A Hopi Inspiration for “Breaking Bad”

Here is the extended version of my talk given to the 45th annual Southwest Popular/American Cultural Association on February 21, 2024. Of all the talks I've given, I'm proudest of this talk!

 

Flight From Albuquerque to San Diego - Feb. 24, 2024

Takeoff from Albuquerque - heading east.

Surprisingly, the plane breaks right - south - and heads over Sandia Base, which would have been anathema during the Cold War.

The multi-million dollar Trestle facility, used, among other things, to subject B-52s to EMP pulses, just for grins.

Looking west.

More Sandia Base.

Arroyo

The plane pivots at the Meadowview subdivision, east of Los Lunas, and begins heading westward.

West end of Meadowview and east side of Los Lunas, with the Sandia Mountains in the distance.

Los Lunas, NM, looking north along the Rio Grande River.

Los Lunas, NM, looking north along the Rio Grande River.

Interesting solar panels, or something, south of the volcano that's west of Los Lunas.

Rio Puerco River, with the ruin known as Pottery Mound in the foreground.

Valencia County landfill is down here.

Cloud layers make themselves known.

Just north of the Sunrise Skiing Resort in eastern Arizona.

Imperial Valley.

Where the desert meets the agricultural land on the west side of the Imperial Valley.

Colorado Desert west of the Imperial Valley.

Wind farm east of San Diego.

Mt. Laguna and Interstate 8.

Skyview Road area east of San Diego.

The landmark San Miguel Mountain, where aircraft gather before filing one-by-one to Lindbergh Field in San Diego.

Sweetwater Reservoir, east of San Diego.

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Balboa Park and the Naval Medical Center.

San Diego Aerospace Museum.

Interstate 5.

Landing at Lindbergh Field.

Looking Forward to Dune II

The better part is coming up:

What’s most impressive about Parts One and Two alike might be Villeneuve’s ability to make all of this comprehensible to a lay audience that hasn’t read the book and doesn’t have access to its lengthy glossary. He has a remarkable sense of what does and what does not need to be explained, how to make exposition seem organic to the story, and how to balance this onslaught of information against the need to develop distinctive characters and advance the plot. He makes all of that look much easier than it actually is. Fans of the book can recognize all the subtle nods—for instance, how closely the emperor’s temporary headquarters on Arrakis resembles its description in the novel: “A single metal hutment, many stories tall, reached out in a thousand-meter circle from the base of the lighter—a tent composed of interlocking metal leaves.” Newcomers don’t need to know how accurately the film realizes that image to appreciate how cool it looks on screen. They may, however, understand some of the plotting and character motivations better than first-time readers of the novel do, because Villeneuve is frankly better than Herbert at establishing those in plain English and in logical sequence.

Interesting Case Coming Up in Albuquerque

Calvary is the biggest megachurch in Albuquerque (my sister and my cousin are both members), yet someone saw fit to murder the security guard for doing his job:

Prosecutors allege that Marc Ward, 36, used his father’s Ford F150 to hit 61-year-old Daniel Bourne as he approached the truck in the church parking lot in Northeast Albuquerque.

Ward is charged with first-degree murder in Bourne’s killing. The 2nd Judicial District Court trial is expected to continue through March 6 before Judge David Murphy.

Skip Heitzig, Calvary’s senior pastor, and about two dozen other church members, filled the gallery of the courtroom Tuesday when attorneys made opening statements.

Ward’s attorney told jurors that prosecutors lack security video or eyewitness testimony to prove that Ward intentionally killed the security guard.

Calvary Church, one of New Mexico’s largest churches, has a 25-acre, seven-building campus on Osuna NE, just west of Jefferson, Calvary’s director of security, Vincent Harrison, testified Tuesday. The church has a membership of 10,000 to 12,000, he estimated.

Bourne was wrapping up his security shift at about 9:15 p.m. on Sept. 23, 2022, when he noticed a blue pickup at the north end of the church parking lot.

“This case is about Daniel Bourne’s last moments,” Assistant District Attorney Savannah Brandenburg-Koch said in opening statements. “Marc Ward violently struck Dan once, probably twice, murdering him with his father’s F150 in the parking lot of Calvary Church.”

Ward then dragged Bourne’s body to an arroyo at the north end of the church property, “disposing of it like it was nothing,” she told jurors.

Nostalgic Lurking on the UNM Campus

Did some nostalgic lurking on the UNM campus yesterday evening (Feb. 21st). Here is the dorm room where I spent my 1978-1980 school years. It was an excellent dorm room (but I had better stop lurking lest the current inhabitants become alarmed).

On the green, I noticed a motley group of students with an assortment of shields. Two students were fencing with epees. One student was loudly chastising his mates for failing to grasp some subtle medieval concept he had probably only just read about that afternoon. We didn’t do this when I was younger, but probably should have. In those days, Dungeons and Dragons was still new and the cinematic rattle of coconut shells slapping together was still fresh. Epees weren’t in our budget.

Downmarket Lourdes by the Railroad

Albuquerque is so - inexplicable, really. 

I was driving up Mountain Rd. and stopped for a traffic light at First St. Waiting there for the bus was a young man with just one foot (and a carefully bandaged stump) who hopped around and hurled a crutch like a javelin over a chain link fence. 

A miracle? Maybe just a mystery. I could see he still had two crutches. All I could think was that he had found some better crutches at the bus stop, but that begs more questions about where those might have come from. Maybe a downmarket Lourdes over by the railroad? It’s New Mexico. Stranger things have happened. I don’t understand it. Makes my head hurt.

A Pile of Albuquerque Graffiti

Pedestrian crossing over I-25 at Bear Arroyo (west side).

Bear Arroyo.

Graffiti.

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At Marra and Ken's House

My sisters Michelle and Marra, and I.

My brother-in-law Ken, and my sister Marra.

Marra and Ken's back yard.

Marra and Ken's back yard.

Marra and Ken's back yard.

Marra and Ken's front yard.

A Variety of Filming Location Pictures

Library in Hotel Andaluz (BCS 509, "Bad Choice Road").

Library in Hotel Andaluz (BCS 509, "Bad Choice Road").

Hotel Andaluz Lobby (BCS 510, "Something Unforgivable").

Wash Tub Laundry, which burned down on February 18, 2024.

Nail Salon in "Better Call Saul"; now closed.

Hinkle Family Fun Center - west building (BrBa 503, "Hazard Pay").

Car Rental Center bus in Albuquerque (BCS 612, "Waterworks").

Car Rental Center.

Occidental Building in Albuquerque (BrBa 105, "Gray Matter).

Building across the street from the Occidental Building (BrBa 105, "Gray Matter).

Albuquerque Plaza Building and the Sunrise Building.

Mural on outside of Loyola's Restaurant.

Roadrunner light at Loyola's.

Booths at Loyola's where so much happened in "Breaking Bad" and "Better Call Saul."

Crazy crescents at Loyola's (BCS 101, "Uno").

Where Jimmy tried to get Kim interested in a law office (BCS 107, "Bingo").

Garduno's Restaurant (BrBa 511,  "Confessions").

Where 14-year-old Kim waited with her cello for her mom (BCS 506, "Wexler v. McGill").

The Grove Restaurant (BrBa 508, "Gliding Over All"; BrBa 515, "Granite State"; BrBa 516 "Felina").

The Grove Restaurant (BrBa 508, "Gliding Over All"; BrBa 515, "Granite State"; BrBa 516 "Felina").

Days Inn, where I was staying, across the street from The Grove.

Hotel Andaluz (formerly the Hilton Hotel).

First Plaza Galeria.

Southwestern interior side of First Plaza Galeria.

Looking out the window on the 3rd floor (400 level) - Mr. Farnsworth's Office, which, strangely enough, was in the elevator lobby rather than in a separate office ("The Man Who Fell To Earth").

Looking out the window on the 3rd floor (400 level) - Mr. Farnsworth's Office, which, strangely enough, was in the elevator lobby rather than in a separate office ("The Man Who Fell To Earth").

Hotel Andaluz (formerly the Hilton Hotel).

Looking out from the fifth level of the Copper Parking Garage (BrBa 413, "Face Off").

Artwork on the fifth level of the Copper Parking Garage (BrBa 413, "Face Off").

Hotel Andaluz Lobby (BCS 510, "Something Unforgivable"; "The Man Who Fell To Earth").

Wash Tub Laundry, which burned down on February 18, 2024.

Wash Tub Laundry, which burned down on February 18, 2024.

Saul's Lady Justice statuette, as seen at the "Breaking Bad Store" museum in Old Town.

My sister's "Breaking Bad" Descanso at the "Breaking Bad Store" museum in Old Town. 

Lobby of the Special Collections Library in Albuquerque, which was the Albuquerque Public Library when I was a kid - Davis and Main (BCS 201, "Switch").

Lobby of the Special Collections Library in Albuquerque, which was the Albuquerque Public Library when I was a kid - Davis and Main (BCS 201, "Switch").

Lavender Lace home ("Sunshine Cleaning," 2009).

"The Wave" (2019).

"The Wave" (2019).

"The Wave" (2019).

Modern Home for sale (BCS 502, "50% Off").

Desert Ridge Middle School ("Cents," 2014).

"War on Everyone," (2014).

"The Au Pair Nightmare"

Sandia MINI, Sandia BMW, "The Au Pair Nightmare"