Day 1: Palm Desert...or...two truths and a lie

Day 1: Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert and NOT Palm Springs

Weather: Cool, windy and overcast in E-ville, the rest of the day's weather is interspersed in the post

First, a bit of here and there, in pics from the months before Desert X: 

C

J

C&J

Let's play two, Grandpa, we've got our uniforms on

Hawk watching at beach

A feral cat at the beach, first seen in at least 5 years

Deck refinished, new stairs below

At the beach, these two guys came from nowhere during a rainstorm to look at something behind the garages down below our unit

Hiking pole and a trowel, all the tools you'll ever need

And this is what they were looking at...hmmmmm

Dusting of snow on the Monterey Bay foothills, Feb 10

And even more in the hills near San Jose

Now back to your regularly scheduled post, Desert X 2019.

THB and DB are meeting FB and BB in the Palm Springs area for a few days of chasing art in and around Palm Springs. 

Which of these are truths and which is a lie:

1. THB has been declared an E-ville disaster

2. Palm Springs has been declared a state disaster

3. The US has been declared a national disaster

Trick question, no? 

How about this one: Palm Springs average rainfall per year from 2013 to 2016  was:

g. 5 inches of rain

a. 7 inches of rain

m. 3.5832 inches of rain

q. less than 2 inches of rain

e. none of the above (none of the above is always e)

It's Valentine's Day and our flight leaves Oakland right on time and lands on time in Ontario. That's about the last thing that went according to plan. We're on our way to Rancho Mirage to chase art in and around Palm Springs. Desert X (20)17 was fascinating (we watched several documentaries) and decided not to miss Desert X 19. 

There are actually two lines going in opposite directions from the sign

Toyota Camry in slot C37, meaning we walk in rain to find it in the rental car lot

It's raining when we land. We take the common rental shuttle to get the car. We're waiting patiently (it's raining) and some guy gets on our shuttle, one of the two shuttles that arrive at the same time, with a huge bouquet of pink roses. We sit around for a minute or three and the guy gets up and gets off the shuttle, heading to the taxi stand. Hmmmm....

It rains, sometimes hard, in the hour it takes us to drive 60 miles to the first installation on the way to Palm Springs. FB and BB (slightly ahead of us in driving from Claremont) give us the heads up that there's flooding near the installation, Specter by Sterling Ruby, and you can't get too close  So, we switch plans and head to Palm Springs to capture the Desert X  19 sites there as well as visit the art museum (where there's at least one X 17 installation still up).

Just off I-10, the road to Palm Springs has been washed out (see pic above). 

$17.43 worth of provisions in case we're marooned on an unmarked road for days on end (maybe tuna wasn't the best choice if that situation arises)

Time to adjust the plan again: we turn around and stop at a gas station just off I-10. There we acquire local knowledge: all three roads into and out of Palm Springs are closed (the attendant's girlfriend has texted him the news). He says we can possibly get to Palm Desert, southeast of Palm Springs, where there is one of three hubs for  Desert X 19 information.

THB seriously proposes another plan: THB and DB turn around, drive back to the Ontario Airport and fly home. Rejected by both after discussion. 

However, before we leave the gas station and head to Palm Desert, we decide to purchases provisions (see above).

The first of two (of three) hubs visited; no signage and we slink in the back entrance

THB thinks these guys were highlighted on a recent This American Life

Mock future extinctions, all human caused

Free "art" 

Second installation, a bit to esoteric for THB to understand

Off we go to Palm Desert and locate the hub. There are several unlisted installations on the walls, so a plus! Jenny Holzer's work has been "delisted" as there are issues with potential harm to Big Sheep. Nancy Baker Cahill's two "virtual" installations have been "delisted," probably due to connectivity issues (you had to download an app, make a bunch of setting changes, and walk around in a designated area to have something display on your device...didn't work on flip phones either).

The back entrance

911 and virtual reality don't work on your phone, chump

One of the "docents" directs us to the restaurant on the corner, Cafe de Beaux-Arts, a French Bistro. 

Very French Caesar Salad with shrimp

It is neither French nor a Bistro. THB decides that maybe his stock of provisions from the Extra Mile fast food  shop was a better option. For those of you old enough to remember such a thing, there's a woman walking from table to table "modeling" an outfit and handing out cards to the local shop where you can buy equivalents. Very bizarre!

The standard signage for installations

Roads are closing faster than THB and DB can keep track of, so we make a quick stop to our first real outdoors installation, Dive-In by Superflex. Of note, in the Desert X 19 catalog this installation is pictured underwater. How's that for art anticipating life!

Now it's a race: can we get to the Ritz-Carleton in Rancho Mirage before the roads close down. Yes, we can! And it's on the side of a steep hill so for now we can't be flooded out of our room, only washed away in a flash flood (...keep that tuna sandwich handy).

The room is very nice, and the view is awesome sounding. Can a view have a sound? Yes it can when the rain is pounding down hard enough on the overhangs off our balcony. There's almost zero visibility of Rancho Mirage below us.

We unpack and discuss options. THB's netbook is very slow to boot up (a solar-system wide disaster, probably caused by some huge update download that was not needed 2 days ago when THB last booted up this machine), and after discussing plan 12, we cancel having the car brought round and decide we will just wait until late afternoon and see if we can reach FB and BB in Palm Desert for dinner. 

Ed. note: this next section was completed using cut and paste from a Word doc and thus the font may be a bit different

Off we go to visit a few installations before dinner. We manage to get two miles north to see the first of the five converted storefronts by Cinthia Marcelle (don’t think we’ll make it to number 6, it’s in Tijuana!). Called Wormholes:

THB is thinking if this is a real store  he could upgrade to an even better flip phone

Back the way we came to see the Lover’s Rainbow (how appropriate on Valentine’s Day), which we spot from the road: there’s no place to park, so we’ll have to do a drop-in later in the chase.

Dinner with FB and BB in the restaurant in their hotel, AC3. It’s a $60 three course Valentine’s special. Lots of food, the appetizers are large, the entrees are large, and the dessert is a trio that THB manages to down only the most decadent: a dark chocolate mousse in a chocolate cup. Overall, the quality is above average and probably way above many fancier Valentine's Day dinners. $205 with tip and 3 glasses of wine for THB and DB.

Poke bowl

Lightly grilled scallops, THB and DB share

THB and DB share a beet salad

Loin lamb chops, shared by THB and DB

Duck breast shared by THB and DB

Short ribs

FB supplies pre-dessert treats

Back to the room to finish up the post for the day when THB discovers another disaster has struck: the internet is down for the entire greater Palm Springs area (per the front desk; somehow THB doubts it is that extensive). The Ritz has their TV service through the same provider and thus only cell phones are working. THB doesn’t really watch the small screen, so he is reduced to reading on his Kindle while you loyal followers are left baying at the moon (the skies have cleared, the stars are out!).

Giant heart shaped sugar cookies with red sprinkles are left with our turndown service. How sweet!

Ed. note: this next section was completed using cut and paste from yet another Word doc and thus the font may be a bit different

Movie Review: Brexit (HBO) One hour and 38 minutes explaining the US 2016 presidential election results. Oh, wait: this is actually a mockumentary on the lead-up to the UK referendum in 2016 on whether to stay in or leave the EU. It’s a thriller, even if you know the outcome (is there anyone who doesn’t know the outcome?  Yep, DJT became president). Benedict Cumberbatch is terrific as the anti-hero Dominic Cummings. Highly Recommended