Another installment of the Reactionary Hurl, the series in which I take the easy road to blogging and react to news in short, opinionated, useless snippets. I need to keep this shorter, according to at least one crucial reader. So there are fewer points today, but it’s much more readable. You happy, Jerz?
- If Walker Lake is ugly, you aren’t a Nevadan, which is fine, but should at least be pointed out. I have to walk a fine line here. Because of where I work, it would be very easy to criticize my position on this as inauthentic, but I assure you it’s genuine. Walker Lake is in a desert (like the rest of us), has had serious environmental problems (it’s recovering), doesn’t have much surrounding it (Hawthorne), and I would go there to camp for a weekend in a heartbeat. I spent a night with my family on the east side of Lahontan in the spring, and it rocked. Walker is less desolate than either Lahontan or Pyramid, but looks exactly the same, except for the awesome mountains to Walkers west. It’s what’s here, let’s cherish it. Also, get out of the car, at least, when taking the picture. I hate reflections. (FuzeBlog)
- Bravo, Kirk Caraway. Keeping things even slightly in perspective is important. Being willing to step out of one mold and keep people honest is very important. Kirk does both with this post. (Kirk Caraway)
- Myrna the Minx points out that (s)he is one of those people who doesn’t understand what collaboration’s purpose is and why that has everything to do with what is happening at the RSCVA. The RSCVA’s Project Brainstorm program was created to allow citizens, who normally are excluded from the decision-making process that governs regional marketing efforts and the way your city or town is portrayed to the rest of the world, to play an active role in the decisions that will govern that plan going forward. Going with the uneducated, moronic equivalent of “The newspaper just wants us to do their work for free” stand-by that general malcontents always seem to come back to only further illustrates her general cluelessness as someone who asks people to post on her site when she leaves town for Pogues concerts, yet can’t understand that we (society) should all be in this together—even the government agencies among us. If you don’t have anything to add, then STFU and get out of the way. (Reno and Its Discontents)
- The RGJ has a high school sports podcast. High school sports is something I wish I could spend a little time following. The kids work their butts off, the competition is intense, and the atmosphere is pretty exciting. My high school isn’t giving me much reason to get fired up about any of it, unfortunately, so I haven’t had a real compelling reason to get into it. But, if you are into it, check out the podcast the RGJ is putting together. It’s actually short enough to keep your attention, and as a companion to their preps site, is a great addition. (RGJ)
- I wasn’t even interviewed! OK, I did leave the comment on the food blog wth that exact quote, but I had no idea it was in the paper until I got a phone call from someone simultaneously commending me on my quote and scolding me for not taking her husband to the Cabela’s Media Photoshoot thing. A true customer would have wanted to avoid the naked mannequins, though. You don’t want to see how these things are put together. Also, on the Pho front, the Pho joint in Carson City has closed. I tried to go there but was greeted with locked doors and a for lease sign in the window. The stuff was all still on the tables, though. (RGJ & Me!)
And just to be clear, please read the initial Reactionary Hurl so you can understand the context.
bryan wrote:
Ryan – thanks for putting me at the top of this list. I actually feel a little honored to be on the Jerz blog and subject of some scuttlebutt.
Anyway, I am a nevAAAdan – proud 4th generation [my son the 5th] – and i have grown up swimming, boating, 2-stroke jetskiing, peeing, etc. in all the lakes which you describe…walker lake included. Very fond memories of them all. Primarily Lahonton Beach 10 where my family and all their friends would park their hot rod flatbottom speed boats in the water as a weekend car[boat] show for all passers by.
Ok, back to the point. I believe my hatred for WL started when i was about 8 and my dad and his buddies used to do this white trash thing called “Speed Waterskiing”. The concept of this sport was to get a souped up drag boat, a gigantic maharaja water ski (about 10’ long), a ski rope that is about 100’ long…5 other idiots just like you…line up…and haul ass in a circle until one of the following things happens:
1) you win
2) your boat breaks (more likely)
3) you crash and get hurt (most likely)
they held this event at…WALKER LAKE! The only place devoid of rules to prevent such madness from happening.
So, why do i hate walker lake? Not just because it’s ugly. As you say, so is all of central nevada. No. My real reason is that my folks would drag us to this event every year, tell us we couldn’t swim in the lake in case one of the errant boat drivers lost control, tell us to stay out of trouble, and after a full day of WHOOPIE, when my dad got done with his goofy sport, it was MY JOB to wash all the white, scaly crap off of the boat. What fun is this for a kid? This exercise took nearly a full Sunday and consumed valuable time I would have preferred to devote to insect burning & jumping my Gemco Huffy. I have held a grudge ever since. With the lake and my parents[not as much].
Anyway, my post was SUPPOSED to be more about the advertising campaign depicting it, to those not-in-the-know (like us), as a mainstream ‘tourist’ destination – which it most certainly is not. The ads, to me, do not seem truthful. After seeing the campaign (and loving the work visually), I fully expected to see a bunch of renovation & new life when i passed through there. But, it was the same as when i was 8 only worse. Everything in Walker is closed/run down.
Now, I know you dont claim to be an “ad guy” (you just speak to them on stage). And, my point, due to unskilled writing and a 29 year grudge, may have been lost in my rant. Alas, I am not an outdoor-adventure kinda guy, I’m not a journalist, barely a blogger, rather, just a semi-irresponsible driver, that takes photos and blogs (from my crappy treo) while driving to las vegas (a pastime which i choose to do once a year, just in case a new Wal Mart opens someplace between Fallon and Indian Springs).
Sorry about the reflection on the photo, next time i will roll down the window.
Pen pals forever…
B
PS
I also took moving images of the Cottontail ranch (also closed down), a guy wearing a hubcap for a hat (in hawthorne), a family who had their 3 year old son in a stroller dressed as a shirtless Chippendale at 11pm on Halloween at the Fremont Street Experience, and a couple pictures at the Armory Museum in Hawthorne which i find fascinating [true].
PPS
Are you familiar with the terms: Gemco, Skaggs, Columbo’s, and Chism Ice Cream? if not, then you sir are not a Nevadan. :-) j/k
Nov 3, 07:14 AM
Ryan Jerz wrote:
Wow, that’s some story. Sorry it happened to you. I know you read up on the Hurl so you understand where I’m coming from, so to get a little more serious, I haven’t seen any of the ads for Walker. My question to anyone calling it ugly would be “compared to what?” Just about every lake in the American Southwest is desert and/or fake. Tahoe is one exception, but that’s hardly a fair comparison for any lake, not just lakes in the desert. I think Walker is great due to its setting. Those mountains are really cool to the west, and the others in the immediate area just don’t have that. Your story notwithstanding, I think the fact remains that ugly is relative, and I’d love to know what you find better.
I also see that we’ve switched roles here form the last time you commented. You were defending (to some degree) Dove’s advertising while I was blasting it. Now I’m on the side of Walker (albeit without knowledge of their campaign) while you are calling it disingenuous. I realize I’m employing a bit of relativism here, and I’ll defend that by saying I’d much rather be on the side of a cool little part of my state than a multinational corporation. Not that corporations are bad; I just like the area around Walker better than them.
As for the PPS, I have actually had dinner at Columbo’s (when it was on So. Virginia by Park Lane) but did once attend an election night party at the river location before it was flooded in 1997…must have been literally two months earlier because it was the 1996 election. I knew a guy whose last name was Skaggs—I’m thinking that was a grocery store. Gemco I’ve heard of as an old department store, and Chism is new. I am from Elko, so it might not be fair to break out the truly local stuff. Hot Chocolate at the Coffee Mug was the stuff of dreams, though. And if you’ve never bussed tables at Gratton’s, you have no idea.
Nov 3, 05:19 PM
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Ryan Jerz is an all-around good guy who shoots photos and video, builds websites, and works in athletics at the University of Nevada, Reno. He received a Masters Degree in 2007 from the University of Nevada, Reno's Reynolds School of Journalism.