Lancaster, CA - Desert Woodland State Park

The guys we met hiking at Rainbow Basin suggested a site for us to check out - Things to Do within 100 miles of Barstow. Found a good list of day and afternoon trips for us to check out, including this little gem. A pair of state parks are located in the town of Lancaster, CA, on the northern side of LA County, so that's where we headed the Saturday before last (yeah, I'm just now getting the pictures up!). These are the Arthur Ripley Desert Woodland State Park, and the Antelope Valley Poppy Preserve. I'll talk about these two in separate posts, since there were so many pretty pictures from the day :)

First up, the Desert Woodland State Park. It was our first stop of the day (just how directions went) and just a tiny little stop in itself. Desert woodlands are not the most impressive views. Joshua trees just don't compare to thick forests back east, or redwood forests farther north in CA. Still, it is a nice change from the Desert itself, where we live.

The Joshua Tree is the most noticeable tree in the desert woodland habitat in this area. It's like a twisted palm tree. The little walking tour guide pamphlet we were following through the park described it as "grotesque configurations" of the branches. Each one is really pretty distinct, and especially out where we are, they are quite noticeable dotting the landscape. Here at the park they were still distinct, but blend in more with the junipers and taller shrubs. Back in the high desert, there just aren't that many shrubs to blend in with the trees :)

The Joshua tree is really pretty interesting as a plant. Botanists, etc have to estimate it's age because it doesn't have rings. The trunk is all fibrous, like palm trees. (Check out the picture on the right there!) People studying the trees estimate that some of the trees can be 800 years old, and some estimate even older!

It was the little things that were striking us as we were walking through the park. The smell of flowers (things don't bloom in Ft Irwin) or birds chirping and twittering (the most common bird we have on post is the raven). It was really very refreshing, experiencing those things that you don't even realize you're missing. On the same track, I've been noticing flowers a lot more too - bright splashes of color just brighten up an area. The post is so many shades of brown, than when you actually get splashed of color, you notice them! :)

PS - and one of the flowers.... elderberry! I do not know if it is the same elderberry as the Frenchmen's taunts, but I couldn't help but say, your mother was a hamster and your father smells of elderberry! And as a side note, elderberry actually smells very nice :)

Finally, Thursday!

Granted, I have two more days before the 'weekend,' but still - almost there!!

I say 2 more days because I'll have to work pretty much a full day on Saturday. A full day beginning at about 5:45 in the morning, at least, so I should still have Saturday after for myself (sleep!!). I work for MWR here on post (Morale, Welfare & Recreation) and we're hosting a Triathlon on Saturday. My department's the one running it, so that pretty much means I'm the one in charge on Saturday. Really, since I only started there a month ago, it means I'm the one running around like a crazy person all Saturday morning! Though I'll probably still be stressing next year too, but that's just me.... :)

Still, things are kinda moving along. The medals are in, and I pick up the T-shirts tomorrow. We're collecting the equipment we need today and tomorrow, so it'll be all ready to set up Saturday morning. I'm just praying to high heaven there isn't something I'm forgetting because I just didn't know about it!!

And more good news, our office got a new modem today! Our old one would freeze up, or overheat, basically crash the two computers in our little office. But after a particularly trying week for our computers (several systems down pretty much Friday afternoon through Tuesday), they've given us a new modem, which should make things run more smoothly. At least, it should mean that our system crashes less, which would be a HUGE step in the right direction :)

So, things are looking up at work, after a particularly frustrating beginning to the week. I'm hoping that the Triathlon goes smoothly on Saturday (lots of fingers crossed for me please!!). That would definitely make this week end well overall!

Now if we could just do something about Redneck Neighbor's dogs, then this week would be phenomenal!!!

Review: Rendition

This movie's a bit of a change of pace for me, but it's always good to try new things, right? Anyway, this review is about Rendition.

After a terrorist bombing kills an American envoy in a foreign country, an investigation leads to an Egyptian living in the United States. This man has been living in the States for years and is married to an American. He is apprehended on a layover on a flight home from abroad, and sent to the country where the bombing had occurred. He is sent for interrogation about the incident, interrogation which includes torture. The movie follows an American CIA operative observing the interrogation, at odds with himself about the usefulness/morality of the interrogation; the prisoner's wife back in the States, trying hard to find him; and a young couple who may or may not be involved in additional terrorist activities.

One of the guys I work with is another movie junkie, and let us borrow this one from his collection. I knew it was a more serious movie, from the little I'd heard about it, so it did take us a few days before I was in the right mood to watch it. And I'm definitely glad we waited til I wasn't in the movie for something light. This movie is HEAVY!!!! Definitely a thinking movie. It is definitely one of those movies that forces you to look at things going on in the world, and it's more unsettling because these are real things happening. Not this particular story, I mean, but the policies are real, and similar actions take place. Makes you wonder how many other Anwars there are out there, and that's a really unsettling thought. I'm always bothered by those sorts of thoughts, too - I am a pretty fair person, and try to get along with everyone (to give them a shot, at least). It unsettles me to read about, or watch about, people who get so violent and passionate, based on hatred, and the twisted actions that can come about. Like I said, it's a heavy movie.

The cast is great, and the parts are very well acted. Some have a bit more opportunity to develop than others (the Jake Gyllenhaal character wasn't given much opportunity, for example, and the character of Khalid had pretty simple motives for his actions), but overall, very solid characters.

I liked the multiple storylines. They were deftly handled, and had a nice twist at the end. I don't feel like there was tons of meaning to the twist (i.e. not really plot related, or anything; they didn't have to do it) but it was a nice touch to weaving all the stories together. I either really like multiple story lines (any Robert Altman film, Pulp Fiction, etc) or they really irritate me (Magnolia!!). This one was well done.

I liked the filming. It keeps you at a distance a little, not one of those movies that reeeeeeeally sucks you into all the characters. Lessens the emotion of it a little, I guess, but at the same time makes you think a little more. Pushes you into the part of the dispassionate observer, which makes you actually think about what all the characters are doing and why.

One of the most effective scenes of the whole movie was the bombing that sets off the whole chain of events. Instead of the noise and chaos of the aftermath of the explosion, you have a very quiet, almost silent scene. No sappy or overly emotional music, just quiet... Made for a very effective scene.

In case you're curious (as I was) the title "Rendition" refers to 'extraordinary rendition,' an extra-legal process where suspects are taken into US custody but delivered to a third-party state, often without ever being on American soil, and without involving the rendering country's judiciary body. It seemed to develop into its own during the Clinton administration, and has come into use more as a tool in the War on Terror. That's the summary from Wikipedia, at least; to really explain it would probably get into a doctoral-thesis length discussion.

As a side note, it seems Zach and I have been finding the movies with major torture scenes recently. Pulp Fiction, Rendition, The Bank Job... people can be pretty messed up sometimes... Gotta find a good comedy for our next new movie.

Overall: 4 of 5. Some of the characters are pretty flat, but the filming was good and the cast is great. Overall, a very solid movie. Worth a watch if you're looking for a good make-you-think sort of film. Definitely not a light popcorn flick!

Hiking!

See - I told you I'd get pictures up this week!

So, Saturday, Zach got stir-crazy, which was perfectly fine with me. We both felt the need to get off post and go do something. Which we did :) We looked up online stuff to do in the area. What we found was actually via Google Earth. They've added a new layer on - very very cool! It's a layer of hiking trails, working in coordination with Trimble (a GPS manufacturer) and Backpacker or Outdoor magazine - one of those. At any rate, you can see different hiking trails around the world (at least around the US, that's where we were looking). You can see a handful of pictures that have been added, and bunches of way-points and scenic spots that people have GPS-ed along the trails. Like I said, VERY cool! As Zach was playing with this, he saw that there was one right near us, actually between post and Barstow! So off we went!

The park (well, "natural area") is Rainbow Basin Natural Area, and it includes a handful of hiking trails, as well as a scenic drive. We went hiking along Owl Creek Canyon Trail, a little two mile stretch along a canyon bed. Some very pretty rock formations! Growing up on the coast, and the east coast at that, I'm more used to natural areas focusing on the beauty of the trees, or more subtle geologic points (beaches, not canyons). I'm not used to all these big exposed formations (yes, the geo dork still exists inside me!)

The area gets its name from the different rock colors. There are several shades of greens, reds, pinks, greys, whites, and so on. The way the colors all come together in contrast is really pretty remarkable sometimes!

It was a gorgeous afternoon to be outside. A bit windy, but I've learned that wind is pretty much a given in spring in this area. The only question would be how much wind you're getting on a given day. Anyway, the sun was out, but not overpowering, the wind kept us cool, and (most importantly) it was a lovely change from being cooped up inside! :)

We also met some nice hikers - actually from post as well! They told us about a couple Google searches they'd run to find stuff to do in the area. That's actually how we found the other state parks we went to this past weekend (more pictures and details coming soon!) Like we knew when we were first looking at the move out here, there are things to do in the area, just not anything close; you have to be willing to drive. At any rate, Zach and I are trying to put together a little travel to-do list of our own while we're out here - divide it up into afternoon trips, day trips, weekend trips, etc. So the next time we get a little stir-crazy on post, we can take a look in our book and head out to do something again!

The final little treat at this park, besides having 2 more trails and a scenic drive to explore, there was a cave along the trail! Could feel quite a lot of air moving through, and definitely went a little way! No, we weren't so cave-deprived that we went in then, but we are planning on trying to go back if we can get a few more people (and the gear for them too!).

Oh goodness, what a day!

Any day that begins with a suspected gas leak at your facility can only go up, right? Right??

Wrong!

I learned that today. A very long, very tiring day. And yes, it really did begin with someone smelling propane at work. Turns out it was just an old boiler burbling, not a gas line leak, but we still had to evacuate the facility, and the fire department had to come and check it out, the whole shebang. Apparently almost all of post runs on propane, so smelling propane is a big deal, and at the same time, there are a lot of these 'false alarms.' They were really nice, though, but still, what a way to start the day!

Then, we had our regular Tuesday staff meetings, so plenty of long meetings to sit through and eat up my morning. And another big kicker was our computer system (sales tracking that has to be balanced daily) has been on the fritz since Friday (more off than on, unfortunately), and finally conked out this afternoon. Our modem is getting too old to handle the information, and actually overheats regularly in the summer, and the server itself is nearing its end, according to our IT guy. A fun combination! And finally, my office is still very disorganized from the filing 'system' that the previous occupant used, so I still pretty regularly hit those points of "WHY CAN'T I FIND ANYTHING IN HERE???"

It's funny, though, as stressful as today was, it wasn't near as bad as a bad day at Horrible Job. I'm tired (dead on my feet, really), but I'm not drained. What was stressing me out isn't the job itself, but the conditions of the job (the disorganization, mostly) and external things I can't control (like computer crashes and gas leaks). It's nice to feel like that, not dreading going into work the next day. So, yes, even though today was absolutely CRAZY, I'm not dreading going to work tomorrow, I still feel like myself. Just a tired version of myself :)

... though, I am still hoping that if this is how the week starts, that it only goes up from here, right? I hope so! My department is running a big event on post on Saturday, and I don't want it to be a total disaster (or even just part of one!) Wish me luck! :)

Review: Pulp Fiction

Next up, a movie that Zach picked up for me thinking I'd like it, Pulp Fiction.

I know it's not exactly a new movie (1994), but I honestly hadn't seen it yet! Right up my alley, though. Seriously, I've no idea why I hadn't seen it yet. Makes me bump Resevoir Dogs up on my To-See list (another Tarantino film I for some reason haven't yet seen).

The movie is really a series of three stories woven together. You have Vincent and Jules, two hit men working for mob boss Marcellus Wallace, who are sent to retrieve a very important Object in a briefcase for their boss. Later, Vincent must take Mrs. Wallace out on the town while her husband is out. Butch Coolidge is an aging boxer who is being paid by Wallace to throw a fight and instead, accidentally kills his opponent. The movie is capped on either end by Honey Bunny and Pumpkin, a pair of small-time thieves robbing a diner. These seemingly unrelated stories all carry through them the themes of honor among crooks, and redemption, and consequences of choices.

First of all, like any Quentin Tarantino movie, it deserves it's R rating. Sex, drugs, violence, language, torture, bizarre fetishes... the whole she-bang. If all that doesn't bother you, than go right ahead and give this movie a try. Worth your time.

There are so many great lines in this movie, it's really hard to know where to begin. They've become part of our popular culture now. The writing is very well done, and it totally deserved the Oscar it won. And looking back at this movie almost 15 years later, it's so easy to see WHY it launched (or relaunched) so many careers. Samuel L. Jackson is just plain awesome in this movie. And the Bruce Willis character (Butch) has so few lines, and some of the weirdest scenes in the whole movie, but he handles them so well. I have to say, I'm liking Bruce Willis more and more as I get older. Tough-guy heroes with emotion. And personally, he looks better the less hair he has, too. but maybe that's just me :)

And finally, as a random bit of wordie trivia, this movie actually uses "palooka" as the insult it was originally intended to be. In one of the earlier scenes with Butch, Vincent (John Travolta) calls him first "palooka" and then "punchy." Butch, a boxer, looks insulted. I actually looked that up after the movie. "Palooka," besides meaning an oaf or clumsy person, also refers to boxers, particularly unskilled ones. Live and learn :)

Overall: 5 of 5. Over the top violence and drug scenes, and all the rest, but soooo well done. Great writing, and some seriously funny moments. If you like slick, cool, and violent, then it's definitely a movie you should see. And besides, it's priceless to see John Travolta in a UC Banana Slugs T-shirt!!

Computer Frustrations...

So, right now, we have 1 computer. We have had since we moved out here, but it's starting to get irritating. Really, we have 2, but only one has internet right now.

2 people. 1 computer with internet. Not good math...

So, it's taking some time to figure out who gets the computer when, and how long, and so forth. Especially important, as we both have sites we're addicted to online. I've my blog, and Flickr, and Ravelry, and Zach's got an online game of his own, and we both have e-mails to check, and we're both hooked on the mapping applications on Facebook. Yes, he finally broke down and got his own acocunt - haHA! I win! :) Neither of us spend too much time on there talking to people, but MAN, those maps are addicting! So, yes, we're having to come up with a balance of computer time. Unfortunately, those things we're addicted to online can be QUITE time-consuming.... We've really got to get that second computer hooked up....

So, I guess this is a long way of explaining why my posting frequency is down :)

Still, it was a good weekend, at least, and we actually got away from the computer! Went out and saw some of CA, and saw a new movie, and as soon as I get my pictures uploaded, I'll tell you all about it :)