87. Some Favorite Things

One of the greatest things about participating in a local race in a small town is that it greatly increases your chances of winning.

Que and I tie for first place in our division. Nevermind that there were about 75 participants tops, and maybe 15 participants in what Que called "the senior division"...

Dancing lady orchid plant gift from the nice neighbor lady
Another great thing about living in a small town is knowing your neighbors by name. For the 6 years I rented a flat in the Castro neighborhood in SF, I didn't meet a single neighbor until I knew I had to move and have a garage sale.
Ok, so I'm not a hot, gay male gym rat, but it still seems strange to me that I didn't meet anyone until I had to leave.


The mayor is an accessable human being---not a celebrity in glossy magazines. (No offense R.) Last month the mayor, who is also a prof, held a potluck and cocktails at her house. That reminds me--I still need to return her spoon...


Another favorite --- Strange signage. This sign almost sounds demanding.


Organic local produce. This farmer was selling about a half dozen small baskets of seasonal vegetables. I plucked up the last of these odd baby eggplants. When I asked him about them, he said he planted them because they're beautiful.

Could I move back to the big city? Sure, I could if we had to. But as of today, I don't think I want to.

xo,
Ms. JD

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86. Entry #003 "Deli meat with Pickles"

Ugly Building Contest Entry #003
Front
If you've been following The Tank for any amount of time, you've probably noticed that EB fully embraced the mauve trend in the 1980's. Maybe it's just me, but mauve has always reminded me of the color of headcheese, or bologne, or any sort of block of nitrate deli meat you might find chillin' behind the counter of any corner convienent store in Oaktown.

Side view

Aerial view

Long Shot
The PGT agrees, "Deli Meat with Pickles" is best viewed while squinting from a distance.

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85.

84. Saturday Morning Rant

Seeing all these cute solar panels on everything from path lights to oven mits takes me back to the year Jimmy Carter was elected president. When my gradeschool teacher Mr. Johnson did a poll in our class asking whose parents voted D or R, I was the only kid in my Northern CA 5th grade class who raised my hand for D. I knew little about Carter, except that he had really big teeth and my dad and all his friends seemed really excited about his ideas and the prospect of him becoming president. In the late 70's, solar energy was something that was considered outsider and radical and something crazy hippies and arty types tinkered with.

Carter, "...We must not be selfish or timid if we hope to have a decent world for our children and grandchildren. We simply must balance our demand for energy with our rapidly shrinking resources."


In his campaign against Reagan in 1980:

"The year 2000 is just less than 20 years away, just four Presidential elections after this one. Children born this year will come of age in the 21st century. The time to shape the world of the year 2000 is now. The decisions of the next few years will set our course, perhaps an irreversible course, and the most important of all choices will be made by the American people at the polls less than 3 months from tonight..."

"The choice could not be more clear nor the consequences more crucial. In one of the futures we can choose, the future that you and I have been building together, I see security and justice and peace. I see a future of economic security-security that will come from tapping our own great resources of oil and gas, coal and sunlight... I see a future of justice--the justice of good jobs, decent health care, quality education, a full opportunity for all people regardless of color or language or religion; the simple human justice of equal rights for all men and for all women, guaranteed equal rights at last under the Constitution of the United States of America. And I see a future of peace--a peace born of wisdom and based on a fairness toward all countries of the world, a peace guaranteed both by American military strength and by American moral strength as well.

But there is another possible future. In that other future I see despair--despair of millions who would struggle for equal opportunity and a better life and struggle alone. And I see surrender--the surrender of our energy future to the merchants of oil, the surrender of our economic future to a bizarre program of massive tax cuts for the rich, service cuts for the poor, and massive inflation for everyone."




As ever, Ms. Jane D


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83. EBUBC Entry #002

Front
Side

The El Big Ugly Building Contest Entry #002:
Yabba Dabba Do-Do
Who needs fire insurance if your building is made entirely of stone?
The Propane Gas tank group agrees. This building may be small, but it stands tall!

Stay tuned--Don't worry, we have more entries!
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82. I Am Merely a Mirror...

Typical gorgeous EB Autumnal weather. Mid 80's and sunny.


The outdoors beckons...


I drop everything and seek out Que, my pardner in crime...


Que needs a break from his project, too. He tells me that something's going on in the downtown square.


We walk downtown... pausing briefly at the latest store window display....


5 min later...Yes! A street festival!


Yes! Free hotdogs!


This year Que notes his friends at the RC booth; pauses a beat; then jumps in line to sign up for the raffle.






The free hotdog line snakes across the street and never seems to slow down. They seem well prepared.


Que steps away for a visit with the municipal tree guy, while I enjoy a couple of performances...(Interestingly enough, I was the only person with a camera. People here don't seem to take pictures of anything other than mountains, trees, fish, childrens and farm animals. If one is taking photos at something like this, they're likely journalists from the paper.)


Que teases me about being next up to dance. A older man within earshot gently askes me why we wear "those dresses".

Que later observes that a couple of the dancers look about his age; yet how different their lives seem to be.


U pick-U keep half! The other half goes to el local food banco.


Live music from the middle school


All volunteer hot dog cooking army


Token progressives booth, run by the most tenacious soul in town.


Every organization has a booth, including this very visible organization. I leap for the free swag. Afterall, who doesn't love free sticky notes?

81. EB Wildlife Report

"How far away do you think the highschool is from our home?"
"I'm not sure..maybe three blocks? Why?"

***

El Big Wildlife Report for 9/9/07

An 18 month-old male black bear was found hiding in the row of junipers at the highschool that evening at about 8:30 am. The bear appeared to be the one that had been spotted in the nearby area about a week earlier. PD officers and the Dept of Wildlife were notified and bear was transported to bear heaven.

80. Announcing The EBUBC

Hiya Folks!

In celebration of EB's announcement of an official EB Downtown Revitalization Project--noted last week by the mayor in the town daily--- we here at The Propane Gas Tank would like to announce the EB Ugly Building Contest! Although we agree that downtown is long overdue for a facelift, we fear that some of the...true character of downtown may be lost in the process of trying to give it character.

Having been an official resident of EB for 2 summers now; just long enough for some of the homeliness of downtown to become ALMOST endearing; we'd like to award these special structures before the EB Historical Society gets out their sledgehammers.

Soon, we fear, the 50's-70's stucco and lava rock fascades shall be ripped down--exposing ornate, geometric brick patterns, with shiny brass "historically accurate" number plates smothering their entryways, and French style flower boxes will magically appear, with garish, water-hogging annuals, and those Englishy fake antique glass lamposts will be erected every two feet. Sidewalks will widen. Next thing you know, there will be open- air cafes with couples sucking down carmel lattes, and dining on regional cuisines...And God forbid, shoe repair shops will close and become restaurants with wine lists! Shoot, next thing you know--we'll have an airport! And don't get us started on the choice of font for the municpal signage. Oy...

Perhaps we here at The PGT are guilty of being overly sentimental for an architectural time period that should be erased from the books. Change is inevitable.

Tune in every week for a new posting, or until we run out of buildings. We will do our best to bring you the ugliest of the ugly, and then let you, our beloved audience, decide their fate.
So which is it? Mid century madness, or Office park berm filler?

As ever,
Ms. Jane D'oh and The PGT Team

See is Believing
Our first entry, "Mauve Steel" Photo taken by an overtaken Que.
Click image to see breath-taking mottled brick facade.

The team agrees, this building is damned ugly.

79. Promises In the Dark

Promises, promises.
And now, a few of those Nev/ID photos I promised you...

Soundtrack for the desert:
Bowie Space Oddity
Galaxy 500
Lots of Looper
Tokyo Space Cowboys


We pass through Ca's mountain region and into Nevada. This shiny, new camp is tucked neatly into a valley on the Ca/Nev border. Judging on the proud signage, I'd guess it was constructed in the past 5 years. Hmm...


We pass through a very remote area of North Nev desert---not too far from the infamous Ignited Person Festival. We spot signs of the festival's visitors along the highway's intersection. Hundreds of names and messages are spelled with collected lava rocks. Most of them are too small or illegible to read from our passing car. I imagine that there are a few peace signs and maybe a couple of hearts...



Que and I have noted this unique structure a few times now, calling it, 'the crazy artist thing'. We finally have time to stop and inspect it up close...




I don't normally like found object art, but in this case, it seems very appropriate.




The son of the artist is still living, and apparently looks after the grounds.






No problem!




The structures are constructed from bags of cement with found man-made discarded objects embedded into them....as well as some beautiful natural found materials such as wood and stone.



Que and I both agree that the artist's message is successful.





I leave with a new found respect for 'the crazy artist thing', which upon closer inspection, doesn't seem all that crazy anymore.

We plough into Idaho....

Fun Nev/Idaho cloudplay


McMansions divide the endless stretches of corn and potato fields. Judging by the style of the structures, they look like they're all built in the past 2-5 years.


This is the first tank of this stuff we've seen in the area.


The only non-whites in ID seem to be seasonal workers working in the ethanol corn fields.


!

...Which makes for good eatin' if you're traveling through the rural areas during the picking season. The closest authentic taqueria to El Big is located in a migrant town near the border of Oregone and Boyzie. Occasionally one may see a tacky Disneyland-type Chinese restaurant, but even they are rare.

A new drive-through coffee business located across from our hotel in Boyzie. What year is it, 1987? Just another bizarre example of Idaho's strange social contrasts. Que makes a u-turn so I can get a photo of it. (Click photo to read signage) And no, I have no idea if their double lattes are any good.




A favorite stretch on the Idaho desert. Yes, even Idaho has a magic hour.


Adios Idaho. Take me home, Country roads.
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