Sunday's Column - Vincent Price

A Work  by Arnold Meskes

Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew that the late actor Vincent Price was an art collector, but I had no idea how far he had taken it.  In 1951 at age 40, he was asked to give a speech  to the East Los Angeles Community College, and afterwards he realized that there were no art museums in this unincorporated part of the city.  He therefore began to donate pieces from his own collection and by 1957 a building was erected to display the works.

His interest in art was very diverse, and there is a collection of early Colombian art, the cataloguing and display of which director Karen Rapp is overseeing.

The Museum has over 9,000 artifacts, although not all of these are on show or belonged to the actor.

Vincent Price died in 1993 at the age of 83 - he was an avid smoker!

I took my grandson, Evan along with me and he enjoyed looking at some of the work of students which is on show.

Considering the lack of other places to view art in this area, a visit to the Vincent Prince Art Museum is well worth the effort.

Their Web site is: http://www.vincentpricemuseum.org/

You can read the entire column at www.sbsun.com/trevorstravels

Music Track - Tom Waits

I played one of Tom Waits songs last year.  I nearly repeated it, but here's another one which you may know. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aTvELXNXNU&feature=related
One critic described his voice as sounding like it had been soaked in a vat of bourbon, put in a smokehouse for a month, then taken outside and run over by a car.  See what you think.

Cheetah!

On an assignment to the San Diego Safari Park last week, we came face to face with a cheetah - literally!  The last exhibit we saw was this magnificent creature running at full speed.  Some facts first: there are three cheetahs at the park and each one has a live-in companion which is a large dog.  The cheetah we met was called Shylee and his companion was an Anatolian Sheepdog called Yeti.

Here, handler Missy, is walking the two of them - Yeti goes everywhere with Shylee, and in fact before the "run," Yeti has to go first to let Shylee know it's safe, then wait at the end to encourage him on.

Shylee weighs 125 pounds and as he exits his cage he hits 40 m.p.h. within four strides.

He chases a fluffy toy down 150 yards of fine green turf, as the toy is pulled on a rope attached to a Ford starter motor.  The toy disappears into the little box you can see here, while Shylee collects his reward - meat of course!

Halfway down the track, Shylee hit his racing stride and went past at

70 m.p.h.  You could hear his paws drumming on the turf.

Afterwards he was brought into a compound to meet people and pose for pictures.

Yeti, the dog stayed close to calm the big cat, and Missy the handler kept him occupied with treats and also a meat flavored popsicle to cool him down.

The Park don't guarantee more than one run, as that's the decision of the handler, but on the day we were there, Shylee seemed up for a repeat and Missy cooled him down in the shade for ten minutes before walking him back for another 70 m.p.h. dash.

In the wild, a cheetah can only charge for up to about 20 seconds, which is normally enough to catch its prey.  The tail is extremely long as at that speed he needs a rudder to help change direction when the prey dodges the charge.  Also unlike other cats, the claws, which are substantial, don't retract.

It was quite a visit to the park and we enjoyed it all.  However, the 6.4 seconds it took Shylee to reach the end of his run were by far the most memorable moments.  I could certainly see that again.

If you'd like to see cheetahs run click on this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpS5sVr-e18&feature=related



Speed

A few years back I decided to try and really make a dent in the time I took to bicycle round the lake.  Normally I would take about an hour and ten minutes to do the 15+ miles, but this time I really trained up for it, and on one Sunday I took off with the stopwatch running.  I got back in 55 minutes and have always thought that was pretty good.

On Saturday in the Tour De France, there was a time trial which was won by a German, Tony Martin.  Now to put this all in perspective; if Tony Martin and I set off from my house, we would both get back at about the same time.  The only difference is that he would have gone round TWICE to my going round ONCE!

Excuse me, but I'm off to find some humble pie to have for lunch!

Two Wheels Part III

I rode the FXRS for eight years. and it was a wonderful machine.  I was told that it was the most popular motorcycle among Harley mechanics.  But I yearned for a bigger one. 

Hence the purple Softail that was built here in Big Bear.  I helped build it myself, but I was never 100% sure of it so the time came for a change.

I kept this rather pretty Yamaha 650 up in Big Bear for when I came up for weekends and vacations.  Currently it's under wraps for when I can't lift the Harley.

Here, SWMBO is sitting pretty on the current ride - a 2003 Harley Davidson Heritage Softail.  It's the ultimate machine for me.

As for the future, well it is a day to day thing.  I have friends who have given up riding, but I still feel quite confident, although long rides with my important and irreplaceable passenger on the back may be a thing of the past.

Au Revoir France

The Tour de France is over.  In the next few days I shall miss the excitment of the daily long races and chases throughout the beautiful country of France.  Hat's off to the champion, Cadel Evans of Australia.  He kept his powder dry all the way through the 2,000 miles race until he climbed up slowly in the ratings, and took the yellow jersey on the penultimate day by winning the time trial.  Congratulations too to Mark Cavendish the "Manx Missile" sprinter.

Quagga Mussels

Big Bear Lake is trying hard to fight a Soviet invasion.  Correctly it is an invasion from the River Dnieper in Ukraine.  In 1989 in Lake Erie some strange zebra striped mussels were discovered.  They were traced to water that had been used as ballast in oceon going ships and then the water was dischaged into the Great Lakes.  The mussels are prolific breeders and one female can produce a million eggs a year.  They filter the water as the eat and then produce a mucous which kills aquatic fauna and flora.

In order to fight this pest every vessel no matter how small has to be inspected before it's launched into the lake.  As far as my own boat is concerned it has never seen any water other than Big Bear Lake, nonetheless before it's launched it is checked for the dreaded quagga.  Moules marinier anyone?

Sunday's Column

The High Altar of San Gabriel Mission Church

This week we visited a very old place - San Gabriel Mission.  One of the few things I miss about leaving Europe is the lack of really old places.  We always took them so much for granted over there.  But this place, although not as old as some of the churches we are used to goes back to California's origins.  It was founded in 1771, and is now part of the Claretian Order.  It was number four in a line of 21 missions up the state.

St. Anthony Claret

You can read the entire column at www.sbsun.com/trevorstravels

MUSIC TRACK

This is a very sad post this week. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1evzhSast8&feature=related
Yesterday, Amy Winehouse was found dead apparently of a drug overdose.  She joins a number of 27 year olds who were unable to balance the weight of fame and fortune with their god given musical talent.  These are Kurt Cobain; Jimi Hendrix; Jim Morrison and Janis Joplin, all dead at 27.  RIP, Amy!

Fawnskin Lodge

On a ride around the lake the other day I stopped to take a picture of a rather sad sight.  It's the Fawnskin Lodge Hotel.  Fawnskin is a little satellite village across the lake from the city of Big Bear.  It's extremely small and has about 10 businesses, four or five of which are no longer open.  Even the small park, which was generously donated by the singer Shirley Jones (Carousel) and her husband, is closed.  They live high up above the village.

I've been visiting the area since 1983, and the Fawnskin Lodge has never been open.  I'm not sure when it was closed, and the closure was due to some new building regulation which declared that the structure was too heavy for its foundations.  So it has sat empty for at least 28 years and there is nothing anyone can do.  I guess it will just fall down one of these days, which will add another bit of decrepitude to this otherwise pretty village.

Fishing

One of the biggest attractions up here is fishing.  Now I have to say that not only am I a poor fisherman, but I don't like it very much.  I think my previous career caused me to spend long hours on my own in hotels and aircraft, and solitude was not something I particularly sought out.  I'm not sure if I'm a bad fisherman because I have no patience, or perhaps I have no patience because I'm a bad fisherman.  But it bores me dreadfully.
Nonetheless, I fully accept the draw it has, and I enjoy seeing people with all their tackle and the sweet joy of apprehension of the day ahead.

Platform on the north shore of Big Bear Lake

Recently the authorities have installed a number of fishing platforms around the lake to help organize the sport for those who don't have boats.

It costs about $35 a year for a fishing licence and a quarter of that for a daily one.  Woe betide anyone caught fishing without the necessary forms as the fines are extremely high.

There is perhaps one exception to my dislike of fishing and that was when I used to go down to Cornwall - the furthest point Southwest in England.  There would be about six or seven of us, who would drive down and go out with a professional captain for about eight hours, fishing above the many wrecks that the dangerous seas there had claimed.  We use to pull up Ling, Wrasse, Bream, Pollock and the infamous Conger Eels which could be quite big.  They had a lot of teeth and they were not happy to be taken from their watery homes.

Two Wheels Part II

My 1993 FXRS - SP



Continuing the two wheel journey, my next step is what happened with a motorcycle.  These machines were generally considered working men's transportation in the 50's and 60's.  They were dangerous and also with such a rainy climate they were not a lot of fun.  By 1992, I had never ridden one and only been on the back three times.  My son, Michael, bought a Harley Davidson Sportster for riding in London and when he came out to me he wanted to visit the local dealer.  During our visit he suggested that this was something that I might enjoy doing.  Naturally I pooh-poohed it, but the idea must have sunk in as I began going there myself and browsing around.  I didn't tell She Who Must Be Obeyed (S.W.M.B.O.) as I assumed she would not approve.  I was correct!  Eventually the secret came out however and we had strong words about it; she didn't like the idea at all.

I continued with my dream and I managed to get her along to the dealer to see which one I looked best on.  She said an FXRS model in black was the one and so it was.
I joined a California Highway Patrol motorcycle riding course and spend a couple of weekends sitting in a classroom and then riding around a parking lot on a Honda 150 c.c. machine.

Nothing prepared me for the shock of actually riding a 1350 c.c. machine off the lot on October 17, 1992 and particularly as I had to ride over the busiest crossroads in LA - Washington and Lincoln, where they were shooting a film that day!

This is the actual picture of me riding off the Bartels HD lot on the morning of October 17th, 1992.  Brand new jacket, boots and gloves - everything squeaked!  The young lady on the left is Molly from whom I bought the machine.

I managed to get the bike home without dropping it, and then it was just a case of practising, which I did; a lot!

Dog Act

My friend Chana sent me this rather fun clip from Britain's Got Talent, the TV show with the ubiquitous Simon Cowell. http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=-0jNC_w1tSw&feature=player_embedded
For your interest the two over-excited young men in the wings and at the very start have Geordie accents - they come from the top north east corner of England, just below Hadrian's Wall.  A land of warm beer and ugly women!

Beach Walker

My friend, Tony, in England sent me this very interesting video of a man in Holland called Theo Jansen.  He builds the most amazing "creatures" out of polyester tubing and lets them go on the beaches of Holland.  As an accompanying note with the link said: "what sort of mind has this fellow got?"
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=HSKyHmjyrkA&feature=email