(Ask about) California

[illram]

I mean I'm not making this up.

You said:

and July and August in San Francisco have TERRIBLE weather: fog, rain, and cold.

The link you quoted said:

Acturally, the average summer temperature range from 60 to 75 degrees, and evenings in the summer can be rather cool, with temperatures dipping to the low 40s, but never quite to the freezing point. One bright point: rain is rare in the summer in San Francisco.

Come on, that is not terrible! Sheesh! Maybe it is personal preference but 60-75 is perfect in my opinion. And there is no rain in the summer, none.

As you said, this is a micro-climate, different parts of the city have different temps and climates. The western half is usually foggy in the summer, eastern half is usually sunny and 60-70s constantly during the day, every day. To each his own I guess.

Come here in the fall, there is less fog. This is true of most of the north coast actually. Fall is the sunniest time of the year.

 

[Supr49er]

San Jose is a boring city. There is nothing there.

You can check out the Winchester Mystery House. Other than that, it's pretty boring. Just head straight to San Francisco.

Well, the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum is pretty good.

http://www.egyptianmuseum.org/

 

[theskald]

As a French living in California, I can say that the wines here kick ass. They're just crazy expensive. But they're really good. I particularly love Zinfandel because it's local and thus has its own flavors.

I prefer Valpolicella, Pinot Grigio/Noir, and most Australian wines to anything from California, but I guess there's no accounting for taste? I have heard almost nothing but praise worldwide for Californian wine, but a lot of people like beer, too, and I don't understand them either.

Anyway, why do you Californians take so much of our delicious Colorado water? We've had to steal from the Ogallala Aquifer because you and Las Vegas keep taking 3 times more than you agreed to! Stop it. Seriously.

By the way I really like your state, it's really pretty and the people are usually pretty okay to everyone, even if you are water thieves...

 

[Sims2789]

The more inland areas of the Bay Area (east, south, north) can get overnight freezing and very occasionally the daytime temperatures may drop into the high 30s, but that's rare. It's not unheard of for there to be snow every few years or so, but it never sticks.

In the eastern bay area, the "inland" bay refers to places east of the Oakland hills, like Orinda, Pleasonton, etc. Oakland, Alameda, San Leandro, Berkeley, etc. don't get as cold at night nor as warm during the day as the inland areas.

 

[.Shane.]

In some of my posts, I've discussed my alma mater, Pepperdine University and how I jokingly call it a "Conservative Arts" college.

Well, we were watching a little TV late last night and saw an ad for Prop 8. Prop 8 is a ballot measure that would amend the California constitution to define marriage as 1 man, 1 woman. The add was pro-Prop 8. To give intellectual heft to their anti-gay marriage arguments they had an intellectual elite egghead Law Professor through out a few of their talking point. Well, he's from the Pepperdine Law school (where Ken Starr is the Dean!), further burnishing our fine credentials.

A couple links from disparate (fair and balanced! ) about the ad (only the first one embeds the ad):

OMG LIBERAL PINKOS!
OMG CHRISTIAN FASCISTS!

 

[.Shane.]

Well, the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum is pretty good.

Definitely!

Winchester MH is over-rated/priced, but interesting if you can get in at a discount.

Overall, I find SJ to be a morass. It has the same population as SF but takes about about 6 times the space. Its urban sprawl at its worst.

 

[Drewcifer]

do you know of any good californian wines that are exported to europe?

Do you know anything about the wine industry in california?

The problem with California wine in Europe (and wine from Oregon and Washington) is that it increases in price by 50% to 100% when it crosses the Atlantic, since most good wineries can sell all the wine they make on the domestic market they don't bother with exporting. The more expensive wines seem to be closer to their American price than the cheaper ones.

That said I've seen some of the better price/quality wines in the Decanter which is a British magazine so I know some make it over there.

These are some wines that are really good for their price in the US, in the UK they are expensive but available and not outrageously overpriced, I would assume you can find them elsewhere in Europe too:

Chappellet produces the cheapest of the great Napa Valley cabernets (Chappellet signature cuvee), it's Chenin Blanc is also excellent, all their wines are good.

http://www.chappellet.com/

Seghesio is made by a family that has been buying Zinfandel vinyards in Sonoma county for the last 100 years. They now make oceans of good stuff.

http://www.seghesio.com/?ck=PNRMSBOGEW&pk=F0CB1F2307

Handley Cellars in the Anderson Valley produces some of the best cool climate wines in California, their Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer are always very good.

http://www.handleycellars.com/index.jsp

 

[Dr.Mindbender]

I got a question that is curious to me that had struck my mind right now. Why is it that California consist almost all the major pornographic companies? Is it because it is a tax haven for them, or something of both taxes and some of their laws that allows them to operate without any interferences by the regulators (bureaucrats) and the legislators from Sacramento or other places where they are headquartered?

 

[downtown]

What exactly are the residency requirements to get instate for the UC system?

Its pretty likely that I'll be moving to Cali in June (either somewhere in the Bay area, or LA), and one of the main reasons I want to move there is the UC system for grad school. Is it 18 months, 2 years, or more?

 

[Shekwan]

I got a question that is curious to me that had struck my mind right now. Why is it that California consist almost all the major pornographic companies? Is it because it is a tax haven for them, or something of both taxes and some of their laws that allows them to operate without any interferences by the regulators (bureaucrats) and the legislators from Sacramento or other places where they are headquartered?

I would imagine it's to do with the fact that the movie industry is centred there.

 

[Dr.Mindbender]

I would imagine it's to do with the fact that the movie industry is centred there.

Why not other places? That was my question aiming for.

 

[Mirc]

Why not other places? That was my question aiming for.

Umm... he means movie industry in general, not porn movie industry in particular. Hollywood?

 

[GoodGame]

Downtown,

According to the UC Berkley website http://registrar.berkeley.edu/Residency/establish.html, it's one year plus you have be financially independent (I assume that equals hold a job), and probably have relinquished the important out of state legal registrations (e.g. car, license, property, state taxes, etc...). I'd assume you could still own property out of state, but I'd assume they'd want you to be at least renting in state.

What exactly are the residency requirements to get instate for the UC system?

Its pretty likely that I'll be moving to Cali in June (either somewhere in the Bay area, or LA), and one of the main reasons I want to move there is the UC system for grad school. Is it 18 months, 2 years, or more?

 

[MrPopov]

I was listening to the news early January when the presidential primaries were beginning and they threw out the idea that California should hold the first primary since it has such a big economy encompassing agriculture, tourism, and high-tech, and since it has the biggest population with big populations of minorities (compared to Iowa and New Hampshire mostly white populations), etc.

What, if anything, can be done to advance this idea?

 

[Sims2789]

In some of my posts, I've discussed my alma mater, Pepperdine University and how I jokingly call it a "Conservative Arts" college.

Well, we were watching a little TV late last night and saw an ad for Prop 8. Prop 8 is a ballot measure that would amend the California constitution to define marriage as 1 man, 1 woman. The add was pro-Prop 8. To give intellectual heft to their anti-gay marriage arguments they had an intellectual elite egghead Law Professor through out a few of their talking point. Well, he's from the Pepperdine Law school (where Ken Starr is the Dean!), further burnishing our fine credentials.

A couple links from disparate (fair and balanced! ) about the ad (only the first one embeds the ad):

OMG LIBERAL PINKOS!
OMG CHRISTIAN FASCISTS!

There are two extremes: One would probably ban hate speech if it could, the other doesn't think the proposition should be on the ballot but criticizes opposition to it. The perfect middle ground is allowing same-sex couples to receive marriage licenses and be fully protected under the state constitution's equal protection clause.

 

[.Shane.]

There are two extremes: One would probably ban hate speech if it could, the other doesn't think the proposition should be on the ballot but criticizes opposition to it. The perfect middle ground is allowing same-sex couples to receive marriage licenses and be fully protected under the state constitution's equal protection clause.

I think I get what you're saying, but what you've written is fairly muddled. Care to elaborate?

 

[mrt144]

Shane, is California worse off without me living there now?

 

[.Shane.]

Shane, is California worse off without me living there now?

Well, now that we have gay marriage the whole state is descending into anarchy and chaos. Just last week the sodomites ran through my town! It was horrific! They redecorated homes! They forced us to listed to Judy Garland records! They took my wife and some of her girlfriends to a club and didn't date rape them!

THE HORROR!