In an effort to maximize the potential of the Labor Day holiday, I met Assembly Ron Knecht at his house at 6 a.m. for a hike behind C Hill. His neighbor Lorne Malkiewich, director of the Legislative Counsel Bureau, was there, too.
We walked up the steep, rocky road that heads southwest from Kings Canyon behind the hill. We made great time, climbing to an altitude of 6,315 feet while discussing this year's legislative session and politics in general. Actually, being an entertainment and outdoors writer, I didn't have much to add so I mostly listened. My friend, law-school hopeful Danielle Cook, told me to ask Republican Knecht about being a liberal in his younger days.
"Yeah, I was a liberal, McGovern-loving, school-newspaper editor in college," he admitted. The transformation from liberal to conservative is a function of recognizing the most efficient way to optimize human well-being, he said.
He paraphrased Winston Churchill: "If you haven't been a socialist by the time you're 24, you have no heart. If you haven't given up on it by the time you're 29, you have no brain."
"So Republicans are out to help people -- they're not all just a bunch of jack-booted thugs?" I asked.
"Sssshhhh," said Malkiewich with a laugh. "That's a secret."
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If you're interested in doing some hiking yourself, call Penny Fairfield before her Tuesday morning summer hikes wrap up. Next week, her group will hike to the waterfall at the end of Kings Canyon at 8 a.m. Call her at 885-2166.
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My apologies to columnist Guy Farmer -- whom I've been running into a lot lately -- for encouraging attendance to what he calls "the annual drug festival" outside of Gerlach, But Friday night is the fourth annual Afterburn Burning Man spinoff at the Bluelion Gallery in Reno.
It's a chance for folks who can't commit to a full week on the playa -- or who haven't ever experienced it -- to check it out for a few hours. There will be art, lots of photos and participants from Burning Man.
I camped for four days up there last year and had a great time (though not so great that I HAD to go back this year). As in any situation, there were people who were half a turn off out there, but I also saw artwork so beautiful that it made me cry out in awe.
The news of a death and two plane crashes at this year's "Burn" cast a negative light on the event -- but it's not unusual for a person to die once a week in any city of 30,000, let alone a temporary one in the middle of an inhospitable, flat desert. The Afterburn is 7D11 p.m. at the Bluelion Gallery at 420 Evans St.
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Another fun event will be the pistol shoot at the sixth annual Northern Nevada Senior Games. The games are today through Saturday, Sept. 13, with the pistol shoot on Monday at the Douglas County Range near the landfill. The event will feature a three-part competition with shooters aiming from 25, 15 and 6 yards. Participants in the pistol shoot must provide their own handguns and ammunition. Other competitions in the games include weightlifting, swimming and track and field. Call 783-6455.
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As you read this, I am tying up loose ends in the newsroom before a two-week trip to Europe. Diversions editor Sam Bauman will drive me up to the airport tonight so I can fly to Portland. Friday, I'll fly to Frankfurt then to Barcelona with my brother Erik. I'll compile lists of events for Sept. 11 and 18 (which editor Kurt Hildebrand will shape into something more relevant when the time comes) then be back in town Sept. 19.
Karl will be driving a rented Opel across Spain and Portugal with his brother for the next two weeks. Leave a message for him at 881-1219.
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