Cheshire Cat Photo Blog (... said the Cat: 'we're all mad here....')

National park beaches: Best of the West

Bill — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 05:25:31 +0000

I just skimmed a CNN Travel article about 10 of the best beaches in national parks of the U.S. West, and I decided to write about them, because 6 out of 10 are in California! Go figure!

The article was originally from Sunset, one of the best companions for western living.

Besides, if you ever tire of beaches in the NATIONAL parks, you can always check out California’s wonderful “state beaches” and hundreds of other beaches too numerous to mention.

So without further ado, here are the 6 from California. I will leave it to my friend Peter in Hawaii to talk about the one there. The CNN article includes comments about sights to see at the beaches, phone numbers to call, and any fees that may apply.

Best lazy float: Yosemite National Park – The two main beaches along the Merced in Yosemite Valley, Cathedral and Sentinel, are great places to take your trusty “inner tube.” one of the best things left out of tubeless tires! Or… take the Merced by raft! Rent a raft (holds 4-6 people) at Curry Village Recreation Center and FLOAT the 3 miles to Sentinel Beach! The $26 fee includes the shuttle service back to the starting point.

Best for surf and sun: Santa Monica Mountains National Recreational Area – El Matador (PDF), one of the three state beaches that comprise Robert H. Meyer Memorial State Beach (Yeah, I have never heard of it, either! Although a DIFFERENT Rob Meyer was a friend of mine in graduate school….) is a gem at the foot of sandstone cliffs and accessed by a dirt trail and stairway! El Matador has surfing and bodyboarding, and the sea caves on shore are favorites with photographers. The article also recommends taking sunset photos at El Matador.

Best for solitude (even on weekends): Point Reyes National Seashore – Most visitors to Point Reyes are unaware of Limantour Beach and miss the turn at Limantour Road, on their way out to the lighthouse, North Beach, or Drakes Beach (which has a visitors center and café. Too bad! My photograph at the beginning of this entry is from near the end of Limantour Spit, at the extreme northwest end of THE ROUGHLY SEVEN MILES of Limantour Beach! Or… walk your dog on the SOUTHERN end from the parking lot…. Limantour Spit can be windy, and there are both rip currents and sharks. Neither of these stopped two folks kiteboarding off the spit the day we were there (you can see them, WAY in the background, in the photo above). The article also notes the birds and harbor seals at the protected end of the spit, since so few humans “make the trek.”

Best for thinking really, really big: Redwood National Park – OK, Sunset cheated on this one… the place that they describe is OFFICIALLY in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, but the beach is cooperatively managed by California State Parks and the surrounding Redwood National Park. What are the things to see? Gold Bluffs Beach, Roosevelt elk (America’s largest elk) grazing in meadows (by the way, there are also elk at Point Reyes, in the area west of Tomales Bay), and Fern Canyon….

Best for a city stroll: Golden Gate National Recreational Area – The article discusses Crissy Field, an historic Army airfield that was transformed into “a native plant-lined beach oasis.” Yes, the place has great people (“jogging moms with strollers, kitesurfers, picnickers, dog walkers, cyclists, fishermen, and 8-year-olds letting the cool bay water lap their toes”), great coffee, and a view of the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. Other treats…? Book browsing at the Warming Hut and Let’s Be Frank’s superior grass-fed beef hot dogs from the cart outside the Warming Hut…. But don’t be fooled…. the Golden Gate National Recreational Area is a COLLECTION of areas scattered around the Golden Gate, and not just Crissy Field.

Best escape from reality: Channel Islands National Park – Hey, reality has not always been so good during the last several years. Why not escape? The article suggests taking a catamaran (everyone owns one of these, right? ) across the Santa Barbara Channel to Scorpion Anchorage on Santa Cruz Island. The trip will take an hour and your troubles and worries can drip from you into the sea during that passage. Just in case you don’t own your OWN catamaran (I don’t), the article recommends Island Packers boats leaving from Ventura Harbor at $48, round trip. The pretty beach that you will find is your base for snorkeling the kelp forests (my friend Peter, mentioned above, has utterly WONDERFUL underwater photos [yes, by SCUBA: he is a dive master] of the kelp forests off the Channel Islands. You can also kayak past the dark cliffs and sea caves of the island. The article cautions you NOT TO MISS the short hike from the beach up Smugglers Road to the high bluff and the stand of cypress trees known as Delphine’s Grove, with its sweeping panoramic views of the ocean and sounds of wind in the branches.

Shall I repeat a well-kept secret of California? It’s NOT TOO LATE to GO! October is actually a wonderful beach month in California (September is “no slouch,” either!), with sunny, warm days and more clearing at the beaches than we see in the summer.

Go for it!

-Bill at

Cheshire Cat Photo™ – “Your Guide to California’s Wonderland™”

You can view higher-resolution photos (*generally* 7-30 megabytes, compressed) at the Cheshire Cat Photo™ Pro Gallery on Shutterfly™, where you can also order prints and gifts decorated with the photos of your choice from the gallery. The Cheshire Cat Photo Store on Zazzle contains a wide variety of apparel and gifts decorated with our images of California. Framed prints and prints on canvas can be ordered from our galleries on redbubble®. All locations are accessible from here. Be a “Facebook Fan” of Cheshire Cat Photo here! If you don’t see what you want or would be on our email list for updates, send us an email at info@cheshirecatphoto.com.

A cougar dies in Berkeley

Bill — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 02:02:54 +0000

Three Berkeley police officers shot and killed a 100-pound female mountain lion behind a home in the 1600 block of Walnut Street in a residential area of Berkeley today, just blocks from Chez Panisse restaurant, the flagship Peet’s Coffee store, the Cheese Board Collective and other businesses along busy Shattuck Avenue in North Berkeley.

The mountain lion had been running through the heart of Berkeley for about a hour. Police consulted with the Department of Fish and Game, according to TV news. The mountain lion was determined to be a public safety threat.

This was not the first time that mountain lions have been killed in urban areas: in Palo Alto in 2004 and in Pleasanton in 2006.

The SFGate.com article has details of the mountain lion incident today. SFGate.com also has a collection of stories about mountain lions in the Bay Area.

-Bill at

Cheshire Cat Photo™ – “Your Guide to California’s Wonderland™”

CA Legislature keeps voting ’til they get it WRONG!

Bill — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 14:38:11 +0000

It is the last day of the legislative session at the State Capitol in Sacramento. (Say “Halleluah!”)

No, the California Legislature has still not passed a budget! Which is over 50 days overdue….

However, the Legislature has WASTED TIME taking SEVEN votes (SO FAR!) on AB1810 (which would require long gun [rifle and shotgun] registration and AB1934 (which would criminalize the “open” [unconcealed] carrying of UNLOADED handguns).

The two bills FAILED SEVEN VOTES, but the State Legislature keeps putting the bills “ON CALL” so they can bring them up at any time (once they have “twisted enough arms”). (Note added later August 31, 2010: I’ve tried hard to remember state legislators doing this [multiple votes] in other states in which I’ve lived, and I’ve come up “empty.” If anyone lives in another state in which legislators do this, please let me know!)

All this after two recent U.S. Supreme Court Decisions, that latter of which stated that “The Second Amendment provides Americans a fundamental right to bear arms that cannot be violated by state and local governments….”

Those who value their Second Amendment Rights can call and thank the Republicans and the following Democrats for opposing AB1810: Correa, Ducheny, Florez, Negrete McLeod, and Wright

(I’ll thank them publicly RIGHT HERE!)

and ask Florez and Ducheny to VOTE NO on AB1934.

Please CALL [Phone: (916) 651-4032] and FAX [(916) 445-0128] Senator Gloria Negrete McLeod, and thank her for her votes and politely ask her to continue to oppose these bills.

Remind ALL Legislators to VOTE NO on AB2358.

In California, oftentimes we don’t have to worry about terrorists or foreign governments. Sometimes the greatest threats to our liberties work in Sacramento, much closer to home.

(Note added even later on August 31, 2010: As expected today, the extremist Republicans and the extremist Democrats in the California Legislature each proposed a budget today, neither of which passed. The two parties are roughly $4 billion apart. News media reported that this year may break the record for the longest time without a budget, past the deadline. The left-leaning TV media in the Bay Area made no mention of all of the legislative time wasted on issues like those above.)

(Note added September 2, 2010: Some of you will be DELIGHTED by some news that I received from a state representative in Sacramento; others of you will be INCENSED that you have been unable to strip people of their Constitutional Rights until another “goofy” California law is reversed by judges on appeal.

“FAILED: AB 1810, which would require California residents to register their shotguns and rifles in addition to their handguns, and would require law enforcement to permanently keep records of anyone who buys a gun from a dealer or an individual.

Though this bill passed out of the Assembly, the Senate failed to gain enough votes of support before the 12:00am deadline.

More Information: http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2010/08/bill-requiring-shotgun-and-rif.htmlrequiring-shotgun-and-rif.html

FAILED: AB 1934, which would make it an offense to carry firearms openly in holsters.

This bill went through many revisions. Though it initially passed out of the Assembly and then the Senate with amendments, the Assembly failed to approve these amendments before the 12:00am deadline.

More Information: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/09/01/2998092/assembly-session-ends-in-acrimony.html

FAILED: AB 2223, which would prohibit the possession or use of any shotgun shell loaded with anything other than nontoxic shot when hunting.

This bill passed through the Assembly but failed to get through the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee.”

If you read the Sacramento Bee article about AB 1934, you find out that EVEN the “Tyranny of the Majority” doesn’t work if the Majority is incompetent. All the better for those of us who cherish our Constitutional Rights and for the representatives who abide by their oath of office and defend the Constitution of the United States of America.

And YOU thought that the California Legislature was working on a BUDGET! You really should KNOW better by now! The “Amazing California Debt Meter is spinning at over $3 billion right now! )

-Bill at

Cheshire Cat Photo™ – “Your Guide to California’s Wonderland™”

Yipe! Cisco might buy Skype? :-(

Bill — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 23:54:52 +0000

Oh, I’m sorry. Did I let my feelings show in the title?

CNET cites a TechCrunch report that:

“Cisco has made an offer to acquire Skype before they complete their IPO process, says one of our more reliable sources. We have not been able to confirm this rumor one way or another via other sources, which isn’t surprising. A company in lock down during the IPO process is usually even more tight lipped than normal.”

Skype hopes for a valuation of around $5 billion in its IPO, according to TechCrunch, so Cisco would have to offer at least this price to make the offer attractive. Although Cisco typically makes smaller purchases, it spent, for example, $6.5 billion on the cable set-top box maker Scientific Atlanta in 2005. Skype has 560 million registered users, with 124 million active users who use it every month.

Cisco would likely want to incorporate Skype’s voice over IP (VoIP) and video technology into its existing products, such as its Unified Communications suite of products or its collaboration service from WebEX (Cisco bought WebEX for $3.2 billion in 2007). Yes, I cried at the WebEX acquisition, too. But it looks as though they may be doing OK….

I often rode my motorcycle along Tasman Drive through “CiscoLand” when I worked at Sun Micro’s Santa Clara campus (at the site of the former Agnews Developmental Center, a psychiatric and medical care facility now located in San Jose).

I have seen firsthand what happens to small, brilliantly creative companies when they are acquired by larger companies. It’s usually not pretty.

Sometimes, I even feel sorry for the staff of stodgy, mind-numbingly regimented companies that get acquired. After all, it’s not the fault of the staff….

-Bill at

Cheshire Cat Photo™ – “Your Guide to California’s Wonderland™”

A few MORE words about demographics

Bill — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 03:24:37 +0000

I noted with a lot of interest a news report last night that the population of the U.S. is currently “not replacing itself.” That is, with the current birth rate, the population of the U.S. will decrease. (Those of you who think this would be a GOOD thing are not thinking about TAXES.)

Today, CNN noted that the number of babies born in the United States last year dropped 2.6% to 13.5 births per every 1,000 people, from 13.9 births in 2008 and 14.3 births in 2007.

Way back in November of 2007, I wrote a blog entry entitled, “A few words about demographics,” that discussed the retirement of the “Baby Boomer,” the large increase in people who will be collecting Social Security (“… by 2030, Social Security’s caseload will be 84 million people [up from 50 million today] and Medicare will go from 44 million current beneficiaries to 79 million…), and that in 2030, according to the article I cited, “…there will barely be more than two workers paying payroll taxes for every retiree.”

Well, that was BEFORE we knew about falling birth rates! Looks like there may be FEWER than two workers supporting each retiree, especially when offshoring and layoffs of workers in their 50s and late 40s are considered. Imagine their PAYROLL taxes! (And OTHER taxes….)

Business, for its part, has been PROLONGING the recession (the percentages of unemployed in both the U.S. [9.5%] and in California [12.3%] have not changed in the last two months) by using accumulated cash to purchase foreign goods and services instead of hiring American workers.

The CNN article about birth rate cites Andrew Cherlin, a sociology professor at Johns Hopkins University:

“The birth rate is falling because of the Great Recession. When people are unsure of their financial future, they tend to postpone having children,” Cherlin told CNN.

“It’s stronger now than in the last couple of recessions because this is a stronger recession,” he added.

Cherlin noted that some of the women postponing having children now will have them later, and some never will. Cherlin predicts that the U.S. will experience, again, the percentage seen in the Great Depression, in which approximately 20% of women NEVER had children.

The number of babies born in the U.S. dropped to 4,136,000 in 2009, from 4,247,000 in 2008.

So… it looks as though birth rate will combine with business ineptitude to make the coming train wreck of supporting retiring Baby Boomers much worse. (Not to mention projected labor shortages and the inability of retirees to serve as markets for goods and services….)

Business should start to worry about that train wreck… right now.

-Bill at

Cheshire Cat Photo™ – “Your Guide to California’s Wonderland™”

New Canon telephoto lenses!

Bill — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 03:59:50 +0000

On Friday, Canon announced that it will show prototypes of new supertelephoto lenses of 500mm and 600mm focal lengths. The prototypes are officially called the EF500mm f/4L IS II USM and EF600mm f/4L IS II USM and are second-generation successors to the current products, which were introduced in July and September 1999, respectively. The improvements seem to be similar to those recently brought to the 300mm and 400mm lenses, including better image quality, better image stabilization, and lighter weight.

As reported by CNET, Canon said:

“Employing fluorite and other special optical materials to correct for a variety of aberrations, the lenses aim to realize high-resolution, high-contrast imaging performance in a lighter-weight body design.”

The weight loss is achieved in part by the elimination of two ultra-low dispersion glass elements and one fluorite element in favor of two fluorite elements. The new 300mm and 40mm lenses are 8% and 28% lighter, respectively, than their predecessors.

Other changes include a sharper image, less chromatic aberration, and better contrast. An oil- and water-repellent fluorine coating has been added to outside surfaces and sub-wavelength structure coating (SWC) internally to reduce ghosting and flare.

The 300mm and 400mm lenses cost $7,000 and $11,000, respectively, so anyone who wants to buy me one is more than welcome! A Canon video showing the manual labor in lens assembly explains the cost.

Two other Canon lenses introduced this week are the EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM lens ($1,400 in January) and the EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM lens ($1,500 in October), which covers a wider range than most higher-end telephoto zooms, but its aperture is a narrow f5.6 when fully zoomed.

Two third-generation telephoto extenders were also introduced: the Canon Extender EF 1.4x III and Canon Extender EF 2x III, which will cost about $500 when they go on sale in December.

The above discussion may help to explain the prices of images taken by professional photographers (in addition to things like high California taxes, high gallery commissions, and business costs [ranging from business insurance to phone service to computers and software for photographic image processing, databases, and accounting]).

-Bill at

Cheshire Cat Photo™ – “Your Guide to California’s Wonderland™”

Gmail: 1 million phone calls on first day

Bill — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 04:02:15 +0000

Pent-up demand…? Disruptive innovation…?

Something that you need, for FREE, from someone you might “trust” maybe just a bit more than your telecommunications carrier…?

Google launched the ability to make voice calls to any “traditional” phone number on Wednesday using a blend of Gmail and Google Voice technology. Over 1 million calls were placed from Gmail in just 24 hours!

CNN says:

“For comparison, there are somewhat more than 300 million people in the United States. If the average person makes 10 calls per day–research in 2008 put the number at 208 calls per month–that means about one out of every 3,000 calls in the U.S. went through the service on its first day.”

The technology allows outgoing calls from your computer and reception of incoming calls through your Google Voice number. The service allows free calls in the U.S. and Canada through 2010, and at low cost with other countries.

-Bill at

Cheshire Cat Photo™ – “Your Guide to California’s Wonderland™”

Here we go again! Back to the Mojave Desert!

Bill — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 06:07:05 +0000

The California Energy Commission (CEC) yesterday approved plans to build a 250-megawatt Beacon Solar Energy thermal solar plant at the western edge of the Mojave Desert, 15 miles north of the town of Mojave (at WGS84 35° 3′ 9″ N, 118° 10′ 26″ W), itself. The solar farm will cover about 2,012 acres in Kern County, and may be just the first of many to be approved before the end of this year!

The Beacon project may be the first solar thermal project to be built in California in 20 years. Two years ago, CEC granted “a certificate to construct and operate” the Victorville 2 Hybrid Power Plant that included over 250 acres of parabolic solar-thermal collectors that would generate 50 megawatts. The hybrid natural gas and solar plant was to be built on the site of the former George Air Force Base, but the project is on hold while private investors are sought, since the city no longer has the funds needed to complete the project.

Prior to that project, the last solar thermal plant to be approved, “… on February 14, 1990, was a combination solar thermal and natural gas plant near Harper Dry Lake in San Bernardino County. It went operational in November 1990 and is owned by a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources.”

Beside the Beacon project, CEC should vote “yes or no” on about a DOZEN large-scale projects that involve solar thermal energy before the end of 2010! The reason for the rush is that a Treasury grant program and the Department of Energy renewable-energy loan-guarantee program BOTH are scheduled to expire at the end of the year.

The Beacon project did not require Bureau of Land Management (BLM) approval, since it will be developed completely on private land. Other projects, which would be built on Mojave Desert preserve lands will require BLM approval. BLM has received requests for approval of 34 different solar thermal projects, totalling 24,000 megawatts and covering over 300,000 acres of the Mojave Desert.

CEC and BLM have signed a memorandum of understanding (PDF) to form a joint review process to cope with the influx of requests. BLM has jurisdiction over 264 million acres of public lands.

-Bill at

Cheshire Cat Photo™ – “Your Guide to California’s Wonderland™”

Cyber Command in a nutshell

Bill — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 05:19:50 +0000

No offense intended…. And I won’t describe the details here, since the original essay asked for registration to even READ it… so you have to go elsewhere to open the nutshell.

Although there are many interesting things going on today, including the new ability to make phone calls through Gmail, I think that CNET’s Elinor Mills correctly identified one of the most IMPORTANT articles of the day, an essay in Foreign Affairs entitled “Defending a New Domain: The Pentagon’s Cyberstrategy” (free registration is required to read the entire essay), by William J. Lynn III, Deputy Secretary of Defense.

The CNET article focused on a major security breach disclosed in the essay - a malware-ridden flash drive that was inserted into a laptop at a U.S. military base in the Middle East in 2008 that led to the “most significant breach of” the nation’s military computers ever. The malware uploaded itself to the U.S. Central Command network and spread undetected on both classified and unclassified computers to establish a “digital beachhead” from which data could be transferred to computers under foreign control. The previously classified incident, and the Pentagon’s counterattack, Operation Buckshot Yankee, were a wake-up call. Lynn says that the malicious code on the flash drive was placed there by a “foreign intelligence agency.” (Note added August 30, 2010: “Friend” or “Foe…?” )

Since Lynn’s essay in Foreign Affairs asks for registration in order to read its contents, I will not circumvent that registration requirement here. Please read the original essay if you wish to learn any specifics beyond those divulged in the CNET article.

The essay names one computer technology company that Lynn thinks the Defense Department should emulate with regard to risk-mitigation strategies to detect malicious code. I disagree. I believe in “track records” and do not believe that company to be a good model (IMHO). Since Lynn’s essay quotes the Albert Einstein letter to President Franklin Roosevelt warning Roosevelt of the possible development of an atomic bomb, I will respond to that discouraging suggestion with another quote attributed to Einstein: “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” We need to learn from our mistakes, including the ones that allowed easy propagation of the malware on that flash drive above.

Lynn also went into specifics about current cycle times for projects, and how they need to be shortened. I was AMAZED at how long they are currently, and I agree that they MUST be shortened.

(Note added August 26, 2010: Some of Lynn’s statements were very interesting to me, especially in terms of an upcoming purchase of VeriSign’s “security business” by Symantec, and in terms of the VeriSign parts left “behind.”)

I found Lynn’s background as a Senior Vice President of Government Operations and Strategy at Raytheon, and as a lobbyist for Raytheon, to be interesting, in view of Lynn’s nomination and approval (Lynn said that he would sell all of his Raytheon stock), his essay, and Raytheon’s involvement in “Perfect Citizen.”

There is a section of the essay involved with “human capital.” Since dealing with humans is perhaps the weakest skill set of those in upper management (being, generally, Myers-Briggs “Thinking-Judging” types), I would like to mention a potential weakness in the plan, so that it can be remedied, if remediation is not already underway through HIRING.

There is a theory that, for software development, you need (for want of a better description) ONE “hippy programmer” for every 10 “grunt programmers” (no offense meant to any programmers out there). The “hippy programmer” is one who is struck with flashes of creative brilliance, and the “grunt programmers” are the folks who each write 80 lines of code daily to implement that brilliance. I do not see that Lynn’s plan allows for incorporation of the “hippy programmer.” I am not one myself (nor am I a grunt ), but I have had the extreme pleasure to have worked with many of them. Many of them have long hair (or NONE! ), beards (usually not the women ), unconventional attire and/or life styles, etc., but they are the folks the Defense Department needs to “think outside of the box” in attacking defended systems, and in preparation of creative defenses against people like themselves. (I agree with essay statements about “numbers” versus “quality.”)

I do not think that you can “train” someone to be creative, or to be a creative “hacker.” (Actually, I KNOW that you can’t, but it is sometimes hard to prove to opinionated folks. ) Especially, I do not believe that you can take someone from a very regimented, homogeneous environment and “retrain” them to be a creative hacker. Please, for the good of the country, try to recruit and retain these non-mainstream individuals, EVEN if you have to introduce the flexibility of an “Apple-like” or “Netscape-like” or “Google-like” environment to do so. (By the way, many of them would become hostile if you called them “human capital” to their faces! I know that I would.)

Well, that’s about all I can say without going into specifics. Please read Elinor Mills’ article and Mr. Lynn’s excellent, deep, and vague essay. And try to read between the lines….

-Bill at

Cheshire Cat Photo™ – “Your Guide to California’s Wonderland™”

CA July 2010 unemployment same at 12.3%

Bill — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 02:51:08 +0000

Business, it’s time to step up and put your money where your mouth is. The economy will not come back until you hire American workers, so that they can spend (and become one of your markets, again).

The California Employment Development Department (EDD) released the latest unemployment numbers for July 2010 on August 20. The unemployment rate was the same as June’s, 12.3%, and nonfarm payroll jobs actually DECREASED by 9,400 during the month. The job losses were mostly in governement employment, temporary Census jobs, whereas private nonfarm payrolls grew by 13,700 jobs.

The U.S. unemployment rate was also unchanged in July at 9.5%. In June of 2009, California’s unemployment rate was 11.8%. The number of people unemployed in California was 2,251,000, which was up by 100,000 from July 2009.

The EDD report describes the employment situation in various industry divisions and categories as follows:

“Five industry divisions (mining and logging; information; professional and business services; educational and health services; and other services) posted job gains over the year, adding 65,400 jobs. Educational and health services recorded the largest increase over the year on both a numerical and percentage basis, up 35,500 jobs (a 2.0 percent increase).

Six categories (construction; manufacturing; trade, transportation and utilities; financial activities; leisure and hospitality; and government) posted job declines over the year, down 169,200 jobs. Construction employment showed the largest decline over the year on both a numerical and percentage basis, down by 54,300 jobs (a decline of 9.1 percent).”

Some 23 California counties had unemployment rates of 15.0% or greater in July, with Imperial County leading the list at 30.3%.

(Note added later August 24, 2010: If you would like to read some of the same old business platitudes about being taxed too much [and we really probably ARE - certainly in California] you can read Intel’s Otellini’s comments here. One interesting comment in the article is from Chris Marangi, associate portfolio manager at Gamco Investors that, “Capital is agnostic. It doesn’t have a religion. It doesn’t have a philosophy. It goes where it finds the highest returns.” The problem, Marangi said, is that many other “countries have a more friendly regulatory regime than we do.” That is really not the PROBLEM at all. If capital is agnostic (and it is), then businesses that are ruled ONLY by searching for the highest returns are of necessity parasitic upon the country that harbors them. Such businesses must move like locusts from one area that they have stripped clean to another with “higher returns.” [Hey! This could also explain the political aspirations of some failed business CEOs! ] I have seen this behavior firsthand in my life with the movement of businesses from Midwestern areas during union-busting activities. I imagine that not only U.S. tax rates, but also things like OSHA and child-labor laws in the U.S. must really “cramp the style” of such free-wheeling “free market” companies [some of which are directly responsible for plunging the world into the recession that we are attempting to exit]. No, it is not tax rate or regulations but GREED that is the underlying problem. [I will have to refer readers once again to the award-winning film, "The Corporation."] Businesses that are moved by intelligence and observation rather than by models and platitudes understand their responsibilities to the community, country, and world, of which they are a part, and not SOLELY their responsibilities to their stockholders, to whom they are primarily responsible.)

(Note added August 25, 2010: As I drifted off to sleep last night, I thought about the question, “Is capital really ‘agnostic?’” Perhaps so, in the sense in which it was used above. Or perhaps it is a religion in itself….)

-Bill at

Cheshire Cat Photo™ – “Your Guide to California’s Wonderland™”

Ansel Adams trust sues over contested negatives

Bill — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 04:15:23 +0000

The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust filed a lawsuit in federal district court in San Francisco today against Rick Norsigian and consulting firm PRS Media Partners. The suit seeks to prevent Norsigian and the consulting firm from using Ansel Adams’ name, likeness, and trademark to sell prints and posters not authorized or endorsed by the Trust.

As you remember from our last exciting episode, glass negatives purchased at a garage sale by Fresno painter, Rick Norsigian, 10 years ago, are believed by some to be lost works of Ansel Adams, worth an estimated $200 million. However, Ansel Adams’ grandson, Matthew Adams, and William Turnage, the managing trustee of the Trust, questioned the authenticity of the find.

According to the San Jose Mercury News online, the lawsuit today alleges trademark infringement, false advertising, trademark dilution, unfair competition, and contains other claims. The lawsuit does not specify damages. but it asks the court to pay restitution from their profits of any sales, as well as award any other monetary relief.

The suit states that there is “substantial evidence” that suggests the negatives to be the work of another photographer, Earl Brooks, whose niece announced that she had a photo of her uncle’s that looked identical to one of the negatives.

The Mercury News article has many other relevant details.

Ansel Adams established the Trust in 1976 to protect the integrity of his work. His print, “Clearing Winter Storm, Yosemite National Park” brought $722,500 at auction in New York this summer, which is a record for 20th century photography.

-Bill at

Cheshire Cat Photo™ – “Your Guide to California’s Wonderland™”

3-year-old girl saves dad’s life in Manteca

Bill — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 02:06:10 +0000

After Frank Tafoya accidentally took a mixture of medicines that he should not have, a mixture that made him collapse and would have killed him without prompt medical attention, his 3-year-old daughter, Alesaundra walked two blocks to a “safe haven” that her parents had described to her, the neighborhood Fire Station 243.

According to station KOVR in Manteca, CA, Alesaundra told fire fighters that her dad was “frozen” and wouldn’t wake up. She then took rescuers back to her house where her dad was sitting in the living room, needing medical attention.

Fire Captain Robert Villalovoz said that it was the first time in over 20 years that he has had a 3-year-old walk up to the station.

Alesaundra’s mother was proud and relieved that their daughter had listened to the lessons they have been teaching her.

-Bill at

Cheshire Cat Photo™ – “Your Guide to California’s Wonderland™”

You can view higher-resolution photos (*generally* 7-30 megabytes, compressed) at the Cheshire Cat Photo™ Pro Gallery on Shutterfly™, where you can also order prints and gifts decorated with the photos of your choice from the gallery. Framed prints and prints on canvas can be ordered from our galleries on redbubble®. All locations are accessible from here. Be a “Facebook Fan” of Cheshire Cat Photo here! If you don’t see what you want or would like to receive an email when new photos are up on the site, send us an email at info@cheshirecatphoto.com.

Police in hot pursuit for Special Olympics

Bill — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 03:57:21 +0000

Last night at Ocean Speedway (1) in Watsonville, nine cops from various Santa Cruz County departments raced each other on a dirt track in pre-1990 four-cylinders to raise awareness about, and money for, the Special Olympics.

According to the Santa Cruz Sentinel online:

“Between the Santa Cruz, Capitola, Scotts Valley and Watsonville police departments, the Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Office, the District Attorney’s Office, the Probation Office and State Parks, almost $11,000 was raised for the Special Olympics programs that benefit 14,000 athletes in California.”

The drivers raced cars owned by the track or cars that were donated by Ocean Speedway racing regulars. The flying mud and sliding cars added to the excitement!

Although none of the officers had experience driving front-wheel drive cars on a dirt track, none of the cars were further damaged during the race!

Jamie Stamps of State Parks took the checkered flag!

As for me, I have been fortunate enough to have had several professional interactions with a Special Olympics gold medalist and her class, and the experiences have been both rewarding and heartwarming.

-Bill at

Cheshire Cat Photo™ – “Your Guide to California’s Wonderland™”

You can view higher-resolution photos (*generally* 7-30 megabytes, compressed) at the Cheshire Cat Photo™ Pro Gallery on Shutterfly™, where you can also order prints and gifts decorated with the photos of your choice from the gallery. Framed prints and prints on canvas can be ordered from our galleries on redbubble®. All locations are accessible from here. Be a “Facebook Fan” of Cheshire Cat Photo here! If you don’t see what you want or would like to receive an email when new photos are up on the site, send us an email at info@cheshirecatphoto.com.

Sex, chocolate, and rock’n'roll

Bill — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 04:53:23 +0000

OK, I LIED about the rock’n'roll!

Don’t panic – this entry is still rated “G.”

I was really “tossed up” tonight between a article for any of you who believe (foolishly ) the argument given for video surveillance cameras, namely, that they “deter crime.” Sure. Video surveillance cameras do NOT deter crime, but they MAY deter freedom. If videos of the Geezer Bandit were not enough, here is a video of two robbers stealing a $550,000 gold bar from its lexan case, in just a few minutes, from the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum in Key West, Florida. So the next time that someone hangs a video camera, ask them the REAL reason. It COULD be for facial recognition, or it COULD just be their paranoia (and/or voyeurism!), as might be the case with some of my neighbors.

I decided to “talk” about an article on 10 “vices” that are actually GOOD for your health, instead!

Sex and chocolate are on the list, but rock’n'roll is not! (It could have been a mere clerical error…. )

Sleep – the final frontier. Americans are notoriously sleep-deprived. “Lack of sleep has also been associated with hypertension, glucose intolerance, and belly fat — all risk factors for heart disease,” says Nieca Goldberg, M.D., medical director of the New York University-Langone Women’s Heart Program. If you don’t get enough sleep, you’ll find it hard to make decisions (especially GOOD ones – ask anyone who has worked for American corporations). You will also increase your risk of anxiety and depression (especially if you pay attention to the actions that those in control of your corporation actually TAKE)!
Playing hooky. Vacations, even short ones, relieve stress and promote creative thinking (not that creative thinking is appreciated in most corporations, either – it “rocks the boat” ).
Sexual healing. Think oxytocin, endorphins, and immunoglobulin A.
A daily chocolate fix. Experts say to “Keep to the Dark Side!” Dark chocolate and cocoa may help lower blood pressure, cut the risk of stroke, and its flavonoids (Here’s to Bob Burris and the others who taught me plant biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin, Madison!) may improve the flexibility of blood vessels. Dark chocolate also reduces stress in highly anxious people.
Girls’ nights out. (This probably works for guys, too.) Friendships are good for you, and experts recommend limiting the time spent with people who are toxic to you (actually, those people are PROBABLY toxic to OTHER people too, including their own families). That’s why getting laid off is sometimes a GOOD thing. Let those toxic people go bother somebody ELSE! Pretty soon, they’ll have nobody left to bother but themselves.
Full-fat dressing. The article says to shoot for at least 10% of your daily fats to be monounsaturated fats found in vegetables, avocados, nuts, and seeds. And don’t forget the omega-3 unsaturated fatty acids found in fish, flaxseed, and walnuts.
Your morning java. I know that some people do not drink coffee, for several reasons. Those of us who DO may be delighted to know that it fights heart disease and some cancers, and can help endurance in longer workouts. Moderate coffee drinking in middle age has been associated with decreased risks of dementia and Alzheimer’s. Plus, the article notes a dramatic effect against the possibility of developing type 2 diabetes. (I will always remember Charles Kuralt’s interview with a 124-year-old African-American woman and her advice for longevity – “Drink coffee!”)
Getting a rubdown. Massage, by a professional or a partner, is good for you.
Basking in the sun. Gasp! Somehow, I knew this. “Sunshine is the ultimate natural antidepressant…” according to the article, cutting melatonin production and leaving us energized. Of course sunshine also triggers the synthesis of vitamin D. Some doctors feel that no amount of unprotected exposure to the sun is safe, so the article recommends sunscreen. (I always wonder about the millions of years of human exposure and the cancer rate before sunscreen was invented. And the trade-offs….) (BTW – Harry Steenbock’s discovery that UV irradiation of milk increased its vitamin D content both eliminated rickets in the U.S. and provided lots of funding for the University of Wisconsin biochemistry department!)
Wine with dinner. As I sit here with half a glass of red wine remaining (zinfandel, if you MUST know ), the article states that nobody knows exactly how wine works. (I still don’t understand the rankings of EITHER chocolate OR wine in this list! ) Alcohol boosts HDL (“good-guy”) cholesterol. Wine’s antioxidants may keep blood vessels flexible. The article recommends one 5-ounce glass a day. One “hard liquor” drink or one (just one now) beer will also work. (Note added August 21, 2010: Those who do not, or cannot, drink in moderation will have to focus on the other vices in this list. Sometime our own personal biochemistries or choices aren’t always healthful for us.)

See, life’s not so bad after all. Enjoy YOURS!

-Bill at

Cheshire Cat Photo™ – “Your Guide to California’s Wonderland™”

You can view higher-resolution photos (*generally* 7-30 megabytes, compressed) at the Cheshire Cat Photo™ Pro Gallery on Shutterfly™, where you can also order prints and gifts decorated with the photos of your choice from the gallery. Framed prints and prints on canvas can be ordered from our galleries on redbubble®. All locations are accessible from here. Be a “Facebook Fan” of Cheshire Cat Photo here! If you don’t see what you want or would like to receive an email when new photos are up on the site, send us an email at info@cheshirecatphoto.com.

Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma at Infineon Raceway

Bill — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 03:17:16 +0000

But THAT is just the last event of a weekend of racing that is the IndyCar® Series‘ only visit to Northern California….

Motorheads of Northern California, unite! I know. I’m a “throwback” sometimes. I really don’t mind if someone burns a little bit of hydrocarbon-based fuel to push a race car around a track. (Think what a small fraction of the world’s combustion it actually represents.) You can generate global-warming gases during a lot of activities, for example, generating ELECTRICITY! (That is why the calculation of the pollution of electric cars has to consider how the electricity was generated.) Some of my “environmentally conscious” neighbors don’t see the inconsistency of (or just DON’T CARE about) heating their homes burning FIREWOOD (and generating particulates that get trapped in a California VALLEY) in the wintertime, or of hosing down their driveways during a drought. Some of them work/worked on “weapons of mass destruction,” so a little pollution/stupidity probably does not bother them all that much! When thinking about nuclear war, many other things pale in comparison, in either the “pollution” or “stupidity” category.

The Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma (1) at Infineon Raceway (“Think outside of the oval.”), is a 75-lap, 173-mile course in going fast up and downhill and around 12 corners at speeds, and under G-forces, that are somewhat difficult to comprehend. Sure, Danica Patrick (sponsored by my hosting company, GoDaddy) will be there. She is not only the first female Indy car driver to actually win an Indy car race, but she is also the first Indy car driver to appear in back-to-back editions of the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue (according to the Sonoma News online).

Hélio Castroneves, the popular Brazilian who won the Indy 500 THREE TIMES and is the only Indy car driver to have won a season of Dancing with the Stars, will also be racing!

But hold it right there! Racing fans will also have access to arguably some of the biggest names in the history of open-wheel racing! The big headliner…? Mario Andretti, a man whom I watched (live and in person!) drive to victory, “running on fumes,” on the road course, Road America, at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Andretti “is the only driver in history to win the Indianapolis 500, Daytona 500 and Formula One world championship. In fact, no American has won a Formula One race since Andretti’s victory in the 1978 Dutch Grand Prix.” Andretti will be joined by Al Unser Jr., Rick Mears, and Johnny Rutherford. “Mears won the Indianapolis 500 four times, while Rutherford won the event three times. Unser Jr., meanwhile, took the checkers in Indianapolis twice.”

The weekend includes the Firestone Indy Lights race, the Historic Grand Prix (which includes some of the most famous and valuable formula cars of the past), and the Formula Car Challenge.

I won’t get to go, but some of you can write to me about it! For a complete race schedule and ticket information go to infineonraceway.com, ticketmaster.com, or call 800-870-RACE.

And don’t feel too guilty….

-Bill at

Cheshire Cat Photo™ – “Your Guide to California’s Wonderland™”

You can view higher-resolution photos (*generally* 7-30 megabytes, compressed) at the Cheshire Cat Photo™ Pro Gallery on Shutterfly™, where you can also order prints and gifts decorated with the photos of your choice from the gallery. Framed prints and prints on canvas can be ordered from our galleries on redbubble®. All locations are accessible from here. Be a “Facebook Fan” of Cheshire Cat Photo here! If you don’t see what you want or would like to receive an email when new photos are up on the site, send us an email at info@cheshirecatphoto.com.

State Supreme Court: Furloughs back on for Friday

Bill — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 02:51:22 +0000

A California State Supreme Court decision today overturned a lower court ruling that temporarily stopped mandatory unpaid “furlough” days for state workers.

The high court said that ALL furlough litigation, including the restraining order, is to be put on hold until AFTER the court rules on the larger issue of whether Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has the power to order the unpaid days off. A hearing for that case is scheduled for September.

Gerald James, legal counsel for Professional Engineers in California Government (one of the unions that had sued to block furloughs) said, “It does appear that state workers will be furloughed until a budget passes or the state Supreme Court issues a definitive ruling.”

-Bill at

Cheshire Cat Photo™ – “Your Guide to California’s Wonderland™”

You can view higher-resolution photos (*generally* 7-30 megabytes, compressed) at the Cheshire Cat Photo™ Pro Gallery on Shutterfly™, where you can also order prints and gifts decorated with the photos of your choice from the gallery. Framed prints and prints on canvas can be ordered from our galleries on redbubble®. All locations are accessible from here. Be a “Facebook Fan” of Cheshire Cat Photo here! If you don’t see what you want or would like to receive an email when new photos are up on the site, send us an email at info@cheshirecatphoto.com.

Ted Nugent pleads no contest to deer poaching

Bill — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 05:49:40 +0000

Rock star Ted Nugent (“Cat Scratch Fever,” [YouTube Video] etc.) has pleaded (NOT “pled”) no contest to two misdemeanor charges of poaching deer in Yuba County. Although Nugent has built a second career as an advocate of hunting and hunting ethics, game wardens “busted” Nugent for illegally killing a young buck deer on his own Outdoor Channel TV show, “Spirit of the Wild.”

Two game wardens saw Nugent kill a “spike” buck (its antlers had not yet forked) with a bow and arrow. It is illegal to kill such a young deer in California.

Wardens also noted that something had been spread on the ground that the deer was eating before it was killed. An investigation showed that it was a commercial bait product called “C’mere Deer.” It is illegal to bait wildlife in California.

A total of 11 charges were filed against Nugent. He eventually pleaded (NOT “pled”) no contest to two misdemeanor counts of baiting a deer and failing to have a deer hunting tag signed by a reviewing official after a kill. He was fined $1,750. (OK, for those who love verbs: it is bleed, bled, bled, but it is plead, pleaded, pleaded.) A buncha “maroons” must have written the article! (People who want to go into writing and editing should pay attention in English classes.)

The deer was killed in El Dorado County, but the charges were eventually filed in Yuba County, where his guide lives. Nugent lives in Texas and still performs. He has several concerts in Southern California this week.

Sorry Ted, I have no qualms about legal hunting and, like you, strongly support our Second Amendment Rights, but poachers should be prosecuted to the max. It is the responsibility of the hunter to know the law. You “got off easy.” (A colloquialism – of COURSE it should be “easily….”)

-Bill at

Cheshire Cat Photo™ – “Your Guide to California’s Wonderland™”

You can view higher-resolution photos (*generally* 7-30 megabytes, compressed) at the Cheshire Cat Photo™ Pro Gallery on Shutterfly™, where you can also order prints and gifts decorated with the photos of your choice from the gallery. Framed prints and prints on canvas can be ordered from our galleries on redbubble®. All locations are accessible from here. Be a “Facebook Fan” of Cheshire Cat Photo here! If you don’t see what you want or would like to receive an email when new photos are up on the site, send us an email at info@cheshirecatphoto.com.

AT&T iPhone user defection looming?

Bill — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 05:18:24 +0000

And what about the customers who are already on other networks…?

CNET reports that a recent survey by the Morpace market research firm found that 34% of those who already OWN an iPhone ARE WAITING TO UPGRADE their phones until iPhone is available on another carrier. Some 47% would at least CONSIDER switching to Verizon for iPhone. Of the AT&T subscribers, 23% said that they are somewhat or very likely to switch to Verizon for an iPhone. If you like “vertical bar graphs,” you’ll like this article.

I guess, as someone who switched our two remaining “lines” from AT&T to Verizon “early” (this March), for the coverage and COST SAVINGS, we would be included with the 51% of current Verizon customers who are likely to get an iPhone once it comes to Verizon’s network (though not necessarily “immediately” ). Verizon is rumored to be getting the iPhone in January 2011. This result is interesting given the availability of other smartphones (Motorola Droid [my wife has one of these; I still have my two "dumbphones," waiting for an iPhone], Droid 2, and Droid X) on Verizon.

Although the Morpace (PDF) sample was relatively small (only about 100 current AT&T customers in the 1,000 respondents), Jay Heyboer, vice-president of technology and advanced analytics at Morpace said that the findings are statistically valid.

According to another survey by the Yankee Group, 77% of current iPhone owners say that they intend to buy another Apple phone. The Yankee Group also found that a THIRD of all smartphone owners of ALL TYPES who intend to buy a smartphone intend to buy an iPhone! According to a blog written by an analyst with Yankee Group, Carl Howe, Apple is the most popular choice for a future smartphone among ALL MOBILE PHONE OWNERS!

What about “customer satisfaction” (something that was my job to worry about in high tech) with the carrier networks? In May 2010, ChangeWave Research reported (PDF) that 49% of the customers of first-place Verizon were very satisfied with their service. Second-place Sprint Nextel had a 35% satisfaction rate, and T-Mobile and AT&T tied for last place with only a 23% satisfaction rate.

In the “dropped calls,” event, ChangeWave reported only 1.5% of calls dropped with Verizon, 2.4% for Sprint, 2.8% for T-Mobile, and 4.5% for last-place AT&T in the three months prior to the survey. This was Verizon’s BEST performance for dropped calls since September 2008, and AT&T’s WORST, for the same period.

In a JD Powers survey, Verizon RANKED LAST of the four in retail satisfaction or customer support. Vocal Laboratories (Vocalabs) found in a recent survey that Verizon placed LAST of the four in satisfaction after customer service calls!

As for “churn rate,” the rate at which customers leave one carrier for another, Verizon (1.27%) and AT&T (1.29%) are virtually “tied” for the lowest churn.

As CNET points out, what people SAY they are going to do and what they actually DO are sometimes very different.

It looks to me, after a career in customer relationship management (CRM), that greatly increased data traffic on Verizon’s network from an influx of iPhone users COULD conceivably present a problem for them in terms of retail satisfaction and customer service and support.

But we shall see….

-Bill at

Cheshire Cat Photo™ – “Your Guide to California’s Wonderland™”

You can view higher-resolution photos (*generally* 7-30 megabytes, compressed) at the Cheshire Cat Photo™ Pro Gallery on Shutterfly™, where you can also order prints and gifts decorated with the photos of your choice from the gallery. Framed prints and prints on canvas can be ordered from our galleries on redbubble®. All locations are accessible from here. Be a “Facebook Fan” of Cheshire Cat Photo here! If you don’t see what you want or would like to receive an email when new photos are up on the site, send us an email at info@cheshirecatphoto.com.

California 200 desert race truck kills 8 injures 10

Bill — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 03:56:07 +0000

Back to the Mojave Desert, for a tragedy this time….

Authorities report that eight people were killed and 10 injured when Brett M. Sloppy of San Marcos lost control of his modified 2000 Ford Ranger at 45-50 miles/hour, and the truck went airborne and landed on spectators. The driver was not charged, and alcohol was not involved. The driver was racing in the California 200 desert race in Lucerne Valley.

According to the LATimes.com:

“The 200-mile race, held on desolate Soggy Dry Lake on federal desert land just east of the San Bernardino Mountains, was sanctioned by Mojave Desert Racing and was part of a seven-race circuit. Off-roaders race around the 50-mile-long loop four times, reaching speeds upward of 60 mph.”

Six spectators died at the scene, and two later after nine people were airlifted to local hospitals. Of the injured, five sustained major injuries, and five had minor injuries.

According to the LATimes online:

“The San Bernardino County coroner’s office identified seven of the dead: Brian Wolfin, 27, of Escondido; Anthony Sanchez, 23, of Escondido; Aaron Farkas, 25, of Escondido; Andrew Therrin, 22, of Riverside; Zachary Freeman, 24, of Fillmore; Dustin C. Malson, 24, of Ventura; and Danica Frantzich, 20, of Las Vegas.”

The spot where the racer lost control is called the “rock pile.” The track winds between giant boulders and up a small hill, which sends many of the off-roaders airborne. The crowd was reported to be dangerously close to the track, with no concrete barriers between vehicles and spectators, as shown in an online video of the 2009 race.

-Bill at

Cheshire Cat Photo™ – “Your Guide to California’s Wonderland™”

You can view higher-resolution photos (*generally* 7-30 megabytes, compressed) at the Cheshire Cat Photo™ Pro Gallery on Shutterfly™, where you can also order prints and gifts decorated with the photos of your choice from the gallery. Framed prints and prints on canvas can be ordered from our galleries on redbubble®. All locations are accessible from here. Be a “Facebook Fan” of Cheshire Cat Photo here! If you don’t see what you want or would like to receive an email when new photos are up on the site, send us an email at info@cheshirecatphoto.com.

Sacred artifacts returned to Yurok Tribe

Bill — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 04:46:46 +0000

The Yurok Tribe of Native Americans celebrated the return of more than 200 sacred artifacts, including white deerskins, condor feathers, and headdresses made of bright red woodpecker scalps from the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian.

The tribe has 5,500 members and lives on 55,000 acres along the Klamath River in Northern California, next to the Oregon border. The tribe’s leaders say that the artifacts date back hundreds or perhaps thousands of years. The arifacts will continue to be used in ceremonies that are intended to heal the world.

I wish them success.

Congress passed legislation in 1990 that requires museums that receive federal funding and federal agencies to identify certain types of Native American artifacts in their collections and to consider returning them if requested by a tribe. A year earlier, Congress passed similar legislation that governs the Smithsonian Institution. More that 1.1 million items have been identified as eligible for repatriation, including human remains. The Yurok Tribe’s request took four years to process, and their request for 100 additional items is still pending.

The artifacts were part of a welcoming ceremony on Friday and had been part of the collection of George Gustav Heye, a wealthy investment banker who started the Museum of the American Indian and his Heye Foundation in 1916. Heye had purchased the artifacts from another collector in the early 1900s.

Some of the artifacts will be displayed at a cultural center on the reservation that will be open to the public.

-Bill at

Cheshire Cat Photo™ – “Your Guide to California’s Wonderland™”

You can view higher-resolution photos (*generally* 7-30 megabytes, compressed) at the Cheshire Cat Photo™ Pro Gallery on Shutterfly™, where you can also order prints and gifts decorated with the photos of your choice from the gallery. Framed prints and prints on canvas can be ordered from our galleries on redbubble®. All locations are accessible from here. Be a “Facebook Fan” of Cheshire Cat Photo here! If you don’t see what you want or would like to receive an email when new photos are up on the site, send us an email at info@cheshirecatphoto.com.