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I am returned from my short three day trip. I did about 900 miles in a loop through Flagstaff down through Sedona to Prescott with a stop at Arcosanti, the architectural experiment of the 50-60s. I got some bells to hang between the inside and outside dining areas.

Then down through AZ89-17-60, a drop of 7000 feet to the I-10 and home. I had a good time seeing the sights and being in cool weather with TREES! It was cloudy most of the time and the afternoons were filled with bolts of lightning; all in the distance, fortunately. Beautiful. I had some rain but never when I wanted to get out and meander.

The last few days reminded me that travel is less and less interesting. I had a good time; but getting along on food and stuff is just a pain in the ass in this increasingly corporate travel environment; try Blimpies for lunch and a fast pasta outfit or Coco's for dinner. You get the picture. My place in Flagstaff was just totally chains and even a Walmart all plunked down at the end of the old town; ruining it and the local merchants. Of course, there I am, supporting it by staying there. Similar in Prescott only not as bad as it is a smaller town. No Walmart.

This is the latest thing. It is beyond malls. Just take the whole schmear and lay it down in about ten blocks of space. Blah. I am sure they can do this because all the immigrants, old people like me, want it. Jeezuz. Well we got it. The last time I saw this was in an urban renewal area in Long Beach. Same thing. No local merchants all chains and megastores in urbia!

That is the dark side. But the scenery has not been coopted it was great! I am reinvigorated. And I guess the Arcosanti bells tell me that you can still find the good stuff. In fact, they are expanding the place, so they must be selling a lot of bells! Go see the Appendix and read whatever you can in Arcology: Solution for the Information Age?. It is interesting stuff and way anti-corporate development.

TOO FAR?

The big news while I was gone was the Kerry denunciation of bush' support of the swiftboat smear. I like the idea of trading info on either candidate's vet records. They did this to McCain of all people. McCain rolled over and belatedly has said he should not have; he has condemned the anti-Kerry stuff and asked bush too. I saw junior last night on a Larry King replay do a dance and shuffle around the question. He is such an asshole; no not Larry King although he is close.

I keep thinking, isn't this going too far? When do the busher's fingers get caught in the trap they are trying to lay for Kerry? Well, maybe now.

The blog world has been full of stories about who the anti-Kerry people are and now it has hit the big press; the WPO did a piece, then CNN which I SAW last night. I saw TEEVEE (it is fucking awful). But today the New York Times redeem themselves as bush-apologists with this graphic of who did what to who when. It shows Rove all over it blah blah blah. Here is the graphic: Connections and Contradictions which I do not think was in the original article in the paper Friendly Fire: The Birth of an Anti-Kerry Ad".

Isn't that a swiftboat in APOCALYPSE NOW? The boat that they go up the river on? The one that Laurence Fishburne drives? Whew. We are still fighting that war. A lot of these people are still disaffected, resentful, mad at Kerry for his peace efforts. They have been badly used by the bushies, but their resentments are still there and part of the American 'scape.

Will the Iraq war be the same? Probably not as there is NOT YET a peace movement of any size of impetus to stoke the divisions again. Still and all, the 'Nam shadows will be over this campaign at all its stages including the matter of who is best to manage us out of Iraq.