Long Shadows

When I was living in Los Angeles autumn pretty much passed without any notice. The weather there is so moderate year round that seasons blur in to one another. In fact its more like earthquake season...fire season...riot season. Also, this time of year the Santa Ana winds blow in from the desert and whip up so much crap in the air that colors and shadows are diffused. Being back here in New Mexico USA though the seasons are much more evident. The fall colors are pretty amazing. The long shadows are so much more evident and defined,not to mention the smell of 'green chili' roasting. Very cool. Its the snow drifts of winter I'm not looking forward to. I'm not a winter driver.

Scrapbook 01

It was July of 2005 when I moved back to
Albuquerque after having lived in Los Angeles
for the last 19 years. I grew up here on and
off as a kid and had been back to visit for
birthdays and such but never really explored
the state.Now that I am back I definately plan
to.

Below you'll see snapshots of some of my
adventures thus far.


My back yard....well not literally but close
enough. Its just down the street. Cool huh.


A cemetary near my house. Sadly, the names
on all the crosses are no longer visible.


A large part of a city's past are its
cemetaries. I wish I could find some infor-
mation on it.


Our big shiney new AAA ballpark. For as
long as I can remember this was the home
of the Dodgers AAA team, The Dukes.
When they asked for a new stadium back
in 2004 the city said no. No sooner had
the ink dried and the Dukes moved to
Las Vegas then the Marlins came to town
with their AAA team, The Isotopes and
poof...they got a new stadium. I'm a
die hard Dodgers fan so I only make a game
now and then to 'Topes Stadium...besides,
the hot dogs here suck. Grilled and footlong
like at Dodger Stadium is what I need.
Not to mention I miss the roar of 50,000 people.



Both Albuquerque and Santa Fe [only an
hour away] are art hubs for the southwest
and you can see public displays of art all over.



This is on the main plaza up in
Santa Fe. [Those are French people next
to it--not that there is anything wrong with
that.]


The National Atomic Museum is another
interesting one here in town. Along with
the Rattlesnake Museum, Tinkertown
Museum among others [more later].


A new friend at the Museum of
Natural History.


It was a wetter then normal monsoon
season here...one of the wettest in 10
years I'm told. That has come to pass...
winter is on its way. Last year was real mild
[remember I'm use to going to the beach
on Christmas Day back in CA]. I am not
looking forward to driving in snow.





The skies here are amazing.

I'm out.

The Air Up There

If you have a digital camera, always, Always ALWAYS carry it with you. If not you could miss the kind of photo opp I had today.... dang it.

October 6th was the beginning of the Albuquerque International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta. HUNDREDS of hot air balloons from all over the world decend here the second week of October for the worlds largest hot air balloon rally. If only I were a poet so I could describe the wonderment of it all, the beauty of it.

So I'm driving in to work today and along Montgomery and San Pedro I look up to see this hot air balloon hovering just above the tree tops and electrical wires... balloons are NOT supposed to be that low around the metro area so I knew something was definately wrong. I proceded to pick up a co-worker and on the way down her street the balloon appears again...this time just skimming over rooftops. and trees... you could see at least 8 to 10 people in the gondola. I'm figuring it was too heavy...so we are driving and my co-worker Angela says.."pull down this street, hurry" so we take a chance and drive along a neighborhood street and sure enough...the balloon is coming RIGHT AT US where we are parked.. the chase vehicle comes around the corner and the driver motions for us to move out of the way so i do a quick u-turn and let the chase vehicle pass us and I follow behind...

The chase vehicle stops right near a three way stop in what is obviously a normally quiet neighborhood...now here's where I WISH I had brought my camera.... the hot air ballon with its 8 t0 10 passengers suddenly decends out of the sky ...skimmng rooftops...between trees and to the pilots credit lands almost smack center in the intersection. The chase crew grabs the gondola as it pulls them a few feet along the steet.

It was funny.. this woman was coming out of her house with her child in her arms unaware of the incident going on...as she exits her house her kid screams..."mommmmmmy" and she looks up only to see the gondola right over her head....roof high... she screams too and moves back into the doorway.... The balloon landed safely and everyone started to applaud... I guess the news spread fast cause people were running down the street to visit the strangers from another world....hahaha... people started shaking hands...pictures going off...it was too cool.

The balloon fiesta takes place the second weekend every October. Its usually pretty cold in the early morning. If you want to be there for the mass ascention you need to be there by 5 am if not earlier. The crowds are HUGE and traffic is a mess. There are park and ride areas as well as the new Rail Runner metro-rail service to the park.

There is also a new Hot Air Balloon Museum that has opened and is worth checking out.

I'm out....until our next adventure.

Petroglyphs on the Edge of Forever

Hello again. Welcome to my first adventure. You'll need some water as we will be hiking.


In September my buddy Rudy [on the right] came out for the New Mexico State Fair. We had good old fashioned fun: kettle corn, craft pavillions and ooooh.. navajo tacos mmmm. Afterwards we took a hike west of the city of Albuquerque to the Petroglyph National Monument. There are several trails and unfortunately due to limited sunlight we were not able to hike the five extinct volcanoes on the outskirts of town. Entry is free although you might have to pay a parking fee of like two or three dollars.













The petro's were created by Native Americans and the Conquistadors ages ago. I wonder what they are symbolic of... or are they just plain graffitti?? Most of the drawings by the Spaniards were religous symbols.
















But what of something like this?? What is it sybolic of?? A being with three antennae and four toes.





























Of course I had to add my take on things....
I KID, I KID!!!!!




























We were out in mid September so the weather was AWESOME. The trail we were on was pretty flat and we did not see one snake which was suprising considering how wet the monsoon season was this year.

I was hoping we could go on a mesa and see what was on the other side. From within the city you can see to the end of town. The last thing you see are the volcanoes to the west as if the world ends right there. To the east are the Sandia Mountains. One definately feels enclosed.

Coming up next: Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. Woo-hoo!!! Up up and away.

I'm out.

Is Zia contagious??

What is a Zia? Is it contagious like bird flu? Can you drink it with a twist of lime? Ah, New Mexico...so far from heaven, so close to Texas.The Zia is the sun symbol used by the Zia Indians and adopted by the State of New Mexico for its flag. New Mexico is rich in Native American and Spanish/Mexico history. I grew up here on and off as a kid but for the last 19 years lived in a sleepy cowtown on the coast called Los Angeles [maybe you heard of it]. As a kid I never really got the chance to explore the state and even now it does not seem like home. But none the less I am back and now hope to discover it fully and take you along with me. I hope to include in my adventures travels to northern New Mexico steeped in myth and mystery [eg: The Taos hum or the Four Corners region] and to southern New Mexico to such places as White Sands and the Trinity Site [where the first atomic bomb wax exploded. It is only open twice a year and you are able to stand at ground zero!!!]. To Roswell home of the 1947 alleged UFO crash. It should be fun and you get to do it from the seat of your chair or under the covers. No bags required. The adventures continue....

TARGET on target

TARGET department stores has a new ad campaign called ALL POSSIBILITIES. I have to take a moment to mention the song they use called ALL POSSIBILITIES by Badly Drawn Boy, one of my favorite singers. Badly Drawn Boy [aka Damon Gough] also did the music for the movie ABOUT A BOY. Great voice, great lyrics and a wonder why he didn't break through here. Some songs I suggest you download include: ALL POSSIBILITIES, SILENT SIGH, HOW and his cover version of COME ON EILEEN.

IN THE BEGINNING....

Where to begin. Let's see.. "Call me Ishmaell!!" no no.. something better.. uhm..."My father's family name being Pirrip..." no no.. I need something catchy... something like..."I was born a poor black child. I remember the days, sittin' on the porch with my family, singin' and dancin' down in Mississippi. "... THAT'S MORE LIKE IT!!!

Actually... beginnings are hard. Like re-locating here to New Mexico USA.

Do I start with a re-cap of my last 20 years in Los Angeles....the earthquakes...the riots...the floods...the fires....OJ....MJ... naw... the media covered that.although I might refer back to them once in awhile. Do I give you my view of the the news, gossip and politics...? HELL NO! There are enough people on here doing that.

I will instead make this a simple travel/personal adventure log for anyone planning to visit the great state of New Mexico USA [as opposed to Old Mexico, the country]. I will keep my views and opinions on politics and religion to a minimum.

Keep in mind when visiting New Mexico USA:

! You only need a passport to gain entry into the USA not New Mexico from within the USA.
2. English IS spoken here.
3. We have running water and modern toilets.
4. New Mexico Green chili [not Anaheim green...yuck!!!] is the staple food here.
5. You CAN drink the water.

Well that's all for now. I'll post more later with pics of my most recent hiking adventure to the Petroglyph National Monument. Pretty cool actually and FREE!!

WAR DODGERS!!

I'm out.

The Lowdown on GMCBUDD

THIS IS A TEST. OCTOBER 04 2006. GMC-TV IS ON THE AIR. JAAANE!!! STOP THIS CRAZY THING!!!