Janell Gohring

RIP. A memorial service has been scheduled.

What Went Wrong Regarding WMD

We are getting closer to an answer. The Administration lies to itself!

Folsom Renaissance Fair

Sunday was enjoyable. I met Alison Roest (formerly Lorenz), her husband Daniel, and their son Craig at their home in Folsom, and we all went to the Folsom Renaissance Fair. The Fair featured some jousting, many booths, a colorful itinerant band of merchants and ne'er-do-wells, and low sword prices (tempted there with the sword prices!)

I last saw Alison about ten years ago, when she used to attend Pam Kay Lourentzos' ballet class on Sunday morning (a class which still meets and which I attend faithfully!) They were the most gracious hosts, and their home is beautiful. Still, I felt a tinge of sadness for the passage of time - irrecoverable time - that we all experience as life goes on. Ten years! Hard to believe!

Interbike Convention and the Foundation Room Party

I just got back from a 36-hour whirlwind visit to Las Vegas. Almost no sleep at all, and none last night!

On Monday, I met with John Wright, my good college friend from New Mexico Tech, and together we went to the Interbike Convention at the Sands Convention Center. John runs Pro-bike Bicycle Shop in Oklahoma City, and he was in Las Vegas Saturday through Monday to order bicycles and parts and products from various wholesalers and dealers. Acres and acres of bicycles and bicycle parts and doo-dads were on display at the Convention Center! We had a wonderful time looking at all the applied technology! Since I had a rent-a-car, I took John to the airport for his trip back home.


Bicycles galore!

Then Monday night, I ventured on crazy blackjack gambling of course (probably lost about $400 total for the trip, but if not for the most magnificent winning streak in my life - a $2000 win in half an hour at Mandalay Bay - it would have been much, much worse).

Then somehow I got invited to a more-or-less exclusive party on the penthouse floor of the Mandalay Bay casino. A fun Australian named Paul D. sat down at our table, and began winning. We hit it off, and so at 11 p.m., he invited me to accompany him to the Foundation Sin party on the top floor of the Mandalay Bay casino and resort.

Foundation Sin apparently refers to the International House of Blues (HOB) Foundation Service Industry (Sin) party, the only 'public' event held on the lavish top floor, weekly, on Monday's. HOB is one of the most important tenants of the Mandalay Bay casino. The atmosphere is very heady. Here is an excerpt of an article from the NY Times:

But sometimes this city's democratic approach can be more fun than New York elitism. "Las Vegas is so good at imitating reality that it's often better than the real thing," said Hal Rothman, author of "Neon Metropolis: How Las Vegas Started the 21st Century." "If you go to the Venetian, you don't have to worry about pigeon droppings, and when you go to the New York-style clubs, they're not pretentious and there aren't as many rules."

Over at Foundation, a Moroccan theme lounge with tapestries and daybeds on the 43rd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel, a group of executives from Bear Stearns were drinking in a private room that runs $250 a night. "They treat yuppies like rock stars here," said one executive, Matt, who declined to give his last name. "It blows New York away."

Large numbers of people were already trying to get past the guards at the elevator - due to Paul's membership, we were able to just breeze our way past the velvet ropes (oooh, so elitist, and yet, so generous of Paul)! Loud music, the best scenic vistas of the city, and of what the city has to offer. A wonderful place, the best place! Here is a photo of the magnificent view of the Strip, originally posted at this Web Site.


No better view in Vegas!

Paul D. introduced me to his boss, Ron B., and Ron's guests, former wrestler turned Bronx-bakery-owner John, and John's brother-in-law (Joe?). John and I became fast companions, and for a time we moved around together. Due to Ron's membership, he was able to reserve the central section of the Foundation Room, the favored portion in front of the fireplace and delimited by couches, for just his guests, which now apparently included myself.

As the room filled up with acres of beautiful people, they increasingly tried to move into the couch area, but guards kept them away - I felt awkward at being one of the few people in the room with full range of motion. A few beautiful women lingered for conversation, including a student from Florida and a helicopter pilot from North Carolina.

Ron B. was very considerate of his guests - he lectured me on the importance of treating celebrities just like anyone else, since it was clear this was something of a Hollywoodish crowd, and anyone could be there. Ron B. loved explaining his philosophy of generosity and joie de vivre.

Later, Paul showed me various VIP lounges, with their florid Hindu/Buddhist jungle decor. Then Paul abruptly disappeared. At 12:45 a.m., for unknown reasons, we lost our claim to the fireplace area - Ron B. retreated to a VIP lounge with a big-screen TV showing time-lapse pictures of cumulonimbus clouds, and Utah arroyos. I skittered about the premises, checking out the two dance rooms, including the hip-hop room, and intruding over the velvet ropes there ("Sir! The ropes are there for a reason, sir!") Expansive, yet private, the club has many attractive features, and I'm sure a membership is highly-prized.

In the Foundation room, another DJ spun house. There was a funny moment: in the loud environment, I asked the DJ to play Angie Stone's "Bottles and Cans", the wonderful mix by Guido Osorio that is unavailable commercially. Misunderstanding, the DJ dutifully produced an empty can of Red Bull and an empty cocktail glass. I laughed, he was embarrassed, but it was OK - he never did play that tune, though, just other interesting ones.

Ron B. had promised that the party would push the limits of decadence, mentioning a provocatively dressed (or undressed) woman who walked on her hands at a previous party. I waited, but the limits were never pushed that hard, at least by 2:30 a.m. After a while, I retreated downstairs to the casino, had my big winning streak, met a few other fun characters (like Simone D.), left to go to the MGM Grand, lost big there, unfortunately, and then got ready to return to Sacramento in the dawn's early light.

Various Media

Pre-election media first

The BBC gets Mary Carey confused with Reva Renee Renz (since corrected). And the San Jose Mercury News babbles about fringe ideas.


Major Candidates

What Arnold and the celebrities were up to.


Minor Candidates

First AP article out.

Some of the Sacramento Bee's lame coverage.

From the San Jose Mercury News: first, then second.

Here's what we are really waiting for - the documentaries!

Here are some of Pauline Luben's great photos of the minor recall candidates.


More Analysis

Why Davis cratered.

Of course, and more Mickey Kaus' detailed blog coverage!

Joel Kotkin and Josh Benson form the New Republic.


Cartoon

And, of course, Mark Fiore!

Election Day

Had a good time yesterday, on my victory lap around the state. I started in Sacramento, went to the "Purple Cow" in San Francisco, travelled to San Jose in the evening for the party at AP Stumps, and then, very late, back to Sacramento.

I voted at the River Life Covenant Church in Sacramento (19th and Broadway) about 10 a.m., and then spent about half an hour importuning voters to please, please vote for me. The voters seemed to be an unusually cranky lot - they wondered whether I was breaking the law just by being there (it's OK as long as I stay more than 100 feet from the door). Then I went to work and answered a few E-Mails, before driving off to San Francisco.

Fortunately the KMTP Channel 32 studio was easy to find in San Francisco. When I arrived, hand-held cameras in the lobby were focused on Candidate Georgy Russell: in a few minutes Candidate Christopher Sproul arrived with his surfboard. After various effusive greetings, we went upstairs to the third floor, to a big room where about ten break dancers did the MOST AMAZING moves on a checkered plastic surface (e.g. spinning upside down on the crown of one's head). Just the most wonderfully-skilled people!

As we candidates sat side-by-side on an avocado green vinyl couch, hosts Jay and SheShe asked how our experiences had changed us both personally and politically. I stated how I had gained a renewed appreciation for the virtues of acting out and making a loud noise. After two takes of the interview, the break dancers showed us a few moves, which we got imperfectly. Georgy and I then made a feeble effort to teach the break dancers ballet steps (of course, many, if not all, of the break dancers already have classical training, but we were hamming it up for the camera). Georgy couldn't easily turn barefoot on the checkered plastic surface, so mostly it was an unprofitable wrestle of arms and legs, but we did squeeze out a reasonable fish. Christopher got better pictures on his surf board - Georgy looked especially cute on the surf board. Then after a few pictures with SheShe and Break Dancer Rosa, it was back downstairs to catch a portion of my interview on "Purple Cow" (all the interviews were running on a continuous loop, and mine happened to come up when I was there). Laughed my head off! Then, after getting an autographed copy of Georgy's famous thong, it was off to San Jose.


Fabulous Dancing!



Candidates Georgy Russell and Chris Sproul; Hosts SheShe, and Jay - the "Purple Cow" interview



Break Dancer Rosa and SheShe


In the Duncan Science Building at the campus of San Jose State University, after handing out my card to a group of women students in lab coats standing in the hall holding pieces of filter paper in the hall (for what, I don't know), I located my friend Jerry, who teaches meteorology there, and we got some pizza. After much amiable conversation, it was off to find the downtown restaurant AP Stumps, for Jon Zellhoefer's party.

Eight candidates were there on Election Night (Zellhoefer, Sproul, Miller, Dole, Valdez, Lane, Foss, and Cullenbine), plus the ever-helpful Cheryl Dietz, Jon Zellhoefer's campaign manager, who did more than anyone to make the Candidates' Forum a living entity, plus her family. Bay Area channels 2, 5, and 7 were also there, and some footage was taken by all three networks of me meandering around behind the various correspondents. It soon became clear that we were going make less of an impression on the vote totals than I expected, but we still had some fun (one of the photographers took a great picture of Diana Foss and I whooping it up, because Channel 2 reported she had 275 votes and I had 248 votes).

I drank a margarita and accidentally dropped the glass on the floor. I took some more pictures, and made my way, quite late, back to Sacramento.


Candidate Bob Cullenbine

A Russian View

An English-language poll by some readers of Pravda, on who should be Governor of California.

Forgot About This!

Cute Governor animation.

Election Night Plans for Some Other Candidates

According to the LA Times Food Section.

Election Day Plans

On October 7th, I plan to spend the morning at or near my polling place in Sacramento, voting and campaigning. In the afternoon, I plan to visit "The Purple Cow", at KMTP Channel 32, at 1504 Bryant Street, San Francisco, between 2 and 5 p.m. (their program will air at 9 p.m.) Then it's off to San Jose for two events: Candidate Jon Zellhoefer's party at A.P. Stumps, and another event (location unknown as yet) put on by 'Yes on the Recall Democrats' and hosted by John Estrada. Don't know when I'll get back to Sacramento - maybe in time to be sworn in!

Sisyphus and the Pancake Breakfast

Saturday and Sunday were difficult days, mostly because of the Sisyphean effort to put together the Alternative Candidate's Pancake Breakfast at Fremont Park in downtown Sacramento (Between P & Q, 15th & 16th). Pam Van Kamp, President of the Fremont Park Neighborhood Association, found herself largely abandoned by her troops, just at the time her vehicle stopped running. So on Saturday, I was pressed into service, buying a tent and tables on sale at Costco (because the City of Sacramento inexplicably insists that when one cooks in parks, one should cook within flammable tents), buying pancake griddles at Target, helping with flyers, going to and fro, etc.

On Sunday, things went wrong, of course. The tent came without poles (explaining why it was on sale), there were repeated trips to bring supplies, and various items, like bowls and a spatula, had to be obtained. Fortunately, the Alternative candidates on Jim Vandeventer's big bus from southern California were game: Diana Foss manned the griddle, and Dick Lane whomped up the batter. Everyone had enough to eat, and we debated each other. Warren Farrell and Diane Beall Templin, in particular, took advantage of the speaking opportunity.

There were also a few candidates I haven't met before: Bill Chambers, Warren Farrell, and Darrin Price spring to mind. And the mysterious Christy Cassell.

Then of course, the effort to schlep all the stuff out of the park! Exhausting!


Candidate Diane Beall Templin and her partner John (Wadsworth?), in a characteristic pose



Candidates Jim Lane and Diana Foss save the day with pancake savvy

Conform or Else

What can one make of the attack by Arnold's supporters on fellow gubernatorial candidate Georgy Russell? Fascism ascendant? Group zealousness? Whatever it is, it's ugly, and I hope it's not part of a trend in California politics.

Later on Sunday - Thanks for the Recall!

After lugging tons of stuff back home after the pancake breakfast, and after delivering last Monday's hard copy LA Times with our pictures in it to Pam Kay Lourentzos at the ballet class I was skipping that day, it was off to the State Capitol for the Alternative Candidates' rally. We had the north steps of the Capitol - Arnold had the south steps. Arnold had 'Twisted Sister', too much sunshine, circling helicopters, and a very large audience: we had about ten candidates, pleasant temperatures, circling pigeons, and whoever drifted past on their way to Arnold's rally. We did some nice debating, with Jon Zellhoefer posing questions to C.T. Weber, Gerold Gorman, and myself. Gerold and myself made a good tag team - maybe we should do radio together.

Christy Cassell set up a table to sell merchandise, and she spoke a little too. I find her presence to be a little mysterious, since she's not one of the 135 - I guess she's a write-in candidate. She's good-looking and apparently has a flair for merchandising. There have been a few other candidates too, including a Mr. Walton from San Diego, who also has a big bus, and a support staff too. I'm not sure if these folks are just people who barely missed qualifying for the ballot and decided to run write-in candidacies anyway, or whether they knew an opportunity when they saw it. In any case, they are another interesting wrinkle on the campaign.

Afterwards, I tried to encourage the candidates to follow me to Davis' Central Park for a meet-and-greet. Because I didn't ride Jim Vandeventer's big bus from southern California, I didn't realize that the bus wasn't going to San Francisco after all, but was instead returning empty to southern California. So if I was to get candidates to come to Davis, I would have to act fast. I agreed to meet Jon Zellhoefer at the Hyatt on L Street, but because I started talking to an Arnold supporter, I was slow getting over there.

Guess who I met in the lobby of the Hyatt in Sacramento? I strolled in, all sweaty, carrying my long, orange, utility-grade extension cord, and looking for Jon Zellhoefer. There was this familiar looking guy in the lobby talking to several young people, and saying something like "I didn't want to quit, I wanted to stay in, but (blah, blah, blah) soft money". It was Darrell Issa! I identified myself and thanked him for the recall! Then off I went to find my car....

I went to Davis, just to be sure if any candidates were there, but no one was there. I picked up the Sunday Davis Enterprise and saw Corey Golden's fine interview regarding myself, returned home for a shower, and then back to Davis again for DMTC's Sunday evening "Music Man" at the Varsity Theater in downtown Davis. What a day!


North steps of the State Capitol, with Jon Zellhoefer, C.T. Weber, Gerold Gorman, and the mysterious Chris Cassell

Saturday

Helped Pam Van Kamp prepare for Sunday's pancake breakfast. We also had the annual Sierra Research company dinner, this year at a winery in the Sierra foothills, near Plymouth, called Villa Toscano. A very pleasant place, and a really nice time was had by all!

Gray the Terrible

The California Recall Election seems all-encompassing right now. When watching the television news, I'm annoyed if the topic drifts to next year's presidential election, or any other topic. I've lost interest in even the existence of Europe, except, of course, for Portugal: the New York correspondent for Lisbon's Publico startled me yesterday with a surprise interview.

Last night, Turner Classic Movies presented 'Ivan the Terrible - Part I', by Sergei Eisenstein. The sumptuous movie was a delight - it must have been a monstrous undertaking in 1943, when the Great Patriotic War was raging. I soon began seeing the movie through my particular set of recall-election lenses. They say that history always repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce. Why not here?

The conflicted, but opportunistic, Prince Kurbsky (Cruz Bustamante) is forced to choose between loyalty to his stricken Tsar, Ivan the Terrible (Gray Davis), and loyalty to the ambitious boyars (Darrell Issa, Ted Costa, and others), who have their own favorite candidate for Tsar, young, feeble-minded Prince Vladimir (Arnold Schwarzenegger). Swayed by his love/lust for Tsarina Anastacia (Sharon Davis), Prince Kurbsky decides to remain loyal to his chief, Tsar Ivan, to oppose the ascendant boyars, and surprisingly, that proves to be the correct decision.

Hmmm.... The analogy is strained. Well, whoever said history has to repeat itself EXACTLY anyway. Next week, Turner Classic Movies will present 'Ivan the Terrible - Part II', the movie that got Sergei Eisenstein into so much trouble with Josef Stalin.

American River College

The Student Association at American River College hosted a candidate debate early this afternoon. Five candidates were present (Charles "Chuck" Pineda, Diana Beale Templin, Randall Sprague, Marc Valdez, and Jeff Rainforth). I think my delivery suffered a bit, but the crowd was friendly and supportive - one of the largest crowds I've seen yet in this campaign! Diana and her partner did the upside-down swing pose again - they make me laugh so hard!


American River College Student Association leaders welcome the candidates!

KQMS, Kennedy High School and Los Medanos College Debate

Excellent day yesterday on the first of October, starting off with a Talk Radio interview with host Ken Murray and fellow candidate Robert C. Newman II on Redding's KQMS radio. After riling up the entire north state's elder community with my anti-Proposition 13 statements (final quote: "Proposition 13 afflicts the young and coddles the old"), and a quick check of E-Mail, it was off to talk to the students at Kennedy High School, together with fellow candidates C.T. Weber and Chuck Pineda. A pleasant visit with teacher Kim Ngo and students (and the big food fair at the high school wasn't bad either!)

Then, after a rapid (meaning dangerous) auto trip through the Delta to Pittsburg, it was time for the Los Medanos College Debate (with fellow candidates Jeff Rainforth, Diane Templin, Dick Lane, Christopher Sproul, Ralph Hernandez, William Vaughn, Ned Roscoe, and Gerold Gorman). The debate was hosted by B.J. Wagener. Last I saw of Mr. Wagener and Gerold Gorman, they were headed off to edit their tape of the debate, in order to make it available for Antioch/Pittsburg cable TV, then to public access cable TV stations all over the state.

After the debate, an interview with a harried New York Times reporter named Carolyn Marshall. A fun and busy day!


Candidate Gerold Gorman at the Los Medanos Community College Debate

Purple Cow

Just had a fine interview with Justin Barker and friend with the San Francisco-based "Purple Cow". I sang "Baby's Got Back" by Sir Mix-A-Lot on karaoke at the Distillery here in Sacramento, drank some beer, tried to skateboard for the first time, and had some fun - all on camera. I wonder how it will all turn out once it gets televised?

Richard Berthold, We'll Miss You!

Berthold slips into a premature retirement.

Sacramento Candidates' Forum

On Saturday, the Candidates' Forum made its stately way to Sacramento. Fifteen candidates came to either the Hyatt Regency Hotel across from the State Capitol, or later, on our walk around the State Capitol (Jim Weir, Gerold Gorman, B.E. Smith, Frank Macaluso, Jr., William Vaughn, Jerry Kunzman, Ned Roscoe, Darrin Scheidle, Chris Sproul, Cheryl Bly-Chester, Jon Zellhoefer, Dick Lane, Dennis McMahon, Jonathan Miller, and myself).

I posted a photo of our activities at Candidate Camera (under Campaign Albums, under my name).

On this last of the Candidates' Forum meetings prior to the election, no new resolutions were passed. We basked in each others company, and got a little TV News coverage from Sacramento's KCRA TV Channel 3. Mostly, we planned for the final week of the election, with our focus on what I think was Ned Roscoe's idea: dogging Arnold Schwarzenegger's bus tour from San Diego to Sacramento with a school bus tour of our own. It's a brilliant idea, with lots of potential for press coverage. I'm not sure I can make most of it, but I'll try to arrange some musicians for the end of the trip.


Arguing the merits of Proposition 54 - Candidates Darrin Scheidle, (obscured) Ned Roscoe and William Vaughn, Cheryl Bly-Chester, Dr. Frank Macaluso Jr., Dick Lane, Jim Weir, and Jerry Kunzman; Sacramento meeting of the Candidates' Forum