When the Civil War Came to Sonoma County

washoe2Sonoma and Napa have an ongoing rivalry. Sonomans like to make fun of Napa: “Sonoma makes wine; Napa makes auto parts.” The affluent sophisticates in Napa County respond… well, they don’t respond. They scarcely acknowledge the existence of the bumpkins in Sonoma County. But that’s not the civil war this is about. Continue reading “When the Civil War Came to Sonoma County”

plus ça change… ?

dorian3In May 1895, Oscar Wilde entered Newgate Prison in London to begin two years hard labor for his crime of “gross indecency.” On June 17, 2016, the Tampa Bay Rays drew their largest crowd in a decade. The Rays hosted the San Francisco Giants with 40,135 in attendance on “Pride Night,” dedicated to the victims of the shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando. Average attendance for the Rays is 16,037, second lowest in the major leagues.

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My Malheur Summer

Plaza Hotel - Burns, Oregon
Plaza Hotel – Burns, Oregon

The sun was just rising when I kick-started my motorcycle. An army-surplus backpack, recently purchased from Andy and Bax Military Surplus, was strapped to the back of the bike. My duffle bag had departed on a Trailways bus the day before. Lombard Street took me east, away from the city.

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Sports Monuments

kingdome920x920The Kingdome, King County’s domed stadium, home to Seattle’s baseball Mariners and football Seahawks, was demolished in 2000, at the advanced age of twenty-four. Fifteen years after the implosion, March 2015, King County taxpayers finished paying off the bonds issued to finance its construction.

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Jackie Robinson’s $36 Million Contract

Jackie Robinson shakes Branch Rickey's hand after signing his 1948 contract. February 12, 1948 New York City, New York, USA
Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey after signing contract.

Jackie Robinson signed his original contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. His rookie salary was $5,000 – the equivalent of $55,000 today. (The minimum major-league salary in 2016 is $507,500.)

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Texas Panhandle Attractions

cadillacimage64Route 66 traverses the city of Amarillo, mid-panhandle Texas, about halfway between Albuquerque and Oklahoma City. For motorists getting their kicks on the Mother Road, a mandatory stop is the Cadillac Ranch. A few miles west of the city, ten Cadillacs, vintages 1949 to 1963, are half-buried at an angle, in line, nose down, tail fins pointed skyward.

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