You don't know Dick (Turpin)

The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin

(ComedyONE Media Coverage) Finally, there comes along a comedy we can get behind. This new movie looks promising, like it might actually be witty and funny and interesting in an industry that feels as if the whole of Hollywood cinema were not already ruined beyond redemption by cartoon universes, bad sequels, and a lack of funding for creative comics. It's 2024; it's about time somebody wrote some new Pythonesque material. Noel Fielding is a witty, vegan, pacifist, fashion-loving, and completely charming "Dick Turpin" in this new comedic series (Apple TV+).

• Watch The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin
• Comedy ONE Media Coverage. 2/6/24; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly

High above Los Angeles: Forgotten Highway

It's smoggy because Los Angeles is a basin.

May gray has given way to June gloom in the City of Lost Angels. It's been a stint of Seattle/London weather, misty, foggy, drizzly, and a bit on the cool side. The mushrooms must love it, the tourists not so much. SoCal is famous for its sun, sand, and suffering. But the sun has become undependable. Recently, the massive snows have left the hills with more moisture than usual. Most of that has melted away. But there's a giant forest behind the smoggy County of LA, as most maps show. All that green space is mostly chaparral covered mountains with rocky soil only the dwindling population of bighorn sheep and rugged hikers love. When one gets to the top of the highway, there's a gate that never opens. What's behind it? Let's find out.

Exploring California's Highway 39, closed for over 40 years

(Sidetrack Adventures) May 31, 2023. California State Route 39 heads into the mountains of the Angeles National Forest above the megalopolis of Los Angeles, north of the little City of Azusa. It has been called California's "Forbidden Highway" or "Forgotten Highway."

The last four and a half miles of it have been closed since 1978, preventing it from connecting with State Route 2. Because of the closure and dead end, the road sees very little traffic, despite being only miles from the second largest city in the United States.

This video shows a drive up the forest highway through the Angeles National Forest, which is the same road used in the Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. Let's check out what there is to see along the way.

Then let's explore the section of road that has been closed for over 40 years, a road that was once considered one of the most scenic in California.

For another look at Highway 39, check out this video on the road by Roaming Benji: • California's Forg... ○ Gear used: amazon.com/shop/sidetrack... ► Subscribe for weekly updates showcasing some  adventures: @sidetrackadventures

Nepal fails to erase Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama holds poster of jailed Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi (AP).

Nepal fails to erase Dalai Lama from Tibetan hearts
Sudeshna Sarkar (TNN, June 26, 2009)

KATHMANDU – At one time, the name plate outside the walled house proudly said "Gaden Kangsar" – the residence of the Dalai Lama. But when Nepal’s Maoist government began a fresh crackdown on supporters of the exiled Tibetan leader last year, the house in Kathmandu’s embassy enclave, once known as the office of the Dalai Lama’s representative in Nepal, chose discretion over confrontation and the sign, written both in English and the elegant Tibetan script, was tarred over.

But it is not so easy to erase the loyalty to the Dalai Lama and dreams of a free Tibet from Tibetan hearts. A group of 35 Tibetan exiles proved so on Friday when they courted arrest by trying to stage a peace march in Tibet.

As the world observed the International Day Against Torture, the exiles left Kathmandu at 4:00 am on a bus heading north. Their plan was to take the Araniko Highway, which connects Nepal with China’s Tibetan Autonomous Region, cross the Nepal-Tibet border and stage a public protest in Tibet asking for the restoration of rights and democracy in the annexed Buddhist kingdom.

However, they were prevented by the Nepal police contingent patrolling the border, who stopped the bus and took the group under control. The protesters lay down on the highway, raising slogans for a free Tibet until they were dragged away. Police said the bus had been sent back to Kathmandu where the group, including eight women, will be handed over to the immigration authorities for appropriate action.

This is the first major Tibetan protest since the formation of a coalition government led by communist Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal. The protests, which had continued for almost a year mortifying China last year on the eve of the Olympic games, were stifled after a Maoist government came to power in August 2008 and ordered stronger measures, including patrolling by its cadres.

Nepal, having received an invitation to visit Beijing but is yet to set any dates, will come under fresh pressure from his northern neighbor after Friday’s resumption of protests. Though the new government adheres to the earlier administration’s foreign policy of not allowing anti-Chinese activities on Nepali soil, Beijing is bound to seek more effective measures to control the protests. It has stepped up its vigil along the border with Nepal to prevent Tibetan fugitives from heading towards Dharamshala in India via Nepal and is now asking for the regulation of the open Indo-Nepal border to cut off the entry of protesters from India. Source

Anti-Dalai Lama protesters in Germany advocating for the right to practice without politically motivated condemnation indicate the shocking fact that the beloved political leader does not in fact enjoy universal religious renown (Xinhua/Shugden).