jackie was nominated for three Oscars at the 89th Academy Awards: Best Actress (Portman), Best Original Score and Best Costume Design.

The film follows Jackie Kennedy in the days when she was First Lady in the White House and her life following the assassination of her husband, President John F. Kennedy, in 1963. It is partly based on Theodore H. White's Life magazine interview with the widow at Hyannis Port, Massachusetts. The film is split into primary three storylines that are interwoven: Jackie giving a tour of the White House before her husband's death; the events after Kennedy is shot leading up to the funeral; and the interview at Hyannis Port.

It is an "ok" movie. I give it a "B-." With so much content in the world, it is not something that I recommend you go out of your way to see, unless, like us, you are trying to see all of the Oscar nominated films and performances. It didn't win any Oscars...

89th Academy Awards

We got a small group together to watch the Academy Awards, including Sharon's brother Tom, Eric, Erin and Janie (with Pippen). Sharon made a great dinner of Peruvian Chicken and rice.

Jimmy Kimmel was the host. Over the last four years, Sharon and I have worked in December, January and February to see as many of the nominated films as possible. This year, we saw all nine of the films nominated for Best Picture and 12 of the 15 films in the five major categories.

Last year, I ended up picking four of five, including getting best picture, best actor, best actress and supporting actress right, but missing on supporting actor.

This year, I also ended up picking four of five, including getting best actor, best actress, supporting actor and supporting actress right, but missing on best picture. I had picked La La Land as best picture. Initially, I thought I had gotten it right before bedlam broke loose on the stage. Given Sharon's love of La La Land, she was particularly surprised at the turn of events. Personally, I was also startled. I ranked Moonlight near the bottom of the nine films for best picture.

Hacksaw Ridge

Sharon and I watched Hacksaw Ridge. With the Oscars on Sunday, this is the ninth of the nine films nominated for a Best Picture that we have seen!

Hacksaw Ridge is a biographical film about the World War II experiences of Desmond Doss, an American pacifist combat medic who was a Seventh-day Adventist. He refused to carry or use a firearm or weapons of any kind. Doss became the first conscientious objector to be awarded the Medal of Honor, for service above and beyond the call of duty during the Battle of Okinawa.

The film was directed by Mel Gibson. It is based on an earlier documentary about Doss. The movie stars Andrew Garfield as Doss with Vince Vaughn in a supporting role.

Hacksaw Ridge was chosen by the American Film Institute as one of its top ten Movies of the Year. It received six Oscar nominations at the 89th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor for Garfield.

Hacksaw Ridge exceeded my expectations. I had put off seeing it in the theater because I was leery of having to sit through the violent in the second half of the film. While the violence is hard to watch, I think that it probably not as bad as Gibson's The Passion of Christ. I don't believe that the film will win Best Picture or that Garfield will win Bset Actor...

Loving

Friday night, Sharon and I watched Loving. This is part of our continuing effort to see all of films nominated for Oscars in the major categories. When we first started to try and figure out which films might be nominated in November, there was a lot of talk about Loving. It faded and received only one nomination: Ruth Negga for Best Actress.

The film tells the story of Richard and Mildred Loving. They were the plaintiffs in the 1967 U.S. Supreme Court decision Loving v. Virginia that invalidated state laws prohibiting interracial marriage. Joel Egerton stars as Richard Loving, with Ruth Negga co-starring as Mildred Loving.

It is an interesting film that is billed as being very historically true. The first half is very slow. Personally, I think that Amy Adams should have gotten a Best Actress nomination for Arrival, rather than Negga getting nominated for this film...

Black Point Settlement

Sharon and I walked out to Black Point on Friday night when we were at Sea Ranch.

Black Point Settlement
1875-1917
Marker 1-25
See this location on Google Maps
This site is located on Black Point at Sea Ranch, California. The Sea Ranch Archives Committee has identified twenty-six historic sites scattered about The Sea Ranch. They have constructed trail markers with information explaining the significance of each place. They were placed as part of The Sea Ranch 50th anniversary being celebrated from Memorial Day 2014 to Memorial Day 2015. The GPS coordinates for this location are 38° 40' 44.9" N 123° 25' 54.4" W.

Black Point was a community that developed around William Bihler's Landing, which was located on this bluff. After he became involved in the lumber business, Bilher built the landing for loading his timber products. The standing barn was the livery stable for the Black Point Hotel. The small structure may have been a sheepherder's cabin, but was not connected to the early settlement.

California FFA Foundation Blue & Gold Gala

As part of Sharon's F@rm Credit connection, we went to the California FFA Foundation Blue & Gold Gala in Galt. We sat with Jeana and Larry. Jeana is on the board of the California FFA Foundation. We were hoping to see Jim and Suzy, but they were no shows... I was surprised to find out afterwards that Pat and Kelly were there.

The keynote speaker for the event was Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs fame. He was an excellent storyteller. Rowe told an extend story about filming a show on artificial insemination.

I was in FFA in high school. I raised and showed pigs. At one point, I probably had as many as thirty pigs.

Additionally, there are several types of FFA judging contests in which kids compete based on their knowledge of a particular subject. Each school has several different types of teams that compete against other schools. I competed in the accounting contests!

Hell or High Water

Saturday night at Sea Ranch, Sharon, Marlene and I watched Hell or High Water. This is part of our continuing effort to see all of the Oscar nominated films.

The American Film Institute selected Hell or High Water as one of its ten Movies of the Year. It received four Oscar nominations at the 89th Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Jeff Bridges), Best Original Screenplay and Best Film Editing.

The film follows two brothers who carry out a series of bank robberies to save their family ranch. Although the plot takes place in West Texas, filming took place in Eastern New Mexico. The movie stars Chris Pine and Ben Foster as the two brothers and Jeff Bridges as a Texas Ranger.

I don't know if it was the system at the house we were renting, but I had a hard time understanding some of the dialogue. It seemed like the main characters were mumbling, particularly Jeff Bridges.

We have now seen eight of the nine best picture nominees. While I enjoyed the film, it is not winning best picture. Jeff Bridges is not beating Mahershala Ali [Moonlight] or Dev Patel [Lion] for Best Supporting Actor.