Sunday, December 25, 2016

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Replicas of 1906 bell mark El Camino Real

Originally El Camino Real, also known as the Kings Highway, was a footpath worn by the Franciscan fathers as they traveled up and down California in 1769 between the 21 missions they built. Eventually the trail became wide enough to accommodate horses and wagons, but it was not considered a route until the last mission was completed in Sonoma in 1823.

The 700 miles of El Camino Real joined the Franciscan missions, the pueblos and presidios in the early days of California. Now it is incorporated into California Highway 101 and passes through Tustin as it makes its way between San Diego and Sonoma and is known for its El Camino Real Bells.

With the support of the Native Sons and Daughters of the Golden West and the General Federation of Women's Clubs, the El Camino Real bell was hung from a standard shaped like a shepherd's crook in front of the Inglesia de Nuestra Senora Reina (Plaza church) in Los Angeles in 1906 in tribute to the work of the Franciscan fathers and their leader Father Junipero Serra.

Designed by Mrs. A. S. C. Forbes, the 85-pound cast iron bell was inscribed El Camino Real 1769-1906. The plan was to place duplicate bells along the El Camino Real Highway, in front of each mission and selected historical landmarks, approximately one bell for every mile.

By 1913, 425 bells were in place including two in Tustin. One was planted in the sidewalk a few feet north of the corner entrance to the First National Bank of Tustin at Main and D (El Camino Real) and the other along Laguna Road which was part of the 101 Highway south of Tustin High School. Tustin's bells remained in place until after World War II when D Street was widened as part of a Highway 101 improvement project.

Removed while the work was being done, they were not to be found when the job was completed. Missing bells were not unusual. Despite supervision by the Automobile Club of Southern California and the California State Automobile Association of San Francisco from 1921 to 1933 and by the California Division of Highways after that, many bells were stolen or disappeared during road work.

Los Angeles County could account for only 17 of its 110 original bells in 1959. Two hundred of the bells missing throughout the state were recovered by 1963, but unfortunately Tustin's bells were not included in this number.

The city had no bells when D Street was renamed El Camino Real in 1968 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of its founding. But the City of Tustin remedied this with the cooperation of various civic organizations by installing 12 duplicate bells along El Camino Real between First Street and Newport Road in 1972.

Two bells stand on each block. A plaque on each brick base identifies the civic group donating it. The most recent addition to Tustin's bells was dedicated near Camino Real Park in 1998. The Tustin Area Woman's Club raised $500 to pay for it with the Automobile Club of Southern California providing a matching sum.

Working with the California Bell Co. which cast the original bell, Caltrans has installed 555 original El Camino Real bells on Caltrans property along Highway 101 between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

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Lucy and the Chocolate Factory - Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance




Though it’s the result of an antiquated 1952-era husbands vs wives plot, this chocolate candy factory conveyor belt scene from I Love Lucy is a classic. Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance give a memorable performance as Lucy and Ethel, who try to wrap chocolates as they pass by on a swiftly moving conveyor belt.
The full season 2 Job Switching episode (with commercials) here on CBSon Hulu, or on Amazon Prime. Another classic.

lucy and ethel chocolate factory

lucy eating chocolates

Sunday, December 18, 2016

Friday, November 18, 2016

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Time Lapse of Building a Class 345 railcar for the Elizabeth line




A British how-it’s-made time lapse from Bombardier Rail Vehicles Production in Derby: Watch a new Elizabeth line ‘Class 345’ train being built, complete with 5 miles of welding and 50 miles of cabling. From TFL.gov.uk:
A fleet of 66 new 200 metre long trains built in the United Kingdom will run on the Elizabeth line, featuring nine walk-through carriages, air conditioning, CCTV and real-time travel information. Each train will be able to carry up to 1,500 people.
Stretching over 60 miles from Reading and Heathrow in the west across to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east, the Elizabeth line will stop at 40 stations – 10 newly built and 30 newly upgraded – and serve approximately 200 million people each year.

Thursday, November 10, 2016

Monday, October 31, 2016

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Thursday, September 22, 2016

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The Man Behind Holt Avenue's Name



Thousands of cars travel up and down Holt Avenue between 17th Street and Newport Avenue every day, according to traffic surveys done by the city.
However, despite the huge number of drivers and passengers involved, probably not one person in a hundred gives a moment's thought to the origin of the street's name.

John Holt, for whom the street is named, was a native of Sweden who immigrated to the United States. Facts about his life vary depending on the source, but the following information comes from the 1911 edition of "History of Orange County, California." The book contains biographical sketches of the men and women of the county Samuel Armor identified as participating in the growth and development of the area at that time.

Holt came to the United States at the age of 13 when his father, Sven Holt, immigrated here to become a brass worker, employed first in St. Louis, then Chicago. The elder Holt returned to Sweden in 1860, but John remained in this country.

He enlisted in the United States Navy in 1866 and served on several battleships, mainly in the Asiatic waters, visiting both China and Japan. At the end of his enlistment, he transferred to the merchant marines, shipping out of Philadelphia and Portland, Maine harbors. His next employer was the U.S. government, which hired him to do harbor improvement work on the East Coast.

Holt then came to California, arriving in what would become Orange County in 1882. After deciding to locate in Tustin, he first bought an unimproved tract of 10 acres. Four years later, he purchased an additional 10 acres at the intersection of First Street and a road which would become known as Holt.
After marrying Louise Deathelms, a resident of New York, he used his carpentry skills to build a cozy cottage on his property. Before long, Holt became known for his experiments in agriculture.

After planting walnut and apricot trees on his first pieces of land, he began a long and extensive series of experiments to discover how the various fruits would adapt to the soil. His first experiment of planting a vineyard failed when the grapes died before they came into bearing.

He next planted a variety of fruits, including prunes which he soon found to be a money losing crop. Disillusioned by their low market value, he abandoned them in favor of crops that would bring in revenue in keeping with the high cost of the land.

When he found that oranges, apricots and walnuts would earn the highest profit because they were the best adapted to the climate and the soil, he concentrated on planting these species in his orchard.
In addition to experimenting with fruit, Holt enjoyed raising poultry. He was recognized for his skill in selecting birds and caring for the flock. His pureblood White Brahmas were judged to be the finest specimens of that breed in Orange County.

Although Holt was a Republican, voting for party candidates in both state and national elections, he was known for supporting the man he thought best able to promote the welfare of the county and not the party line, in local elections. He belonged to the Masonic Lodge, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Foresters of America.

Since Holt was included in the U.S. Census in 1900, 1910 and 1920, he is assumed to have died between 1920 and 1930.
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How to Screen Print Video Series - Eva Stalinski




Eva Stalinski is a Dutch illustrator and screen printer who sells her shirts, bags, pins and patches online. In this delightful series of how-to videos, she shares how to screen print your own designs onto t-shirts. She includes information about the toolsinks, and materials she uses, as well as her DIY-at-home setups.
Above, she demonstrates how to prepare a screen at home. Below, she shows us how to screen print a shirt at home:



Stalinski levels up the challenge and delight with this how-to video about printing multiple layers: How to print a 4-color screen print at home.





To see more of her work, visit EvaStalinski.com. To try screenprinting at home or in the classroom, watch her entire series

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

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Ring of Truth Series: Gold, Noodles, and Hydrogen




Above, watch molten gold transform into gold leaf as it is beaten into thinner and thinner pieces while cold. This clip is from PBS’ six-part miniseries The Ring of Truth: An Inquiry Into How We Know What We Know – Atoms (1987). 
“It was the craftsmen who mastered the remarkable properties that go with specific materials. They were the first to journey towards the atom. The goldsmiths slowly refined their craft to take advantage of what gold alone could do…”
MIT astrophysicist and Institute Professor Philip Morrison narrated the series, which he co-wrote with his wife, noted art and science educator Phylis Morrison. Philip Morrison also narrated and wrote the script for Charles and Ray Eames’ Powers of Ten, a must-watch video for all ages.



Chef Kin Jing Mark demonstrates how to make super-thin noodles and helps introduce the principle of halving in this clip from the PBS miniseries The Ring of Truth: An Inquiry Into How We Know What We Know – Atoms (1987). MIT astrophysicist and professor Philip Morrison narrates:
If atoms exist in patterns in space, we should somehow be able to measure their size. We approach the division of matter by the attractive process of halving, and halving, and halving it again… Twelve foldings produced 4,096 fine noodles, and if Chef Mark could have stretched the dough 30 more times, the noodles would have reached atomic thickness.




Possibly the most well-known scientific formula on the planet, H2O is one of those terms that we see around all the time. We know that H2O means water, and that a water molecule is composed of two hydrogen (H) atoms & one oxygen (O) atom, but have we ever seen this formula proven?
Above, a clip from the 1987 miniseries The Ring of Truth: An Inquiry into How We Know What We Know, hosted by Philip Morrison, who wrote it with art and science educator Phylis Morrison. Watch as two units of hydrogen are combined with two units of oxygen over and over again. What happens every time?

Friday, July 8, 2016

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How is Victorian Nectar Drop Candy Made?



…and why are lemon drops, cough drops, and fruit drops all called drops?
In this video by Tallahassee, Florida’s Lofty Pursuits artisanal candy makers, we get an up close look at how their restored candy equipment, circa 1848, made (and makes) Victorian era nectar candy drops. Watch the hot sugar roll through the pairs of brass drop rollers into sheets of molded candies…
And the ‘drop’ name? Wait until you see how the candies are separated.



Wednesday, June 22, 2016

North Dakota's Enchanted Highway




In 1989, the small town of Regent, North Dakota was getting smaller, and with no prospects in sight for bringing in visitors and jobs, former school principal Gary Greff came up with an idea: He would build an ‘enchanted highway’ full of sculptures that would lead visitors to Regent.
…but these wouldn’t just be any sculptures. These would be massive sculptures. Via the always wonderful Atlas Obscura:
With zero experience welding or creating art, he began building the world’s largest metal sculptures and placing them along the “Enchanted Highway,” or Highway 21.
By 2006, Greff had completed a total of seven mammoth sculptures for the 32-mile stretch of road. All are thematically related to the western North Dakota’s cultural and historical roots. For instance, in one sculpture Teddy Roosevelt dominates the rolling hills, while in another, grasshoppers five times the size of a car feast on golden wheat rising from scoria rock beds.
You can also see Tin Family (1991), Geese in Flight (2000), Deer Crossing (2001), Covey of Pheasants (1998), Fisherman’s Dream (2006), and more. See them in person, via google maps, or via the Great Big Story video above.

Wednesday, June 8, 2016

Saturday, May 14, 2016

Sunday, March 20, 2016

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Al Jazeera Street Food World Tour




The Japanese have a word for it: kuidaore, "to eat oneself bankrupt." This has risen to some combination of tradition and aspiration in Osaka, Japan's second-largest city, a former merchant enclave once referred to as the country's "kitchen." You can see exactly what empties Osakan bank accounts on Al Jazeera English's series Street Food. Its episode on the city (part onepart two), embedded above, seeks out the stands that most efficiently cater to the citizenry's characteristic busyness, the source of the freshest sushi around, the barbecue counters of Koreatown, the poisonously-livered fugu fish, the ideally controversial dish that is whale meat, and a range of food writers and critics to lay down some culinary insight. The program finishes its journey with one visit to a culinary academy and another to the poorer side of this Japanese metropolis. Being a Japaneese metropolis with more poverty than most but also one a greater love of eating than most, Osaka has produced street food even among its street people.





There you have the basic form of a Street Food broadcast, each of which takes on a different world city, all of which operate under the theory that the best path into a culture runs through its alleys most dense with comestible commerce. In the episode just above (part onepart two), Montreal's meeting of English and French sensibilities, a slightly uneasy coexistence in the best of times, turns into an all-out ideological conflict on the subject of how to eat. One particularly important skirmish occurs over poutine, the French fry, cheese curd, and gravy dish essential to any investigation of Montreal cuisine. In the episode below (part onepart two), we see the elements of Spanish and Andean eating finally converging on the streets of Lima — aided, in a big way, by flavors brought in by the Peru's many immigrants from Asian. Admittedly, the convergence isn't complete, not will it be until Limeños not of native descent come to enjoy the city's most popular item of street food, with 65 million eaten every year: the guinea pig.


All episodes of Al Jazeera English's Street Food on YouTube:

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

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Ferrofluid + Glow Sticks - Dianna Cowern



Ferromagnetic + fluid = ferrofluid, a liquid containing nanoscale particles of magnetite, hematite, or an iron compound. Invented by NASA’s Steve Papell in 1963, ferrofluid forms undulating spikes and patterns as it reacts to nearby magnetic fields.
Glow sticks are a chemiluminescent reaction captured in plastic tubes. Combine ferrofluid with glow stick liquid and you get color-filled landscapes of black ooze. Physics Girl Dianna Cowern demonstrates and explains.

Sunday, March 13, 2016

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

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My Grandmother Ironed the King's Shirts (Short) - Torill Kove




This animated film comes from Oscar®-winning filmmaker Torill Kove (The Danish Poet). It's a tall tale about her grandmother's life in Oslo, Norway, during World War II. Sharp and whimsical, her story combines her grandmother's tales with historical events and fantasy, showing how a cherished anecdote can come to acquire a mythical status. King Harald of Norway said, "I love the irony of this short." Directed by Torill Kove - 1999

Monday, February 8, 2016

David Bowie's Top 100 Books - David Bowie in Memorium




  1. Interviews With Francis Bacon by David Sylvester
  2. Billy Liar by Keith Waterhouse
  3. Room At The Top by John Braine
  4. On Having No Head by Douglass Harding
  5. Kafka Was The Rage by Anatole Broyard
  6. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
  7. City Of Night by John Rechy
  8. The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
  9. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
  10. Iliad by Homer
  11. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
  12. Tadanori Yokoo by Tadanori Yokoo
  13. Berlin Alexanderplatz by Alfred Döblin
  14. Inside The Whale And Other Essays by George Orwell
  15. Mr. Norris Changes Trains by Christopher Isherwood
  16. Halls Dictionary Of Subjects And Symbols In Art by James A. Hall
  17. David Bomberg by Richard Cork
  18. Blast by Wyndham Lewis
  19. Passing by Nella Larson
  20. Beyond The Brillo Box by Arthur C. Danto
  21. The Origin Of Consciousness In The Breakdown Of The Bicameral Mind by Julian Jaynes
  22. In Bluebeard’s Castle by George Steiner
  23. Hawksmoor by Peter Ackroyd
  24. The Divided Self by R. D. Laing
  25. The Stranger by Albert Camus
  26. Infants Of The Spring by Wallace Thurman
  27. The Quest For Christa T by Christa Wolf
  28. The Songlines by Bruce Chatwin
  29. Nights At The Circus by Angela Carter
  30. The Master And Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
  31. The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
  32. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
  33. Herzog by Saul Bellow
  34. Puckoon by Spike Milligan
  35. Black Boy by Richard Wright
  36. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  37. The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea by Yukio Mishima
  38. Darkness At Noon by Arthur Koestler
  39. The Waste Land by T.S. Elliot
  40. McTeague by Frank Norris
  41. Money by Martin Amis
  42. The Outsider by Colin Wilson
  43. Strange People by Frank Edwards
  44. English Journey by J.B. Priestley
  45. A Confederacy Of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
  46. The Day Of The Locust by Nathanael West
  47. 1984 by George Orwell
  48. The Life And Times Of Little Richard by Charles White
  49. Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom: The Golden Age of Rock by Nik Cohn
  50. Mystery Train by Greil Marcus
  51. Beano (comic, ’50s)
  52. Raw (comic, ’80s)
  53. White Noise by Don DeLillo
  54. Sweet Soul Music: Rhythm And Blues And The Southern Dream Of Freedom by Peter Guralnick
  55. Silence: Lectures And Writing by John Cage
  56. Writers At Work: The Paris Review Interviews edited by Malcolm Cowley
  57. The Sound Of The City: The Rise Of Rock And Roll by Charlie Gillette
  58. Octobriana And The Russian Underground by Peter Sadecky
  59. The Street by Ann Petry
  60. Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon
  61. Last Exit To Brooklyn By Hubert Selby, Jr.
  62. A People’s History Of The United States by Howard Zinn
  63. The Age Of American Unreason by Susan Jacoby
  64. Metropolitan Life by Fran Lebowitz
  65. The Coast Of Utopia by Tom Stoppard
  66. The Bridge by Hart Crane
  67. All The Emperor’s Horses by David Kidd
  68. Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
  69. Earthly Powers by Anthony Burgess
  70. The 42nd Parallel by John Dos Passos
  71. Tales Of Beatnik Glory by Ed Saunders
  72. The Bird Artist by Howard Norman
  73. Nowhere To Run The Story Of Soul Music by Gerri Hirshey
  74. Before The Deluge by Otto Friedrich
  75. Sexual Personae: Art And Decadence From Nefertiti To Emily Dickinson by Camille Paglia
  76. The American Way Of Death by Jessica Mitford
  77. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
  78. Lady Chatterly’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence
  79. Teenage by Jon Savage
  80. Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh
  81. The Hidden Persuaders by Vance Packard
  82. The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
  83. Viz (comic, early ’80s)
  84. Private Eye (satirical magazine, ’60s – ’80s)
  85. Selected Poems by Frank O’Hara
  86. The Trial Of Henry Kissinger by Christopher Hitchens
  87. Flaubert’s Parrot by Julian Barnes
  88. Maldoror by Comte de Lautréamont
  89. On The Road by Jack Kerouac
  90. Mr. Wilson’s Cabinet of Wonder by Lawrence Weschler
  91. Zanoni by Edward Bulwer-Lytton
  92. Transcendental Magic, Its Doctrine and Ritual by Eliphas Lévi
  93. The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels
  94. The Leopard by Giuseppe Di Lampedusa
  95. Inferno by Dante Alighieri
  96. A Grave For A Dolphin by Alberto Denti di Pirajno
  97. The Insult by Rupert Thomson
  98. In Between The Sheets by Ian McEwan
  99. A People’s Tragedy by Orlando Figes
  100. Journey Into The Whirlwind by Eugenia Ginzburg


I Can't Read - David Bowie



I can't read and I can't write down
I don't know a book from a countdown
I don't care which shadow gets me
All I've got is someone's face

Money goes to money heaven
Bodies go to body hell
I just cough, catch the chase
Switch the channel watch the police car

I can't read shit anymore
I just sit back and ignore
Cause I just can't get it right, can't get it right
I can't read shit I can't read shit

Oh

When you see a famous smile
No matter where you run your mile
To be right in that photograph
Andy where's my fifteen minutes

I said
Yeah
I can't read shit anymore
I just can't read shit anymore
No matter I just can't get it right
I can't reach it
I can't reach it
No
No
Uh
Uh
Uh


Lazarus - David Bowie