Archives for 2020

Good morning everyone,

As always, it’s a good Wednesday when we have something special from Bill to share.  Please do look at his site and become a patron.

On a political note, I’ve seen a rumor that Bernie will be suspending today or tomorrow, but we shall see. That would be a momentous development, to put it mildly.

Joe wasn’t my first or second choice, but he’s a decent man and we can use some of that. I know we’re all on team Broken Glass.

It’s the down-ballot race, really state legislatures I’m most concerned with, TBH, and it’s all because of  redistricting based on the 2020 Census data (new legislative boundaries are drawn after initial Census estimates are produced). This literally writes the map for a state for a decade (nasty Republican shenanigans to do additional redistrictings aside, of course) and so getting any and all potential D voters out to vote for all these seemingly less-important candidates is of utmost importance, even if we lose the White House or don’t retake the Senate.  So when talking to prospective voters, please do encourage them to support their state D candidates because it’s so very important that we have fair political boundaries to enscourage responsive, representative politicians.

I drove up to Vasquez Rocks north of the San Fernando Valley in the small town of Agua Dulce. While I’ve driven past them(you can see them from The 14), I’ve never stopped. They’re rocks that have been upthrust to the surface and are quite a sight even from the distant freeway. They’re now a county park that unfortunately closes at sunset(the parking lot closes at 5pm so you even miss the sunset). The rocks were a hideout for Tiburcio Vasquez in the late 1800’s and his name has been associated with the rocks since then. The rocks may look familiar since they’ve been in a number of movies and TV. Probably their most famous appearance is in the first season of Star Trek in 1967 in an episode called Arena, where Capitan Kirk is transported to a planet and battles a lizard creature called the Gorn.  The largest rock is unofficially known as ‘Kirk’s Rock’.

Since the skies up there(as opposed to the basin) were clear and blue, I’ve taken some liberties with the sky in some of the photos and replaced it with something more interesting with Luminar 4’s sky replacement feature.

On The Road – ?BillinGlendaleCA – ArenaPost + Comments (19)

Vasquez Rocks, Agua Dulce, CA

Wide view of ‘Kirk’s Rock’ from the north after leaving the parking lot.