Welcome to big wave Wednesday. I was going to blast out a beautiful sunrise from Sunday but a giant swell hit the central coast on Monday and it has been pumping ever since. With the high tide and huge waves the coast has been getting pounded the last couple of days and the results have been spectacularly dangerous. In fact, this swell is going to go down as a double dip as we’ll bring you part II on Friday. That’s right, two blogs for the price of one.

The first two photos are from Monday morning. The first shot was taken along West Cliff Drive from my old stomping grounds near Swift Street. Then I headed south along the cliff to Woodrow Avenue before shooting the final four at Lighthouse Point. A combination of gigantic waves along with the high tide created explosions of salt water tapestry from sunrise to sunset. The waves were a little sloppy for surfers but it cleaned up somewhat for Tuesday. Monday was tremendous-Tuesday was both delightfully and deliciously epic and that’s what’s coming up on Friday.

So now that we’ve talked about big waves, let’s talk about big bucks. The United States has more billionaires (415) than any other country in the world. Who’s number two? Russia, Japan, Bermuda? No, the answer is China. That’s right, the country that has brought us mu shu pork, shrimp with lobster sauce and Yao Ming is now number two. A year ago there were 15 billionaires in China. Now there are more than 100 according to the widely watched Hurun Report, 66 according to Forbes Magazine and 55 according to my favorite waiter over at the Hong Kong Gardens. And speaking of twos, U.S News and World Report’s first annual ranking of America’s best high schools ranked my son’s school, Pacific Collegiate, as number two in the entire country. Jason says they would be ranked number one if they had a PE program. That’s a mighty impressive accomplishment for a small school on the westside of Santa Cruz that doesn’t have a football or baseball team.

Anyway, getting back to today’s lunch specials, unlike America’s rich like Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and Alex Rodriquez, China’s are hardly famous, even in Shanghai. Few know Yang Huiyan, owner of a property development company or Robin Li, the CEO of China’s leading search engine. They are as invisible as a tiny prawn in a sea of sweet and sour sauce.

Yet who they are and what they decide to do-or are allowed to do-with their money and newfound influence will have political and economic consequences in China and probably far beyond, analysts say. In other words, the days of the $1 egg roll could be over.

China’s new billionaires are building their staggering wealth on the backs of the richest companies you have never heard of. Thanks to the capitalist stock mania sweeping the communist mainland, Chinese private and state-owned companies are issuing stock for the first time and becoming the most valuable companies in the world-sometimes overnight. These companies are hotter than sizzling rice soup.

Back in early November, the first day state-owned energy company PetroChina listed shares on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, its market valuation ran up to more than $1 trillion, topping that of any company in history. Analysts are skeptical about the way China’s stocks are valued, particularly those like PetroChina with huge amounts of untradeable government shares. But on paper, it has dethroned Exxon Mobil as the most valuable company in the world. And it did so without a gigantic oil spill off the coast of Alaska although the waters of the North China Sea do appear to be a bit murky.

Play by play announcers and analysts argue that the obscure finances of the companies make it impossible to know their true value. And if the Chinese market is a bubble, the new billionaires will disappear as quickly, just as General Tso’s chicken does when it hits my plate.

The emergence of the super wealthy is a dramatic turnaround in a country that once branded enemies of the state as “capitalist railroaders.” Although we did learn in the Tom Cruise classic “Risky Business” that “there is something about the motion of a train.” As much as the bounty of billionaires is a source of pride, it is also a potential cause for concern in this poor communist country. Per capita income in China is less than $1,000 per year, not including the sales of dim sum, pu pu platters and all to go items.

So that’s our show for today. Hope you enjoyed our big wave version of close encounters of the surge kind along with our sampling of provincial Chinese cuisine. Coming up on Friday, part II of the December pounding of the coastline. And for all you sports fans out there, Happy Hanukah and may your lives be filled with latkes, sour cream and applesauce. Rest assured mine shall be. Gotta run, I’m off to play a little Chinese checkers, grab a snack of milk and fortune cookies and then I’m heading back down to the cliff. Enjoy the energy and enjoy the flow.

Welcome to December 2007 and magnificent Monarch Monday. I love this month. Today’s all you can eat photo buffet features shots taken at the eucalyptus grove at Natural Bridges State Beach from over the past couple of weeks. When it’s warm and sunny and the monarchs are fluttering in the sky, it gives me an incredibly peaceful feeling. Kind of like riding the New York City subway at rush hour.

The monarch state preserve at Natural Bridges is the only one in California. This year the monarch population peaked at about 3,000 to 4,000 where as last year the total was 10,000. According to Barbara Cooksey, an interpretive specialist at Natural Bridges, “Ten years ago there used to be 150,000 every year.” When asked why the number has dropped so drastically, she says, “Herbicides, pesticides, habitat loss, reality TV and bioengineered corn and soy, because both products contain pesticides. The pollen will blow to adjacent milkweed and the insecticides will kill the caterpillar.

Monarch butterflies spend the winter along the Pacific coast because the weather here is cold enough that the butterflies can go into reproductive diapause (similar to hibernation but common in many marriages) but not cold enough to freeze, something that would kill a butterfly which would then put a damper on their sex life.

The monarchs come to this particular eucalyptus grove at Natural Bridges because it is located in a canyon with shelter from the wind and filters sunlight to keep their bodies from freezing. These trees also flower in the winter giving the butterflies a convenient source of food and holiday gifts for friends and other insects.

As you can see in the photos #3,4 and 5, monarchs cluster in the trees. They cluster like this to protect themselves from the wind, rain and Jehovah’s Witnesses. Clustering may also make it easier to find a mate as the male scent gland no longer functions in the monarch and is a lot more effective than monarchmatch.com.

To get to Natural Bridges, the monarchs fly 60 to 100 miles a day with an hour stop for lunch. On the west coast they must fly against the wind, east of the Continental Divide they are helped by the wind, and in the north, according Christopher Cross, they “ride the wind. And of course The Association proclaimed years ago that “Everyone knows it’s windy,”

Monarchs are born in the fall and live six to nine months. They follow the milkweed patches north as the weather grows warmer. Each generation flies a little further north to lay their eggs and then dies. Monarchs do not have a mouth with which to chew. During this stage, they can only drink water with a straw-like proboscis, which gives them energy. A monarch drinks only about once a week, unless they are off the wagon and then they suck down the nectar like a banchee. They will only fly when the weather is warm, when it is above 55 degrees. In the words of Sammy Hagar, “I can’t fly 55.”

So now you’re probably wondering, how can you tell the difference between a male and a female monarch? The males have a spot on each hind wing, easily seen on the upper side of the wing. The females do not have the spot and their black lines (veins) are wider than the veins. Also, the females love to shop and are much more nuturing while the males prefer watching sporting events and remaining emotionally unavailable.

Monarchs are perhaps the most well-known of all North American butterflies. They are of the few insects capable of making transatlantic crossings. Who even knew they could make reservations? They can’t really hear (what?) but sense the world through smell and vision. They communicate through colorization- by opening and closing their wings, they seem to by saying , “Don’t land on me” or “Get off of my back.” It is suspected that male monarchs communicate with the female monarchs by emitting a scent referred to as pheromone. Myself, I’m more of an Old Spice man.

Butterflies have the broadest visual spectrum of any known animal and can see colors that humans can’t. They can see UV light, which human can’t. They don’t really sleep, but are inactive when it’s dark. They can’t shut their eyes because they don’t have eyelids. That’s why you never say to a butterfly, “Close your eyes, I’ve got surprise for you.”

Monarchs begin life as an egg. Which begs the question, what came first, the chicken or the butterfly? The eggs, laid on milkweed leaves, hatch into caterpillars. The baby caterpillars eat the milkweed and grow very quickly. The milkweed contains a poison that the monarchs use for their defense. That and a zone trap. While the poison doesn’t hurt the monarchs, it makes them taste bad to birds and other predators.

The Aztecs believed the adult monarch butterflies to be the incarnation of fallen warriors, wearing the colors of battle. This is not to be confused with the red-hot Golden State Warriors, who wear the colors blue and gold.

So that’s it for our entree into December. Lots of colors coming up this month so don’t change the dial. Growing up in Fort Lee, New Jersey, the orange and black buses used to pass by our house every day and my high school colors were orange and black, so having this incredible grove of multi-colored marvels less than a mile from my home is just a natural progression. I am one lucky, middle-aged boy. Enjoy the day and get ready for some superb sunrise action on Wednesday. Aloha.