After the Pop Culture conference in ABQ in February, I decided to write an almanac after all. The summer season of travel is coming up. Basically I decided to take my BrBa pages and condense them into a book. At first, I intended on getting a publisher (McFarland Press seemed the best), but I’ve decided to self-publish. The reason is it will be easier to change and update the text provided I retain close control. The reason I was worried about that is discovering that some people might object to content. Ann Lerner at the ABQ Film Office warned me that I couldn’t use private residences unless I had permission. So I asked the owners of the White house, if I could publish their address and post a map regarding location. They said absolutely no way. So, I’ve decided to remove the addresses of all private residences. This degrades the function of the book somewhat, but who’s to say that’s enough? Hence, the need to self-publish. It will be the weirdest Breaking Bad guide – one that doesn’t mention the addresses of the Whites, the Schraders, or Jesse Pinkman. C’est la vie.
Work has been slow, so I’ve had the opportunity to write and edit. I nearly have the text ready. There is an issue regarding picture pixellation. Most of my pictures are 96 dpi, but they recommend 300 dpi. I’m thinking it won’t matter much, because I was going to go black-and-white rather than color, in order to keep cost low. On another edition, after rephotography, maybe I can create a color coffee-table version. I’m still not sure Amazon will accept the lower dpi, but I will find out. I also need to obtain permission to use a photograph by Garry Winogrand. I haven’t obtained that yet.
I’m going to call the proposed work “A Guidebook to Breaking Bad Filming Locations” by Marc P. Valdez (with contributions by Sven Joli). With luck, it will be ready for publishing next week. If luck fails, I might have to strip out a bunch of photos. But I intend to get something done here.
Friday, April 04, 2014
Thursday, April 03, 2014
Vote For "Auburn Road"!
Over the last year, I appreciated the energy boost a group of teen girls added by attending "Get Fierce Funk" aerobics at Step One Dance and Fitness, but it wasn't until tonight I learned they aren't just friends, but together form a singing group called "Auburn Road". Currently, they lead in KCRA's A-List "Best Band" voting category, and I encourage you to add your votes too!
Tuesday, April 01, 2014
Anonymous Issues A List Of Demands To The City Of Albuquerque
Most of them are reasonable, but people may resent the intrusion.
Red And Blue Lights Again
Apparently even though Jiffy Lube replaced the tail light, there is some kind of electrical defect, and the rear lights are still failing. Time for a repair!
Monday, March 31, 2014
Southwestern Skylight
John writes in regard to "Light visibility in NM"
I've seen a number of these lately for different places.
Not much light pollution in Socorro & Catron Counties--more that I would have expected in the San Juan Basin though.
I reply:
It’s impressive looking at the Permian Basin. More light than you’d think necessary.
Albuquerque Unrest
Anonymous makes good on its warnings against the Albuquerque Police Department regarding the James Boyd killing, and launched cyberattacks. People turned out to demonstrate too, although many experienced protestors apparently shied away. That just meant more-immature people took to the streets without much guidance. APD finally fired the tear gas.
I'm amazed how upset people in Albuquerque got over what they perceived as disrespect to the flag. I remember the Vietnam protests, where the disrespect was much more aggressive. I also remember the National Guard bayonet attacks against UNM students back in the day. In comparison, these demonstrations are much more restrained.
I'm also amazed how the national media AREN'T covering the story. All the people on CNN can talk about is the Malaysian airliner. A near-riot in an American city clearly can't hold a candle to the missing airliner story. The blogs are mostly quiet too, although I notice the FDL folks were covering it.
The only local folks who covered the story at all in any completeness - maybe mostly just one guy - were at the "Inhabitants of Burque" blog. Everyone else seems to have fallen down on the job.
Albuquerque Journal:
The rally began at noon. After 9 p.m., police used around a dozen canisters of tear gas to disperse protesters near Central and Vassar, several people were seen being arrested, and Mayor Richard Berry said in a late-night news conference that an officer was injured.
“We respected their rights to protest, obviously,” Berry said, “but … they’ve taken it far beyond a normal protest.”
The march along Central boiled over at several points, with protesters ignoring police commands to disperse and having a standoff with officers in riot gear. The demonstration came after an online “hacktivist” group, known as Anonymous, issued a call to action in response to seeing video of Boyd’s shooting. The group also waged a cyberattack against the APD website, which was inaccessible throughout the day Sunday, and what appeared to be a number of officers’ personal phone numbers were released by a purported hacker.
At one of the most tense moments, demonstrators sat down on Fifth Street near APD headquarters, not complying with officers’ demands to disperse. Police were heard calling the protest an “unlawful assembly” and donned gas masks, riot shields and batons.
Protesters eventually moved on after an hour and marched east on Central Avenue and briefly took over Interstate 25, slowing 75-mph traffic and prompting a police response.
From there, protesters arrived at the university area, where one man climbed a Central Avenue light pole and tried to topple it. After that, protesters marched largely unhindered by police toward Girard and Central, where they jumped on top of an APD substation and sprayed it with graffiti.
Riot police finally arrived and arranged themselves in a line across the busy street. They were joined by officers on horseback, in addition to the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office SWAT Team. Protesters confronted them at first but then were able to circumvent the line and continue west on Central Avenue.
After repeated commands from police to leave, officers used cans of tear gas, with gas reportedly drifting north across Johnson Field into the University of New Mexico dorms. UNM later advised students to use their air conditioners if the gas caused any issues. Students were already on a “shelter in place” advisory because of the protesting and police activity.
Then the protests reconvened Downtown at APD headquarters. After another dose of tear gas, fewer than 100 protesters left the building and were ushered by a police line toward Civic Plaza.
When protesters arrived Downtown, a man driving a paint-ball gun rental truck stopped in front of the APD building and pulled out what he claimed was an AK-47 rifle. The man said that the only way to meet APD’s force was with force, but protesters persuaded him to put the gun away.
By 11:30 p.m., police had begun moving out of Downtown, though a small fight broke out and protesters dragged city barriers into the road near Fourth and Central.
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