Hi—

A friend sent me these pix from Bolivia on some of their road conditions…

Don’t know how many pix will post, but it makes our problems with Hwy 92 and Devil’s Slide look minor in comparison…. Too bad that we have to go to the third world to start feeling good about the coastside infrastructure, huh?

terry gossett

I think I saw that same truck on 92 this mornig!

—Darin

Terry, there are new roads being built in El Granada and maybe elsewhere on the coastside that look like that road.  I can show you two of them if you’d like to meet me in El Granada.  Do you think it’s reasonable for the County to allow new inadequate roads to be built?  The County “road standard” for the coastside is 20’.  I think that’s just stupid.  I realize that many people on my side of the fence are going to be upset with me for this, but I think that a road needs to be wide enough such that with cars parked on each side, cars can pass without turning your hair gray as you do it.  On many streets you can’t pass at all.  My street (Sonora in El Granada) has a dedicated width of 60’ yet only 30’ feet of what passes for pavement (patched potholes).  Most El Granada streets have a dedicated width of 50’ and typically barely half of that is “paved”.  I love the rural character of the Coastside but I am totally unable to comprehend the thinking that narrow claustrophobic streets are required in order to maintain that rural character.  Don’t we all like the wide-open feel of the coastside?  Why can’t wide streets (still only 1 lane in each direction) be part of that openness???  Why aren’t all the “public safety” canaries screeching about the substandard width neighborhood roads?  And to the people on my side of the fence, it’s not like these substandard roads impede growth in any way.

Leonard Woren - 11 October 2006 04:51 AM

...there are new roads being built in El Granada and maybe elsewhere on the coastside that look like that road.  I can show you two of them if you’d like to meet me in El Granada.  Do you think it’s reasonable for the County to allow new inadequate roads to be built?  The County “road standard” for the coastside is 20’.

Could you please clarify—are you talking about county roads, private roads or both? There should be a difference IMNSHO.

I realize that many people on my side of the fence are going to be upset with me for this…

What fence is that?

Why aren’t all the “public safety” canaries screeching about the substandard width neighborhood roads?

Which canaries are these?

Sorry to be so bewildered…

Hey Terry,

I’m still getting a kick out of your photos.

While I was looking at them just now (again) I was reminded of the film “Wages of Fear”—remade as “Sorcerer” in English. That may well be us someday after a quake! Very funny, in a dark way…

—Darin

Mary Bordi - 12 October 2006 02:15 AM

Leonard Woren - 11 October 2006 04:51 AM

...there are new roads being built in El Granada and maybe elsewhere on the coastside that look like that road.  I can show you two of them if you’d like to meet me in El Granada.  Do you think it’s reasonable for the County to allow new inadequate roads to be built?  The County “road standard” for the coastside is 20’.

Could you please clarify—are you talking about county roads, private roads or both? There should be a difference IMNSHO.

To me, a private road is a driveway, so I’m not talking about private roads.

I realize that many people on my side of the fence are going to be upset with me for this…

What fence is that?

4 legs good, 2 legs bad.  (Development, for the humor impaired.)

Why aren’t all the “public safety” canaries screeching about the substandard width neighborhood roads?

Which canaries are these?

It’s really difficult for me to answer that briefly.  It was a snide reference to Terry whining in another thread about “anonymous canaries” reporting illegal goings-on.

Sorry to be so bewildered…

I’ll take part of the blame for that.  Sarcasm is frequently risky.  I hope this helps clarify.

The picture reminds me of the movie “Sorcerer” (directed by William Freidkin) which was a remake of a even better movie called “Wages of Fear.” BTW, “Wages of Fear” was remade in a different setting in a movie called “K2,” in the late 1990s I believe. I’m not sure why anybody should care about this.

Kevin,

Hey! You know, it’s like, well…like you read my mind! I couldn’t have said it better myself!

:)

—Darin

Hey Darin, I just saw your post above mine—sorry for not acknowledging it. Upon further checking, the latest quasi-remake of “Wages of Fear” was called “Vertical Limit” not “K2” as I stated above—-it was a hokey movie about climbing K2 with leaking Nitro on the climbers’ backpacks. There is however a movie called “K2”—it wasn’t that great either.

Hey Kevin,

Since you are a “Wages of Fear” fan you probably already know that the “original” version seen in the USA was a shortened version—they cut out a lot of the beginning “commie” stuff. The current Criterion DVD puts it all back. And as for “Sorcerer”—I think the movie would be greatly improved if they *did* cut out all the beginning vignettes, showing the backgrounds of the main characters and providing their motivation for going on the truck ride.

I’m thinking of re-making “Wages” again, set here on the coast. I’m going to use Toyota Hybrids instead of trucks. We’ll be bringing fresh latte over Devil’s Slide from Pacifica. Lots of drama and tension; near death encounters with SUVs and cell-phone drivers. It’s only a outline at this point. Ideas are welcome.

—Darin

My roomate in Grad school was a film junkie, so he introduced me to Wages of Fear. I’m not sure what version we actually saw, but I suspect it may have been the shortened version.

A local remake seems perfect—but remember the ending where the Driver starts celebrating by driving a little jig—-with unfortunate results. You might need a CDP to shoot that scene on Devil’s Slide.

In Sorcerer, I kind of liked the introductory pieces—guys who somehow or another thought they escaped justice or cheated death. Or so they thought—-Like in the ending scene of the movie where the mafia guys show up to claim their due.