Another Reason Not To Climb Everest

That's it! Thanks to a pointer from Kyla, I'm just not going to be climbing Everest until they get the crime problem under control.

Q: You say you were surprised by the level of crime?

A: Yes. There was a number of things that shocked me, but particularly the level of crime. We had $10,000 of equipment vanish. We had 10 bottles of oxygen vanish, our ropes ended up back in a climbing business in the United States, almost all of our tents went missing. We had quite a problem with theft."

That's not to mention the mysterious vanishing of climbers... into thin air, one might even say.

More on Blood Not Oil

After my rant earlier, I was glad to see someone else agreeing and putting things in a bit more context in this SJMercury opinion piece.

And so "Oil!" is a jampacked but pedantic novel, one that few would bother with today. Those who do read it, however, will find that the radical writer provided a surprisingly fair-minded portrait of the oil tycoon who is the story's main character. Sinclair shows us a man who takes justifiable pride in his ability to find and pump oil. In the process, he breaks strikes and bribes officials - not because he is excessively greedy but because he knows how the game works in capitalist America. He plays by the rules as he finds them, and he is well-rewarded for giving the world what it wants.

The novel centers on this man's relationship with his son, a young idealist who loves his father but repudiates the family business when he joins the socialist cause. Although the father is bemused by his son's political heresies and the son rejects his father's moral compromises, the two remain devoted to each other. Their blood is thicker than oil.

In contrast, the oil man in "There Will Be Blood" hungers to succeed only out of spite for his fellow man. In the film's most quoted and most ludicrous lines, Plainview explains, "I have a competition in me. I want no one else to succeed. I hate most people. . . . I want to earn enough money so I can get away from everyone."

It seems Sinclair was an early pioneer in having books adapted to film, finding himself disappointed in the result. He said,

"it is the amiable custom of the film producers . . . to take an author's name and the title of his book, and then write an entirely different story of their own, which they think will please the public better."

At least some things haven't changed much.

Not The Hippopotamus

Sandra Boynton was a staple of our kids upbringing. Here is a terrific article about her from the NYTimes.

In 1974, Ms. Boynton met Phil Friedmann, a partner in Recycled Paper Greetings, a greeting card company based in Chicago, at a stationery trade show. After Mr. Friedmann and his business partner, Mike Keiser, saw Ms. Boynton’s work, they asked her to start making cards for their company.

They wanted to pay her a flat rate. Though she was only 21 and unknown, Ms. Boynton, who had learned a lesson or two from her father’s other careers as a writer and publisher, demanded royalties.

“We quickly relented,” Mr. Keiser recalls of the royalty negotiations. It was a shrewd move on his part, too. He says that over about a decade — from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s — revenue at Recycled Paper went from $1 million to $100 million, largely because of the popularity of Boynton cards. Ms. Boynton has made 4,000 different cards for Recycled Paper, including the still popular “Hippo Birdies 2 Ewes” birthday card.

I know we've certainly done our share to add to her royalties. Turns out she's just plain likable besides being a savvy business person. Her latest venture: 3 minute songs done by famous people (like this one by BB King), available only with her books.

Blood Not Oil

In case any of you thought my positive review of the book Oil! by Upton Sinclair would translate to a positive review of the movie There Will Be Blood... uh, no. Not even close. To say the movie is based on the book is just false advertising. Let's see. There is a father and son, and the father is an independent oil man. There is a family that he buys land from, and one of the sons of that family becomes an evangelist. If I had told you that in a conversation and then you made up everything else without reading the book, you too could have come up with the story line for the movie. Too bad they eliminated all of the people and relationships that were interesting and all of the substance of the book. I believe I will have to go with Dara's summary: boring, stupid movie about boring, stupid people. We have yet to see Atonement, but if you're looking for Oscar Best Movie material, we've seen the others (Juno, Michael Clayton, and No Country for Old Men), and I recommend any of them.

Walk Your Horse

When you go to Europe, one of the things you discover is how free-of-release-forms the most dangerous activities are. Here in the US, it's always, "Sign here that you understand you could be killed or injured" before they let you do anything. Having done quite a few horse rentals in our time, I have to say that stables have some of the most ominous-sounding paperwork around. If you take the time to read the paperwork, you might just go back to your house and curl up with Misty of Chincoteague rather than get on a horse. You certainly know that you are agreeing to take responsibility for your choice to balance yourself on top of a huge, unpredictable animal under unpredictable conditions.

One of the best trail rides I can remember taking was at Five Brooks Stables up in Marin County north of San Francisco. We went there as a bit of a surprise for Kyla's birthday one year, with some friends of hers. We specifically chose it because it had advanced rides that included more than just walking. If you haven't done it, the way these advanced rides work is that they get you to a suitable spot for cantering, make sure everyone is set, and then off you go trotting or cantering or even galloping in a line led by the wrangler. The slowest horse and/or the weakest rider determines how much the rest of the group gets to enjoy itself.

Today I saw an article in the SFChronicle about Five Brooks being sued by a rider who fell on one of their rides.

According to her lawsuit, the guide broke his horse into a gallop without warning, and Cohen's horse bolted and threw her. She was dragged along the ground on her back and suffered extensive cuts and bruises, Christie said.

The guide denied galloping his horse and said he believed he had asked the riders behind him for their consent before increasing the gait to a canter.

The Superior Court judge threw out the case saying that she had signed a release form. Unfortunately the Appeals Court judges ruled 2-1 that the release form wasn't clear enough. Seriously?!? Are we going to have to sit through a Powerpoint presentation and take a damned quiz next time we rent a horse? I am a believer that lawsuits are a useful part of the checks-and-balances in a society that prioritizes the rights of corporations over people. That prioritization is one reason you don't have to sign these stupid release forms in Europe in my opinion. Still, this is the kind of crap that understandably adds fuel to the talking heads wanting to control lawsuits.

Even sadder, I bet they make us walk our horses next time.

Spoils of a Misspent Youth

Dara dropped by to see Garrett yesterday, and they ended up at Dave and Buster's. Garrett spent about 20 minutes at one of those machines with a joystick and a claw that comes down and never grabs any of the prizes. Except, as you can see, he seems to have figured it out.

Just say, "No," to Scorpions & Turantulas

As some of you may know, Jeanne Harrison & I have signed up for a 5 day hike in the Grand Canyon. Starting April 9 we'll hike with Jeanne's cousin Kris and a few other folks. We're both "Canyon Virgins" and I haven't been back packing since Yosemite 12 years ago. Needless to say, we are totally stoked about the trip but worried about training. Luckily, Jeanne is the wealth of camping/hiking knowledge. All the books say the best way to train "for" the canyon is to train "in" the canyon (Not much of an option while here in the Balto-Wash corridor.) Instead, we've been wandering around some local parks, climbing rocks, eating gourmet GORP, reading Grand Canyon guides, and hoping like heck we've done enough so we don't embarrass ourselves. There's no way to imitate the altitude; as I learned during last year's Eastern Sierra cycling trip. Last Friday we hiked just under 10 miles at Great Falls which is where we took these photos. So far, we've succeeded in having a great time and eating like we earned a Grand Canyon feast.

We'll be hiking from the S. Rim to Indian Gardens for 2 nights, then up the trail and over the suspension bridge to Phantom Ranch for 2 nights. We get to put our backpacks on the mule train and hike out without our backpacks. Bugs be damned - it's going to be BEAUTIFUL!

Silly Hats

It's become somewhat of a tradition for me to wear reindeer antlers to the airport to pick up Kyla at Christmas. When we're snowboarding, we always look jealously at people with unique hats, because they make them easier to spot. So, when I spotted a selection of animal-themed tuques at the Ottawa airport, I decided we needed one. As you may be able to tell in the picture, it's a sock puppet monkey. I figure it will be useful one way or another: for picking people up at the airport, for embarrassing Kyla and Garrett snowboarding, or -- perhaps a long shot -- Garrett will think it's cool and want to wear it at school.

Close encounters

I am regularly ridiculed by freinds and co workers for enjoying coon hunting, admittedly it is at best considered to be one of those long lost activities only enjoyed by old men, I won't get into what it is considered to be at worst. Regardless, my critics will no doubt be thrilled to get near me now and get a whiff, the I told you so's will be flowing. Last night on a gret mountain hunt my dog got a little confused and ran a skunk into the area where I was resting, I thought she was running a coon as I heard her approaching I also heard the brush rustling on the steep grade right next to me, The next thing I knew a large skunk appeared about 5 feet away YIKES I backed away quickly when Brandy (my dog) broke through the thicket and grabed the skunk. She was sprayed at point blank range right in the face, unfortunately just being close by was not good and I was something of a victim as well, between that and handling the dog I might as well have a dead skunk in my pocket, Shunned by Kirsti and Dan I am in solitary confinement at the farmhouse. Great hunt with a bad ending.

On Being Relevant

Keith and I spoke last weekend, and I was telling him how unusual it was for California to be relevant in a presidential primary. Then, last week, I was out to dinner in Boston on Super Tuesday, having mailed-in my ballot before leaving. Phones with web browsers were being passed around the table after my personal California CNN monitor texted me that Hillary had beaten Obama in Massachusetts.

Now it seems Virginia will be relevant, too. Enjoy the moment!

Reading Update

Two weeks of vacation and lots of hours on planes make for lots of reading. Here's what I've read lately. Of the list, I didn't finish two for reasons I'll explain.

The Looming Tower, by Lawrence Wright. Great book. I was kind of burnt out on reading more about terrorism and the underlying politics and history. Someone I knew recommended this book, so I tried it and was glad I did. The book ends with 9/11. It leads you through the emergence of the extremist Islamic movement, the rise of Al Qaeda, and the work of the FBI to keep things in control in the U.S. It does what all very readable books like this do, which is to connect you at the people level and then relate that back to the history and larger picture.

Blood and Thunder, by Hampton Sides. An enjoyable biography of Kit Carson and his role in opening the American west. I've read a lot of California history at one time or another, and Carson plays a big part in that, since he was Fremont's principal guide. What was new and interesting to me was the story of the Navajo and Carson's role in finally and ruthlessly defeating them. Considering Carson was illiterate and left no real memoir beyond a cheesy, overblown thing he cooperated with someone on late in life, the author does a terrific job of capturing what he was like and the fast-changing times he lived through.

The Echo Maker, by Richard Powers. A National Book Award winner. One day I will stop being suckered in by these things -- always well written -- when my gut tells me it's just not my kind of book. The story centers around a guy in Nebraska who suffers brain damage in a car accident. He's okay cognitively, but he ends up with Capgras syndrome, that leads him to believe that his sister, with whom he was very close, has been replaced by an impostor. This is, as you might imagine, difficult for the sister, who has droped everything to help him make it through things. The author mixes in the migration of cranes along the nearby Platte River with the story, which I'm sure was a wonderful literary allusion for some book reviewer, but a waste of paper for me.

The Castle in the Forest, by Norman Mailer. I picked this book up before Mailer died, thinking "You know, I really should read something by Norman Mailer." I probably still should, but this book will not be it. It was billed as a novel about the young Adolph Hitler and sounded interesting. Nobody told me that the narrator and bud o' Adolph is actually Satan, though, or I would not have chosen it. Sadly, I had to read 75 pages or so to find out. I don't watch shows about angels on TV, and I'm not going to be reading books by Satan either.

Turpentine, by Spring Warren. Billed pretty much as a western, this book covers a lot more ground than the wild west. The main character is a kid who is sent west for his health, but ends up penniless and skinning buffaloes. He falls in love with a local girl, but heads back east to work for a Yale professor he meets on the prairie and shows some fossils to. From there he finds himself in the midst of various bizarre situations that eventually lead him back west to the girl. For me it was kind of Dickens-like in the way characters intertwine in improbable ways. Like Dickens, it has a happy ending that ties it all up. Entertaining, mildly recommended.

An Ice-Cream War, by William Boyd. William Boyd is terrific, and I'm going to be reading anything of his I can get my hands on. Funny, the first thing of his I read (Restless) was probably the weakest. This story follows two brothers in World War I. One is the flaky, younger, bon-vivant of a military family, and the other is the golden boy who ends up in east Africa and gets captured by the Germans. This is a nice complex story with terrific characters, and you can learn some history while you enjoy it.

Brazzaville Beach, by William Boyd. Now that I have confessed my love of William Boyd, I'll tell you that I liked this book the best of the four I've read. The main character is a PhD who studies chimpanzees in Africa as part of a large project. She discovers some very aggressive behavior in them, which the leader of the project can't accept. So, we have academic jealousy, rivalry, and intrigue mixed in with politically unstable and violent times in an African country. The usual Boyd mix of complex characters and unpredictable story to follow while you learn something new.

The Road, by Cormac McCarthy. I'd resisted the new Cormac McCarthy book out of contrariness, since it seemed like a lot of people were reading it. He writes depressing and violent books to begin with, so a story about a father and son journeying down a highway, trying to survive following a nuclear holocaust couldn't be uplifting or particularly enlightening, could it? In case you were wondering: no, not really. You think you could imagine how horrible it could get, but rest assured you can't touch the world McCarthy has cooked up. Good story, though, if you're up for it!

Oil!, by Upton Sinclair. I'm afraid to see what the movie There Will Be Blood does to this marvelous story, upon which the movie claims to be based. Published in 1927, prior to the Great Depression and before capitalism kicked the ass of communism and socialism, the story follows an independent oilman and his idealistic son. The oilman father builds an empire among the "big boys", while the spoiled yet idealistic son is always looking out for the little guy. The father effectively swindles a family of hicks out of their land, together with all the surrounding properties, and hits one of the biggest oil finds in California. This leads to a life of riches for the oilman and his family, while the hick family has to deal with reality and the crumbs left behind. Plenty of politics and history, which is interesting considering the timeframe and the clarity of hindsight now.

The Emperor's Children, by Claire Messud. I did not finish this book because my E-Book charger seems to have dropped out of my luggage in the return from the BVI. I didn't have enough juice to get beyond about 100 pages or so, but I confess I was not unhappy to put it down. While hunting down the link to the book on Amazon, I saw this reviewer's comments and was even more grateful for losing my charger. Unfortunately I have a couple more books on there that I want to read!

Most EMailed List

You know I love the NYTimes most-EMailed list as a source of interesting things. Today, Paul Krugman posted in his blog about how he found out other NYTimes columnists check out whether their articles made it into the most-EMailed list (since he does). One of the commenters then pointed out an Onion article from months ago on that very topic. The picture and caption I included here was from the Onion article. Too funny!