Ron's Log

Children Protected From The Horror, Oh, The Horror!

The schoolboard of the Annville-Cleona School District (midway between Palmyra and Lebanon, Pennsylvania) voted 8-0 to remove the book The Dirty Cowboy from its elementary school libraries. "The book received numerous awards, including the International Reading Association award in 2004, the Parents Choice Gold Medal, and the Bulletin Blue Ribbon from the Bulletin for the Center for Children's Books." It's about a cowboy who entrusts his clothes to his dog while he takes his annual bath in the river. His dog doesn't recognize him when he's clean and will not let him have his clothes back. Hilarity ensues, appropriately masked by birds, a boot, the dog's tail, and a cloud of dust. One pair of parents objected to the book saying that "Children may come to the conclusion that looking at nudity is OK, and therefore pornography is OK."

From School Library Journal:

Kindergarten-Grade 4-After finding 32 fleas in his hair and tumbleweeds in his chaps, a freckle-faced cowboy decides that it's time for his annual bath. He mounts his horse, calls for his old dog, and heads for El Rio. There he disrobes and commands his companion to guard his duds. After frolicking merrily with a bar of soap (the amusing illustrations show many views of the naked cowboy bathing, while still keeping a G rating), he emerges thoroughly scrubbed and puckered "like a prickly pear." The dog does not detect his owner's familiar "wild boar-like smell" and stubbornly refuses to relinquish the garments. A dust-stirring brawl ensues that leaves the man as dirty as when he started, ultimately restoring his usual aroma. Unfortunately, the togs do not survive the tussle, and the cowboy heads for home, "bare as a shorn sheep." Told in descriptive language that rolls off the tongue, this story makes the most of a humorous situation. Filled with the dusty reds and sundown bronzes of the New Mexico setting, the paintings have a gritty, sinewy look that matches the earthy tone of the tale. Clever touches abound, as the artwork offers framed close-ups of the cowboy's uninvited vermin, a map of his route to the river, and whirling views of the wrestling match. The hangdog expression on the pooch's face when he realizes his mistake is priceless. A fun look at life on the range.

From Booklist:

K-Gr. 2. A cowboy decides to take his yearly bath, so he heads to a nearby river, where he orders his scruffy dog to guard his clothes. When the cowboy returns from the river, he's so clean that the dog doesn't recognize him. The two get into an extended fracas, leaving the cowboy as filthy as ever and the clothes in tatters. Naked and dirty, the cowboy finally returns home, the dog trotting beside him. For some children, the appeal of this story is in the clever composition of the pictures that manages to conceal the cowboy's private bits. Rex's rich paintings add sparkle to the story's dramatic telling with the attention to detail and humor that may remind some grownups of Norman Rockwell's early work. A simple, slapstick tale that is sure to elicit some giggles.

The book has been around since 2003. There are 20 positive reader reviews of it on Amazon and only a single one-star review which comes from a reader in Orem, Utah.

Amazon says this book is recommended for 4-8 year olds. I don't think so. This book should only be sold in the "adult only" section of the bookstore. I wouldn't want any of my children reading this book, ever. It's books like this that get kids curious about what's "under the dust cloud", something which they can easily find out with one simple google search.

So I Googled 'what's "under the dust cloud"." I was shocked - shocked, I tell you. The top hit had to do with a tech meeting in India where they discussed COBOL and Microsoft! To make it worse, there are photos!

Here's a link to some of the illustrations in the book, provided by the publisher, MacMillan.

This week the schoolboard refused to reverse its decision.

Barbara Jones, director of the ALA [American Library Association] Office of Intellectual Freedom, wrote: "Like many books, it may not be right for every student at Cleona Elementary. But the school library has a responsibility to meet the needs of everyone in the school community — not just the most vocal, the most powerful, or even the majority."

"If a parent thinks a particular book is not suitable for their child, they should guide their children to other books. They should not be given the power to impose their beliefs or preferences on other people's children," Jones said.

Author Amy Timberlake responded:

"I think it's kind of silly," Timberlake said of the ban. "Norman Rockwell has more showing in his paintings by far than this."

"[The cowboy] is completely covered — nothing is showing, there's not even a hint of anything showing," she said. "Everyone takes their clothes off to take a bath. We all know how bathing happens."

There's an online petition here that seeks to reinstate the book.

Saline Valley

This last week I went camping in Saline Valley, which is part of Death Valley National Park. It's been a year since I was last there, and the camp hosts have been busy neatening things up (which may not be a good thing in the eyes of the NPS). They've stacked low rock walls around the source springs to keep dogs and burros from getting into them. They also trimmed up a lot of the low brush among the palm trees that stand next to the Wizard and Volcano pools. This not only allows a lot more people to sit comfortably in their shade, but also means there are fewer places for snakes to hide.

We were pretty lazy most of the time. After breakfast, we would sit, nap, chat, read under the trees by the Wizard pool until the sun got too far to the west. Then we'd move over to the shade by the Volcano pool and repeat. When the shade extended clear across the pool, we would get in the water, spending a few hours. Then it was time for dinner. A high overcast came in the first few nights, but the last night was completely clear, which meant I had to pull my cap down over my face to keep the blindingly bright moon out of my eyes as I slept.

Weather was perfect, reaching a high around 100° each day (but we never checked a thermometer), and no severe winds.

The Navy provided some flyovers, but not as many as we might have liked. I tried to get some video, but it's a challenge when you're in among shady trees. The other challenge is that the flyover itself can't last more than 2 seconds. You get sometimes as much as 5 seconds warning, if you've got a clear view and see that the jet is coming at you.

Three brief videos of low flyovers at the springs in Saline Valley: one, two, three.

On Thursday afternoon, one very obliging pilot flew north over the springs at a moderately low level, then did a turn-around in full view (often they continue over to Eureka Valley where we can't see them), and came straight back at us in the Volcano pool. It was clearly intended to a be a show for our benefit. He came across very low, doing a barrel roll as he flew away.

Some photos:

Jim and Albert.

Wizard pool.

One of the source springs.

The other source spring.

The complete set of photos is here or here, if you prefer Flickr.

The National Park Service is beginning to work on a Saline Valley Warm Spring Management Plan. The Inyo County Board of Supervisors recently discussed that.

The board also decided to join a Cooperating Agency Agreement with the National Park Service as it begins working on the Saline Valley Warm Spring Management Plan and an Environmental Impact Statement that will accompany it.

"Saline Valley has a long history and there is a tremendous amount of use out there," [Fifth District Supervisor Richard] Cervantes, who's district also includes the valley, said. "A lot of people just want to go out there and run around naked. I think we should have a dialogue about that."

Inyo County Planning Director Josh Hart also said that the state Environmental Health Department has some concerns about the way the hot springs in Saline Valley are set up, and those concerns will also be addressed in the management plan.

Hart said the hot springs are a relatively small geographic area but there is a large amount of interest, as it is a heavily used recreation site.

The board unanimously agreed to participate in the cooperating agency in an effort to steer actions toward a user-friendly, environmentally-sound solution.

The East Coast Equivalent Of The LACMA Rock Is Waaaaay Better!

It's a double-size replica of Michelangelo's David. Tomorrow, Tuesday March 6, this gold-painted foam copy will be trucked around Manhattan, and then displayed at the Storefront for Art and Architecture for a few hours. The ultimate destination for the piece is 21c Museum in Louisville, Kentucky.

Here's a 2010 interview with the artist, Serkan Özkaya. There are two copies of the work. One is for Eskisehir, Turkey.

[Serkan Özkaya]: Yes, in Eskisehir it'll be a public piece. But I'm also rebuilding it for a museum in the States, 21st C. Museum.

[Elizabeth Wolfson]: Oh, where's that?

SO: It's in Kentucky. But yeah, in Eskisehir it's supposed to be in a public place, but I doubt that they're ever going to put it up.

EW: What do you think is going to happen?

SO: Oh, people will just burn it, riots. They will hate it. But that's because it's Turkey, because it's a naked male figure. And then it's the Jewish prophet. These days people [in Turkey] really don't like Jews.

EW: But within Islam, isn't the Old Testament at least theoretically part of the theology?

SO: Yes, but these days it's because of the government. And also because of Israel's policies, and here it's read in an even harsher way...But also, if they would think about the prophet David, seeing him as a gigantic naked boy, that wouldn't make sense. Even if there were a Jewish majority in Turkey, they would go and burn it. That's what happened when—you know Florence and Jerusalem are sister cities? And for the 500th anniversary of Michelangelo's David, Florence gave a replica of David to Jerusalem. And they sent it back. They said, "This is not our prophet, are you kidding us?" They didn't like it!

And on the subject of Levitated Mass here's an article about the workers who are walking with it the whole way.

Yesterday's Hike In The Mecca Hills

More photos.

Guinness World Record Naked Santas Attempt!

Somewhere in San Francisco, December 10 during Santacon.

• You have to be naked, but CAN and SHOULD be at least wearing a Santa hat. Boots/boot covers and gloves are also OK. Otherwise, it's Full Monty or nuthin'.
• No Elves, No Reindeer, etc. We LOVE all Santacon revellers, but Guinness will be strict about the "Santa" requirement.
• You'll have to sign some paperwork with your name, address and email and OK us to take your photo, that's part of the Guinness rules too.

Also that weekend there are plans to occupy the North Pole.

Yaquitepec

Yaquitepec is the name given to their mountaintop, desert home by Marshall and Tanya South. They lived there and raised their three children from 1930 to 1947 (the first child was born in 1934). More of their history is available here.

They became nudists. Living without clothes had a practical side. There was no water on Ghost Mountain. Every drop had to be hauled up. There was no extra water for washing clothes, and clothing holds body odor. Although Marshal felt very comfortable with no clothes, Tanya was not. She told her daughter that Marshal had insisted over her objections. When company came to Ghost Mountain, Tanya always wore a dress.

The home site is inside Anza Borrego Desert State Park now. There are directions here on how to find it. It's a fairly easy 1-mile ascent after 3 miles of good dirt road. Here are some of my photos from this past weekend:

The view from near Yaquitepec.

The complete set of my photos of Yaquitepec are here.

Weekend in Mariposa County

Last weekend I went up to Mariposa County for skinnydipping in the Chowchilla River and to confer with Nathan and Per, two Burning Man virgins who will be joining our camp in Black Rock City this year.

Cattle from a neighboring ranch graze the place freely.

Per is building a yurt to use on the playa. The walls and roof are built from this aluminum coated insulation. The segments are taped together. This has become an increasingly popular shelter on the playa over the last few years.

The Chowchilla River.

Many more photos here.

Nude Rugby - See It Here

Here's a 25-minute video of a rugby match played in Dunedin, New Zealand, between a Kiwi squad and a Fijian squad. The Kiwis are fully nude, including their one female teammate. The Fijians are topless - or as the lurid press would say "half naked" - and barefoot. The video begins with the prematch Maori haka. There is no pixelation and no censorious black bars in this video. The match is played in front of a clothed audience (who seem to possess remarkably few cameras) at what appears to be a public field. The video is provided by "3 News" television, so it's of good quality.

And there is, literally, a blind referee.

Saline Valley Report

The day we drove up to Saline Valley was cold and windy, like so many of the days we've had during this long, long spring. I'd never seen (in my few years in California) so much snow on the eastern Sierra in May:

The view back at the Sierra from the very northern end of the Saline Valley Road. Elevation of the road there is about 7,400 feet. We encountered falling snow when we reached the next high point, a little above 7,000 feet. When we finally got down to the springs (1,600 feet) the peaks of the Inyo Range were snow-capped. I'd never seen them like that before, but the excess melted within a day leaving only the usual spots of snow.

Sunrise striking the Inyo Range the morning after our arrival. Not enough snow to get excited about.

The rays of sunset on the hillside east of the springs.

On Saturday there was rain the valley above us, but no floods reached us. I'd never seen serious rain like this in Saline Valley.

The view from my tent. Those are the palms that provide shade to the Volcano Pool in the afternoon.

The Volcano Pool.

New this year, someone has put up photos of the original construction of the Volcano Pool in 1967. It was BLM land then. It became part of Death Valley National Park in 1993.

The common knowledge is that the tubs at the springs in Saline Valley were built by hippies. Do the people in these photos look like 1967 hippies to you? To me they look like the Young Republicans.

One afternoon in the Volcano Pool I shared my ginger vodka which is made simply by slicing up fresh ginger and shoving it into a bottle of vodka, where you let it infuse for a few weeks. It was a big hit with the Volcano Pool crowd and the bottle was exhausted fairly quickly. Kirk and I are working on different kinds of infused vodkas and will select two kinds to take to Burning Man in large quantities as a gift for our fellow campers. One will be cucumber vodka.

Our group was small this time, only seven guys. The overall crowd was small too. Probably not more than 30 people in the whole place. It's the first time I've ever been able to find the Wizard Pool empty in the middle of the moonlit nights. The Wizard Pool is usually the focal point for nightlong partying by young people.

Nathan in the Volcano Pool. He was the only new face (to me) in our group.

Erik.

Darrel in the Volcano Pool.

We had our usual noisy military overflights. But this year we had something new:

Two or three times we had this version of a C130 fly low over the springs. Damn easy to get a photograph of them. The jets, it's hard to even keep an eye on them as they scorch the tops of the palm trees.

Here he has the restrooms in his sights - except he probably doesn't have sights.

One day it was hot enough that I retreated into the cool, muddy shade of the palm trees to read. And I can report that taking a Kindle camping is wonderful. It's easy to hold in one hand while keeping a beverage in the other. If I don't want to put on my reading glasses I can crank the text size up to Huge. And best, I was carrying 8 different books. Get tired of one, switch to another. Who would want to haul 8 standard books along on a camping trip?

Somebody in the Volcano Pool. Sorry, I don't remember who it was, and can't recognize him.

We saw fewer burros than usual. This one hung around every day and I caught him enjoying a snack of cardboard. We saw one coyote, but heard none.

One day we took Steel Pass Road as far as we dared, which allowed me to get my first glimpse of the Eureka Dunes. To go further would mean traveling down what my campmates call "the steps," a series of narrow drops that present a challenge to Jeeps. I have heard them talk of these steps for years, and they sounded like a nearly impossible passage. Despite that, I would occasionally catch a video on the internet and sometimes see vehicles larger than Jeeps coming into the springs from Steel Pass Road that suggested the steps were not nearly so daunting as had been suggested.

So here is my first view of one of the steps, and I was not impressed. Narrow, yes, but Darrell thought his Ford Explorer could go through okay. It's a bit of a drop. I wouldn't want to take my Ranger down it, but I've seen our Jeep drivers handle much worse stuff. The real challenge would have been trying to get back up the steps. If we had decided to go down in the Explorer, we would probably have continued on around and come back into Saline Valley on Saline Valley Road. Ultimately, the wise decision was made not to even attempt it, since we were alone out there.

We made a brief stop at the Upper Spring which is a natural spring with no hippie-built tub. It's surrounded by chainlink fence to keep the burros out. It's two miles up Steel Pass Road from where we were camped.

I made my first hike out to the Chicken Strip, the landing strip at the springs. I had avoided doing this before, because I thought you had to take a long, roundabout way of getting there in order to avoid slogging up and down through washes. Totally wrong. It's an easy walk from the Lower Spring.

The welcome center at Chicken Strip.

The log for planes landing there. The last entry was April 30, 2011, but the pages extended back to 2009.

The view from the Chicken Strip of the Lower Spring.

The complete set of photos is here.

Finding Young Nudists

A Wall Street Journal article about nudist groups that are trying to attract more younger participants. It's an often-discussed problem among nudists, as the population of traditional nudists age while few young people join in on the nudity. Part of the problem now (IMO) is that such a large age gap has developed, the young potential nudists are put off by ogling (real or perceived). I think another part of it is that, counter to what your intuition may tell you, the percentage of nudists who are socially super-conservative is higher than in the general population. One runs into more homophobia, more opposition to body jewelry and even more opposition to tattoos among nudists than in the rest of the population. And, of course, traditional nudism deems anything erotic to be entirely off-limits.

I have occasionally pointed to Burning Man as an example of the popular acceptance of nudity among younger people. Many traditional nudists look with horror on Burning Man, swearing to put on clothes before they would ever consider the scene at Burning Man to be an acceptable expression of the values of nudity.

The article talks about organizing nude functions that are restricted to those under age 30. And having separate areas at nude resorts into which only those under age 30 are permitted.