Thursday, August 04, 2005

BACK FROM VACATION
Before I left for the ultra-montane serenity of the Grand Tetons, I was thinking of asking a guest blogger to carry on. When I got back, I realized you all kept the chatter going at a high pitch. Awesome! I didn't realize so many wise-guys checked in. I got huge laughs from the sniping and I didn't even mind the un-PC jokes. But then again, I've got a thick skin. I did a quick tabulation and it seems like every ethnic and racial group got its turn in the barrel. So I guess that makes it fair.

For those who wondered where I went, the answer is Wyoming. We kayaked, hiked, camped out, got rained on, sunburned, hailed on in Yellowstone, bitten by a zillion bugs, went into lakes cold enough to stop your heart, drifted down the Snake River, and had close encounters with moose, elk, marmots, bison, bald eagles, otters, ospreys, grouse and hawks. And no, we didn't witness or hear about any float-bys.

The biggest crime story in the papers the week we were there involved a streaker at the Jackson Hole demolition derby. Like Mutton Bustin' and greased pig wrestling, streaking the demo derby is some kind of annual tradition. Hey, it's Wyoming. And July is the only month when they don't get snow. This year, there was "huge" controversy when one of the streakers grabbed a fire extinguisher off the firetruck that was hosing down the dirt between demo heats. A Teton County deputy sheriff and a security guard tried to wrangle the naked guy. When it looked like nude boy was getting ready to spray the cop, the copper tased him with 50,000 volts. The crowd went nuts, booed the cop and threw beer cups and trash into the arena.

The streaker was arrested and released and could face a $750 fine for indecent exposure. A lawyer in the crowd volunteered to defend the guy for free. Chances are, that'll be the biggest crime story of the year. Nothing much happens in Wyoming compared to LA. The entire state has less than 500,000 residents. And at last count, there were 1,500 inmates behind bars in the entire prison system, and that includes juvi, half way houses, honor ranches etc. Barely enough to qualify as a decent sized single neighborhood in LA.

Vice President Dick Cheney flew into town the day after we landed. He's a resident and avid fly fisherman. A fishing guide told me that local anglers get bent out of shape when the Veep goes fishing. When he's on the river, Blackhawk choppers do security sweeps and that scares the crap out of the trout, ruining everybody's fishing.

With so much land and so few people, you'd think real estate would be a buyer's market. Think again. Raw land in "desirable" locations can go for a million per acre. A modest house in downtown Jackson will run you half a million to $600,000. Right on the corner of Cache and Broadway in Jackson, Sotheby's has a real estate office where you can look at ranch property on the Snake River that goes from 5 to 10 million dollars. Kinda makes Highland Park look like a bargain.

Gotta go. There's 143 emails I need to read and a pile of mail that needs sorting.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey, who's this Wally guy? Don't recognize him...

Anonymous said...

Welcome back Wally. Great group on this Blog.
Berge

Anonymous said...

Its gonna slow down now that Wally is back. HAHA

-kid mex

Anonymous said...

No, really. Glad you're back safe and sound. Now, what'd you bring us?

Anonymous said...

Whoops, the above was me, but my fat-assed pinky hit return before I could get my name up. So, what did you say you brought us?

Anonymous said...

He brought back letters and a picture of the tecato he's sponsoring thru chicano unicef for a 10% tax (oops i mean donation).
duh.

Anonymous said...

"Leaving" for a rafting trip (as in 184 comments and counting) is one thing: "Coming back" from a rafting trip (7 and crawling) is another. I think we're all waiting for the next post, Wally.

Anonymous said...

Just out of curiousity; If Dick Cheney was out on the lake fising in Wyoming, who was running the country?

Seriously, glad you had a great vacation.

I'm hoping to hear more on this blog about L.A.'s 'BLACK on BROWN' situation, or vice versa.

I heard Rev. Jesse Peterson held a conference last week. He claimed it was to discuss with Black leaders in L.A. rather or not illegal immigration was playing a role in the Black v. Brown drama. His critics accuse him of intensifying the rivalry for political purposes. (Peterson is a known supporter of the Republican Party)

Just wanted to know if you or anyone here heard about that conference, what was said and what your thoughts are on it.

Anonymous said...

I heard about the conference

Anonymous said...

Wally, just a side note, one of the old time AB's died on 1-19. He was Edward Bunker.
Wil E. Coyote

Anonymous said...

That date should have read 7-19

Anonymous said...

Is this the Edward Bunker that was in Resevoir Dogs? Because I've read that that guy is friends with..well, you know.

If we're talking about the same Edward Bunker; He was locked up with...you know...and in his later years he worked in Hollywood teaching actors playing west coast criminals how to walk the walk and talk the talk. I think he trained DeNiro and Pacino in HEAT as well. (Not how to be tough, but just the nuances of a Cali street gangster vs. a NY gangster.)

I'll look it up.

Anonymous said...

Yep, that's him.

He was in THE LONGEST YARD, too. (Sandler version.) Shit, I just saw that a couple of months ago. How did I not notice him?

If I may, I'd like to paste the bit from IMDB.com that may be of interest to this blog....

-Was a close friend of late Mexican Mafia leader, Joe "Pegleg" Morgan.

-He met Danny Trejo in Folsom in late seventies. Since then, the two are close friends and have often worked together on Runaway Train, Heat, Animal Factory.

-He is a close friend of Michael Mann since the two worked on the screenplay adaptation of his first novel No Beast So Fierce.

-Bunker worked on Heat as prison technical advisor with Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore, Kevin Gage and Dennis Haysbert. He taught them how to think, react and walk like ex-prison convicts.

-Recently, he announced that he and Michael Mann are working closely on a TV series about gang life in prison.
(Sadly, this last one probably never saw the light of day.)

This info from..

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0120483/bio

Anonymous said...

Coyote ......

Eddie Bunker was NOT an AB member. He was a close associate of both AB and EME and was a "jailhouse lawyer".

KMA

Anonymous said...

AB Article ---

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/index.ssf?040216fa_fact6

Anonymous said...

EDDIE BUNKER ARTICLE:

http://gorillaconvict.com/blog/index.php?date=200506

Anonymous said...

http://www.laweekly.com/ink/printme.php?eid=66560

Remembering Eddie Bunker
L.A. Weekly
August 5-11, 2005

Anonymous said...

Filmmaker Edward James Olmos is at it again...he's now making a movie about the Chicano student walk-outs of the 70's, of which author Luis Rodriguez (Always Running) participated and planned several. Luis was a former gang member and drug user who grew up in Las Lomas; he never got in as deep as La Eme, but was still pretty hardcore as a child...

Anonymous said...

Eddie Bunker was not brand as the man said before, he was a respected con that did some good things after a bad life.
Palm Hall

Anonymous said...

la eme is weak,to many chiefs, not enough indians,thats why drop outs,are on the rise....two fivers,are getting bigger...every joint now has 1 or 2 drop out yards,i wonder why....hahahahahaha ....tax free....frog...maravilla

Anonymous said...

MANTEQUILLA!!

Anonymous said...

TTTTWWWOOOO FFFFIIIIVVVEEE!!!!

Anonymous said...

eddie bunker was a great american writer. sure he was state raised and a dope fiend and a righteous old wood but what made him great was the books that he wrote. if you havent read his books, do it now.