Trip to San Francisco to Celebrate Jan's Birthday, and Look at Gingerbread and Pastry Fantasies

We were celebrating Jan Isaacson's birthday, and went on a mission to visit large gingerbread and pastry displays in the City.

Cable car. I enjoyed waving at strangers and watching them wave back.

Fairmont Hotel.

Fairmont Hotel lobby.

Fairmont Hotel lobby Gingerbread display.

Fairmont Hotel lobby Gingerbread display detail.

Molinari Family Nutcrackers.

San Francisco skyline.

Powell Street near California Street.

Rooftop Gardens.

Union Square Macy's.

Pastry spectacle in the Westin-St. Francis Hotel lobby

Lobby of the Westin-St. Francis Hotel.

Union Square Williams-Sonoma Store.

Union Square.

Dungeness crabs on Pier 39.

Group photo at Pier 39.

Yours truly at Pier 39.

RIP, Christina Low

RIP Christina. We will all miss your smile and spirit.

Here is a link to a sweet video about her.

A Tale of Two Drought Footprints

This map shows percentage of normal rainfall in the American West for the last 60 days. Much of this year, there have been two broad strips or footprints of drought - the first from Southern California to North Dakota, and the second from Northern California to western Montana - but the second footprint is shrinking dramatically from the welcome heavy rains in the Pacific Northwest.

Gingerbread Man

Weird Dreams Lately

Doggone it, I was having a very confused but interesting Breaking Bad dream with many cinematic elements: a new drug rolling like taffy into a Swimming Pool perched precariously in the Hollywood Hills; Jesse Pinkman in orbit around Mars; a group of elderly Good Samaritans dressed like yodelers and doing a furtive Cha Cha down the hallway of a high school. Then there was a clatter on the roof from the storm's wind, or maybe Reindeer hooves, and I woke up. Must return....

Woke up from a dream which featured every anxiety-producing element my brain could conceive, from the disappearance of my car from the driveway, to having someone changing a tire simultaneously box my car in the driveway, to realizing I hadn't fed four pet parakeets for four months. Like I don't have enough to worry about already.

Weather Forecast, and the Travails of Folsom Lake

Lake level this winter at Folsom Lake could at first best be described as a dead cat bounce. The lowest lake level ever recorded in the reservoir's history occurred on December 4th: 135,561 Acre Feet. The increasing inflow due to rain had very little initial effect.

Weather-wise, California is now heading into a quiet period. Our dear friend, the Really Resilient Ridge, is in control. That means the NW Pacific is amazingly stormy, but things are pretty quiet in the NE Pacific. Thus, the small system coming in Monday is likely to be a dud. Precipitation, which had almost reached normal levels, will slip behind again.

The next systems of interest are forecast to arrive on Sunday January 3rd, and Wednesday January 6th.

Folsom Lake received a big influx of water on Dec. 22-23 (there was an article about it in the Sacramento Bee):

After falling to historic low depths, Folsom Lake came back with a vengeance this week, adding nearly 18 billion gallons on Tuesday and Wednesday, state figures show.

Earlier this month, Folsom Lake levels fell to roughly 135,000 acre-feet, the lowest point since officials began keeping records – lower than even the 1977 drought. Since then, the region has seen a few storms, and the lake level has crept upward.

After the latest batch of storms, flows into the lake increased dramatically. On Tuesday, the lake rose 35,000 acre-feet. On Wednesday, it rose another 20,000 acre-feet.

In practical terms, the increases this week almost certainly mean that the lake will not fall below the level at which cities have trouble drawing drinking water from it.

The surge was a bit surprising. It had been raining/snowing from Dec. 18-22, but at first there wasn't much inflow. What made the difference was that as the small storm systems kept rolling through, the temperature kept rising, so by the end, precipitation upstream was falling more as rain than snow, and was at last available to help refill the reservoir.

Christmas Letter 2015

Every year, I write a Christmas Letter and enclose it with my Christmas cards. Here is the letter for those who aren't on my Christmas Card list.

For much of the last decade, I've been writing the Christmas Letter in the form of a multiple-choice quiz, in honor of my college friend, Bruce Otis, who first started sending his Christmas Letter in this format.
---------------------

Christmas Letter 2015 Marc Valdez - http://marcvaldez.blogspot.com


Once again, it’s time for a Christmas Letter. Everyone passed last year’s multiple-choice quiz. Let’s see about this year’s quiz. Who’s been naughty and who’s been nice, and who studied?

2015 was a good year for Outer Space. In July, the New Horizons Mission reached Pluto. In September, the moon reached Minor Lunar Standstill in its 18.6-year-long precession cycle and there was an excellent Lunar Eclipse on September 27th. Evidence of recent flowing water was confirmed on Mars. These events suggest:
( ) We live in a kind and benevolent Universe;
( ) We live in a cruel and uncaring Universe;
( ) Neither of the above;
( ) 2016 will be even better than 2015.


Several people died in 2015 that we will miss: Reies Lopez Tijerina, Dr. George Fischbeck, Marie Petersen, Senaida Valdez Aragon, and Leigh Pettigrew. These sad events suggest:
( ) We live in a kind and benevolent Universe;
( ) We live in a cruel and uncaring Universe;
( ) Both of the above;
( ) 2016 will have its roll call too.


The year of 2015 was just as bad as 2014 in regards to rain in California. A meteorological phenomenon called the “Really Resilient Ridge” is repelling all of the winter rainstorms that make California habitable. The reason for the extreme drought is:
( ) Those little silica gel capsules you find in pockets of new clothes really suck out the moisture;
( ) Rain in California was never anything but a Hollywood special effect;
( ) If California is going to slide into the ocean anyway, does it matter?;
( ) All of the above.


Home repair was an anguish in 2015. In January, I picked a scab off a rusty pipe and the pipe sprayed water all over the basement. In September, I tried Front Porch Repair, argued with my homeless friend ‘Joe the Plumber’ about the way he was doing the work, fired him, hired a general contractor to fix the problems, and spent way too much money. What I learned from this was:
( ) Nothing;
( ) Can’t teach an old dog new tricks;
( ) Never fix anything ever again, ever;
( ) If California is going to slide into the ocean anyway, does it matter?;
( ) All of the above.

In March, ‘Joe the Plumber’ found he couldn’t adequately take care of his Black Labrador Retriever named ‘Bella’, so I agreed to take care of her. As I had once traveled with Sparky the Dog years ago, I once again had a canine companion to accompany me on long rambles around the neighborhood.

Bella is basically a canine barbarian, a goofball dog with few civilized refinements, but loyal and attentive. The best Bella adventure of the year was:
( ) Watching Bella lunge at cats all year long;
( ) Watching Bella lunge at a Guy Fawkes mask in the window of someone’s parked car in March;
( ) Getting hammered by a skunk in July;
( ) Finding a mysterious tree that whistled like a hot tea kettle in November;
( ) Seeing a person simply run away from us for no apparent reason in December;
( ) All of the above.


I saw 19 movies on the big screen this year, a surprising number! My favorite movie of 2015 was “Clouds of Sils Maria”, with Juliette Binoche, Kristen Stewart, and Chloe Grace Moretz, because:
( ) It had just actresses, no dudes;
( ) French has a different word for everything, and they spoke it, sometimes;
( ) Friedrich Nietzsche is now ready for his close-up;
( ) The Alps are pretty;
( ) All of the above.


2015 was a banner year for going to the theater to see shows. I saw at least 22 shows, including:
• “The Addams Family” (RTAA & RSP);
• “Mulan, Jr.”, Steampunk version of “Snow White & 7 Dwarves”, “Pirates of Penzance, Jr.”, “Fiddler on the Roof”, and “Teen Cabaret 2015” (DMTC YPT);
• “Into the Woods” (Sierra College);
• “Hairspray” (Berkeley Playhouse);
• “Proof” (Chautauqua Playhouse);
• “In The Heights” and “Dogfight” (Green Valley);
• “Always … Patsy Cline” (Cell Theater, Albuquerque).


Hard to say which show was the best, but I did particularly like “Catch Me If You Can” at RSP, because it was a story about slick criminality that I hadn’t seen before. Stories about slick criminality appeal because:
( ) There are always pretty actresses around;
( ) French has a different word for everything, and they never spoke it;
( ) The FBI looks sexy in the show;
( ) None of the above.

I also participated in DMTC shows:
• “Sweeney Todd” (Stage Manager);
• “Evita” (Ensemble);
• “Into the Woods” (Stagehand); as well as,
• Helped out at fundraisers (e.g., 4th of July Fundraiser, Halloween Haunted Hotel).


The hardest moments of the year concerned the 4th of July Fundraiser. We ordered too many BBQ sandwiches, couldn’t sell them all at full price, unloaded many at a loss, and were forced to eat the rest. What I learned from this was:
( ) There is never an actress around when you need one;
( ) French has a different word for everything, including obscenities, and we used them all;
( ) We live in a cruel and uncaring Universe;
( ) Never sell anything ever again, ever;
( ) If California is going to slide into the ocean anyway, does it matter?;
( ) All of the above.


Our final Haunted Hotel tour was specifically for our tween volunteers. As the Mad Scientist, I ask the guests if they are hungry, and whether they might fancy some "Rongere". One of the tweens immediately recognized the French word for "Rodent", snapped her fingers, and sarcastically responded "I don't THINK so!" I was amazed. In my day, no one would have understood. What I learned from this was:
( ) Farewell any idea about faking it in a French restaurant;
( ) There is always an actress around when you least need one;
( ) French has a different word for everything, and there are actually people around who understand these words;
( ) All of the above.

In 2015, I continued taking Zumba and hip-hop oriented aerobics classes at ‘Step One’ health studio with Pepper Von, Krystle Morales, and associates. I also started attending Jamaican Dancehall classes with La Toya Bufford.

I participated in a hip hop dance show - “The Debut” (K-Styles Dance). What I learned was:
( ) It’s time to release the inner Gangsta;
( ) I have no idea what I’m doing;
( ) French has a different word for everything, except maybe hip hop slang;
( ) If California is going to slide into the ocean anyway, this is the only stuff that’s going to matter;
( ) All of the above.


And more! I attended film festivals and concerts, went to museums, and saw Modern Dance, Ballet, and Burlesque shows. And also met a ‘Breaking Bad’ celebrity - Giancarlo Esposito (Gus Fring) at Sacramento’s Wizard Con in June - and saw another - Vince Gilligan at the Mondavi Center in December.
All this theater means:
( ) Nothing;
( ) I have way too much time on my hands;
( ) I enable narcissism;
( ) What do high heel shows and military transport vehicles have in common?;
( ) What was that about Burlesque?;
( ) All of the above.

I participated in Jamaican Dancehall workshops with the well-known Blacka di Danca and the most-amazing dance instructor I’ve met in years, Laure Courtellemont.

All this dancing means:
( ) I can avoid walkers and canes forever if I can just keep it up;
( ) Just stop it with the twerking already;
( ) Is this like burlesque?;
( ) None of the above.


I traveled to my hometown of Albuquerque, NM in February. I made a presentation to the 36th Annual Southwest/American Popular Culture Conference, called “Walter White on the Turquoise Trail: Native American History as Recapitulated in ‘Breaking Bad’ Through Filming Location, Mineral Type and Predominant Color”. The audience consisted mostly of philosophy students and professors. They liked the presentation because:

( ) It featured more maps than a typical philosophy lecture;
( ) I used bright, garish colors in my Power Point presentation;
( ) I had no discernable philosophy;
( ) Philosophers like TV shows;
( ) Like our overlord Donald Trump, I never ever apologized, not even once;
( ) All of the above.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!



Marc

My avatar for 2016 is Arthur, the House Pig, whose duties include keeping nervous customers happy and minding the large piles of fallen hair, at Doggie Den Grooming, on Montgomery Blvd. NE, in Albuquerque.

SNL Hillarys and GOP Debate

A New Descanso!

At Second and Hazeldine SW in Albuquerque, where 'Combo' sold drugs and got killed in "Breaking Bad", a Descanso has been erected!

Yes!!!

Long live "Breaking Bad"!

Styx - "I Am The Walrus"

I love listening to the El Camino High School students on KDVS radio here in Sacramento. Their method is to play music in a perfectly-random way. So, they'll play some Montavani Strings from the 1950's, then play some punk rock song from the 70's, then follow it up with some 90's rap. It's disorienting, but invigorating!

Earlier today, KDVS played The Beatles' "I Am The Walrus". That song had a nearly-incalculable impact on the Sixties!

So, went on a snark hunt, trying to find the best cover of The Beatles' "I Am The Walrus". This appears to be the best:

Sister Rosetta Tharpe - Didn't It Rain

Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Manchester, England, 1964.

Pictures of Hot-Air Balloons in Gallup

Pretty!

"Like a Donkey in the Mist"

16 Romanian phrases that British people find hilarious.

Governor Susana Martinez of New Mexico

A class act.

Old Satellite Wants Attention Again

Back in October, John tagged this interesting story about an abandoned satellite starting to send signals again:

An Amateur Radio Astronomer in North Cornwall accidentally picked up the signal in 2013 and after cross checking with various lists, has identified it as LES1 built by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and launched in 1965. The satellite failed to reach its intended orbit owing to a wiring error and has been drifting out of control ever since.

Phil Williams G3YPQ from near Bude noticed its peculiar signal drift caused by its tumbling end over end every 4 seconds as the solar panels become shadowed by the engine. ‘This gives the signal a particularly ghostly sound as the voltage from the solar panels fluctuates’ Phil says.

It is likely that the on board batteries have now disintegrated and some other component failure has caused the transmitter on 237Mhz, to start up when its in sunlight.

...Phil says its remarkable to think that electronics built nearly 50 years ago, 12 years before Voyager 1, and long before microprocessors and integrated circuits, is still capable of working in the hostile environs of space.

The Light Saber Star

Cool! They knew these things existed. It's nice to get a picture:

Full Moon Christmas

KGUN TV-9 Covers TRB's "A Southwest Nutcracker"

Even when I was there (1982-1988), Linda Walker was experimenting with "A Southwest Nutcracker". Since 1994, it's become a Tucson tradition.

Little Storms

The little storm that rolled in last night (0.45" at Sacramento Executive Airport) is the first in about four little storms in the coming week that hopefully will boost our sorry rainfall totals for the month.

The New York Times Fuckers Are Back

Here we go again. Whether it's Wen Ho Lee in the 90's, or Judith Miller in the last decade, or making up shit about the San Bernardino couple's social media postings, the New York Times cultivates reporters whose sole purpose is to drip venomous conservative lies into the mainstream media. These days, the reporters are Matt Apuzzo, Michael Schmidt, and Julia Preston.

Apuzzo, Schmidt, and Preston. Remember those names. They will be back.

Today, FBI director James Comey said the San Bernardino shooters never talked openly about violent jihadism on social media.... So where did this notion come from, anyway? The answer is a New York Times story on Sunday headlined "U.S. Visa Process Missed San Bernardino Wife's Zealotry on Social Media." It told us that Tashfeen Malik "talked openly" on social media about jihad and that, "Had the authorities found the posts years ago, they might have kept her out of the country." The story was written by Matt Apuzzo, Michael Schmidt, and Julia Preston.

Do those names sound familiar? They should. The first two were also the authors of July's epic fail claiming that Hillary Clinton was the target of a criminal probe over the mishandling of classified information in her private email system. In the end, virtually everything about the story turned out to be wrong. Clinton was not a target. The referral was not criminal. The emails in question had not been classified at the time Clinton saw them.

...Schmidt and Apuzzo either have some bad sources somewhere, or else they have one really bad source somewhere. And coincidentally or not, their source(s) have provided them with two dramatic but untrue scoops that make prominent Democrats look either corrupt or incompetent.

The Ghost of Christmas Future Imperfect Conditional

Crazy Cat Lady Action Figure

Jessica Crouch Wins Big Honor

Oh, look at this! Our own Jessica!:

Jessica Crouch has been chosen as the winner of NYMF's Next Broadway Sensation 2015. The competition took place at The Triad (158 W. 72nd Street) and gave nearly 200 singers the chance to be crowned this year's champion.

Crouch, and runner-up Crystal Kellogg, competed alongside finalists chosen from a mix of audience votes, online voting at NYMF.org, and a panel of industry judges.

Produced by NYMF with support from the ASCAP Foundation this annual talent competition seeks to find the newest musical theatre star. Crouch will receive a special solo concert produced by NYMF in 2016.

NYMF's Next Broadway Sensation 2015 winner Jessica Crouch was last seen this summer in Hair at Sacramento Music Circus. Her top performing highlight was touring North America in We Will Rock You and getting to share the stage with rock legend, Queen guitarist, Brian May. www.jessica-crouch.com @jessgoober

...Now in its twelfth year, the Festival is the largest musical theatre event in America. The preeminent site for launching new musicals and discovering new talent, the Festival provides an affordable platform for artists to mount professional productions that reach their peers, industry leaders, and musical theatre fans.

The Winter, So Far

I'm kind of exasperated by the winter so far. Precipitation is about half normal in the valleys, and about 80% of normal in the mountains. We're within striking distance of normal, but not there. The drought continues.

It's been raining a lot in the Pacific Northwest (good - they need it) and we get the tail ends of their storms (next ones forecast for here on Saturday and Monday), but it's just not enough. It's too dry in western Nevada and the Mojave Desert. Quiet on the Southwestern front too: the East Pacific High has suppressed anything El Niño might throw our way. It's raining a lot near Wake and Midway Islands, but that does us no good.

One interesting tidbit is the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) finally budged downwards in November. It's been stuck on hot, hot, hot for the last year, and we've been hot too since we are so close to it, but it's been stormy in the NE Pacific since September, and the wind is finally stripping out some of that heat. Hopes continue for a more-normal pattern of weather.

Employment Status

Here at work as an air quality dispersion modeler, I’ve been quite worried about my employment status for the last nine years, since the new dispersion modeler came on board in 2006. It’s been obvious my employer couldn’t keep us both fully occupied with the amount of available work, but through the Recession they kept us both on anyway. (It’s been a blessing, because I’ve been able to lots of other things with the excess time, like write, blog, and focus on “Breaking Bad”). Still, my employer almost dropped me last year, and I’ve been waiting for this year’s review with dread. Things had been busier this year than last, but I also saw no new work in the pipeline, and fretted….

Today was the review. The result is, I will be dropped to part-time status, but I requested that the transition be delayed until May 1st (when I will turn age 59.5, and be able to access retirement money without 10% penalty), and they agreed. And I retain health benefits for a year. So, come mid-year, or maybe even sooner, I’ll be free to take on part-time work, or possibly retire early (although the money isn’t there for anything but the most Spartan kind of retirement). Still, the transition won’t be as abrupt as I feared likely.

Temporary Crown

For the tooth, not the head.

The Doctor came and said "Time to rock and roll!"

Novocain wearing off now. Want to crawl in a hole somewhere.

Admiral Ackbar, Pundit

Marco Cholo

Sacramento Choral Society & Orchestra - Home for the Holidays - Sacramento Memorial Auditorium - Dec. 12, 2015

Went to see Sacramento Choral Society & Orchestra's "Home for the Holidays" at Sacramento Memorial Auditorium with Jackie, Donna, and Steve S.

Santa and Donald Kendrick

2015 NorCal Ragga Jam Session (Sacramento) with Laure Courtellemont - Dec. 11, 2015

She was here! I'm so thrilled! There were two Sacramento sessions, featuring two completely-different styles of Jamaican Dancehall, the first a gangsta style number, and the second a more-sensual number.

Laure Courtellemont (photo by LaToya Bufford).

The women watch while the men demonstrate the "Bloodclaute Song" dance choreography at the 2015 NorCal Ragga Jam Session (Sacramento) with Laure Courtellemont (center) on Dec. 11, 2015 (photo by LaToya Bufford).

The men demonstrate the "Bloodclaute Song" dance choreography at the 2015 NorCal Ragga Jam Session (Sacramento) with Laure Courtellemont (center) on Dec. 11, 2015 (photo by LaToya Bufford).

Laure explained her mission to spread Dancehall around the world. Here is a marvelous example of her recent work, with many of the superb dancers she's brought to her side in the short time she's been based in Los Angeles, including Crazyhype!:




And a solo by Laure herself!:

In Conversation with Vince Gilligan - UCD's Mondavi Center - December 10, 2015

Thursday night was very exciting. The Mondavi Center at UC Davis presented "In Conversation with Vince Gilligan" with Moderator Colin Milburn (Gary Snyder Chair in Science and the Humanities; Professor of Cinema and Digital Media and Professor of English, Science and Technology Studies, UC Davis):

Odd couple FBI agents investigating the paranormal. A mild-mannered high school chemistry teacher turned “bad.” A hard-working lawyer trying to find his niche. These iconic characters represent some of the very best writing in television and we have Vince Gilligan to thank. The multiple award-winning creator, writer and executive producer of both The X-Files and Breaking Bad (and its prequel Better Call Saul) has garnered two Emmys (for Breaking Bad) as well as a 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, among others. Of Gilligan’s characters, The New York Times has said “they inhabit a realm of moral ambiguities that’s overseen by a man with both a wicked sense of humor and a highly refined sense of right and wrong.”

Of the fans in the Breaking Bad and better Call Saul Facebook groups, I was aware of two others who went: Ron McCrae, who drove in from Reno and back, despite the storms clobbering the Sierra Nevada, and Lisa Van de Velde (and her boyfriend) from Sacramento. Plus myself, of course.

Ron and I met at Black Bear Diner and walked in to the Mondavi.

They followed a "Between Two Ferns" interview format, for 1.5 hours in Jackson Hall (1,800 seat capacity - about 80% full). Recording of any sort was not permitted. Vince left the building immediately afterwards, so my effort to present him with a book was foiled (although the host did suggest I contact his agent). For a die hard fan there was little that was truly new. He spent a lot of time talking about X Files and Breaking Bad (surprisingly little on BCS), and retelling stories most of us have already heard (how he got started in TV; meeting Bryan Cranston; deciding not to kill off Jesse; not knowing how they were going to use the machine gun shown at the start of Season 5 BrBa until much later; using BrBa as an unprecedented experiment in character evolution on TV since he expected the show to crater anyway). He stressed the importance of Cinematography and Music (but everyone knew that already). He looked a bit weary to me (understandable). Not very many questions were taken (Lisa Van de Velde and her boyfriend were very lucky). Gilligan said you learn a lot by failure, but the success of BrBa caught him by total surprise, and he hasn't learned a thing from that success. The biggest revelations to me was learning that Bill Burr now has a helicopter pilot's license and that one of the influences used in creating the amalgam character of Saul Goodman was simply seeing billboards of a personal injury attorney while being driven around ABQ on a siting locations bus and wondering whether, since Walt needed a consigliere, maybe somebody like that would work (Vince didn't identify the attorney because he didn't want to get sued - he said that in dead seriousness - but I'm thinking it's gotta be Ron Bell).

I liked those ferns onstage too. Those were two very good-looking ferns.

Vince Gilligan did talk about how much he enjoyed reading critical discussions of BrBa and its use of symbolism and color. Filmmakers just don't have the control that people sometimes assume and lots of accidents occur that later take on great meaning. Gilligan made a comparison to a Hitchcock movie where a car broke through a picket fence, leaving two pickets in the form of a cross, which a critic noted referred to Christian symbolism, and Hitchcock himself noted was purely an accident, that no one had planned it that way. Gilligan was thunderstruck when a critic noted that Gus Fring getting half his face blown off was foreshadowed by the Teddy Bear with half its face burnt off. He made everybody laugh by recollecting reading the critic's thought. "I wish I had thought of that in advance," he confessed, half a second before regretting he expressed that thought in front of another person, blowing his opportunity to maintain an omniscient pose.

Gilligan did say he did base half the face getting burnt off on a real event, though. Fulminate of mercury was the cause:

John Whiteside Parsons (born Marvel Whiteside Parsons; October 2, 1914 – June 17, 1952), better known as Jack Parsons, was an American rocket engineer and rocket propulsion researcher, chemist, inventor, businessman, expert witness, writer, socialite, and Thelemite occultist. Parsons was associated with the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), and was one of the principal founders of both the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the Aerojet Engineering Corporation. He invented the first rocket engine using a castable, composite rocket propellant, and pioneered the advancement of both liquid-fuel and solid-fuel rockets.

Born in Los Angeles, California, Parsons was raised by a wealthy family on Orange Grove Avenue in Pasadena. Inspired by science fiction literature, he developed an interest in rocketry in his childhood and in 1928 began amateur rocket experiments with school friend Ed Forman. He was forced to drop out of Pasadena Junior College and Stanford University due to financial difficulties during the Great Depression, but in 1934 he united with Forman and graduate student Frank Malina to form the Caltech-affiliated GALCIT Rocket Research Group, supported by Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory chairman Theodore von Kármán. In 1939 the Group gained funding from the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to work on Jet-Assisted Take Off (JATO) for the U.S. military. In 1942 they founded Aerojet to develop and sell their JATO technology in response to American involvement in World War II; the Group became JPL in 1943.

After a brief involvement with Marxism in 1939, Parsons began practising magick and converted to Thelema, the English occultist Aleister Crowley's new religious movement. In 1941, alongside his first wife Helen Northrup, Parsons joined the Agape Lodge, the Californian branch of the Thelemite Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO). At Crowley's bidding, he replaced Wilfred Talbot Smith as its leader in 1942 and ran the Lodge from his mansion on Orange Grove Avenue. Inciting criminal investigations into allegedly illicit activities, Parsons was expelled from JPL and Aerojet in 1944 in part due to the Lodge's infamy, along with his quixotic working practices as a scientist. In 1945 Parsons separated from Helen after having an affair with her sister Sara; when Sara left him for his friend L. Ron Hubbard, he conducted the Babalon Working, a series of rituals designed to invoke the Thelemic goddess Babalon to Earth. He and Hubbard continued the procedure with Marjorie Cameron, whom Parsons married in 1946. After Hubbard and Sara defrauded him of his life savings, Parsons resigned from the OTO and went through various jobs while acting as a consultant for the Israeli rocket program. Amid the climate of McCarthyism, he was accused of espionage and left unable to work in rocketry. In 1952, Parsons died at the age of 37 in a home laboratory explosion that attracted national media attention; the police ruled it an accident, but many associates suspected suicide or assassination.

Yet people remember, particularly people like Vince Gilligan, who also tries to straddle that Religion/Science divide. Jack Parsons is memorialized in Breaking Bad.

Vince Gilligan also had nice things to say about Albuquerque and New Mexico. He noted that there are more sheep than people in New Mexico and that of the 50 states NM has the highest per capita number of Ph.D.'s, due to the presence of Los Alamos and Sandia Labs. He said these things in context of a discussion about the role of science in Breaking Bad, particularly as represented by Walter White.

Annual Sierra Holiday Gathering

Britons Trying to Make Sense of American Crime Drama

Donald Trump and the Bald Eagle

Leaf Fall

Was just sweeping leaves at 2 a.m.: admittedly strange, but there was a big leaf fall from the high winds and the ground was still dry, so the work was still easy. It just started sprinkling. The first significant storm of the winter is here!

Good wishes to Ron McRae, who will attempt to cross the Sierra Nevada tomorrow in the teeth of the howling blizzard in order to enjoy an evening of civilized discussion with Vince Gilligan at the Mondavi Center in Davis. Hoping he doesn't get waylaid at Donner Pass and forced to eat too many fellow travelers.

Another Hot Year In California

California was warming up anyway (global warming, urban heat island, etc.), but the last 2 years have been amazing, and scary. Much of the bump was the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) warming up the waters of the eastern North Pacific, and thus warming up California, by proximity. No sign yet it's reversing, either.

Make Italy Great

Eight Things About Donald Trump

Love the quote:

"There’s a reason why the National Republican Senatorial Committee’s executive director wants GOP candidates to “be like Trump” even as Graham bleats that Trump doesn’t represent the party. Lindsey Graham, are you shitting me? Trump doesn’t just represent your party. He’s the goddamn Platonic ideal of it. You can’t spend decades preparing the way for someone like Donald Trump and then pretend to be shocked, shocked when he roars down the field, flawlessly executing your playbook."

Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s Ad

The trouble with having cancelled cable is I miss out on stuff:

Son Burglarizes His Mom's House

All for her posole:

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Jonathan Ray wanted some of his mom’s posole last week.

So much so that, police say, he broke into her Northeast Albuquerque home, made a beeline for the fridge and ran away with a pot of homemade posole.

Jeremy Lion - Twelve Days of Christmas

This guy is GREAT!

Tea and Consent

Lose 75 Pounds in ONE DAY!

Toyah - I Believe in Father Christmas

Sharks Don't Like the Remus SharkCam

Photos from "The Debut"

Sunday, a week ago:

Ran Away

Tonight for Bella's walk, I decided to wear a black windbreaker, not only for warmth but because I would be dressed in black from head to toe. The windbreaker would make me look a little more formidable on the street.

When Bella and I reached 21st Street, when we usually turn south, my eye caught surreptitious movement. A man was sprinting north on the dark sidewalk - running away from us as fast as he could possibly run. Vastly surprised, I watched him run away until he reached Broadway, a block and a half away, and keep running at high speed, until he had vanished.

Out of curiosity, we changed direction and headed north too, to where I had first seen him, by the cemetery. There was a pile of trash there - old empty plastic cups and cardboard boxes - but nothing of apparent value. It was all a complete mystery.

Reminded of the familiar poster from the early Seventies.

What I Want For Christmas

I'm beginning to think of what I might want for Christmas.

So far, I'm thinking of two esoteric items. One is a copy of De Nederlandse Opera's 2007 production of John Adams and Peter Sellar's "Dr. Atomic." For being so distant, the Nederlandse folks did an astonishingly-good job of portraying the Manhattan Project and New Mexico. As far as I know, it's the only opera that refers to Santa Clara Pueblo and the Jemez and Sangre de Cristo Mountains, all with an unforgettable nightmarish edge.

Unfortunately the part I like best isn't on YouTube, but this is OK:




The other is a copy of "Clouds of Sils Maria" the 2014 movie that I think is the best film of the century so far. To a soul, the critics misjudged it - pitched so far above their heads they can't catch it. It may be the only movie that ever really captured the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche.

Here, Maria (Juliette Binoche) grills Valentine (Kristen Stewart) about the performance of a fresh but controversial actress (played by Chloe Grace Moretz) who is about to join their theatrical project. They begin edging into Nietzsche territory....

Why Is That Vehicle Idling?

One of the troubles with having a large homeless population is that people aren't rooted in one place and easily lose contact with one another. People blame authorities for disappearances and are particularly suspicious of vehicles idling for long periods to no apparent purpose.

In Sacramento, 'Joe the Plumber' says the homeless are being swept into mobile crematoria (semi-trailers called 'Smokies') that patrol inner city neighborhoods in the day and incinerate people in the outskirts of the city at night.

Similarly, in Albuquerque, people accuse ambulance drivers of organ harvesting. (h/t John)

Worried About Michael Flowers

Because we love him to pieces and are worried. He disappeared once for a time, but this time is longer - a month.

MISSING: Michael Jimmerson was last seen November 11, 2015 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. if you have any information regarding the whereabouts of Michael Jimmerson please contact the Albuquerque Police Department at (505)242-2677.

[UPDATED: Dec. 8, 2015: Michael has resurfaced! (I knew he would - it was just a matter of time.)]

Fractal Wrongness

Brian:

"For gun supporters everywhere. From their willful misinterpretation of the 2nd Amendment to their denial of statistical realities to their utter absence of common sense."

Edgy

People used to investigate first:

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The reported gunshots that triggered a lockdown at Kirtland Air Force Base Wednesday afternoon turned out to be someone popping bubble wrap, said Eric Elliott, the director of public affairs for the base.

“One individual had some heavy-duty bubble wrap from a package and was stepping on it to pop it,” he said. “Someone else heard the popping and —due to (the mass shooting) happening in San Bernardino — called 911.”

DMTC's "Into The Woods"

Fin.