This Should Not Be In February

This was the scene last night as the 7,000-acre Round Fire raged in on the east side of California's Sierra Nevada in Inyo and Mono Counties. It occurred along the US395 corridor in the general vicinity of Mammoth Lakes, CA. Given the ongoing drought plus this area being in the rain shadow of the mountains combined with high winds due to the approach of the storm which arrived last night this fire rapidly spread across a dry landscape with interface issues and destroyed 40 homes and outbuildings.
Photo by Janet McDonald (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - Parkhill Country

Today my buddy Mike and I and our dogs took another hike out at east Santa Margarita Lake off of River Road. And again like a week ago we ventured off of the familiar, beaten path and saw the eastern part of Santa Margarita Lake Park from a different perspective. I shot this image from a  hilltop perspective looking east toward just south of Black Mountain. Note the tectonically uplifted Miocene riverbottom deposits covered in chaparral so typical of the Parkhill Country in and around Santa Margarita Lake. Also note the clouds gathering as the big El Niño-esque "pineapple express" approached our region today. Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Cavedigger

Death Of a Turboprop Airliner

Earlier this evening (PST) and sometime during the day tomorrow local time in Taipei, Taiwan, TransAsia Airways Flight 235 appears to have stalled out crashed shortly after take-off in Taipei. This is a breaking story so the statistics are not yet established aside from the fact there is a mix of living and dead passengers. Below is a most remarkable sequence of dash-cam videos of the crash from three different distances from it on the same expressway. This surreal sight harks back to this previous post HERE.

Her Hunt Is Over!

Stevie Beard found her prey who goes by the name of Brady Hogevoll. For more about the betrothed and this image check HERE. Photo by Joshua Rainey Photography (all rights reserved).

World Population Cartogram

I encountered this on Twitter this morning and found it rather fascinating. It was created by TeaDranks via Reddit. It shows the nations of the world relative to each other in population, NOT geographical area. For more about this read HERE.

My Top 10 Favorite 2015 Super Bowl Ads

Here is my top ten list of favorite Super Bowl advertisements for Super Bowl XLIX (49) which was played today. This year's installment is shown in relative descending order of prominence.Visit my selections for Super Bowl XLVII HERE and Super Bowl XLVIII HERE.
Note: to read more about these and other advertisements from this year's game go HERE.


Mophie "All-powerless"


Turbotax "Boston Tea-Party"


Kia Sorrento "The Perfect Getaway"


Skittles "Settle It"


Doritos "Middle Seat"


Fiat "Blue Pill"


Snickers "The Brady Bunch"


Avocados From Mexico "First Draft Ever"


Carnival Cruises "Come Back To The Sea"


Dodge "Wisdom"