November, 2009

Mile 53.1 – “People are strange when you’re a stranger
Faces look ugly when you’re alone
Women seem wicked when you’re unwanted
Streets are uneven when you’re down”

- Jim Morrison

June 19, 2009 - President Obama spoke to young men today telling them “Even if your father was not there, you can be there for your child.” Obama made his remarks two days before Fathers Day at Year Up, a nonprofit program for urban youth.

Mile 38.1 - For those who sleep rough this stretch of weather must be agonizing. To be cold is bad but to be wet is to be miserable.

June 12, 2009 – Two climbers fell to their deaths yesterday afternoon, June 11, on North America’s tallest mountain – Mount McKinley. Park Rangers reported that the two men fell at least 2000 feet.

33.7 miles - Is there a point where people cross a personal Rubicon?

June 11, 2009 - The World Health Organization declared a swine flu pandemic today, it’s the first global flu epidemic in 41 years.

28.5 miles – The Salt Lake City County Building is an amazing structure. In fact I would consider it one the three buildings that make up the Salt Lake City Trifecta; the other two being the Salt Lake Temple and the Cathedral of the Madeleine.  These three buildings, perhaps more than all others in our fair city, have had an immense historical and social significance to the city’s residents. All three of the trifecta are over 100 years old, were completed within 16 years of each other, and are located within a mile of each other.

June 10, 2009 - The Sutherland Institute and the Salt Lake Chamber hosted a panel discussion today on the implications of immigration bill SB81. Both those for the bill and those who oppose it were present. Both audience and panel members were given time to speak and one man had to be expelled from the meeting. The bill goes into effect July 1, 2009.  Among the bills many provisions, the bill calls for an immigration enforcement role for state and local law enforcement agencies.

Mile 26.3 - It seems I am destined to wander among strangers, day after day without the June sun. It’s really hard to stick an image in the rain.

June 9, 2009 – Swine-flu cases in Utah have almost doubled since last week and the numbers are expected to continue to increase. As of yesterday there have been 713 confirmed cases.

“And as we wind on down the road  our shadows taller than our soul”

-Robert Plant

June 3, 2009 – It’s nice to see signs of ingenuity upon the social landscape. Take a close look at the gentleman’s shoes in this picture . They are made out of, or at least held together by, the same fabric as his nap sacks. Now that is ingenuity.

Microsoft announced yesterday, June 2,  that  Windows 7 will go on sale Oct. 22, in the  hopes of possibly giving the slumping  PC industry a lift in the holiday season. Windows 7 is intended to replace Windows Vista.

2.96 miles – Musician on Main – Salt Lake City’s Main Street is a popular area for street musicians; however many of the small businesses as well as some of the  large ones have folded or moved away.

“Now Main Street’s whitewashed windows and vacant stores seems like there ain’t nobody wants to come down here no more.”  – Bruce Springsteen

.1 miles – Michael – It took a little less than 500 feet to move from an icon of Salt Lake City to a scene that generally gets ignored by many of the city’s residents. It is interesting to me how often people associate panhandling with fraud and deceit. I am certainly willing to concede that there may be a great deal of fraud being perpetrated by the city’s panhandling population, but what is so interesting to me is how upset and insulted many people get about panhandling fraud. We fully expect and tolerate dishonesty and deceit from our politicians, lawyers, bankers, brokers and car salesmen but damn it we are going to draw the line at someone asking us for a buck when he or she doesn’t really need it.

June 1, 2009 – “As GM goes, so goes the nation.”  GM declared chapter 11 bankruptcy today. Apparently Rick Wagoner (the former CEO of General Motors) panhandling the federal government and receiving billions of tax payers’ dollars just wasn’t enough to save the sinking ship.

0 mile – The Salt Lake Temple – It somehow seems fitting to start a trek of Salt Lake City at the Salt Lake Temple. The Salt Lake Temple has been a focal point and icon of Salt Lake City for over 100 years and like it or not it is certainly a unique landmark on the landscape of Salt Lake City.