Thursday, July 7, 2011

My geographic ignorance

I pride myself on my unequalled geographic knowledge, but that pride is a false pride. There are a lot of places in the Inland Empire that I could not find on a map.

Recently I met someone who was from Wildomar. I thought that meant that she lived up in the mountains. It turns out that I was getting Wildomar confused with Idyllwild, which is in the mountains. Wildomar is between Lake Elsinore and Temecula.

But Wildomar shouldn't feel so bad. Sedco Hills is in the same area, and I've never even heard of Sedco Hills before.

I'll grant that since I live in Ontario, and since I rarely head toward Temecula (I think I've been through the Temecula area three times in the last ten years), perhaps my ignorance can be excused. But I ought to know where Glen Avon is, and I don't. (It's off the 60 between the 15 and 91, west of Rubidoux and northeast of Mira Loma.)

Here are some other places that appear on Google Maps that I probably couldn't find independently if my life depended on it:

Declezville
Del Rosa
Home Gardens
Masson Grove (didn't Orson Welles live there?)
Northgate
Smiley Heights
Sierra Lakes

Oh well, at least I know where Guasti is. It's south of downtown Chino.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Skate America in Ontario, California this October

This was announced last March, and I missed it. I shouldn't have.

For those who do not follow the world of figure skating, there are a number of important competitions in the fall at which the leading figure skaters compete for an opportunity to advance to the Worlds competition the following spring.

One of these competitions, Skate America, is held in the United States. And this year, it will be held at the (relatively) new Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, on October 21-23.

So what is Skate America?

Skate America is an Olympic-style international figure skating event featuring three days of competition in ladies, men's, pairs and ice dancing. The event, which is one of six annual events in the International Skating Union (ISU) Grand Prix Series, annually attracts approximately 60 world-class figure skaters. Past champions include five-time World champion Michelle Kwan and Olympic champions Kristi Yamaguchi, Scott Hamilton and Evan Lysacek.

Skate America doesn't just attract American figure skaters, but also skaters from other countries. For example, the ladies' competition will include many European figure skaters, including Carolina Kostner and Laura Lepistö, both of whom appeared at the Worlds in Los Angeles in 2009.