# Just When You Thought California Couldn't Get Crazier! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 30, 2012, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-thought-california-couldnt-get-crazier/629840 "2012-07-30T11:31:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-thought-california-couldnt-get-crazier/629840/21 "2012-08-06T13:21:37Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > And won’t the giant prehistoric reconstituted man-eating snails put a damper on things? I can see them seriously depressing property values > ] Reminds me of seeing a traffic warning sign that warned “giant African snails in area!” :eek: Good lord get the tire iron. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2012, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-thought-california-couldnt-get-crazier/629840/22 "2012-10-30T23:30:18Z")
It seems that the Federal gov paid to restore the Salton Sea Yacht Club-millions spent-why? I don’t see any yachts-do you? ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2012, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-thought-california-couldnt-get-crazier/629840/23 "2012-10-30T23:52:26Z")
I think the reasonable way to save the Salton Sea is to simply convert it into a large, artificial lagoon…thingy, fed by the Pacific. This will, naturally, require excavating an artificial inlet from the ocean. Luckily, as was demonstrated by testing during the 60s, using dozens of hydrogen bombs to do the digging should do the trick. ---
**Author:** ![Twoflower](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/twoflower/32/22_2.png) [@Twoflower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Twoflower)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2012, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-thought-california-couldnt-get-crazier/629840/24 "2012-10-30T23:54:03Z")
It would appear that a severely economically depressed area got some money to restore an abandoned and vandalized, classic 50s-era yacht club for use as a history museum. It’s less than an hour’s drive from Palm Springs, so there’s even a fair chance it will draw some tourist traffic and dollars. I have a hard time seeing a problem with that. ---
**Author:** ![Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cornelius_Tuggerson)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-thought-california-couldnt-get-crazier/629840/25 "2012-10-31T14:56:42Z")
> [@Taomist](#): > > There’s some movie named The Salton Sea, and I’ll need to find it some day. Unless there are actually two movies with that name, its a Val Kilmer flick about meth heads. Pretty enjoyable to watch, but not much of the actual sea in it. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-thought-california-couldnt-get-crazier/629840/26 "2012-10-31T16:01:49Z")
> [@Cornelius\_Tuggerson](#): > > Unless there are actually two movies with that name, its a Val Kilmer flick about meth heads. Pretty enjoyable to watch, but not much of the actual sea in it. Nah, the one I’m thinking of is a documentary. And I’m finding lots of those when I google around, but not the one I’m thinking of. Still, plenty to watch, as it’s an interesting subject. It’s been an on-going battle between various governmental agencies as to who is gonna have to fix the place, because it’s turning into a dangerous place. Thousands and thousands of dead fish, chemicals off-gassing into the air; it’s become a public hazard, really. So I could see the gov’t being really happy about anyone who’d take a shot at cleaning even part of it up, 'cause there’s no THERE there for money to be wasted on. And water…I don’t know. I’m sure that’s been a topic of discussion for decades, as there is no such thing as ‘extra water’ at any time of year. Anything that could be ‘diverted’ from anywhere would be used for agriculture, which is in full swing year round, but even more so in the winter. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-thought-california-couldnt-get-crazier/629840/27 "2012-10-31T16:11:41Z")
Did find a good article though. > **[The People of the Sea](https://www.hcn.org/issues/365/17542)** > > California’s Salton Sea is at a crossroads, but > whether it dries up and blows away or is restored and rejuvenated, > the future does not look bright for its resident renegades, > retirees and recluses. It does bring up some good points. I moved here to The Salad Bowl \ about 4 years ago. I have lived in a variety of climates, but never have I lived anywhere with so many people allergic to so many things. EVERYONE HAS ALLERGIES. Seriously, EVERYBODY. And I don’t have numbers, but it seems to me that a staggeringly large percentage of kids have asthma and allergy problems; it’s not unusual at ALL for kids to be on Benadryl for months at a time. It’s…weird. The article brings up a good reason why this might be in good part because of the winds shifting all of this salty, acrid, poisonous dust out of the drying lake bed into the Valley. And it will only get worse; the speculation is that it can and will eventually be bad enough to ruin crops. So…someone’s gotta do something. But no one’s got the money, least of all California. ---
**Author:** ![amaguri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@amaguri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amaguri)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-thought-california-couldnt-get-crazier/629840/28 "2012-10-31T22:05:08Z")
[quote=“Tao “Into The” Mist, post:26, topic:629840”] Nah, the one I’m thinking of is a documentary. And I’m finding lots of those when I google around, but not the one I’m thinking of. Still, plenty to watch, as it’s an interesting subject. [/QUOTE] Possibly [this](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1758576/combined) Interesting film. I don’t think it’s pure documentary, but I enjoyed it all the same. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-thought-california-couldnt-get-crazier/629840/29 "2012-11-01T00:46:03Z")
Might you be thinking of this one: [Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0438327/synopsis)? It’s very good. I hadn’t heard of the Salton Sea before I saw it some years ago. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-thought-california-couldnt-get-crazier/629840/30 "2012-11-01T01:07:14Z")
“Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown.” ---
**Author:** ![getitrite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@getitrite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/getitrite)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-thought-california-couldnt-get-crazier/629840/31 "2012-11-01T01:13:37Z")
With the recent spate of earthquakes in the area and yes the smell of a fish die off, I actually did some looking into that area of California. The best and worse of my research came to this point, its a hot spot with 5 volcanic buttes in the close area and the fish kill may have been caused by a gas release under the Salton Sea. The idea of a development in the area needs to have scientists give the okaydoke on this, I wouldn’t if you ask me. The fact that obsidian, a type of volcanic rock is found all over the area, and an undefined area of possible earthquake activity, ok its California, and ajcent to the navy bombing range, sounds like a great place to retire. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-thought-california-couldnt-get-crazier/629840/32 "2012-11-01T03:03:09Z")
If anyone’s keeping a list of movies set in the area, add: [Little Birds](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1623745/). It’s a small indie teenage runaway movie about two friends, played by Juno Temple and Kay Panabaker, who live there and are going out of their minds with boredom. When they meet some guys visiting from LA they decide to follow them back. Not a good idea. It also stars Leslie Mann as Juno’s partygirl mom, and Kate Bosworth as Juno’s beleaguered aunt. Even though the movie shifts to Los Angeles, most of it takes place where they live on the Salton Sea. I saw it on the big screen and was shaking my head in amazement at the devastation and stark rawness of the area. I certainly didn’t blame these girls for wanting to get away. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2012, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-thought-california-couldnt-get-crazier/629840/33 "2012-11-02T04:31:25Z")
I went to The Salton Sea about ten years ago for a TV shoot. It’s a weird area populated by some weird people. _Plagues and Pleasures on The Salton Sea_ is a good documentary. It’s also near this place: > **[Salvation Mountain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvation_Mountain)** > > Salvation Mountain is a hillside visionary environment created by local resident Leonard Knight (1931–2014) in the California Desert area of Imperial County, north of Calipatria, northeast of Niland, near the Slab City squatter/art commune, and several miles from the Salton Sea. > The artwork is made of adobe bricks, discarded tires and windows, automobile parts and thousands of gallons of paint. It encompasses numerous murals and areas painted with Christian sayings and Bible verses, though its... ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2012, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-thought-california-couldnt-get-crazier/629840/34 "2012-11-02T04:47:32Z")
Yeah, Slab City is it’s own little world. 🙂 I’ll check out the movies; thanks! I find it all very interesting, very…movie-like. I mean, you couldn’t make this stuff up. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2012, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-thought-california-couldnt-get-crazier/629840/35 "2012-11-02T05:27:49Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > ocean. Luckily, as was demonstrated by testing during the 60s, using dozens of hydrogen bombs to do the digging should do the trick. Something of a nitpicky tangent (not on the Dope!), but the conclusion reached by most of the “peaceful nuclear explosions” projects in the 60’s was that nuclear bombs were pretty much useless for excavating earth. I mean, I _guessss_ because of those pesky natives and environmentalists, they never got to try out dredging those harbors in Alaska, but the results from the smaller-scale projects in Nevada weren’t encouraging. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2012, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-thought-california-couldnt-get-crazier/629840/36 "2012-11-02T06:21:51Z")
> [@amaguri](#): > > Possibly [this](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1758576/combined) > > Interesting film. I don’t think it’s pure documentary, but I enjoyed it all the same. I just added that to my Netflix queue. Thanks for the link. I’ve also seen the Val Kilmer movie, _The Salton Sea_, that someone else mentioned. It’s not bad. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2012, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-thought-california-couldnt-get-crazier/629840/37 "2012-11-02T12:01:16Z")
Maybe the Salton Sea could be turned into a giant algae farm? We could use it to make fuel oil! ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2012, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-thought-california-couldnt-get-crazier/629840/38 "2012-11-02T12:53:55Z")
I visited that sea once, and hope to again. No, on second thought, let’s not go to the Salton sea. 'Tis a smelly place. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2012, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-thought-california-couldnt-get-crazier/629840/39 "2012-11-02T13:25:12Z")
> [@grude](#): > > Reminds me of seeing a traffic warning sign that warned “giant African snails in area!” :eek: Good lord get the tire iron. Giant Snails! Walk for your Lives!!! ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2012, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-thought-california-couldnt-get-crazier/629840/40 "2012-11-02T15:09:32Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Giant Snails! > Walk for your Lives!!! lol. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-thought-california-couldnt-get-crazier/629840.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-thought-california-couldnt-get-crazier/629840.md?page=3)