3 more things about fall colors in LA

NEWS ITEM A hike through Arroyo Seco will find a range of fall foliage.

• • • LA.MetBlogs.com -- Frazgo says how he's at last figured out a SoCal fall, and provides a foto of (just guessing) an elm, ash, liquidambar and crape myrtle, foreground to background.

• • • LATimes -- Mary Forgione hiked Icehouse Canyon.

• • • Daily News -- Andy Holzman shot liquidambar.

3 more things about prophecies

NEWS ITEM "2012" movie destroys the world, timing pegged on Mayan calendar.

• • • Ron Weinland -- Ever-evolving date for Second Coming is now set for May 27, 2012.

• • • John Hogue -- Problems surrounding Palestine and India will either erupt or be solved this year.

• • • Tim McHyde -- There's a star that will pass through the solar system that will make the year 360 days long; that happens in 2015.

3 more things with Sparks

NEWS ITEM FDA may ban caffeinated alcohol; Beer-maker decaffeinated Sparks last year.

• • • Basketball -- Newly retired Sparks superstar Lisa Leslie will be feted at a Lakers/Pistons game on Nov 17.

• • • Band -- Almost impossible to describe how influential the Mael brothers have been, despite some of the most astute people in music literally betting against them.

• • • Burg -- They're aiming for sustainability.

3 more things about murals

NEWS ITEM Muralist takes on health care.

• • • Sunrise -- Mural made of recycled tile.

• • • Michael Jackson -- Kent Twitchell got to exhibit some of his aborted mural project last Spring.

• • • U.S. Justice Dept. -- 50 Depression-era murals tell an American story.

3 more things about beauty queens

NEWS ITEM Miss England loses crown after bar fight.

• • • Carrie Prejean, ex-Miss California -- Didn't do her job, got herself fired, sued, got herself countersued for the costs of her breast impants, settled for lawyer fees for fear of her sex tape being released; a round-up of other marginal types: kidnappers, substance abusers, provocative models, brawlers and attempted murderers.

• • • A Rhodes Scholar finalist -- She was also Miss America '05.

• • • Kids -- There's something kinda creepy about these.

3 more things about evolution

NEWS ITEM Examples of humans still amid evolution

• • • H1N1 -- If influenza didn't evolve, it might well be extinct.

• • • Beauty -- Author asserts aesthetics are a side affect of our drive to survive.

• • • Deniers -- The lyrics show that people who don't understand the facts are quick to dismiss the basics; a snippet:

"Your uncle was a monkey, he was swinging through the trees,
he lived on green bannanas, and his arms swung to his knees.
He spoke with such conviction, it really made me think,
Maybe my teacher, He's the missing link!
He said...
I believe in evolution,
ask me no questions, I'll tell you no lies."

3 more things about men in skirts

NEWS ITEM Yet another way to confound school dress codes.

• • • Scots

• • • Priests

• • • Maori

3 more things about mass killings

NEWS ITEM Military psychiatrist loses his mind, kills 12 GIs.

• • • Ft. Hood Texas murderer -- listed as a workplace killing, where he's tied for 3rd.

• • • Luby's Cafeteria -- nearby Killeen saw a similar eruption of violence.

• • • Women -- far more likely to be victims than killers, except...

3 more things about zombies

NEWS ITEM Before "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" things were dreadful.

• • • Zombie Squad-- on the list of survivalist groups, because if a zombie attack isn't a crisis, then nothing is.

• • • Creating zombies -- Haiti made it illegal in 1835

• • • Of course there's a musical -- "A new musical that will eat your face off!" -- no relation to Rod Argent's band.

3 more things about trees

NEWS ITEM Man builds tree houses, that is, houses out of whole trees.

• • • David Sibley -- who redefined the bird identification book, turns to trees.

• • • Calaveras Big Tree State Park -- skyscraper tall, older than Carthage, northeast of Stockton.

• • • Arbor Day Foundation -- join and get 10 free trees.

3 more things threatened by climate change

NEWS ITEM Story should be updated, republished as "Some Soggy Spot on Kilimanjaro"...?

• • • Fish -- trout and salmon need cold water.

• • • Plants -- cool-weather plants creep north; warm-weather crops face crisis.

• • • Skeptics -- Facts keep piling up against them.

3 more examples of posturing

NEWS ITEM Something vaguely familiar about the imagery and how evocative it is

• • • Michael Flatley -- lord of a type







• • • Michael Phelps -- didn't get acclaim for walking on water.




• • • W -- really, what's more to say?

3 more productions with incredibly short titles

NEWS ITEM Remake of '83 mini-series debuts, still not based on Thomas Pynchon novel.

• • • "O" -- rethinking "Othello."

• • • "Z" -- political turmoil in Greece.

• • • "M" -- one of the best movies of all time tells of criminals hunting a child-killer when police fail.

3 more things to know about sleep amid time change

NEWS ITEM The reason it seems like time change screws you up, is because it does

• • • Almost 30% of Americans aren't getting enough Zs.

• • • Sleeplessness makes you stupiditier.

• • • You can sleep when you retire (sleep is medicine).

3 more reasons to love the internet

CONTEXT A reader asks for a mashup of the themes of this blog: "I want to see the overlap of pop culture, gardening and trivia, perhaps in the form of topiary."

• • • Disney

• • • Sesame Street

• • • Beatles

3 more inappropriate Halloween costumes

NEWS ITEM It's not like the "illegal alien" pun was so good anyway

• • • Nothing confuses the terms "trick or treat" like sexualizing children

• • • RW terrorism, did you light that jack o' lantern with a burning cross?

• • • Is it Christmas already?

3 more musicians who didn't die from a gun, drugs or a crash

NEWS ITEM Folk singer eaten by coyotes

• • •Yardbirds' Keith Relf -- electrocuted playing guitar in tub

• • •Fairport Convention's Sandy Denny -- brain hemorrhage after a fall down stairs

• • • Carpenters' Karen Carpenter-- effects of anorexia

3 more sources to address wind damage in your landscape

NEWS ITEM LA buffeted by 70 MPH winds

• • • Prevention is better than cure

• • • Windburn is when gusts wick moisture from leaves

• • • Expert's last resort to keeping some plants alive: death threats

3 more reasons to like the Lakers

NEWS ITEM The Road to Repeat

• • • Kar33m; 6 rings, 6 MVPs, 2 Finals MVP, 15 yrs All-NBA team (10 1st team, 5 2nd team), 11yrs All-NBA defense team (5 1st team, 6 2nd team), 38,387 points, 17,440 rebounds, 3,189 blocks, 5,660 assists-- author of 6 books

• • • Magic; 5 rings, 3 MVPs, 3 Finals MVP, 10yrs All-NBA team (9 1st team, 1 2nd team), 17,707 points, 6,669 rebounds, 10,141 assists -- '81-'82 season: 700+ points, 700+ rebounds, 700+ assists

• • • Mr Clutch; 1 ring, 1 Finals MVP (in a yr they didn't win), 10yrs All-NBA team (8 1st team, 2 2nd team), 3yrs All-NBA defense team, 25,192 points, 5,366 rebounds, 6,238 assists -- generally considered the best GM in the history of the game

3 more Christmas albums by Members of the Tribe

NEWS ITEM Bob Dylan's Christmas record "bad for Jews"

• • • Barbra Streisand

• • • Kenny G

• • • Neil Diamond

3 more things about undoing one's brother

NEWS ITEM Castro's sister says she worked with the CIA

• • • Unabomber

• • • Top Chef

• • • Cain and Abel

3 more photo stories

NEWS ITEM Windows 7 upgrade leaves Photo Story behind... so far

• • • Women at war via LIFE

• • • Package of photo packages

• • • Harrassing shooters, follow the on-going saga at Boing-Boing where comments include an un-ironic call for a flash mob of fotogs

3 more bio-pics about pilots

NEWS ITEM Hillary Swank to crash Amelia Earhart

• • • Fred MacMurray crashes as Eddie Rickenbacker (also made "Dive Bomber" "Thirteen Hours by Air" which both pivot around mid-air mishaps plus "Flight for Freedom" which is a thinly disguised Earhart fiction)

• • • Jimmy Stewart as Charles Lindbergh (where he bails out of crashing plane)

• • • Leonardo DiCaprio crashes as Howard Hughes

3 more collections of euphemisms for death

NEWS ITEM Taser maker warns of "adverse cardiac event."

• • • Via Listology, highlight: "Mortified."

• • • A list of lists (currently Stygian), highlight (from a list of internet euphemisms for death): "Clicked the bucket."

• • • For mystery writers, highlight: "Moved into upper management."

3 more stories of bad news for news

Follow the news: NewspaperDeathWatch.com
• • • Mexico is bad for reporters.

• • • NYTimes to make staff cuts (which raises stock by 7%)

• • • GOP Congressional candidate calls police on reporter for asking questions

3 more people who aren't who they seem to be

NEWS ITEM Howard Stern faces charges in death of Anna Nicole Smith

• • • Joe Jackson -- neither music great nor baseball legend

• • • John Madden -- director not football coach and commentator

• • • Jerry West -- children's author not basketball great

3 more stories about bicycling

• • • A memoir

• • • In Vermont

• • • Injuries

3 more looks into darkness

NEWS ITEM Hospitals admit mistakes and avoid lawsuits

• • • CommonTies.com they have a book deal

• • • GroupHug.us now also real-time posts

• • • PostSecret.blogspot.com there 5 books now

3 more folks who take grammar seriously, for good or goof

NEWS ITEM William Safire, grammerian in chief, dies

• • • Fake AP Stylebook

• • • Red Pen

• • • Copyslot on Facebook and the Blog

3 more magazines the world could still use

• • • Wigwag

• • • GEO

• • • Icon Thoughtsyle

3 more websites worth the time you give them

CONTEXT Microsoft's search engine

• • • TED -- Presentations from the Technology Entertainment Design conferences, smartest in their fields talk to each other

• • • Fark -- Site of aggregated content that serves your inner 12-year-old

• • • BoingBoing-- Newest, biggest, weirdest, wrongest, futurist

3 more things to do after the rain

• • • Check for soil erosion in your yard. Be it a little or a lot, it's never good. If everyone lost just a cupful of dirt into the gutter during a rain, that'd be a lot of dirt. If you have a slope of any size at all, check it out and do something about it: ground cover plants, mulch, retaining walls, wattles, rip rap, gabions, terraces.

Whether your slope is 80degrees over 80 feet, or 8degrees over 8 inches, keep that dirt on your property.

• • • Turn off your sprinklers. Really. Nothing announces to you neighbors that "I have no clue about the world around me" than to water anything right after the rain.

• • • Spread seeds. Pick an empty lot, a bare spot in your garden, or anyplace that would benefit from some California golden poppies. In your lawn, spread rose clover-- it's fairly drought tolerant and low maintenance and good for the soil.

3 more things with 3s

• • • The Three Stooges

• • • Three Dog Night

• • • Three Doors Down