Death Valley

Last weekend I had the pleasure of travelling to Death Valley. It was the perfect antidote to too much thinking about politics, and other depressing topics (even though, now I am less depressed about it, than I was before Tuesday the 7th). On the advice of a friend, I signed up for a trip with Green Tortoise adventure travel to see the famous California desert and national park, almost all the way out to Las Vegas from here. Green Tortoise is a local travel company that is well-known around here for providing low-cost multiple-day (and even multiple week) bus trips up and down the West Coast. They also run a hostel in San Francisco, and in Seattle. Apparently they used to cater to the hippie crowd with reliable and low-cost service. Now they cater to the wish-we-were-hippie crowd, I think. (that includes myself) No dope, no walking around naked, no tree worship. On the plus side, though, it was clean, friendly, and comfortable.

I can't say Death Valley is the most spectacular place I've ever seen. But it is definnitely the most desolate. I read somewhere, that Death Valley shares similarities with the Planet Mars, for being so inhospitable to life. But, after spending the last 4 months or so confined to the boundaries of Oakland and San Francisco (with side trips to Napa Valley and suburban Pleasanton), I was only too glad to experience a totally new natural environment, even if it did not include palm trees or swimming pools.



The weather was sunny, hot and dry all 3 days we were there. I worked on my tan, did a little hiking, went into some mineral hot springs, collected some rocks, and learned some stuff about geology (especially about Borax). I still have the rocks - and even, a little salt. Please don't tell the authorities, since my removing rocks from Death Valley probably consitutes some form of petty crime. The following picture is from the sand dunes. We did a little walking around there. It felt good to take the old shoes off.



We cooked in co-op style - that is, everyone took on a task, and helped prepare meals.



Best was probably at night (it got dark around 6). We would sit around talking and drinking, while the bus drivers Tom and Paul did most of the dinner preparation.

It was a very international crowd. About 6 of us were American, the rest Europeans. Thanks to those of you who are from the trip group, and are reading this. You helped make it a great weekend, for me.



Oh, yeah, make sure you watch my video on YouTube, "Sand Surfing". I added music, to get rid of my own annoying narrative voice. Enjoy

UPDATE: I just saw the online photo album of one of the trip participants, Arnaud. His photos are much more impressive than mine.

Democracy Stinks

You might not believe it, but the San Francisco Chronicle has endorsed Arnold for re-election as governor of California. To me, this is like John Kerry making peace with W. After all, this is the same paper that runs the W.-hating feature columnist Mark Morford! I guess, wonders never do cease.

Apropros politics and elections, I did a little walking these last weeks out east of the Bay Area, to try to help unelect U.S. congressman Richard Pombo (R-Tracy). I don't particularly enjoy ringing people's doorbells on a Saturday afternoon to tell them about a political candidate they should, as responsible citizens, have informed themselves about, and never voted into office in the first place. But, honest to God, there were people I met even in nearby Pleasanton - which I consider to be pretty left-leaning - who had never even heard of Pombo's opponent Jerry McNerney (except maybe through one of the many attack ads currently being run against him).

One person I talked to asked me about McNerney, "is he pro-life or pro-choice"? Like I am going to have a chance of influencing that person's opinion? (Does McNerney get the Catholic pro-choice vote because he's Irish?)

I feel pretty conflicted in this whole thing. On the one hand, there I am doing something I basically don't respect myself for doing (if I were one of the homeowners whose doorbell I was ringing, I would not want to talk to me). On the other hand, my fellow citizens are so NOT informed !!! Like, do you people ever read a major newspaper?

IF I COULD BE GOD

I was talking to my buddy Andy last weekend. I told him, if I could be God, there would be a voter IQ test. As I was explaining above, my fellow Americans are too ignorant to vote (check out the post about the Florida Alzheimer patients in the last election). Hell, I don't pretend to know everything. But what I see, hear and read, is that, voters in this country do not take their responsibility as voters, seriously. They scare me. YOU ALL scare me (unless, you read this blog)

That's why this test is easy. Here are the questions for YOUR VOTER IQ TEST:

"Which country is allied with the U.S. in the Iraq War?"
"Where did we try to bomb Usama Bin Laden to oblivion in 2002?"
"Name 2 candidates that are running for office in your district"
"In which southern state, does the reader also known as 'Crow', live?" (hint: Newt Gingrich comes from there)

Failure to answer 2 of these questions correctly, means you should NOT vote!

I am curious to hear your answers (please see guestbook)