Ubehebe Crater, Death Valley–Photo Richard Elliott
A new study of Death Valley’s Ubehebe (You-bee Hee-bee) Crater presents two bold conclusions. The first deduction places the crater’s age between 800-1,200 years old. Traditionally accepted estimates placed the crater around 2,000 to 6,000 years old. The second resolution claims that with this younger geological date, Ubehebe may possibly explode again, with the proper [...]
Here’s an interesting idea being proposed by a Swiss artist; take something that flies and bury it under the desert sand. That’s what Swiss artist Christof Buchel is planning to do.
He found an old Boeing 727 at a nearby airplane graveyard, bought it, and plans to make it a piece of art in the desert. [...]
Art tells a story. Sometimes viewers do not understand the purpose behind an artwork. The Wedding of the Waters mural, in Lone Pine, CA, tells a majestic story. The mural is an exacting portrayal of the 1937, three-day pageant, celebrating the completion of the highway linking Lone Pine to Death Valley–the State’s highest point, Mount Whitney, 14,495 feet, [...]
The City of Barstow is looking to fix itself up, and will be hosting a series of community meetings to gather input from the public.
Plenty of folks driving through Barstow while en route to Las Vegas don’t have a high opinion of Barstow, thinking of it merely as a hellhole they have to gas up [...]
Marta Becket, 87, the dancing legend of the Mojave Desert is scheduled to perform her final stage show at the Amargosa Opera House , in Death Valley Junction, CA, February 12, 2012. Becket celebrates 45 years of entertaining the public, introducing them to the art of theatrical dance. As a ballerina, Becket could dance en pointe [...]
As most should be aware, this blog is connected to The REAL Desert Dogs. We use it mostly to find cool and interesting stories and tell you the reader about it. That, and we generally want to keep up with what’s going on in the desert.
Well, The Desert Dogs have just came out with their [...]
The first meteor shower for 2012 will occur in the dark morning hours of January 4. It is the Quadrantid shower, visible near the end of the handle of the Big Dipper constellation. According to EarthSky.org (http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/earthskys-meteor-meteor-shower-guide) “Although the Quadrantids can produce over 100 meteors per hour, the sharp peak only lasts for a few hours, and [...]
Hidden in a sandy pocket of the Mojave Desert lies this unusual bottle cap (see above photo). This curious looking cap, with its strange emblem, appears like it belongs to some secret society or was left by some thirsty aliens from space. To those in the know, the cap is from a bottle of premium ale, known as Pyramid Ale. Obviously some [...]
The Occupy Movement has been broken up in many of the larger cities, but it has been moving to smaller towns. In the Mojave Desert, Barstow, Victorville, Idyllwild, Bishop, Apple Valley, and there’s even talk about occupying Ridgecrest and Trona!
The Occupy Movement struck a chord with mainly middle-class (or former middle-class) members of society, expressing [...]
A trucker was sentenced in Mississippi to six years in prison for desecrating a corpse and arson. The corpse was his brand new fiance, a prostitute from Barstow, Calif. She died in Barstow.
Mark Andrew Rice was a long-haul trucker who had visited Barstow prostitute Natasha Carpenter a few times on his many trips. Finally, in [...]
Seven hundred people showed up to a series of meetings hosted by Golden State Water Company to explain their proposed 29.83 percent increase in water rates.
News of the water rate increase has left many in the High Desert angry, and Barstow residents in particular are even more upset because their rates will be the highest [...]
Should the Saturday morning desert skies be clear, December 10, early risers will experience the last eclipse for 2011. Also, this timely total lunar eclipse is a special time to perform an experiment illustrating what is called the “moon illusion.”
The rising or setting full moon appears on the horizon monstrously large, to the mind’s perception. Yet, [...]
It is perhaps one of worst crimes imaginable – child pornography. Last week, a dent was made in this problem as nine men – many residing in the Mojave Desert – have been arrested for distribution, solicitation, and possession of child porn.
La Quinta man David Christopher Jelaca had posted an “ad” in Craiglist which said, [...]
In light of a series of budget cuts, Google is dropping a substantial part of its support for the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System, which will be the largest system of its kind in the world when it is finished in 2013.
Google has already invested $168 million dollars into the project, which is a substantial [...]
COMMENTARY
During a recent eighteen day Mojave Desert trip, I stopped on a Saturday, in Bakersfield, to mail a package. It was early morning and I found the Post Office was “closed.” What? It was only 10:20 AM. Didn’t I have until 2:00 PM to mail on a Saturday, like the Post Office where I live? Oh well, I’ll just [...]
