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Snark Infested Waters

Land of the free, home of cliché

Right Out of the Box, Let’s Be Perfectly Clear: Not a Day Goes By when Word On The Street is, “Where Have I Heard That Before?” Maybe it’s because Nine Out of Ten Times, we have. Thanks to Mainstream Media, Amenglish has become an automated... Continue

If Congress had an award show

Totally fabricated rumors (the most salacious kind) are circulating that Congress has taken note of the popularity of Hollywood’s annual award shows and, in an attempt to boost its own dismal poll ratings, is planning to launch its own show to kick off the 2016... Continue

Observations in development

No one should presume to offer advice to financially savvy, highly successful, wheeling-and-dealing developer/investors, particularly without being generously compensated. But after an entertaining Planning Commission study session regarding the re-titled FSE Project (formerly, The Cloisters), having witnessed such entertainment in the past, and with more... Continue

Proper pairings

Memo to tourists and 2nd-home week-enders: If you aspire to pass as a card-carrying Local in wine country, you’ll need to become familiar with the ins & outs, hints, notes and nuances – the je ne sais quoi -- of wine & food pairings. [The... Continue

Is drought officially over?

Not only have there finally been several days of rain recently, courtesy of El Nino, global warming and self-radicalized meteorologists, but judging by the pronouncements, actions and inactions of public officials, the drought has been Officially Over for some time. One sign was the official... Continue

A Splash in the Punchbowl

For reasons shortly explained, it’s looking like the folks hoping to build a community swimming facility on Verano Ave across from Maxwell park have dived into a public relations swamp of their own making.  They are Sonoma Splash, a non-profit which in 2014 announced plans... Continue

Shopping Sonoma

At a recent Sonoma City Council meeting, City officials and representatives of the Chamber of Commerce joined together in that most sacred of holiday rituals: Proclaiming the annual Shop Sonoma Campaign. [Not to be confused with the War on Christmas.] This being Sonoma, the Official Proclamation... Continue

Sustaining sustainability

Sustainability is all the rage these days. It’s a major marketing job-creator in all sorts of industries striving to convince customers, regulators and the public that what they do makes lots of green money and, in the process, may even increase the wildlife available for... Continue

Halloween frights

Of all our holidays, Halloween is arguably the most fun, least controversial and most widely celebrated by Americans, regardless of race, creed, color, gender, sexual orientation, Democrat or Republican, natural or brazilian. Some argue Thanksgiving is more universally treasured, but that’s far from certain. For... Continue

The Magic of Do-Nothing Governance

There may be a no more decorative deliberating body than Sonoma’s City Council.  Its timeless, agrarian pace and capacity for indecision-making make Congress and the UN appear reckless. In recent years, governments have fallen (in Egypt, twice), the Arab Spring came and went, the Greek debt... Continue