San Diego had already adopted the excellent practice of naming streets in a given area alphabetically around a specific theme. There was the “tree series” downtown-Ash, Beech, Cedar, etc. In Mission Hills there was the “bird series” Albatross, Brant, Curlew, and so on. So in Pacific Beach the former numbered north-south streets were added to this system, and became an alphabetical series beginning with Allison on the west, and running on through Bayard, Cass, etc. The last such street was Randall on the eastern perimeter of the tract. But what was the common denominator for all those street names from Allison to Randall as designated in 1900? What was the theme? Obviously they were surnames, but what relation did they have to each other? It was a perplexing question, but one which careful study and a flash of insight answered; these streets were named for statesmen, diplomats or politicians whose names were known in 1900.
This was the top item on GovClicks yesterday. I’m so conflicted by it.
Graphic Catalonian stamp from the Spanish Civil War, via UCSD’s online Adhesive Propaganda exhibition.
From the Congressional Record, January 19, 1999:
FURBYS CITED AS THREAT TO U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY
(Mr. TRAFICANT asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. TRAFICANT. Mr. Speaker, the President is on trial, we are bombing Baghdad, Kosovo is in turmoil, and the American steel industry is literally being raped.
After all this, the National Security Agency has designated a new major threat to our Republic, the furby; that is right, this furby cyberpet, that stands 4 inches tall and sells for $30, has just been designated as the next great threat to our freedom.
Beam me up, Mr. Speaker. Beam me up. I say, the only threat these furbys really pose is they seem to appear to be much smarter than the bungling nincompoops at the National Security Agency. I recommend, for $30 a smack, here, that we hire furbys and fire those bureaucrats. Think about that one. Furby this, James Bond.
Literally?
Found via @925saint on Twitter thanks to 1.USA.gov links.
Snowflake, photographed by Wilson Bentley
On December 1, 1955, during a typical evening rush hour in Montgomery, Alabama, a 42 year-old woman took a seat near the front of the bus (illustrated in this diagram) on her way home from the Montgomery Fair department store where she worked as a seamstress. Before she reached her destination, she quietly set off a social revolution when the bus driver instructed her to move, and she refused. The bus driver called the police and they arrested Rosa Parks, an African American woman of unchallenged character.
The African-American community of Montgomery organized a boycott of the buses in protest of the discriminating treatment they had endured for years. The boycott, under the leadership of 26-year-old minister Martin Luther King, Jr., was a peaceful, coordinated protest that lasted 381 days and captured world attention.
Werner Herzog’s Cave of Forgotten Dreams is now streaming on Netflix Instant.
Man, I loved this movie. His voiceover is like a crazy epic poem.
“Every night I was dreaming of lions, and every day was the same shock for me. It was an emotional shock. I mean, I am a scientist, but a human too. And after five days I decided not to go back in the cave because I needed time just to relax and take time to absorb it.”
“And you dreamed not of paintings of lions but of real lions?”
“Of both! Of both, definitely.”
A Short history of the banana and a few recipes for its use, recipes by Janet McKenzie Hill, 1904
[Click on image to see entire pamphlet in PDF format]Part of our American Institute of Wine & Food Culinary Collection.
Do yourself a favor and click through. Plenty of beautiful illustrations and far more than “a few” recipes.
Movies of 1984 - A List by Keith Paugh »
I have long held 1984 as the “best year.” I remember how good it felt saying it was 1984. I remember how awesome my O.P. socks felt, and corduroy shorts looked. No evidence however, is more convincing of the year’s prowess than a simple list of movies from its 12 month period.
It’d be outstanding even if Breakin’ and its sequel hadn’t been released in the same year.
- Footloose (Feb 17)
- This Is Spinal Tap (Mar 2)
- Repo Man (Mar 9)
- Splash (Mar 16)
- Tank (Mar 16)
- Ice Pirates (Mar 16)
- Police Academy (Mar 23)
- Romancing The Stone (Mar 30)
- Breakin’ (May 4)
- Sixteen Candles (May 4)
- The Natural (May 11)
- Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (May 23)
- Once Upon A Time In America (Jun 1)
- Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (Jun 1)
- Beat Street (Jun 8)
- Ghostbusters (Jun 8)
- Gremlins (Jun 8)
- Top Secret! (Jun 22)
- The Karate Kid (Jun 22)
- Canonball Run II (Jun 29)
- The Gods Must Be Crazy (Jul 9)
- The Muppets Take Manhattan (Jul 13)
- The Last Starfighter (Jul 13)
- Revenge of the Nerds (Jul 20)
- Purple Rain (Jul 27)
- The Philadelphia Experiment (Aug 3)
- Cloak & Dagger (Aug 10)
- Red Dawn (Aug 10)
- The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai (Aug 10)
- Dreamscape (Aug 17)
- Amadeus (Sep 19)
- All Of Me (Sep 21)
- The Bear (Sep 28)
- Stranger Than Paradise (Oct 5)
- Stop Making Sense (Oct 19)
- The Terminator (Oct 26)
- The Killing Fields (Nov 2)
- Nightmare On Elm Street (Nov 9)
- Paris, Texas (Nov 9)
- Missing In Action (Nov 16)
- Supergirl (Nov 21)
- Beverly Hills Cop (Dec 5)
- Runaway (Dec 14)
- Starman (Dec 14)
- Dune (Dec 14)
- Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo (Dec 19)
- Johnny Dangerously (Dec 21)
Temple of Doom came out on my 6th birthday. That’s a good omen.
I'm Jed Sundwall. This is my blog, which you can follow on Tumblr or via RSS. You can talk to me on Twitter.
