In 1850 Edward Buffum walked into a makeshift building situated just a short distance from a rapidly growing community of settlers near the Barbary Coast. The large doors opened to reveal a panelled room with a dirt floor. In the back was a wooden stage furnished with a band playing jovial tunes that seeped through […]
They Had Some Balls Back Then Read More »
Twenty years before the Eiffel Tower was built, the city of Paris had another major tourist attraction. Beginning on the 1st of April and continuing through the seven months that followed was the fourth World Exhibition. Except it wasn’t called a World Exhibition. In France, this fair would be referred to as Exhibition Universelle. (I
Grasping At Straws Read More »
Allow me to introduce you to Lola. Who was a dancer. A dancer who could not sing, or act, and was terrible at ballet. A dancer who took a few lessons in Spain because, I don’t exactly know why, I guess she liked the way the Spanish danced. Truthfully though, Lola was not a good
Her Name Was Lola, She Was a Dancer… Read More »
This post is not about a whale. Unlike some of my other posts, it is also not about a William. This entry is about an Englishman named Sir Thomas Davey. Through the years of 1813 to 1817, Sir Thomas Davey served as Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen’s Land, the Australian island that is now called Tasmania.
“… I never saw anything that can compare with the sleight of hand, the gymnastic skill of the group behind the bar…The rapid way in which they would range a string of tumblers from hand to elbow-bow filling at the same time out of different cocks, and flinging them to different customers, without spilling a
The More Things Change Read More »
It’s 1925. You are walking down a cobblestone street in Manhattan when you see a yellow light precariously poised over a closed wooden door. You think this is the place, so you courageously walk over to the building and knock four times. You tell the large burly man who opens the door that Harry sent