Just in time for Porterville’s silver screen debut next week comes this new and clever movie reviewing technique. Take 3 still frames at arbitrary times, 10 minutes in, then 40 and 70 minutes in exactly, and review the film based on those three framse. See how it goes with  10 / 40 / 70 Ocean’s [...]

As many of you may know, this past summer I worked as an Associate Producer on a film called Tender as Hellfire, filmed right here in Porterville. The short film is about 20 minutes long, made by USC Film School graduate student Jason Stone as his thesis film to complete his Master’s Degree. The film [...]

Former editorial writer Jim Gogek blogs: Don’t get me wrong, California’s rural-based agriculture is very important. The Golden State is the nation’s breadbasket. But California’s urban-based manufacturing is even more important. In 2006, the California gross domestic product for crop and animal production was $15 billion. For manufacturing, it was $172 billion. California needs all [...]

From: Taxing the Rich—Foods, That Is – BusinessWeek. Late last year, New York Governor David A. Paterson proposed an 18% sales tax on non-diet soda and sugary juice drinks for the fiscal year starting in April. Such a tax, he says, would raise $404 million this year and $539 million in 2010, to be used [...]

Vilsack calls for stricter food labels The labeling requirements, which would apply to fresh meats and some perishable fruits and vegetables, long have been debated in Congress and were enacted as part of a wide-ranging farm bill last year. While the meat industry and retailers responsible for the labels have protested the changes — saying [...]

Whenever I speak with folks from PDC, even the layout of the place is a mystery, let alone the jargon they use regarding programs as substitutes for location of work spaces. I came across this map which solves both problems. Click the image for the large version.

The Sunset League — The Hardball Times. Apparently, Porterville once had a minor league baseball team! From 1947 until 1951, when the population was a league low 5,000, only about 1/6 -1/7 of the current population. That places it more in line with modern-day Strathmore’s size. Anyone know where the field of dreams was located?

Here I offer some specific insights into what I saw at the show. Here are  my more general impressions. I am not a farmer, but I am increasingly interested in the business of farming and how my skills in software innovation and marketing relate and can be applied. In that regard, I am fortunate to [...]

Time for the first annual World Ag Expo review by the Porterville Nerd. This part will focus on general impressions,. here are my specific impressions. In our preview, I  expressed concern about the weather. On Tuesday, the only of the 3 days I went, the weather turned out to be spectacular. In the morning it [...]

Revised TOS Gives Facebook Perpetual Rights to User Content – MarketingVOX. The revision grants Facebook complete, perpetual ownership of content uploaded or added to Facebook — including the rights to sublicense said content: You hereby grant Facebook an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to (a) use, copy, [...]

In this post, I mentioned a film not likely to play in Porterville. But tonight it opens in Visalia: Thanks to PFLAG of Tulare and Kings County for the tip. The Visalia premier of Gus Van Sant’s Milk. When: Friday, February 13, 2009, 7:40 pm Where: Regal Visalia Stadium 10 120 S Bridge St Wear [...]

How will the future of Porterville be affected? From t4america.com : President Obama was back on the road today to garner support for the economic stimulus package that passed the Senate early Tuesday morning. He was speaking today at a town hall forum in Ft. Myers, Florida, and near the end of his hour-long session, [...]

WildUpdate Jan/February 2009 WildPlaces’ Mission WildPlaces is a community based non-profit organization located in Springville, California in the foothills of the Southern Sierra Nevada Mountains. Our mission is to preserve, support, and protect California’s natural and rural places and the people of these landscapes through volunteer driven habitat restoration, natural and cultural education, and career [...]

Tomorrow thru Thursday are the rates for the World Ag Expo in nearby Tulare. Unlike last year’s unseasonably warm weather, this year it looks more typical for early February. We go some soaking rain over the weekend, through the wee hours of Monday morning. Expect temps in the low to mid 50s all week, with [...]

Baltimore City Paper : Letter Men. is a wonderful article describing a look at how entertainment and other marketing used to be distributed by posters and banners before the era of the “banner ad”. Chris Landers writes lovingly of the remnants of a family owned Baltimore press that became a national institution and veritable museum [...]

The Reader” *** (123 minutes) Posted By Jay Berg to Jay Berg’s Cinema Diary On the Oscar trail again and next up is the thought provoking film written by David Hare, based on Bernhard Schlink’s 1995 best seller (the first German best seller to make the N.Y. Times’ Best Seller list). Director Stephen Daldry’s third [...]

Porterville in one of the top dairy producing counties in the country. I think we provide ~36% of the milk for California, before even thinking about cheese. Recently, there have been stories in the news about how the dairy farms have been hit hard to the point that the farmers are trying to sell large [...]

In an earlier post I introduced the concept of “Porterville Island”.  Here I want to introduce Porterville and the region in order to make this idea clearer. Porterville is located in Tulare County of Calfornia, in the Central Valley. The Valley as a whole is the most fertile and productive farmland in the world. The [...]

The Times of Harvey Milk Posted By Jay Berg to Jay Berg’s Cinema Diary at 2/04/2009 02:58:00 PM February 3, 2009 In 1984, Rob Epstein’s documentary “The Times of Harvey Milk” received and richly deserved the Academy Award. Covering the assassination of this country’s first openly gay politician, Harvey Milk in 1978, and the subsequent [...]

Recently local home developers Ennis Homes declared bankruptcy. I wasn’t here at the time the local and connected family owned business did most of its work, which I guess was during the real estate bubble heyday of the not-so-long-ago yesteryear. (Aside: how long ago does it have to be to be “yesteryear” anyway?) Controversy is [...]