RenoVous

  It's the time of year for fall festivals - pumpkin patches and corn mazes at local farms. The above is from Fallon's Lattin Farms, but we generally go to Ferrari Farms. The first modern US corn maze was created in 1993 in Annville, Pennsylvania.  It was meant to be a fundraiser for local farmers affected by floods, and it set a Guinness World Record at the time. The current World Record holder is the Grand Labyrinthe Kamouraska in Quebec. That's 65.8 acres of maze, whereas our little local is just 5 acres. Nephew made sure we didn't get lost. Support local if you can!

  Meat Loaf's album, Bat Out of Hell, released on this day in 1977. The first single. One of my favorite songs of all time. Ellen Foley provides vocals, and she had met Meat working together on the National Lampoon Road Tour, so well practiced with over the top musical comedy.  The baseball commentary was performed by Yankees announcer, Phil Rizzuto. The title track, of course. All tracks were written by Jim Steinman, which he developed from a futuristic rock musical of Peter Pan.

  On this day in 1967, the infamous footage was recorded along Bluff Creek in Northern California, within the Six Rivers National Forest. It's known as the Patterson-Gimlin film.  And while it hasn't proven anything, it has helped sustain a lore that is celebrated, even if not entirely believed. Roger Patterson became interested in Bigfoot after reading an article in True  magazine, from December 1959.  The author, Ivan T. Sanderson, later released a book relating worldwide accounts of Sasquatch-like creatures, and specifically mentioned tracks found in the Bluff Creek area. Patterson died in 1972, and always maintained the authenticity of his footage.  His friend, Robert Gimlin, has always denied being part of any hoax with Patterson.  They claimed to have followed the tracks of the animal, and these were shortly after found by US Forest Service timber cruiser, Lyle Laverty. Humans across the globe have a fascination with cryptids - we love a thrill of the...

  Elle Fanning at the Academy Museum Gala. Taylor Swift Emma Chamberlain Kate Hudson Greta Lee Kendall Jenner Colman Domingo Inde Navarrette Alexa Demie Sofia Vergara

 My Shots - Red Rock Canyon 500 million years ago, this area was at the bottom of an ocean basin.  The gray mountains are made up of Paleozoic limestone and dolomite. Then there's the Aztec sandstone, colored red from iron oxide or hematite. The spots are iron concretions, where subsurface water has precipitated iron oxide. Dinosaur tracks have been found in the sandstone, as well as petroglyphs.  There is a nearby spring that helped sustain Southern Paiute tribes living in the canyon. In the mountains you can see the results of the Keystone Thrust Fault.  When the oceanic plate began subducting the western edge of the North American plate, compressional forces caused the older limestone to be thrust up over the younger sandstone, so the limestone served as a cap which slowed erosion of the sandstone.

  Today I'll start Chapter 22. Now we know who Margarita is, but I don't understand what's happening with her, or why.... I suppose it will all make sense in the end.  I keep wondering if all the other threads will come together, like that of the poet who already came across the Master....  What did he and Berlioz have to do with Woland's plan at all? Oh well, it's been entertaining regardless! I read some review of the Woland character, how he "isn't pure evil - he's the keeper of balance."  He doesn't just show up and cause trouble, he functions as an agent of cosmic justice.  He serves to expose the corruption of the Soviet bureaucracy. It may not be a spooky story, but it still feels right for the month of Halloween.