March 18, 2020
Shot in the Coachella Valley: "They Made Me A Criminal"
I just happened to run across They Made Me A Criminal (from 1939) on the local OTA movie channel one night a couple of weeks ago. I was surprised to see a sequence that was obviously shot in the Coachella Valley, as Mt. San Jacinto can be clearly identified. I got the DVD from Netflix and grabbed that short bit to share below. After walking to a date grove, star John Garfield settles in romancing the blonde lady who owns the grove and teaching some east coast juvenile delinquents (played by The Dead End Kids) boxing. All is paradise until Claude Rains shows up.
IMDB identifies the shooting location as "Palm Desert, California," but nothing of Palm Desert existed in 1939.
permalink | March 18, 2020 at 05:11 PM | Comments (0)
August 6, 2019
Los Angeles City Hall
Last month I went on an L.A. Conservancy tour of L.A. City Hall.
Union Station seen from the observation deck on top of L.A. City Hall.
The complete set of photos can be seen here.
permalink | August 6, 2019 at 08:39 PM | Comments (0)
December 8, 2018
Goat Canyon Trestle
Wikipedia article about Goat Canyon Trestle.
Scott C. led me on a hike to the Goat Canyon Trestle in 2014, but I've only recently posted the photos to Flickr. We hiked in the "easy" but longer way, following a mostly flat route from Dos Cabezos, across desert, to the railroad near Tunnel 20. From there, we hiked the railroad to the trestle, which comes just before Tunnel 15. The acceptable, standard way to hike in without hiking on the railroad as much requires one to take a straighter, but more difficult hike up and over the mountains.
You can also hike from the clothing optional resort at DeAnza Springs which is near I-8. From there you will be hiking uphill to the trestle. On the route we took, we hiked slightly downhill to the trestle...and then had to hike uphill on our way out. A few of the photos:
The water tower at Dos Cabezas. You can drive to this point. The railroad is right there, but if you follow it, you will go on a loop that makes your hike even longer. It's shorter to hike cross desert to Tunnel 20.
Tunnel 20. This is where we started hiking on the railroad.
Our first small trestle and our first view of the mighty Goat Canyon Trestle.
There are some wrecked railroad cars resting downhill from the railroad.
The red line is the railroad. The purple line is an approximation of the cross-desert route we took to Tunnel 20. The green line is the proper, standard, more difficult way to hike in.
permalink | December 8, 2018 at 12:51 AM | Comments (0)
October 15, 2018
Wende Museum Of The Cold War
I recently visited the Wende Museum of the Cold War in Culver City, which had been on my gotta-see list for quite a while. Open to the public Friday, Saturday and Sunday; no charge for admission; check the website for variations on that. It's right next door to Veterans Memorial Park which is right next door to Veterans Memorial Auditorium.
On the other end of the museum sits the House of Warrior Poetry (Dance. Parkour. Acrobatics. Action Arts. Yoga. Movement.).
Veterans Memorial Auditorium - the marker out front was placed in 1950, so call it 1950.
In the museum I thought the cover of this magazine said "1961." Only when I went to edit it did I see it was actually 1981! It sure has the look of 1961.
Yuri Gagarin hanging out with kids.
You can see all the photos here.
permalink | October 15, 2018 at 11:12 PM | Comments (0)
May 15, 2018
Photos of the Library of Congress
The ceiling in the grand hall where one enters the Jefferson building.
Naked baseball players on the ceiling of the Library of Congress. I've got another photo showing football players.
Down in the tunnels connecting the Jefferson and Madison (and I'm sure other) buildings.
Columns at the entrance to the Madison Memorial Building.
Click here to see all 22 of my photos from the Library of Congress.
permalink | May 15, 2018 at 09:04 PM | Comments (0)
April 13, 2018
Nixon Library
Photos from my visit to the Nixon Library a couple of weeks ago.
This video shows the corridor through which you enter the museum with iconic images of the troubled '60s on both walls, leading to what I suppose is intended as the solution to all of the problems: Nixon. I added the music which is "Scene II: Interlude" from Orpheus by Stravinsky.
The 1972 electoral votes. I'd forgotten that in addition to Massachusetts, McGovern also carried the District of Columbia.
A moon rock and the phone Nixon used to talk to the astronauts. I tried, but couldn't get, a clear shot of buttons attached the phone. They're for different extensions in the White House and were labeled "Haldemanm," "Ehrlichman" and so on.
Can you believe it? Right there in the Nixon Library a copy of Mao's Little Red Book.
Nixon birthplace and childhood home. It is still in the exact location and with the same orientation as when Nixon's father built it.
View of the library from the Nixon home.
Nixon wore this button on his Whittier College letter jacket. I was very surprised that he was so far ahead of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. If you are old enough, you surely remember these six seconds from that show:
They had a substantial exhibit about Watergate that did not try to whitewash the scandal. I have already listened to the 18½ minute gap, so I skipped this part of the exhibit. They had a display showing the locations of microphones used by FDR, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, LBJ and Nixon. Nixon had WAAAAAY more than any other President and was the only President who put a recording device in the President's office at Camp David.
Casualty report from Vietnam for January 20, 1969. Do you recall these casualty reports being delivered to the public weekly on national news? Every time there was some number of Americans killed, then the number of ARVN (south Vietnam) soldiers killed would be something much larger than the American number, and finally the number of Viet Cong and NVA (North Vietnam) would be a astronomically higher than either of the other two. For example, for the current week shown in this photo there were 185 Americans killed, 336 ARVN and 2,742 VC and NVA. I think if you add up all the reported numbers killed for the VC and NVA throughout the entire war it would indicate every resident of North Vietnam had died at least twice.
Everybody's entitled to their opinion.
How might history be different if someone had bought him some train tickets?
The complete set of photos can be seen here.
permalink | April 13, 2018 at 08:47 PM | Comments (0)
January 9, 2018
These slides aren't going to stop anytime soon
The Prudential tower in Boston. This was stitched from several Kodachrome slides shot in 2001.
The Mormon Temple in Oakland in 1986.
Downtown Hartford, circa 1986.
One of the towers on the Golden Gate Bridge from 1985.
Diagonal, Iowa's centennial in 1988 still being promoted in 1991. Well made sign. This is Ektachrome and was shot during my bicycle ride from Boston to Kansas City that year. As I go through my slides I'm finding a few photos from that trip that I can't place at all, other than to say it was during that ride. If the scenery is level then the photo is probably from Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, or even Kansas or Missouri. If it's hilly, it's probably New York, but could be Massachusetts or even the corner of Pennsylvania that I rode through.
At the Living Desert, probably 2001.
There are many more slide scans to be seen here.
permalink | January 9, 2018 at 06:00 PM | Comments (1)
January 6, 2018
A Small Batch Of Slides
Zebras at Living Desert, 2001.
"They That Go Down To The Sea In Ships", Gloucester, Massachusetts. Kodachrome, 2002. This was erected at the tercentenary of Gloucester in 1923 as a memorial to all fishermen lost at sea.
"The Scout," a sculpture of a Sioux Indian astride a horse. Kodachrome, 1991. This is in Kansas City and is considered one of the icons of the city. It was on the cover of the Kansas City phonebook for a number of years. Originally displayed at the 1915 Panama-Pacific Expo in San Francisco, it was installed temporarily in Kansas City after that. It was paid for and dedicated in 1922.
A resort in the Warm Sands neighborhood of Palm Springs. Ektachrome, probably 2001. This B&B used to be across the street from Inndulge, but has changed hands and undergone a major transformation since then.
In winter, the Frog Pond in Boston Common is transformed into a skating rink. Stitched from three Kodachrome slides dated 2002.
Customs House Tower in Boston. Kodachrome, 1991.
The Bunker Hill Monument on Breed's Hill in Charlestown, Boston. Stitched from three Kodachrome slides from 2002. The statue at the base of the monument is of Colonel William Prescott, commander of the American forces at the battle who gave the order "Do not fire until you see the whites of their eyes."
permalink | January 6, 2018 at 08:55 PM | Comments (0)
January 3, 2018
I've got some slides to show you
The Zakim Bridge in Boston, Kodachrome.
Zakim Bridge under construction, 2001, Kodachrome.
Myself on the northern walkway of the George Washington Bridge, 1996, Ektachrome. This was on the way to our second GNI Gathering in Pennsylvania with Michael C. The first year we had done a big curve coming from Boston so as to avoid NYC, crossing the Hudson at Poughkeepsie, I think.
This second year, we decided to go for the shorter route: Boston to New London, ferry to Long Island, thence to Queens, Manhattan, and then over to New Jersey on the Geo. Washington.
Neither of us had biked or walked across this bridge before and we were following some old directions that said the north side was for bicycles, the south side for pedestrians. Well, after some challenges, we got to the north side only to find it gated and locked. No way were we going to retrace our route back to try to find the entrance to the south side, so we just climbed over the gate, and climbed over the other one on the New Jersey end.
[I had a similar problem in a later year when I crossed from Queens to Manhattan via the Triboro Bridge rather than the Queensborough. Locked gates. Tossed my bike over and then climbed - both ends.]
This turned out to be the best way to get to New Jersey (as long as we didn't repeat the north side mistake), but after a couple years of this I found the best way to cross New Jersey itself (herself?) was to get a permit from the NJDOT to bicycle on I-80. Suddenly, there were no hills in the Garden State.
The Massachusetts Turnpike in Allston. I'm not sure exactly where this is. I think that bridge is Comm Ave just east of the BU Bridge. In that case, I would be standing on the BU Bridge to get this photo, but I'm not sure this angle is actually possible. If anyone familiar with the area can nail it down better, please leave a comment.
San Francisco viewed from Twin Peaks, Kodachrome, 1992.
Hoover Dam, 2001, Kodachrome.
Frog Pond in the Boston Common, 2001.
A pair of 18th century grave markers in Boston. I do not recall exactly which cemetery this is, but those buildings in the background should help narrow it down. It's not Phipps in Charlestown. Maybe one of the Dorchester cemeteries. It's likely to be one of the city-owned cemeteries, since I led a bike tour of those a couple of times. Anyway, this is Mary Swift who died in 1785 (age 51?) and Mrs. Sarah Baker "the pious consort of Mr. John Baker." Date of death was 1788. This photo is Kodachrome from 1990.
This is the building that sits above the State MBTA stop on the Blue & Orange lines in downtown Boston at the intersection of Devonshire and Water Streets (7 Water Street). Kodachrome from 2002. It's the Winthrop Building. Architect: Clarence H. Blackall. Completed in 1894.
The dedication of the first LGBT Veterans memorial in an officially designated Veterans area of a cemetery. Cathedral City, 2001, Ektachrome. This is in the Welwood Murray Cemetery.
I'm not sure where this is, but as farm equipment it looks a bit too large and potentially efficient for New England. I'd have to guess Midwest, but where I was in the midst of the Midwest in 1989, I do not recall. Kodachrome.
A Civil War Veteran's grave marker in the Swan Point Cemetery in Providence, Rhode Island. The photo is from 2001.
Looks like September on the Charles River Esplanade in Boston. 2002, Kodachrome.
This construction (2001, Kodachrome) was beside Causeway Street, next to the Boston Garden and was connecting the new Zakim Bridge to the new Big Dig. I can't recall how they kept the traffic flowing here, while changing from an elevated highway to a tunnel and switching out bridges at the same time. Someone had described the Big Dig as being like open heart surgery performed on a marathon runner while he is running.
permalink | January 3, 2018 at 08:23 PM | Comments (1)
December 27, 2017
Palm Springs Panorama from 2001
In 2001 I shot this panorama with Kodachrome from the intersection of San Luis Rey and Sky Point Drive. Today that would put me immediately between Lowes and Walmart on Ramon Road. In this photo Lowes would be on the right end of the photo, Walmart on the right.
Clicking the image will get you the full size version.
permalink | December 27, 2017 at 07:12 PM | Comments (0)
December 26, 2017
Slide Restoration
On the left is the slide as it actually appears. It's about 30 years old and I don't know what kind of slide film it is, but I can say for sure it is not Kodachrome. Even though it appears to have faded to just monochrome, there is actually still color info in it and a few clicks in Photoshop, will bring those up. That's the photo on the right.
 Before Photoshop |  After Photoshop |
The photo depicts Boston City Hall, Faneuil Hall, the JFK Building and part of the Quincy Market as viewed from atop the Customs House Tower.
permalink | December 26, 2017 at 09:16 PM | Comments (0)
Slides Again
The Charles River and Back Bay, 1984.
Can't say what river or when, but it's Ektachrome.
A pumping station at the Chestnut Hill Reservoir in Boston.
Kitt Peak Observatory, Kodachrome, 1988.
Provincetown II ferry, Kodachrome, late 1980s. Proof that being anti-social by staring down at something in your hands was not something new with the advent of smartphones.
Dusk, Ektachrome, 1988. When I shot this, I was going for an underexposed image, but 29 years of deterioration made it a little more underexposed than I want. I was able to restore it somewhat.
permalink | December 26, 2017 at 08:28 PM | Comments (0)
December 22, 2017
Some more slides for you
Over the roof of Quincy Market & Durgin Park, Boston, in 1986.
Probably in Hawaii. Kodachrome, 1986.
Prometheus at the Prudential Center in Boston, 1986.
Probably Baxter State Park, Maine. Kodachrome 1987.
Tip O'Neill Building with the elevated Green Line in the foreground. Kodachrome 2001.
A 1957 Thunderbird double parked on Charles Street, Beacon Hill. Kodachrome 2001.
permalink | December 22, 2017 at 09:33 AM | Comments (0)
December 14, 2017
Slides
Looking up Canal Street to the old Boston Garden.
Looking upstream on the Charles River from the Harvard Bridge. Boston University is on the left. This is from a black & white slide, and I'm pretty sure that was Ilford film.
Commonwealth Avenue and Green Line east of Allston Street.
A DC-3 at the Smithsonian in 1983.
Fort Point Channel, Boston; Ilford black & white slide film.
Frog Pond in the Boston Common.
Looking at the Ritz-Carlton from the Public Garden, Ektachrome.
The John Hancock Buildings, Back Bay, Boston.
Storrow Drive seen from the BU Bridge; Ilford black & white slide film.
The conversion of the building at 360 Newbury Street for Tower Records.
permalink | December 14, 2017 at 07:38 PM | Comments (0)
December 11, 2017
Need A New Title For Posting Some More Slide Photos
This looks like the interior of a ferry to me, but I don't recognize it. The photo is from 1985. If you recognize it, please leave a comment and tell us.
In the Back Bay, Boston, 1986.
Golden Gate Bridge seen from Alcatraz, 1985. Agfachrome.
permalink | December 11, 2017 at 12:43 AM | Comments (0)
December 10, 2017
Aged Slide
In my recent slide scanning I hadn't come across any badly aged or damaged slides until today. It's from the mid-1980s. I don't know what kind of film it is, but it sure ain't Kodachrome. I've got lots of Ektachromes and Agfachromes that show no aging, so I'm sure this isn't either of those. BTW, I have no recollection of what this building is or where it's located.
permalink | December 10, 2017 at 11:50 PM | Comments (0)
December 7, 2017
Slides, More Slides
Sears warehouse building in The Fenway, Boston, Agfachrome, 1985.
The Nantucket Light Ship, Kodachrome.
Construction of the MBTA Back Bay Station in Boston, 1986.
Copley Square, Boston, Kodachrome, showing Trinity Church and the two John Hancocks.
permalink | December 7, 2017 at 04:31 PM | Comments (0)
December 5, 2017
Slide Scans
Shadows of the World Trade Center in 1985.
The old John Hancock building in Boston.
The (newer) John Hancock Tower in Boston.
permalink | December 5, 2017 at 10:44 AM | Comments (0)
November 27, 2017
Slides From The 1980s
At the Art Institute of Chicago, 1987, not Kodachrome. Artist was Charles Green Shaw.
The Statue of Liberty's torch, Kodachrome, 1987.
Elevated Green Line stop at North Station, Boston, Kodachrome, 1987.
The Longfellow House in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Kodachrome, 1987.
Tanglewood, Lenox, Massachusetts, Agfachrome, 1983.
The Paramount Theater facade on Washington Street in Boston, 1986.
Kodachrome, 1987, probably in Provincetown, Mass.
permalink | November 27, 2017 at 08:04 PM | Comments (0)
November 24, 2017
Yet More Slides
This looks like Iowa, but I can't be more specific than that. Dates from 1983.
Tanglewood 1983 on Agfachrome. The camera the woman is using looks like an Olympus XA. I went through a couple of those.
I have no idea where this is, but if I had to guess I'd guess that it's at Alcatraz. Agfachrome, 1985.
Sunset in Hawaii, Kodachrome, 1986.
The Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges, 1985.
This is another Polaroid instant slide, but this one is color, Polachrome. The subject is in Boston.
