So I went to Comdex, the big computer trade show in Las Vegas with some young guys who are working on a project with me.
The show was disappointing; small and poorly attended, which worries me as it is a sign of economic health (or lack thereof). We had our scheduled meetings, went around and looked for the people we’d targeted to meet, and made two laps of the show floor by 2:30 on Monday afternoon. We’d planned to spend Tuesday as well, but didn’t see the point.
I mentioned the Leonid showers, and suggested that we leave around midnight, and drive back the back way, past Death Valley via Pahrumph and Baker, and spend some time in the desert looking at the meteor shower; they bought into the idea, and headed to the tables, with a plan to meet for a late movie and head out.
It felt like I was breaking curfew somehow to do this … somehow wonderfully un-adult and kind of irresponsible (believe me, I’m feeling it today).
We saw ‘8 Mile’ (more comments on this later), and hit the road at 2:00 a.m. On the 160 over to Pahrumph, we saw some large fireballs, as well as smaller streaks.
By 3:00, we were literally in the middle of nowhere…ten or fifteen miles south of Pahrumph (which looks like it is growing pretty quickly, considering that as far as I know, it consists of gas stations, fireworks stands, two or three bordellos, and an auto and motorcycle race track. Can someone give me any idea why people live there?? Other than to be close to Art Bell??).
And when we stopped, it was wonderful. Once the car (the mighty Odyssey minivan) quit cooling off, there was no noise except the wind. The moon was full and lit the haze brightly enough that we were casting distinct shadows, sadly obscuring all but the brightest meteors; we saw maybe ten or so in the time we could stand outside without chattering teeth (Death Valley is cold on winter nights).
Then we had the perfect moment … just as we couldn’t stand the cold any more, the haze broke up, leaving traces in the sky and a ring around the moon, and we had one brilliant meteor that framed the composition perfectly. We wanted to go “oooh” like you do at a fireworks finale.
Then we had a few minutes of dark sky, as the illuminated haze blew away, and I was reminded of the immensity and depth of the sky. It’s a wonderful feeling, and at the same time frightening.
I realize that those stars don’t care if we are happy or if we live or if there is peace anywhere on Earth; they will continue in their paths regardless. So we’d better care.
Then we drove home, re-entered ‘reality’, and were trapped in traffic on the 10 from Ontario to Santa Monica for three hours. I don’t know how people do that every day …