Ron's Log

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February 24, 2006

Riverside County Fair

You've still got a little time to catch the tail end of the Riverside County Fair and National Date Festival in Indio. Here are my photos from my visit a week ago.

Filed under Coachella Valley,Photography | permalink | February 24, 2006 at 10:08 AM | Comments (0)

"Give in to The Desert... You're Surrounded"

Make a guess. Are the words "Give in to The Desert... You're Surrounded" a semifamous quote from Erwin Rommel, "The Desert Fox"...

or the new slogan created by a bunch of government flunkies after hours of focus groups and talking among themselves?

You probably guessed right, Rommel would never have said anything so stupid. I like the statement from Palm Springs Mayor Ron Oden, "I think the slogan is reflective of all the effort put forth."

Filed under Coachella Valley | permalink | February 24, 2006 at 08:58 AM | Comments (0)

February 23, 2006

Owl Canyon, All The Way

Today, PSSST had a great hike out in the Mecca Hills. We returned to the slot canyon we call owl canyon and went all the way through it. Much to my surprise, it doesn't dead end, but opens up into a couple of non-slot canyons that just keep a-goin'.

I discovered that one reason others were having trouble finding it is that there is another tamarisk tree just a few hundred feet from Box Canyon Road that I hadn't noticed before. To find owl canyon you have to continue hiking for about a mile or more to the SECOND really big healthy tamarisk tree. There are also a few sickly young tamarisk near it.

I've put all the photos in a set, for your viewing ease. But here are a few highlights.

Filed under Coachella Valley,Photography | permalink | February 23, 2006 at 11:21 PM | Comments (1)

Another Cut To Kodachrome

Rumor has it that Kodachrome 16mm motion picture film will be discontinued in Europe.

Filed under Photography | permalink | February 23, 2006 at 10:48 PM | Comments (0)

Flickr "Community Guidelines"

Flickr has recently published clarified "Community Guidelines" which I find remarkably clear. Every other website I've dealt with has defined their terms of service using loaded words and a remarkable lack of clarity. The one point in Flickr's guidelines that we are going to discuss here is this one:

[Don't] Upload photos that include frontal nudity, genitalia or anything else that your bathing suit should cover in public areas of Flickr.

If you do we'll make your photostream private and remind you of this Guideline. If you don't heed our warning and continue to make similar content public, we'll terminate your account without warning.

So they don't distinguish between frontal photos of us guys out on a nice, naturist hike and purely pornographic images that other users collect from the web and post on Flickr. But at least they're clear about that, and I give 'em credit for that.

I've gone through my photos and tried to relabel any photos of frontal nudity as private, so they are visible only to people who I have identified as "friends." If you're wanting to continue to see photos of frontal nudity on my Flickr site the general process is (1) You need to be a registered Flickr user (costs nothing!), (2) I have to identify you as one of my "friends." In detail:

1. Go to Flickr and click the Sign Up link.
2. It's gonna ask you for a Yahoo ID. If you've got one, put it in. If you don't have one, go through the process to create one.
3. Continue jumping through whatever hoops they pop in front of you until you are a real, registered Flickr user. (It costs nothing!)
4. Then go to my Flickr profile and click the link to send me a message.
5. In your message tell me who you are and that you want me to make you a "friend."
6. Send it to me and, voila, I will make the magic happen.

I guess I will be filtering a little. To become my "friend" at Flickr, you're going to have to be either someone I really know in the real world, or else you're going to have to have naturist photos posted somewhere (be sure to tell me where!). I got an e-mail from a total stranger today asking to be made a friend. He said he was a naturist, but when I looked over the web resources he pointed me to, there was no indication of any naturist leanings, so he ain't gonna be lookin' at no penises on MY site.

I might suggest that as long as you've got a Flickr account, you might as well share a few photos yourself, if you've got some.

UPDATE: Here's some ideas if you've had trouble jumping through the Yahoo hoops. I went and created for myself a new test Yahoo ID and a test Flickr account. While you are filling in the info required for a Yahoo ID you should notice that there's a box checked for the item "Create my free Yahoo! email address." You might or might not want a Yahoo mail address, but that line is easy to overlook (I did!). If that box is checked, Yahoo will simultaneously create a mail address for you and then send your confirmation to that new mail address! If you didn't notice that box and simply watched your regular email inbox for the confirmation like a good net citizen, then you never saw the confirmation, never really got the Yahoo ID and never really got registered at Flickr.

To link your already-exisitng email address with your Yahoo ID you should uncheck that box and then fill in your email address in the field labeled "Alternate email."

If you've done all that and logged into Flickr and go to MY Flickr profile (not YOUR profile). The link to send me a message is over to the right in the area that looks something like this:

If you don't see it there, you might try refreshing your browser (usually F5 on a Windows PC, Cmd-R on a Mac). Or you could, maybe try using this link, but I can't tell you if that's always going to work.

Sorry it all seems so hairy and shaky, but that's Yahoo. It could have been worse. Flickr could have been sold to Microsoft, and then none of us would be able to log in.

Filed under Naturism-Nudism,Photography | permalink | February 23, 2006 at 10:05 PM | Comments (3)

There Once Was A Man From Pawtucket

Coming dangerously near to the home of one of our treasured Rhode Island readers, yesterday around noon a naked Pawtucket man hopped into his car and then drove at high speed through Providence, causing various accidents until he collided with a pickup truck sitting at a red light. Then the naked man jumped out and tried to run away, but the Providence cops were right there on top of him. According to the police, the man was NOT under the influence of alcohol or drugs, so I guess he was just plain, sober insane. Clearly, he was not suffering from the disease recently afflicting so many California drivers who stop on the side of a freeway, strip and get out to walk around, which walk is usually cut short by a messy death.

| permalink | February 23, 2006 at 09:13 PM | Comments (0)

Furnace Creek - Death Valley

Here are a few photos from the Furnace Creek area in Death Valley. That's like downtown urban Death Valley. There's the official visitor's center and museum, an expensive hotel, camping areas, a restaurant and bar, and a general store with surprisingly reasonable prices. Most importantly, it's got the Chevron gas station, where (praise be to the laws of California) the pumps remain open 24 hours a day, even when the station itself is closed down. All you need is good plastic. And, yes, it was some of the most expensive gas I ever bought — but I was free to walk 80 miles to Shoshone to see if the station there was open.

Filed under Photography | permalink | February 23, 2006 at 08:19 PM | Comments (0)

February 22, 2006

Paris 360

A VERY impressive nighttime 360° panorama of Paris.

Filed under Photography | permalink | February 22, 2006 at 10:55 PM | Comments (0)

The Dinosaur

Photo by Leleblixa.

I want to express my regret that in all the long time since I moved here, I have not gone out and rephotographed the dinosaurs along I-10. Michael C. and I photographed them when we bicycled by them back in '97. Now the area is more developed and the view of them from the highway is partly obstructed by a Burger King and they are in need of a coat of paint, but at least they haven't been torn down...yet.

Yes, I've gotta put the dinosaurs on my to-do list.

Filed under Coachella Valley | permalink | February 22, 2006 at 10:49 AM | Comments (1)

February 21, 2006

Red Cathedral - Death Valley

Oh you thought we were done with Death Valley photos, did you? Oh my no. Here are the photos from the Red Cathedral area. Red Cathedral is just a little extra part of Golden Canyon. It's supposed to be only an additional quarter mile on the one-mile Golden Canyon hike, but that quarter mile is really interesting with some rough climbing and some low crawling to get under fallen boulders. Here are the photos, which are all part of my Death Valley set on Flickr.

Filed under Photography | permalink | February 21, 2006 at 09:59 PM | Comments (4)

Quartzsite Cemetery

I know you've been itching to see the rest of my photos from the cemetery in Quartzsite, Arizona:

Filed under Photography | permalink | February 21, 2006 at 08:54 PM | Comments (0)

Salton Sea Exhibit

The San Bernardino County Museum in Redlands is having a special exhibit about the Salton Sea until June 18. You may wonder at first why San Bernardino County? Why not right here in Coachella Valley, or at least somewhere in Riverside or Imperial Counties? You may wonder that, but you'll forget your wonderment when you go the linked page and wonder why, oh, why, does the San Bernardino County Museum put ALL the information you want into PDF files? Even the description and dates of the exhibit are in PDF files. What has gotten their ass so tight?

The San Bernardino County Museum, by the way, seems to be the one indicated by that very terse informational sign on I-10 that says nothing more than "Museum." Always gets a laugh from me.

Filed under Coachella Valley | permalink | February 21, 2006 at 07:03 PM | Comments (0)

Park Size

In this article about urban encroachment on Joshua Tree National Park they toss out a statistic I had never considered before: Joshua Tree National Park is 20% bigger than Rhode Island! And Joshua Tree isn't even the biggest national park. Death Valley is, at about 3000 square miles. That makes it about twice as big as Rhode Island (1,545 square miles) and 50% bigger than Delaware (1,954 square miles), but not even close to Connecticut (5,544 square miles).

Filed under California | permalink | February 21, 2006 at 05:44 PM | Comments (0)

Gay Films

LogoOnline is conducting voting to select the 50 greatest gay films. Here are the nominees they've got listed, but if your favorite is missing (like Can't Stop The Music?), they accept write-ins:

• 54
• Adam & Steve
• The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
• Aimée & Jaguar
• All About My Mother
• American Fabulous
• And the Band Played On
• Angels in America
• Another Country
• Antonia's Line
• Beautiful Boxer
• Beautiful Thing
• Before Night Falls
• Behind the Red Door
• Being John Malkovich
• Bent
• Better Than Chocolate
• Big Eden
• Billy Elliot
• Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss
• The Birdcage
• The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant
• Bobbie's Girl
• Borstal Boy
• Bound
• A Boy Named Sue
• Boys Don't Cry
• The Boys in the Band
• Boys on the Side
• Breakfast on Pluto
• Brokeback Mountain
• The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy
• Brother to Brother
• But I'm a Cheerleader
• Cabaret
• Bear Cub
• Carrington
• Chasing Amy
• The Children's Hour
• A Chorus Line
• Chuck & Buck
• Chutney Popcorn
• The Closet
• The Crying Game
• D.E.B.S.
• Desert Hearts
• Desperate Living
• Die Mommie Die
• A Dirty Shame
• Dog Day Afternoon
• Doing Time on Maple Drive
• The Doom Generation
• Dressed to Kill
• Edge of Seventeen
• Edward II
• Far from Heaven
• Fingersmith
• Fire
• Flawless
• Flirting With Disaster
• For a Lost Soldier
• Get Real
• Gia
• Girl Play
• Girls Will Be Girls
• Go Fish
• Gods and Monsters
• Grief
• Gypsy
• The Hanging Garden
• Happy Endings
• Happy Together
• Heavenly Creatures
• Hedwig and The Angry Inch
• High Art
• Holiday Heart
• Hollow Reed
• A Home at the End of the World
• Home for the Holidays
• The Hours and Times
• The Hunger
• I Shot Andy Warhol
• I Think I Do
• If These Walls Could Talk 2
• In & Out
• In the Gloaming
• The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love
• Inside Monkey Zetterland
• It's My Party
• Jeffrey
• Kiss Kiss (Bang Bang)
• Kiss Me, Guido
• Kiss of the Spider Woman
• Kissing Jessica Stein
• La Cage Aux Folles
• La Vie En Rose
• The Laramie Project
• Latter Days
• The Law of Desire
• Lilies
• The Living End
• Longtime Companion
• The Lost Language of Cranes
• Love and Death on Long Island
• Love! Valour! Compassion!
• M. Butterfly
• Ma Vie en Rose
• Making Love
• Mala Noche
• Mambo Italiano
• Maurice
• Midnight Cowboy
• Monster
• Mulholland Dr.
• My Beautiful Laundrette
• My Best Friend's Wedding
• My Own Private Idaho
• My Summer of Love
• Myra Breckinridge
• Mysterious Skin
• Nico and Dani
• The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me
• Nowhere
• The Object of My Affection
• The Opposite of Sex
• Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit
• Our Sons
• Parting Glances
• Party Monster
• Personal Best
• Philadelphia
• The Pillow Book
• Pink Flamingos
• Priest
• Psycho Beach Party
• Querelle
• Relax ... It's Just Sex
• The Rocky Horror Picture Show
• The Rules of Attraction
• Saving Face
• Second Serve
• Sex, Politics & Cocktails
• Show Me Love
• Six Degrees of Separation
• The Ski Trip
• Soldier's Girl
• Stonewall
• Straight-Jacket
• Strawberry and Chocolate
• The Sum of Us
• Summer Storm
• Sunday, Bloody Sunday
• Swoon
• Taxi Zum Klo
• Testosterone
• Three of Hearts
• Threesome
• Tidy Endings
• Tipping the Velvet
• To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar
• Together Alone
• Torch Song Trilogy
• Totally F***ed Up
• Touch of Pink
• Transamerica
• Trick
• Truth or Dare
• The Twilight of the Golds
• Twist
• Under the Tuscan Sun
• Urbania
• Velvet Goldmine
• Victor/Victoria
• Waiting for Guffman
• The Watermelon Woman
• The Wedding Banquet
• When Night Is Falling
• Wilde
• Withnail & I
• Y Tu Mamá También
• Yossi & Jagger

Filed under Film/Movies,Gay Issues | permalink | February 21, 2006 at 05:20 PM | Comments (1)

Comments

I recently ran across some other weblogger's advice on how to increase the number of comments on a weblog. I think he had a list of 10 (ten!) things to do. I only remember 2: answer every comment and ask open-ended questions. So whadda ya think of that?

I'm pretty sure I'm not going to answer every comment. I do know one person who does that on Flickr, and he does it pretty well, but after awhile it begins to feel like one of those automatic noisemakers somebody hangs up for Halloween. Clap your hands and it comes alive.

I do read every comment, and if I don't respond it probably means 1 of 3 things: (1) you wrote a complete, self-contained and informative comment whose quality I would only detract from by commenting on it (that's most of them), or (2) you just said something like "Hey nice, thanks for the info," to which I could only respond "You're welcome" and I don't think we need that much noise on a weblog; or (3) your comment is so vacuous and/or off-topic that it reveals your deficiency of neurons in a grand way and if I were to respond with "Thanks for your comment" all my other readers would know I was just another purveyor of white lies, or if I told the truth and said "Wow! You really ARE stupid!" that would distract us all from the great sucking sound that is your brain.

But mostly all the comments here are intelligent and on-board.

I tell ya, the comments that I miss are the ones some readers send me via private e-mail that contain some fabulous bit of info that ALL the readers would like to read. Occasionally I respond to those mailers and tell 'em it would make a great comment, but that doesn't seem to make a difference. So consider if you're about to send me an e-mail about something on Ron's Log, maybe you should make it a comment if you think anyone else could benefit from reading it.

Do you agree with that, or not? [See that's a structured question intended to elicit comments.]

Filed under Weblogs | permalink | February 21, 2006 at 09:53 AM | Comments (3)

February 20, 2006

Naked Rambler Reaching Goal

Stephen Gough was only 20 miles from his goal of John o' Groats yesterday. He has been hiking 847 miles naked from Land's End where he started in June of 2005. Gough's official website is here.

Filed under Naturism-Nudism | permalink | February 20, 2006 at 02:51 PM | Comments (0)

34% Off Dell Desktops

Coupon code good on "SELECT Dimension™ desktops" until "2/23/06 5:59am CST or after 4000 redemptions (whichever occurs first)."

Filed under Shopping | permalink | February 20, 2006 at 01:59 PM | Comments (0)

Marblehead Photos

A Flickr group for photos of Marblehead, Massachusetts.

Filed under Photography | permalink | February 20, 2006 at 12:27 PM | Comments (1)

February 19, 2006

Notes

• Somebody said McDonald's french fries weren't health food!
• Osama Bin Laden says he will not be taken alive (" for Allah be all the credit"). I guess that's okay with me, although I was looking forward to a day where he'd be paraded down 5th Avenue in a cage. I guess we can parade him down 5th Avenue as a rotting corpse. I think if we dig through history, we'll find some cultures that used to do that, and we can copy their procedures.
• United Press International runs out of text. Margaret Turnbull has narrowed the list of 17,129 habitable stellar systems to 5. The UPI, however, only had the time and resources to list one: "beta CVn, a sun-like star about 26 light-years away in the constellation Canes Venatici." [National Geographic has this more complete article, and the five stars are: "Beta Canum Venaticorum, HD 10307, HD 211415, 18 Scropii, and 51 Pegasus."

| permalink | February 19, 2006 at 09:30 PM | Comments (0)

Fat Camp

I'm sitting here looking at MTV and there's a show on called Fat Camp. They don't say where it is, so I won't say where it is, but lots of my readers will be able to identify it in an instant.

Washington Post article about the show here.

Filed under Naturism-Nudism | permalink | February 19, 2006 at 11:31 AM | Comments (1)