From: babs
Subject: phone cold theft
Date: Thu, 18 May 2000
how do you know it is gone?
i talked to lorene yesterday. her brother was visiting the other day, and he & his wife stopped on the way to the mine to answer the phone. some guy from england. anyway, on their way back out from the mine, they saw that the booth was gone.
you think maybe some phreaks stole it?
it's possible, certainly. (we're keeping an eye cocked toward e-bay)
i don't know why the park rangers or whatever would take it.
because they hate it. also, we got an anonymous tip a month or so ago that this would happen -- maybe someone within the nps, who knows?
none the less, bummer. you should issue a press
release (under a different name with press releasing credentials) asking
anyone with information leading to the whereabouts of the booth to come
forward for a reward. you know how desperate local news (?!?) programs are
for stories (...and now breaking news, someone somewhere totally irrelevant
to you just found an extra charge on her phone bill...)
LOL!
they would probably love to get a fax from some "organization" that claims to be a phone booth
historical society or some shit asking for help in locating their missing
"artifact". i double-dog, no i triple-dog dare you.
well, the last thing the booth needs is more publicity -- that's why it disappeared in the first place!
next thing, you'll have people leaving flowers, rosaries, and dolls next to the phone pole, like at oklahoma city or columbine ...
Date: Thu, 11 May 2000
From: Laura Molina
I heard about the phone in June of 99 on the internet. I became obsessed. I am a somewhat experienced desert hiker. I actually live on the edge of the Mojave desert in the west Antelope Valley. I'm only a hundred &fifty miles from the booth. I gave you guys a link from my homepage, NakedDave.com. My sister is a pacbell repair superviser. she is putting me with "External affairs" dept of the phone co. for a complete history of the booth. I liked your pictures of the snow storm of April 99. I was driving home from Vegas on a Sat. and I remember it well. There was alot of snow when I got to my home in Lake Hughes.
From: Andy
Date: Mon, 8 May 2000
Subject: From Scotland
Dear People,
My name is Andy and I'd like to phone the Mojave phone booth from the banks
of Loch Ness in Scotland. I'm Scottish.
However I couldn't see the number to the booth anywhere, please can you tell
me it.
Cheers, Andy H.
actually, it's at the top left of every page
From: David
Subject: The Real Booth?
Date: Sun, 7 May 2000
About a month ago, I called an LA AM talk radio station, KABC and spoke to host MrKABC (formerly MrKFI) about him perhaps calling the booth on the air. It took him a while, but this last Friday he called. Some guy answered and said he first 'manned' the booth in December 1999. [He] has a web site which is dedicated to his experiences at the booth.
I first heard of the booth about six months ago on LA TV station KCAL's news. I went to a search engine and soon found your site. The impression I got was this booth with anonymous, passersby (few that they may be) or local ranchers picking up the phone when they stopped by the booth on occasion.
that's how it used to be, in fact.
That idea had a certain romance to it. But now there's this guy camping there in his self-contained van conversion camper at two week stretches, logging every call. That to me dashes any semblance of romance the original concept of 'the booth' had to me.
I almost wish I hadn't informed MrKABC of the booth. In fact, the night he called the booth, I called several times shortly before he called and the phone was alternately busy or rang 7 or 8 times without being answered. This seemed rather strange to me. I mean, either someone's there answering randomly - or the spectre of some kind of set up pre-arrangement with the talk show host (MrKABC) seems not out of the question. I'm afraid the booth is doomed. What's next? Paving of the road?
don't laugh -- we've heard that the park rangers are seriously considering this.
A geodesic dome like the one encircling the Spruce Goose? A souvenir store? Movie rights with [van guy] starring as discoverer of the booth?
it will probably be further overtaken by hippies and UFO nuts, like poor giant rock (which the new ager UFO hippies are claiming credit for splitting in two).
Date: Thu, 4 May 2000
From: Charles R.
Subject The booth, of course!
I found a link to your page from a friends' site (BlinkyRedThing.org, I
think) and I must say Very cool.
I know how disappointing it must be in some ways to see the popularity of
the booth grow so much. It's not the little secret that it once was, but
still -- you've done such a great job documenting your process of
discovering and "getting to know" the booth that I feel like I've been
there. Actually, I wouldn't mind seeing it but I probably won't go. Just
like actually standing on the crosswalk at Abbey Road was sort of
anticlimatic compared to what I'd THOUGHT it was going to feel like.
haha! funny (but appropos) analogy
I'll let it remain as "something I've read about".
Thank you so much for sharing your experiences with all of us out here!
Date: Sat, 29 Apr 2000
From: Chas
Hey Whats uP?
Hows it going at Deuce of Clubs? Wow!! What a
site you have and what has become of this whole thing (meaning the phone
booth).
My name is Charlie (friends call me Chas) and i live in Palm Desert near
Palm Springs. I first heard about the phone booth about 2 mos. ago on Art
Bell radio show. Some guys were broadcasting (pirate ham radio) from the
booth. I thought to myself "sounds cool", but didn't really give it much
thought until i was surfing around on the net and just for shits and
giggles i typed in mojave phone booth and sure enough a website popped
up. I checked it out then linked to Deuce site. Now i was really
intrigued by it. After i got done checking out the various websites i did
the next logical thing any curious person (and especially adventurous
person-- i am very adventurous) would do and that of course is to call.
On my first call, the phone was busy. I thought to myself this thing is
for real people are actually there. I couldn't believe it. So i kept
hitting redial and finally got through and ended up actually talking to the
guys who were broadcasting from there (they had been there for a few days).
Thanks dude for exposing the booth, hopefully it won't become over popularized.
From: Dean S.
Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2000
My name is Dean, and I'm from Rhode Island.
I came across your web site about the Mojave Desert phone booth after my
brother heard a local radio station, WAAF, call the booth on the air.
Apparently they had sent a correspondent to the site at an earlier date.
(The reports are on the Net somewhere, but I've forgotten where.)
Naturally, since I was online at the time, I pulled up your page through
Yahoo!
I had heard about the "desert phone booth" before, but I had forgotten about
it until it was brought to my attention again. No, I haven't called (yet),
but I've gotten those strange feelings of "Gotta go there!" That strange
curiosity factor and the feeling of "I was there," I guess. In reality,
I'll probably never see it in person. Too much of a journey and a hassle
for me.
Anyway, in thinking about the booth in the past few weeks, I've realized
that your "sacred spot" is sacred no more. After reading many reports of
people visiting and leaving junk there, I only wish that those who visit the
booth respect the area and clean up after themselves. (Although you *did*
bury a bunch of stuff there when you first showed up!) I also wish that the
site looked the same as it did when you arrived. That would be ideal.
This story of the "invasion" on the booth reminds me of an article I read a
few years ago. Apparently, scientists had found this small hidden pool of
water and vegetation in the middle of the Himalayas, and it was claimed by
some to be the last secluded place on Earth untouched by man. I'm sure you
can make many parallels to the booth.
Well, enough of my ramblings. I guess that was my way of saying that I'm a
"fan" of the booth. Thanks for the site and the stories.
From: Michael K.
Date Wed, 19 Apr 2000
I also just wanted to say that I think your site is a nice tribute the 'booth. I called it months ago. After a few tries on a few different nights I finally got through and spoke to a nice gentleman for a few moments. His previous calls had been from Isreal and Germany...a lot farther than the east coast. Anyway, last I heard the phone had been ripped-off...but it seems that it is back now...yes? Anyway, I'll always treasure the absurdity of the lonely (or not so lonely) phone booth.
From: Peter
Date: Tue, 18 Apr 2000
A large article on the booth appeared in the National Post up here in Canada today. This was the first I had heard of the booth and was very intrigued. I tried this morning and just got a continious ring. then at approx 1800 EDT I dialed and got a busy signal and tried a minute later. Imagine my surprise when a gentleman from Saracuse(sp?) New York named Mick. He had heard of the booth and came out in a 4X4 of someone he had met. He had been out for a bit answering the phone. A lot of callers from Canada because of the article he mentioned and one from Florida and another from France. He was just about to head out to go play craps..Mick if you read this..hope lady luck was good to you.
I admit I asked some dumb questions just because I had not expected to get through. such questions such as 'do you do this often* to a guy from New York state..shaking head*L* well next time I try I will be better prepared. I think the booth represents alot to alot of people. The unknown, the chance encounter, reaching out to someone and have them talk to you, the spirt of adventure. I really hope the booth stays. I want to visit it and check it out this yr..to talk and listen. I'll follow the survial guide.*L*.
Great site and keep up the great work
Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2000
From: Curt
Thanks to your site and instruction my friends and I
have successfully answered that eternal call this past
weekend. Your advice to bring extra water made all the
difference when we arrived. We bartered one gallon of
generic spring water for two six packs of Michelob
Amber.
the law of unintended consequences works in someone's favor for a change
I am also of the mind that subsequent
quantities of ignorencia shall always destroy the
sublime qualities of self-discovery.
what you said
Maybe this could be a form of an end. A final sense of
closure. This could be a 'Retire The Damn Booth Wake'
or some such. The Ring is dead, long live the Ring.
What say you?
Let's wax the bastard.
sounds illegal.
From: Tim
Subject: Feeling better about the booth
Date: Tue, 18 Apr 2000
Just called the booth (had hoped for blessed desolate ringing but no...).
Had a very pleasant conversation with a woman named Carrie from Vegas who,
she told me, comes out there often with her husband and two kids (age 4 and
7) to camp out of ther Volkswagen van. The phone book has wandered off
with a visitor, it seems, and they've dug a new fire pit, but other than
that, same old booth. They've filled a notebook page w/ a call log so far.
Her son, age 7, is having a blast answering the phone and they've got a
kite and snacks and all their toys...just a generally positive family booth
weekender thing going on. They're the only ones out there right now.
Hansen from Wiscansen
From: lobster
Subject: ahOy ;()
Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2000
I think the ability to make a noises in the barren desert while being hundreds of miles away, on demand, is a very surreal concept. It must tear you up to see this discovery of yours be oversensationalized... and thus, therefore, I am led to a couple of questions, if you have the time ;)
1. Did you ever get to meet the phone company employee who's assigned to collect the money from the box
no, but i have heard from pac-bell employees. and once, after the phone had to be repaired, the repair guy wrote his name on the booth. i think he was called "leroy."
and, before all this began, did the phone company routinely make their rounds to the box?
i don't think the rounds have changed, since people who happen to be at the booth usually are for the most part taking incoming calls, not making outgoing calls.
2. Did all the madness seem to exponentiate right after the NBC Nightly News broadcast, or was it already pretty well popularized by that point?
no, nbc was a latecomer to the frenzy.
3. As a religious NBC Nightly News hardcore, I indeed share your feelings on Tom's often condescending smirkages. In respect to your efforts, as well as attaining a personal aspiration, I will HAX* him for you.
i will give you a dollar if you do [note: "haxing" will be explained if the deed is performed]
4. What do you feed Wagner?
adventure
From: L'il Ol' Me
Date: Sun, 16 Apr 2000
Yeah, so you maybe already know this because you are mentioned in l'article, but there is an article about the Phone booth in the Nouvelle Observateur, a french magazine, from sometime in the last two months. I don't know the number of the issue (real helpful, I know I know) or anything.
we had heard of this, but haven't seen it. you could be a deuce of clubs hero by mailing it to us ... or scanning it for us ... or translating it for us ...
I hope your phone booth mission is going well. Chances of finding something as refreshingly absurd as a (formerly) abandonedphoneboothinthemiddleofthedesert here in France? No, pro'ly not. Leave absurdity to the Americans, scoff the french. Whatever. But there is this guy in California who paints and stuccos a mountain. Unless he died. He was very old.
he is not dead ... in fact, we just visited him in february.
Quakerslut
there must certainly be a story behind that name ...
Date: Sat, 15 Apr 2000
From: emily c.
Subject: Hello (pretty bland subject, but oh well)
My name is Emily, and I thought I'd e-mail ya to tell you what I thought of your site. I thought it was very interesting and inspiring until I read the part about the flocks of people hanging around there. You just lost something, I suppose.
perhaps. but you have to admit, it's better than having A Flock of Seagulls hanging around there.
that would indeed be a calamity.
I know if I found something like that, made a web site about it, then found that it became a tourist spot..no longer my 'secret place'. Then I would be rather upset.
I'm not planning on calling, or visiting...so eventually maybe, you can have your spot back. But you did inspire me to find my out spot. I also know now that if I want to keep it, I shouldn't publicize it like you did.
Sincerely,
Emily C.
Date: Wed, 12 Apr 2000
From: Lisa M.
I have to admit I haven't visited your site for a while just because I
was kind of taken aback by all the furor over the booth. In my
naitivite (I hope that's right, its late and I'm tired!) I ridiculously
thought that very few people knew about the booth and it was a wonderful
secret. I have to honestly say that a lot of the booth's appeal has
worn off for me. I don't call it anymore and listen to it ring...it
kind of lost its goofy allure. Maybe I'm coming off as elitist and I
don't mean to be...certainly everybody has a right to be fascinated by
the booth. I'm just thinking about your ponderings of how the booth and
your website affected and inspired others, and wondering about what
triggers the booth fascination. Here's my quick two cents...
I think my fascination with the booth is (was) sort of twofold. First,
it reminded me a lot of my grandfather whom was like my father. He
hopped a freight train back in the 20's from Texas to come to California
for new opportunities. Some of my happiest times were driving across
the Mojave with him and my grandmother when they were still here...he
loved the desert and the vast beauty and mystery of it all. Life can be
tough sometimes when you're a kid and I think that was the safest I ever
felt, riding across that desert in his avocado green Galaxie 500! In
some bizarre way when I called the phone I guess it was like calling
some deserted mysterious place that was unlike no other...took me to
another place and time...
Second, the booth makes no sense. I live in a world where I need to
make very sensible decisions and be very responsible; the booth with its
complete lack of sense is just so damned appealing.
The purpose of this rambling discourse? To let you know that your
website and booth ruminations have been positive for me. After my
grandmother passed away last year I could never listen to the "Whipped
Cream" album...just too painful...but after looking at all the photos of
the crazy car I laughed, put old Herb on and then cried remembering my
little girl putting on her elaborate dance shows for my Nan. It's time
to create some more happy memories with Herb and the gang. Thank you.
Anyhoo, not to get macabre but I just wanted to drop you a line to thank
you for all your efforts. Although I'm very sorry that the website has
become a virtual tourist attraction, and the Booth a literal mob scene
on some days, perhaps someday it will return to its deserted state.
Although if it does inspire others and bring a bright spot to a humdrum
day, then I guess that a good thing.
Thanks for all your effort
Lisa
Date: Mon, 10 Apr 2000
From: Lara H.
I was out there this weekend but did not go by the booth - need to find another place now - and NOT
tell the world about it. :-)
Lara Hartley
Desert Dispatch
From: David F.
Subject: Lorene and Terry's mine
Date Mon, 10 Apr 2000
Dear Deuce,
Just wanted to drop you a line and let you know how much we enjoy your site. The wife and I just returned from our own trip do Death Valley, with a Mojave phone booth detour on the side. 4-4-00. We were the only ones there, until Terry and Lorene cruised by!
lucky you!
They stopped to chat, in fact, they took the attached photo of us for us. They are great folks, and it was heartbreaking to hear their story first hand of how their mine was shut down, and they are now forced to sell off their equipment to try and make ends meet. Lorene said something about battling through the (un)necessary red tape to get a trust fund going to assist with legal expenses in trying to reopen the mine. She said that you had offered to post the information on the Deuce site when it became available. I am writing to ask if you have any idea when that might be. I would certainly like to help as much as I can, at least do more than buy a couple of t-shirts.
that's great. well, lorene phoned a week or so ago, and they don't have it lined up yet. but any developments will be announced on the site, definitely.
Thanks again for the great stories.
Keep up the good work
danke
Date: Thu, 6 Apr 2000
From: B
Subject: state press
page 8, an article about some students going to the booth. thought you
might care.
they didnt mention you or anything :(
they said that 'word about the booth leaked out, and soon websites
began springing up paying homage to a simple pac bell telephone that due
to its locale had taken on mythic proportions'
it actually sounded sad. they got there and found 10 other campers
hanging out there. like you have said before, its only a matter of time
now, it just cant last forever.... tho someone must be making money on
all the l/d calls....
From: Tabea
Subject: Glückwunsch.
Date: Thu, 6 Apr 2000
I took the time to read the whole story and I looked at all the pics. This is
really way cool and you guys did a great job with the homepage and all that.
Hopefully all the tourists won`t destroy "the magic" of that phone-booth. ;)
Hey, maybe I´ll even get there one day, who knows?! I wish we had something like
that here, but We don`t have any deserts. Plus, there is no place in all of
Germany where you could find a phone-booth in the middle of nowhere. There`s
people everwhere....
Anyway, good luck for all the new projects and greetings from Germany.
*Tabea*
Date: Mon, 03 Apr 2000
From: moondogie
Subject Phone booth groupies
Hey , I was out there this past week-end and came upon a mass of
campers and vehicles . One vehicle was blocking the southern entrance
from Aikin mine road. It had to be pushed out of the way so we could
pass.
As we approached the booth from Aikin mine road we observed a guy
stringing phone line from the booth to the camp area just north of the
road.
There was even a chair inside the booth. We did not feel welcome there
so we moved on. We had planned to have lunch and answer a few calls but
that was not to be.
With folk's like that going out there it won't be long before the boot
is removed. Then what will be the purpose of your web site?
then it will just be an in memoriam ...
Bummed Out.
Date: Sat, 01 Apr 2000
From: fred c.
I've throughly enjoyed your site. The ability to create and revel in
meaningless inside jokes and for-the-hell-of-it type obsessions is a
special gift; don't ever let it go.
What a pity that these kind of things are so easily spoiled by people
who want to be in the know but by including themselves in it ruin
everything. I for one have no plans to call the phone, but thanks for
sharing your adventure with the world-- it made for an amusing
afternoon. Fame's a bitch, eh?
Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000
From: anonymous
Subject: Curse of the Booth?
Deuce --
I really do need to recount approximately the exchange I had with a lady
I know to be a US Park Service employee in Baker. I know it because when
I first ran into her she was in uniform tending the MNP visitor center next to
the Bun Boy complex. I ran into her again in the Will's Fargo Motel office on
my recent visit, she was not in uniform. I suspected her presence there was
related to some motel business, maybe she's going to handle the desk there
part time or something like that.
I had previously related my distaste for the entertainment industry to the lady
who manages Will's, who was also there, who also hates them. I thought I
should confess my transgressions for participating in a mini-media-frenzy at
the phone booth, with Canadian CBC television shooting and our own modest
pirate radio location broadcast.
At that, the Park Service lady, who hadn't said much before, informed me we
would need a permit for such activity, because it was Park Service property
and permits are required for any media activity there. Well, that surely broke
the ice! I assured her I was confident "that had all been taken care of," while
keeping a straight face. She seemed quite satisfied at that, although I guess
she probably saw straight through it. I suppose she was just making sure I
was competent to speak with one like herself. She needn't have worried.
Whatever, we struck up a friendly and rather intense conversation about all
of it. She told me, much to my surprise, that the Park Service would really
like to keep that phone booth right were it is! The reason, as she explained,
is that they need attendance to their park to get money and support, and as
things stand right now, that phone booth is about their biggest attraction! I
AM NOT making this up. She said they hoped people coming to the park to
see the phone booth might then notice the other attractions there, and thus
build general interest in the Mojave National Preserve. Weird enough yet?
But she's right. A close friend recently went there simply to visit the phone
booth site, for example. I'd never have done that myself, although doing a
pirate radio broadcast from there is a booth of a very different color.
She told me quite seriously that the Park Service was researching all the
history of the phone booth, in an effort to determine whether it should stay.
But she made it very clear that they do want to keep it. I pointed out that
as a practical matter, they really must do some development around there
if it is to stay, and she agreed. If they keep it, the road access into there
will be improved for regular road vehicles, rest rooms will be installed, and
some other site improvements will also be added. My hunch is that she
was pretty much telling me their actual plans for the place.
Guess why she didn't press me about our broadcasting "permit."
She also told me that the firm road that comes in from the east across the
ranch does cross actual private property, and that the owner can shut off
through access legally whenever he wants to. She says he has grown a
little annoyed at the booth traffic, but not enough yet to take the trouble to
shut it off. Was he the one who shot out the phone booth glass? It sure
seems unlikely to me. My bet would be on the local teenage kids.
I quizzed her on the mine operations. She seemed unfamiliar with Lorene's
name, but she was vaguely familiar with the situation. She explained to me
that commercial operations actively ongoing at the time the management of
the area went from the BLM to the Park Service were entitled to proceed as
before, but no expansion would be allowed. Dormant operations, such as
Charlie's mine, could not be reopened. So I don't understand why the seem
to be determined to shut down Lorene's operation. Sure I don't.
She had a good laugh at our best phone call, from "Patricia." K. took the
call, and eventually was asking if anyone had heard of Xerox PARC. I know
about Xerox PARC. She wanted someone to talk to the Xerox PARC CEO,
so I spoke with him.
She was in Zurich. She told me that a week ago, driving over Aikens Mine
Road in her Hummer, she accidentally discovered the phone booth, found it
to be working to her astonishment, and quickly found out all about the odd
notoriety you've bestowed upon it. She was then organizing a conference,
apparently at a think tank in Switzerland, for big business hot shots world
wide. She had told them about it, they didn't believe her, and she wanted
someone actually out there to agree to be interviewed by the CEOs at her
presentation on the subject to be delivered the following day.
With me so far? Good.
We agreed, and late Saturday night our time, we called them in Zurich on
Sunday morning, and took turns talking and being questioned by these big
business kahunas. Honestly. They seemed fascinated to me, and quite
amused. Several of my comments drew loud laughter, even though I wasn't
kidding. You know how that goes, eh?
Whatever, a good time was had by all, and Patricia now wants to pay for us
three to travel to Zurich for a personal appearance of some sort. So there
you have it, was there ever a weirder call to that telephone? Maybe, but I'd
sure love to hear *that* story.
We're all jazzed, further reception reports assure us that our broadcast was
heard loudly all over L.A., and even heard a little as far away as Chicago! I
never expected to do that well, but it looks like we actually did!
Best regards,
anonymous
Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2000
From: Ted Casino
Subject: Re: Curse of the Booth?
>as she explained,
>>is that they need attendance to their park to get money and support, and as
>>things stand right now, that phone booth is about their biggest attraction! I
>>Patricia now wants to pay for us
>>three to travel to Zurich for a personal appearance of some sort. So there
>>you have it, was there ever a weirder call to that telephone? Maybe, but I'd
>>sure love to hear *that* story.
Everyone's cashing in on this "craze"...
Date: Sat, 01 Apr 2000
From: anonymous2
Subject: Mojave Phone tapes and natural radio
I'm still giddy over what we terribly successfully pulled off last week
with the pirate broadcast! In fact, I think it would be totally cool to
try it again, this time having Deuce along if at all possible. Perhaps this is too crazy to try
again--I dunno!
In any case, I have tapes coming to you and Kirk soon as I get them made,
including the great one of the UFO Lady that still makes me heave and
double over with laughter when I describe that call to Craig here in
Keeler.
I'd realy like to follow more closely the situation with Lorenes mine.
Honestly, I terrible want to do this again, this time, with some of the
Mojave Phone greats along - could you imagine a show with Rolleye and
Deuce attending! Hee Hee! AMongst the shortwave 'free radio'listening
audience, this made history. A. - a well known hobby
broadcasting/pirate fellow who has made videos and books on the subject
wants me to get a hold of him for an article. I'm hoping a few folks out
there made tapes of at least some of the show and would supply them to me
to round out all the taped material I now have.
Deuce -- this is no APril 1 joke - you probably, when you were at the
phone, heard lightning static on it. This is what is called "Natural
Radio" -- audio-frequency radio signals that are amazing to hear. We
even heard a few "whistlers" on the phone line, weak in the background,
and tons of "tweeks" - that odd ringing and pinging sound made by
lightning static at night as it skips between the Earth's surface and the
ionesphere. I was quite overjoyed and intrugued to notice this, as
natural radio signals were first heard on similarly long, obovegrounf
phone wires in the late 1880's in England and obviously fromthen on on
countless phone systems, even before radio was invented!
I have spent the past 10 years developing radio receivers and making
tapes of this quite lovely form of planatary radio. It is
really cool that I we find the Phone receives natural radio too! Another
bit of icing on the cake.
Date: Mon, 27 Mar 2000
From: tomatoshoe
I rang to booth on Saturday Night (Saturday evening Mojave time, around 6pm), and it was answered immediatly with someone going "Hi you've called the Mojave phone booth and you're live on KMAD radio". I was calling from a payphone, so when the guy heard all the beeps he asked was I R2D2. Unfortunatly I had only put in 10 pence, so I was cut-off just as I said hello.
Was there some kind of outside broadcast at the booth, or was he pulling my leg?
no, he was telling you the truth pirate station KMUD was live and on the air at the booth
Great site by the way.
Armitage
Date: Sat, 25 Mar 2000
From: katie alice
congratulations on an excellent website, tho' some of
your humour goes over my head. a lot of things do
actually ... it's my age you see. it's much better
than the old one darlings! i see our very own newstalk
zb from auckland, new zealand made u a call. i have
rung nearly 50 x so far and spoken to charlie and
lorene (i think). charlie is such a sweetie! did u
know a film crew are hoping to fly some of us regulars
over? they need to get funding. apparantly i'm under
serious consideration. i've got the looks for it and
the body and hoping to get "discovered" by hollywood
to appear in place of the likes of cindy crawford in
the nudie bits.
xxxoooxxx
kate
From: Tim
Subject: CANADIANS are at the booth....RIGHT NOW.
Date: Sat, 25 Mar 2000
Just read the new prologue to the MPB site- well written, and something
that needed to be said. Odd coming at it from my perspective, as I've been
following this thing via Deuce since late 1996 or so. Called the booth
afterwards, hoping, just hoping that no one would be there (a few minutes
of dead ringing would have been nice...), but no. There's a woman named
Shannon from Toronto out there who answered the phone, a cameraman for
Shift TV (a Toronto TV show), two guys who drove out in a battered '70's
Toyota Corona wagon to hook a mic to the phone and broadcast for 3 hours
via pirate radio tonight, and another vehicle arriving as I hung up. The
grand parade continues....
Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2000
From: Adrian
Subject the Mojave Phone Booth: Deuce, what have you done???
Made my annual pilgrimage to the Mojave Phone Booth last week. This was my third trip out there, and boy, what a difference a year makes, huh? Deuce, what have you done? It used to be, I'd go out there, and it would be beautiful and peaceful and gorgeous, and I'd make a few phone calls, and that would be that.
But no more!
That damn phone would NOT stop ringing! It rang off the fucking hook the whole time I was there! It was ringing when we pulled up, and I ran out and tried to catch it, but missed the call. I cursed myself for having missed the call, but only for about a minute, because then it started ringing again. I grabbed it, chit-chatted with somebody from Austria for a few minutes, revelled in the absurdity of it all, and hung up. Ten seconds later it rang again. And again. And again. It was relentless!
So much for peace and quiet in the desert.
We ended up taking calls from Belgium, Austria, Germany, France, Colorado, Seattle, Philadelphia, Boston, San Bernadino, Florida -- and those are just the ones I can remember. I always asked two things "Where are you calling from," and "How did you hear about the Mojave Phone Booth?" The answers were as varied as the people who called they heard about it on the radio, or saw it on TV, or read about in a newspaper or magazine, or heard about it from a friend, or (gasp!) saw your web site.
While we were there, two Swiss tourists on desert holiday drove by in a rented Hummer. They stopped when they saw the phone booth -- they had never heard of the Mojave Phone Booth phenomenon, but gladly relieved us of our receptionist duties for about twenty minutes. There's just something about that phone... when you're there, you HAVE to answer it. If you're there, you can't just let it ring. And if you do, you feel weirdly guilty about it for some reason. I can't imagine camping there overnight. That must be hell.
Of course, one can always take the phone off the hook, which is what we did for a while, until I started to feel bad about it.
Anyway, I guess the cat's out of the bag now, huh? Nothing like proving the power of mass media. It will be interesting to see if the phone calls continue years from now (assuming Pacific Bell doesn't remove the phone) after the media is done with this story and it's played itself out.
xoxoxo...Adrian
Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2000
From: QarnoS
Hi!
just found your site. I was just surfing the web when all of a sudden
(for what reason, I don't know) I remembered a show I saw on Discovery
channel months ago which mentioned a phone box in the middle of a
desert. I decided to try and find out about it and found your site!
I must say, what you have done is really impressive. I'm planning on
trying to call the booth sometime tonight (I live in Australia, so it
should be somwhere around daytime over there) just to see who answers
;-)
Anyway, give my best wishes to Lorene (and the booth ;-)
-- QarnoS
{ Insert witty comment here }
perhaps you'll remember this stage direction written by gertrude stein:
"witty remarks are heard from offstage."
Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2000
Subject: Phonies
From: Aristeia
i just don't understand what went wrong, that people's
immediate reaction is "i'm gonna go visit it" instead of "i'm gonna call
it." i remember when i first read about the booth, i would call it once
in a while when i got stressed or something... i loved the idea of making
the phone ring in the middle of nowhere a continent away. i had an idea
of what the environs looked like from the page, and listening to the phone
ring evoked the desert. that's the appeal, for me... never mind that
people gave me That Look when i said "i feel shitty, i'm gonna call the
desert." i didn't want to go out there, i didn't even really want anyone
to pick up... it was enough to call. (of course, i did want to go out
there when you guys went in june, but that was organized, and i wanted to
see you -- never would have attempted it alone.) my friend thought it was
inhumane enough, if you remember, making the phone ring and scaring the
birds... i hate to think how he'd react to people traipsing into these
wild places unthinkingly.
anyway, just musing on the subject really. i'm home for a week, and the
whippy dips are much softer than they are at school, to coin a
phrase... it's actually *spring* here. enjoying that quite a lot, and i
got to go to a museum today, and hey, i won a medal for fencing! (fifth
place)
From: Raimund
Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2000
Hello, please can you mail me the Phone-Number of the Majave Phone Booth, operatet by William Hart?
the only william hart i know about was a silent film cowboy. i think he was one of wyatt earp's pallbearers, actually.
anyway, the number is 760.733.9969.
From: AhClem
Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2000
Yesterday, i called the booth, and got Robin. When i asked him how he heard
about it, he said, "Heard about what?" I told him the booth, why'd he come up
there to answer the phone. He said, "I didn't, I'm a desert racer, I had to
piss, stopped, the phone was ringing, and now I can't finish taking my pee,
for all the phone calls!" I said, go ahead finish, then told him the story.
He said, "Everyone knows about it but me!"
Date Tue, 14 Mar 2000
From Justin M.
Subject God Bless the Booth
Today being Tuesday March, 14th and i was listening through the 'net to a
radio station in Boston that I cannot get, me living in Cheshire,
Connecticut. (By the way, the station was 107.3 WAAF) Apperently they had an
expedition of radio people to the mojavy phone booth, after months of
calling it. They still do call it everynight, which began to interest me,
since I've never heard of it before. I stumbled upon your site and WOW! My
life now as meaning again. well maybe, but this booth has really interested
me now. Your site is great and very well done. Just thought to drop you a
line on your good work to the site. And if anything happens to the booth and
needs help, I am now backing up the phone.
From: John H:
Date Mon, 13 Mar 2000
Deuce,
As an installer of and maintenance person of these icons of modern life, may I congratulate you on your trojan efforts.
Never have I seen someone so happy in their work. Long may it continue.I was going to put "The lonliest telephone booth" as the subject matter of this email. But I can see that with friends like you it will never earn this title.
John H.
Ireland
Subject: Ruminations on the Mojave Phone Booth
Date: Thu, 09 Mar 2000
From Joe (Morph)
Amazingly, somehow, I didn't get caught up in the wave of your site and the
mojave phone booth until now. You'd think I was the only one on the planet
who hadn't heard about it or something. Of course, I don't own a TV, so
that probably helps. And I live in Greensboro, North Carolina, which has
bound to have something to do with it. Then again, since I live in such a
vacuum, everything on your site could be fabricated. But I seriously doubt
it.
I guess I had a special attraction to this site because when I was younger,
I would collect payphone numbers from all around town and then sit at home
and call them. Usually pretty boring, but sometimes people would answer,
and things could be interesting. Also, got a lot of carrier-tones on the
'alien' payphones. (Couldn't seem to do anything useful when connecting via
modem, though.) Most payphone numbers are of the form NPA-NXX-99XX, in my
experience, so noting that the last four digits were 9969 added that extra
amount of authencitity to the whole thing.
The fascination of this thing is simply amazing. I really liked seeing the
e-mail from the phone company employee. I think part of the fascination
about this thing is simply related to the communcations nature of it.
Humans by nature are communicatory animals. Calling the phone number 'just
to see if someone is there' is almost perfectly natural. I like to call
people on my cellphone when I'm in the middle of nowhere... It's fun.
Amateur radio operators like to go to really small islands in the pacific
and get contacts from radio operators all over the world. I think the drive
here is similar. This, of course, is in addition to the general motivation
of "because it's there" that humans seem to have. It's unfortunate because
this often turns things into tourist nightmares. At least this thing is in
the middle of nowhere.
If I had known about this thing last year, I would have made a special trip
out there; after all I was already in Nevada for Burning Man... a relatively
short detour for a 2000 mile drive. I strongly suspect I will end up
visting it this coming year before burning man, or sometime or another.
In any case I have added this thing's number to my cellphone. For some
reason I'd rather not call it right this instant. Though, The next time I'm
in the middle of nowhere and my cellphone is still working I think I'm going
to have to give it a call (double remoteness).
The struggle with the authorities is unfortunate. I'm buying a t-shirt of
the phone the mine (I collect weird t-shirts, this is a definite must have)
and sending extra money in hopes that it will help them. The authorities
removing things from the phone, well, I'm inclined to say that sucks too.
Some of the things the people have done to the phone kinda suck too, so I'm
not sure I can blame them completely. Removal of the quartz sign is
absolutely horrid, they should be shot for that. Between the phone and the
mine, it just goes to show that the government never really has a clue.
Anyway, many thanks for a very enjoyable staying up too late
Date: Sun, 05 Mar 2000
From: travelinmantom
Subject: Interesting tidbit for you
I saw some spam on a NG about a Mojave Booth web site. So I visited it
and found it to be a bit lame, unlike yours. Anyhow I signed the
guestbook and just sorta mentioned your URL. Now I was trying to be a
bit clever with it. But some little girl took offense to what I put
there. then she continued to to harp about how the page author worked 2
months on the site and was gonna put up links to Deuce of clubs as
well. I wrote back and told her that I am not affiliated with your web
site whatsoever. I do believe that your web site is many times better
than the other. I decided to go back and look it over again and found
out that only 1/2 of the pages have anything in them.
Love your site BTW I find it hiliarously funny and entertaining.
Date: Sun, 5 Mar 2000
From: Martijn
Hi deuce members,
I found out about 'the booth' on your website but also read about it in a national (dutch) newspaper. I esp. like the picture with the traveling booth visiting the mojave booth.
Date Fri, 03 Mar 2000
From Jeff F.
We have a bunch of pics from the documentary that was shot today. We
were STUNNED WHEN we found so many people here. I hate to tell you this but
the Park Pukes want the Phone Booth eliminated. I am distressed and
will help fight those assholes.
From: Guy S
Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2000
actually, we stopped by the booth over the weekend. we ran into a couple
out of vegas, one of whom claimed to be a volunteer for the BLM in vegas.
he had some interesting things to say about indian art and artifacts in the
area. (like the surprising amount of it) (which, of course, is true).
we all took turns answering the phone, which was ringing every five minutes
or so. all the calls came from the east coast or drunken germans.
surprisingly, everyone was very talkative, even the germans. could be
because the women did most of the phone answering.... we all left at
sunset as it was raining + mighty cold. otherwise, the booth was in fair
condition. no sign of the radio/media geeks.
From Clark Kent
Date Sun, 27 Feb 2000
Hey man, thought you and your readers would like to know that Mistress Carrie, a DJ at WAAF 107.3 FM in Boston is making a trip this week (she left 2.27.00) out to the phone booth. I believe her ETA is Friday. Also, she's trying to meet with as many phone booth freaks as she can while she's out there, and the whole trip is being taped for a documentary...
Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2000
From: Eric L.
I have known
of the phone number for the booth for sometime now. It was only about a
month ago I finally got someone on the other end. I believe his name
was Peter or something like that. At any rate, my fascination grew as
he told me of the people calling from all over the world.
Just last weekend I was on a trip to Vegas and was wondering where the
hell it was. I was told it was off 15, but that was it. Well, when I
got home I did a search and found your site. I have been sitting here
for the last three hours reading, completely riveted. I just find this
whole thing fascinating. I'm dying to try and find the thing myself,
but I've gotta tell you, I'm a little worried about going out there
alone. You are in the middle of the desert and any local undesireable
could do some serious damage to some curious moron.
true enough! and so can the desert itself.
From: Skorpiochic
Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000
Subject Heard of MDPB in USA Today
I found your site on the phone booth and was pleasantly surprised that you
guys are here in Phoenix. What a riot........that whole story! I loved it!
Just wanted to drop you a line from the mid-town area of Phx.
Take care,
Nik
From Pat C.
Date Fri, 4 Feb 2000
FWIW, my husband Ken and I plan to head out to the MPB for the weekend,
February 5-6.
Ken is a mining engineer (turned ballet dancer, but that's another
story...), so he plans to also visit the Cima Cinder Mine and take pictures
of the operation there, if permitted. I intend to veg out and read
peacefully, getting my minimum monthly requirement of desert air and
solitude. Except for answering the phone, of course, which is kind of
ironic. I work as a telephone technical support "geek", and answer
telephone calls from all over the world all day long. We both will be on a
busman's holiday, I suppose.
From: Chuck S
Date Wed, 2 Feb 2000
I do not pretend to understand the compulsion to call and/or visit this
phone booth, now that I know it exists. I only know that I must. Like
a salmon swimming upstream to mate before it dies, I will go
there....oh, yes....I will go there.
Date Sat, 22 Jan 2000
From: Kelly
I had been trying the phone for a couple months but had been out of service
the whole time I tried. I called at 1225 am on January 22 and got through.
The phone was answered "Mojave Desert" by Eric from miami. I talked with him
for a few minutes and then said goodbye. I wouldn't think anyone would
answer.
From: bill a.
Subject desert rat
Date Fri, 21 Jan 2000
hi there bill here. in northern cal
will i giveing the fcc one last chance and if it dosent work out im comeing
back to mojave . (out around old copper mine road) and i will be belding a
solar powerd home.
and liveing my life in pice and quit (i hop) and i hop to have a web page
comeing from there and a sonic sheld to keep the pigs out (the two laged
kind) and i will be doing things that most powers that be do not wount to
see (gray water turnd into cooking gas/a car that runs on sunlight/ a
composting tolit/a gardin for food/ and freedume.)
all in all im just a rebole and all the other desart rats will be wilcome at
the house .
well, we reboles gotta stick together. or do we?
Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2000
From: Craig W.
The New Year party at the phone booth was fantastic. I certainly
enjoyed burning my government awards. Aside from one problematic
person, it was a great success enjoyed by all. And we did clean up
after ourselves. Thanks to Charlie for bringing the extra firewood.
We plan on more gatherings at the booth, atleast until the crowds
become too much.
The group I came with all brought stuff from our past that was
important at one time but now means nothing to us. I burned the Air
Medals I won flying drug interdiction missions in Central and South
America and for the Gulf War, my commissioning certificate, my
aeronautical rating and my military flight log. I am now an advocate
against our pointless war on drugs.
From: Chenell
Date Tue, 18 Jan 2000
An internet friend of mine recently told me about this mysteries phone
booth. I believe you are aquatinted with him he runs "The Basement Internet
Show". Since then I have talked to a few friends of mine and many of them
want to take a trip out to the phone booth this summer. I'm actually
thinking we're going to need 2 or more cars to bring all the people who want
to go. I'm going to see if I can drag Adam, "The Friendly Fascist" along
with us since he's the one who told me I should make a trip out there.
Anyway, I would just like to thank you for posting all those stories on the
web for all to see, I have really enjoyed them.
Thanks for your time! )
From: John D.
Subject Growing Popularity
Date Tue, 18 Jan 2000
Looks like the Mojave Phonebooth has a permanent place in the American psyche.
There was an article in the Cleveland (Ohio) Plain Dealer on Sunday, Jan 16
about the general decline of the phonebooth. As a generic picture of a
phone booth, there is a picture of the Mojave phonebooth (I think)
Unfortunately, I don't have a scanner to send the picture, so I'm sending
the article by snail mail.
Just wanted to let you know.
From BONDAGESKULL
Date Thu, 13 Jan 2000
Subject Askings of the roadkill impaired
My epiphany is as follows, short and
sweet I MUST go to the phone booth simply because it exists. I could read
far into the reasons I might want to go, but it would all mean nothing to
those I dont know personally (not to mention you sober people). Anyway, my
plea is that sometime I would like to be picked up by a travelling caravan
going to the phone booth (I'm in Texas, near Dallas) and preferrably dropped
off in that same location (perty please?). I'm sure there has to be a network
online of people planning trips, or if not there should be.
I also collect skulls, and have a skull, etched glass, and jewelry art
business. So I would appreciate skull and bone bits from the area, too. I'm
on somewhat of a roll and I had another glorious epiphany (i really like that
word) If Lorene wants to save the mine, we could hold an online auction of
things to raise money for her. I would gladly donate a skull (they're very
beautiful, etched and silver scrollwork) and they usually sell for about
$1200, but of course for Lorene you should sell it for anything you can get!
A little personal info about me I will be 24 in Feb, 2000, 5'7" 145,
Originally from Turkey, but live in Texas. I'm a mellow but rowdy grrl, and
get along with everyone. Im in school for Journalism (in the Hunter S.
Thompson vein) and play with dead things in my spare time, when im not online
looking up festivals I've never gotten a chance to go to (BurningMan,
Rainbow, etc...) because my mother is crazy (loooong story, not hereditary).
From Cat23926
Date Thu, 13 Jan 2000
Subject Phone Check
At 0-3-hundred hours, 13 January, 2000, I phoned the booth to check on its condition. All appeared well and no one answered.....
Based on the stupidity of this whole affair, I am planning a trip to the Booth soon.......maybe a pic or two.....
You can resume what you were doing now.
From Don Smith
Subject hello
Date Wed, 12 Jan 2000
Saw the reference to your site on Salon this AM and checked it out. Interesting. I can imagine the phone booth is quite a lonely western icon,
a small piece of postwar civilization in an era of cell phones. I dont' get out west much, but Las Vegas reminded me of that. On the east coast we have woods so this kind of thing isn't so striking, mostly we run across strange military buildings long deserted. There are large towers on some of the beaches that were WW2 observation posts, in the sand dunes, tall abandoned towers festooned with heavy metal graffiti. There was a gorgeous bank cylindrical phone booths with wild sliding doors at the university of maryland, but from what I understand they are gone now.
Don Smith
ex-Teenage Gang Debs magazine
From Multimedia Studio
Subject MPB @ Salon
Date Wed, 12 Jan 2000
Salon has a short piece about MPB today.
I'll have to keep my eyes opened for a copy of We Did Not Plummet Into Space.
From WBeebe8
Date Wed, 12 Jan 2000
Hi,
How is Charlie Wilcox doing? That kindly desert rat was the protector of the Cima Cider mine. I got stuck in a wash last August(4 wheel drive went out) and Charlie pulled me out. His wife Rena who runs the store are very nice and interesting people.
i haven't talked to charlie in a little while, but i'm sure he's doing just fine.
Date Sun, 9 Jan 2000
From Curt
Sirs,
Exemplary job.
I knew of the booth through rumor and conjecture but could locate nothing current until Camel Magazine featured your site. According to our local talking heads, there was a 4.0 out there in the vicinity of the booth. Please holler if there was any damage.
the booth is resilient, and still functions.
From Timothy H.
Subject Greetings from you-know-where.
Date Wed, 5 Jan 2000
On Dec. 24 (as you may already know), I managed to drag my whole family out to the booth in the back of Charlie's pickup. We were there about two hours; arrived at the GAS-FOOD just as Bob Bendig (as in Bob Bendig Was Here) was leaving. Answered calls from Finland and such- call log is on the last page of notes in the phone book. Also, buried a Nevada license plate out there (collected about 40 plates from junkyards and car dealers...finally completed all the southwest states!) We also shot video and took pictures for this year's family Christmas card.
It was beyond words. We had the good fortune of being the only ones out there save for Charlie and a park ranger who left as we arrived. Supposedly the New Year's party (according to the call I placed on Jan 1) involved 50 people and a DJ. Hoped to reach you, but Danny Gans (guy who answered the phone; possibly a vegas entertainer I saw advertised while there) said everyone was clearing out. There was a pair of shoes hanging from the pole, but those are probably gone now.
We at Nationwide plan to be there for new year's 2001 despite the possibility of undesireables. The booth is what you make it, people or no
people. having sampled no people, though, i think i have a preference for it. the solitude, the emptyness, and the ring of a telephone. that's all i
need.
From KayLee and Dave
Subject what else?
Date Sun, 2 Jan 2000
So we went to the booth on New Years day, on our way back to Santa Barbara after seeing in Y2K in Vegas. New Years Eve in Vegas was a non-event. It was supposed to be wild, 400,000 people on the strip, but it was one of the calmest nights ever. Thank heavens, I don't like unruly crowds anyway. But back to the booth! By the time we arrived it was after dark, and we were very surprised to see a 30 foot-class A motorhome there. We took the relatively north-south road in, off of Cima road 1/2 mile south of I-15. Some quite sandy sections but the trusty 4Runner handled it no sweat. Apparently the RV guys came in off of Kelbaker road, right by the cinder mine. (there is no way they could have come in the way we did, without 4WD). The friendly folk in the RV had picked up some other people who were stranded after their car developed a leak in the gas tank and 2 flat tires. So the people we met there related to us that they were told that there had been a big New Years Eve party, about 50 people celebrating at the booth. It was already dark so I couldn't tell for sure, but I did not see any trash, either the party-goers has cleaned up or maybe the park rangers. It's really important that the booth visitors keep the place clean so the rangers don't take the mystic phone away. Anyway, we couldn't stay too long, we had to get back to SB, but I was fortunate enough to receive a call from James in Aberdeen, Scotland, who was way 'stoked' to have actually gotten through.
Just wanted to let you know that the booth was Y2K compliant, and had survived the New Years Eve party.
From Don M.
Date Sun, 2 Jan 2000
OMG! I can't remember the last time I spent so much time at one website.
Your online "journal" of your booth journeys were, for some strange reason,
VERY interesting. Having come across this site (I forget how I got here) I
recall seeing a tv news article about it a couple of months ago!
I'm left wondering why I just spent almost 2 hours reading about journeys to a phone booth in the middle of nowhere.
Thanks for worthy web content. (huh?)
From Jrtroub
Date Sun, 2 Jan 2000
Subject trip to the booth
the trip to the booth was the highlight to end the year. 520 miles and eight
hours later we arrived. two people had spent christmas night there and a lady
and her grand daughter were there answering calls. they all left and three
people from concord,ca drove up.so me and jim and those three answered about
50 calls that night. they left monday morning so me and jim had the booth to
ourselves. we had 135 calls that monday and 8 more before we left tuesday. a
lot of calls for charlie,(we never did see charlie), total calls were from 35
states and 12 countries. the booth was in great shape--- we wrapped it in
tarp to keep it warm. there were 2 things that needed some attention though.
some one had thrown some tennis shoes that were tied together accross the
telephone lines and some butt head named bob bendig had put a sign above the
booth telling everyone that he had been there. tell bob his sign has gladly
been de-erected by jim and jeff.
we can"t wait to go back sometime. thanks for your help
From Pentti Keränen
Subject Happy New Year!
Date Sat, 1 Jan 2000
Happy New Year!
We are allready in the year 2000.
I called Mojave phone booth just few minutes over midnight here. Some lady ansvered, sayed somebody else have called too from Finland. She told there is a group of about ten people around the booth. They have got calls all the time everywhere. Nice.
From Piedra1300
Date Fri, 31 Dec 1999
Subject Interesting Book
Greetings--There's an interesting book, Mysteries of the Mojave by Bill "Shortfuse" Mann, a miner from Barstow, California. He self published it about a year ago, and I've only seen it for sale at Zzyzx. I was lucky enough to travel with a group that he lead out to these "mysterious" sites; these sites are right up your alley! ) Babs
Date Tue, 28 Dec 1999
From Jessica
My mom found the URL of the Phone Booth pages (God only knows how) and sent
me to 'em. I then spent a good hour or so exploring the glory of the Booth,
instead of organizing the catalog shelves and throwing out some boxes at
work.
My parents have always liked running amok in the Mojave desert and Eastern
Sierra and we've run across a number of things similar to the Phone Booth
(a flag pole in the middle of nowhere outside of Bishop, CA, for example)
but none have so captured my heart as this. On their trip next week out to
the Racetrack (a place where the rocks move, apparently) they're planning
on trying to find the Mojave Phone Booth.
Who'd have ever thought that so seemingly pointless an object as a phone in
the middle of nowhere would have ever become so famous?
Good job, good luck, and best wishes,
Jessica
From Andrew Hamlin
Subject Re the mojave phone booth enters the language as metaphor
Date Sat, 18 Dec 1999
[I was alerted to this metaphor in a music review: "Billy's falsetto, still improbable as someone picking up at the Mojave
Phone Booth" and wrote the reviewer:]
that has to be the most obscure metaphor i've ever read ...
Hee hee--well sir, I'll take that as a compliment! -) You might also try
my Kinski review at the same site--which contains another Mojave Phone Booth
reference.
I've tried the booth several times, only to be told that the cellular
customer I'm trying to reach does not answer. Or something like it.
Thanks for the site, and keep up the good work!
From Valerie Y.
Date Fri, 24 Dec 1999
Just wanted to be the 9,000th person to clog your inbox with my pathetic opinion. I found your site today via the Brunching
Shuttlecocks, and I don't remember when I last laughed so much.
Called the booth at 530ish p.m. booth time, and a friendly fellow named Bob
from Salt Lake City was manning the booth on his way somewhere else. It
scared the crap out of me when someone actually answered on my first try.
To hear Bob tell it, I'm lucky I got through.
Anyway, thanks for being so darned entertaining.
Valerie
Date Thu, 16 Dec 1999
From Haedi
This is Andrea and Andreas from Bremen/Germany. We learned from your
webpage from an article in our local newspaper, which we have enclosed.
From Borys S.
Date Sat, 25 Dec 1999
My name is Borys,I'm mailing from Poland.Here ''Gazeta Wyborcza'' wrote about the booth and it's web.''Gazeta Wyborcza'' is quite a hudge newspaper.They print 512 000 copies every day.
I'm going to call the booth on 31 Dec.I'm sure someone will go there to celebrate the millenium.By the way-here New Year will came sooner than in States.Just a small game of time...
From Barry G
Subject "Dead Line" at CineVegas
Date Sun, 26 Dec 1999
Just thought I'd give you an update on our short film Dead Line that was shot at the Booth. It premiered at the CineVegas International Film Festival on December 8th, to a packed house. They loved it! In fact, out of the approximately 200 short films entered in the competition, there were 56 finalists, and we nearly won the audience award for the whole festival! Of the two films that finished ahead of Dead Line, one was by some guys at Industrial Light & Magic, and the other has been nominated for an Academy Award (pretty steep competition).
Thanks for all your help, and your links to Dead Line - it's helped a lot!
BTW, is the mail section of DeuceOfClubs down? The Booth mail section looks like it's broken, and hasn't been updated since Dec. 10th.
it just takes time, sometimes ...
Hey, we're entering "Dead Line" in a bunch of festivals, including some in Arizona, so it may be coming your way soon.
Thanks for everything!
Barry
From: Cathleen
Date Sun, 12 Dec 1999
Subject mojave madness
When I first saw the Mojave phone booth in a blizzard, the month was March,
at least 15 years ago. You can imagine the solitude. Back then, of course,
the Internet did not permit funny and talented people to create an
international attraction out of a utilitarian installation. Sad, isn't it,
how we love a place and, in sharing that love, we ruin it? I hope people grow
tired of this phenomenon. Can't they find adventures closer to home? Perhaps
you could teach them to apply some imagination to their own spaces. Perhaps
your next "phone booth" could be in downtown Phoenix. Maybe the Mojave phone
booth should move to Baker; that seems symmetrical somehow. Anyway, enjoyed
your words and pictures and madness. Just worried about the injuries to the
place, about the people who have no reverence. --
From: Robert from Poland
Date Wed, 1 Dec 1999
Hello Deuce,
at last I prepared for you the translation of the article from Polish Paper Gazeta Wyborcza.
My English is not perfect but I think that you will understand it.
HALLO, BOOTH CALLING
On the Californian desert Mojave, 20 km from the nearest asphalt road, stands
phone booth. Not only it is working, but also became a target of cult.
"The most lonely phone booth of the World" had been discovered by a "N.", but it was really praised and described in Internet by
Deuce of Clubs. Deuce is a fan of Girl Trouble band. Drummer of that band publishes Wig Out! fanzine. In one of the
zine's issues mysterious Mr. N. from California described "the most lonely phone
booth of the World" on the Mojave desert. He even gave the booth number (01)
760-733 99 69. Such an idea seemed to Deuce so mad, that he started to call
desert like crazy, waiting for somebody to answer the phone. At last, after some
weeks somebody picked up the phone - it was Lorene, the owner of the cinders
mine. She talked about that the booth was installed in 1948, to enable her
parent's and now her mine to contact with the rest of the world. Bewitched by
the story of the booth in the middle of the desert Deuce decided to visit that
place. But first he founded the web page dedicated to the booth. And than
everything started. Since 1997 Deuce of Clubs have visited Mojave Desert for
the five times, every time only to see the booth.
To get to the booth in the Mojave National Park half the way between Los Angeles
and Las Vegas, it is possible only by off-road vehicle. Visit reports were
published on his web page. Beside Deuce, also others made pilgrimages to the
booth. Their photographic tales you can also see in the Internet. Visitors to
the booth take with them the most diverse things. Richard Wagner's bust is one
of the least weird. One day the booth was even visited by ... the other booth -
from Montana. Deuce have brought it with his own car. On his web page we can
also see the satellite image of the booth in the middle of the desert.
Every month about 500 people is calling the desert booth. In October booth was
out of order, because somebody had broken down the receiver. On the 1st of
November the phone was repaired, and the first person who learned about that was
Martin G. from Austria. He called the booth and the phone was answered by the
fitter, who had just repaired the phone.
Lately the booth started a media career. Deuce's web page was described by
various papers (Los Angeles Times, New York Times). Similar booth appeared
also in USWest promo campaign. In December there will be the premiere of Dead
Line movie, which was shot on the Mojave Desert. Thriller made by the
independent film company Fiercely Independent shows promise - in the booth on
the desert lonely woman is waiting for the call from her father. The bell is
ringing, woman is picking up phone and the nightmare starts...
Deuce of Clubs is going to welcome year 2000 in the booth. If the phone
is resistant for the Y2K problem, you could even wish him Happy New Year &
Millennium.
That's all.
Bye
Robert
Date: Fri, 10 Dec 1999
From: Ian K
Brilliant! Quite why a phone-box miles from anywhere can be so amusing I don't know - but it is. I have noted the number and I, too, shall phone it. Perhaps Christmas day would be a good time?
From: valerie w.
Subject: new years eve at the booth
Date: Fri, 10 Dec 1999
Well, that tears it.
I was hoping that there was a way to escape all of this millenium nonsense,
commune with nature, more or less, and still be able to share the new year
with the near and dear who happen to be all around the world instead of
coming home to me, and get a good road trip along the way.
But now I'm picturing the hairsprayed LA gym body types that I may or may
not have to encounter. Stupid publicity.
I might save my pilgrimage for sometime IN THE NEXT MILLENIUM (tee hee)
Date: Wed, 08 Dec 1999
From: Neil Dixe Wills
Subject: Icon of the Month
I thought I'd let you know that I've written an article on the Mojave Telephone Booth for a column entitled "Icon of
the Month" in a UK magazine called Third Way. I felt it would interesting to post on your site and invite
readers to comment on it. I trust what I have written is a fair reflection and I apologise in advance if I have unwittingly
offended anyone, most of all yourself.
Yours
Neil Wills
[By the way, Pseuds' Corner is a column in a satirical mag
here which reprints ghastly poseurish stuff which appears
in the press.]
*************************************
The Mojave Telephone Booth
England has Canterbury; France, Lourdes; Ireland, Knock; now Southern California has bequeathed to the world the Mojave Telephone Booth - icon, place of pilgrimage and, well, public phonebox - fifteen miles off a highway in the Mojave Desert and only accessible to the faithful possessing of a prodigiously robust 4x4.
Although folk claim to have been intrigued for some years by the MTB's sheer detachment and perceived pointlessness (the tiny cinder mine it served closed down but the phone remained in service), it was only when a letter about it appeared in a magazine called Wig Out that the whole MTB phenomenon sparked into flame. A certain
Deuce saw the letter and started ringing the number every day until he got an answer. When he did, he wrote about the incident on his website and an icon was born.
The MTB was very much a fetish-in-waiting so riven with symbolism is it. It's Umberto Eco's dream made reality. With some stretching it can be read as a metaphor for huge swathes of what's happening in the West today. Forgive me if I dive into Pseuds' Corner territory for a moment but the MTB would seem to resonate with our need to communicate from the wasteland of
our loneliness whilst also reflecting how increasingly difficult we have made it for ourselves to be out of touch. It's visually engaging too. There's a telegraph pole towering above the booth looking for all the world like a crucifix, that most iconic of jewellery items.
The pilgrims at the shrine are also its priests, taking what is reported to be an almost constant stream of calls from all over the world. When I rang to test this, sure enough a young Alaskan woman called Kelly was on hand to answer.
Make no mistake, this is an icon in the fullest sense of the word - it is enough to read what people posted on
Danneels's site when the phone's receiver was stolen. Henrik Stig Jørgensen: "We are a lot of people all over the world who cherish and worship that booth." James S: "My day was going bad, so I went to your site in order to get cheered up." Pennti K: "It's worth of nothing for thieves but worth of everything for all the world (sic)." Unifier of the masses, solace unto the afflicted, worthy of honour and praise, and, lest we forget, a phone. Hang on, kids, it hasn't even started to shake or shed tears of blood yet.
So, what is it about this particular telephone box that makes it so closely resemble a golden calf? Having read countless postings from devotees, I'm not sure any of them really know. When I asked Kelly why she was there, she just said it was something she "needed to do" as if that said it all. So, choose your theory. It could be that people are merely in search of weirdness in a world where lifestyle equals banality, or it's a celebration of that very banality. Alternatively, the Mojave phone's veneration could be a product of the West's other religion (alongside Consumerism), the Cult of Celebrity, where practically anyone or anything can be lauded however irrationally. Maybe this generation literally has nothing better to do? One could take an optimistic stance and say that it is a spiritual search but, in that case, is the MTB the ultimate symbol of empty spirituality or the "unknown god" whose shrine Paul encountered?
Whatever the reasons for the phenomenon, the whole business has got a bit out of control.
Danneels - the man who unwittingly spawned the monster - has since written, "It was never my intention that herds of people troop out there. The point of my interest originally was that there was almost never anyone there....that people could call from anywhere in the world and MAYBE, one day, someone would answer." I wonder, is that a paradigm for many people's experience of God, or of God's experience of us? What is certain is that the truth is out there and, in the time-honoured manner, people are searching for it in the desert.
Date: Tue, 7 Dec 1999
From: Tosh
Subject: TV about the booth
The other day I was watching the news on my satelite dish. They did a small piece on the booth. they said
its popularity had grown because, "someone posted it on the net." If I could remember which station it was
I would right them and tell them to mention just who's website it was.
From: Royce O.
Subject: Simple Hello - Thanks
Date: Tue, 7 Dec 1999
Hello,
I can't tell you how much this old senior has enjoyed your site and updates
on the phone booth story. In this day and age we need to have somewhere to
go and just enjoy. THANK YOU so much!!
I have tried repeatedly to call the phone booth to no avail.However, I
intend to keep on trying, who knows, maybe I'll meet a new friend at this
last date in my life!!
Don't ever stop what your doing, it's a sorely needed activity in the life
style this old country calls "routine".
From: John H.
Date: Tue, 7 Dec 1999
Just a quick word to inform you that "your" booth made national news headlines here in France yesterday evening, as did your website.
TF1, the main national TV network broadcasted a feature on the booth on its flagship 8pm CET national & international news program le Journal de Vingt Heures.
There was an interview with Charlie and some film of the booth & surroundings as
well as a brief history. Your site was also mentioned.
Unfortunately I didn't record it.
I'll keep trying to call anyway.
Good luck & à bientôt,
John H. (English citizen)
France
From: Doug the Desert Tripper
Subject: Letter to NPS
Date: Mon, 6 Dec 1999
Sorry to hear about the rock sign's demise. Here is the text of a letter I
emailed to the Baker office:
Dear Sir/Madam:
Why are NPS rangers so bent on destroying the experience of the Mojave Phone Booth? Not only do they remove anything left at the booth, now I heard a report that they have even destroyed the aerial rock sign by the booth! I'm glad that I had a chance to see this skillfully crafted display in person before it was gone.
I can understand them removing things, especially large ones, from the booth to keep it from turning into a junk heap, but what's wrong with things like a call logbook/pen, and a couple of phone books from other places, like the Portland Cacophony Society left? And the rock sign - that was barely visible from anywhere but the air!
Things in the immediate vicinity of the phone booth do NOT detract from the experience of the Mojave National Preserve in general, so why pick on it? The booth has probably done more to put the Preserve on the global map than any other single thing. Don't rangers have more important tasks in maintaining a massive preserve than picking up rocks which bother no one?I have heard the NPS stating that the MNP is understaffed and underfunded, so this seems to me like a big waste of resources.
Just curious...
Thanks for your time,
Doug
San Bernardino
From: jeremy d.
Subject: I called and got through
Date: Mon, 06 Dec 1999
Hey man,
My name is Jeremy Donovan. I'm a 23 yr old animator from New Brunswick, Canada. At about 10pm atlantic time lastnight I called the booth and finally, after six months, I got through. I talked to two people, Octavia and Bill from Las Vegas. We chatted for about 2 minutes about this and that. But I had to let them go because I could see it getting expensive. I realized that I didn't get their names so I called back and got their names and e-mail addresses. I was on such a high, I couldn't believe it. They invited me out there for new years but I can't see it happening. But I can imagine it being a blast.The whole experience has inspired a documentary I might pursue about a trek to the booth, also, a friend and I are planning to someday seek out the gonzo journalist, Hunter S. Thompson in Woody Creek Colorado. Maybe, if he'll let us, we'll get drunk with him. It'll never happen.
From: MFellela
Date: Sun, 5 Dec 1999 16:20:42 EST
Hello,
Just wanted to write to tell you I enjoyed your webpage about the Mojave
Phone booth. I enjoy interesting...and what some may consider odd...stuff
like this.
Date: Sat, 04 Dec 1999
From: Jen
Hello -- I just wanted to write and thank you for the phone booth site -- I think it sucks that the booth site is getting so "populated" but I, like everyone else who hears about it, was intrigued. I live in Vegas and just heard about the booth a few nights ago, then ran to the net for info. I don't have a 4-wheel drive so my own personal pilgrimage to the site will have to be postponed... but I desperately want to go out and answer calls.
I read on one page that there is crap all around the site and I was wondering is anyone was bothering to clean up
after themselves or others? I know the booth is getting more and more visitors so I hope someone is looking after the surroundings.
No need to answer, I know you must be busy. If I had an SUV I'd take on the task myself. I just feel bad for the booth and those who actually NEED to use it.
Thanks again for the site.
Jen
From: IGottaAtti2de
Date: Sat, 4 Dec 1999
Just got done visiting your web site and reading all about your visits to the Mojave desert phone booth. I lived in Vegas for
27 years, and i only visited the phone booth 1 time, in 1995 with a bunch of friends from school. We were on our way to Magic Mountain in California and a couple of friends were talking about it while we were getting ready to leave. None of us believed them so we made them prove to us that the booth was indeed there. kinda funny to hear how much action it has gotten since then.
Who'd have thunk it? Anyway, i now live in Seattle, Wa. I loved your site and the story you tell about your visits to the booth, i sent a link to your site to all my friends, 4 of which, were with me that day in 1995 when i went to the Mojave desert. I'm sure they'll get a kick outta reading about it.
From: IGottaAtti2de
Date: Sun, 5 Dec 1999
It is Saturday December 4, 1999, 10:30 pm I just called the "Booth" and got an answer on the FIRST try!!! There were 7 people
there and they said the temp. was WAY below zero. Spoke to 2 people, some guy asked me "who's your daddy"? Must have been a trick question. haha. take Care
I also called again at 12:30 am and another guy answered, He said that they decorated the phone booth with Christmas lights hooked up to his car battery and that he was going to send you the pictures and hopefully get them put up on your site. he said that the temp. had dropped WELL below 30 degrees.
From: Misty
Date: Wed, 01 Dec 1999 09
Oh, I visited yesterday and wrote a big ol' letter to the park people asking "gee, why would you concentrate on quartz that helps to bring people to enjoy the desert you so love when you leave a big ass pile of concrete from the phone company?"
From: Ted Casino
Subject: Re: Thanksgiving 1999 Trip
Date: Tue, 30 Nov 1999
This is my official AT THE CIMA EXIT NEAR THE WORLD-FAMOUS MOJAVE
PHONE BOOTH REPORT for Thanksgiving Day 1999.
The general store at the Cima exit still says "GAS FOOD" even though there is no gas. Tecopa Jane's "for a good time, call" graffito has been removed. There was an RV a little up the dirt road, no signs of life.
No booth-related discussion in the store. While I was in the bathroom, fifteen new Mojave Phone Booth websites were created.
sprouting like weeds, they are.
From: Michael J.
Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1999
Hello.I was out at the booth on Nov 20,with my son Josh. At the store, I met Lorene,whoHooked me up with Charlie Wilcox .Charlie took me out there because I didn't have a four wheel drive.I am glad he did,because I know I would have got stuck.Charlie said there is landowner out there who hates the booth and doesn't want it there.He thinks he is the one who damaged phone, back in October.I was there for an hour and a half and took about twenty calls from all over the U.S. and even took one from Rotterdam Holland.It was a trip to be able to talk to people from all over the world,right In the middle of the Mojave desert.Thanks for the site.
From: John Waters
Subject: martin G at the booth............
Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1999
hey..........i was doing my civic duty Friday nite taking calls at the booth. Got a call from martin Gruber in Salzburg, Austria...the one who called in the receiver problem...
....it was on TV in a few markets over the thanksgiving weekend, the phone NEVER stopped ringing....all night. We took calls from Australia, Austria, Poland, New Zealand. Germany, Canada and all over th US. Hundreds of them!
What a trip! Went out there alone and met 3 other wayfarers ...they were from the LA area, I came down from Eugene, Oregon... i needed to make a call.......long distance ........so to speak.
The park ranger picked up all your quartz stones removing the arial phone number....but he did leave them all in one big SPOT about ten feet in diameter not 3 feet into the brush on the south side of the road. I am sure the SPOT is visible by air.
[if anyone would like to comment on the ranger's action, phone / e-mail the Mojave's ranger station.]
is just the number destroyed, or also the word "PHONE"?
the whole set is picked up .... to the letter of his super's instructions......but preserving your intent by depositing the whole pile in a single large white dot ......unmistakably not a natural SPOT from the sky. Sorry about being a "come lately" myself.....i've spent more time tooling aroud in NV desrts than CA ..and i have even screwed around with 9662 which doesn't even have the dignity of a booth ....it is just strapped to a pole ..... the last pole....but there is a bunker within a thousand yrds. Anyway I had quite a saga with my truck before i got to the booth i blew my brakes. In the AM i puled the tire at the booth and discovered parts missing from my disc brakes! No wonder they were thumping and clattering! How do you solve that 150 miles from the nearest parts shop ?
this was an ownsome trick .....stay tuned for a great american epic that no one will care about either ...except SOME of the boothers who connected with the Aikens Mine. I canabalized the part from the old white chev pickup there ....took a while to break the part free ....and it was a little bigger than it was supposed to be ....but it worked ...it's still in my truck (1986 Chev S-10 Blazer), always will be ...and thus part of history ......twice!
viva la vortex # 9669 ! John
by the way have you relished the remote between Roy's Cafe at Amboy and the empty to the south heading for 29 Palms
yes. and the less said about Roy's Cafe at Amboy, the better.
From: [Pac-Bell employee who shall remain anonymous]
Subject: Pacific Bell
Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1999
I don't understand the phenomenon with this "Mojave Phone Booth".
I've found a few sites devoted to the payphone, not to mention story upon
story. And I still don't get it! I've even called a couple of times, busy
of course. This is why I must go there and figure it out. The one thing
that I couldn't believe, is this was all true. I was able to cross
reference the tales and I found, they are all true! Here's a
couple of examples:
06/08/99 (JOHN) No Dial Tone
10/25/99 (RENA) Handset Missing
And of course a HUGE call log! There's even a note here from a High Level
manager stating,
9/24/99 DONT EVER DISC THIS PHONE.
i guess they're taking out the phone at kelso depot. sad. i wonder how long pac-bell will keep the mojave phone booth out there.
Well from what I'm reading in my system notes, this phone isn't going any where anytime soon.
From: Ken
Date: Sun, 28 Nov 1999
Subject: I called the phone booth!
You have probably gotten hundreds of these... but...
I saw a blurb on the KHOU evening news in Houston TX on thanksgiving night.
I tried to call the number and searched the internet for your site (the URL
they gave in the segment was WRONG). It wasn't until the following night
that i got through the busy signals. I ended up talking to a guy named Rob
(i think) who was from Eugene Oregon. I guess there were several people
there camping and taking turns answering and logging. You've stumbled onto a
phenomenon. It seems like it's growing. Thanks for sharing it. I hope it
can always be appreciated in the way that it was discovered. I'll be honest,
there was a few minutes that i was skeptical. I mean - after all - who knows
that i'm not talking to some 45 year old pervert in his bedroom above his
moms garage... ya know?
if i could've engineered something like that ... i would've.
For some reason though - i really do believe it's
there - and I understand your intrigue in it.
the guy i spoke with mentioned that there was ANOTHER phone out there
somewhere. He said it wasn't too far from THE booth, but it was simply a pay
phone strapped to a pole... any idea if it's true?
it is true. i've been there. it's nothing special (although it used to be a booth also)
Anyway, Thanks again for a little entertainment in an otherwise predictable
universe.
Date: Sat, 27 Nov 1999
From: Barbara S.
We were at the phonebooth early Thanksgiving morning and it was beautiful. My friend and I answered literaly hundreds of phone calls that day from all over the world: Poland (a couple of times), the Ukraine, Sweden, Finland. Also lots of calls from the good ole USA: Hawaii, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Florida, California, Texas, Oregon, Washington. It was a blast and totally addicting, I want to go back and answer the phone some more. If you called on Thanksgiving morning, hi from Barbara and Marty.
Later in the day another couple showed up, Linda and Mark. We continued to take turns answering the phone. I loved it!!
From: Kevin Lawrence
Date: Fri, 26 Nov 1999
In case your intersted, you were featured and the booth on local TV here in houston texas. CBS I believe
From: Christina
Date: Thu, 25 Nov 1999
Subject: Just a question
I was wondering about the Mojave phone.
I wanted to call, just because I seem to have something in common with you,
that I have way too much free time, but I was a little apprehensive. After
reading your web site posts, it seems that the phone might be doing more harm
to the locals than good to the people calling. So I am asking
if you think it's a good idea to call. I really don't like to disturb
people, and I certainly don't want to call and have someone yell at me. I'd
then have to live with the fact that I was yelled at by a stranger, as well
as the fact that I called a phone booth across the country -(I live in
Florida.)-for no reason.
Anyway, I'd appreciate your input.
Thank you,
Christina
oh, calling does no harm at all. not even the grumpiest local cares about that. they just don't like people barreling across their property getting to the booth. but some of the locals LOVE the phone calls. so go ahead & dial!
From: patton
To: amygrant
Date: Thu, 25 Nov 99
Not a mandible related topic I know but I work 10pm - 6am,it's thanksgiving so
I'm awake when I should be in bed but whatcha gonna do?
I regret to say that years back I was in that area and did not stumble upon
"the booth"...however,it now has this allure to me (I also have too mu.....you
know)and I need (mmhmm "need")to visit this shrine of telecommunications.
As I said it's thanksgiving and on this mornings news they showed the booth,I
suppose the guy (forgot his name already)who lives nearby and sends you
newsletters fields the calls now (glad he found his calling).
From: Marie M.
Subject: Charlie Wilcox
Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1999
I just saw Charlie's business card; is there any doubt now that the MPB project is anything but inspired?
it's lots of other things -- weird, for one
From: Larry F.
Subject: The phone in Ripley's Believe It Or Not
Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1999
You might be interested in the attached graphic of 11-16-1999 Ripley's
From: robert.jurkiewicz
Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1999
You should have to know, that you and the Mojave Phone Booth now is also famous on the other side of the Globe -- in Eastern Europe. Today I have read about the Booth and you in the biggest Polish daily newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza.
Of course it is in Polish and you are not able to read it, but if you would like I could translate it for you.
Your site is really great. I only wish I could be there. I can only be the web-witness of the booth cult.
All the best for you and all Mojave booth visitors.
Muchas gracias for you site.
Hasta la vista, baby.
Robert from Poland
Date: 20 Nov 99
From: THOMAS W.
Subject: Kelso Depot's Phone Booth
Greetings, I was out at the "booth" on 11-17-99 everything was okay. Answered
about 15 calls in the hour that I was there. From there I went to the Kelso
Depot. The phonne booth at the Depot had a notice from the phone company
stating that due to inactivitey that it will be removed
12-99. Just info for you to be aware of.
Date: Fri, 19 Nov 1999
From: Iain G.
hi there was an item about the booth on a program on BBC Radio Scotland last week....
regards,
iain
From: Gottfried J. TROESTL
Subject: first phone call
Date: Wed, 17 Nov 1999
this evening I read in a magazine about the Mojave Phone Booth. I just thought it would be funny to try - it was the first (!!!) call and what a surprise - IT WAS INCREDIBLE - someone picked up the phone!l! 3 guys who are travelling through California were stopping at the booth and I talked to one of them for a few minutes. this was really GREAT! (it was about 8 pm in Europe, i.e. 11 am in California)
best regards to all
gottfried
from Vienna/Austria (Europe)
From: Patti F.
Date: Tue, 16 Nov 1999
The trip was great. We met Lorene (spelling?), Charlie and all the gang. Took
lots of pictures. There were several calls to the booth during the two hours we
were there. Three from Germany, one from South America, one from Austria, one
from Wales, several from the US.
I thank you, again, for your support of the booth. I'm going to do what I can,
in the way of a letter writing campaign, to see what we can do to help Lorene
get control of the mine again. We talked, at length, as to the problem. Will
stay in touch.
Lorene says you are "shy". Don't be afraid of us. We're just like you.
From: Peni and Harold
Subject: Charlie's tour service......
Date: Sun, 14 Nov 1999
We went the to Mojave Desert phone booth Thursday Nov. 11, 1999. We met Charlie Wilcox (whose card is attached) Ray and his wife (and two little girls) from Barstow, and three guys from LA, all of whom where camping out there. Charlie said the 6 vehicles were a record as to his knowledge. The Phone itself was there and working well, ringing all the time (Germany, Penn., Kentucky...) There are now 4 Heiniken bottles glued to the corner of the booth, and a sign 12' up on the pole stating "Bob ----- was here". Our little rental car (99 Mercury Mystique) did amazingly well. My 20+ years of desert driving coming in handy in the 8-10" of sand on the road (Don't stop OR slow down!) We took an impromptu tour of the Skyview Ranch (nice Long Horns and cool Rock formations SE of the Ranch), but Charlie says he's surprised we didn't get shot at! He guy should use his head put up signs and sell T-shirts, he'd be happy to see the tourist- LOL. PS- The pair of old shoes wrapped over the "open-wire" circuit might prove trouble if it rains, causing a short on the line. (I'm a retired phone repairman ,"Ma Bell". Keep up the static ~; - }
From: Jbenkert
Date: Thu, 11 Nov 1999
Subject: Booth Monitors
Yo:
My wife, Judi, and I were at the booth - or very close to it - on Sunday 24 Oct 99. Our Ford F-150 just did not have the muscle to make the last few hundred meters of sand. Up to gunwales, it was. Perhaps another plot by the USPS, AKA BLM from deterring interested observers.
From: Patti F.
Date: Wed, 10 Nov 1999
I had to tell you how much I have enjoyed your website dedicated to the eighth Wonder of the World! My husband and another
friend and I plan to go to the booth this weekend. We just want to see it for ourselves. No vandalism, leave only footprints and take only pictures, just like the Galapagos Islands.
Date: Wed, 10 Nov 1999
From: Alan
Subject: It's official!
The phone booth is officially famous - David Lettermen did a spoof on it last night with "A mic stand in the middle of no where"
From: jodipodi
Date: Wed, 10 Nov 1999
Subject: poipu calls
as a mere net neophyte (heck, i can't even type properly!)
i was thrilled to tap into your site and spent the past 4 hours reading
every single thing on it. Yes, i know, get a life, girl.....my english
friend, amanda sent me the seattle times article and naturally i was
gripped......immediately. i live on the south shore of the island of
kauai in the hawaiian chain 78 regular sized walking steps from the
ocean. she called the booth and got through, but for me no such luck,
yet. i gave my 17 year old daughter the article today and she took it to
school to share with her AP english class, all the while mumbling "gawd,
my mom's wierd!" so......just wanted to let you know how far your
communiques are travelling. thankyou. and by the way i love how you
cleaned and tidied the booth. my daughter's a hula dancer and the halaus
(hula schools) clean and tidy the heiau or ancient temples where you
leave your lei on the altar after a performance. it's a lovely idea, no
? .....
from poipu, kauai,
aloha, jodipodi
Date: Tue, 9 Nov 1999
From: Joseph B.
Just wanted to let you know the phone is working. I talked to James
Eastaff today at the booth around 2pm PST. He said he had been there for
3 hours taking phone calls steadily.
This is the first time I have talked to someone at the booth. I found out
about your project through the burning man message boards. Someone posted
a few days ago that they were thinking of going out and camping there and
posted your URL. I've been trying to call ever since.
Date: Tue, 09 Nov 1999
Subject: MojavePhoneBooth-inspired thought
From: David M
As I read the Mojave Phone Booth saga to the point where vandals struck, I
suddenly remembered something that happened one morning riding the Blue Line
subway to Boston. I found a balloon in my pocket, so I blew it up and set
it loose in the crowded rush hour subway car. For a good 5 minutes,
everyone on the car was smiling, batting it around and engaging in light
conversation with others. When it landed in front of one woman, she
suddenly grabbed it and stuffed it into the huge shopping bag she had in
front of her.
We all just sort of shrank back into our workday faces, but hey, we still
have that moment. Even weeks later I would occasionally catch the gaze of a
familiar face from that morning, and faint glimmer would pass between us.
Thanks for giving me one more of those moments with your little saga. They
really do add up.
From: Heather B.
Date: Mon, 8 Nov 1999
Hi. I read an article in the newspaper a couple weeks ago about theMPB. Right away I felt compelled to find it! I can't explain it and I
don't know why, but I think this could be one of the coolest things I've ever heard of and I need to see it! I've looked around on-line and all
sources point to you! All of my friends are laughing at me, except for one who I think might actually understand what I'm going through!
From: David D.
Date: Mon, 8 Nov 1999
Is there a proper address on the phone booth? I get these urges to fill in all the spaces on the Palm...
its official name is the "cinder peak" phone, and it is at the intersection of aikens mine road and telephone line road.
Date: Sat, 06 Nov 1999
From: smccom
Congratulations !!
No sooner did i finnish telling my stepdad about your site did i look to see that your site was mentioned on the 5:00 news in San Diego, CA.
Apparently the Mojave phone was ringing off the hook and a pac bell guy had to be brought out to fix it. (handset), they mentioned your site.
Your site pulled up as the number one pick in my search, I found it pretty interesting. I thought i would do a story in my newsletter to my
clients and mention the experience.
If you were to run your own equipment, as the administrator you could specify the how many times the phone rings before it is answered by the internal modem if at all.
The administrator would have access to the call detail records and all digits dialed after the destination number was reached (calling card
info). There was a piece in the paper awhile ago about a phone company that went in and captured the numbers and resold them. Un cool.
Quiz question:
If a phone is set for "no incoming calls" does that mean that you can not pick up the calling party?
answer: NO!
Try this Take the phone off hook but hold down the hook switch lever (as though the phone was still hung up).
With your phone glued to the earpiece instruct one of your clones to call the phone. When call arrives you will hear a tiny sound pick up
real quick and your connected. The phone only needs .001 voltage to register a sound. As a payphne provider i can install a second hook
switch to keep the voltage from trickling out.
I appreciate your fun site.
From: E. Burget
Date: Sat, 6 Nov 1999
Subject: Lorene
Called the "booth" for the 1st time and got Lorene (unusual?). Conversation
surrounded her problems with the NPS and it influenced me to react. I just e
mailed my rep and senators using the form letter (good idea and thanks).
From: probed
Sent: Saturday, November 06, 1999
Subject: Just made a call to the booth..
My 1st call as a matter of fact! and It was answered! What a trip! The fella was just tooling along in his 4WD and heard it ring and stopped to
answer it! Chatted with him for a few min. Kinda neat! :-) Anyhow I'm not all that far from where the booth is located myself, infact it's sorta a
local call for me in the 760 area code. BTW I'm in a small but growing town just off of CA SR 58 and SR 14 called California City. It's near
Edwards AFB ( which is where I'm currently stationed ) I'm gonna try and make a trip out that way when I get a chance. Well keep up the cool work! Love the website. It was mentioned last week on a Morning radio show in LA, Ever hear of Mark & Brian from KLOS? Some one called in and tried to get them to call it but the caller was a little bit weird in the way he talked to them so they kinda blew him off. But at least it was mentioned on the air.
From: Cricciethc
Date: Fri, 5 Nov 1999
I called the phone booth on 11-4 around 4:30PM. It was answered immediately by a charming gentleman who told me he lives about three hours away. He is retired from the Marines and works for the Sheriff's Dept. On his days off he hunts in the area around the booth. Told him I was calling from Portland, Oregon. He described the booth for me and told me he was watching a lovely sunset.
I had tried off and on for a month to call the phone. It was great fun to have the phone answered and chat with someone.
A booth fan from Vancouver, Washington.
From: Tony
Date: Thu, 4 Nov 1999
Hello, My name is Tony and I am Lorenes nephew. I just thought you might like to know that the phone is operational, I spoke to a guy there today 11/4/99.... It just so happens I spoke to Terry during the same call, he was hauling water and just happened to be there! What a trip...
From: Justin B.
Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999
Hey, I guess this is pretty much your typical fan mail... I am really interested in the booth, it's really cool. I only found out about it a month ago, and I have already done two projects/essays on it, for school. I really like your site, there's a lot of good info and other stuff.
Reply-To: Karen G
Subject: Dead Line -- The 1st Phone Booth Movie!
Date: Thu, 4 Nov 1999
Our local paper ran a follow-up story on the phone booth this week, and it talked a lot about our film - WAY COOL. It also talked about the increasing vandalism - WAY NOT COOL. I am really bummed out about this. They quoted you a lot and you sounded regretful about putting out the word on the booth.
not regretful. i mean, it's not what it was ... but it's still okay.
I know what you mean,
but I am glad you did - if you hadn't, we wouldn't have heard of it and then we wouldn't be experiencing all of this exciting following of the Phoneys
out there who want to see our movie. I am trying to think of some way to help prevent the stuff that's going on, perhaps we should have "Rick/Carl"
(the religious guy - I can't remember his name) just move out there permanently!
yeah -- a Booth Bouncer
[sigh]
Anyway, hope you make it to the screening - it sure looks like it should be fun!
Thanks,
-Karen
good luck in the festival -- i'll try & make it.
Date: Wed, 03 Nov 1999
From: Nikki
Subject: Look! Good news!!!
Look what I just found in the L.A. Times:
Vandalized Desert Phone Repaired
A phone in the middle of the Mojave Desert, which gained a cult
following after it became the subject of Internet sites, was temporarily
silenced by vandals after ringing off the hook for months.
Vandals apparently stole the handset of a phone in the isolated
booth in the Mojave National Preserve, about 75 miles from Las Vegas.
Pacific Bell repaired the phone Monday, said spokesman Steve
Getzug. It was unclear how many days the phone had been out of service,
he said.
Originally installed in the 1960s for the use of volcanic cinder
miners, the phone has been called by people all over the world in the
two years since the first of several Web sites was dedicated to it.
Others have driven huge distances to visit the phone booth, which is 14
miles from the nearest paved road.
From: Judy
Date: Tue, 2 Nov 1999
Hi. My name is Judy and I've been following the events at the booth.
Needless to say, I was horrified that someone or something would steal such
a treasure. I got news that the handset was replace by PacBell. But when I
called all I got was a busy signal.
What's up with this?
it is working. but if someone else is ringing the phone at the same time, you're going to get a busy signal.
either that ... or it's been re-vandalized. ("re-vandalized"?)
From: Elizabeth T.
Date: Tue, 02 Nov 1999
Hi, well I am just glad that the damage wasn't worse out at the
phone booth. It has had it's windows shot out in the past and the money
stolen many times,so that only collect calls could be made from there.
My kids in Vegas said channel 3 had Charlie on there
last night about the theft. My daughter in Seattle sent us front page news
about the Booth a couple of weeks ago. yes you really started
something, but you cannot be responsible for what some crazies do. that
desert has always drawn a lot of outlaws out there. If Charlie wasn't so
shy, he could tell you amazing stories.
what? charlie -- shy??
it will soon be winter out there and as you well know anyone will freeze their tails off out there, so it will slow down. I am surprised the forestry service hasn't stepped in.
well, the national parks service is apparently *very* unhappy with all the attention. (but who cares?)
The visiters must wander off off limits places out there too. Did you ever get
the Limo pix I sent you?
Hey take care and thanks for sharing your site with Lorene and Cima cinders.
From: Doug
Subject: Long live the Phone!
Date: Mon, 1 Nov 1999
Hooray! The Phone has been fixed! I called it about 5pm today and a guy from
Palm Springs was there. He took a couple of friends from Georgia out to see
it. They said the same phone (with stickers, etc.) is there so that confirms
the last report that says just the handset was stolen. The volume of calls
was 'pretty good'. He said it was one of the weirdest things he's done but
he was really excited.
They said they passed through the ranchers' property. Although the ranchers
'weren't happy to see them', they actually gave them directions. Since they
had a 4x4 I suggested they leave via the west road, which doesn't bother
anybody and has great scenery to boot.
Glad to see it back and working... the legend continues!
Date: Mon, 01 Nov 1999
From: Lisa M.
Hi ...looks like there's been a resurrection...the phone is up and working again! I just spoke to a nice gal named Kelly from
Georgia...she said a brand new phone has been installed at the site. I though perhaps the phone would not be replaced at all, or maybe one of
the "no incoming calls allowed" models (God forbid) would be put in.
She also says it's beautiful out there today.
I am glad that my old friend is back out there, ringing away...
From: smccom
Sent: Monday, November 01, 1999
I noticed a misconception that payphone equipment cost's to be around $2000.00
It can actually be much less than that i have a phone compayn myself and would help if someone would like a reccomendation on what to buy or help putting it together.
Mycosts:
phone used $500..
pedestal $200.
installs $100-200.00
line charges $35 & up depends on volume
If you have an idea of whear you would like to put a phone in, let me know and i will do what i can to set up something, if you want the incoming calls to work i can set that up as well as some other neat things people don't really know about.
From: Martin G.
Subject: call answered at 21:30 GMT -phone repaired - just reached a technican at the phone
Date: Mon, 1 Nov 1999
Well i almost can't believe it! my call to the mojave phone was answered just some 5 minutes ago!
the lady answered the call with "mojave phone" and i almost quit the call because i thought someone ripped me off, but she really told me that she was a technican from some firm and she was reparing the handset because someone has stolen it. ( i thought thewhole phone was stolen??!!)
the second thing she said was "you didn't really think you would reach someone" and i had to say yes. call as fast as possible - mayby she's still there!!! the call lasted for 1:12 Mins. and i only told her that i was from austria....(the quality was good!!)
WOOOOOOW
martin from austria
From: Robin
Date: Mon, 1 Nov 1999
Subject: greetings: update on things in the desert
How are you doing? Well I just talked to my mom last night and she told me that the only thing missing from the phone booth was the reciever,
that someone had cut off the reciever, the rest of the phone is still there. She said who she suspects did it is the National Park Service. The reason she supects this is because every time they come out there they take off everything that is on or around the phone booth and that they are annoyed by
the whole phone booth thing (poor them).
From: er
Date: Sun, 31 Oct 1999
Don't fix the Mojave Desert Phone Booth, just leave it like it is or else I will pull out the handset again. Thank you.
From: jason
Sent: Saturday, October 30, 1999
I am very annoyed about the person that pulled the handset off the phone. I hope that they fix it
From: Jess F.
Subject: Fw: no phone
Date: Sat, 30 Oct 1999
well I finally talked a friend into driving to the phone booth today and was very disappointed to find that some idiot has tore it up. I live in ridgecrest 3 hours north not to far, we will make another trip someday there was a rock cradled in the receiver and the phone was ringing like crazy. how cool is that?
From: Dandy
Subject: Re: cinder mine
Date: Sat, 30 Oct 1999
I used to know some of the drivers that went out to load at the cinder mines -- they tell about a new guy that decided to argue about the right-of-way with a range cow out by the windmill and tank there. Even though it was a semi-tractor, the cow, though she was a lot smaller, won. She ran a horn through the radiator and stalked off shaking her head at the chuckle-headed humans that cows are forced to deal with. He had to hike in to the phone to call for help. Then nobody wanted to go out there to help him. He learned a lesson about cows that day.
I sure miss the Desert. I've spent 6 years back in my native Washington State, and have married a guy who can't take the heat. Some winter we'll spend some time back in the Desert. I lived there 30 years. I guess I have sand in my veins, as well as the webbed toes that being born in the Pacific Northwest gives a person. Thanks for writing back. Writing to you brings a little bit of "home" home to me.
Date: Sat, 30 Oct 1999
From: Bill A Bradley
My wife and I went to the Lonely Phone Booth on Oct. 25th while visiting Las Vegas. We didn't get stuck in the sand,
nor did we have the pleasure of meeting Charlie. But we did meet the nice lady that runs the Post Office and store
in Cima when we stopped to ask directions to the phone booth. Anyway, we got to the phone booth around 5PM when
we saw the receiver had been ripped out. So we put a rock where the receiver goes so the phone can ring once again,
which it did non stop after that.
ah, THAT explains it ... someone was wondering why, if the receiver was gone, it was giving a busy signal for a while, and then was ringing ...
It's a shame this had to happen, we were looking forward to answering the call of the wild.
alternatively expressed: it's a shame that it *didn't* have to happen, but did, anyway
(by using "A" without a period, do you mean to say that you're A bill bradley, but not THE bill bradley?)
Date: Fri, 29 Oct 1999
From: Jessica P.
shee-it. That sucks. Some of the guys stayed late on Saturday and it was
definately still there, then. I guess it was one batch of folks too many.
Moment of silence...
bummer for Charlie...how will he wile away the hours now? He met a couple
of the gang, really great guy I hear. Steve talked to a couple rangers out
there who didn't have very nice things to say about the booth and it's
following. Guess maybe someone decided its fifteen minutes were up.
you are among the last to see the booth in its operational state ... the phone has been ripped out & taken away.
didn't decide to "monkeywrench" it, didja?
I was asked to forward the following to you. I forwarded them your email
about the handset.
Hey Jess :-)
Could you forward this to Gottfried?
Honest officer, I didn't do it!!!
As the last member of our seditious cabal to actually see the esteemed
booth intact and unmaimed, I solemnly swear that the gentleman who
posted this page was still taking calls as I drove off into the sunset.
Oh wait, Kent was behind me....
[jessica also forwarded info about another edward abbey-ite's conversation with a park ranger in baker:]
It was a pretty short conversation actually.
While I was waiting for Jimmy and Kent at Bun Boy (great name for a
restaurant :-) I wandered over to gawk at The Thermometer and noticed
they had installed a visitor center underneath it. The lady inside looked
reasonably non threatening so I went in and picked up their free map and
when I saw that the Booth was on it I asked her if she got many people
asking for directions.
"Yes," she replied, "and we don't like it much."
Sensing hostility, I clammed up and left.
Hey, she might have been armed!
Date: Fri, 29 Oct 1999
From: Warren Bates
Subject: here's the scoop
The phone wasn't ripped out, the handset was. Pac Bell is coming to repair it on monday, though I wonder too if thats a good thing, My update is running on Monday
From: Nannette
Date: Fri, 29 Oct 1999
Thought I would pass on to you that the phone booth has had it's wires severed. Charlie is rather irate about the whole thing! It might take the phone company awhile to get out to do repairs!
Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999
From: Alan
Subject: A wakeup call to society
I have been watching with intrigue your discovery of the Mojave phone booth
for over a year and now it's final demise. I, like you, was originally
totally lost in the surrealism of that phone sitting alone, in the middle
of the desert, ringing. Your first person experience writings on it are
enthralling and I spent many hours following along. I would visit a couple
of times a week and read any updates and the mailbag. I've written you
before and my wife and I would of loved to visit it. We had tried to go on
the July trip but couldn't make it (we did however call a few times and
talked with Andria and Chuck). After the events of then, I'm sort of glad
we hadn't gone. I knew then I never would go as it would never be the same.
Although the original notion of the booth still intrigues me, what has
replaced this intrigue is watching a typical social reaction destroy it and
what it stood for. Unfortunately, I don't think it says much for the
society we live it.
I just wanted to take this second to thank you for taking the time to post
your story - even the history people sent in was fun - sorry to hear the
government did get the Cinder mine!
I hope you continue on with updates as I'm sure the story doesn't end here
even though I think the original notion of the phone booth does. It can
ONLY be relived in your pages.
Cheers,
Alan
From: Dandy
Subject: cinder mine
Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999
Hello Deuce
I used to go out to a cinder mine past the phone booth to visit W. and L., who lived out at the mine, and raised their family there. I can't remember their last name... but they had an old pickup truck with 3 on the column that was missing the rubber grommet that made shifting it easy. As it was, you could shift it if you were lucky, but you never knew what gear it was in until it did something-- like die. They loaned it to us for a few months when we desperately needed transportation. I wonder if they are still living. And if so, where? --and how!
We lived in Sandy Valley, NV, which you can get to by taking the road past the gas station going the other way.
yeah, that's a beautiful drive ... i was just up that way in september
If you go far enough (past Sandy Valley) you'll end up in Tecopa, just south of Death Valley, having gone past an iron mine and some nice areas to pick up quartz and amethyst dog-tooth crystals, and piles of iron pyrite. That last time I was on the road to Sandy Valley, they had re-paved it with red cinders.
I'm sorry the stupid government has shut down the mine. I'm also sorry the phone booth has become public knowledge-- idiots will always trash stuff once they find out about it.
What happened to the huge Joshua tree that used to be across from the phone booth on the other side of the cross-road?
it's still there, thankfully! you can see it in glorious color.
I was looking for maps of canyons and springs in the Mojave, especially the Colorado Desert portion, when I stumbled onto your site. It was nice to see a photo of the phone booth and the cinder hills again.
Have you picked "desert diamonds" out of any cinders yet?
not that i'm aware of.
From: Pentti K.
Date: Fri, 29 Oct 1999 00:39:24 +0300
There was an artickle about Mojave phone booth in Finnish newspaper at 8. th october. I called booth 9.th october, it was night in Finland, early afternoon in Mojave. Somebody answered. I was surpriced. Later I heard in TV news about earth quage in Mojave. I called again phone booth, it was late in the evening there and somebody answered again. I heard, booth is ok. Now today I found in your pages, that somebody have stolen the phone of the booth. I can't understand why. It's worth of nothing for thievs but worth of everything for all the world.
Please, will you let everybody know in your pages, when phone company have repared Mojave Phone Booth.
I will call again to coyotes of Mojave, or to somebody who answers.
Pentti
Finland
I hope you will get more same kind of ideas in future, things like that are salt and spice of our every days food, hope you know what I mean.
From: J.
Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999
I'm somewhat confused. I read your news about the phone being
ripped out just a few minutes ago (approx 3:30pm EDT). I called the
phone this morning and it rang. I called it again at lunch time (approx
12:30pm) and it was busy...Hang on...I'm calling it now and it's ringing!
It's approx 3:45pm Eastern. I would venture to guess that if the phone
had been "ripped out," that the line would be eternally busy? Just
curious.
i don't know the answer to that. when i called, it gave a busy signal. hmm. dunno.
From: Doug
Subject: Our second visit - maybe our last?
Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999
Real sorry to hear about the apparent disappearance of the Phone. We were
out there again this weekend ... and now the experience is even more precious now that it may have been the
Phone's last weekend. (I sure hope it isn't!)
Charlie did tell us that someone had been sabotaging the booth by cutting
the wire between the pole and booth. I tried calling the Phone quite a few
times Sunday afternoon and until late evening after we left and got only a
busy signal, which doesn't jibe with the call patterns we were getting
Friday and Saturday, especially late at night. One can guess that it was
heisted that same day.
I guess it was only a matter of time before the riff-raff started sliming
their way into our beloved desert and ruining the Booth experience. At least
we have the memories of a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Maybe you're right,
if the phone is gone for good life in the East Mojave can get back to
normal. We'll sure miss it, though, if there is an empty space where there
was once merriment and worldwide conversation.
From: OneAppyGal
Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999
I think it's really rude of you to help in all the 'Booth' hype then tell everyone you'd really prefer them not to visit it anymore and not give
directions to the booth.
it was never my intention that herds of people troop out there. the point of my interest originally was that there was almost never anyone there. what was cool was that people could call from anywhere in the world and MAYBE, one day, someone would answer.
now, in response to the booth's anointing by the major media, there are people out there all the time. crowds are driving thoughtlessly across private property, speeding through cattle ranches, raising dust and hell and endangering families and livestock. once there, everyone decides they have to leave something behind. maybe we ourselves should not have done so. but it's definitely a mess if scads of people are compelled by media hype to travel out & leave things. hitherto the park service never had a problem with what we were doing. now they DO have a problem with what everyone is doing -- that's why they now destroy anything left at the booth.
the fact is, i've been trying to put the brakes on the media hype for months. but now that there are copycat websites all over the place, it's no longer in my power to do that. there seems to be no lack of bandwagoneers willing to waddle like performing circus animals for any chance to be on television.
i took the map off the site because unbelievable numbers of people are foolish enough to head into the desert without water, tools, maps, or anything. i want no part in helping people to go out there & get themselves -- or others -- into trouble. if people want to visit a desert location, they should damned well learn to use a map & find it on their own.
now the phone itself has been ripped from the booth. was it some random bonehead? was it someone who saw one of the hundreds of booth articles? or was it a mojave resident, weary of dealing with people who have no idea how to be courteous to the locals?
Who the hell gave you that job anyway?
no one. just as no one gave me the job of giving directions to your dumb ass.
It's not like it's YOUR damn booth and there are some of us that can visit it and not ruin it...
given the condition of the booth now, you may be in the minority.
but i doubt it.
SO LIVE WITH IT!
how about YOU live with finding your own directions to it, magellan.
Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999
From: Henrik Stig Jørgensen
Subject: The stolen phone
Hi
I don't know if this is any help, but I called the booth last wedensday and
talked to a guy who told me that there had been placed a sandbox on top of
the booth. The conversation was very short and I didn't catch his name,
but obviously this means that the phone must have been stolen somewhere
between last wedensday and monday. As I said, I don't know if this is any
help, I just thought you would like to know. It's really sad, since we are
a lot of people all over the world who cherish and worship that booth. If
the rumors seem to be true (that the phone is missing) and the phonecompany
doesn't want to install a new one, how about a fundraising on the web to
get enough money for a new one? Or how about a 24hour webcam shot of the
booth? (last one also to prevent boothviolation)
Sincerely, Henrik Stig.
From: James S
Subject: assholes
Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999
My day was going bad, so I went to your site in order to get cheered up.
The phone booth always puts a smile on my face Needless to say, this time it
was a whole different story.
It's sad that someone does not see the beauty of this desert masterpiece and
would rather show it in his room to all his Matchbox 20 listening, Coors
Light drinking loser friends. Just speculating here.
Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999
From: Aristeia
Subject: the phone is dead, long live something else
it's a mercy killing, really.
Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999
From: Lisa M.
Hi ...I'm in shock...after I emailed you regarding the article, I went to your site and saw the news...the phone is gone! It's terrible...my husband thinks maybe the residents just got fed up with inconsiderate visitors and took it out themselves. It's a terrible shame, a real disappointment.
Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999
From: Carrie S.
Subject: geez
holy crap!
The phone...bastards. You were absolutely right - it's become way too big. Why can't people just appreciate things and then simply MOVE ON to their own passions??? Not to rant, but it just pisses me off. too many jerks. sorry it happened.
Ma Bell isn't likely to shell out money for a replacement. Perhaps that little well-traipsed corner of the mojave will finally get some rest now.
From: Ev
Date: Mon, 25 Oct 1999
My friend and I visited the Mojave Desert Phone Booth today Oct. 25, 1999.
We got stuck in the sand, but Charlie Wilcox came to our rescue. He took us
through his property to the phone booth, only to find that some jerk had
ripped out the phone. There was no phone there.
From: Ted Casino
Date: Mon, 25 Oct 1999
That solves that!
Jesus... I wonder who did that... maybe we'll see it on ebay one of these days.
From: Steve M.
Date: Mon, 25 Oct 1999
It is a relief to know that the phone booth was not a victim. That
morning, as I turned on the news to verify what I felt and to locate the
epicenter, I was shaken to see the epicenter and here the newscasters and
the Cal Tech people misname the quake as the "Hector Mine Quake". Anyone
should be able to tell that it should be called the "Mojave Phone Booth
Quake". I tried to call Cal Tech and explain their error but a secretary
said that they were all busy and took my name and said someone would call
me when they could. Yea, fat chance. Your efforts to elevate the booth
to immortality are stuff of legend. A "Mojave Phone Booth Quake" has a
nice ring to it. Maybe Cal Tech will name the next big area quake in
honor of the deserving construct. One can only hope.
Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999
From: Becky H.
I have visited your website and enjoyed it. My friend Mark and I spent a week at Hole In The Wall campground this past March, and crawled my
Jeep over a 20 mile stretch of the Mojave Road finding the National Parks register and we signed it. I put a lot of miles in that week but
never saw the phone booth. I wasn't looking for it, but now that I know about it I'll have to look next time.
Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999
From: Nicole
Subject: what else!
I recently read an article on the famed Mojave Phone Booth and was so intrigued. I've devoured your web site and all it's glorious stories and
just wanted to say thanks. I lived in the Mojave for two years and loved it. Money is difficult to come by there. I lived in the small town of Newberry Springs-- 30 miles from Barstow. I worked at the Sidewinder Restaurant which is where the movie Baghdad Cafe was filmed. Quite interesting folks in the dessert. A different sort altogether.
Here's the story that took me to the desert. (You asked) Graduated high school, needed out, moved to Las Vegas, NV and worked in a casino downtown- grew weary of the fast pace and moved to Taos, NM and launched a not so successful photography career, needed
some warm weather and moved to San Diego, CA until I could stand the crowds no longer, loaded the bus and headed to Newberry with a friend to take care of her father who was ill. When he died, the place was hers. It was 10 acres of desert surrounded by 12 foot tall bamboo giving us privacy from the nearest neighbor about 5 miles away. There was a stocked lake with an island in the middle hiding all sorts of strange items found in the desert. We had daily digs in old dumps, arrowhead searches (I found 4 that are in perfect condition), excursions into abandoned mines, campfires in the middle of the night and nowhere and of course the nightly gaze into the sky looking for anything out of the ordinary which was often as Goldstone is nearby. I've been told it's a UFO tracking station. I met the likes of Hitch hiker Bill and Chicken
Ray who do not even exist in our mainstream nation. I met a guy who lives underground in a caboose because it 'ain't so hot down there'. It
was great and I miss it.
Sorry... I babbled on about my experience there but it's nice to tell it to someone who understands the magnificence of the desert.
Anyway, no I didn't work at the cafe while it was filmed but met many of the extras employed by the film's making. Everyone out there has a copy of that movie which put Newberry Springs on the map... so to speak.
I think I'll take a look at your various other internet oddities... quite a collection you have.
From: Ron C.
Subject: Telephone Booths and stuff
Date: Sat, 23 Oct 1999
Hey .....I've driven right past the Mojave Booth without knowing it. I was in a 1965 International USFS bus that has been converted into a
motorhome. If I remember correctly, coming down off of Mountain Pass, the old bus was rolling so fast that I was worried about the brakes giving out....Had to pay attention to the road! If only I had known......I am a phonebooth fan. As a matter of fact, the first 6 years my wife and I lived in Oregon, we had an old wooden phone booth that we used for an outhouse. I was working for a small independant phone company and ended up scoring 15 old wooden outdoor booths with the tin roofs that were going to be taken to the local dump. Anyway, I borrowed the telephone pole "digger" truck and dug a hole that was15 inches in diameter and almost 15 feet deep. We set the booth on top of the hole, cut a hole in the floor of the booth, mounted a flush toilet, hooked it up to a water supply and it worked perfectly for the 6 years we used it. The hole was so deep that there was never any odor and everything just "leached" into the ground. It never came close to filling up. Now days (25 years later) we still live in the same place but have a small cabin with indoor plumbing. The door to our bathroom however, is an oak phonebooth bi-fold door from the indoorbooth that used to be in the lobby of the Redwoods Hotel in Grants Pass Oregon.
From: R2EA
Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1999
I stopped there on my way back to LA from Vegas last Tuesday. The booth not
only survived the quake, but the aftershocks as well. Most of the calls I
took were from Germany, apparently there was a TV show that featured the
booth the nite B4
From: Michael J.
Subject: Exact directions to post on your website
Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1999
Recently, there has been alot of information about the Mohave phone booth in
the news, and that's great. However, nobody is warning the oncoming
visitors about the rough terrain they must pass to get there. There's alot
of deep sand, and one visitor from LA almost lost his truck! Also, nobody
seems to want to give excact directions.
i don't want to give directions precisely because people are going out there & getting stuck, and angering some of the ranchers.
From: Phil L.
To: "theMojavePhoneGuy\"
Subject: i'm goin to the phone!
Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1999 10:39:45 -0700
Hmmmmmm..... Just got thru perusing your email archive. In light of the
fact that were going out to the Mojave to get AWAY from "it all", maybe the
popularity of your phone booth is reason for us to stay away from it.
Oh well. Whether we visit the phonebooth or not, I have enjoyed your
website immensely and will be sure to send you a link to our website after
we get pictures posted. We have a knack for finding strange things in out
of the way places.
adios amigo
Date: Thu, 21 Oct 1999
From: paul d
I am afraid that I must confess that I am a complete failure. I didn't
make it to the Mohave Phone Booth. Thanks for your warning about 4WD -- I
did read it Tuesday morning just before I left.
Being the brave (that's spelled s-t-u-p-i-d) kind, I thought that I
would try to get to the phone anyhow (the Forest Service also recommends
that cars do not attempt the trip [and also that they have a cell-phone in
case they have troubles]). I got about 4 1/2 miles down the road, past the
ranch, and past one "sand trap", and saw another, longer "sand trap" ahead,
so I figured that I had better stop and survey the situation before I
proceeded any further. Discretion (or chickenhood) is the better part of
valor!
well done -- common sense, after faltering, prevails in the end!
Before I turned around, I saw a pickup coming down the road. It was
Loreen, so I got a chance to talk to her for a few minutes.\
how nice
The mine is now closed.
yeah. grrrr!
I did try another road which, from the map, appeared to go to the Phone
Booth, but when I got to the (Wheeler?) ranch, I wasn't certain whether or
not the road continued on past the ranch, and there was no one outside to
ask, and I didn't want to spend a lot of time surveying someone's private
property, so I gave up and went back to Cima Road.
So, after my failed attempt, it was back to the town of Cima (where I
had mistakenly gone before), then on to Kelso, which has a train station
which is apparently a duplicate of the station at Caliente, NV, and the
Kelso Sand Dunes, and back home.
Date: Thu, 21 Oct 1999
From: Paula A.
Subject: Richard needs some love.
While searching the net for a picture of a phone booth, I came across your web site. I laughed until I peed, then called the booth.
It was answered by a 50-year-old man named Richard from San Jose who says he's been at the phone booth since 5 p.m. last night. He answered non-stop phone calls until 4:24 a.m. then had to stop because he "was about to throw up." He slept in his car, got up again at 8 a.m., and is still answering them now. I was call
number 106.
Anyhow, I wanted you to know that this Richard is somewhat of a hero--along with a 60-something fellow named Charlie. When Richard arrived at the booth yesterday, Charlie (who frequently drives to the booth to answer it) was lamenting the fact that someone had cut the wire. So the two men tore the thing apart and got it working again.
"All is now right with the world," he said. "And thanks to this phone booth, the world is becoming a smaller place."
"Yes," I replied, "although it's now your duty to stand there and answer the phone until someone else comes along to relieve you."
He laughed and said "I'm afraid you may be right. I'll feel guilty if I walk away from the booth. It's been ringing non-stop and I feel bad if I don't answer it. But I only have a week's vacation and plus I promised I'd be back home by Saturday."
He seemed kind of stressed, so you might want to call him later and sing to him or something.
Date: 21 Oct 1999
From: Richard T
Subject: mojave phone box
i don't know if you are aware, but a photo of your phone box was used to illustrate a travel article on western america in the 10.17.99's issue of the observer, a british sunday paper. there was no mention of its significance in the caption or text though.
From: Kenneth M
Date: Thu, 21 Oct 1999
Why doesn't anyone install a webcam near the booth ?
we've thought of it ... but there's no electricity out there (other than lightning ... i suppose we could float some sort of permanent kite with a key attached ... nahhhhhh!)
Kenneth (Belgium of all places...)
please convey my regards to kardinaal godfried danneels!
From: Kent D.
Subject: Abbey Webbers to Arrive at Phone Booth
Date: Wed, 20 Oct 1999
Several of us off the Abbeyweb have made congealed our plans to meet out at
the phone booth on a desert exploration/synchronized swimming outing. We'll
be at the booth around noon on this coming Saturday the 22nd of Oct., no
doubt with the rest of creation, given the amount of press it's received
since it first made the splash among the Dead Ed Heads.
Date: Tue, 19 Oct 1999
From: Lisa M
Subject: Lonesome Phone
Hi ... The newspaper article that first got me interested in this phone was in the OC Register ... I made a
special file for it back in 1996...I was afraid of losing the article, although I had the phone # memorized...
"Lonesome Phone has the ring of a desert landmark" (Friday Feb 23, 1996), by Don Rogers.
I can forward a copy to you if you'd like.
A few years back I worked for Coca-Cola out in the Inland Empire. I
always wanted to take my company car out to the phone but I was afraid
I'd get stuck and would have difficulty explaining specifically why I
was prospecting for business at that location. No electrical outlet for
a vending machine haha (thank God).
hahaha! but it would have made a great story later ...
Your website is addictive.
glad to hear it. (i would be even *more* glad if i were getting rich from it!)
I still can't believe that this phone is so well known now! In 3 1/2 years, I still have never gotten an answer...
surprising, given that so many people are trooping out there these days
From: turtleworld
Subject: stupid people
Date: Tue, 19 Oct 1999
Might I give a suggestion to your site? All the people who send you emails
saying that the phone is off the hook because it was busy when they called
need to be put in the idiot mailbag. Are these people just that dumb to
think that they are the only ones calling? Do they think the phone has call
waiting? Stupid, stupid, stupid. I wonder if anyone has actually gone on a
"hang up the phone" pilgrimage, only to find the phone on the hook ringing away.
the only ones i know about are those two idiots who went on to put up a piss-poor website about it, to try to use the booth to draw traffic to their lame-assed "online journals." (i could have told them it was out of order.) then they had the gall to lambaste US for not having some sort of Iron John lame-ass new age circle jerk out there!
I hope you notify these people as to how dumb they are.
I read some other stuff on that one guy's site. He's a failed sitcom writer, can you be a bigger loser?
Date: Tue, 19 Oct 1999
From: David H
Subject: Phone Booth visit 10/18
I was able to stop by the booth yesterday about 3 - 4 pm. The booth
survived the quake fine (even the tug boat somebody added survived)
what the ... ???
However, no calls were coming in, and you could not get a dial tone
(just a lot of clicking noise on the line) So the lines coming into the
booth may have been damaged somewhere along the way. Should somebody
call 611 and have a technician come out? :)
Keep up the great web site.
Date: Thu, 21 Oct 1999
From: David H
Subject: Both visit 10/18 part 2
After my 10/18 Monday afternoon re-visit to the booth and the weeks of
publicity it has received lately, I have changed my some of my views on
"the booth" and the hype surrounding it. I had come across the booth
years ago during one of my off road detours (I have a bad habit of
seeing a dirt road while driving and suddenly veering off just to see
where the heck it goes) and hadn't thought about it until the recent
news stories of it were brought to my attention by a friend. I sense you
are kinda fed up with all of the hype, but here is my 2 cents on it
anyways..
I agree with removing any directions on how to get to the booth. While I
do have the booth on my web site (in fact, it is the only thing left on
my site. I gave up trying to keep everything on it updated, and deleted
everything but the booth), I will not tell people how to get to it. I do
not want to see it become a massive tourist attraction, with a Starbucks
opening up next to it. However, selfish as I am, this will not stop me
from dropping by from time to time when I pass through the area to say
hello, or calling it from time to time.
Although it may ruin some of the fun of the booth, I also agree with the
park service removing all the items people leave at the booth.(except
the signs - what's wrong with the signs??)
i agree. i wish people didn't have to be such copycats. no one objected to our signs, until everybody started leaving stuff there.
While the Tug Boat on top of the booth in the photo I sent you on Tuesday had me grinning from ear to
ear, could you imagine 40 some Tug Boats and hundreds of other items all over the place?
unfortunately, i can.
The booth and area was very clean and nice on Monday, and I would like to see it stay that way.
i'm with you
One thing that has me ticked is that while the booth gets all this press, I have yet to see a story or the press take up the ball on the
Park Service and Lorene's Cinder Mine. They can haul off the booth items, but when it comes to hauling people off..... And the press
doesn't seem to care.
i don't want to do any more interviews, but i did a couple with journalists who said they'd be doing stories on the federal mine meddling ... so far, nada.
I can just see it - [camera shot of the booth, screaming people being dragged off into a forest green van in the background] Newcaster: "Today at five: I'll have more live reports from the booth and take some calls" Argggg..
yep. well, look what they do with anything ... aw, don't get me started.
Oh, and as to the idea of a Y2K get together out there, I like the idea of it.
yeah. so did i.
But then, do I really want to be out there in the middle of the desert with a bunch of people who are just as crazy as me? Maybe yes and maybe no.
for me, it's now a "no." which stinks.
Thanks for keeping up the great web site (all it, not just the booth)
thanks, david!
From: George, from Canada
Date: Mon, 18 Oct 1999
Subject: 760-733-9969
Hello !
I tried the above number for the 1st time after reading about it in a
local newspapers. Guess what ? The line is busy ! :) Guess someone needs
to go there ! He he !
George, from Canada
Date: Mon, 18 Oct 1999
From: Lisa M.
Hi! I just wanted to drop you a line to thank you for the information
on the Lonesome Phone. I have been a big fan of this phone since I
first learned of it in February 1996 (OC Register did a story on it
then). I have never been there (have two small children) but my husband
and I hope to visit someday soon. I was thinking about this phone last
night as it was really windy here and I was wondering about the phone
and I gave it a call...sure enough no answer. Then for the hell of it I
typed in "desert phone" on yahoo and there you were! I was
flabbergasted that others out there were obsessed with this thing. I am
a seemingly normal person, not some wacko or anything,
that makes one of us.
but I have been yapping on about this phone for years.
that makes two of us.
I told my husband I wanted my
ashes scattered around the phone after I'm gone,
that makes one of us.
(so far, we are four.)
but now that the phone
is gaining popularity maybe thats not such a good idea. Probably by
that time the phone will be a novelty emcompassed by the "Desert Phone
Luxury Condos" and will probably be part of the kiddie playground. I
sure hope not.
Someday I will visit this phone, but for now, I'm just a sporadic caller.
Thank you so much for your great website on the phone, and I'm so glad
to know I'm not the only person who loves this phone. Thank you!
you're welcome.
The Quake. The Quake. Still More on the Quake.
From: Martin D.
Date: Sat, 16 Oct 1999
Subject: a good sign?
After catching the news on CNN this morning about the big quake, and
hearing the words "Mojave Desert", I suddenly thought of the booth.. I
gave it a call, and I'm obviously not the only one, since it was busy
(and a UK busy tone too, perhaps that's what happens when BT already has
a connection open to an international number?). I gave it a call back,
and it rang. Must be a good sign, right?
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Date: Sat, 16 Oct 1999
From: Jessica
Subject: whee!
The earthquake, which came one day before the 10th anniversary of a major
quake in the San Francisco area, was felt as far away as Las Vegas, Tucson,
Ariz., and San Diego, near the Mexican border. In Los Angeles County, it
caused power outages, rock slides and water main ruptures.
So didja feel it?
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Date: Sat, 16 Oct 1999
From: Allison T.
hey, i just heard about the big earthquake in the middle of the mojave
desert, and, being from "a few thousand acres of ice and snow" Canada,
the only connection to the mojave dessert that i have would be reading
about the phone booth. I've come to love that phone booth, even though
i've never been there or even got through to anyone on it, but i was
immediately worried whether it was ok. i was also worried about lorene
and the cinder mine, so i thought that i would just ask you if you knew
if they were all ok. i hope so... I dream someday to journey to the
phone booth myself...
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Date: Sat, 16 Oct 1999
From: Carrie S
Subject: this morning
did you feel the earthquake?? I heard phoenix felt something...
it was kinda freaky falling out of bed at 3 AM, but hey, what do you expect from a place that'll fall into the ocean any day now? hehe...but in all seriousness, when I heard that the epicenter was in the desert, my first thought was "is the phone booth ok?" It wasn't really that close to it, but still...I wonder if they retrofit phone booths?
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Date: Sun, 17 Oct 1999
From: paul d.
Saturday's earthquake, which was probably more violent at the phone
booth than it was here in Las Vegas, didn't put the phone out-of-order.
(Chances are that the phone is probably the last thing on the phone
company's repair list.)
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From: turtle
Subject: earthquake
Date: Sun, 17 Oct 1999
After I first found out the earthquake was centered in the desert, my very
first impulse (this being 3:00 in the morning) was to call the phone booth
and make sure it was alright. I had called a few hours before the
earthquake and no one picked up, so I already knew no one was out there. I
have a question. Do you find this impulse healthy? I'm acting like it's a
child of mine. Please tell me I'm alright.
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From: Matt A.
Subject: The Booth, The quake, and things that go shake?
Date: Mon, 18 Oct 1999
So, is it still intact? I don't have any california maps to verify exactly
where the epicenter hit, but it's that part of the world, right?
How did you fare, quakewise?
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From: DNess
Date: Mon, 18 Oct 1999
Subject: Desert Booth shaken?
Did the booth get shaken up a bit this weekend? Is it still functioning and
as beautiful as ever?
Regards,
A desert booth visitor
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Date: Mon, 18 Oct 1999
From: liz
I called to check and I hear it was unaffected by the earthquake.
From: hipGIRLZFromLA
Sent: Monday, October 18
How is the Phone Booth since the earthquke?
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Date: Mon, 18 Oct 1999
From: Andria
So I'm getting e-mail now from people who want to know if the booth
sustained any damage in the recent quake (and doesn't -that- suck! For all
of my resistance to the Bay Area because "I -don't- want to live where
there are earthquakes", I took more than a little ribbing here with all of
the Mojave quake reports this weekend.). I don't suppose you've reached
anyone out there in the last few days, have you? Do you still call every day?
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From: BLClay
Date: Mon, 18 Oct 1999
Was the famous desert phone booth damaged
in the recent earthquake? Give us an update
on your web site.
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ok. so ... here's the scoop: the booth is still ringing. everybody can go back to sleep now.
i did feel the quake here in arizona, as a matter of fact. it was 2:47 a.m., and i had JUST got into bed, when i thought someone had grabbed the bedpost and was shaking the bed. it was eerie -- we're not used to feeling earthquakes in az. but then i thought it was a quake, and when the walls started creaking, and the dogs began barking, i knew that's what it was.
gottfried
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From: Cameron C.
Date: Fri, 15 Oct 1999
While other's enthusiasm for the seems to have died down, mine has not. I
have called it a bunch of times without getting an answer, which I expected
might happen after the news stopped giving it publicity, but this trips me
out:
after 5 rings, the AT&T operator recording kindly points out that the phone
has yet to be answered (Duh?!) and says I can leave a message at any time by
pressing "1"
since the phone is not owned by a citizen, that struck me as odd, and I
thoght I'd share it with you, unless you've already called it and recieved
the same message.
interesting. i just get the standard "your party is not answering. please hang up and try again later" message.
i did try to get voicemail on the booth -- if someone else has done that, i'm gonna be pissed!
I have a friend with a couple parking meeters and I am trying to talk her
into donating one to install out there, but she's not going for it.
just as well. with all the people trooping out there, the parks service is clearing the booth of anything left behind. which means my original signage was also destroyed. nice.
From: Wayne C.
Date: Fri, 15 Oct 1999 12:16:18 PDT
I visited the phone booth last Friday (Oct 8) on my way (sort of) to
Arizona, and I was surprised to find a crowd out there
no surprise these days ...
answering the phone.
Charlie was there guiding a FOX news crew from LA, and there was a nice
couple from Vegas as well. I had to wait an hour before I got to answer
some calls, but it was well worth the wait. I talked to people from
Germany, Australia, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Alabama. I even managed
to squeeze in a call to my wife and her fourth grade class between the
constant ringing.
I happen to live in a part of the Mojave desert (Rosamond, CA) that is
totally unlike the area around the booth -- instead of being surrounded by
Joshua trees and cinder cones, all I can see is cookie-cutter tract housing
and unwanted couches.
the eventual fate of all the west, it would seem ...
Long live the booth!!
P.S. -- In Livingston, Montana, there is not only a large "P" (Park High
School) on the side of the hill, but an outline of an enormous rainbow trout
(Livingston is the fly fishing capitol of the world).
From: Julia M
Date: Thu, 14 Oct 1999
Hi!
Today I got an e-mail from an austrian news agency, telling the story about
a lonely phone booth in the Mojave desert, with a link to your homepage. The
last 1 1/2 hours I was reading the whole story and I must say: YOU ARE
REALLY CRAZY! But I think it's really cool what you are doing. I live in
Vienna/Austria and I've been to the States with my boyfriend last year for
about 5 months travelling around California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and
Utah. We lived in Phoenix (Scottsdale, actually), from there we went out to
explore everything. IF I ONLY KNEW ABOUT THE PHONE BOOTH! I would have loved
to visit it! If I ever get there again, I will. Until then, I will go back
to your webside from time to time, to see if there are some new stories
about this (no longer so) lonely phone booth in the desert and the crazy guy
who made it so famous that it even found its way to europe.
Congratulations!
Sending you greetings from Vienna,
Jules
PS: I hope that Lorene's Mine will be ok!
so do i. so do i.
Date: Thu, 14 Oct 1999
From: calvino
Subject: Pointless-Exercise-in-Telephony 'R' Us
hEllo?
"Pointless exercises in telephony"? Hey that is my job for which I'm
paid unholy amounts money.
PS: Anyway, I would definitely like to keep informed about Mojave
Phone Booth updates if you ever get around to creating an email list.
there is a general deuce of clubs update list -- and now you're on it.
From: Anthony D
Subject: The Boothe
Date: Wed, 13 Oct 1999
I'm hooked! I had buisiness in "Mojave" yesterday. I'm a photographer and was doing a photo shoot there, So when I completed the assignment early, decided "What the hey!" So I took off to the desert in search of "The Boothe!" When I arrived three and a half hours later, I found none other than Lorene herself taking calls.
She and Terry seemed to be having a blast answering calls from all over. They seem to have found a new past-time. When I told her that I'd heard about the boothe from your website, she mentioned that she'd never actually met you face to face. So she asked me to pass along greetings.
I stayed for two hours and took calls, but forgot to log them.
From: Bob & Barb
Date: Tue, 12 Oct 1999
I have been hearing about the "Phone Booth" for several months from different sources but didn't think too much about it until tonight when I ran across a notation that I had made about it and decided to take a look.
We owned a "cabin" between Blythe and Needles for several years right on the Colorado River so we have spent a lot of time in the desert and really like it.
I expected to find a web site that maybe had a map and a phone number, instead I find your very extensive and very amusing site. It is probably the the most interesting web site that I have ever looked at.
You seem to have found that there are some very interesting people living in the desert and as for getting cold, most people who have never spent time in the desert do not realize just how COLD it can get. I'm glad that you were able to cope with the cold without having any real problems with it.
We really enjoy people with a good sense of humor who can see the lighter side of things.
From: Mita
Date: Tue, 12 Oct 1999
Dearest Cardhouse, [Deuce of Clubs, to be precise]
This is old news perhaps (depending on how often to check your referer logs)
but you've been linked by Canada's national paper, The Globe and Mail.
I tried calling you during your last trek to the booth but I just missed
you. I spoke with a woman who's name I cannot remember. She said I was the
first 'international' caller. Or the first caller from Canada - I can't remember how generous she was.
Catch ya next time.
Mita
purveyor of the rain barrel
international phone caller of mystery
From: Dahlia
Subject: Hello!
Date: Tue, 12 Oct 1999
I just want to say thank you for your incredible website. For some of us
who may never reach this enchanting phone booth, your website places us
right there with you! Thank you for all your dedication and hard work
here..... I truly appreciate it!
From: Courtney
Date: Mon, 11 Oct 1999
Someone told me they saw a Mojave Phone Booth spot on the Today show. Heard anything about it? I must say, ANY
mention of that "phenomenon" without giving you mention, seriously offends me.
From: Sheryl
Date: Sun, 10 Oct 1999
Hey Kiddo-
I just visited your site again and it doesn't appear that you are still
posting e-mail from *groupies.* Well, I must admit it was disconcerting to
see the incredible hype surrounding this phone booth, and I'm not one to
follow the crowd.....however, I am still planning a trek out there with a few
choice friends to man the booth...heck, if people are calling, we don't want
to dissapoint them! I was afraid the booth had been disabled, due to the
overwhelming publicity recently, but when I called the number, it was BEEZEE.
We are planning a trip in two weekends, I guess that would be the 23rd,
although I don't have a calendar handy. My sister doesn't seem to mind the
fact that scorpions may find solace in our company....yikes! she
screams...there's a spider!) Anywho, (god, I think I got that from some
midwesterners who have been keeping the same bar stool warm for decades...)
is it still possible to get there without major opposition from law
enforcement or homeowners with uzi's? Heck, I just called the booth AND NO
ONE ANSWERED. Is this an ominous sign? or perhaps the norm? Okay, now it's
busy...someone must've been taking a piss. I'm going to get to the bottom of
this one.
Please, tell me if I should cancel this whole trip.....
BTW - will you marry me? hehehe....Sheryl
From: Greg D.
Date: Fri, 08 Oct 1999
I was just recently enlightened to the existance of "The Mojave
Phone Booth " . I went to your web site and was engrossed in the story from
begining to end. Thanks for the many laughs. You guys looked like you were
having a blast.
I live about 14 miles outside of Mojave (the city) . Also in the middle
of nowhere . (We don't have a phone booth though)
Anyway , The main point of this e-mail is this. My Dad and I would like
to know when the next trip to the booth will be ? We have a park bench that
would look really cool next to the booth. We would like to meet you there
and answer some calls. The bench would make a wonderful addition ,I think .
So wouold a bus stop sign , But We haven't found one of those yet.
i wouldn't recommend leaving anything at the booth any more. the parks "service" now takes away anything left there, including semi-permanent things. i can sort of understand it, cos now everyone who goes there -- and that's a lot, apparently, these days -- wants to leave something. but my point is, whatever you leave would be ripped out & taken away anyhow ...
Date: Fri, 8 Oct 1999
From: Leopard Kelly
Hey, the Mojave phone booth was on Good Morning America today, tho u were
never mentioned. You're famous (pathetic that I manage to watch the trashy
version vs BBC-think of it as cliff notes for remedial viewers).
From: Mobrnis
Date: Fri, 8 Oct 1999
Subject: This morning!
Just wanted to let you know that your story about the phone booth in the
Mojave Desert was seen on TV right here in Georgetown, IL. Great story!
Hope Lorene doesn't lose her cinder mine.
Keep up the good work!
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