SF New Mexican: Ominous GOP mailer draws criticism.
Sick and twisted. I cannot condemn this in strong enough terms.
The Atlantic: How America’s Past Shapes Native Americans’ Present.
“Later that century, there was a movement to “civilize,” or assimilate, Native Americans, and the Bureau created federal boarding schools, where Native American children were separated from their parents and only allowed to speak English and play sports that had European origins.” The local tribes ground the old Indian School to powder, even taking the old trees away. That bad a memory.
Deadline tonight.
Links will be thin - as if they haven’t been! Sorry for the circumstance. That time of year!
Mashable: Over half of U.S. fracking wells are in water-stressed areas, report says.
I maintain it is patently insane to frack in drought-prone areas. Especially when we receive 300+ days a year of sun (solar) and almost as many days of wind (wind power). Makes. Absolutely. No. Sense.
Metafilter: It’s balloon fiesta time!
That’s the definitive FPP. Good work, filthy light thief.
So, given the previous two posts ...
My weekend wasn’t wasted. And yet I spent most of my time looking, enjoying the scenery. I’d say northern NM is peaking all this week (barring rain to knock stuff down out of trees). The Santa Fe Ski Basin ... this week and next week both. But with Balloon Fiesta going, you’ll be better served to drive north and find other locales. The Ski Basin road is mobbed and unpleasant. The popularity of smartphones with cameras have just made everything worse. Last year I saw at least two runaway cars - people who so HAD to take a photo, they didn’t set the parking brake. Both ended safely within a couple of seconds. Still.
OneHeadlightInk: Large scale feature film casting. [BEARDS!]
Turkish beards needed. Into growing facial hair? This is the casting call for you.
Naked Cap: Fade OPEC.
Santa Fe Concorso ...
... shot, downloaded, backed up. Doing a third backup (Time Machine), just because. Three days of nonstop really physical shooting activity. Between all the fitness work I put in, along with a well-focused choice of rentals ... I call this a total success. And I never call things successes. I’m really happy with how things came out, how my body and mind stood up to the challenge. Images will trickle through as I begin the post-processing effort.
NM Political Report: Audit - NM didn’t collect $193 million in taxes from insurance companies.
“It will take us a year to finish this. We haven’t lost any of this money. If it’s there, we will collect it.” Um ... if it’s there?
Storify: NM Pubic Defender Crisis Tweetstorm.
My local attorney friend goes on a rant. And it’s IMPORTANT. Pass it around, NM’ans.
Another busy morning.
Links when I can. Photo and video shoots today - and it’s cloudy. Rain, hold off for just a little, please ...
OneHeadlightInk: Netflix mini-series “Godless” filming in New Mexico.
Michelle Dockery, in Santa Fe? This’ll be amazing. Juli’ll have people asking her for autographs.
Love this old place.
Should be back to a marginally normal blogging rhythm tomorrow.
The Atlantic: The Plight of the Overworked Nonprofit Employee.
SF New Mexican: Tensions soar as more and more drifters call national parks home.
I’ve not encountered this. Yet.
Just before the light diminished.
SF New Mexican: Mayor opens dialogue on Santa Fe fiestas.
KPCC: Coyote attacks are increasing in Southern California. Why?
Of note. Esp. to NM’ans. Though this happened in CA, we had a wet beginning to last winter, and rodent populations skyrocketed. Those populations are dwindling now, so we have a lot of coyotes without a lot to eat. Careful while hiking with kids, walking pets or passing fixed garbage collection installations.
KOB: Restaurant selling ‘Black Olives Matters’ shirts following social media backlash.
And you thought “All Lives Matter” was as controversial as you could get ...
SF New Mexican: New Mexico pension funds miss targets for returns.
Wikipedia: Granite Mountain (film).
They were filming part of this over by La Tienda the other day, just 3/4’s of a mile down the road. Haven’t seen any of the stars ... yet.
SF New Mexican: Santa Fe residents, tourists, business owners decry spike in parking rates.
“... under an operating budget that Mayor Javier Gonzales and city councilors approved in May after wrangling with a shortfall of up to $15 million, on-street parking meter rates increased from $1 an hour to $2 an hour for the first two hours and then $3 for every hour after that.” Revenues would be higher, if the city would market to the demographic who can afford to purchase the merchandise for sale in Santa Fe. Instead, with their emphasis on youth and social media, we have higher foot-traffic, all tchotchke-buyers and significantly less revenue in city coffers. You’d have to be blind not to see it. A simple survey of business owners in Santa Fe would give the city an education.
As I like to say, Santa Fe can’t exist as one of the top three art destinations in America through sales of $3 burritos and postcards. A ‘margarita trail’ was one of the city’s latest brainchildren. Again, completely wrong targeting. Margarita buyers are going to purchase five-digit-price artworks? Like we need more tipsy people on the road, in a state that ranks on the bottom for drunken driving. Work out how many $9.75 margaritas you have to sell to equal the revenue of one $50,000 artwork. Round it, you don’t even need a calculator to see the problem.
There’s a virtually silent fight going on, for the soul of Santa Fe. What is Santa Fe to be, looking towards the future? As with politics, noone’s really listening to the businesses who MAKE the character of the town. Another crazy thing ... allowing food trucks on Canyon Road. The premier art destination in the West, and some poor galleries are going to have exhaust, generator-noise and cooking smells permeating their galleries (and expensive artworks). I don’t even want to think about the garbage issue. Too many are already walking into expensive galleries, asking to throw away their smelly food garbage.
And while I’m at it, build some public restrooms. No food trucks without access to bathrooms. For goodness sake, the La Fonda and the 225 Compound can only bear so much abuse. They’re actually private, but bear a huge weight of public use. Even marked on city maps as ‘public’! [Ever used one of the bogs in the parking garages? I rest my case.] They’re taking it on the chin for the team, and deserve some city monies for upkeep, IMHO. A great spot would be west of the big tree on the SW corner of Alameda and Paseo, halfway from downtown to Canyon. And FLUSH. Not a bloody pit. Come to think of it, they could pave a pullout and have their food trucks THERE. The retirees might have a fit, across the river. Or perhaps not. Something to watch, as their time ticks down. Never know unless you ask.
One last. If you live here, and you’ve not been down Garcia lately, go. They built a sloped curb on the west side of the street. Not sure why. Looks nice, people are still trying to park on that side [for FREE, so imagine the popularity for locals], but it’s turned Garcia into a virtual one-lane road. Can’t park as far over as previously. Keeps the sidewalk clear, but pedestrians still walk in the street. More dangerous for pedestrians and vehicles. They need to simply stop parking on that side, if they want two-way traffic. So many who live on the road have dumped boulders out to prevent parkers. But that’s also where Canyon Road workers park their cars so they don’t take up precious customer spaces. Eliminate one problem, create a dozen more. That’s Santa Fe. “Gotta love it.” I’d add a New Mexico True hashtag, but I’d get roasted for not being cloyingly positive about all these details. Never offer a tourist a reason to go elsewhere! If you read the article above, you’ll see they’re finding out on their own ...
ArtDaily: SITE Santa Fe opens second installment of reimagined biennial series.
Always fun to see Santa Fe galleries in the national news. Hasn’t been happening as much as in the past.
OilPrice: Despite Low Oil Prices, Saudi Arabia Stabilizing Economy.
All I have to say is, New Mexico better unlink revenue from oil and gas, and move into renewables. Like, yesterday.
