Easter 2013

We met Tom at the 7:30 am Easter Service at St. Ignatius.

Sunday afternoon, we celebrated Easter with dinner at the Tom Frames. The group included Tom, Becky, Kevin, Jim, Kathy, Eileen, Sharon, Jack and I.

We finished the evening watching the Amazing Race...

Vas Canyon Hike [2013 Carmel Day 2]

The plan for the day was to hike somewhere along the way back to Sacramento. Searching the internet, I ended up recommending Uvas Canyon. This is Santa Clara County park is off of highway 101 near Morgan Hill on the eastern side of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The park has several small waterfalls.

After having breakfast at the hotel, we packed up the room and headed north. We stopped and brought sandwiches in Gilroy.

We ended up hiking 4.4 miles over the course of 3 hours. The hike included a 1,000 climb in the first mile. We stopped at Black Rock Falls and Basin Falls, climbed Knobcone Point and then had lunch at the base of Upper Falls. After lunch, we continued up Swanson Creek and returned to the parking lot by the Contour Trail. I will post some maps and Google Earth views in the near future.

Back at the car about 2:00 pm, we were back in Sacramento a little after 5:00 pm.

2013 Carmel Day 1

Up early, Sharon, Jack and I headed to Carmel. I always forget how long it takes to get there; it took us just about 3 1/2 hours. Morgan has been spending the week with her mother in the Carmel Valley. We picked her up about 11:30 am and headed into Carmel. We had a nice lunch at La Bicyclette.

After dropping Morgan off back at her mom's home, we went to The Celebration of the Passion of the Lord at the Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo. It was a very nice Good Friday celebration in a cool setting.

Much to Jack's chagrin, the plan was to spend the night in Carmel. We checked into the Wayfarer Inn just a couple of blocks off Ocean Avenue. Sharon and I wandered around the downtown and then had a drink at Grasing's where Sharon had made reservations before heading back to the room to get cleaned up for dinner.

The three of us finished the night with a very nice dinner at Grasing's. I had Grasing’s “Paella”, while Sharon had the Abalone. We shared a bottle of Mary Edwards 2009 Klopp Ranch Pinot Noir.

California Historical Landmark #135

After having lunch with Morgan, Sharon, Jack and I went to The Celebration of the Passion of the Lord at the Carmel Mission on Good Friday.

Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo
California State Historical Landmark #135
See this location on Yahoo Maps in Flickr
See this location on Google Maps
This landmark is located at the southwest corner of Lasuen Drive and Rio Road, Carmel, California. There are 24 other California State Historical Landmarks in Monterey County. The GPS coordinates for this location are N 36° 32.581 W 121° 55.202.

A list of California missions is here. The missions that I have visited are highlighted in red.

You can log your visit to this landmark at waymark.com.

Mission San Carlos was established by Father Serra on June 3, 1770 at the Presidio of Monterey. Finding this location unsuitable, Serra moved the mission to Carmel Valley. In July 1771 he set to work constructing temporary buildings at the new site, and in December 1771 the mission was moved to its permanent location.

Monterey County Landmarks

California State Historical Landmarks in Monterey County
{GPS Coordinates of Site Location}
NO. 1 CUSTOM HOUSE
NO. 105 ROYAL PRESIDIO CHAPEL OF SAN CARLOS BORROMÉO
NO. 106 LARKIN HOUSE
NO. 126 COLTON HALL
NO. 128 LANDING PLACE OF SEBASTIAN VIZCAINO AND FRAY JUNÍPERO SERRA
*NO. 135 Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo - [map] - {36.543017,-121.920033}
NO. 136 FIRST THEATER IN CALIFORNIA
NO. 232 MISSION SAN ANTONIO DE PADUA
NO. 233 MISSION NUESTRA SEÑORA DE LA SOLEDAD
NO. 348 HOUSE OF GOVERNOR ALVARADO
NO. 351 VÁSQUEZ HOUSE
NO. 352 ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON HOUSE
NO. 353 HOUSE OF FOUR WINDS
NO. 354 OLD PACIFIC HOUSE
NO. 387 THE GLASS HOUSE, CASA MATERNA OF THE VALLEJOS
NO. 494 RICHARDSON ADOBE
NO. 532 CASA DE ORO
NO. 56O HILL TOWN FERRY
NO. 651 SITE OF THE BATTLE OF NATIVIDAD
NO. 712 SOBERANES ADOBE
NO. 713 GUTIÉRREZ ADOBE
NO. 839 CHAUTAUQUA HALL
NO. 870 JOSÉ EUSEBIO BORONDA ADOBE CASA
NO. 934 TEMPORARY DETENTION CAMPS FOR JAPANESE AMERICANS-SALINAS ASSEMBLY CENTER
NO. 951 LIGHT STATIONS OF CALIFORNIA (THEMATIC), POINT SUR LIGHT STATION

List of California Counties

Virtually Biking Across America - Day 52

On Day 52, I rode 18.1 miles across Wyoming. Starting near the La Bonte Pony Express Station [N42 36 19.0 W105 22 47.0] on the Emigrant Trail, I rode east to North Elkhorn Creek Road. I stopped near the Elk Horn Pony Express Station.

The trip log for Virtually Biking Across America is here.

ESPN Films 30 for 30 Shorts: Silver Reunion

Grantland and ESPN Films have released the seventh film in their 30 for 30 documentary short series.

30 for 30 Shorts: Silver Reunion

During the summer of 2012, a secret meeting took place among the 12 members of the 1972 U.S. men's Olympic basketball team. Reuniting more than four decades after the controversial gold-medal game in which they lost to the Soviet Union and then declined to accept the silver medal, the team members met in Lexington, Kentucky, to make a final decision: to accept, or forever refuse, the medals for a game many of them believe they never lost. And, like with the jury in 12 Angry Men, the verdict needed to be unanimous.

You can find Silver Reunion on the ESPN web site at http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=9105242.

More about the film at: http://espn.go.com/30for30/film?page=silver-reunion

ESPN Films 30 for 30: Survive and Advance

I watched Survive and Advance. This is the seventh installment of ESPN's 30 for 30 Vol II. An episode guide for Vol II is here.

In 1983, the North Carolina State Wolfpack, coached by Jim Valvano, stayed alive in the postseason by winning nine do-or-die games in a row, seven of which they were losing in the final minute. The team beat Michael Jordan and three-time National Player of the Year Ralph Sampson. The unlikely squad made it to the national championship game against No. 1 Houston, aka Phi Slama Jama, a team featuring future NBA Top 50 all-time players Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler. NC State was one of the biggest underdogs ever in the final game. The game is possibly the best college basketball game in history. It ends with one of the best known college basketball plays of all time.

Woven through the story of Wolfpack's march through the ACC and NCAA tournaments are two other stories. First, The team got together in 2011 to mourn the death of one of their teammates. There is footage sprinkled throughout the film of the group talking about the games, their coach and each other.

Second, Jim Valvano's story, including his battle with cancer, is a key part of the film. There are some very compelling segments, including Valvano's speech at the Espys. Valvano was a very good speaker and storyteller.

I am not a college basketball fan. While I knew some of Jim Valvano's story and have seen the last play of the championship game, the story of the NC State's run through the tournament is not one that I remember. Of the more than forty-five 30 for 30 documentaries that I have seen so far, Survive and Advance is clearly in the ten top. It is a very good film.

Survive and Advance is available on iTunes. I enjoyed the film enough that I gifted a copy of the film to Drew.

A trailer for the film is here.

Bill Simmons had a podcast with the director Jonathan Hock discussing the documentary which is a nice supplement to the film.

Milo Greene at Academie Duello Centre

Starbucks iTunes Pick of the Week - Masterpiece: Mr Selfridge

The complete list of Starbucks iTunes picks of the week is here!


Code Expiration: June 18, 2013

Starbucks iTunes Pick of the Week - Depeche Mode - Heaven

The complete list of Starbucks iTunes picks of the week is here!


Code Expiration: June 18, 2013

California Historical Landmark #1012

First Manufacturing Site of the Pelton Wheel
California State Historical Landmark #1012
See this location on Yahoo Maps in Flickr
See this location on Google Maps
This plaque is located at 325 Spring Street, Nevada City, California. There are 20 other California State Historical Landmarks in Nevada County. The GPS coordinates for this location are N 39° 15.730 W 121° 01.220.

You can log your site to this site at waymarking.com!

The Pelton Water Wheel, first commercially manufactured here at George Allan's Foundry and Machine Works in 1879, was a major advancement in water power utilization and greatly advanced hard-rock mining. Its unique feature was a series of paired buckets, shaped like bowls of spoons and separated by a splitter, that divided the incoming water jets into two parts. By the late 1800s, the Pelton Wheels were providing energy to operate industrial machinery throughout the world. In 1888, Lester Pelton moved his business to San Francisco, but granted continuing manufacturing rights to Allan's Foundry, where the wheels were manufactured into the early 1900s.

Virtually Biking Across America - Day 51

On Day 51, I rode 14.2 miles across Wyoming. Starting at the corner of Old Yellowstone Highway and North 4th Street in Douglas, I rode south out of town to Highway 94 (Esterbrook Road). I traveled south about 7.5 miles on the highway and then exited on the Emigrant Trail. I stopped near the La Bonte Pony Express Station [N42 36 19.0 W105 22 47.0].

The trip log for Virtually Biking Across America is here.

Jesuit Frosh Marauders versus Vista Del Lago

Making up the first rain out of the year from Wednesday afternoon, the Jesuit Frosh Marauder baseball team played the Vista Del Lago Eagles. This is the first league game.

Jack started in left field and batted second.

At the plate, Jack was 0 for 3. He reached on an error and scored a run. In his first at-bat, Jack struck out swinging on a 1 and 2 pitch. He grounded the first pitch to the right side in his second plate appearance. The second baseman didn't handle the ball cleanly. With Jack motoring up the line, the second baseman threw the ball in the dirt and Jack was safe at first. He went to second on the throw, to third on Jared's walk and came home on Alex's walk. In his third at-bat, protecting the plate with a 1 and 2 count, Jack hit a towering fly ball into right center for an out.

In the field, Jack played four innings in left field. He had three put-outs on fly balls. Moving to deep left center to track down one of the fly balls, Jack tried to make the transfer from his glove too quickly to hold a runner at second and juggled the ball. You could everyone in the stands gasp... Jack also tracked down a line drive hit down the third base line.

In a surprise to me, there is a 10 run rule. The Marauders ended up beating the Eagles by the score of 16 to 6 in sixth innings. The Eagles were unable to get anyone out in the bottom of the sixth. I was frankly surprised at the poor quality of the Eagles pitching; I expect better pitching at the high school level. The box score is here and the score card is here.

Iwasa (3-0, ERA 3.00, 4 starts, 21.0 innings) was the winning pitcher. He threw 75 pitches, including 49 strikes and 26 balls, in six innings.

The Jesuit Frosh baseball team now has 8 wins and 3 losses. In league, they have 1 win and 0 losses. The game log is here. The Marauders next game is Monday, April 1 against Del Campo.

The pitching speed samples from the game include:

#17 McLeod
2nd inning - 56,57
3rd inning - 53,54

#22 Pardasoplas
3rd inning - 57,50,52

#7 Neves
4th inning - 59,60
5th inning - 58,60

Jesuit Frosh Marauders versus Vista Del Lago

VISTA DEL LAGO (6) AT JESUIT MARAUDERS (16)

VISTA DEL LARGO      AB  R  H BI  JESUIT MARAUDERS     AB  R  H BI
Bradley Schummer      4  0  0  0  Nile Redmond          1  1  1  2  
Garret Donnelly       3  2  0  0   Nicholas Sogard      1  2  1  0  
Blake Martin          3  2  2  2  Jack Heringer         3  1  0  1  
Noah Loara            2  0  0  0   Jordan Vujovich      2  1  1  2  
 Austin Greene        1  0  0  0  Nick Iwasa            3  3  2  2  
Josh Walker           3  0  1  1   Trevor Beards        0  0  0  0  
Patrick Gaffney       2  0  0  0  Jared Alameida        2  3  1  1  
Matt Silva            2  1  0  0   Christian Flores     1  0  1  1  
Zach McLeod           1  1  1  0  Byrce Colombara       3  0  1  0  
 Seth Pardasoplas     1  0  0  0   Kyle Roessler        1  0  1  1  
 Jacob Neves          1  0  0  0  Alexander Isola       0  1  0  4  
Aaron Schley          3  0  0  0  Jack Wolger           3  0  2  1  
                                  Cole Jacobi           3  1  1  1  
                                  Sam Starosciak        1  2  1  0  
                                   Ryan Kane            0  1  0  0  
TOTALS               26  6  4  3  TOTALS               24 16 13 16

VISTA DEL LAGO               004 020 -- 6  
JESUIT MARAUDERS              016 144 -- 16 

LOB--VISTA DEL LAGO 5, JESUIT MARAUDERS 10. ERR--Garret
Donnelly (2), Bradley Schummer, Nile Redmond (3), Alexander
Isola, Cole Jacobi, Sam Starosciak. 2B--Josh Walker, Blake
Martin, Nile Redmond, Cole Jacobi, Nick Iwasa (2). HBP--Nile
Redmond, Ryan Kane. SACF--Alexander Isola (3), Cole Jacobi.
SB--Garret Donnelly, Blake Martin, Jack Wolger, Nile Redmond
(2), Nick Iwasa, Sam Starosciak.

 VISTA DEL LAGO                 IP    H    R   ER   BB   SO   HR
Zach McLeod                    2.00    2    5    4    4    2    0
Seth Pardasoplas (L)           1.00    1    2    2    3    0    0
Jacob Neves                    2.00   10    9    9    4    2    0
 JESUIT MARAUDERS           
Nick Iwasa (W)                 6.00    4    6    2    3    5    0

PB--Matt Silva (2), Alexander Isola. WP--Zach McLeod (2).
SO--Noah Loara, Jacob Neves, Bradley Schummer, Patrick
Gaffney (2), Jared Alameida, Jordan Vujovich, Jack Heringer,
Cole Jacobi. BB--Garret Donnelly, Matt Silva, Patrick
Gaffney, Jack Wolger, Jared Alameida (2), Nile Redmond, Kyle
Roessler, Alexander Isola, Nicholas Sogard, Nick Iwasa, Sam
Starosciak (2), Trevor Beards.

Jesuit Frosh Marauders versus Davis Blue Devils

The Jesuit Frosh Marauders played the Davis Blue Devils at the Davis Sr High School. Jesuit beat up on Davis in a scrimmage in February.

Jack started the game in centerfield and led off.

At the plate, Jack was 0 for 2 with two walks and a run scored. In his first at-bat leading off the game, Jack hit the first pitch for a fly ball right at the centerfielder for an out. Jack grounded a 1 and 2 pitch to the right side and was thrown out at first in his second plate appearance. In his third at-bat in the top of the fifth inning and Jesuit leading by the score of 1 to 0, Jack walked on four pitches. He stole second, went to third on a passed ball and scored the second run of the game on a wild pitch. Jack walked on five pitches in his fourth plate appearance, but ended the inning there when Bailey grounded out to the second baseman.

In the field, Jack played seven innings in centerfield. He had one put-out. Jack made a nice catch on a sinking line drive to left center.

The Davis pitcher did a nice job of keeping the Jesuit batters off balance. Through five innings, Jesuit was leading by the score of 2 to 0 with only one hit. I will talk more about the Davis pitching at the end of the post. By the sixth inning, the Davis starting pitcher had thrown 101 pitches. He was visibly tiring. The two Davis relief pitchers were clearly not as strong. They opened the door for a couple more runs and Jesuit won by the score of 6 to 0. The box score is here and the scorecard is here.

The winning pitcher was Chiappe [3-0, ERA 1.75, 3 starts, 20 innings]. Remarkably, Chiappe only threw 69 pitches in a seven inning complete game; this is his second complete game in three starts. He only threw 15 balls! His first pitch strike percentage was 77%.

The Jesuit Frosh baseball team now has 7 wins and 3 losses. The game log is here. The Marauders will make up a rain out against Vista Del Largo on Friday night, March 22.

Unlike the St. Mary's pitcher on Tuesday night, the starting Davis pitcher tonight did a really good job mixing up speeds and location. He had the boys off balance...

Here are the speed samples from tonight.

#19 Tujo
1st inning - 69
2nd inning - 60, 70
3rd inning - 70, 58
4th inning - 55, 66
5th inning - 68
6th inning - 69, 67

#14 Henrickson (walked two straight batters)
6th inning - 63, 62

#7 Harper
7th inning - 57, 64

Jesuit Frosh Marauders versus Davis

JESUIT MARAUDERS (6) AT DAVIS HIGH SCHOOL BLUES DEVILS (0)

JESUIT MARAUDERS     AB  R  H BI  DAVIS HIGH SCHOOL BL AB  R  H BI
Jack Heringer         2  1  0  0  Alex Timmons          3  0  1  0  
Bailey Abercrombie    3  1  0  0  Peter Frame           3  0  1  0  
Nick Iwasa            4  1  1  0  Gavin Cosgrave        3  0  1  0  
Christian Flores      3  0  0  0  Mason Shorts          3  0  1  0  
 Kyle Roessler        1  0  1  1  Glen Welch            2  0  1  0  
Kevin Fitzsimon       2  0  0  0   Ben Hardy            1  0  0  0  
 Ryan Kane            1  2  0  0  Dan Henrickson        2  0  0  0  
Jordan Vujovich       3  0  1  0   Alex Halford         1  0  0  0  
Jonah Allman          2  0  0  0  James Richardson      2  0  0  0  
 Jared Alameida       1  1  1  1   Greg Ruhnstock       1  0  0  0  
John Louis Chiappe    3  0  1  0  Jacob Gussero         2  0  0  0  
Nicholas Sogard       2  0  0  0   Josh Milenbach       1  0  0  0  
 Trevor Beards        1  0  0  0  Gabe Gitierrez        2  0  0  0  
TOTALS               28  6  5  2  TOTALS               26  0  5  0

JESUIT MARAUDERS                100 012 2 -- 6  
DAVIS HIGH SCHOOL BLUES DEVILS  000 000 0 -- 0  

LOB--JESUIT MARAUDERS 9, DAVIS HIGH SCHOOL BLUES DEVILS 5.
ERR--Nick Iwasa, Ryan Kane, Mason Shorts, James Richardson,
Peter Frame. 2B--Jordan Vujovich, Nick Iwasa. SB--Bailey
Abercrombie, Jared Alameida, Jordan Vujovich, Christian
Flores, Nicholas Sogard, Jack Heringer.

 JESUIT MARAUDERS                IP    H    R   ER   BB   SO   HR
John Louis Chiappe (W)         7.00    5    0    0    0    5    0
 DAVIS HIGH SCHOOL BLUES DEV
Pierce Tujo (L)                5.67    1    4    2    6    3    0
Dan Henrickson                 0.00    0    0    0    2    0    0
Peter Frame                    1.33    4    2    1    0    0    0

PB--Jordan Vujovich, Mason Shorts (7). WP--Pierce Tujo (3),
Dan Henrickson. BALK--Pierce Tujo. SO--Jonah Allman,
Christian Flores (2), Alex Halford, Jacob Gussero, James
Richardson, Alex Timmons, Gavin Cosgrave. BB--Bailey
Abercrombie, Jared Alameida, Jordan Vujovich, John Louis
Chiappe, Nicholas Sogard, Jack Heringer (2), Ryan Kane.

Ranking the 10 most powerful people in sports media

In my short write-up about Mr. Russell's House, I noted that I was amazed at the media empire that Bill Simmons is building. Sports Illustrated has ranked Simmons as the most powerful figure in the sports media today!

Ranking the 10 most powerful people in sports media

1. Bill Simmons, ESPN

He leveraged his immense popularity as a writer to start the high-minded Grantland.com, extending his brand beyond himself to bring in talented voices such as Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Wesley Morris. Simmons is the rare person in the sports media with revenue power on multiple platforms -- his podcasts get significant traffic, he's a major player in the "30 for 30" initiative, and this year he added a regular television presence with a position on ESPN's NBA Countdown show. Most importantly, Simmons has the ear of ESPN president John Skipper. He's No. 1 on this list by a wide margin.

Jesuit Frosh Baseball versus St. Mary's

For the second week in a row, the Jesuit Marauders played the St. Mary's Rams. The Marauders beat the Rams by the score of 10 to 3 last Tuesday.

After playing in four straight games, Jack did not play in this game.

The Marauders continue to score runs. They jumped out to a 7 to 0 lead and then hung on to win by the score of 10 to 5. The box score is here and the scorecard is here.

The story of the game was unearned runs. The Rams gave up 5 unearned runs on 4 errors, while the Marauders gave up 2 unearned runs on 3 errors. Errors at third base continue to plague the Marauders.

The winning pitcher was Wolger (1-0, 4.74 ERA). Wolger has pitched in all three of the Marauders loses. He has left with a lead in each of the previous three losses that Jesuit was not able to hold.

The Jesuit Frosh baseball team now has 6 wins and 3 losses. The game log is here. If it does not get rained out, the Marauders play Vista Del Lago on Wednesday night.

I have a new toy: a radar gun. I will post more about this in the next week. I am going to be sampling opposing pitchers once each inning and entering the results in notes that show up at the bottom of the scorecard. A summary of the results from this game are:

#12 Mendoca
1st inning - 70, 72
2nd inning - 67, 71
3rd inning - 73, 73

#20 Bettencourt
4th inning - 68, 66

#35 Harper
5th inning - 69, 70
6th inning - 66, 65, 64

Marauders Frosh Baseball versus St. Mary's Box Score

ST MARYS (5) AT JESUIT MARAUDERS (10)

ST MARYS             AB  R  H BI  JESUIT MARAUDERS     AB  R  H BI
Michael Mendonca      3  1  2  0  Nile Redmond          3  1  1  0  
Brandon Zaunbrecher   4  0  0  0  Byrce Colombara       3  1  0  0  
Gavin Cline           4  1  2  1  Nick Iwasa            2  1  0  1  
Nick Swanson          3  0  0  0   John Louis Chiappe   1  1  0  0  
 Jovanni Goivannoni   0  0  0  0  Jared Alameida        3  2  2  2  
Anthony Galindo       4  0  0  0   Jonah Allman         0  0  0  0  
Juan Vasquez          3  1  2  0  Ryan Kane             4  1  2  2  
Nick Herrera          2  0  0  0  Kyle Roessler         3  1  1  0  
 Michael Relloque     1  0  1  1   Jordan Vujovich      0  1  0  0  
Tevin Hernandez       3  0  0  0  Alexander Isola       4  0  1  2  
 Anthony Harper       0  0  0  0  Cole Jacobi           3  0  1  1  
Roy Harwell           1  0  0  0  Sam Starosciak        2  1  1  1  
 Isaiah Bettencourt   1  2  0  0                                    
TOTALS               29  5  7  2  TOTALS               28 10  9  9

ST MARYS                      000 131 0 -- 5  
JESUIT MARAUDERS              007 102 x -- 10 

LOB--ST MARYS 10, JESUIT MARAUDERS 6. ERR--Nick Herrera,
Tevin Hernandez (2), Anthony Galindo, Kyle Roessler, Nick
Iwasa, Ryan Kane. 2B--Juan Vasquez, Kyle Roessler.
HBP--Byrce Colombara. SB--Michael Mendonca (2), Juan
Vasquez, Isaiah Bettencourt, Gavin Cline, Jordan Vujovich,
Alexander Isola.

 ST MARYS                        IP    H    R   ER   BB   SO   HR
Michael Mendonca (L)           2.67    6    7    5    2    1    0
Isaiah Bettencourt             1.33    2    1    0    1    2    0
Anthony Harper                 2.00    1    2    0    2    1    0
 JESUIT MARAUDERS           
Jack Wolger (W)                4.00    5    3    2    2    3    0
Bailey Abercrombie             2.00    2    2    1    4    3    0
Trevor Beards                  1.00    0    0    0    1    1    0

PB--Gavin Cline, Kyle Roessler. WP--Michael Mendonca, Jack
Wolger, Bailey Abercrombie. SO--Nick Herrera, Michael
Mendonca, Tevin Hernandez (2), Isaiah Bettencourt, Brandon
Zaunbrecher, Nick Swanson, Nile Redmond, Byrce Colombara,
Kyle Roessler, Cole Jacobi. BB--Nick Herrera, Michael
Mendonca, Anthony Harper, Juan Vasquez, Isaiah Bettencourt
(2), Nick Swanson, Jonah Allman, Nile Redmond, Jordan
Vujovich, Nick Iwasa, Sam Starosciak.