desolation peak
From the fab folks at the Beat Museum, which I happily visited in San Francisco, paying my respects to the Beats and their ilk, comes this missive and opportunity:
1). BE A FIRE WATCHER IN THE CASCADES - JUST LIKE OLD JACK
In 1956, at the behest of Gary Snyder, Jack Kerouac spent a summer as a fire Watcher up on Desolation Peak in the Cascades at the Canadian Border praying to Mount Hozomeen. Jack was deep into his study of Buddhism and the book Desolation Angels was the result. One of the reasons I've always loved the movie Beat Angel so much is because it focuses so much on this period and this location.
So, imagine my surprise when I discovered last week that the US Department of Interior has a job posting up on their website where any US Citizen can apply to live in one of these shacks for $14 an hour and look for smoke, just like old Jack did in 1956.
This is for real. Click the link to see what it's all about. The posting ends 1/25/11 so check it out right away. If I wasn't spending 24/7 running The Beat Museum I'd be applying for this myself!
"Ooh! Ooh! Me, me! Mr. Kotter! Mr. Kotter!"
http://jobview.usajobs.gov/GetJob.aspx?JobID=94339980#Top
Funny thing about the job, and the fact that the Kerouac museum is spruiking it...is that Desolation Peak is pretty much what broke Kerouac's spirit. The name and location sum up quite nicely the effects of isolation on an alcoholic depressive...so I'm presuming those qualities will not be looked highly upon in the interview process.
1). BE A FIRE WATCHER IN THE CASCADES - JUST LIKE OLD JACK
In 1956, at the behest of Gary Snyder, Jack Kerouac spent a summer as a fire Watcher up on Desolation Peak in the Cascades at the Canadian Border praying to Mount Hozomeen. Jack was deep into his study of Buddhism and the book Desolation Angels was the result. One of the reasons I've always loved the movie Beat Angel so much is because it focuses so much on this period and this location.
So, imagine my surprise when I discovered last week that the US Department of Interior has a job posting up on their website where any US Citizen can apply to live in one of these shacks for $14 an hour and look for smoke, just like old Jack did in 1956.
This is for real. Click the link to see what it's all about. The posting ends 1/25/11 so check it out right away. If I wasn't spending 24/7 running The Beat Museum I'd be applying for this myself!
"Ooh! Ooh! Me, me! Mr. Kotter! Mr. Kotter!"
http://jobview.usajobs.gov/GetJob.aspx?JobID=94339980#Top
Funny thing about the job, and the fact that the Kerouac museum is spruiking it...is that Desolation Peak is pretty much what broke Kerouac's spirit. The name and location sum up quite nicely the effects of isolation on an alcoholic depressive...so I'm presuming those qualities will not be looked highly upon in the interview process.