Ron's Log

If You're Visiting San Diego...Never Mind

Just last week I pointed out Kansas City Barbeque in San Diego. Yesterday afternoon the restaurant was gutted by a fire that also destroyed memorabilia from the Top Gun movie.

I Didn't Think Nader Could Get Worse

But he seems to be quite happy to explain his racist analysis of Barack Obama's popularity. Apparently Obama "wants to talk white." Nader says a black politician should "candidly describe the plight of the poor." I am dying to know what specific tasks Nader would assign to politicians of other races.

The Fork Has Been Put In It: CVMVCD vs DHS

Word is in that the final settlement between the Coachella Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District and the City of Desert Hot Springs has been signed, carved in stone, and finally finalized. CVMVCD will be paying DHS something on the order of $77,000 for legal fees.

Bear In The High Desert

A black bear has been seen wandering around the areas of Joshua Tree and Twentynine Palms for the last 1½ to 2 months. It has shown no signs of aggression so neither Fish and Game nor National Park rangers are going to do anything about it. If we're lucky, there will be no vacationing police officers from Clayburg, Pennsylvania, in the area until the bear moves along.

Raymond Burr - Gay

Maybe everybody else already got the word, but it's news to me. Despite the fact that Burr's official biography claimed he had had three wives and one son, in reality he had only a single, brief marriage in 1948. Burr met his longtime partner Robert Benevides in 1960. Benevides is working on a book about his relationship with Burr, while Michael Starr has published Hiding In Plain Sight: The Secret Life of Raymond Burr without the cooperation of Benevides, which is why the story has popped up in the news.

Roberrt Benevides currently lives at and operates Raymond Burr Vineyards in Healdsburg, California.

Burning Man Arsonist Gets His Justice

Acorrding to the the burning blog, Paul Addis, who burned the Man a little early last year, has pleaded guilty and been sentenced by a judge in Pershing County, Nevada, to 12 to 48 months in prison PLUS $25,000 in restitution.

$40,600 For Goodwill

This painting, "Marche aux fleurs" by Edouard-Leon Cortes, was dropped off at Goodwill in Easton, Maryland, in March of this year. It has been auctioned off at Sotheby's for $40,600.

High Line

A little more than two years ago I told you that construction work on the High Line in the Chelsea section of Manhattan had begun. This is a short (less than 1½ miles) elevated rail line that has sat unused since 1980. The city is converting it to an elevated park. When I was in New York this past April I walked over there thinking that surely by now it was at least partly ready for public access. But, no. All I saw was wrapped construction stairways to it and the sound of heavy work going on. The stairways seemed to be completely unsecure, however, and if I was one of those risk-taking people I would have tried going up to see what could be seen - but I'm not.

Now comes word that only today have the proposals for the final design been made public. You can go here to view a slide show of the design proposals, but here are a couple of grabs showing part of it by day and night:

Here's a good video on the High Line that would be a lot better if it had some music!

Jane Fonda Urinal Target

iPod Doctor

Interesting story of Ramon Reyes Demetrios Leontaris of Union City, New Jersey, who makes house calls to repair iPods. He says he can complete 80% of the repairs on the spot. The doc's own website is here and you can ship him your iPods (and other broken devices).

I couldn't help but notice that in the photos and videos in the news article Mr. Leontaris is using a plain white laptop that appears to have no visible logo at all. Is there such a thing, or do you suppose the Fortune photo editors removed the Apple logo?