A lunch in Bagdad

Sunday, 7 June 2009.  Up but not fully awake I wandered over to Denny’s for breakfast and some coffee.  It was warm and clear with the prospect of a quite warm day.  After nourishment I fired up the computer and booked a room at the Motel 6 in Barstow for one night.  I will probably stay two but it is easier to add a night then get my money back if I only stayed one and booked for two.  After doing my shoulder exercises I will head off into the desert. 

I headed out on I-40 until I reached the Mountain View exit.  I then started down the road to Essex.  I hadn’t gone far when I noticed a short stretch of parallel road.  As it didn’t seem to extend beyond the concrete curbs at each end, it appeared to be an abandoned at rest area for people driving the original Route 66.  I cruised along through very desolate and beautiful countryside until I reached Amboy were I topped up my gas tank.  

I spent a few moments there chatting with you people who were also passing through and then headed down the road towards Ludlow and Newberry Springs.  I was now on an exceptionally lonely stretch of highway.  It was also quite rough and bumpy.  It obviously had not been repaved for many a year.  Onward through Ludlow I cruised at 42 miles an hour eventually reaching Newberry Springs and the Bagdad Café. 

I arrived just as a busload of French tourists were leaving.  I chatted briefly with them before going in and having lunch which consisted of a cheeseburger and fries.  I chatted for a while with the folk running with the café and took a number of photos of the interior of the café.  My photo taken standing behind the counter with one of the women who ran the café.

As I was walking out the door to my car a busload of tourists arrive.  I went back inside to warn the people running the café there were about to be inundated with tourists.  By the time I got an outside and chatted with this second group of French tourists another bus arrived this time with tourists from Belgium.  I, of course, had to delay my departure so I could chat with the people who enjoyed the big Route 66 sign on the hood of my car and the fact that I was all the way from New York.  I finally left the good tourists to their food and photos and headed down the road.  I was staying in Barstow that evening.

I stayed at the local Motel 6 and bought a computer access card.  To my surprise when I fired up my computer I had Internet access without using the card.  I shall save it for another Motel 6 further down the road.  I then headed a couple blocks up Main Street to Pollo Loco for dinner.  This grilled chicken restaurant is owned by the chap who bought and is restoring Amboy.  I figured I would support the cause. 

I did some work on the computer, made a few phone calls and called it an evening.

NCC-1701

Saturday, 30 May 2009.  Tho up early, I didn’t do much for the first half of the morning.  Actually it was very well spent.  I had a delicious breakfast with Theresa and Barry and a good long conversation. 

It was a beautiful day out in the temperature was already warm by the time I got ready to leave for Vegas.  As I started up my car I got to show Theresa, Barry had already seen it, the neat and novel Canadian approach to starting my car: toggle switches. 

I gassed up the car just before I got on the interstate and called Barb to let her know I was leaving.  To drive down to Vegas was quite quick without much traffic.  I really liked this section through the corner of Arizona.  Awesome scenery while the highway wove between the mountains and cliffs.  It is really a very, very pretty drive. 

When I get to Vegas I took 215 around the city to an  exit which was a mile or so from Barb’s place.  When the road gets completed, probably by 2020, it will be an excellent ring road around Vegas.  However, for about 20 miles it is, or can be, one stoplight after another as you go on and off the highway at each crossroad.  Still it is better than driving through the city.  I settled in and found that I had, Internet access which is a good thing, and did little to e-mail. 

Then Barb and I went out to watch Star Trek.  I heard pretty good things about the movie as well is the usual complaints about bad science.  As I told a friend, it is a Hollywood movie, and therefore, one expects the science to be awful.  I found the film to be a good sci-fi film.  Yes, it is different from the original Star Trek series, but it is an alternate universe, and therefore, it should be different.  It had more action then many of the other Star Trek movies.  I thought the acting was relatively decent and enjoyed the comparison between the two Spocks.  It was interesting to see the “original” bridge crew come together by the end of the movie.  It was enjoyable enough that seeing it again if somebody’s house, if they have the movie, would not be out of the question.  I’m looking forward to seeing the second movie in the series which I understand it is already being worked on. 

Afterwards Barb and I one out for some very good hamburgers.  Deciding I needed some dessert at hand should I desire it, I went and bought some ice cream on the way home.  It was needed, and it was good. 

Puttered on the computer, read some and then crashed out.

In Search of Bony

Friday, 8 May 2009. For I don’t do getting up at 6 a.m. very well.  It was sunny, but chilly.  As I headed west is clouded over a little bit more but no rain.  The only slow this on the drive to Fargo was around Minneapolis-St. Paul where the bypass interstate is about one or two lanes too narrow.  Once you free of the Twin Cities I was able to pick up the pace and keep one truck and to the west.  I stopped once for gas and let Lee Troutman and Thema and Chandice Johnson know that I was closing in on the great city of Fargo.

We met over it at the Saturn dealer in Fargo where was taking in my car for the 25,000 miles service.  It was great to meet Thema and Chandice.  I had been corresponding with Thema for the past 15 years concerning Arthur Upfield.  After I dropped my car off, we headed over to a nearby Denny’s for breakfast.  I was in need of coffee.  The Doritos and Pepsi I noshed gone during my drive to Fargo had not been enough.

After filling breakfast and very good conversation we headed over to the Fargo which was a cinema.  There we were to watch the documentary film In Search Of Bony.  A few folk associated with the Fargo over Festival were interested in seeing the documentary.  I gave a brief introduction and after the documentary I made some additional comments and answered questions.  It was neat to see the documentary film on the big screen again.  It is quite possible they will show the documentary at the upcoming Fargo Film Festival.  I later suggested to Thema on the possibility of a panel on Upfield and his books if she could find a few more knowledgeable people in the area.

After the showing we headed back to Grand Forks and to Johnson’s and I headed back to their place to continue our discussion on Upfield.  Early in the evening we headed out for dinner as the Fargo Marathon was being run the next day.  We finally found a place that they had not yet before and for which turned out to be a very nice find and excellent restaurant.  As the weather had turned quite chilly, about 41 Fahrenheit/5 Celsius, I happily dug out my parka and put it on.  Such is spring in North Dakota.  There’s a good chance of frost over the next couple of nights.  While it is only May 8^th.

After delightful dinner the Johnson’s took me back to my car, we made our goodbyes, and I headed north to Grand Forks.  Mean maps and my GPS systems I had very little problem in finding Lee’s place.

We got me stashed away in the basement into my delight her wireless worked fine for my computer once on a typed in the password.  Between checking e-mail and news and chatting with her while watching some TV the evening passed quickly.  I read some and then tried to fall asleep.

A few films I very much enjoyed.

Watched a few films lately.  I watched Aliens & Monsters in the cinema.  It was as good as advertised.  A fun film.  It brought to mind a bunch of very old films.  At home I watched Speed Racer.  The guy drives as I do. J  It is a fun film.  I definitely enjoyed it.  I just watched Wall-E.  That was a very enjoyable film.  –  By the way a short while ago I watched Sydney White.  It is a delightful retelling of the “Snow White & the 7 Dwarves” story.  They play it straight, & the film works. 

Hobbit makeup artist

I was recently in LA.  The day before the Oscars I attended a Symposium  on makeup featuring the 5 chaps nominated for the Oscar.  It was a fascinating discussion.  –  Afterwards I was able to chat briefly wit Mike Elizalde who was nominated for his work on Hellboy II.  He is to be the person in charge of makeup for The Hobbit.  He sounded really excited about the upcoming film[s].  –  I still have faint dreams of working on the film[s], but mainly planning for my trip up to Alaska.  –  Oh well, there is “The Return of the Tour” in 2011.

Good Book & Film!

I just finished watching “We of the Never Never.” It is more of an Australian Epic than AUSTRALIA. It is quite well done and is in my American eyes a better portrayal of life in the Australian Bush on a cattle station than “Australia.” I highly recommend the film.

The book is an excellent read. It is considered an Australian classic.

“We of the Never Never is an autobiographical novel by Jeannie Gunn. Although published as a novel, it is an account of the author’s experiences in 1902 at Elsey Station near Mataranka, Northern Territory in which she changed the names of people to obscure their identities. She published this book under the pen name Mrs Aeneas Gunn.

Mrs Gunn was the first white woman to settle in the area. Her husband was a partner in Elsey cattle station on the Roper River, some 300 miles (483 km) south of Darwin” [Lifted from the Wikipedia entry.]

A brilliant film

I recently saw “Slumdog Millionaire.”  It is a brilliant film.  It lived up to all the good reviews I had seen.  If you haven’t seen it, I urge you to run and do so.

In Search of Cephphie!

Had some fun on the 19^th.  Went out to the Erie Canal Village and did some principle photography on a 5-10 minute horror mockumentary, In Search of Cephphie!.  [I guess, in Oz they would refer to it as a moco. J]  Cephphie is a relative of the Kraken living in the Erie Canal.  I was interviewed about my various monster hunts, such as going after the Dreaded Drop Bear & the Wild Haggis Land Piranha to the Cogniscenti]  to name two.    We had glorious weather and got most of it done.  We have some ADR & a couple scenes to go.  We even conned a visitor into being in the film.  It was great fun and something to add to my film resume.  Must send and update to Peter Jackson real soon now.

SF, London & Middle-earth, oh my!

Had a busy 2+ weeks involving SF & Tolkien.  –  First was LUNACON just north of NYC at the “Escher Hilton.”  I had a very nice time.  –  Then after spending the day doing laundry I headed off to London and EASTERCON.  I was getting back to my roots.  My first regular SF con was the Bristol Eastercon in 1973.  I’m a British SF fan with an extremely far west midlands accent. J  I also enjoyed the luxury of flying Business Class across the Atlantic.  So nice!  The con was great, & I enjoyed the company of several friends for dinner, including one from Oz.  –  I then hosted a panel on “The Worlds of Tolkien” at my local library.  Much fun.  –  I, of course, pushed both our local SF con – ALBACON 08 – & the projected “Reunion Tour of Middle-earth” in 2010 or ’11.  I’m looking forward to it.  –  Now it would be really neat if I get the chance to work on The Hobbit.  Now that would be an adventure!  –  Read The Hobbit on the flight.  TLOTR will be for my next road trip in 3 weeks.

The Reunion Tour of Middle-earth!

The Return of the Tour!  –  In JAN 04 I travelled down to Middle-earth.  The 18-day tour was fantastic.  We had almost enough fun.  J  –  In MAR 06 I led 3 Hobbits on a similar Tour of Middle-earth.  Again, we all had a grand time, even if I did tear my rotator cuff.  –  The tours were organized by Jan Coyle, Pacific Pathways, http://www.pacificpathways.com/ .  –  Jan is now looking at organizing a “Reunion Tour” in 2010, tho the exact date is up in the air.  Part of it depends on when The Hobbit is made.  –  I’ve suggested, we wrap The Tour around the Premiere of The Hobbit in Wellington.  –  Nothing is set yet, but if the idea of visiting Middle-earth [Beautiful New Zealand] is appealing to you, begin to put away your money.  –  Truth in advertising.  This is NOT an inexpensive trip.  However, it is a once [except for a few of us real nutcases] in a lifetime trip.  Join a group of Hobbitheads/Ringers for 18 to 28 days [may throw in some general sightseeing as well].  Dressing up and being silly [well to the mundane world] is highly encouraged.  –  Interested?  Drop Jan a note and tell her to put you on the mailing list.  –  Elen síla lúmenn’ omentielvo!   Pippin, the wandering hobbit,  Thain Peregrin Took II, Great Smials, Tookborough, The Shire