05/31/06

Deserts of the world: Atacama

Posted by admin

The Atacama Desert of Chile is a sparsely-populated, virtually rainless plateau running from the Pacific Ocean to the Andes Mountains. The average width is less than 100 miles but it extends 600 miles south from the Peruvian border. The Atacama is made up of salt basins, sand and lava flows. The landscape is so desolate ("world's driest desert"), it has been chosen as a test site for Zoe, the prototype of a future Mars rover.

[Image courtesy of Carnegie Mellon University - click thumbnail photo to...

Posted at 03:25 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/31/06

Calif. to bypass Electoral College?

Posted by admin

Hm. Not a bad idea:

"There are 36 states like California that are non-battleground states. So in those states, your vote for president doesn't count."

Uh-huh. Let's not allow the Election 2000 debacle to happen again...

Posted at 02:05 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/31/06

Pop Quiz: Spelling

Posted by admin

Can you spell... haggle, banally, apparel, inaccurate, allege, culottes, derogatory, precedent, immolate, basmati, lycanthropy, succussatory, fete, olio, nullipara, melee, scopolamine, Erewhonian, zemi, Pierian, cembalo, perciatelli, Capharnaum, oeillade, sprachgefuhl?

The 25 words above were given to the record-breaking total of 275 contestants this morning in Round 1 (the Written Round) of the National Spelling Bee. ESPN does a live feed of the Preliminary Championship Rounds tomorrow morning from 9am to noon (PDT), and ABC will broadcast the finale...

Posted at 12:44 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/31/06

Blöki pooper-scooper

Posted by admin

Have you ever admired a simple object like, oh say, a paper clip (invented in 1899 by Johan Vaaler [1866-1910]), or a milk carton (invented in 1932 by Victor Wallace Farris [1909-1985]), or a

Posted at 10:47 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/31/06

Hey, who turned up the heat?

Posted by admin

Today's high=101°F (38.3°C), Thursday=105°F, Friday=107°F, Saturday=111°F, Sunday=110°F, Monday=109°F, Tuesday=108°F.

Man-oh-man, it wasn't half this hot when I left.

But you know what? In Budapest, we were sweating to death on days that were twenty degrees cooler. It's the humidity.

Have I mentioned lately that I love the desert? I really missed Palm Springs. There's nothing like walking out into the palpable embrace of the summer warmth at lunchtime.

What a great place to live. This area is sooooo special...

Posted at 08:13 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/30/06

Monaco's prince fathered PD teen?

Posted by admin

According to the French newspaper Le Figaro, Prince Albert II of Monaco is preparing to announce he's the father of a Palm Desert resident.

The translated web page describes Jazmin Grace Rotolo, age 14, as "a girl ripe, sympathetic nerve and intelligent..."

June updates: [1] Linda from Montpellier, France writes: Your translation of the article from Le Figaro is wrong. The girl is described as "mature, nice, and intelligent" not "a girl ripe, sympathetic nerve, and intelligent." Exactly, Linda. Why link to an automatic translator, if it doesn't have a...

05/30/06

Deserts of the world: Patagonian

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The Patagonian Desert is situated between the Andes and the Atlantic Ocean in southern Argentina. It is made up of gravel plains and plateaus, covering approximately 260,000 square miles. This is a cold desert (average temperature of 44°F) and there is often frost. Before the Andes mountains were formed from the earth's crust, this area was covered in rainforest... which is why you can see petrified trees in the middle of the desert.

[Image by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC - click thumbnail photo for larger...

Posted at 03:13 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/30/06

Bloggers = Journalists?

Posted by admin

The Sixth District Court of Appeals in California has ruled that online journalists and bloggers have the same right to protect their sources as newspaper journalists.

In Apple v. Does, the court found that both print and web journalists are covered by the First Amendment, and rejected Apple's attempt to draw a distinction between "legitimate" and "illegitimate" news.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Find out what it means to me
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Take care of TCB...

—by Otis Redding, covered by 'retha

Posted at 02:26 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/30/06

How I spent my spring vacation

Posted by admin

When Anikó and I visit Budapest, it's mostly to spend time with her family. However, my adult stepkids, Anita and Jenc, always work hard to make sure we also see some interesting new sights:

Last week, one of our stops was the New York Café, an early-20th-century literary hangout. Starting in the fifties, it was known as the Café Hungária, and then fell into disrepair for several years. The building recently...

Posted at 10:47 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/30/06

I'm baaaaaaaaack...

Posted by admin

It's safe to wear white now.
Not because I'm back in the ol' blogsaddle.
But because Memorial Day was yesterday.
Or was it the day before?
I might be just a tad jet-lagged.
Our flight arrived at LAX from Heathrow last night.
And no, it wasn't anything like Arlo's... unfortunately:

Coming in from London
From over the pole
Flying in a big airliner
Chickens flying everywhere around the plane
Could we ever feel much finer?

Coming into Los Angeles
Bringing in a couple of keys
Don't touch my bags if you please
Mister Customs Man [...]

Posted at 08:09 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/26/06

How I Blog

Posted by admin

"I blog, therefore I am." —what René Descartes (1596-1650) might've said if he'd lived to the age of 410

Did you end up on this page after clicking a link over at The Blog Herald ("more blog news more often")? If so, welcome! Please feel free to take a look around, make yourself comfortable, put up those tired feet. Not on the coffee table. On the ottoman. Mi casa es

Posted at 12:12 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/19/06

Hasta la vista, bay-bee

Posted by admin

Tonight, I'm jumping on one o' them newfangled flying machines to go visit my in-laws in Budapest for a week.

Leavin' on a jet plane,
Don't know when I'll be back again...
[Did you realize that John Denver wrote this song, the biggest hit that Peter, Paul & Mary ever had?]

Actually, I *do* know when I'll be back - so look for fresh postings on Tuesday, May 30!

Posted at 03:16 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/19/06

Deserts of the world: Gobi

Posted by admin

The Gobi (meaning "very large and dry" in Mongolian) Desert is a 500,000-square-mile region extending through northern China and southern Mongolia.

In some parts of this desert, the sand dunes are in constant movement, traveling up to 150 feet per year.

The Gobi is the source of some of the most incredible fossil finds in history, including the first dinosaur eggs.

[Image by Junming - click thumbnail photo for larger version.]

[

Posted at 02:12 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/19/06

Aux armes citoyens

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[Reference] It seems like we were fighting these same battles back when I started blogging, over ten years ago. Click the badges for more information:

Posted at 10:59 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/19/06

Armed Forces Day

Posted by admin

Armed Forces Day (AFD) is celebrated annually on the third Saturday of May, which is tomorrow. Armed Forces Week begins on the second Saturday of May and ends on the third Sunday of May, the day after AFD.

On August 31, 1949, Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson announced the creation of AFD to replace the separate Army, Navy and Air Force Days. The unification of the Armed Forces under one department led to this single-day celebration. Each of the military leagues and orders was asked to drop sponsorship of its specific service day in order to celebrate AFD. The Army, Navy and Air Force leagues adopted the newly-announced day, but the Marine Corps League...

Posted at 08:09 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/18/06

Desert flora: rolling out the purple carpet

Posted by admin

You see them on the sidewalk:


And you see them on the grass:


Then you look up:


Yes, it's Purple Time in Palm Springs. Our many jacaranda trees have been blooming wildly during the past few weeks, and now they're beginning to spread soft, vivid flower carpets underneath their branches. Gorgeous.

The jacaranda comes from South...

Posted at 03:09 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/18/06

Hot enough for ya?

Posted by admin

Moving into the Coachella (ko-CHELL-a) Valley is not like relocating to other places. If you arrive here in the fall, winter or spring, you might not receive the wholehearted welcome that you've come to expect from friendly neighbors in other climes. Out here, we'll want to see how you react to our summer, before we accept you as one of us.

As the temperature begins to crank up during the month of May, you'll quickly notice a tacit agreement among most desert broadcasters: they avoid editorial comments about the blazing climate while on the air.

For example, when a weatherman reports that today's high was a hundred and sixty-two degrees, you'd normally expect him to add something like: "Holy crap, what a scorcher!"

Instead, he moves smoothly...

Posted at 02:01 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/18/06

Whatchawannadothisweekend? (18May06)

Posted by admin

Tonight: don't forget Villagefest, 6-10pm... and the Palm Springs Art Museum offers free admission from 4-8pm. Such a deal!

Friday: At 7pm, it's the world premiere of Thank You for the Flowers, a romantic comedy that won the 2005 Palm Springs International Playwriting Festival. Can one wear a tux-print teeshirt and huaraches to a world premiere?

Saturday morning: The

Posted at 10:07 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/18/06

Deserts of the world: Taklamakan

Posted by admin

Geographers and ecologists prefer to regard the western area of the Gobi Desert region--the basin of the Tarim in Xinjiang and the desert basin of Lop Nor and Hami (Kumul)--as forming a separate and independent desert called the Taklamakan ("Place of No Return"), which covers 105,000 square miles of China.

[Image of International Space Station over the Taklamakan courtesy of NASA - click thumbnail photo for larger version.]

[

Posted at 08:11 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/17/06

Greetings from Locus Novus

Posted by admin

"Astound me!" [said Serge Diaghilev, to Jean Cocteau]
The eMail below appeared in my Inbox this morning.
It's always a red-letter day when Faruk posts new collaborations.
Do yourself a favor - crank up your speakers, click the links, and prepare to be astounded...

--- Original Message ---

Just a quick message to let you know that the site has been updated with three new works:

-- Another Person by Peter Clarke
--

Posted at 03:08 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/17/06

Pre-flight buzz

Posted by admin

So... in preparation for my Friday-night voyage to Budapest, I've been getting excited, checking the local weather and news headlines, and poring over some maps (yep, that's the Green Danube - our apartment is on the east side of the river, in the IX kerület - 9th district).

Posted at 02:32 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/17/06

Deserts of the world: Kyzyl-Kum

Posted by admin

The Kyzyl-Kum ("Red Sand") Desert lies just to the east of the Kara-Kum ("Black Sand") desert. It covers about 115,000 square miles of Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, and lies between the Syr Darya and the Amu Darya Rivers, southeast of the Aral Sea.

Precipitation reaches 4-8 inches annually, and occurs mainly in winter and spring. The area is primarily made up of sand ridges upon which desert plants grow.

[Image courtesy of Dmitriy A. Pitirimov - click thumbnail photo for larger version.]

Posted at 10:44 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/17/06

Mr. Mayor

Posted by admin

Mayor Ronald Oden [click thumbnail photo for larger image] recently took some time out of his busy schedule for this chat:

In Norse mythology, Odin (spelled differently) was the King of Asgard, Father of the Gods, and the Lord of War, Death and Knowledge. Do you have anything in common with him?

Well, it seems like I'm in battle a lot! War and...?

...Death and Knowledge.

[Laughs.] I...

Posted at 08:13 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/16/06

Pushcart + Caine Prize

Posted by admin

Three of my colleagues at Francis Ford Coppola's Zoetrope Virtual Studio have received amazing news during the past few days:

On Saturday, blogger Kim Chinquee (who teaches creative writing at Central Michigan University) found out that she had won a coveted Pushcart Prize.

Yesterday, the UK's Guardian announced that

Posted at 02:44 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/16/06

The Daily Show Effect

Posted by admin

From the Department Of Duh:

According to a study published in the May issue of American Politics Research magazine, researchers conclude that "young Americans' political views are negatively impacted" by watching The Daily Show With Jon Stewart.

The results showed that...

Posted at 10:49 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/16/06

Deserts of the world: Kara-Kum

Posted by admin

The Kara-Kum ("Black Sand") Desert occupies about 135,000 square miles of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. It is separated from the Kyzyl-Kum Desert by the Amu Darya River.

The Murghab and Tejen rivers flow out of the Hindu Kush Mountains to the south and empty into the desert, providing water for irrigation.

This desert is crossed by the largest irrigation canal in the world, the Qaraqum...

Posted at 08:11 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/15/06

Did Lyman Gilmore beat the Wright brothers?

Posted by admin

Lyman Wiswell Gilmore, Jr. built a steam-powered airplane in Grass Valley (near Sacramento, CA) and claimed that he flew it on this date in 1902, nineteen months before the Wright's flight at Kitty Hawk.

Lyman was an eccentric man who avoided bathing, shaving and cutting his hair. He believed that if he did so, it would diminish his strength and vitality. People who remember him say that he stank to high heaven. He wore a trench coat, even in the middle of summer, which contained all of his papers. At one point, he was forcefully deprived of the coat for a delousing, and it was...

Posted at 03:39 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/15/06

Dinah Shore Lesbians v. Mayor Oden

Posted by admin

Let's see...

Did I read about this hot-button topic in The Desert Sun or The Desert Pun?

I just can't seem to keep these things straight.

Posted at 10:45 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/15/06

Deserts of the world: Thar

Posted by admin

The Thar Desert, also known as the Great Indian Desert, is located in western India and southeastern Pakistan. In Pakistan's Punjab province it is known as the Cholistan Desert. It covers approximately 175,000 square miles, depending on which areas are included.

4,000 to 5,000 years ago, this area supported what is considered to be one of the world's oldest civilizations, the Mohenjo Daro and Harappa.

All rainfall is associated with the short July-September southwest monsoon that brings less than 10 inches of...

Posted at 08:05 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/12/06

Deserts of the world: Iranian

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The Dasht-e Kavir (Great Salt Desert) in north-central Iran is about 500 miles long and 200 miles wide wide. Named after the kavirs (salt marshes) located there, its nearly rainless climate with high surface evaporation has created a crust of salt over the marsh and mud lands. The kavirs act like quicksand, so travel in this desert is extremely dangerous. It is almost uninhabited and only partly explored.

[Image courtesy of USGS EROS Data Center - click thumbnail photo for larger version.]

Posted at 02:23 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/12/06

28 years ago today

Posted by admin

...the Commerce Department said hurricane names would stop being just female.

For several hundred years, many hurricanes in the West Indies were named after the particular saint's day on which the hurricane occurred. Examples: Hurricane Santa Ana (26 July 1825) and Hurricane San Felipe (the first, 13 Sept. 1876; the second, 13 Sept. 1928).

Before the end of the 19th century, Australian meteorologist Clement Wragge began giving women's names to tropical storms.

In 1953, the United States abandoned a plan to name storms by a phonetic alphabet (Able, Baker, Charlie) when a new

Posted at 10:23 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/12/06

Mother's Day

Posted by admin

...is the day after tomorrow. In 1907, Philadelphia resident Anna Jarvis began campaigning to establish a national Mother's Day. She persuaded her mother's church in Grafton, West Virginia to celebrate Mother's Day on the second anniversary of her mother's death, the second Sunday of May. By 1911, Mother's Day was celebrated in almost every state, thanks to Ms. Jarvis. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson made the official announcement proclaiming the second Sunday of May as a national holiday: Mother's Day.

In Hungary, Lithuania, Portugal, South Africa and Spain, Mothers' Day takes place on the first Sunday in May, so I wished Anyuka (my wife's mother) Happy Mother's Day

Posted at 08:21 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/11/06

Deserts of the world: Arabian

Posted by admin

The Arabian Desert is an extreme environment, featuring everything from red dunes to deadly quicksand.

This vast wilderness (1 million square miles) occupies almost the entire Arabian Peninsula, stretching from Yemen to the Persian Gulf and Oman to Jordan and Iraq.

Much of its area consists of gravel plains and rocky highlands, but ¼ is the Rub al-Khali ("Empty Quarter"), the world's largest unbroken expanse of sand.

[

Posted at 03:05 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/11/06

Whatchawannadothisweekend? (11May06)

Posted by admin

Today: Bonnie Adkins, public information specialist for the BLM, presents There's a Monument in your Backyard, starting at 10am. Why do we have a monument in our backyard? Because getting somebody to cart it away would be MUCH too expensive.

Friday: At 7pm, the Old Schoolhouse Lecture Series presents "Ice Age Extinctions" with Eric Scott, paleontologist. Cool. A real-life version of

Posted at 09:54 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/11/06

UFO@Integratron: Giant Rock

Posted by admin

So I left the Retro UFO Space Convention to drive through several miles of sandy dirt roads, hoping to find the Giant Rock under which George Van Tassel had lived, before he was instructed by space aliens to build the Integratron. On the way, I passed an encampment of rowdy-looking dirt bikers and ATV enthusiasts. The rock itself (supposedly the largest single boulder in the world) lived up to its name - compare it to those trucks on the right:


But it's difficult...

Posted at 08:01 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/10/06

Deserts of the world: Namib

Posted by admin

The parched Namib Desert (less than 0.4 inches of rain annually) is home to the highest sand dunes in the world, blown into razor-sharp ridges by the wind. [Click thumbnail photo to enlarge.]

Namib means "enormous" in the Nama language: this desert stretches 1,200 miles along the Atlantic coast of Namibia, extending into Angola and South Africa. It is considered to be the oldest desert in the world, having endured arid or semi-arid conditions for at least 80 million years.

[

Posted at 02:58 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/10/06

Let the sweating begin

Posted by admin

Unmistakable Harbinger of Summer: the mist-cooling systems have been activated on the patios of many local eateries. If you're from a northern climate—like me—you look at these outdoor nozzles, spewing forth huge white clouds of what looks like steam, and wonder: "Why is this restaurant parboiling its customers? Is it some sort of desert fetish behavior that wasn't mentioned in the guidebooks?"

Posted at 10:26 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/10/06

UFO@Integratron: Orion Starseed

Posted by admin

You're bound to meet some interesting people at a Retro UFO Space Convention. Sure enough... [click thumbnail photo to enlarge]

What's your name?

Okay, my name is Michael, my last name's Barr. I go by "Orion Starseed." That is basically my heritage.

When did you have your first encounter?

In 1978, at the Ontario Airport, of all places, in the middle of the day.

In the middle of the...

05/09/06

Deserts of the world: Kalahari

Posted by admin

The Kalahari Desert is a large arid-to-semi-arid sandy area in southern Africa extending over 220,000 square miles and covering much of Botswana, and parts of Namibia and South Africa. Ancient dry riverbeds traverse the northern reaches of the Kalahari and provide standing pools of water during the rainy season. Previously havens for elephants, giraffes, lions and cheetahs, the riverbeds are now mostly grazing spots, though cheetahs can still be found. [Click thumbnail photo to enlarge.]

Derived from the Tswana...

Posted at 03:15 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/09/06

UFO@Integratron: Inside

Posted by admin

The Retro UFO Space Convention offered tours inside the Integratron, so I signed up, of course. That was a must-see. On the ground floor, they showed us a grainy video presentation which explained these wires wrapped around the underside of the second-floor support beams. Unfortunately, your intrepid reporter was not paying attention. He was too busy watching his aura shrink into the white dot that appears in the upper-right corner of this photo:


Afterwards, there was a Q&A with a guy who claimed to be George Van Tassel, the Integratron...

Posted at 10:56 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/09/06

2006 Webby winners

Posted by admin

The Webby Award winners were announced this morning by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. The NetArt category was won by the PostSecret blog, Business Blog - 5 Blogs Before Lunch, Culture/Personal Blog - we make money not art, Political Blog - The Huffington Post and Copy/Writing - NewYorker.com.

Posted at 08:00 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/08/06

The Lost Blogs

Posted by admin

Today is the official publication date for a book entitled The Lost Blogs: From Jesus to Jim Morrison--The Historically Inaccurate and Totally Fictitious Cyber Diaries of Everyone Worth Knowing.

The book has a website. Quite predictable, really.

The author, Paul Davidson, also has a blog. You'd expect nothing less.

Actually, Paul has a

Posted at 02:47 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/08/06

UFO@Integratron: Scrapbook

Posted by admin

Calling this gathering a Retro UFO Space Convention was a very clever idea. By positioning it as a nostalgia event, they allowed everyone to remain one step removed from the actual concept of a hard-core UFO convention: "Oh, I'm just here to see how these things used to operate back in the Fifties. I'm not really a UFO nut."

Here's a scrapbook of random impressions - starting with Kiriel, playing her didgeridoo in front of the Integratron:


A small observatory stands a short distance off in the desert:

Posted at 10:58 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/08/06

Deserts of the world: Sahara

Posted by admin

The world's largest nonpolar desert (3.5 million square miles, almost as large as the U.S.) gets its name from the Arabic word meaning, oddly enough, "desert." It extends through Morocco, Western Sahara, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia. The Sahara divides the continent of Africa into North and Sub-Saharan Africa. The southern boundary of this desert is marked by a band of semiarid savanna called the Sahel; south of the Sahel lies the Congo River Basin.

Posted at 08:11 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/07/06

How Anndee got her star

Posted by admin

Anndee Laskoe [click thumbnail photos to enlarge], who received the 272nd star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars at 3pm today, coanchors the 5 and 6pm television news broadcasts at CBS 2. Last year, she was coanchoring the 5, 6 and 11pm newcasts at Channel 3... but then something happened:

You've had a stressful year.

[Laughs.] I don't know if...

Posted at 04:38 PM | Permalink | Comments: 1

05/05/06

Deserts of the world: Chihuahuan

Posted by admin

At 200,000 square miles, the Chihuahuan Desert is the largest in North America. It covers parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, but mostly lies south of the Mexican border. Elevations range from 1,000 to 5,000 feet, with the vast majority of its land area above 3,500 feet.

Winter temperatures are cool, but summer temperatures are extremely hot. Generally, the land receives less than 10 inches of annual rainfall, with most precipitation occurring in the summer months.

Like the Great Basin, this is a shrub...

Posted at 03:36 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/05/06

Recipe: Mint Julep

Posted by admin

4 mint sprigs
3 ounces bourbon
2 teaspoons water
1 teaspoon powdered sugar

· Muddle the mint leaves, water and powdered sugar in a tall glass.
· Fill with crushed ice, then add bourbon.
· Top off with more ice, add a mint sprig for garnish, and serve with a straw.

[Post time for the 132nd Kentucky Derby is 6:04pm EDT, tomorrow.]

Posted at 02:51 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/05/06

Boldog Anyák napját!

Posted by admin

[Translation: Happy Mother's Day!] This Sunday is Mother's Day in Magyarország (Hungary celebrates the holiday one week earlier than America), and my Hungarian wife is visiting her family in Budapest. I'll join them for a week later this month, but I thought it might be fun to send my greetings to Erzsébet—the sweetest mother-in-law a guy could could ever hope for—through the Internet now: "Sok-sok puszi, Anyuka!" [Many, many kisses, Mom!]

Posted at 10:22 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/05/06

Titanic

Posted by admin

There are many stories related to the sinking of the Titanic, and some have only recently come to light, due to the overwhelming success of Cameron's film.

For example, most people are unaware that back in 1912, Hellmann's (Best Foods) Mayonnaise was manufactured in England, and the Titanic was carrying 15,000 cases of this condiment. The shipment was scheduled for delivery in Veracruz, Mexico, which was to be the next port of call for the great ocean liner, after leaving New York City.

The Mexican people, eagerly awaiting delivery, were disconsolate at the loss - so much so that they declared a national day of mourning which is still observed today.

It's known, of course,...

Posted at 08:16 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/04/06

UFO@Integratron: Synapse Activation Chair

Posted by admin

(After seeing this convention exhibit, I experienced some intense flashbacks from my last spin in a Spiro Gyro Orbitron.) The yellow sign reads: New psychic abilities may be activated and existing ones amplified after sitting in this chair for just a short time. Many have reported that time has "stopped" (and also their watches) upon passing through the chair entrance. The brilliant scientist...

05/04/06

Whatchawannadothisweekend? (4May06)

Posted by admin

Tonight: From 5-9pm, it's the El Paseo Art Walk. I love to walk in a very artistic way. I imagine John Cleese does, too.

Friday: At 7pm, the Joslyn Players present An Evening with Groucho, a two-act comedy that consists of the best Groucho Marx one-liners, anecdotes and songs. Tonight's secret word is

Posted at 10:56 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/04/06

Deserts of the world: Colorado Plateau

Posted by admin

The Colorado Plateau is centered in northeastern Arizona, near the adjacent Four Corners region of New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, and extending into Wyoming. Its 130,000 square miles are sometimes included in the Great Basin Desert, sometimes considered a separate desert (the Navajoan, or "Painted" Desert) and sometimes not considered a true desert at all.

The Plateau contains juniper and pinyon trees, but also includes large barren areas, with spectacularly colorful geological formations: mesas (broad,...

Posted at 08:02 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/03/06

UFO@Integratron: Booths

Posted by admin

In every succeeding generation, it seems like the same types of people are drawn to these memes: UFOs, the Occult and "New Age." Now that we've come back around to "Retro UFO," will the next cycle keep rolling into "Retro Occult" and "Retro New Age"? These convention booths tended to support this progression, starting with Reverend Bob:


Something told me there were fortunes to be told inside this tent...


...maybe with an invisible...

Posted at 03:05 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/03/06

Deserts of the world: Great Basin

Posted by admin

The Great Basin Desert is the largest in America, covering about 190,000 square miles between the Sierra Nevadas and the Rockies. It's a "cold desert," due to its relatively northern latitude and high elevations (usually 4,000 to 6,500 feet). Precipitation generally measures 7-12 inches annually, and often falls as snow in the winter.

It has only occasional yuccas and very few cacti. [Click thumbnail photo to enlarge.]

[

Posted at 10:29 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/03/06

Chairman Milanovich

Posted by admin

Richard M. Milanovich [click thumbnail photo to enlarge] has been the Tribal Council Chairman of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians since 1984. I was really looking forward to meeting him, but the experience didn't turn out to be quite what I had expected. He showed me, among other things, how much he loves to bring out the humor in everyday life. Before our conversation began, he closed the office door. Unbeknownst to me, the doorknob was locked....

Posted at 08:15 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/02/06

Deserts of the world: Mojave

Posted by admin

Between the hot Sonoran Desert and the cooler, higher Great Basin is the Mojave Desert. If you drive up Route 62 from Desert Hot Springs to Morongo Valley, you'll be in the Mojave at the top of the hill. This arid region occupies more than 25,000 square miles in southeastern California and portions of Nevada, Arizona and Utah.

The Mojave's climate has extreme variations in daily temperature and an average annual precipitation (almost all of which arrives during the winter) of less than 5 inches. Freezing temperatures...

Posted at 02:49 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/02/06

Blogosphere: wassup? (II)

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State of the Blogosphere, part 2:

· English isn't the biggest language of the blogosphere.

· Japanese bloggers appear to write shorter posts more often.

· Male Italian bloggers are a lot more popular with women.

(Okay, I made up that last one.)

Posted at 10:45 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/02/06

UFO@Integratron: Plaque/Media

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This plaque reads: The Integratron is the creation of George Van Tassel, and is based on the design of Moses' Tabernacle, the writings of Nikola Tesla, and telepathic directions from extraterrestrials. The domed structure 35 feet high [sic] and 55 feet in diameter, was originally constructed of wood and fiberglass without the aid of metal fastners [sic]....

05/01/06

UFO@Integratron: Landers

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When you think about it, our vast open spaces here in the southwest are the last frontiers for real Desert Rats, people who like to escape from "civilized society" so they can be just as weird as they wanna be.

That's why it makes perfect sense to hold a Retro UFO Space Convention at the Integratron.

Posted at 03:25 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/01/06

Celebrity encounter: Jack Nicklaus

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Golf legend Jack Nicklaus gave a clinic for invited guests when he opened a new course this morning. I wrote down some quotes, below.

Upon noticing the scruffy beard and earring worn by his caddy: "You can rebel when you're young, but when you grow up, you've got to fit in." [Click photo to enlarge.]

On the squeaking noise made by his artificial hip: "Can you hear that? I...

Posted at 02:10 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/01/06

Beltane

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Last night was Beltane, a celebration symbolizing the return of vitality, passion and hopes consummated. If you weren't able to assemble a last-minute group of folks to celebrate in the traditional manner (rutting in oak groves was customary), don't worry... there's always next year. <wink>

Posted at 12:03 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/01/06

Deserts of the world: Sonoran

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Palm Springs is tucked into the northwest corner of the Sonoran Desert, an arid region covering 120,000 square miles in southeastern California, southwestern Arizona and portions of Mexico (extending across the western half of Sonora and throughout most of Baja California). The Colorado and Yuma deserts are subdivisions of this hot, dry area.

It boasts the highest average temperature of all the North American deserts, but irrigation has produced many fertile agricultural areas,...

Posted at 10:45 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/01/06

Five canyons, no waiting: take a hike!

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The Indian Canyons (Palm, Murray [click thumbnail photo to enlarge], Andreas, and the previously-mentioned Tahquitz) are tribal lands, operated as public parks by the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians.

The tribe's fifth canyon (Chino) is visible from...

Posted at 08:12 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0