Commercial

Just another day at the Commercial Casino in Elko, Nevada. Apparently the stuffed version of the bear hasn’t moved from that spot since 1958.

Wassup

Spanish language version.

Props to Lewis for spotting that.

Rental car

Thanks to David for taking us out on the flats on our last night at CLUI Wendover. That was an awesome drive. I have more Wendover-ish posts to come in a delayed processing of times. Leaving was culture shock.

Wells, Nevada

Signatecture

Signage continued

With a little contrast here between the Utah side of town (top), and the Nevada side (bottom).

Extreme screen identification

Where are we, exactly, when sitting in front of computer screens and the like? Where is “on” the net? Is presence entirely physical? Maybe just a silly thought, but I’ve been stumbling on articles recently about the oddities of networked communication – software engineers in India working for companies in New York adapting to the time zone of New York, even its culture and forms of communication, as a result feel divorced from their own environment.

From Bots on the Ground, at the Washington Post, by Joel Garreau:

“Last month, the Army announced that it would allow unmanned air vehicle (UAV) operators to earn the Distinguished Flying Cross, the high military honor awarded for heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in flight.

When Greg Harbin was piloting one of the first Predators over Bosnia from his desk in Hungary, he wasn’t actively trying to become the first UAV operator in history to be awarded a medal. He was trying to avoid becoming the first UAV pilot to incinerate a schoolyard full of children.

The then-32-year-old Air Force captain’s bot was “dead square right over the city” of Mostar, looking for snipers, when its engine conked out. As it spiraled down, still carrying 2,000 gallons of fuel, Harbin could see on his screen, through the cross hairs of the nose camera, that “it was dead-centered on that school. If I’d allowed that thing to hit into that school, could you imagine?” he recalls. “I would be the first guy in the history of the world to kill somebody with an unmanned aircraft.”

Using the kind of fancy flying he’d learned as a fighter pilot, and only the 15 minutes’ worth of battery power he had left, he miraculously pulled the bot out of its spiral and found an airstrip run by the French. To make sure the barely-under-control bot didn’t hit all their transport planes, he intentionally crash-landed it on their runway. “The French were pretty funny on the radio. They didn’t know what it was. They videotaped the whole thing.”

But that’s not the significant part.

As he was struggling to bring the bot down without an engine, he could see “the ground coming real fast.” He dropped the landing gear, flared the wings, pushed the stick forward and then started fumbling around at the bottom of his desk chair.

He had bonded so tightly with the machine hundreds of miles away that he was searching for the lever that would allow him to eject.”

Neighbors II

The Air Force has returned to their fleet of barracks next door, and they seem to be doing training-type exercises, mostly indoors this time.

Oddly, they’ve strapped a flag to their Dr Pepper machine and put a flashing orange light on top. An interesting image: sort of a combine-type-thing that tends to fall flat in the artworld, but seen here in its natural environment it really shines.

That’s probably the only Dr Pepper within a two-mile radius. Reliable sources report seeing a military helicopter touch down at this site, pausing only for a passenger to jump out and fetch chilled beverages from the machine, lifting off again without further ado.

Stars on the ceiling

The Hair Loft is such a compelling place that I had to check it out again. I haven’t ever seen selected newspapers put in plastic baggies and stapled to the ceiling. I suppose it is a space-efficient way to commemorate important events and personages, but not exactly archival or nice on the neck. Some of them are well-seasoned, from the 1980’s, or even the 70’s. They seem to touch mainly on political affairs, great moments in sports, and tragic female celebrities – it all sounds about right for a Wendover salon. I leave you here with the list of headlines:

Olympian ‘Flo-Jo’ Dead at 38

Why She Turned… What He Can Do (A Time Magazine Special Report on the Lewinsky/Clinton affair)

In Memory of Ripken’s Streak: So Long (After 16 years, 1,632 games, Orioles star decides time is right to take a seat)

Oh Boy! (For Diana’s 7 pound 1 1/2 ounce prince, the palace plans a future fit for a king)

Ali vs Foreman (Special Album)

Her Life in Pictures, Selena, 1971-1995

The Death of Selena (A rising pop star is murdered at 23)

McGwire Reaches 70 (Can it ever be done again?)

Bush: ‘Get Ready…We’re at War’

Jones Suit Dismissed (Clinton camp elated; her lawyers plan appeal)

Bush 537-Vote Win Certified, Gore Camp: See You in Court

Hail Cael (Heber City’s Sanderson pins down gold in wrestling)

El Paso Named All-American City