San Francisco before the Quake

Exactly 105 years ago today, April 18, 1906 at 5:12 AM San Francisco suffered a devastating earthquake.  The death toll from the earthquake and resulting fire was estimated to have been above 3,000 and remains the greatest loss of life from a natural disaster in California's history.

What we want to share is an extraordinary 35 mm film taken 4 days before the earthquake.

A very similar video was sent to us earlier today by Mr. Bruce Nicholas of Greenwich, but we have substituted a slightly-longer version we found that takes the viewer all the way to the end of Market Street at the trolley turntable.

Some of Bruce's accompanying comments:

A camera was mounted on the front of a street car. 

Perhaps the oldest "home movie" that you will ever see ! 

I watched it a couple of times. 

Look at the hats the ladies were wearing and the long dresses. 

Some of the cars had the steering wheels on the right side. 

I wonder when they standardized on the left ? 

Sure were still a lot of horse drawn vehicles in use. 

Mass transit looked like the way to get around. 

Looks like everybody had the right of way.

Watch the beginning carefully. 

At the 33 second mark and immediately after an oncoming trolley clears the screen,

a well dressed policeman walks across the street from left to right. 

Notice his right hand that he's carrying a truncheon (26 inch police baton)

and although he appears walking his beat, he looks ready to use it. 

Imagine the police of today walking down the street carrying a

26 inch club in their hand...???

This film was "lost" for many years.  It was the first 35mm film ever. 

It was taken by camera mounted on the front of a cable car. 

The number of automobiles is staggering for 1906. 

The clock tower at the end of Market Street at the

Embarcadero wharf is still there.

How many "street cleaning" people were employed to

pick up after the horses ? 

Talk about going green !

**This film was originally thought to be from 1905 until

David Kiehn with the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum

figured out exactly when it was shot. 

From New York trade papers announcing the film showing

to the wet streets from recent heavy rainfall & shadows

indicating time of year & actual weather and conditions on

historical record, even when the cars were registered

(he even knows who owned them and when the plates were issued!).

It was filmed only four days before the Great California Earthquake

of April 18th 1906 and shipped by train to NY for processing.

Is it time for Nanny McPhee?

Here's a quick quiz.  Can you spot good manners from bad manners in the following pictures?

Whoops!  They all show BAD manners.

Yesterday's (Sunday, April 17th) New York Times had a piece by David Carr entitled, "Keep Your Thumbs Still When I’m Talking to You."  The article will resonate with other Old Dogs, but it should be required reading for everyone with a smartphone!

How many of you share our frustration and annoyance when those with whom we are speaking tune out, or should we say "text out"?  Isn't it time for some help from Nanny McPhee?

David Carr offers a very good, "Guide to Smartphone Manners" that we recommend.

As the saying goes, Behave or Beware.

Black Fridays: Colbert, Cease, Dylan, and Groundhog

In our March 23rd posting, "Who is this Girl?" we introduced Rebecca Black's YouTube video, "Friday".  At that time she'd gotten 34 million hits in the 6 weeks of the video's existence.  As of this morning that number has jumped to over 84 million hits.  


You want to know what's impressive?  That represents 609 years of listening to this horrific song!  Takes us back to the oldies of 1401, when Henry IV, aka, Bolingbroke, was King of England.  Not inappropriate are the words of Falstaff, the young prince's corpulent pal, memorialized by William Shakespeare, " Company, villainous company, hath been the spoil of me."

Also impressive are the number of  "covers" done by others.  The best, in this OD's opinion, is one by Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, The Roots, and Taylor Hicks on April Fool's Day.

BTW, sorry about the ads on Hulu.  Haven't figured out how to delete them.  


But there have been a host of other me-too's of "Friday". I particularly like these three.


Kyle Cease's version...

Another for all you Dylan fans...

And, finally, a Groundhog Day tribute... 

Just goes to show that success has many fathers, while failure is an orphan.