PRACTICE 1:

TRX: ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER SPOKE TO A LARGE AND STAR STRUCK CROWD AT THE RIVER PARK SHOPPING CENTER YESTERDAY. THE MARQUEE AT THE MALL’S MOVIE THEATER ADVERTISED TERMINATOR 3 IN BOLD TYPE. BUT SCHWARZENEGGER INSISTED HIS CANDIDACY IS ABOUT MORE THAN STAR POWER.

TRX: AFTER THE RALLY, SCHWARZENEGGER SIGNED AUTOGRAPHS ON EVERYTHING FROM CAMPAIGN POSTERS TO TERMINATOR ACTION FIGURES. MONICA SAUCEDO, SAYS SHE FEELS LIKE HE CARES ABOUT REGULAR PEOPLE.

TRX: LYDIA VELASCO WAS ONE OF A HANDFUL OF PEOPLE PROTESTING. SHE SAYS SHE DOESN’T LIKE SCHWARZENEGGER’S DECISION TO APPOINT FORMER GOVERNOR PETE WILSON AS HIS CAMPAIGN CHAIRMAN. SCHWARZENEGGER PICKED UP A KEY CONSERVATIVE ENDORSEMENT YESTERDAY FROM THE HOWARD JARVIS TAX PAYERS ASSOCIATION AND HE GOT ONE FROM FRESNO’S MAYOR.

PRACTICE 2:

TRX: THE WATER BUBBLES UP FROM THE GROUND AT A RATE OF ABOUT 400 GALLONS A MINUTE. IT’S HOT, 110-DEGREES, WITH A BLUISH GREEN COLOR AND AN ODOR THAT’S HARD TO MISS. IT ALL STARTED AFTER THE 6.5 MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE HIT ON DECEMBER 22^ND. PASO ROBLES PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR JOE DEAKIN EXPLAINS.

TRX: HOT SPRINGS ARE NOT UNHEARD OF IN THIS PART OF CALIFORNIA. BACK AROUND THE TURN OF THE CENTURY PASO ROBLES BUILT A MUNICIPAL BATH HOUSE HARNESSING THE GEOTHERMAL AQUIFER THAT LIES MORE THAN 300 FEET BENEATH THE CITY. IT WAS LOCATED ON SPRING STREET, IN THE VERY SPOT THE CITY HALL PARKING LOT NOW OCCUPIES. INITIALLY CITY ENGINEERS THOUGHT THE HOT WATER WELL, WHICH WAS CAPPED IN THE 1980S, HAD SPRUNG A LEAK DURING THE EARTHQUAKE. SO, THEY STARTED DIGGING.

TRX: AND THEY KEPT DIGGING FOR SEVERAL DAYS AS THE PIT IN THE PARKING LOT GREW AND GREW. IT’S NOW 80-FEET BY 60-FEET AND 20 FEET DEEP. FLOYD BUTTERFIELD, A GEOPHYSICIST AND CONSULTANT TO THE CITY, HAS VIRTUALLY RULED OUT THE CAPPED WELL THEORY AND IS NOW SEARCHING FOR A NATURAL SOURCE BY TESTING GROUND TEMPERATURES.

PRACTICE 3:

FOR MOST OF US, THE FIVE SENSES ARE PRETTY PREDICTABLE – WE SEE WITH OUR EYES, HEAR WITH OUR EARS, AND SO ON. BUT THERE ARE SOME PEOPLE WHO, FOR ONE REASON OR ANOTHER, EXPERIENCE THE SENSES IN A MORE INTENSE WAY. FOR EXAMPLE, HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT YOUR FAVORITE SONG LOOKS LIKE? HOW ABOUT THE COLOR OF THE LETTER ‘A’. THESE QUESTIONS MAY SEEM NONSENSICAL, BUT FOR A SELECT FEW, THESE QUESTIONS ACTUALLY HAVE ANSWERS. THEY EXPERIENCE A PHENOMENON CALLED SYNESTHESIA. THE GREEK ROOTS OF THE WORD SYNESTHESIA MEAN LITERALLY, MIXING THE SENSES. SOME SYNESTHETES ATTACH A DIFFERENT COLOR TO EACH LETTER OF THE ALPHABET. OTHERS SEE SHAPES AND COLORS WHEN THEY HEAR MUSIC, VOICES, OR OTHER SOUNDS. NEUROLOGISTS ARE STILL TRYING TO UNDERSTAND IT. MIKE ESTERMAN IS A COGNITIVE NEUROPSYCHOLOGY RESEARCHER AT UC BERKELEY.