Saturday, February 29, 2020

No Wine -- February 29, 2020


When we went to 5 o'clock mass at Good Shepherd, we found that there will no longer be cups used at communion.  This is because of flu season and the coronavirus.

I took the photo of Stella Pilgrim's statue of Jesus the Good Shepherd on 12-June-2010. .

Tuesday, February 25, 2020

The Carnival City -- February 25, 2020

The St Martinsville Weekly Messenger, 17-February-1900
Happy Mardi Gras, everyone. The Southern Pacific Railroad invited people to take their special train  to and from New Orleans for Mardi Gras season in 1900.

Sunday, February 23, 2020

Raising the Flag on Mount Suribachi 75 Years -- February 23, 2020


Seventy-five years ago today, on 23-February-1945, during the month-long Battle of Iwo Jima, Marines raised our flag atop Mount Suribachi.  I remember when Joe Rosenthal, who took this photo, worked for the San Francisco Chronicle.

Friday, February 21, 2020

Chevrolet FB 20 Roadster -- February 21, 2020

Richmond Palladium and Sun-Telegram, 28-February-1920
The Chevrolet FB 20 was a sporty-looking roadster.

Wednesday, February 19, 2020

Ancient Vintages of Autos Appear in Jubilee of French Touring Club -- February 19, 2020

St Tammany Farmer, 14-February-1920
ANCIENT VINTAGES OF AUTOS APPEAR
IN JUBILEE OF FRENCH TOURING CLUB

Many strange and cumbersome cars made appearance at the Jubilee review held by the Touring club of France. The club has a membership of over 100,000 and some of the older members who had old-fashioned motors stored away in their barns got them out ror the parade.

The most unusual exhibit was a model of 1894, which is shown in the photo.




Monday, February 17, 2020

Saturday, February 15, 2020

Comic Book -- Smash Comics -- February 15, 2020

www.coverbrowser.com
Smash Comics, published by Quality Comics, featured a number of heroes, including Bozo the Robot, also known as Bozo the Iron Man.  Great name.

Thursday, February 13, 2020

Negro Base Ball League Enters Arena -- February 13, 2020

Tulsa Star, 14-February-1920
100 years ago today, on 13-February-1920, owners of several independent professional teams for African American players, who were barred from Major League Baseball, gathered in Kansas City to form the first Negro National League.  Rube Foster, founder and manager of the Chicago American Giants, led the group.  The first Negro National League lasted until 1931, when the Great Depression finished it off.

NEGRO BASE BALL
LEAGUE ENTERS ARENA.

Chicago, Indianapolis, Detroit,
Kansas City and Dayton, O. to
Arrange Schedule.

(Star News Service.)
KANSAS CITY, Feb. 13. -- This city will be today and tomorrow the meeting place of a group of Colored base ball managers to organize a circuit, including Chicago, Indianapolis, Detroit, Kansas City, and Dayton, O. Rube Foster plans to form a national league after this circuit has been perfected. The Cuban Stars will he the traveling team in the circuit, Foster, who is manager of the American Giants; Joe Green of the Chicago Giants, and Carey R. Lewis, sporting editor of the Chicago Defender, will leave next week for the conference.


Tuesday, February 11, 2020

Impeached But Not Convicted -- February 11, 2020

Our so-called president has been impeached, but was not convicted because of the spineless Republican senators.  Only Mitt Romney voted to convict on one article.  He deserves credit as a patriot.

"According to Jane Taylor, 'the central character is notorious for his infantile engagement with his world. Ubu inhabits a domain of greedy self-gratification'. Jarry's metaphor for the modern man, he is an antihero—fat, ugly, vulgar, gluttonous, grandiose, dishonest, stupid, jejune, voracious, greedy, cruel, cowardly and evil..." -- Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubu_Roi


Sunday, February 9, 2020

Black Mask -- February 9, 2020


This issue of Black Mask carried Dashiell Hammett's "The Tenth Clew," a Continental Op story. I like the Op.

Saturday, February 8, 2020

Gung Hay Fat Choy, 2017 -- February 8, 2020


www.listal.com
In honor of the beginning of Chinese New Year, the Year of the Rat, here is Disney/Pixar's Ratatouille. I enjoyed the movie, but as the grandson of a chef, I found the idea of a rat in the kitchen to be disturbing.

The San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade is tonight. The parade has taken place since the 1860s.


Friday, February 7, 2020

Irving Aaronson 125, February 7, 2020


Band leader Irving Aaronson was born 125 years ago today, on 07-February-1895. Years ago I took a jazz anthology record out from the library.  One of the tracks was credited to "Irving Aaronson and His Commanders." For some reason, the name struck me as being funny.  There may also have been a photo.  The music was pretty good mid-1920s jazz.  At various times he employed Gene Krupa and Artie Shaw.  After Aaronson broke up the band in the mid-1930s, he worked as a musical director at M-G-M.


Thursday, February 6, 2020

Babe Ruth 125, Bob Marley 75 -- February 6, 2020

www.listal.com
Babe Ruth was born 125 years ago today, on 06-February-1895.  He was a great left-handed pitcher who became an even better power hitter.  He held the season and lifetime home run records for a long time.

www.listal.com
 Bob Marley was born 75 years ago today, on 06-February-1945.  I remember when we started to hear reggae music on the radio in the 1970s.

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Monday, February 3, 2020

Doctors say Beware of Colonnavirus -- February 3, 2020

www.listal.com
The 2020 novel colonnavirus (provisionally named 2020-jCoV), informally known as the jerry colonnavirus, is a contagious virus that causes the infected person's eyes to bug out and mustache to grow uncontrollably. In time, the infected person develops an uncontrollable urge to harass Bob Hope.

Sunday, February 2, 2020

Happy Groundhog Day 2020 -- February 2, 2020


Happy Groundhog Day, everyone. This groundhog does not look very happy. For some reason he reminds me of Alfred Hitchcock.

Saturday, February 1, 2020

February, 2020 Version of the Cable Car Home Page -- February 1, 2020



I just put the February, 2020 version of my Cable Car Home Page on the server:
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/

It includes some new items:
1. Picture of the Month: A North Chicago Street Railroad train at Clark Street and North Avenue. Note the two trailers. (Source: Chicago Public Library Digital Collection, Repository number RLVCC 1.1056. All rights reserved).
2. On the Chicago page, A ten and twenty year update about the the widely hated North Chicago Street Railroad
3. Added News items about the cable cars decorated to honor the 49ers visit to the Super Bowl and the retirement of Sir Francis Drake Hotel Tom Sweeney.

Ten years ago this month (February, 2010):
1. Picture of the Month: The LaSalle Street powerhouse was "Michael Jordan's The Restaurant(tm)" for many years.
2. On the Chicago page, more about the widely hated North Chicago Street Railroad, including a selection from the 1898 Report of Special Committee of the City Council of Chicago on the Street Railway Franchises & Operations, an advertisement for investors, a cartoon and some contemporary newspaper articles:
-- Chicago -- Patent Lawsuit (Sacramento Daily Record-Union, Wednesday, December 21, 1887)
-- Chicago -- Runaway Horse Car (San Francisco Morning Call, Sunday, October 03, 1890)
-- Chicago -- Cable Cars to Carry Bicycles (Saint Paul Daily Globe, Sunday, May 30, 1897)
-- Chicago -- Making Money From Cable Cars (Omaha Daily Bee, Saturday, July 1, 1899)
3. On the Cable Car Models page, photos and a video of Garden Scale Cable Cars
4. On the Horse Car Home Page, a John Stephenson ad and a Chicago newspaper article

Twenty years ago this month (February, 2000):
1. Picture of the Month: North Chicago cable trains at the La Salle Street tunnel, Chicago
2. Add North Chicago Street Railway to Chicago page.
3. Add article about the Patent Trust to the Miscellany page
4. Add C T Yerkes to the Who page
5. Move Thanks/Links to a separate page
6. Add postcard of former cable car used on Mount Tamalpais railroad to San Francisco/Omnibus page
7. Add information about iron pergola in Seattle
8. Add information about modern Portland, Victoria tourist cable tram project to the Melbourne page

150 years ago, on 26-February-1870, the Beach Pneumatic Subway started operating.

125 years ago, on 25-February-1895, a cable train of the West Chicago Street Railroad collided with a horse car.

Coming in March, 2020: On the Cable Car Lines in Chicago page: A ten and twenty year update about the West Chicago Street Railroad

The Cable Car Home Page now has a Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/CableCarHomePage/

Joe Thompson
The Cable Car Home Page (updated 01-February-2020)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/
San Francisco Bay Ferryboats (updated 31-January-2019)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/ferry/
Park Trains and Tourist Trains (updated 31-July-2019)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/ptrain/
The Pneumatic Rolling-Sphere Carrier Delusion (updated spasmodically)
http://cablecarguy.blogspot.com
The Big V Riot Squad (new blog)
http://bigvriotsquad.blogspot.com/