Last night Dianna and I were woken up by the screaming of tires. The horrid noise went on for about 20 seconds, then suddenly stopped. Then suddenly started again, and so on. After about 5 minutes of this, we heard motors roar away and everything was quiet again. On my way to the lab this afternoon I saw a large number of burned-rubber donuts in the intersection next to our house.

I think we've been visited by an Oakland phenomenon that I read about a month or so ago....but for the life of me I can't remember its name! I think they were called something like "Car Parties" or "Car Shows" or "Car Tea and Cake Get-Togethers". The general principle is that some people get in their cars and do crazy donuts and tricks, while other people dodge around like matadors evading two-ton steel bulls. After a few minutes, though, the group moves on, because the police have become very fast at responding to reports of the gatherings. Does anyone remember what these things are called? Because it's going to drive me crazy until I find out.