El condor pasa

My brand-new car really needed its first proper road trip, so after work today I took it down to Pinnacles National Monument, near Soledad, Calif. The forecast called for 80-degree temperatures, but it sure seemed hotter in the sun. Our chosen hike proved to be somewhat more strenuous than anticipated too. There were only two cars in the parking lot, and we never saw anyone else on the trail. I guess few people find hiking in the Gabilans appealing in July.

But any difficulties we encountered were mere trifles, because during a water break in the shade about two-thirds of the way up to the High Peaks, my friend Steve called my attention to what was above us, something that redeemed the entire strenuous afternoon.

There must have been a dozen turkey vultures circling above -- pretty big birds, with wingspans up to six feet. And then the first California condor emerged from behind a rock and began to glide overhead. And then another. And then two more. To our astonishment, they continued to circle near us, swinging lower and lower with each pass around the rock that was lending us its shade. We were completely awestruck, so much so that I forgot to zoom the camera for all but one of the photos I snapped. The best one is above, taken on the final pass, when one of the condors swooped down perhaps thirty feet above us. I can't say exactly how big it was, but the reports of a nine-and-a-half-foot wingspan seem pretty accurate.

The coolest part was the sound. I don't know if condors make a low-pitched sound with their voices, or whether I heard that bird's nine-and-a-half-foot wings slicing through the air. But I certainly heard a low whoosh when it passed. It could have been an owl-like hoot, but I suspect it was the wings colliding with the air. They didn't ever really seem to flap their wings -- they'd just glide. I guess when you have a nine-and-a-half-foot wingspan you don't need to flap that often. Once or twice ought to get you plenty of mileage.

Apparently the Park Service introduced six condors to Pinnacles last fall, and plans to free another group in a few weeks. They are among about 200 currently living in the wild, up from roughly 25 in 1982. Seeing four at once? Pretty rare, I'd imagine, and unheard-of just a few years ago.

UPDATE: More here. It says there were only nine wild condors in 1987. Wow.

My favorite $cientologist

Rumor has it that Beck Hansen and his guitar dropped in at Taqueria Pancho Villa last night for a little busking. Reports vary as to whether he was shooting a video or he was just hanging out. (It doesn't sound like he was interested in the food.)

My brushes with celebrities, apart from "professional" rockcrit stuff? I sat next to Madonna at the fabled Archers of Loaf show she attended in 1995. I hung out in Allen Ginsberg's house when he wasn't there. And... well it gets pretty small after that. Is Christopher Hitchens a celebrity? I had some drinks with him, and he had quite a few more.

I think RustedRobot has an Oprah story or something. Anyone?

"No, I'm thinking rock climbing.... mañana"

One of our numerous PBS affiliates is airing Sandwiches You Will Like, the one-hour documentary about sandwich shops around the U.S., this morning. This program has already driven me to New Orleans' Central Grocery, and I expect it will bring me to a few more eateries in the coming years.

I'm wondering if any of you far-flung correspondents, or any of you frequent travelers, can comment on any of the other establishments in the program. Natick, Mass.? Louisville, Ky.? Chicago? Watertown, Mass.? Let's hear it.

I suppose anything wrapped in a tortilla isn't a sandwich. (I'm a little confused by the whole "wrap" phenomenon of the past few years too.) But the San Francisco burrito would've been a good candidate for this program. I wonder which place they would've picked. I'm not quite a loyalist anywhere, but my most frequent spots are:

-Chino's on Balboa (most local, not bad, far from best in city though)
-El Beach Burrito on Judah (best name, pretty nearby, generous portions)
-Taqueria La Playa on Noriega (fresh and tasty, great mahi-mahi tacos too)
-Taqueria Can-Cun on Mission (the mojado!)

The worst burrito I've eaten here? It was either someplace on Polk a couple of blocks north of the Hemlock Tavern, or at Alteña Restaurant (not Taqueria Alteña!) on Mission below Cesar Chavez immediately before a gig at the Odeon. Nasty.


FMFM: Sonny Stitt's duels with Gene Ammons, before the PBS program

T-word

The sixteenth paragraph is the best one.


FMFM: Ornette's This Is Our Music

I'd like to buy a Vowell

"We don't all worship the same god. Some of us do not believe in a god at all. But the good news is that, thanks to me, we all now believe in the Apocalypse. You're welcome."

Spectacular. It makes me wish Maureen Dowd would stay on book leave forever.

MTV2 Cribs

This amusing item is already old news in the blogosphere, I guess. I really should have been ahead of the curve, given my extensive network of indie-rock contacts. Better late than never, I suppose.

There's a second installment too.


FMFM: Howlin' Wolf

Taking a village

I never would've expected Tom Friedman to write these words three years ago. Some might say it shows how much things have changed since 9/11. Others might ask what took him so long.

"[T]he greatest restraint on human behavior is never a policeman or a border guard. The greatest restraint on human behavior is what a culture and a religion deem shameful. It is what the village and its religious and political elders say is wrong or not allowed.

...The double-decker buses of London and the subways of Paris, as well as the covered markets of Riyadh, Bali and Cairo, will never be secure as long as the Muslim village and elders do not take on, delegitimize, condemn and isolate the extremists in their midst."



FMFM: John Lewis' Improvised Meditations & Excursions (I could listen to that sound all day) and Sly Stone's Riot and Fresh

Tour de Fort

In a Fort Miley first, a stranger has e-mailed me about the view from the real Fort Miley, which he has photographed extensively. And so I give you this virtual tour of the greater Fort Miley area.


FMFM: Oscar Peterson and Stephane Grappelli's sessions in Paris in 1973. It's some of my favorite weekend-morning-coffee music. I'm giving up on the MTV/VH1 telecast of Live 8 because they're showing roughly two-thirds of each song, sometimes with interstitial live commentary during guitar solos or those pesky, inessential second verses. Not that I really needed to see some of these bands anyway....

Justice for all

As the latest war begins, here's some incredibly timely humor. Can't believe they picked today to run that one.