Discerning Critique Of Taco Goodness From An Albuquerque Jack-In-The Box

A seven minute and forty second video discussing tacos from a Jack-In-The-Box located on Montgomery Blvd. in Albuquerque, NM? Well, not precisely. More like an excuse to review the entire history of Jack-In-The-Box chain.

I remember the first Jack-In-The-Box I ever saw. It was in San Diego, CA, in 1971, near Mission Beach. We arrived in town much fatigued after traveling across the desert from Albuquerque, and I expected, rather naively perhaps, to encounter a higher-grade of fast food in booming California than was commonly-found in retrograde New Mexico. Instead, here we were, yelling from the car window at an unresponsive plastic clown as our VW Campmobile overheated in the crowded drive-through lane.

Jack? In-The-Box? WTF? There was none of the excitement that I remember when VIP's Big Boy restaurant first opened in Albuquerque in the mid-60's (and which eventually evolved into Denny's). Instead, it was like one of those sad, down-and-out circuses, where the clowns were vice-ridden parolees waiting for something better to come along.

Well, as confirmed by the video, things HAVE improved since then!





And who can forget this?

"Rock Of Ages"

If you like Eighties Rock-'N-Roll, you'll like this movie. Tom Cruise is awesome!

It's like history repeats itself, first as tragedy ("Showgirls"), then as farce ("Rock of Ages"), with "Burlesque" floating somewhere in-between.

We're Not Going To Take It/ We Built This City

This was actually my favorite number, the confrontation between Catherine Zeta-Jones and Russell Brand:



Hit Me With Your Best Shot

Apart from the stripper-pole routines, the choreography was fairly-basic (which actually describes pretty much the entire decade). Catherine Zeta-Jones and company do well here, though.

Here's My Aerobics Workout From Two Years Ago

I feel pretty hot with this routine, but it's clear the others are hotter.

Julissa Veloz Live LA Pride 2012

Stark Difference

Just 300 feet apart:

El Paso, Texas was the safest city in the U.S. in 2010.

Juarez, Mexico, across the Rio Grande river, has the highest murder rate in the world.

Good Advice

Iran Should Get The Bomb

The U.S. and Iran have far more interests in common than they have dividing them. If Iran gets the Bomb, that will tend to stabilize the region. Ultimately, it would be better if Iran never got the Bomb at all, of course, or got rid of it once it had it, but sometimes the price of stability is high. Once stability is achieved, then people can start working on the problems of religious extremism, poverty, and the other difficulties that make the region a volatile place:

Indeed, gradually and without fanfare, the possibility of a military strike against Iran, which only a few months ago seemed imminent, has lately receded from view. It seems that perhaps the U.S. and Israel came to their senses and realized that an attack on Iran would be disastrous.

...It would use Hezbollah and other proxies to sabotage petrochemical infrastructure in the Gulf, and attack “commercial ships or elements of the U.S. Fifth fleet in the area.” ... The Persian nation would attack Israeli military and civilian population centers with its hundreds of long-range conventional missiles. Hezbollah could launch thousands of rockets from Lebanon, and attacks could be forthcoming from Hamas, Islamic Jihad and even beleaguered Syria. Israeli or Jewish targets around the world would not be immune. ... And all of this, according to the report, is far from a worst-case scenario.

...There is little chance, the report states, that an Israeli strike against Iranian nuclear facilities would be 100 percent successful, raising the possibility that Iran would retaliate using its residual arsenal. In addition, “an Israeli strike would likely prompt the Iranian regime to rapidly rebuild its nuclear program,” defeating the purpose of such a strike in the first place. In sum, “an Israeli strike would, at best, have limited effects and, at worst, increase the threat.”

The third outlet advocating a different direction on Iran may be the most important. The forthcoming issue of Foreign Affairs has a cover article by Columbia University’s Kenneth Waltz called “Why Iran Should Get the Bomb.” Published by the Council on Foreign Relations, the most important establishment think tank, Foreign Affairs is the most influential foreign-policy periodical in print.

...Waltz’s case goes like this: It doesn’t matter which type of regime gets nuclear weapons, because it has been proven in all instances that “whoever get nuclear weapons behaves with caution and moderation.” He says that countries from Cultural Revolution-era China to the Soviet Union to Great Britain have become more careful with nuclear weapons, because they feel more secure once they have them. Wars become less likely to occur as more countries gain nuclear weapons, because they have a sufficient deterrent to prospective attackers.

'Jumping The Shark' With Alluring Imagery

Hollywood has long realized that beautiful women carrying heavy armaments works well on the silver screen.

It even works well in real life. I remember back in early college days, when a friend from high school confided that his mother had returned home after a long absence. She had been belly-dancing in Idaho for a number of years, and indeed, her and her family quickly assembled a belly-dancing floor show that I witnessed at an Albuquerque cafe. Afterwards, we all went to a party where people were freely passing around machine guns (parties in the ABQ can be a bit different than in California), and she posed with heavy armaments in her belly dancing costume. Quite compelling!

But people have always got to press for more, more, more! These Japanese folks have completely 'jumped the shark' with the idea.

Obama Puts Romney In A Box

No escape. Romney's got to decide whether angering Hispanics or conservatives is most preferable:

This was a doubly clever move by the Obama administration. Over and above the obvious appeal to a key constituency, the policy here mimics, I assume intentionally, what Republicans claim they want to adopt in a scaled-down version of the DREAM Act. But for Republicans, embracing Obama’s move carries the same risk with their base as rejecting it does with immigrants — the voting bloc they’re most concerned about alienating.

The Tropical Moisture Approaches

The last two iterations of model runs suggest that, as a part of the big northward push of tropical moisture next week, that it’s possible a tropical storm, or at least heavy rains, will form in the vicinity of Florida in about six days, on Thursday of next week.

Currently, the modeling can’t decide what form the challenge will take. The NOGAPS model creates a sloppy-looking tropical storm not far west of Tampa and takes it towards New Orleans. The GFS model decides to take the chaotic remnants of Hurricane Carlotta in southern Mexico, transports them across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, and creates a tropical storm in the extreme western Gulf of Mexico, but largely leaves Florida alone. Both alternative futures look equally plausible right now.

So, the tropical moisture is coming north, with some embedded surprises for someone.

[UPDATE: And within the last hour, the NOGAPS model changed its very changeable mind and decided it too likes the tropical storm in the extreme western Gulf of Mexico option (while forming a tropical depression east of Florida, just to keep people from getting too complacent).

But these alternative futures are still very squishy.]

A Nice Obituary For Vince Bezdecheck

Many interests:

Vincent Bezdecheck, an artist and longtime leader in efforts to preserve and revitalize midtown Sacramento, died May 30 of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, his family said. He was 63.

Mr. Bezdecheck moved his family in 1987 from the scenic American River canyon near Auburn to a faded Sacramento neighborhood near 21st and H streets troubled by crime and social problems. He spent several years restoring hardwood floors, plaster walls, high ceilings and wood paneling in their 1907 home.

He also banded with neighbors – including homeowners, renters, young families and retirees – in a movement to restore and improve midtown. As co-chairman of the Boulevard Park Neighborhood Association, he led efforts to make the area next to downtown a safe and desirable community for residents.

...A talented artist, Mr. Bezdecheck won a grant from the California Arts Council during the late 1990s to serve as artist-in-residence at local schools. He helped students create murals and taught scenery painting.

He designed and built sets for the Davis Musical Theatre Company and taught stagecraft at the Visual and Performing Arts Center at Sacramento High School. Using giant pieces of cardboard and house paint, he taught students to quickly create sets depicting locations ranging from tropical forests to Victorian interiors.

Sacramento Man Mistaken For Captain Ahab

So close!:

A Natomas man's 12-year sail around the world was sunk about 900 miles from its final port when a whale crushed a hole in his boat off the Mexican coast.

"It has always been a dream of his to circumnavigate the world in a sailboat," said his wife Debra Young. Although her husband, Max Young, didn't quite make it, the experienced sailor came close.

Max Young, 67, was rescued from his sinking sailboat about 40 miles west of La Playa, Mexico, on Wednesday. His 50-foot, single-masted sailboat had been clobbered by a whale, the behemoth destroying the rudder and punching a hole in the vessel.

...Max Young began his around the world trip in May 2000 after retiring from his teaching job the first time. His navigation of the world has taken longer than expected as the Youngs have had to stop sailing to work in order to finance the marathon voyage.

Along the way, Young, sometimes accompanied by his wife, sailed to Hawaii, Tahiti, Western Samoa, Tonga, Fiji and Australia.

The boat stayed in Australia for three or four years before a different crew sailed to Malaysia. From there it went for a long stay in Thailand, where the boat was out of the water at the time of the tsunami.

Young then sailed to the Red Sea, through the Suez Canal and into the Mediterranean. He kept the boat in Turkey for a couple of years and in Rome a year.

He eventually sailed across the Atlantic and the boat was kept in South Carolina for the last 2.5 years. This year, the Youngs were trying to get it back to the West Coast.

Tropical Storm Carlotta To Affect Southern Mexico

Over the last two days, the weather forecasts have shifted the storm systems to the west, leading to the development of Tropical Storm Carlotta, which will start the summer monsoon season with a bang by afflicting the southern Mexican coast with non-stop heavy rain for days straight.

Things will get so bad on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec that there is an outside chance of the rarest of all tropical storm phenomena: the successful transition of a tropical storm from one ocean (the Pacific) to another (the Gulf of Mexico). I’ve never seen it happen myself. Probably won’t happen this time either, since of all the thin isthmuses in Central America, the Isthmus of Tehuantepec is the thickest and most formidable. But still, whatever happens, southern Mexico is going to be a mess.

As the big wheel of the Bermuda High spins around clockwise next week, it is likely to catch up with the Mexican mess, and send a big wave of tropical moisture north, in a broad belt, from Florida to Texas. Whether there will be threats to Tampa and vicinity remains to be determined, but for the moment Mother Nature has chosen to kick the can down the road for that area, and make a miserable mess of southern Mexico instead.

Cool California Precipitation Map

Using The Scare Card Of A Stranger Come Visiting To Finally Get Progress Against Well-Entrenched Hoarding Impulses

M.: Wow, I can't believe it! The Pile is gone! That's the first time your bedroom floor has been free enough to mop in four or five years.

E.: I'm so tired. I put most of the papers in one garbage bag and most of the clothes in another garbage bag (plus some in the washing machine too), and then threw both bags into the closet. But at least I can see the floor again!

M.: Every little bit helps!

E.: Every little bit helps! Now, can I go back to sleep?

"The Music Man" - The Mountain Play 2012

Here are a few pictures. I don't have my program with me, so all I can note at this time is that Harold Hill was played by Robert Moorhead and Marian Paroo by Susan Zelinsky.

"Ya Got Trouble"

"Ya Got Trouble"

"Ya Got Trouble"

"Marian, The Librarian"

"My White Knight"

"Wells Fargo Wagon"

"Wells Fargo Wagon"

"Shipoopi" (which I think was the best dance number of the show)

"Shipoopi"

"Shipoopi"

"Shipoopi"

"Shipoopi"

"Lida Rose"

"Lida Rose" (with the barbershop quartet above and Marian Paroo below)

"Gary, Indiana"

That Charlie Cowell fellow ain't too smart.

The Footbridge scene.

Charlie Cowell returns!

"You gullible green-grass goats!"

Find Harold Hill!

Implementing the 'Think System'

A real-life Marching Band marches in, almost like the cavalry, almost in time to save the day!

Bows for Harold Hill (Robert Moorhead).

Last Season With James Dunn Directing The Mountain Play

Left: Sally Forment talks with James Dunn during intermission at the Sunday June 10, 2012 performance of "The Music Man" at the Mountain Play on Mt. Tamalpais. Sally was one of his drama students in the 1960's.

Left: The Mountain Play listed all 99 annual summer shows that have been hosted in the amphitheater on Mt. Tamalpais since 1913. James Dunn directed thirty of these shows (from 1983 to 2012), but he is stepping down after "The Music Man".

Here is a brief James Dunn profile:

At the time of his first onstage performance in eighth grade, James Dunn had no idea that he would one day become the face of the Marin theater world.

...After teaching high school drama in the East Bay and Menlo Park, Dunn began applying for doctorate programs to further his studies in theater directing. After acceptance at one of his schools of choice, word spread that College of Marin was beginning a theater program and needed to hire a staff to launch it. Dunn was hired and laid the groundwork for the school's drama department. Though he retired from his full-time position in 1994, he remains there on a part-time basis to this day—nearly 48 years later—and continues adding his energy and creative magic to College of Marin productions every spring.

...Through his school-based theater work, Dunn estimates that he has taught around 5,000 students or more, including Oscar-winner—and former College of Marin student—Robin Williams. Williams was cast in a supporting role in Dunn's renowned Western interpretation of The Taming of the Shrew, which received numerous awards for its Edinburgh fringe-fest production in the early '70s.

In addition to his work with College of Marin, Dunn has worked for 30 years as the artistic director for Mill Valley's century-old Mountain Play. During this time, Dunn has worked with a behind-the-scenes crew of up to 100 people on a variety of performances from Shakespeare to Broadway musicals.

..."I will stay in theater until they carry me out," says Dunn. "I won't ever be sitting on a porch in a rocking chair. It's just not my style."

Peace In The Park

Tyehimba just raved about how good this made him feel:

Tyehimba Kokayi relaxes during Sunday's Day of Peace as he has sound healing administered by Kellyann Conway. The booths at the six-hour event in Carmichael Park included those promoting healthy living.

The Weekend - Crazy Liberal Idea

And while computerization has many good side effects, one bad side effect is that it has allowed management to partly take back the weekend, since work now has to be done on the time scale of the machines - 24/7, basically.

Management will never be satisfied. Before you know it, and unless people start objecting, management will take back the rest of the weekend too.

Firefighters Of The Whitewater/Baldy Complex 2012 Fire

The musical taste is as appalling as the pictures are compelling. These two images from the video seemed the most compelling of all:







Interesting fire-caused whirlwind in this video.