A&E

Locals brave enough to watch this bio-pic of the Arizona “Hot Shots” firefighting crew can learn a great deal about how we puny little humans fight a monstrous firestorm. One thing that stands out, is the contrast between those who fight rural wild-land fires and those who confront urban structural fires. The tactics, skills, techniques and equipment are quite different. Which is part of the reason the response to our local “once in 150 years catastrophe” is so unique.

In 1983, Ridley Scott’s astoundingly lyrical sci-fi-noir film Blade Runner took audiences to a place they had never been before. Set 30 years later, Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049 has a greater “cool factor” than the original. The dystopia of Greater Los Angeles now stretches south to the trash dump that used to be San Diego, and east to the nuclear wasteland that used to be Las Vegas. An elite team of “Blade Runners” cover the entire region to “retire” (kill) any rebellious replicant (bioengineered slave laborers) who get a little too “uppity.”  Correcting the flaws of the limited life-span original replicants,  the new and imroved models are made in two versions which their uber-industrialist manufacturer labels “bad angels” and “good  angels.”. I have sworn to the powers that be not to give away too many plot secrets, but it is helpful to know that two of the “angel” replicants are named Joi and Luv. One other thing, Harrison Ford returns as Deckard.

In Stronger, Jeff Bauman goes to see the Boston Marathon to impress a girl named Erin, and loses his legs to a terrorist’s bomb. His obnoxious family rushes to the hospital and continues to scream at each other throughout the film. In contrast, Erin’s demeanor is reserved. She dumped Jeff before the race, was wary of meeting him at the finish line, and is challenged by his injury and subsequent double amputation. But she still shows up to be at his bedside and takes a slew of undisguised verbal abuse from Jeff’s alcoholic mother. In addition, two other issues take center stage: the unflinchingly realistic portrayal of Jeff’s recuperation, and the constant pressure exerted by the Boston community to have Jeff be their “poster boy” for the “Boston Strong” mantra.

Spring flowers get a lot of attention, but fall blooms can be just as beautiful. As we near the end of the growing season for many local farms, florists love to take advantage of the late summer/early fall bounty. Here are seven flower varieties to help you welcome the season! As a bonus, we source all of these flower types from local farms in Northern California, so be sure to look out for them in your local flower shop or farmers market. Read on to learn more about our favorite local fall florals and how to use them in your home.

Featured Artists in September 2017:

The days are long and warm, but many of us are anything but lazy. We are in our yards tackling our outdoor honey-do lists. We are refinishing our decks, painting our homes and taming our yards. After painting the house, sanding the deck, or trimming back the landscaping it would be convenient to sweep or pour the mess into the storm drain (or gutter). The problem is that everything that enters the storm drain eventually flows into our creeks untreated.

One of Murphy’s Laws is that you can’t get something clean without getting something else dirty. Depending on how you wash your car, you may be trading a dirty car for a polluted creek because the water that flows into our storm drains does not get treated, it flows directly into our creeks.

For the seventh year in a row the Heirloom Expo returns to Sonoma County, with three packed days of food, education and fun, Sept. 5 – 7. The celebration of small-scale, organic and sustainable farming returns with a variety of new displays, new speakers and some new vendors.

The Sebastopol and Gravenstein Community Health Centers in Sebastopol are part of the West County Health Centers network. With the large number of ‘baby boomers’ and their elders in the west county, we are busy working to promote good health in the senior population.

Top reasons that you need to exercise for the sake of your kids and tips about how to make it happen