Geology Smallogy. Bush Knows the Secret: Noah Carved the Grand Canyon.

The issues with the Bush administration are so surmounting it is almost at the point of parody. I can’t even for a moment imagine how one could claim to like him or defend him at this point unless you truly don’t pay attention to anything and vote based on the fact that your family is Republican. I want to preface by saying there is no better between Democrats and Republicans but when it comes to Bush, it’s amazing we don’t make a bigger deal out of him and his administration than we do.

Let’s begin with the obvious stuff:
- Iraq. It is heavily documented that they used 9/11 as a way to push through Cheney and Rumsfeld’s predetermined agenda to go to war with Iraq. They purposefully used intelligence they knew was false because of what they believed. WMDs?
- Afghanistan. In turn all their efforts in Afghanistan to find Bin Ladin were diverted. (The CIA Special Ops, who were the only ones there, had him cornered and requested back up from the military that was refused, and well, he got away).
- No Child Left Behind was a failure.
- Guantanamo Bay breaks international law, ignores the right of habeas corpus, and has changed our standing in the world.
- Attempting to falsely create a panic in regards to Social Security (that he claimed would occur in 2047 wtf?) in order to privatize it.
- The Patriot Act.
- The firing of Federal judges based solely on political differences.
- Katrina.
- The fact that the number of family’s that make under 10,000 a year has risen 36%.
- Leaking confidential CIA operatives to the press in retribution for exposing their false intelligence used in reports and making “Scooter” Libby the scapegoat for Rove and Cheney.
-Walter Reed

All this and the simple fact that he can’t speak and has, an as he put it, an “epileptic” reading list.

The only thing I have ever actually agreed with him on was repealing the Supreme Court’s decision to expand the rights of Eminent Domain to corporations to build Wal Marts, but he just talked about it, so far nothing has been changed. So with all this stuff that is so obvious it’s the little things that slip under the radar that are really unnerving and staggeringly idiotic. Bush caters to religious fundamentalist in our country while decrying others abroad. I just read this small blurb today and I would like to share its insanity with you:

From a press release issued by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility in December 2006: “Grand Canyon National Park is not permitted to give an official estimate of the geological age of its principal feature, due to pressure from Bush administration appointees. Despite promising a prompt review of its approval for a book claiming the Grand Canyon was created by Noah’s flood rather than by geologic forces, more that three years later no review has ever been done and the book remains on sale at the park, according to documents released today. ‘In order to avoid offending religious fundamentalists, our National Park Service is under orders to suspend its belief in geology,” stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch. “It is disconcerting that the official position of a national park as to the geologic age of the Grand Canyon is ‘no comment.’”

This is part of the Bush administrations attack on science which is reinforced by their commitment for FAITH BASED PARKS!?:

“Bush political appointees are taking our national parks in a new, dangerous direction... In a series of recent decisions, the National Park Service has approved the display of religious symbols and Bible verses, as well as the sale of creationist books giving a biblical explanation for the Grand Canyon and other natural wonders. These moves all emanate from top Park Service political appointees over the objections of park superintendents, agency lawyers, and scientists. A number of fundamentalist Christian and socially conservative groups are claiming credit for these actions and touting their new direct and personal access to Bush Administration officials.”

It is getting harder and harder for me to calmly reason with people about this nonsense. This is not only dumb it is UNCONSTITUTIONAL. What is the benefit of repressing and hiding information that is proven beyond a shadow of a doubt to be true, to protect your belief? If you don’t like science then give back every single modern convenience and commodity you have ever owned. This is not only an attack on information it is an attack on rationality. In my opinion everyone has the right to believe what they want to, but it doesn’t mean you aren’t being stupid or stubborn when ignoring the facts. The Earth is NOT 6,000 years old. We have carbon dating! There are all kinds of animals down the street in the La Brea Tar Pits that are 40,000 years old! This information based on peer reviewed fact and research. It is not a science to date the earth based on the births of apostles. Evolution and Natural Selection are facts. The most ignorant argument I have ever heard is the Evolution is just a theory… so if fucking gravity!

If you believe in Noah’s Arc then you aren’t using you head. The wealth of information that disproves it is astounding. The fact that well, dinosaurs weren’t part of this story (that’s because they didn’t know they existed yet so how could they write about them) or the fact that climate and food sources are determinate in the survival of all species. Now since it was flooding I guess he just dumped the giant squids and blue whales out but um, were they in an aquarium on the boat before this - they must have been frozen in carbonate to survive for so long if there weren’t aquariums on the ship? Or maybe just fish evolved and land animals were created, so why are blue whales and dolphins mammals? This is so confusing! And lets for a moment consider the size of a ship that would carry two of every species of animal (blue whales, elephants, rhinos, kitty cats, and tree frogs), that then would place each one of them in their natural habitat in every corner of the world, some in remote land locked areas. Judging by an animal’s natural instinct they must have been heavily sedated on the Ark. I also wonder how the blind mole rat or the polar bear survived this ordeal? Where were they all made?

Phil, you aren’t supposed to take the story so literally, it’s faith, it is what people believe. Okay then, so if that’s the case don’t try to use logic and reason to explain something that is magical and unbelievable. Creationist believe that dinos and humans were hanging out together (this is of course an ex post facto realization) - that humans were riding on their backs. FUCK YOU. You have to be kind of retarded to even consider that.

This is what our President believes, the President of the United States of America! How does one expect to get logic through to this man, to help change his policies? It’s obvious if you can’t convince someone the Grand Canyon wasn’t carved out by Noah’s sick wakes then you get anything through. So...

… Take Some Fucking Action. It’s the least you can do.

Side Story: The King's Inn - Sun City, AZ

On the post just below this one there is a link to an image of a postcard showing the sign of the San Gorgonio Inn in its prime. While I was perusing through the other postcards I saw one that was oddly familiar and I quickly figured out why.

My Grandfather, my Mom's Dad, used to take my Mom and I to all of these old places for lunch, many of which had lost their luster. To give a brief summary of the man he was once a millionaire oil and cattle man that gambled away all his money and long after this and some failed business attempts he would go business to business selling photos of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig (his father was friend's with them, these were candid pictures of the legends on my Great Grandfather's ranch in Sioux City, Iowa). My mother and I would have to drive him, after he no longer had a car, so he could continue selling these photos. He would always take us to old coffee shops in fairly squalid areas (He once took us to Brookshire's, and old coffee shop that is now closed and operating as a Mexican restaurant located east of The Phoenix Art Museum, when we groaned he said, "This is the best food in town, at night it's filled with nothing but hookers and pimps, but during the day it's the best place to get a bite to eat in town.") and every once in awhile great old standards like The Stockyards (strike that he took me to the barbershop there once, which i remember having Playboy's in the waiting area). Now in retrospect a lot of these places were neglected Mid-Centuries that if i were to see a photograph of them in their prime, I would probably fawn over today.

Once I saw this photo I was reminded of a journey we made all the way to Sun City to what I think was the King's Inn. A place which, supposedly, had the best chicken and dumplings in town (yeah?). The place, which looked like a Medieval Dungeon, was very quiet when we entered, almost seemed to be closed. We were brought to our table by a very morose hostess who was also our waitress. Throughout the duration of our meal, the staff began going behind curtains and emerging with tears in the eyes. We were the only ones in the restaurant which heightened our awareness to this as well as the uncomfortability (sic?). It wasn't long before we learned that the owner had died that day and in the middle of our meal our waitress left and went home.

This moment of my life was echoed in Luis Bunuel's Oscar winning The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, in which a group of people attempting to dine in a restaurant only to have the staff crying and constantly going behind curtains. In Bunuel's film the diners themselves look behind the curtain only to see an open casket funeral procession in progress.

I cannot kind any information on the King's Inn itself.

Fox Theater and the San Gorgonio Inn - Banning, CA

Banning, California is not the most exciting of towns. Located off the 10 near Palm Springs, it doesn't have much of a draw in itself, but every time I have made the drive on the 10 my curiosity grew for what looked to be a well preserved Fox Theater and a nice roadside sign for a restaurant called the, San Gorgonio Inn. My curiosity was confirmed and despite the town's lack of draw, yet it is great to see, whether it is circumstantial or not, a town having a sense of history. Although obviously not as extensive of a renovation as Tucson's Fox Theater it is still standing and showing films, unlike many Fox Theaters that where torn down here in Los Angeles as well as The Fox Phoenix, a Art Deco palace built by famed architect S. Charles Lee, which shared the fate of other doomed Phoenix classics like the Cine Capri and The Kachina (check out those pictures! A Conversation Lounge?! Rad!).

You can learn more about Banning's Fox Theater here at Cinema Treasures.

As for the San Gorgonio Inn, it has it's own Wikipedia entry. I also read an article that it is part of a redevelopment process, hopefully one with preservation in mind.

I also found a scan of an old postcard showing the same sign of the San Gorgonio Inn

Lankershim Theater and The Ritz Motel

When you live somewhere, it's very easy to neglect the things around you on your day to day life. I lived in Scottsdale, AZ until I was 19 but it wasn't until I came back to visit that I ever went to Taliesin West (let alone knew it existed) and to this day I have never been to the Grand Canyon, and I got around too. So now in my life I do a lot of exploring in the areas in which I live. That being said, North Hollywood (and not the new trendy NoHo Arts District) is an area that lacks, what I would say, appeal. It is next door to the suburb I live in, Valley Village (which is basically a 6 square block radius separating Studio City from scary North Hollywood(f.y.i. it is also where Sarah Silverman lives on her new TV show, Oooo)), but it is an area saturated with crime, car theft, and gang violence. Vanowen Street Loco's anyone?

I want to digress to share an embarrassing fact about myself; sometimes, at night, before I go to sleep and am flipping through channels, I watch the crime watch channel, showing all the scary dealings in the area. I sometimes get chills under my warm Ralph Lauren comforter at some of the police sketches, it's not a healthy activity but I frequently do this.

So when I heard there was an old theater down on Lankershim I became very curious. On my travel I ran into the Ritz Motel, which if maintained would have great character and it actually looks fairly neat at night. As for The Lankershim, which is now a church (a fate common in most old theaters), I wonder if the area was always run down as it is now, but in my readings it seems as though that is the case. It was hard to get a picture of it but the naked lady fighting a shrimp adds a nice touch I think.

You can can get some information and another picture at Cinema Tresures. Which is an amazing site that literally has information on every single movie theater ever built in the country. They also have a book out, aptly titled Cinema Treasures which you can get here.

Aztec Hotel - Monrovia, CA

This Roadside Hotel is located on the famous Route 66 in Monrovia (home of Trader Joe's) was built in 1925. You can find more information about the hotel and the restoration at the website below.

Aztec Hotel

Explosions in the Sky "All the Sudden, I Miss Everyone" and Updates about Updates

Nowadays, I am rarely excited about any new records. I have become extremely jaded after a string of profound disappointments (i.e. Flamings Lips "At War With the Mystics", everything by Mount Eerie, etc.) and found myself dreading the possibility that bands i love will soon be jumping the shark as opposed to creating their next best record. The last record I loved, and I mean unequivocally, was Broken Social Scene's S/T release. Although on immediate listen I was thrown into sense of confusion and uncertainty - I was able to acclimate to the muddles of sound and find the most consistent and innovative record I had heard in a long time. The album came out less than 2 years ago but since it came out, almost every album following in its wake has attempted to reinvent the production style to mixed results. There have been some other great albums of late, but they are few and far between; Final Fantasy's He Poos Clouds, Animal Collective's Feels, and Fennesz's Venice to name a few.

Explosions in the Sky's new record "All the Sudden, I Miss Everyone", was for me, at least something to look forward to, albeit, with a bit of trepidation. The "Post-Rock" movement is flat and mostly dead to me. Mogwai is boring sans a few songs - Godspeed, although the reining master of genre, hasn't put out an album since 2002 and that album was mediocre at best (that's being kind)- and I can't even hear Tortoise anymore because it sounds like being in an elevator. But Explosions in the Sky is an anomaly to me because they embody almost all of the negative and redundant traits of the genre while super ceding them with a sense of evocative and visceral power that is almost unique to them in their earnestness, but they also embody the teeth gritting power of the "rock moment". Suffice to say, I freely admit that their albums and songs are, too a degree, fairly interchangeable and although I see this as a fair criticism, I see their albums more as classical movements then as song based albums in which you skip around. But how many records can one hear before the soft/loud, build to the climax sincerity overstays its welcome?

The new album, more or less, is a subtle but definitive move in a new direction, without losing their "sound" or making any dramatic changes that would alienate their base. I must say that although I am not disappointed by any means, I am hardly blown away either. Where on the other albums I would listen through from beginning to end and then endlessly repeat for months on end - the album hardly ever leaving the player. The new record, despite the fact that it comes across more like one long song - tracks blending into one another - it also lacks a certain punch. This is because they are no longer interested in building to a moment (some might argue the whole album builds to the subtle climax at the end but in my humble opinion, eh) as much as they are beginning with a climatic moment, dropping it, coming back to new sound and moving on. Although the album is more interesting in concept, even implementing piano to an almost superfluous result, and is more dynamically produced, it is also missing some of that earnestness that made them so compelling in the first place. If anything, it's the most "post-rock" record they have recorded, seemingly less reliant on climax, you can now see the song writing as opposed to feeling it.

Yet this isn't a negative review by any means, it's one of the better records I have heard in awhile, but as I said above, that's not necessarily a bold achievement given the circumstances.

To digress, starting Monday I will be shooting a film for 5 days straight, working 12-16 hours days so I won't be able to post that week and I have some upcoming plans that make the next couple of weeks look grim for those of you who casually and silently read this here blog thing. That being said, this weekend, I am going to bombard the site with post so that there is enough material to last you a couple a weeks, this includes, but is not limited to the long awaited Bowling Vernacular post, Frank Lloyd Wright in AZ, and a string of pictures representing different neighborhoods and areas of Southern California and beyond. I hope you enjoy.

Mr. Lucky's - Phoenix, AZ

I found this rather amazing roadside sign off of Grant and 37th Ave. by accident in the Phoenix area. Although it is one of the better signs I have seen, I don't necessarily recommend going down there to visit it. As I drove near it a couple of maniac gentlemen with stolen goods and frightening dispositions where attempting to hitch-hike right next to the place, so I took these pictures from the car. Attempting the find some information I found a "review" of the place, which is really a summary of what it was like being "one of [the] 25 cocktail waitresses to open [in] 1966". I will copy her experience here:

"I worked at Mr. Lucky's for over a year. This place was the most exciting night club that I had ever worked and I have worked a few. I was a customer on many occasions. We had country music upstairs, and rock downstairs with the best entertainment. I remember serving entertainers such as Waylon Jennings, Charlie Pride, Glen Campbell, Ray Price and many others. Our club had the best entertainers in town as far as I was concerned. I worked upstairs all of the time. I loved the country entertainment and enjoyed watching the guests having such a wonderful time, dancing or sitting at their table. Many were cowboys with their western hats jeans and boots. I loved to watch them dance. I worked the cocktail hrs. from about 4 til 6. At that time we had the GO GO dancers and theirs feathers and bikinis and pastees, (nudity was OUT then) We had a dancer, named, Halley. People came from all over to see her dance. In the afternoon, many times a group of young cowboys would come in with their big hats, dirty old jeans, (even their guns, checked in @ door), just off the range, to watch the entertainment. They would leave and come back later, in their best western and hats and dance the night away. I think that I am lucky to have those good memories of Mr. Lucky's and the people who worked there. I am sure that there have been many changes since I left, and I am sure for the best. Mr. Lucky's was The place to go for entertainment. I haven't been to Mr Lucky's for many years but if I ever get back to Phoenix, this is the first place I would like to visit."

Poor lady, I imagine the changes theret are fairly dramatic in comparison to when the likes of Glen Campbell used to play there.