Servants of the “Dark Lord!”

The so-called Westboro Baptist Church is again in the news.  All I can think of is that Sauron would be smiling.  This family, and that is about all the Westboro Baptist Church is composed of, is anything but God fearing or holy.  They insult the truly religious.  –  I have a further question.  Who is paying for them to do this?  They are all over the US bleating out their message of hate & bigotry.  Are they rich and can afford all the travelling they seem to do?  Maybe someone is behind these simple minded puppets of hate and bigotry.  It would be interesting to follow the money, as the expression goes.  –  A good primer on dealing with terrorists, [And I consider the so-called Westboro Baptist Churc as such.] such as this group, is found in a very interesting SF novel by Dean Ing: “Soft Targets.” It came out at the end of the 70’s. Well worth looking for.

Tolkien’s Art & Illustration

Recently read/viewed “JRR TOLKIEN – Artist & Illustrator” by Hammond & Scull.  It is a fascinating look at Tolkien’s ideas visualized.  While I thoroughly enjoyed the book and Tolkien art as well as the commentary by Hammond & Scull, I’m not quite as overwhelmed by Tolkien’s art as they are.  Tolkien’s art is quite good.  However, he was not an artistic master.  It is very interesting to see how different works grew in the drawing as it were.  It was interesting to learn how Tolkien recycled some of his art work for publication.  All in all it is a book well worth adding to one’s collection of books by Tolkien.  I’m glad I did and recommend it to you.

How I spent 19 September

On the 19th, the closest to 22 September, I sat down in front of my computer with its 24″ monitor & watched the extended version of TLOTR.  It was a grand way to spend the day.  I love the film, the books, and even enjoyed the musical.  –  Of course, I did much junk food, including Pizza, Pepsi, chips & dip, & ice cream.  How much better can it get?  –  I would love to find someone with a BIG screen to host a hobbit party to watch the film.  I’ve done it, but it just doesn’t work on a small screen.

ALBACON – Redux

I had a very good time at ALBACON.  You should have been there.  I did a few panels, mixed with everyone, went to parties, got not enough sleep, the usual.

Next year ALLEN STEELE is the literary GoH.  Y’all come on by.  We give good con!

What panels do you want to attend there?

Redwoods & a deserted Hobbiton

Saturday, 20 June 2009.  I awoke to another fine day.  It was sunny and comfortable.  I decided I would catch breakfast up the road.  I did my shoulder exercises, packed the car and headed north.  Drive was quite pleasant with light traffic.  The scenery was quite nice and the road wound between and through fields. 

Just south of Phillipsville I got off of 101 and onto the Avenue of the Giants.  I took my time and slowly drove down the road that wound between giant trees.  It was most relax will.  In Phillipsville I asked about the whereabouts of Hobbiton, USA.  It turned out and that I had passed the overgrown sign to Hobbiton, USA next to the sign that proclaimed The Chimney Tree.  I returned both the café and Hobbiton, USA were closed.  I took a picture of the sign and then started walking up the path.  It turned out that there are some tenants living on the grounds and warned me off as I was trespassing.  Darn!  While I was there, at least 10 cars slow down to give the area a look. 

I think the owners are vastly underestimating the attraction of Hobbiton, USA.  Granted it would cost a fair bit of change to bring the area back to high standards.  However, I would bet and donate some money that if the owners asked for help on The One Ring.Net and The Frodo Franchise blog, they would attract more than enough talent who would be willing to work for free in order to restore Hobbiton, USA to splendor.  All they would have to do is put up a plaque afterwards indicating which human, Elf, dwarf, etc., had helped with the restoration.  Moreover, they could host an annual picnic on the weekend closest to 1 May, which I believe is the date that Bilbo returned to Bagend, to do a spring cleanup on the grounds for the following tourist season. 

I sorrowfully took my leave and slowly headed up the Avenue of the Giants.  It is truly a magnificent experience to slowly drive this road.  Some of the trees along the road appeared to be about 10 feet in diameter.  Further away there must’ve been even bigger trees than those along the road.  It was truly an invigorating experience for the soul and mind. 

It was a short drive after the Avenue of the Giants ended to Eureka where I stayed for the evening.  Once in my room I’ve read for awhile, then went to the adjacent restaurant for dinner, called up a few friends to work on meetings along the road and then read some more until I turned out to light.  

I also decided I would spend an additional night here as I was meeting an old friend for a late lunch and rather than try and drive on afterword would put my feet up, make some phone calls and read little bit.  I would head out to some parks on Monday morning.

Up the coast

Thursday, 18 June 2009.  Got a fairly good night’s rest and awoke to find a hazy overcast and cool morning.  I headed down to Denny’s for a grand slam breakfast and on the way back I noticed the cloud cover, probably high fog, had more or less listed in the sun was out.  About time to get some work done on my diary.  While I didn’t upload diary entries to my blog, I did get about five or six days recorded.  I should catch up with over the next day or two and be able to post my entries. 

About noon, under bright sun, I headed up Highway 1 to the San Francisco area.  The first portion of the trip up to Santa Cruz was slow, rather pleasant but nothing special.  I did get a look at your grocery stores vegetables being harvested in the field.

The drive north of Santa Cruz was exceedingly nice.  The only real problem was getting through the CF that is known as Santa Cruz.  This is where I once again had some problems following almost nonexistent traffic signs.  Highway 1, the rest of the way, hugs the coast and is well worth the drive.  The drive it has gentle hills and curves as it runs almost on the beach to cliffs overlooking the sandy beaches.  For the most part I was not bothered by insane drivers, though there were a few, and could enjoy a leisurely drive up the coast. 

Ignorance is bliss.  Unfortunately, it also leads to driving on a road that appears to be the only one, it isn’t really, from the coast to San Francisco Bay.  Route 92 is a very beautiful drive marred only by the fact that there is a continuous heavy stream of traffic from one coast to the other.  The road snakes through rising hills almost to the Bay before dropping down onto the coastal roads.  It would be great fun to drive without the traffic. 

After petrol I found my motel and called Janet Coyle who arranged the Middle-earth Tours for us.  I dropped by for a lovely chat.  All too soon I headed back to the motel.  I once again tried to call a couple folk but to no avail. 

After reading for a couple hours I headed back into Belmont to Toto’s Pizza where I had some ravioli.  It was quite good.  Dessert was some Baskins and Robbins ice cream.  I headed back to the motel, watched some TV and read.  No response from my friends.  After a shower standing in a tub that didn’t drain, a call to the night.

Desert beauty and things that are blooming again.

Saturday, 6 June 2009.  Over the continental breakfast in the lobby I had a lovely chat with the young couple from Italy.  They were heading for the Grand Canyon, and I suggested, they drive route 66 all the way to Williams before heading up to the Grand Canyon. 

Taking Route 66 I wended my way through Needles, up I-40 for short while, then off onto the old road.  It was warm but not hot under a mostly sunny skies.  I turned off US 95 and headed down Goffs Road.  While this was not quite as lonely as I expected, it was pretty empty.  Nothing but desert for miles in all direction.

I stopped in Goffs to take a couple photos of the restored schoolhouse which was built in the mid teens.  I believe the town has 13 people living in.  From there I drove to Fenner where I got some gas, a full tank is a good thing in the desert, and had a nice chat with a couple from just outside of Sydney, Australia.  The wife enjoyed not only The Lord Of The Rings but the Upfield novels as well.  Obviously, they’re very nice people.  The husband had to take a picture of me with my car and license plate. 

I pressed on to Essex for a few photographs but along the way I did stop and if not smell the flowers at least photographed them.  Haven’t the faintest idea of what they are but they’re quite pretty.  Maybe somebody can take a look at my picture and tell me what the flower is other then some flowering weed along the road. 

From Essex it was a long slow drive over a low pass and then a straight shot into Amboy.  I did get a nice photo of the road stretching off into the far distance as they came around the bend down from the pass.  There is a lot of lot of nothing out there.  However, it is still very pretty in a desolate way. 

I stopped that Ray’s in Amboy for a snack.  I learned that it was open seven days a week and I could’ve gotten gas there rather than in Fenner.  However, I spent a delightful period there chatting with the various people who had also stop there.  There was a couple from France, a number of people from within 100 miles who decided to drive or bike out, and an American taking a couple friends from Germany out to see the desert and Roy’s in Amboy.  This was topped off when about 25 biker showed up in the were doing a bike tour from LA to the Grand Canyon and back.  Members of the tour were from all over Europe and the UK.  I gave the tour leader the e-group card and mentioned this company should take an advert in the Route 66 Pulse. 

I had decided to make this a short day and headed back around 1:30.  Back at the motel I watched the Belmont, to some e-mail and relaxed.  I eventually wandered over to the adjacent Denny’s for dinner.  My motel key got me 10% off the price.  After dinner I puttered on the computer for a while and made a couple phone calls.  I was able to contact my friend Kim in Mira Loma and arranged to crash there on Tuesday night.  From there I could backtrack and finish off a portion of 66 I still needed to cover.  This also means that the meeting of the “Tasty Mongols’ Horde” would be on Thursday evening, 11 June.  

True to my intent I actually not only got into bed but turned off the light well before midnight.  Tomorrow more desert, the Bagdad Café and Barstow, California.

Coming down from Red Horn Pass

Thursday, 28 May 2009.  I woke to find a very sunny sky.  It would be a good day for a drive in the desert.  I picked up the car, filled with gas and head on down the road.  I was off to a Great Basin National Park.  The first part of the draw in was down the interstate.  However, I soon left the end to two-lane roads off into the distance.  For most of the way I was driving US 50 and US 6.  There is a lot of nothing along this road.  This is not to say that it isn’t pretty, which it is, but it lived up to its name of being a very lonely highway.  To make sure I had plenty of gas as one could drive well over 100 miles and not see a gas station.  To make sure I could get all the way to Cedar City, I filled up in Baker just outside of Great Basin National Park. 

I drove up to the visitors’ center and decided it was more than time enough to have some breakfast at the café up there.  It was quite a nice breakfast.  After breakfast I just made it over to the start of a tour of the Lehman Caves.  I got a 50% discount on the ticket price to due to having an Olde Phartes park pass.   It was quite a nice cave tour. 

Afterwards, I took the scenic drive up to where the footpath to the glacier began.  The beginning of the footpath was still under snow.  I couldn’t get to the glacier but the glacier had come to me.  It also allowed me to be slightly silly.  There were some other tourists there as well as a park ranger who were more than willing to take pictures of me standing barefoot in the snow.  There I was, Pippin, coming down to the base of the path from Red Horn Pass.  After all, hobbits are known to be able to go barefoot through the snow. 

I then headed back to Utah and took a state highway across an empty and desolate land.  It was actually quite pretty.  Once I got back into cell phone range, I gave Theresa and Barry a call to let them know approximately when I would be showing up.  The drive was much quicker than Google maps indicated.

When I arrived, Barry was vastly amused by the Canadian ignition system installed in my car.  After I got a little bit settled in the house, we headed out for a nice prime rib dinner at a local restaurant complete with humorous country and western songs preformed live.  Later that evening we tried to play a couple DVDs that I had but only one worked.  We watched Ringers.  It was then time to crash out.

Walking the Plains of Gorgoroth

Wednesday, 27 May 2009.  I awoke to a very nice day but made the mistake of dawdling at the motel and not immediately getting on the road.  This would prove to cause some minor problems.  Between a late start and some serious road construction that reduced the two-lane road to one by the time I reached Craters Of The Moon National Monument I had little time to really enjoy the place.  This is not to say the drive through the park wasn’t quite enjoyable.  It was.  I did take some pictures that very is stopping points along the way but didn’t have a chance to really go for any walks in the park.  Ideally, it would be a great the full day visit.   

Every time I come here, I feel I’m walking the Plains of Gorgoroth and the various paths should bear the name: The Frodo & Sam Memorial Pathways. 

I then headed out taking a long way around the park only to run in to the occasional construction crew.  This was not a good day upon which to make time.  Nevertheless, once I reach the interstate I was able to roll down the highway into Salt Lake City and find my motel.  Once there I contacted the lovely folk I was reading over dinner and headed over to a relatively close Applebee’s for some good food.  Yes, it was. 

There I met up with Ray Buck, Anna Vanderhazel and her son.  Ray is a friend of a roadie in the Chicago area and Anna, also a roadie, I know from the Route 66 egroup.  Good food and excellent conversation and company made for a delightful evening.  All too soon we had to call it a night but a most enjoyable one.

Then to sleep as I really wanted to have the time to visit Great Basin National Park tomorrow.

N by NW!

Wednesday, 6 May 2009. The alarm came much to soon on a chilly and cloudy morning.  As I put my laundry in my new laundry bag I realized I would soon need to visit a washer and dryer.  Recycling clothes not a good idea.

I only started up the road about 15 minutes after I wanted.  It was a pretty easy drive under partly cloudy skies as first Rockford.  From Rockford to the Wisconsin border there was construction.  Traffic moved fairly smoothly but there was the occasional tie up.  The rest is a trip up to Madison went smoothly.  The sun peeked in and out of the clouds.  I had good maps to get me to the restaurant and actually found a parking spot just around the corner.

As I walked up to the Japanese restaurant there was Tim McCloud waiting me for me outside the door.  This was rather practical as the restaurant did not open for another 10 minutes.  Also the propeller beanie he was wearing sort of gave him away.

We sat down and chatted for about 20 minutes before the third party arrived, Kristin Thompson.  She was the author of the book “The Frodo Franchise.” I had reviewed the book for online science fiction site and really liked it.  Kirsten had brought a copy for me as my review copy had been left in Richmond and was being sent to me at home.  Kristin was kind enough to sign the book to me.

We a delightful launch and great conversation.  I even ran over the time at my parking meter but I was told not to really worry.

I found my way back to the interstate, and where there wasn’t construction, but the pedal to the middle and headed up I-94 to my Menomonie.  I got there little later than I expected as I was tired and pulled off the road to rest for a few minutes.  When I got to my Menomonie, I realize they knew someone else there.  Mike Levy, who is associated with the SFRA, is head of the English department at the University of Wisconsin’s branch there.  Once I got into my room I gave him a call, and we had a nice chat.  Circumstances were such that we wouldn’t be able to get together.

I then headed over to Mills Farm where my friend, Robin Crickman, was attending a demonstration concerning horses.  As she runs a horse farm, this is quite appropriate.  After the demonstration was over we headed over to Applebee’s for dinner.  Unfortunately, she is a problem with garlic so the choice of entrée was rather limited.  However this did not prevent us from having a long and very enjoyable conversation allowing us to catch up for a couple decades worth of news.  I also opened the eyes of our waiter to a couple opportunities for his future.  He was graduating in culinary arts.

When I got back to the room, I was able to get online and clean up a little bit of e-mail.