Getting cold where you are?  Can’t wait till spring to ride?

Let me help!

Click on image to view video

After spending the last 10 winters in Las Vegas and learning the trails I feel the need to share some of my favorite places to ride.

I am now associated with the 2 best guiding companies in the Las Vegas Area. All Mountain Cyclery and Escape Adventures. Between these 2 bike shops/guiding services, we cover all the best trails Las Vegas has to offer. Classic X-C, challenging downhill and road tours to Hoover Dam.

Here’s a short video of some trails in The Red Rocks area of

Cottonwood Canyon (Blue Diamond, Nevada).

Bike rentals include: Cannondale Rush or a Ellsworth Epiphany.

Just shoot me an email to info@downhillmike.com and I can get you on the right trail, find you the best air fare and hotel package +.

A few pictures taken at Cottonwood Canyon:

A very cool rock on the Black Velvet trail

This video was taken by my good friend Domick Menard of our X-C ride in Cottonwood Canyon.

Enjoy!

Looking for more of a challenge?

All Mountain Cyclery provides the tours in Boulder City, Nevada. Home of Bootleg Canyon.

Bike rentals from Specialized and Santa Cruz.

Stumpjumpers, Demo 8’s, Ultra Light, Blur or a nomad. Not bad huh?

Bootleg Canyon trails were hand built and carved into the mountain by the legendary Brent Thomson.

There are specific X-C trails and specific DH trails.

Here are some pictures I took while guiding last winter:

A couple of dh pictures:

All Mountain Cyclery truck unloads. These guys are in for some BIG fun!

Near the top of Snakeback. One of the easier downhill trails. Basically the top half is rough and very technical and the bottom half is super fast. Best of the best!

See Hoover Dam by bike.

Starting at our shop in beautiful Boulder City the tour begins on a paved bike path going downhill towards lake Mead. After a several downhill miles the trail turns to smooth dirt/crushed stone. Our touring bikes are a perfect way to get to the dam.

This is the oldest trail in Southern Nevada, and goes through 5 tunnels the trains used to bring supplies in to build the dam. Very cool, very historic and very fun!

These two had mucho fun!

726 feet straight down!

The bridge should be done soon. This picture was taken on 3-10-08.

After your self guided tour of Hoover Dam your guide escorts you back by bike through the 5 tunnels where the All Mountain Cyclery van is waiting to pick you up and return you to your hotel.

My passion is not only riding but helping others find the beauty and solitude that I have found on these trails. If you are interested please visit my site: www.downhillmike.com for more information or just shoot me an email at: info@downhillmike.com

Not only I can help you find the right trails but please allow me to find the best air fare and hotel deals for you too. From the east coast I am finding flights with a room for 3 days from $250.00.

See ya this winter on the trails.

Your all inclusive mountain biking travel agent.

Downhill Mike

]]> http://lasresenasdelanonna.wordpress.com/2009/11/22/disco-humbug-los-arctic-monkeys-finalmente-maduran/ Sun, 22 Nov 2009 20:46:50 +0000 mikegical mistery tour http://lasresenasdelanonna.wordpress.com/2009/11/22/disco-humbug-los-arctic-monkeys-finalmente-maduran/

Una de las bandas más interesantes que ha salido del Reino Unido en los últimos 5 años, ha alcanzado su popularidad gracias a los sencillos de sus dos primeros discos: Dancing Shoes, I bet you look good on the dancefloor, Fluorescent Adolescent o Teddy Picker, que además de pegajozos, sin duda son unos temazos. Ahora los chicos de Sheffield acuden al genio Josh Homme para grabar su tercer disco y los resultados son muy gratificantes.

Comenzando con My propeller, inmediatamente llama la atención que la banda se distancia del sonido del disco anterior, Favourite Worst Nightmare. Ahora no parecen estar apurados o necesitados de hacer las canciones más rápidas que puedan componer, lo que les permite experimentar con nuevas propuestas. Así, el cuarteto se americaniza y sustituye el frat rock por una ambientación lúgubre con un sonido ligeramente sucio, que recuerdan de cierta manera la propuesta stoner del desierto de California, que el productor Homme ayudó a forjar desde los noventa con bandas como Kyuss o Queens of the Stone Age.

En conclusión, Humbug termina siendo un disco que como nieto lejano del Mojave Desert, tiene un compendio de canciones muy parecidas entre sí, donde a pesar de que no hay temas que puedan reventar en la radio o que vayamos a escuchar en una fiesta, dejan claro que la banda liderada por Alex Turner no se conforma con escribir himnos para los borrachos de Inglaterra, y han comenzado a madurar su sonido. El resultado: uno de los mejores discos de este año.

torrent.

Video del primer sencillo: Crying Lightning

Segundo sencillo: Cornerstone

I figured since I am constantly getting either chats/emails sent my way or stumbling across random articles and videos, I should post them for my beloved followers! Well, here is your list today.

• Where airplanes go to die: The Mojave Desert
• Photo evidence of Spiderman being arrested.
• A drunk man steals a giraffe, a lot.
• The worst predictions of 2010: Newsweek
• The full 35 min Assassin’s Creed lineage video: G4TV
• Gaddafi tries to convert girls to Islam – but only the hot ones: BBC
• Michigan Militia is growing, thanks to Call of Duty! CNN

And for all those who aren’t working today (cough cough Gen cough), practice your jerking!

Joshua Trees in the Mojave Desert, Arizona.  Photographed Saturday, October 31, 2009.

I’m  off this weekend to the Desert Studies Center for another field class in my quest for the UC Riverside certificate program in “Desert Ecology”.  This class is titled: Exploring the Mojave Desert: Afton Canyon, taught by Joan Schneider, Ph.D,  Associate State Archeaologist and Norman Meek, Ph.D, Professor of Geography and Environmental Studies.A year-round flowing river, Bighorn sheep, spectacular multicolored rock layers that some call “The Grand Canyon of the Mojave”, remnants of prehistoric settlements, historical caves, shorelines of ancient Lake Manix.  What more could one want in a field class taught by an archaeologist and a geographer?  And great photo opportunities too!  The Desert Studies Center is located on Zzyzx Road in Soda Springs (8 miles southeast of Baker on Highway 15).  Most of the students in this program of study are teachers earning CEUs (Continuing Education Units) and they bring a whole new set of knowledge skills to the classes.

Fort Amber (Radżastan, Indie)

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Świtanie nad fortem Amber w Radżastanie (Indie)

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Sadu z Orchii (Indie)

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Ganges o wschodzie słońca (Varanasi, Indie)

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Bajeczne Taj Majah (Indie)

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Stragany jak z obrazka (Varanasi, Indie)

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Mnich na świątynnym wzgórzu (Lop Buri, Tajlandia)

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Człowiek, słoń i hipopotamy w Królewskim (jeszcze wówczas) Parku Narodowym Chitwan (Nepal)

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Himalaje z lotu ptaka (Nepal)

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Andy na horyzoncie widoczne z okolic kanionu Colca w Peru

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Ruiny twierdzy obronnej Inków Sacsayhuaman (Cuzco, Peru)

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Wyspa Ometepe na jeziorze Nicaragua - z wulcanem Conception (Nikaragua)

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Osada nad fiordem Saguenay w prowincji Quebec (Kanada)

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Świt w Tortuguero (Kostaryka)

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Pastwiska Guanacaste (Kostaryka)

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Środkowo-amerykańska dżungla - jeden z ostatnich lasów dziewiczych na świecie

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Roche Perce - najsłynniejsza skała Kanady

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Panorama Toskanii widziana z wieży ratusza w Sienie

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Zachód słońca nad Florencją (Włochy)

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Dramatyczne niebo nad Tubak (Arizona, USA)

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Zmierzch nad pustynią Sonora (Organ Pipe Cactus NM, Arizona, USA)

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Jachty o zachodzie słońca (Hat Rai Leh, Tajlandia)

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Zachód słońca nad Monte Verde (Kostaryka)

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آیا نرگس کلهر هم تحت تاثیر فیلم ها این کار را کرده است؟ به نظر من که حتما همین طور است. وقتی شهدا تحت تاثیر فیلم های وسترن به آغوش شهادت و مرگ رفته اند، پس دختر مشاور عالی احمدی نژاد هم تحت تاثیر فیلم هایی مثل “شیرینی آمریکایی” ، ماه Mojave یا Foxfire یا Hardcore به غرب پناهنده شده اند!؟

به اعتقاد من که جناب کلهر باید مرور کند که چه فیلم هایی دخترش دیده است که به فکر این کار افتاده است؟! خودش را هم گول نزند، کاری مثل کاری که دخترش انجام داده است کاری نیست که در یک سال به آدمی القاء گردد. ماجرا ریشه دار تر از این حرف هاست. جناب کلهر همون موقع که نوار ویدئو قاچاقی نگاه می کردی باید فکر اینجا هاش رو می کردی!

این ماجرای پناهنده شدن نرگس کلهر خیلی مسئله مهمی است به خصوص که نشان وجود آزادی در ایران این روزهاست. آزادی آن هم از نوع مطلق! البته اینکه در یک چنین جامعه آزادی چرا فیلم های کوتاه یک دختر جوان که اتفاقا دختر یک مشاور عالی مقام کشور است، تاکنون نمایش داده نشده اند جای سئوال دارد؟

من فکر می کنم مهدی کلهر که یک سال است دخترش را ندیده است (پدری سنگدلی است، نه؟) با این بهانه های الکی نمی تواند از زیر فشار این اقدام دخترش فرار کند ولی به احتمال زیادتر بازهم این دلیل مسخره وجود آزادی مطلق را تکرار خواهد کرد. از دو حالت خارج نیست: یا جناب کلهر مثل رئیس شان دروغ های خود را باور کرده اند! یا مثل رئیس شان ملت را احمق فرض کرده اند!

پی نوشت: قصد من در این نوشته صرفا کوبیدن جناب مهدی کلهر پرمدعا بود و اصلا قصد ناراحت کردن خانم نرگس کلهر و سایر اقوام شان را نداشته ام. به اعتقاد من نرگس کلهر یک عمل شجاعانه و اثرگذار انجام داده است و خدمت بزرگی به ایران و جهان نموده است. امیدوارم این شروع تازه اش بسیار پربار باشد.

در ضمن هر شش فیلمی که نام بردم به نظر من فیلم هایی زیبا و باحالی هستند به خصوص مجموعه شیرینی آمریکایی!

]]> http://thereandbackgalleria.wordpress.com/2009/10/13/westcomb-mojave-soft-shell-jacket/ Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:26:26 +0000 thereandbackgalleria http://thereandbackgalleria.wordpress.com/2009/10/13/westcomb-mojave-soft-shell-jacket/

Westcomb Whaa?

If you haven’t heard of Westcomb you should be ashamed of yourself! Not only is this company based out of Vancouver British Columbia, their products are made there too. Their goal is simple, create top of the line apparel that works great and looks even better. To learn more about Westcomb and to see the rest of their line, visit them on the web at, http://www.westcomb.com/.

Men’s Soft Shell Mojave Jacket

The Mojave is a must have soft shell. Equipped with Polartec Power Shield, it’s resistant to water, wind and abrasion without losing warmth, comfort or fit. The quality YKK zippers and  well placed pockets make it easy to access your stuff. The clever forearm pocket where I put my lip balm, is used more than I’d like to admit. The Mojave keeps me as warm as The North Face Apex Bionic jacket. But the Mojave is much lighter, thinner, fits better with less bulk and does this without losing ANY breathability. The price of this jacket is not unreasonable  for an exceptional piece of equipment. Remember, you get what you pay for!

Key Points:

1. Laminated Pockets
2. Warmth Without Weight
3. Wind, Water & Abrasion Resistant
4. 4-Way Stretch
5. Jacket & Hoody Versions available
6. Comes in Men’s & Woman’s sizes
7. Three colors:

• Black (shown here)
• Cloud (very light blue)
• Eclipse (blue)

]]> http://aboutbirds.wordpress.com/2009/09/25/plight-in-the-aridlands/ Fri, 25 Sep 2009 03:02:56 +0000 aboutbirds http://aboutbirds.wordpress.com/2009/09/25/plight-in-the-aridlands/

I’m going to do a short series about the state of the birds, this information is borrowed from the State of the Birds Report for 2009. Today’s discussion is about the birds of the Aridlands. The aridlands are the major deserts of North America, such as the Mojave and Sonoran Desert. They are characterized by low annual rainfall. Pretty much dry, desert-like areas with lots of scrub.

The Facts:

• More than 80 nesting species, many very unique to the area
  
• More than 3/4 of the species are declining in the aridlands
• Habitat loss, habitat degradation, invasive species and climate change all contribute to the decline of species
• 39% are of conservation concern
• 10 species are listed as endangered or threatened
• There has been steady decline of 17 of the 30 obligate species over the past 40 years

The Birds in Trouble:

• Endangered
  
  • California Condor
  • (Northern) Aplomado Falcon
  • (San Clemente) Loggerhead Shrike
  • (Least) Bell’s Vireo
  • Black-capped Vireo
  • Golden-cheeked Warbler
• Threatened
  • (Western) Snowy Plover
  • (Coastal) California Gnatcatcher
  • (Inyo) California Towhee
  • (San Clemente) Sage Sparrow

The Major Threats:

• Development and Energy – such as unplanned development, energy development and exploration, extreme urban and suburban areas are of greatest concern
  
• Agriculture and Invasive Species
• Climate Change – yes it is real

There is Hope:

• Active conservation measures – responsible agriculture and energy practices
  
• Creation of protected lands and linking them with communities to demonstrate the enjoyment of nature
• Innovative efforts for sustainable agriculture – water is a big problem right now for California and most likely will be for the future
• Keep up with the efforts – conservation measures have to be continuous for them to be effective

Despite the sad facts (I am depressed by this), not all is lost. California Condors are coming back due to the great conservation efforts and breeding programs. That’s good news. However, for more good news to take place, action needs to happen. Without action, these beautiful birds will fall by the wayside and finally into extinction. A lot of people don’t understand that when extinction happens, that species does not come back, ever. That’s not cool, people, not cool at all.

This information summed up the part on Aridlands from the State of the Birds Report. Check back next week for the next installment.

“Till next time – enjoy!

]]> http://magentaraves.wordpress.com/2009/09/23/new-mosaic-workshop-in-the-high-desert/ Wed, 23 Sep 2009 20:54:13 +0000 magentaraven http://magentaraves.wordpress.com/2009/09/23/new-mosaic-workshop-in-the-high-desert/

A new workshop and a new look at RAVEN moSai©s Please click it and SEE more about a ßeaµtiƒul get-a-way to wOnder valley for yOga, mOsai©s and gOOd ƒood. Speaking of ƒood there has been a lot on my plate… HWY 62 Art Tours and new mosai©S, nEw pOst©ards, new photographs, new ceramics…  and I will be exhibiting at Casa Magazine on ƒirst Thursday in October in Santa ßarabara… and did I say mOsai© wOrkShop ?!?!? Makes my head spin. But I look ƒorward to seeing you all !!! somEpla©e and sOme†ime…

“Take me to the desert grandpa! Ooh, fuzzy!”

-evan

     In order to find out what people really thought about Microsoft Vista, Microsoft conducted an experiment disguising Vista under the code name of Mojave and introduced it as the next operating system.  Their primary results concluded that 94% of respondents rate Mojave higher than what they initially rated Vista before the demo.  0% of the respondents rated Mojave lower than what they initially rated Vista before the demo.  On a scale from 1-10, the results coming from 140 people, 4.4 was the average pre-demo score for Windows Vista.  8.5 was the average post-demo score for the codenamed Windows Mojave.  Demos showed to the participants included security, compatibility, organization, Windows Media Center, file backup and gadgets.  http://www.microsoft.com/windows/mojave-experiment/#

     Microsoft conducted this experiment because they believed that the trouble people were having with Vista was really all in their head.  But according to many IT Managers, that isn’t so.  They cited the reasons for not wanting to upgrade to Vista due to it’s resource requirements, intrusive security features and lack of compatibility with older software.  Many people questioned the fact that users were only able to watch Vista, but not actually interact with it.  I believe if the participants were allowed to actually use it and not just watch it, the post-demo score would not have jumped so high.  When I bought a new desktop computer in January 2008, Microsoft Vista was the operating system.  I do not care for it at all.  I still prefer Windows XP over Vista.  http://www.informationweek.com/news/windows/operatingsystems/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=209800457

     The marketing aspects of the Mojave Experiment clearly backfired on Microsoft.  The most obvious reason being that they think consumers are stupid.  They also make the participants of the experiment look foolish, and who likes to feel that way?  Nobody.  Blaming the users of Vista for having problems with the operating software isn’t a great strategy to get more people to buy Vista either.  http://www.microsoft-watch.com/content/marketing/why_the_mojave_experiment_fails.html

Mojave anyone? When Microsoft polled 140 people that received a special new preview of Window’s latest operating system called “Mojave”, 94% initially gave it a higher rating that Window’s most recent operating system entitled Windows Vista. The only problem with this seeming simple “experiment” is that Windows Mojave is in actuality Windows Vista. The good people at Microsoft told 140 selected participants that Mojave was the latest greatest. As a result, the 140 people who reviewed the program gave it an average score of 8.5 out of 10. In contrast, those same people gave an average score of 4.4 to Windows Vista. So how could the same 140 people have radically different opinions about the exact same program with the exact same features (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/mojave-experiment/#)? It’s all about the marketing.

Our society has become brainwashed into thinking that whatever product is the newest technological wonder is automatically the best product available. In fact, as this “experiment” exposes, the difference between the old product and the new product can be nothing at all. Perception in the world of consumer electronics is everything. This presents a tremendous challenge for people at Microsoft and other software development companies. Once software is released, the clock begins ticking for when that particular product is considered by the public to be outdated. Consumers are constantly looking toward the next big thing, even when the next big thing is right in front of them. It has stopped becoming about what software can do for you and more about whether this is the newest software available. In an article by Jason Chen of Gizmodo.com, the author astutely points out that while the experiment fools people unfamiliar with Vista, it would not fool those who are used to Vista or who are typically using technology on a daily basis on high levels (http://gizmodo.com/5030561/microsofts-mojave-bait+and+switch-vista-experiment-video). But that is not the point of the experiment. Microsoft, like all companies in the software market, is constantly looking at how they can expand their market share, not please those who are already tech-savvy. Paul Miller, a blogger at Engadget.com, claims that this “slick sales presentation” does not prove anything (http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/29/mojave-experiment-goes-live-doesnt-fail-to-annoy/). Again, I totally disagree. I think it proves that when it comes to software, you are better off releasing the same product twice and renaming it than you are spending millions in development for a product no one will appreciate.

Reviewed for the Insomnia Radio: Daily Dose 09/09/09

Today’s Daily Dose track ‘For a While’ comes to you from Vancouver band Mojave’s second album Crow’s Funeral. Mojave are lead singer/guitarist LJ and guitarist/sometimes singer Paul. They are an elusive pair, no last names given, but after hearing their album you could feel as if you know them, such are the depths to which they plunge into their emotions and experiences.

Part folkish-rock, part symphonic and entirely emotive, the album is a haunting mix of urgent, pleading vocals, delicate guitars and rich, warm strings.

The instrumentation is pleasingly varied, moving from epic, almost operatic numbers full of strings like this Daily Dose track, to banjo-led ballads (the title track), with some theramin thrown in for colour on ‘Wake Up’. The lyrics are consistently poignant, and delivered so beautifully and tentatively that the emotional feel of each song is truly compelling.

There is a sense of vulnerability on this record that makes you feel as if you’ve become privy to someone’s innermost thoughts, and an honesty that makes it captivating if not a tiny bit unnerving. However, the dark secrets of this album are cut through in the middle by ‘California’, a hopeful and uplifting track that lends some sunshine to an otherwise heartwrenching record.

Crow’s Funeral is a dark, resounding album full of many different layers, both musically and emotionally, which gives a glimpse into the lives of its composers that can catch you off guard; a rare feat, and a beautiful one.

• Purchase Crow’s Funeral
• myspace.com/mojave
• Mojave.fm

A big welcome to everyone who made the move with me from The Bee Blog to The Wild Bee!  I’m in nesting mode here in this new (virtual) home and thought a perfect first post would be this photo of one of my favorite wild bees:

Photo by Matthew Haug

See that striped abdomen in the center?  That’s a female Ashmeadiella opuntiae (Megachilidae), a pollen specialist (oligolege) on plants in the cactus family (Cactaceae), building her nest in a hole in the tip of one of those very cacti, a buckhorn cholla (Opuntia acanthocarpa).  It was so special to see this A. opuntiae making her home sweet home in her host plant — a rare sight.

All this relocating and nesting has me remembering lyrics from that old Shaker Hymn, “Simple Gifts”:

‘Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free,

‘Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,

And when we find ourselves in the place just right,

‘Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

Or, at least in the case of this little bee, “‘Twill be in Lanfair Valley in the East Mojave.”

Here’s to finding yourself in the place just right  — in the field, on the internet, and in life in general.  And, again, welcome!

NATURAL HISTORY DESCRIPTION

Date/Time: 2:00 PM on 8 June 2006

Location: Near the intersection of Cedar Canyon Road and Ivanpah Road in Lanfair Valley in the Mojave National Preserve, San Bernardino Co., California, USA.

Observation: I observed a female Ashmeadiella opuntiae (Megachilidae) entering and leaving a hole in the tip of a branch of Opuntia acanthocarpa (Cactaceae).  The location of the hole was in the stem tip tissue from which the previous year’s ripe fruit had fallen away.  The hole appeared to have been opened by a source other than the bee.  The bee appeared to be constructing a nest within the hole; she would enter and remain half-submerged in the hole, with her abdomen protruding, as she worked inside.  When the bee saw that she was being observed and photographed, she fully entered the hole and turned around to face me, hidden and protected in her nest.  During the observation period (~10 minutes), she entered and emerged from the hole/nest multiple times.

The Salton Sea is in the area of the California Desert just south of Palm Springs. It was a recreation are in the 50’s but after a severe flooding and a series of environmental disasters the sea is pretty much abandon there are some people that live in the surrounding communities but not much. This was my first trip out to the Salton Sea but hopefully not the last. I was turned on to the place by my friend Hans who has made amazing pictures of the area. He was our tour guide. The temperature for the two days we were out there was around 107 degrees during the day. Ridiculous working conditions. I didn’t get any real amazing photographs but I did have a good time sightseeing this interesting area of the California Desert.

These are called the Mud Pots, and they are a filled with hot water and create these mounds when they shoot water into the air.

This is called Salvation Mountain and this place is like nothing you will ever see. Leonard Knight a man who must be in his 80’s lives and works on this project every day.

The desert highway.

The Fountain of Youth retirement community.

Bombay Beach

I went camping in the California Desert earlier this week with some friends from photo school. We toured around the Salton Sea which is 50miles south of Palm Springs. It is an accidental man made lake that was once a destination resort in the 50’s but has since been almost abandon due to high levels of salt content in the Sea. There are a some people left who are a bit eccentric and we met a few of them on the road like Honk Daddy the unofficial mayor of Bombay Beach and Leonard the artist behind Salvation Mountain so stay tuned for more photos from the Salton Sea.

¡Demasiado tiempo ha pasado desde mi último post!

Y yo que pensaba que sólo fue hace unos días. Pero bueno, he estado ocupado… tengo nueva tabla de snowboard y había que estrenarla con todo.

–

Vengo llegando de Porto Alegre donde pude asistir al BSOP de la ciudad, tras un fugaz paso por Sao Paulo (Azafatas de TAM, yum… om nom nom).

En Porto Alegre me junté con nuestro nuevo embajador (PartyPoker), Felipe Mojave, quien a esta altura ya tiene blog, twitter, orkut, etc, etc. Pueden visitarle aquí. Fuimos junto a Mojave y Akkari a comer a un restoran de Sushi cerca del hotel donde se realizaba el torneo, y terminamos apostando la cuenta. Sólo decir… yo el primero afuera… Gracias por el almuerzo gratis!

Aún no he vuelto a jugar, estoy como el más casual, lo que siginfica que tendre que ponerme a estudiar pronto ya que el bankroll se agota rápido después de no jugar varios meses.

Espero volver pronto a Brasil, y creo que será dentro de un mes o algo más… ¿Mencioné a las azafatas de TAM? zOMFG!

Dark dreams.

Thinking about Sam Shepard, Monte Hellman, Harry Dean Stanton, Two-Lane Blacktop, Vanishing Point, Gregory Sandor, the Mojave Desert, the Salton Sea. . .

People I’ve never met. Places I’ve never been.

Polaroid 355 Automatic.
Fuji FP-100B film.

Pour enough cash into greentech startups and environmental efforts, and sooner or later a couple of your investments might cross paths — especially in a time when large-scale solar projects planned for the Mojave Desert are coming under fire from environmental groups concerned about desert species and habitats.

For venture capitalist David Gelbaum, it’s sooner: The former hedge fund and mathematician’s firm, Quercus Trust, is one of at least six major backers for eSolar, a solar thermal developer that won praise from the non-profit Wildlands Conservancy last week for siting its latest project — the 5 MW Sierra SunTower — on “disturbed lands,” rather than “pristine California desert.” Director David Myers summed up his stance like so: “We can’t say enough great things about eSolar.”

That works out nicely for Gelbaum, because guess who sits on the Conservancy’s board and has become the group’s biggest backer? None other than the VC himself, according to Green Wombat.

It should be said that the Wildlands Conservancy has provided one of the louder voices of support for Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s proposal to ban renewable energy projects on vast swaths of the Mojave, as NYT’s Green Inc. noted recently. So while it’s unlikely that Myers showed up at eSolar’s SunTower event last week simply because of Gelbaum’s interest, the desert development issue has positioned the Conservancy in staunch opposition to some of eSolar’s potential competitors. For example, Myers has called solar thermal startup BrightSource Energy’s planned 500 MW project in the Mojave, which is among those that would be halted under Feinstein’s legislation, “devastating.”

As for Gelbaum, it makes sense for a millionaire environmentalist to back both green advocacy work and alternative energy ventures. With any luck, his investments will continue to get along.

And welcome–we’re so glad you found us.

We are the Fort Irwin Home Educators Co-op.

Who are we? We are families, stationed here in the Mojave Desert, educating our children at home.  We are seasoned experts, green-as-they-come newbies and a lot of us fall somewhere in between.  Some of us have been doing this from the beginning, while others have decided to try something new after many years of classroom education.  The common thread is that we all love the educational path we’ve chosen, supporting each other and welcoming new families into this great adventure called Homeschooling.

What do we do? We aren’t an oversight group in any regard.  We do work to bring you some of the most amazing educational opportunities for your children that you’ll find anywhere.  We are about more than simply “school at home”; we’re about learning and having a lot of fun along the way.

- Home Education Seminars
- Monthly field trips
- Weekly Physical Education activities & Game Days
- Mom’s Night Out
- And more…

Have you ever wondered what in the world goes on at Goldstone?  We’ve seen it.  How on earth do we get clean drinking water out in the middle of a dry, dusty desert?  We’ve been there (it’s pretty awesome).  Can you imagine a fine art seminar for your budding Michelangelo?  We worked with a local artist to do just that.  We’ve done all these things and so much more.

How do we do it? We realize that getting connected and staying “in the loop” is essential to your and your child’s success.  We have an active Yahoo Group where you can ask questions, share great resources and just about anything else related to home education.  It’s also how we inform our members of upcoming activities.  Simply click to join; we’d love to have you!

The opportunities here are so vast and exciting; there is so much more to the desert than meets the eye!  We invite you to visit our Semester page (see page bar at top)  if you’d like a glimpse at the incredible variety of upcoming activities that will be available to our families.

Death of a Perfect Man

Short Synopsis

Jada Beaudine has lost her husband Terry in a tragic and mysterious boating accident–and she badly needs a change.  She leaves her home in Puget Sound to get away from the horror, the memories, and the relentless glare of publicity that surrounded her husband’s death.

Alone, she drives south and by the second evening finds herself taking a wrong turn in the stark Mojave high desert of interior Southern California.  While mesmerized by the bigger-than-life beauty of a desert sunset, she nearly runs out of gas in the middle of nowhere.  Amid mounting apprehension, she manages to find the odd “Red Rock Inn & Café,” a lost, creepy old resort from some other place and time–where, Irina, a strange emerald-eyed woman materializes and convinces her to stay the night.

She’ll check out early in the morning and be on her way, right?

But by morning, events unravel quickly and Jada finds herself pulled straight into the scene of a bizarre murder.  As she reluctantly tries to make sense of this murder, it’s soon followed by yet another.  And all the while, Jada is being followed by people with varied, surprising and even sinister agendas of their own.

Yes, she may have a knack for solving murders—as psychic Irina seems to know—but in this off-kilter scenario, Jada has her own powerful hunch that the next victim will be her.  And every time she tries to leave this otherworldly place, she finds that somehow she can’t…

M.M. Gornell is a lifetime lover of mysteries of all types, and her favorite novelist is P. D. James.  Besides reading and writing, she is a potter with a fondness for stoneware and reduction firing.

Also a gardener, she is continually searching for desert adaptable plants to nurture–especially rare fruit trees such as Jujube.

M.M. Gornell lives with her husband and assorted canines in California’s high-desert.  You can visit her online at http://www.mmgornell.com, http://www.mmgornell.wordpress.com, and email her directly at mmgornell@earthlink.net.

The travel temple took it’s maiden voyage and all I can say is, “©osmic wheels” Doug and I have been wO®king hAr∂ on ge††ing the t®Avel †emple rea∂ie∂ fO® ßµ®ning mAn. We’®e hoping to pA®k on Lineage at 8′O©lo©k.