The truth about cars as an article on civil disobedience in Arizona where speed camera's have been defaced with post-it notes:

Over the past month other cameras have had their lenses covered with multiple yellow notes with the phrase "honest mistake" written on them. This is a subtle dig at camera operator Redflex

Courtesy of Australia's early foray into speed cameras, Redflex, an Australian company, has won the contract to put speed cameras throughout Arizona. Governor Neapolitano wanted the cameras to aid in revenue shortfalls. Taxing people more is politically impossible in the US, consequently, governments raise money through means where people have no moral stance; speeding is one. Added bonus, nearly everyone speeds.

Australia is not dis-similar and has massive fines for speeding - up to $700. Fines are so large that Queensland has a mechanism where you can pay it back bit by bit. Kind of like lay-away (lawby for Auians) for taxation. If someone has to enter into a repayment scheme over a speeding ticket then we are in unfair and unjust territory.

The Arizona speeding cameras were nearly put on the recent electoral ballot as a citizen initiative but Napolitano managed to halt that action. The cameras are exceptionally unpopular and viewed as cynical revenue raising mechanisms. I doubt they would have survived a popular ballot.

One of the fellows I work with had forty-five minutes to kill while waiting for his car, so he went and stood infront of a mobile camera van. He said he managed to stop two speeding tickets being issued as they got a shot of his back rather than the car.

The fellow in the van called the police on him. He said his heart was pounding in his chest when the policeman pulled up. But the policeman said to him, "You aren't obstructing traffic, and you aren't being a public nuisance, so nothing I can do." The bloke I work with and the policeman had a chat about how they hate the speed cameras and then policemen went on his way. My workmate was getting waves and honks of the horn the whole time he was doing. Good on him. (reply)

The Waste Water Treatment plant on Hayden and McDonald contains parks and public areas around it. The building is done in a modern style with rusted metal, rocks in rusted mesh and blood red canvas sails for shade.

You wouldn't know it is a waste water treatment plant other than a back entrance has card access and a warning that only authorized personnel are allowed in. Immediately infront of the facility is a water feature and dog parks. There is a shaded amplitheatre of sorts behind the structure and then it blends into baseball parks.

It is possible that disguising it in the modern structure was a requirement or a means to fend of any NIMBY attacks so that it could go through council. It is quite a stunning building and well integrated into the surrounding public space. (more)
I went up Bell Pass today. It was a tough hike of approximately four miles with the last two miles being steeply vertical. The pass bridges the mountain range between the western and eastern aspects.

Phoenix is perenially hot now and there is no good time to go and do a hike. I did it between 10am and 1pm which put the temperature around 105F (about 42C). I took three bottles of water up which summed to two pints of water and had used every last drop by the time I had got back down to my car. (more)
The Sonoran Plain has large dry river beds not unlike the NSW western plains. The largest of these is the Gila River which runs through the West Valley of Phoenix. It is a wide stretch of trees, shrubs, rocks and sand which presumably carries the water out of the city when the monsoons hit.*

Currently there is a brush fire in the Gila River basin. There is no danger to homes as the fire, fueled by high temperatures and wind, is running up the river bed. The brush fire has been going for three days now proving impervious to firefighters and water drops from the air. I took the photo above at sunset last night. (more)
Water occupies a central role in the desert city of Phoenix. The city is criss-crossed with canals and public spaces are dominated by either water fountains or water misters off the commercial buildings.

The fountain above is from a tiny little strip mall in downtown Tempe, AZ. Phoenix is an architecturally adventurous city however the commonality of the water fountain is almost an under-lying celebration and fear of the role water has in the sustainability and viability of the city. Everyone is fully aware that if the water dries up then Phoenix will effectively cease to exist. The fountains in the public spaces are an uncomfortable expression of both the plentiful and scarce nature of fresh water. (reply)
I played paintball up in the North East ranges. It was a group of guys that do it once a month for fun, and the purposes of doing it without the hassles of playing through a commercial operation.

They bring their own barriers, markers, air tanks etc. One of them found out I had played paintball in Australia and invited me along. I was glad he did, I had a tonne of fun. (more)
One of the things I loved about Germany was its alt stadt or old town. Every large city you went to would have one of varying sizes, such as Munich's massive one, or Aachen's smaller one. It was great. They were paved and pedestrian friendly; had hotels on their perimeter, and contained plenty of pubs and restaurants inside them.

Scottsdale, a suburb of Phoenix, has an old town as well. It stretches to the Fashion Center and Waterfront, but is a small labyrinth of road and shops that are pedestrian friendly with plenty of tourist traps, restaurants and bars. We go there a lot. (reply)
Phoenix has been overcast, cold and drizzly all day. It is very unseasonal. The photograph below is from my car heading north up the 101 and looking toward the McDowell Ranges.

Normally at this time of day the McDowell Ranges are in stark relief against a bright blue sky and the long shadows of their own peaks.

Ironically the desert sun and heat has created a market for undercover parking which is in short supply. One of my workmates just leased an under-cover site in the parking lot for $40 a month. Apparently this is normal practice to charge for parking under a carport-like tin roof which at least offers some relief from the direct sun. (reply)
Phoenix has city hikes which are large out crops of rock in the city and its surrounding suburbs. They are now public land and an entwined part of the culture to hike them. Camelback and Squaw Peak are the most vertical of the city hikes. They are tough.

It has been nine months since I was separated though I am still not divorced yet. I started to refocus on the my fitness and body in August of last year; partly to take my mind off what was happening, but also the fear that I may not be competitive if I had to go on the singles market again. Since then I have dropped my body fat to below 12% and now look like I did in my early twenties.

I did Squaw Peak this morning and after nine months of gym/fitness training I have pretty much conquered it. I went up it fast without a loss in stride or over-laborious breathing. (more)
Last weekend I went quadding up in the high plains desert of Arizona. The photo below is taken just above an old stage coach stop in the rolling hills of the high plains.

The high plains desert is a lot like the Australian scrub. There is very little water but an awful lot of vegetation that has adapted to the water sparse environment. About thirty metres to the left of where I took the picture was a natural spring. Which probably accounts for why it was a 19thC stage coach resting place. (more)
Cam Riley: South Sea Republic. Freedom, liberty, equity and an Australian Republic.