Perhaps the most fascinating and informative program I attended at the 2010 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) was an event sponsored by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI). ISI Books recently published a new book about the 1980 presidential campaign by Craig Shirley, a longtime associate of the late Ronald Reagan. Shirley's book is called Rendezvous with Destiny: Ronald Reagan and the Campaign That Changed America. (In the interest of full disclosure, I should note that I was the recipient of a Richard M. Weaver Fellowship from the ISI for the 1986-87 academic year.)
The hosts recruited journalist Fred Barnes, who covered Reagan during the 1980 campaign and later in the White House, to lead a discussion with Shirley, who for just over an hour regaled the small (but fortunate) audience with anecdotes and analysis of how Reagan became president after being written off by the punditocracy when he lost the 1976 GOP presidential nomination by fewer than 100 delegate votes.
While I hope to edit and post the full video from the Barnes-Shirley colloquy within the next few days, there was one snippet that stood out and deserves special attention.
Asked by Barnes why he refers in the book to Reagan as the "sometime leader of the conservative movement," Shirley replied that the independent-minded Reagan often broke with the mainstream of the movement on certain issues.
He gave the example of the 1978 initiative in California, Proposition 6 (better known as the "Briggs Amendment," named for its principal sponsor, state Senator John Briggs, which aimed to prohibit gay people from serving as teachers or staff members in government schools. Reagan opposed the measure, and Briggs gave Reagan full credit or, from Briggs' point of view, blame for the proposition's defeat at the polls. (Shirley says the defeat was overwhelming, 57 percent to 43 percent.) Reagan was an ally of iconic gay politician Harvey Milk in opposing the Briggs Amendment. Reagan's role in defeating the Briggs Amendment is mentioned in the award-winning biopic, Milk.
Shirley also referred in his remarks to the 1975 Reason magazine interview in which Reagan argued that libertarianism is the core of conservatism. By coincidence, I cited that interview just a few days ago in my post about the Mount Vernon Statement (and how it is inferior to the 50-year-old Sharon Statement).
In an article on Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan to ban the sale of big-screen television sets in California (apparently he hasn't heard that Californians with cars can drive to Nevada, Oregon, or Mexico to go appliance shopping), the Daily Mail includes this paragraph:
Televisions account for about 10 per cent of residential energy use in California, the state with the highest population in the U.S., driven largely by the surge in sales of large flat screens.
So California's population growth is due to the sale of big screen TVs? What is it that people are watching there?
Does China have a two-plasma-TV-set-per-family policy?
Chris Isaak may be the closest thing popular music has to a Renaissance man. The moody singer-songwriter's résumé includes stints as television and movie actor, talk-show host, artist, surfer, fisherman and Golden Gloves champion.
Isaak also has a disarmingly self-deprecating honesty. When Heim asks him about solving California's budget crisis, the musician replies:
I don't think we want a remedy for it. The less the government has to spend, the better off we'll be. But I should say that I, and the rest of entertainers, don't know a god-durned nothing about policies. We're too busy self-aggrandizing to come up with any solutions. It's amazing how many entertainers can find time between adopting children to tell you how to live your life.
Set aside Isaak's modest demurrer and focus on that second sentence:
The less the government has to spend, the better off we'll be.
That's the cutout quote for the future; that's what will end up in Bartlett's -- or at least should do so.
For those who find themselves glued to the TV when it is tuned to the Food Network, or for those gourmand tourists who travel to culinary destinations, have I got news for you!
The 28th annual Oakdale Testicle Festival will take place next Monday in Stanislaus County, California, near Modesto.
For years, the fete was called the Calf Fry as the largest fundraiser for the town's Rotary Club. But then the group joined forces with the Cowboy Museum and the more direct, more catchy Testicle Festival was launched in 2003. Since then, the festival has gone from fewer than 200 guests to more than 450 a year.
The evening is less a strolling, browsing around festival and more of a sit-down, chow-down dinner. Some 400 pounds of the unique dining experience are fried up in a secret recipe and served to guests for $50 a ticket ($65 if you wait and get it at the door).
The event fills Oakdale's largest hall, the FES Hall. Last year, it raised $28,000.
Bull testicles are also known by the (more?) colorful name, prairie oysters. They are considered a delicacy by some. The Bee's Marijke Rowland asked Christie Camarillo, executive director of the Oakdale Cowboy Museum, how they taste. Camarillo's reply:
"They kind of taste like chicken. I say it's between fried calamari and chicken liver," she said. "I've had them fixed all different ways, but you can't beat how the Rotarians do it."
What unusual fleshy food does not taste like chicken? And just how do the Rotarians do it?
However they do it, the Modesto Bee notes,
The organizers promise that you'll "Have a ball!"
If you're in the neighborhood of Oakdale (is this the town on the long-running daytime drama, As the World Turns? Has ATWT ever featured a testicle festival?), check out the festival and then come back here to leave your own impressions in the comments section (below). No bull.
Over the past week or so I have received repeated visits from somebody in Mountain View, California, someone who apparently works for Google. Although each visit lands on a different page (or blogpost), each one has the same search string:
Pursuing this search on Google does not shed much light. The first ten hits are completely unrelated and the individual words ("nathan," "hankins," "sex," "pervert," and "sheriff") do not appear near each other.
The first hit, for instance, leads to a a blogpost about the 2003 documentary film, directed by Andrew Jarecki, Capturing the Friedmans (which, by coincidence, I did see in a theatre when it was first released -- though I don't think I've ever written about it).
The fourth Google hit leads to my blog posts for the month of October 2006. To parse the mysterious search string, I find a reference to "nathan" in the context of Nathan Lane. The word "hankins" appears in a post about the Adrenaline Film Project at the 2006 Virginia Film Festival. "Sex" shows up in this headline: "New Jersey Court Rejects Same-Sex Marriage Rights" and in several other posts on a similar topic, the then-proposed (and since passed) Virginia Marriage Amendment (also known as the Marshall-Newman Amendment). "Pervert" appears only in a post about "the fallout from the Mark Foley scandal" and how people use the Internet to talk about sex. The word "sheriff" does not appear anywhere at all in that month's postings, which makes this whole situation even more confusing.
A Google search for the name "Nathan Hankins" (in quotation marks) turns up two Facebook profiles and an IMDB listing for someone with that name who has worked on the sound department of several films and TV shows. There are no hits for "Sheriff Nathan Hankins" (in quotation marks).
The mystery remains: Who is Nathan Hankins? Is he a sheriff or a sex pervert, neither or both? And what is his connection to Google or my blog?
Last July I made a cross-country trip anchored on two events, my high school reunion and my nephew's first birthday. The trip included stops in Illinois (where our plane landed), Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, and California. (I don't include the layover at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport as a "stop.")
George Mason University student Richard Morrison accompanied me on the trip, and we played tourist for most of the two-week journey. I have already posted video from our visit to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. YouTube has a video of "Gavin's First Birthday Cake," which may end up here someday, too -- perhaps in time for Gavin's second birthday.
Along the way, Richard and I had several opportunities to get high. Don't fret, drug warriors: By "get high," I mean nothing more than that we climbed to a height that provided breathtaking vistas of the landscape around us.
Our first climb was to the top of the Wisconsin state capitol building in Madison, courtesy of State Senator Glenn Grothman, who obtained permission to see parts of the capitol usually off-limits to tourists. (There is still more video, so far unedited, of the capitol's chambers, committee rooms, and reception areas -- that will be posted here eventually, too.)
To tell the truth, my acrophobia kept me from going all the way to the top, but Richard braved it along with recent Marquette High graduate Joseph Kay. They provided the most dramatic video.
At Rib Mountain State Park near Wausau, however, Richard and I both reached the summit. Rib Mountain is the third-highest peak in Wisconsin, at 1,940 feet. A 60-foot tower brings the full height to 2,000 feet, with a view on a clear day that encompasses several counties.
I remember visiting Rib Mountain as a child with my parents, but this was my first time there in nearly 40 years. The tower was the same but didn't seem to be quite so high as it was when I was 8 years old.
After Wausau, Richard and I headed farther north, passing through Manitowish Waters, where my family and I used to vacation, and ending up in Hurley, said to be the Wisconsin town with the most taverns per capita. My friend, Gene Cisewski, is the innkeeper of a bed-and-breakfast in downtown Hurley called the Anton-Walsh House. Gene is also president of the local historical society and a former member of the Iron County Board of Supervisors.
Gene took us on a tour of the area, which included a trip to Bayfield and Madeline Island in Lake Superior and to several of the picturesque waterfalls along the Montreal River and other streams that traverse the Wisconsin border with the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. (There's plenty of unedited video from those days, too.)
When we crossed the border into Michigan, Gene took us to the Copper Peak Ski Flying Hill, one of the tallest structures used for snow skiing anywhere in the world. Once again, I clung to the floor about halfway up the man-made hill, but Gene and Richard made it all the way to the top, where the view on a clear day encompasses three states and Lake Superior.
Coincidentally, I recently had a chat in Washington with the man who was instrumental in raising the funds to build Copper Peak, and I may write about him and his efforts once I have received permission to do so.
The Midwest is not the most likely place to find great heights with dramatic vistas. That's not so in California. Even the Reagan Library looks down on Simi Valley from a peak of its own.
The day before we went to the Reagan Library, Richard and I visited the Getty Center in Los Angeles, which also sits atop a mount. You can see downtown Los Angeles -- even on a Sunday, enshrouded in smog -- and surrounding canyons from the Getty's plaza.
This video also includes some shots from inside the Getty museum.
As I have already suggested, there will be more travel videos posted here as time permits. Last year (2007) was a big travel year for me, with trips to Las Vegas, New Orleans, and Austin, as well as Milwaukee, Hurley, and Los Angeles. That resulted in a lot of raw video that has to be reduced to 10-minute segments suitable for posting to YouTube and cross-posting here.
Today is former President Ronald Reagan's birthday. He would have been 97 years old today. The Maryland General Assembly is considering a bill that would make today an annual holiday in that state, commemorating the birth of our 40th president.
To celebrate the occasion, I have put together a three-part video from my visit last summer to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. Enjoy!
My old friend, Dan Blatt, who moved from Northern Virginia to Los Angeles a few months before I settled in Charlottesville, is back in Virginia on a brief visit. I last saw him in July at Buddha's Belly, an Asian restaurant in LA, when I was on my own cross-country odyssey.
Some readers may recognize Dan as the contributor to GayPatriot who blogs under the name "GayPatriotWest." He left the Pacific Coast on Sunday and arrived in Charlottesville around 9:15 p.m. on Tuesday. He plans to be in D.C. on Wednesday and Thursday, where he will be meeting with friends and blog-readers. Then it's on to New York and New England for him.
I don't think I could manage to drive coast-to-coast in just under 72 hours. Dan has either more stamina or more craziness than I do. But here he is, apparently in one piece and good (mental and physical) health.
In any event, we have passed a pleasant evening, with dinner on The Corner at the College Inn and a brief tour of the main grounds of the University of Virginia. (Dan is a UVa Law School alumnus and lived in Charlottesville for three years in the early 1990s.)
One of the ideas that emerged from that conversation was what a brilliant marketing concept this was for 7-Eleven. It took what was, in essence, a negative image of itself from The Simpsons TV show and adapted that kritik into a positive, linking 7-Eleven to the opening of a popular animated film and generating loads of free media from the MSM and bloggers alike.
During my recent visit to Southern California (part of a two-week, five-state vacation), I was able to seek out another of the dozen Kwik-E-Marts in North America (one of two in the Los Angeles area). On the day after The Simpsons Movie opened, I trekked to the transfigured 7-Eleven at the corner of Olive and Verdugo in Burbank, California, where a queue of customers had formed. I was able to take some midday video footage -- an improvement over the still photos I took just past midnight in Bladensburg.
Of course, I took a few photographs of Kwik-E-Mart as well. There was no long line of waiting customers in Bladensburg, but there was one in Burbank, along with a security guard controlling the front entrance like a bouncer at Studio 54.
I didn't venture inside the store this time, leaving that to my traveling companion, Richard Morrison, who bought a couple of cloyingly sweet Squishies, a dozen Sprinklicious donuts, and a six-pack of Buzz Cola. (The store had run out of Krusty-O's.)
Watch this blog for more posts about my continent-wide travels between July 18 and August 1. You'll see photos and videos from Milwaukee, Madison, Wausau, and Hurley in Wisconsin; Ironwood and Copper Peak in Michigan; Interstate 35 in Minnesota; the Reagan Library, Hollywood, and Santa Monica in California; and my nephew's first birthday party, with a Cookie Monster theme, in Encino.
For those of you who now, having seen the excitement, wish to visit a Kwik-E-Mart near your homes, I am afraid it's too late. As the trade publication Convenience Store Decisions put it on Tuesday, the curtain has closed on Kwik-E-Mart. I wonder, however, if blogger Doug Mataconis was able to visit more than one with his family?
My sister, Cathy Biermann, turns in this report from Los Angeles, a review of the latest edition of "Sesame Street Live," adding the suggestion, "feel free to make me a guest blogger if you are short one this week":
Well, it's happened, I have officially become a mom. Not that it means I am not cool anymore, but let's just say I remember going out to concerts at 10:30 p.m. on a Saturday and now I am doing it at 10:30 a.m. Sigh.
We went to the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood (home of the annual Academy Award ceremony) and saw "Sesame Street Live: Elmo Makes Music." I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with the show and with Gavin. He is a bit young, sure [not yet one year old -- editor], but nothing makes him happier than a little PBS Sesame Street. So we got tickets for the show.
All the old favorites were on hand, plus the new characters not around in our generation. However I did notice a definite lack of Cookie Monster. He was in barely any of the group numbers but did do a solo, shorter version of "C is for Cookie," and I suppose that was good enough for me. I tend to wonder if he is threatened by the new more popular monsters, such as Elmo (better known in the parent world as "baby crack"). Or was it Elmo who was threatened by the 30+ year appeal of Cookie Monster? Hard to say.
The good news was there was a definite synergy between old and new as Rosita (the Spanish-speaking, female monster) did a song and dance with Grover about being blue monsters.
The children in the audience really treated it as if it were a rock concert. When the Count came out to show the number of the day was 8, the children ROARED. We had a little boy behind us that was so into the audience participation that I was crying with laughter. When they said "can you keep a secret" YEAH HE COULD....
The highlight of the show to me was an ode to the '70s with the cast doing "The Hustle" (talk about appealing to older parents) and a Bee Gees number where Bert came out in a silver tux and a disco ball dropped. That, too, was Gavin's favorite. He stood on my legs and squealed with joy and clapped along with the show.
Overall it was a good experience, coming in just under an hour and twenty minutes, which was surprising in that the show held the attention of the kids that long. As we left there was a long line at the concession stand for Elmo t-shirts, much like leaving a Madonna or Rolling Stones show. Only the t-shirts were in sizes like 2T. I'd go again when Gavin is a bit older so he can participate like the little boy behind me. And really I loved it too. 'Cause Sesame Street never gets old, even if we do...
For a different view of Sesame Street, check out this video.
Writing is harder when I'm traveling. (I could never be an effective and efficient foreign correspondent.) So I'm going to rely once again on graphic images to describe my short stay in La-La Land.
On Sunday, we went to downtown Los Angeles, to visit the Fashion Institute of Design Museum, where a display of Star Wars costumes from Episodes I, II, and III is nearing its end. As it happened, Sunday was "fan day," so there were an inordinate number of children (and adults, as well -- grown-ups who apparently emerged from the cocoons of their mothers' basements for the day) in costumes as authentic as those of designer Trisha Biggar inside the museum.
To my astonishment, photography was allowed in the "Dressing a Galaxy" exhibit, although flash photography was permitted only at the entrance, where visitors could pose with C3PO and R2D2, the two droids who provide a link through the six Star Wars movies.
Inside the exhibit, where the lighting was iffy, at best, was a phantasmagorical collection of costumes (and models) representing many Star Wars characters, including the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Vader.
Ambassadors of the Trade Federation.
I'm not sure which of the Fetts this is, Boba or Jango. You've seen one bounty hunter, you've seen them all.
Outside the museum, where the lighting was better, was an X-Wing Fighter, looking ready for action.
There were so many Storm Troopers wandering around the grounds of the FIDM, I thought I was on the set of a commercial advocating a stronger USA PATRIOT Act.
They certainly look determined, don't they?
And they seem to be trying to recruit from among our nation's youth.
See what I mean?
"Dressing a Galaxy" was a delight, and I am glad to have caught it in its final days. I recommend it highly to anyone who is able to attend before it closes next weekend.
The tour was at once educational, informative, nostalgic, and moving. Listening to even a short excerpt of "The Speech" ("You and I have a rendezvous with destiny...") brought tears to my eyes.
Let the pictures speak for themselves: The Reagan Library, photoblogged, follows.
That's me on the far right. Naturally.
Unless you look closely, you can miss this GOP elephant topiary near the main entrance to the library, as it blends in with the other shrubbery.
A statue of President Reagan greets all visitors with a bronze smile.
The Boeing 707 used as Air Force One during the Reagan administration is now hangared permanently in an addition to the Reagan Library. That's my sister, Cathy Biermann, on the left, with my brother-in-law, Bryan.
More Air Force One.
The Air Force One hangar has the best lighting for photography of all the rooms in the Reagan Museum, so I took a lot of pictures in it.
The Marine One helicopter is also housed in the Air Force One hangar.
So is a presidential limousine ...
... with its special license plate.
Steps away from Air Force One is a replica of an Irish pub, The Ronald Reagan. To our disappointment, the beer taps and bottles of spirits behind the bar are just for show. No alcoholic beverages are served, just an odd assortment of soft drinks like "Leninade," some kind of Soviet ginger ale. And we were so looking forward to a frothy pint of Guinness...
... I mean, isn't that false advertising?
One of my preoccupations during the Reagan administration was civil defense. It was nice to see it acknowledged. (Not my role, per se, but the topic itself.)
Reminders of the Cold War are found throughout the Reagan Museum, such as this replica of Checkpoint Charlie, where the Soviet and free sections of Berlin intersected ...
... but somehow I doubt the Soviet guards were so passive and waxen.
Ronald Reagan said, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall." And the Berlin Wall was torn down.
There's something impish about a "Reagan's Country Cafe" on the "Berlin Wall Terrace." It's like building a Wal-Mart in Manhattan.
According to a sign posted nearby, former big-band boy singer Merv Griffin donated a replica of the White House South Lawn that serves as the Reagan Museum's backyard.
Since last year, a new focal point for visitors is the Ronald Reagan gravesite.
Anything but ostentatious, nothing at the memorial even mentions the many accomplishments of Ronald Reagan -- just his name and dates of birth and death.
A visit to the Reagan Library and Museum can make you think that the occupant of the White House is a man of principle, character, intelligence, and focus; that he has a grasp of world affairs; and that he embraces true conservative principles of individual liberty, personal responsibility, and limited government, with its authority narrowly and specifically defined.
But then you realize that this is only a museum and a memorial, and Ronald Reagan is no longer with us.
"One of the smarter blogs is the libertarian-leaning collection of Charlottesville posts put up by Rick Sincere..." -- Bob Gibson, The Daily Progress, May 8, 2005
in Sunday's 
-- or at least 
(which, by coincidence, I did see in a theatre when it was first released -- though I don't think I've ever written about it).
