The MikeCam

Two far-too common mistakes that incur what is probably a disproportionate amount of anger in me:
1) Writing “formally” instead of “formerly.” They don’t even SOUND the same, let alone have the same meaning. Assuming that you can speak correctly, anyway — but I’ll save that for another post. They’re not even really that close in written form — you can’t put this one down to a typo.
2) “Loose” instead of “lose.” These are two DIFFERENT WORDS, people! This happens far too often for it to simply be a typo (today alone I’ve already seen two people make this mistake), so instead I conclude that everyone is just a bunch of big morons.

Please, restore my faith in the human race by getting these right.

Now we find out that the man who “ran the Bush administration’s programme to crack down on prostitution worldwide” and “advocated partner fidelity and abstinence, instead of condoms, to help limit the spread of the HIV virus” was the client of a Washington, D.C. prostitution ring.

The irony is delicious.

I received an e-mail today from Our Education, a group pushing for education reform, whose stated purpose is “a constitutional amendment to guarantee all American children the right to a high quality public education.” My first reaction was to think that a constitutional amendment is not necessarily the best solution, but they make a few compelling points.

We think of education as a right at this point, but it simply is not, in a national sense. OurEd points to a Supreme Court ruling which states that “Though education is one of the most important services performed by the State, it is not within the limited category of rights recognized by this Court as guaranteed by the Constitution.” This case specifically addresses the gap in education caused by differences in wealth, and the Supreme Court says that there is nothing in U.S. law that can do anything about it. I don’t want to get too preachy here, but you see the point — disadvantaged children remain disadvantaged because they don’t have a right to education that is equal to rich kids (or even middle-class ones!).

It is true that every state guarantees a free education, but how many of us have looked back and cursed our shitty public school education? Or vice versa — gone to college and wondered why some people never seem to have learned any basic math, history, or how to write an essay longer than a page? The fact is that educational requirements are wildly disparate between individual schools and even entire states, and this is why Americans on average come out as such morons against other countries with better national requirements.

When the Constitution was first created, formal education was still in its infancy, but now it is widespread and essentially a requirement for many parts of life. There is simply no denying that education not only directly affects a person’s ability to maintain their life and liberty and to pursue happiness, but is also crucial to the survival and advancement of the human race as a whole.

Certainly federalizing education will cause problems, but the current system has its own problems that cannot be solved as it stands. Certainly a constitutional amendment is an incredibly dramatic and powerful answer, but education IS that important. And, I mean, it’s not as if it hasn’t been done before. With stupider things. Remember Prohibition? We’ve already created two dumbshit constitutional amendments dealing with alcohol — because that’s the most harmful thing on the planet, right? — I’m sure we can manage just one that addresses education, which is surely one of the most important issues of our time.

Anyway, that was a bit of a rant. And I haven’t even touched arts or sex education yet…

Beginning with Beckham’s signing to the LA Galaxy, there have been some genuinely interesting things happening in American soccer recently. In the MLS, the Chicago Fire have signed a Mexican star, the Columbus Crew might be signing an Argentinian, and the New York Red Bulls (whose new name sucks, by the way.. even “MetroStars” was better) now might be after Edmundo.

Not only that, but the league has expanded with a new Toronto team, there’s talk of pushing for a Phoenix expansion, there was a successful USA vs Mexico friendly here in the Valley, the men’s national team finally took up a decade-old invitation to play in the Copa America, MLS teams are starting to get their own dedicated facilities, more owners (and money!) are entering the league, and for the first time every MLS game this season will be televised. This is all very exciting and really presents the possibility of bringing soccer in the USA to a new level.

Now if only the New England Revolution would get off their asses and start winning some titles.

So, I go to school in a desert. One of the things about deserts is that it doesn’t usually rain. I say usually. One of the things about people who live in the desert is that they don’t understand it when it does. When water comes from somewhere other than their faucet, they become confused. Their streets flood. Their driving is impaired. And their lawn sprinklers go off.

Now imagine you have to bike a few miles home through the ten o’clock darkness, on bike lanes under a few inches of water, and next to drivers who are kind of freaked out about this “wet stuff.” Yeah, fun. Not only that but, to add insult to injury, you must pass through the spray of sprinklers that shouldn’t even be on, let alone pointed away from their lawns, i.e. at the street.

The result of this delightful little recipe? One serving of soaked, pissed-off yours truly. I hate Phoenix– have I mentioned?

Wow, I haven’t blogged in ages. I think I should get back to it. It’s not that it’s therapeutic per se; rather it seems like it is a natural part of my output when I am in a good place artistically and personally. Or something. Anyway, I went to a preview screening of Stranger Than Fiction tonight and it was really terrific. It stars Will Ferrell, Dustin Hoffman, and Emma Thompson — a stranger match-up I could never have dreamed. It was so refreshing to see Ferrell in an essentially dramatic role, and he really did himself proud. I’m a huge admirer of comics that can make that crossover, ala Robin Williams, Jim Carrey, and Jamie Foxx. But enough. The point is that it struck me as a poignant, funny, and unique film that I really enjoyed, and I recommend it.

We are a nation of ignorant morons.

I’d just like to know who these people are, these 80% that have never heard of the Iliad or the Odyssey, the 50% that don’t know who the Prime Minister of Britain is, and the 68% that can’t name the three branches of our government. Where does this invisible majority exist? Good lord, what’s the point of a public education system if it can’t even impart these key bits of knowledge to most of the population? But hell, education aside, I’d even just like to know who the 43% are that have never heard of Harry Potter. I mean, seriously, what rock have they been living under?

I’m getting a little behind in posting entries because I haven’t had time and been too knackered in the morning and evening. On average, we’ve been getting up about 7:30 in the morning and getting to a motel around 11 at night, which has made for long days. Thursday, we left Albuquerque, New Mexico for Flagstaff, Arizona. One of the most interesting things about driving across the country is that you get to see the land change gradually: from lush, green, forested hills in the east; to flat, brown-green plains in the midwest; and now to a land of flat brown dust and rock, dotted with small, dull green bushes, and vividly intersected by towering red outcroppings of rock. I’d carry on describing the land and such, but we’re in a hurry to get out the door and go see the Grand Canyon. Here are some photos from Thursday; I’ll try and post photos from yesterday tonight.

Our main stop along the way to Flagstaff was the Petrified Forest/Painted Desert national park. Arizona really has such stunning land and vistas. Photos do it poor service, of course, but at least you can get an idea of what I was looking at. Visibility out here was about a hundred miles. They said on a good day you could see a set of peaks 120 miles away.

Dad, the consummate photographer, capturing the dramatic view.

Another gorgeous thing about Arizona is the beautiful sky. The air is dry and clear, so sun is bright, the sky is a vivid blue, and the clouds look like paintings.

A tumble of petrified logs. The petrified wood isn’t that impressive at first glance, because it looks quite like normal wood from a distance. On closer inspection, though, it’s remarkable how the giant pieces of wood have completely turned to stone. Unfortunately, a lot of the most colorful crystals were stolen in the late 19th and early 20th century by tourists and people selling gems. They even blasted apart a number of the logs in order to get at the best crystals inside.

A closer view of some petrified wood. This area is called the Crystal Forest, but much of the color that gave it its name has been stolen.

Finally, a gorgeous sunset to end the day well:

These were only one-thirtieth of the photos I took that day, incidentally.

Yesterday we did 300-some odd miles from Amarillo to Santa Fe and Albuquerque.

Our first stop was the “Cadillac Ranch,” just outside of Amarillo.

It consists of 10 old graffiti-covered Cadillacs half-buried nose-first in the ground and was created by an artists’ collective in the 70’s. They are occasionally repainted and people are encouraged to add graffiti.

Next, we crossed over into New Mexico and stopped in Tucumcari for lunch (and ice cream!). This is the Blue Swallow in Tucumcari, a recently restored motel on Route 66:

After lunch, we turned northwest towards Santa Fe. About 20 miles before, we stopped off at the Pecos National Historical Park, which contains the ruins of an old Pecos pueblo.

The sky was quite dramatic at this point, as there was a storm in the distance. Because there aren’t a lot of hills or trees, we could see the lightning from quite far away.

We arrived in Santa Fe and took a walk around its small but lovely downtown. Most all the buildings are done with a Pueblo-style facade.

I tried to take some artsy photos:

This is the St. Francis of Assissi Cathedral in Santa Fe. Notice the unfinished steeples.

We had dinner at a Spanish restaurant called El Messon, at which my dad criticized the paella heavily, then headed down to Albuquerque for the night. The drive south was very interesting, as there was a storm hitting Albuquerque. The lightning was frequent and extremely impressive against the night horizon; it was a terrific light show. Once in Albuquerque, it suddenly started hailing on us, which was quite a surprise to me, considering the temperature. After that, the rain got so thick that I couldn’t even see as I drove, and traffic slowed to a crawl of blinking hazard lights. We made it through those patches, though, spent the night here, and today we’re off to Arizona to see the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest!

Yesterday we traveled across Oklahoma and into Texas, to stay at Amarillo for the night. Was a bit of a longer leg than I thought, almost 500 miles, so we saw some things but arrived too late for others (Route 66 Museum, unfortunately).

The signs of Route 66.

The largest McDonald’s in the world by square footage (something like 29,000 I think?). It actually spans I-44 in Vinita, OK like a bridge.

Apparently the largest totem pole in the world, at 900 feet tall. This man, Ed, spent around 15 or 20 years building the thing, as well as a variety of other artwork around his house and just showing it off to passerby.

We stopped for dinner at The Big Texan steak house. Their gimmick (advertised on billboards all the way from mid-Oklahoma) is a massive 72 oz. steak which, if you can eat it in under an hour, you get free. We didn’t try it, and judging by the big empty chairs next to a table with a 60-minute timer in the middle of the room, neither did anybody else who was there. It’s a very chintzy place, as you can tell by the outside. Inside, it is decorated a bit like a saloon: everything is wooden, animal heads are mounted along the balcony, and waitresses are dressed in either hoop skirts or mini-skirts, flannel shirts, and cowboy hats. The food was good, though.