Jon Carroll Retires -- November 21, 2015

Jon Carroll has retired after 35 years as a columnist at the San Francisco Chronicle.  I have been reading Chronicle columnists since I learned to read.  I always read Herb Caen and John McCabe, and usually read Stanton Delaplane and Art Hoppe.  I didn't read every one of Jon Carroll's columns, but I read most of them, especially the cat columns.  I hope he has a happy retirement from the five a week grind.  At least the Chronicle still has Mick LaSalle, Leah Garchick and Ben Fong-Torres. 

Updated later:  I forgot to mention Mondegreens.  As soon as Jon Carroll wrote about them, I knew what he meant.  I thought I was the only person who misheard song lyrics.  

News of the Week January 16, 1915 -- January 16, 2015

The 16-January-1915 Motography featured "News of the Week as Shown in Films," with items from current newsreels.

"Captured Germans being marched through the streets of London.    Copyright, 1914 by Hearst-Selig News Pictorial."  Displaying enemies who have been taken prisoner is a common way to boost civilian morale. 

"Mexican troops being shipped away from the border.  Copyright, 1914, by Universal Animated Weekly." I wonder if they were near the border because of tensions during the Mexican Revolution.

"The Kaiser visits his troops at the front. Copyright, 1914 by Hearst-Selig News Pictorial."  Kaiser Wilhelm II was Supreme Warlord of the German Empire. 

"East Indian troops in France advancing to the front.  Copyright, 1914, by Universal Animated Weekly." The British brought soldiers from India, but they did not do well in the European winter climate. 

"German youths being trained at Frankfurt for service.  Copyrighted 1914 by Hearst-Selig News Pictorial."  The major powers in the war all relied on new classes of conscripts coming of age every year.  Most countries wound up lowering the minimum and raising the maximum draft ages during the war. 

"A glimpse of the Servian army.  Copyrighted 1914 by Universal Animated Weekly." The war began when Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia (often spelled Servia back then) on 28-July-1914:
http://cablecarguy.blogspot.com/2014/07/austria-declares-war-july-28-2014.html

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The San Francisco Chronicle was founded 150 years ago today, on 16-January-1863, by the de Young brothers, Gus, Charley and Mike.  Historical accounts mostly ignore Gus, who died insane. 

My parents always subscribed to the Chronicle, as do I.  The quality of the news reporting was often questioned, but I liked Herb Caen and Peanuts. 

CHS Paint Job -- February 27, 2012

I took this photo on 14-February-2012 when the California Historical Society was covered with scaffolding. It was being painted red and I thought it looked like the color of the Golden Gate Bridge. Sunday's Pink Section had an article about new director Anthea Hartig, who had to get the show about the 75th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge together in four months. According to the story: "Interim Director Mary Morganti hazarded a calming joke. 'Well, you know you could always paint the building International Orange.'"

Mentioned in the Chronicle #2 -- January 2, 2011

Carl Nolte's Sunday Native Son column "California Street Without Cable Cars for 6 Months" talked about how today was supposed to be the last day of operation for the California Street line, but a problem with the cable on Christmas Eve caused Muni to shut it down early. The line is going to be refurbished for the first time since the great rebuilding in 1982-1984.

I spoke to Carl about it on Wednesday last week. The column includes a link to my cable car site. He quoted some of the writing of my friend Val Lupiz. As of today, the column is not available online, but it should be there Tuesday morning: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/01/02/MNTS1H1QND.DTL

I took the photo of two signs at California and Drumm on 31-December-2010. One sign was prepared for the planned outage. The other appears to be improvised. Click on the image to see a larger view.

Tetrazzini 100 Years -- December 24, 2010

On 24-December-1910, opera singer Madam Luisa Tettrazini performed at the intersection of Geary, Market and Kearny, before an enormous crowd. "A conservative judges the crowd at 90,000. There were those who said 250,000 persons crowded to hear the incomparable Tetrazzini sing her love of San Francisco." The event was sponsored by the San Francisco Chronicle, which had its headquarters at the intersection, but other newspapers chose to describe the location as Lotta's Fountain. This image is from the 25-December-1910 San Francisco Call. She poses at the event with Mayor PH (Pin Head) McCarthy.

Happy Veterans' Day #4 -- November 11, 2010

Happy Veterans Day to all the veterans out there. Thank you for your service to your country.

This is the 92nd anniversary of Armistice Day. There are three surviving veterans, two from the UK and one from the US.

I remember that the San Francisco Chronicle printed this poster while I was in grammar school or high school. It made an impression on me. Be sure to click on the image to see it larger.

My daughter and I both had the day off. It was a nice, sunny day so we drove to Half Moon Bay, had lunch, and went shopping at Hallmark and Bay Books.

Happy Birthday, Herb Caen -- April 3, 2009

The Chronicle has been running Herb Caen's columns all week... He could write. The Caryl Chessman and George Moscone columns have were very strong.

John Hope Franklin died. I always enjoyed hearing him speak.

Parum Vir, Ave Atque Vale -- April 1, 2009

The San Francisco Chronicle announced today that the Little Man's chair will be empty forever. He has been laid off. We will miss him.

It's Hard Work Being a Cat #20 - February 25, 2009

I took the photo on 19-February-2009.

Today is Ash Wednesday. There was a full house at Saint Patrick's.

The Hearst Corporation wants to make big cuts at the Chronicle. They are threatening to sell it or close it.

The Giants played their first Cactus League game against the Indians. It's nice having them back in Arizona.

Wicked -- February 7, 2009

We went to see Wicked at the Orpheum today. We took BART from Daly City. We had seen it years ago, but I didn't remember it well. My wife and daughter felt it was a very different production. We had an understudy for Glinda, but I thought she was good. Carol Kane played the headmistress.

On the way home, we stopped at Rockin' Robs to have dinner. The Chinese New Year parade is on television tonight.

I don't like the new layout of the Chronicle. It looks like USA Today. The Chronicle always had a distinctive appearance. I could always recognize a clipping.

Happy 200th Birthday, Edgar Allan Poe -- January 19, 2009

Today is Edgar Allan Poe's 200th birthday. I find it hard to imagine another American who has had so great an effect on world literature -- even Zane Grey.

"I wish I could write as mysterious as a cat."

The Chronicle has been celebrating its 144th birthday. Today the Sporting Green was green. Hallelujah.

Mentioned in the Chronicle -- December 3, 2007

I read an excellent article in the Chronicle today, "Elite craftsmen keep S.F. cable cars in good shape" by Rachel Gordon. I was pleased and surprised to see a link to my cable car site. The site visit statistics are going through the roof.

The article talks about the building of new car 15. Here is a photo of the current car 15, which I took in September, 2001. The car, built in 1893, has been stored out of service at Pier 80 since 1984. New car 15 should go into service next year.