Met up with old school homey Rico and some hiking folks this last weekend for a romp in the woods. I have been needing to get out of the city, so despite having to wake up at 6am on a Saturday after an epic week at work, I was in for the win. There were about 10 of us, pretty evenly split between guys and gals.

We got to the parking area a bit late (8:45ish) and so had to park down the road a good mile or so. Chantry Flats filled up quick! The guy at the general store where we bought our State Parks passes said it was full by 7am. Lordy. The big draw are some pretty waterfalls and swimming holes a couple of miles in.

Just after the falls is where things got bad. Not steep bad, or overly hot bad, but bad because we were suddenly swarmed by thousands of flies bad. Hoping they would get bored, we pressed on another couple of miles, but by then realized they were going to be pestering us for the duration. I guess it was a good motivation to keep moving (I barely even stopped for water breaks – just drank as I hiked), but it sort of ruined the chance to enjoy the beautiful surroundings.

Anyway, got to the top and thankfully the flies disappeared due to the slight breeze. We hung out on top for a while, grabbing a sandwich at the little lookout cafe and checking out some of the huge observatory telescopes. It’s pretty developed on top, with several radio and TV antennas, as well as a half dozen telescopes.

The hike down wasn’t nearly as awful as the way up, mostly because we could outrun the flies. Took a pretty good toll on my not-so-young-anymore frame, and I was still feeling sore two full days later.

Rico tracked the trip with his nifty GPS unit and imported the data into Google Maps. Here are some stats and images:

Mt. Wilson Summit Loop via Santa Anita Canyon / Winter Creek Trail
total distance from parking down back to the trail head: 17 miles
starting elevation:  1938ft (car) / 2129ft (trail head)
lowest elevation: 1784ft. (sturtevant falls)
summit elevation: 5690ft (cafe)
total climb: 3906 (top to bottom)
total time: 8.5 hrs

Google Map with route overlay (click to enlarge):

Elevation tracking (click to enlarge):

Rico also added the hike to his awesome new website ReCreateLA.com. Check it out and give the boy some love. Or at least get outside and play!

(As a side note, yes I know my updates are pathetically rare. But I had a pretty nostalgic look back at my posts over the past couple of years today, and just thought it would be a good idea to make a post now and then.)

This one’s a bit embarrassing, if only because the Piano Man is so out of style these days. I heard this tune on the radio the other day, and it’s been stuck in my head since then, so this is partly an effort to purge the saccharine sweetness from my cerebral AM playlist.

When I was a kid I was super into BJ, and probably knew all the lyrics to every song on the Greatest Hits compilation of 1985. I possibly even purchased the album that came out after that one, River of Dreams, but I lost the habit for this style of musical theatre pop when I met a kid at computer camp who was WAY more into Billy Joel than me. Like, superfan status. Knowing I couldn’t compete with that level of sheer cornball, and also anticipating a time when I might want to actually *date a girl*, I started listening to gangster rap instead.

Anyway, check out the awesome video above (not so subtle racial stereotyping included!). 1984 was a million years ago, huh. If you’re feeling extra nostalgic, check out this one too.

Californians, YOU have the chance to MAKE HISTORY this November 2nd. On this year’s ballot there will be nine State Measures, ranging from mundane democratic reforms to critical environmental support to a culture-shifting proposition that will have effects far wider than the state boundaries. Before I give you my choices, feel free to click HERE for a non-partisan breakdown of the propositions, by the League of Women Voters. Now let’s get into it.

Vote YES on Proposition 19.

This is the big one folks. Prop 19 would legalize the personal possession, cultivation and transportation of marijuana, and would set up a showdown with Federal law. I support this proposition because the drug war is by all accounts an abject failure – a horrific waste of money and lives that has not had one iota of impact on the global drug trade and only supports the massive military industrial complex and foreign despots and criminals. Legalizing pot will be a huge weight lifted off the shoulders of law enforcement as well as the state court and prison system, and will be a huge blow to the brutal Mexican drug cartels. The taxes raised from the legal, above-board sale and distribution will be more than enough to pay for added drug-treatment centers, education, and other uses. In addition, we can expect to see a Supreme Court fight that could lead to broader decriminalization/legalization. Make history – vote YES on Prop 19.

Vote NO on Proposition 20 and NO on Proposition 27.

These two, related Measures concern the complicated and corrosive process of congressional and local redistricting. Historically, elected representatives “rig” the district lines every ten years (after the census) to conform to their party, which helps entrench incumbent power by consolidating their supporters while dividing their opponents. In 2008, CA voters passed a proposition to create a 14-member, bipartisan commission to establish Assembly, Senate and Board of Equalization districts – a step in the right direction. However, I believe we have not yet gotten conclusive evidence that this commission is cost-effective or actually improves fairness, and it should not be given the additional power to redraw congressional districts at this time. Let’s give them more time to prove themselves by voting NO on Prop 27, which would take away all of their authority, but also voting NO on Prop 20, which would give them more power.

Vote YES on Proposition 21.

This would establish an additional $18 surcharge on your car registration in order to help fund state parks and wildlife programs. Everyone hates taxes, I know, but the CA State Park system is one of the best in the nation, and is currently underfunded. This prop would offset over $200 million of other funding sources currently being used, and anyone who pays gets a free pass. We all need to spend a little more time outdoors, and this is the perfect kick in the pants. Get outside and play in the state parks! Vote YES on Prop 21.

Proposition 22 – no strong opinion, probably NO.

I don’t really know who would go to all the trouble to collect the tens of thousands of signatures necessary to get this one on the ballot, but basically it would further restrict the state government from moving funds from transportation, redevelopment or local government projects and giving it to, say, education or some other area, even in a budgetary emergency. It’s one group of state employees versus another, and I think we can do without the additional restrictions on the legislature’s ability to pay the bills when/where they come up, so I will probably vote NO. However, if you’re the kind of person that thinks tax money should only go to EXACTLY where it was originally slated for (keep in mind none of us actually get to decide where it goes in the first place), then vote YES.

Vote NO on Proposition 23.

This one is absolutely 100% critical to defeat, both for personal as well as economic and environmental reasons. The supporters are two Texas oil companies, Valero and Tesoro, that simply do not want to see their market share of the energy supply in the state to go down. They only care about profits. At stake, however, is the burgeoning green-tech/renewable energy sector, which is the fastest growing industry in the state and has the potential to provide thousands of in-state jobs for decades into the future, including MINE. The passage of Prop 23 would also kill clean air standards in the state, and if you think our air quality is bad now, just wait until you’re choking on smog and drowning in acid rain. Stand up for environmental progress and the clean-energy economy, VOTE NO ON PROP 23!

Proposition 24 – no strong opinion, possibly YES.

This measure would repeal a tax cut for some businesses that gave them some flexibility in terms of what they can write off as losses, what state their income is taxed in (if operating in multiple states), and the ability to transfer tax credits to other businesses. This flexibility likely has some positive effect on some business areas, but the state could also probably use the $1.3 billion the measure would reclaim. I am in favor of a friendly business climate, as that will increase economic growth and jobs, but the education system in CA is one of its most vital resources, and needs the funding too. I would love to see some education reform, but until then I don’t think we can keep starving the children of their right to decent public schools. So, probably vote YES on Prop 24.

Vote YES on Proposition 25.

Another pretty critical vote, which will help to break the budget deadlock that has been so brutal this year. Currently the CA legislature requires a 2/3 majority vote to pass a budget, which, as is readily evident from our disfunctional national Senate, gives the minority party undue power to hold the budget hostage until their special demands are met (usually money for their districts). Passing this measure would withhold the lawmakers’ salaries until they do their damn jobs and pass the budget. Keep in mind that a 2/3 majority would still be required to raise taxes, so you can be rest assured that they wont go up very easily. Help democracy do its job – vote YES on Prop 25.

Vote NO on Proposition 26.

This is the “rename business fees as taxes” measure, which is an underhanded way for corporate interests to avoid paying for potential damages to society or the environment. If the fees are reclassified as taxes, which everyone hates, then the legislature will require a 2/3 majority to impose them, thus making them unlikely to be assigned. The reason you should vote NO is because the government needs the power to assess fees for the ill effects of business when and where they occur. In addition, the power to impose fees is the most direct and effective way to address underfunded state assets, such as entrance to state parks or continuing garbage service. So, vote NO on Prop 26.

In summary:

19 – YES!

20&27 – NO

21 – YES

22 – no?

23 – NO, NO, A HUNDRED TIMES NO!

24 – yes?

25 – YES!

26 – NO

I’ve been chipping away at a collection of George Orwell’s essays. They’re fascinating, whether he’s dissecting Charles Dickens’ faux-distaste of the gilded class or ruminating on the plight of unskilled laborers in Morocco, or, most vividly, reporting on his experience of shooting an elephant. At present I’m reading “England Your England”, and the following bit of wisdom stood out to me:

England is not the jewelled isle of Shakespeare’s much-quoted passage, nor is it the inferno depicted by Dr. Goebbels. More than either it resembles a family, a rather stuffy Victorian family, with not many black sheep in it but with all its cupboards bursting with skeletons. It has rich relations who have to be kow-towed to and poor relations who are horribly sat upon, and there is a deep conspiracy of silence about the source of the family income. It is a family in which the young are generally thwarted and most of the power is in the hands of irresponsible uncles and bedridden aunts. Still it is a family. It has its private language and its common memories, and at the approach of an enemy it closes its ranks.

Substitute Shakespeare with Mark Twain and Goebbels with, say, Glenn Beck, and I’d say this portrait makes for a pretty accurate assessment of the United States today.

(editor’s note: I couldn’t find the original video, if it exists. There are a host of fan-created ones such as this. It’s the music that matters.)

As usual, an oldie but a goodie. Probably inspired by an idiotic decision to spend some time playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, which is essentially one long, interactive, game version of that leaked video of US helicopter pilots murdering journalists and civilians. The sequel, which has been one of the best-selling media properties ever, apparently has a section where you take on the role of a terrorist and murder civilians in an airport.I mean, I get it that it’s a sick, violent world out there and that we’re all partly responsible by allowing it to happen, but sheesh!

The insidious part for me (and the reason I say it was an idiotic decision), is how bloody addictive this and the other Call of Duty games are, and not to note that it’s extremely fun to play would be remiss. The originals were set in World War II, and while many people feel little remorse for killing lots and lots of Nazis, a game, even one that’s fictionalized, set in a modern war with middle eastern terrorists is just a little too close for comfort. It really is stuff like this (masterfully, artfully created) game that programs our perceptions of violent conflict.

This one’s not hard to trace. I went to karaoke last night (it was crazy expensive – $9 beers anyone?) and attempted to sing Kanye West’s “Gold Digger“. Although I thought I knew the lyrics, the delivery is actually really hard. Say what you will about Kanye, but his style is hard to emulate. Also, it was pouring rain, so it made me think of flooding, and then probably the disaster that was New Orleans during and after Hurricane Katrina. In the wake of that tragedy, during a benefit fundraiser, Kanye, in one of his first outbursts, said on live television: “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.” Hence, the inspiration for this amazing song.

(Editor’s note: I’m not sure if this is the original video, but it’s the only one I could find.)