Familiar with Anderson Valley, CA are you? No? Anderson Valley lies in the heart of Mendocino County, home to lots of marijuana and some damn fine beer. Once upon a time (1880s), Anderson was home to more than just scenery and brew. I’m talking about a little known regional dialect called “Boontling.”
Boontling is some old-timey what-have-you. Try this on for size:

The bahl Boonter japed brightlighters to Boont with beamer ‘n’ bohoik, ‘n’ when Brightlights reached for his ose pocket, Boonter shied before Brights could harp on higgin’.

That’s Boontling, and no, we’re not making this up; it’s still spoken by a handful of elderly gents. Check out the links for verification, and next thing you know, you’ll be out bahl hornin’ with yer apple-head.

Now here’s the one you’ve been waiting for. During their filming last year, The Collective Sound took their campers up to the Synthesis office. We told them about getting press for their bands. They were thoroughly disinterested with my little speech. Classic.

From The Collective Sound:

Set in the small town of Chico California, Let It Be Heard… is an inspirational story of a small group of young musicians that embark on an adventure of a lifetime. The web documentary follows the journey of 50 young artists, come together from around the world, for 3 weeks of The Collective Sound Summer Music Academy, the worlds first touring summer music camp.

Watch Arnold be weird and get angry.

Anyone looking for proof of how bad the California housing crunch need look no further than San Diego’s Michael Crews Development who have started offering a Buy-One-Get-One-Free deal on houses:

Michael Crews Development is offering new, 2000-square foot cityscape row-homes worth $400,000 in Escondido for free — if you buy one Royal View Estate home in San Pasqual Valley starting at $1.6 million.

“You know it’s a straight-up legit deal; no prices have been increased, there are no hidden costs. Michael is just giving away a free home for people that buy at Royal View,” said Berry.

“We thought, ‘Why does it just have to be on Pop Tarts and restaurants? Why not buy one home, get one free,’”

Fuck it.

Finally, a true representative of the people!!:

Capitol Weekly reports that newly elected California Congresswoman Laura Richardson walked away from the mortgage on her $535,000 Sacramento home, letting the house slip into foreclosure and disrepair less than two years after she bought it with no money down.

Capitol Weekly, citing tax records at the Sacramento County assessor’s office, reports “… in January 2007, Richardson took out a mortgage for the entire sale price of the house — $535,000. The mortgage amount was equal to the sale price of the home, meaning she was able to buy the house without a down payment, even though the housing market was beginning to turn. A March 19, 2008 notice of trustee’s sale indicates that the unpaid balance of Richardson’s loan, which is held by Washington Mutual, is more than $578,000 –$40,000 more than the original mortgage.”

The weekly also reports Richardson’s residence quickly became an eyesore, angering neighbors. The report says she recused herself on two key house votes on government efforts to address the foreclosure crisis.

State Politicians: just as stupid as you, only way more powerful!

Now that the US Supreme Court has ruled to uphold the use of lethal injections as a form of capital punishment, the state of California is chomping at the bit to off some of its more undesirable residents.

California hasn’t killed anyone since January 2006 when it sent 76-year-old triple murderer Clarence Allen down the River Styx. He was the oldest inmate on death row at the time and had his sentence delayed for health and age reasons. I guess they need to be good and healthy to die. There is, however, another hurdle to clear before the killings can continue.

U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel in San Jose had ordered a temporary halt to executions in California after finding the state’s lethal injection procedures were unconstitutional. A decision by Fogel on whether a new execution protocol by the state meets constitutional requirements is pending.

A hearing in the case has been set for June, but [Chief Assistant Attorney General Dane] Gillette said it may be moved up as a result of today’s high court ruling. The state plans to ask Fogel to lift his court order and permit executions to resume.

Even if Fogel rules quickly for the state, another legal challenge pending in a California appellate court will prevent the state from executing inmates immediately. Gillette said the state would press for a quick resolution in that case, which was unaffected by the Supreme Court decision.

Once the executions resume, they’ll be housed in fancy new digs.

State officials last year began building a larger, better illuminated death chamber designed for lethal injection executions. Gillette said construction has been completed.

The old facility, built in 1937 as the state’s gas chamber, was criticized as dimly lit and crowded, relegating executioners outside the death room and making it difficult for them to properly monitor possible problems with the intravenous drug injections.

The new chamber cost $399,000 to build, which meant it didn’t need legislative approval. Gillette said it’s “certainly feasible” for executions to resume by the end of the year, at a clip of one lethal injection per month.