Wonderful Chinese Illusionists and Magicians -- May 8, 2014

This 1908 bill at San Francisco's National Theater featured the "Best Show of the Season." It included the Okito Family, "Wonderful Chinese Illusionists and Magicians ." Dutch Theo Bamberg, member of an old family of magicians, created the Japanese character Okito. He later switched the character from Japanese to Chinese, but kept the name. Theo was an excellent magician and the creator of many illusions.

Note that the theater was managed by Sid Grauman, who later went to Los Angeles and opened some famous theaters, including Grauman's Chinese: http://bigvriotsquad.blogspot.com/search/label/Graumans%20Chinese  

Theo's son David grew up and created a character called Fu Manchu, which was no relation to Sax Rohmer's master criminal character.

 

One year after this show, Theo sold the Okito act and character to a plumber who wanted to go into magic.

From the 16-July-1908 San Francisco Call.

The Military Supremacy of the Air -- May 7, 2014

The cover of the 29-December-1912 Scientific American featured "dirigibles of the leading European military powers."  The note next to the German Zeppelin at the top says that the German Empire had 20 dirigibles.  Great Britain had three dirigibles.  France had 16, Russia had 10 and Italy had 7.  I need to look for a copy of the article, "The Military Supremacy of the Air" by Theodore M. R. von Kler. Be sure to click on the image to see a larger version. 


Monday night, the Giants played the Pirates in Pittsburgh.  At one point the Giants were down 8-2.  They tied it at 10-10 in the top of the 9th.  The game went to the 13th when the Giants went ahead without getting a hit.  Tuesday night, the Giants tied the Pirates late in the game.  In the bottom of the 9th, a Pirate got a triple and then tried to go home when the throw got past the third baseman.  Buster Posey tagged him out, but the Pirates appealed.  The replay umpires in New York ruled that the runner was safe, so the Pirates won.  This was the first replay walk-off win.  All the replays we saw on television were not clear and decisive.  The Giants lost again today. 

Happy Cinco de Mayo #6 -- May 5, 2014

Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone. General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín led the Mexican army which defeated the French invaders at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. "The national arms have been covered with glory" General Zaragoza wrote in a letter to President Benito Juárez. Some people credit this defeat with preventing French interference in the US Civil War.

California Chrome Wins the Kentucky Derby -- May 4, 2014

Yesterday we were excited to watch California Chrome, a beautiful chestnut horse with white markings and a distinctive black mark on his blaze, win the Kentucky Derby.  He was the first horse bred in California to win since 1962.  He won by five lengths.  His owner lives in Yuba City. 

I took the photo of the Seabiscuit statue at Tanforan on 05-December-2011.  Seabiscuit was born and raised in Kentucky, but he had his greatest success while he was owned by Charles Howard, a San Francisco auto dealer. 

Batman 75 -- May 3, 2014

Thursday was the 75th anniversary of the debut of Bob Kane's The Batman in Detective Comics number 27. I've been a fan of Batman since I first saw the television show and read the comic strip and the comic books back in the 1960s. Superman has his powers because he was born on another planet. Spiderman has his because he was bitten by a radioactive spider. Batman is a self-made man.

Al Feldstein, RIP -- May 2, 2014

I was sad to learn of the passing of Al Feldstein, who edited Mad Magazine during the entire time that I read it.  He was still in high school when he was hired by the Eisner & Iger shop to work on their many comic book projects.  After serving in World War II, he freelanced until he joined EC in 1948.  He started as an artist, then became a writer, and then an editor. 

Harvey Kurtzman left EC's Mad, which had become a slick magazine, and Feldstein took over as editor.  Mad  helped to shape my sense of humor and helped me learn about many movies which I could not get into theaters to see. 

Kurtzman retired in 1984 and took up painting and ranching. 

The image of Mad Number 166 from April, 1974 is from Doug Gilford's http://www.madcoversite.com/.  My copy probably resides in a box in my mother's basement.  I should dig it out. 

May Day #4 -- May 1, 2014

"The most dangerous woman in America" looked like a kindly schoolteacher.  After her husband and children died of yellow fever and she lost her dress shop in the 1871 Chicago Fire, she began to serve as an organizer for the Knights of Labor and then the United Mine Worker's Union.  "Pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living."