Ron's Log

Takin' A Break

But I'll be back ASAP.

Miss Teen South Carolina

Answers a question, some question, sort of, for the future of our children.

The Sunday Theology Corner

Live From Burning Man

Here's a website that says it will "Live From The Playa." Currently, it's got only two photos, so you'll have to monitor it to see how it grows.

Boston Bicycling

Boston's Mayor Menino has become a convert to bicycling. There's hope for everyone.

"'When I get more experienced at this, I'll be able to ride the whole city,' he said, visibly excited during an interview in the kitchen of his Chesterfield Street home."

Let him ride through Dudley Square on a weekend night at about midnight. That's some biking! You only slow down a little for the red lights.

Republican Ways

While I thought it was pretty damning to list 3 or 4 Republicans charged with sex crimes, Christopher at Exit Stage-Left has produced this breathtaking list of 75 Republicans charged, convicted or reliably reported to have committed sex offenses. He doesn't define what time frame he's using, but in reply to a question about whether you could put together a similar list of Democrats he does say this:

Sadly, anonymous, no. You can expand this list all you want and you will not come up with a similar list of Democrats. If it had been graft or bribery or the basic shenigans of our politician/lobbyist culture, then it may be closer with Republicans barely edging out Democrats, but when it comes to this kind of stuff, Republicans are in a league of their own. Possibly because Democrats are more open and honest about their sexual lives and don't try to hide it by becoming so fanatical on the other end of the spectrum. Who knows. This is not to say Dems don't have their fair share of kink. Just not on this scale.

Fog?!

There must be another word than "fog" for a hot cloud settling to the ground in the desert. Outside I see more than a few blocks in any direction. The San Jacintos are totally gone, of course, but even the Little San Bernardinos which are a short walk away have lost their tops in the humid haze. It's 91° with 50% humidity. Never saw this kind of thing here before.

Greyhound: "Not our fault"

Greyhound is claiming that their recent flubs in relocating their bus stop, finally resulting in NO bus stop in the western Coachella Valley is not their fault, because they handed "drivers, buses, schedules, locations and selling tickets over to Crucero in July." So it's Crucero bus lines? Is Greyhound nothing more than a name?

Here's the website for Crucero USA, which still shows the Palm Springs bus stop in its old location on Indian Canyon.

Seen in Dover, Massachusetts

Yes, it's a popular sentiment, but what's surprising is that it showed up in very conservative Dover, Massachusetts, whose claim to fame (as a bicyclist) is that it's the only municipality in Massachusetts that has NO state roads passing through it.

Here's the story on WBZ-TV where they naively pretend to protect the family's privacy by not specifying the city or address! Guys, it's on a MAP! Right there at Centre and Cross. Go say hi for me.

"Breakdown"

I have just seen Breakdown staring Kurt Russell. Now generally I don't like Kurt Russell, so you should take that into account when I tell you how much I really, really liked this film. It's from 1997, and I don't know how I got it onto my list of films to see, but it may have been the line "If you liked Duel, you'll love Breakdown."

Basically, it's that genre of action, thrillers with paranoid conspiracies, lots of car chases and gun shots, a kidnapped wife, and rednecks versus Massachusetts emigrants. The thing that sets it apart is that the characters (the good guys, anyway) stay mostly believable. The wife is not an idiot, the husband does not become some sort of gymnastic super-hero in his quest to save his wife. Well, maybe a bit more gymnastic than most, but not groaningly so.

I recommend it.

I thought I recognized some of the locations as Lucerne Valley, but the info I could locate on-line named Victorville and Barstow (along with more distant locations). Both Victorville and Barstow are on the edges of Lucerne Valley, so maybe...