Golden Nuggets: Backyard Birds, Newts, and wait...isn't our mascot a Bear?

Some nudewt content.

Feb 19, 2025

Hello and welcome to Golden Nuggets! In this weekly write up, we try our best to cover all things Cal, Berkeley, Bearkeley, UC Berkeley, University of Cal Berkeley, University of Berkeley at Cal, BerkeleyInspire, and California State University Berkeley that happened more or less in the last week! Let’s dig in!

Joy Luck-Birds!

We start this week with news out of the Bancroft Library which will soon be housing the extraordinary collection of one Amy Tan. “Tan burst onto the literary scene in 1989 with the publication of The Joy Luck Club. The multigenerational tale, inspired by her experiences in the Bay Area’s Asian American communities, was adapted as a film in 1993. She is the author of five other novels, The Kitchen God’s Wife (1991), The Hundred Secret Senses (1995), The Bonesetter’s Daughter (2001), Saving Fish from Drowning (2005) and The Valley of Amazement (2013), as well as several works of nonfiction — including The Backyard Bird Chronicles (2024) — and two children’s books. While you wait for the files to get digitized, you can look at Amy Tan’s Backyard Birds right now at an exhibit that just opened in the Bancroft Library and runs through June 27.

Author Amy Tan sits in a wicker chair on her backyard deck with binoculars and a notebook that she's filling with entries about birds. — Photo courtesy of Lou DeMattei.

Newt-A-Palooza

The UC Botanical Garden declared a Newt-A-Palooza this February at the gardens! Visitors have been asked to watch their step for newts moving towards the garden’s Japanese Pool where they will….well…you know…make more newts. Anyways, visit the UC Botanical Garden and check it out if that’s your thing! Or go and look at the flowers! I ain’t gonna judge.

undefined — A California Newt courtesy of Connor Long (https://www.instagram.com/connorology/)

Love Is In The Air…And The Library?

With Valentine’s Day now passed, the Berkeley Libraries posted some fun content including this article discussing graduates Trier Mortlock and Helen Kirkby and their engagement story in the Morrison Library. While I can understand how some of these libraries are romantic, most of my library memories are sleep deprived, on the verge of tears, trying to make sense of electron placement in an atom. Congrats Trier and Helen!

NBA All-Star Weekend

The NBA this weekend celebrated their All-Stars in a 3 hour show with about 30 minutes of actual Basketball. But beyond that, many Cal connections came and went with the whole thing. First and foremost, world famous Basketball Player Marshawn Lynch appeared on Inside the NBA.

The whole clip is around 10 minutes long and well worth the watch, especially for the nugget at 5:00 where Charles Barkley talks about getting dinner with Charmin Smith and Lulu Twidale. Charmin and Lulu reflected on the meal here. Credit to Lulu because in the presence of Barkley I would have started quoting Space Jam.

Golden Bear Honors

Nohl Williams was named the 91st Overall Prospect heading into the NFL Combine
Teddye Buchanan, Marcus Harris, Nohl Williams, and Craig Woodson were all invited to the NFL Scouting Combine
11 Members of Field Hockey were named to the National Academic Squad
Marta Suárez was featured by the team this week for “A Day in the Life of Marta”
19 Football players were named to the ACC Academic All-Conference
Jeremiah Wilkinson talked upon the importance of Black History Month and representing something bigger than himself.
Men’s Swim and Dive started the ACC Championship strong by winning the 200-Yard Medley and recording the second fastest time this season and winning the 800 Free Relay (and setting a meet record in the process).
Women’s Swim and Dive got on the podium, placing second in the 200 Medley Relay and third in the 800 freestyle relay.
Sir, another Cal Women’s Gymnastics Player has been named ACC Gymnast of the Week. Congrats Maddie Williams! That makes 6 GOW in 7 Tries.
Frederick Williams III was named Football Scholar Athlete of the Week
Michelle Onyiah joined the 1000 Career points club.
Eszter Varró was named MPSF Newcomer of the Week
Cal Beach Volleyball starts the season ranked 7
Men’s Gymnastic’s Aidan Li and Matteo Bardana combined for 5 titles this week at the 2025 Elite Canada Meet
Charmin Smith and Women’s Basketball notched the teams 20th Win, the first time for Charmin Smith
Gianna Bartalo was named to the 2024-2025 All-ACC Academic Team
Spencer Dessart was named to the National College Baseball Writer’s Association Stopper of the Year Preseason Watch List

Cal Athletics Round Up

Men’s Basketball lost to Duke and Georgia Tech
Men’s Golf competed at the John A. Burns Intercollegiate
Track and Field competed in the Husky Classic
Women’s Basketball beat Boston College and Syracuse
Softball beat Oregon State, Kansas, and Iowa State
Lacrosse lost to USC
Women’s Gymnastics beat Utah State and Texas Women’s University
Baseball beat Nevada 14-1, 11-3, 1-10 (L), 8-0 to go 3-1 on the weekend
Men’s Tennis beat UC Davis
Women’s Water Polo beat UC Davis
Rugby beat Grand Canyon in a tune up before beating the University of British Columbia in a World Cup Victory

Cal Pros Round Up

Marshawn Lynch, not one to sit idly, will appear this season on HBO’s Euphoria
Cam Bynum and Keenan Allen were named to the Top 50 NFL Free Agents list
Cam Bynum got himself a highlight reel
Jaylen Brown celebrated at the NBA All-Star Game
Kenny Lawler signed a contract with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and became the CFL’s Highest Paid Non-Quarterback
Michael Kim tied for 13th at the Genesis while Colin Morikawa tied for 17th

Next Week in Bear Territory

2/18-2/22 Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving continue to compete at ACC Championships this week
2/20-2/22 Softball vs Cal State Fullerton, Oregon, Washington, Seattle, LMU, and Northwestern in the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic
2/20 Women’s Basketball vs Virginia, 2/23 against Virginia Tech
2/20 Cal Ice Hockey plays Texas at the ACHA Regionals! Watch it here!
2/21-2/22 Beach Volleyball opens against Vanguard, Pepperdine, CSU Bakersfield, and Long Beach State at the Pepperdine Challenge
2/21-2/23 Women’s Water Polo plays in the Barbara Kalbus Invitational
2/21 Women’s Tennis plays at USC, 2/22 at Pepperdine
2/21-2/23 Baseball plays Houston
2/22 Track and Field competes in the Cal All Comers Invitational
2/22 Rugby takes on Navy
2/22 Lacrosse plays Louisville
2/22 Men’s Basketball plays at Stanford
2/23 Women’s Gymnastics competes against Pitt
2/24-2/25 Women’s Golf competes in the Bruin Wave Invitational

Well that should just about do it! Thanks again for reading and enjoying these hot hot nuggets and links. As always, if I forgot anything, dump it in the comments! I’m off to go re-read the Backyard Bird Chronicles and stare at the art for like 4 days.

Bowlesman 80

Feb 21

I'll tell you a funny/sad story about California Newts.

My dad was from the foothills of Mariposa County.

One time, at our mining claim, near the Merced River, we collected a peach box full of water dogs (California Newts) to take to my uncle's pond. The idea was to stock the pond with newts, which are kind of fun, like having a pond of turtles or Koi. Well, my uncle already had a mess of bullfrogs in the pond.

We did not know that bullfrogs preyed upon newts.

We released the newts and the water looked at though it was boiling.

Approximately fifty newts were gone in seconds.

Lesson learned.

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