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AMPEX sign looking for a new home

November 2, 2018 by sergneri Leave a Comment

In the San Mateo Daily there is an interesting story on the founding of AMPEX and that their sign has been taken down and is looking for a new home. Recording on discs was standard for the broadcast industry in the United States before Ampex changed the game. Discs were easily subject to shock, vibration … [Read more…]

Posted in: California History, Faits Divers, Politics, Science, Thinking about Tagged: AMPEX, high-fidelity, Magnetophons, radio, Redwood City

The Suffocation of Democracy – Christopher R. Browning

October 14, 2018 by sergneri Leave a Comment

From The Suffocation of Democracy – Christopher R. Browning If the US has someone whom historians will look back on as the gravedigger of American democracy, it is Mitch McConnell. He stoked the hyperpolarization of American politics to make the Obama presidency as dysfunctional and paralyzed as he possibly could. As with parliamentary gridlock in … [Read more…]

Posted in: Faits Divers, Politics, Racism, Thinking about, This Day in History, Trump Tagged: congressional gridlock, Gorsuch, gravedigger, Kavanaugh, Mitch McConnell, Weimar

Patti Harris

October 12, 2018 by sergneri Leave a Comment

I am saddened by the news of Patti Harris’ death this week and sympathize with her family. John Sergneri

Posted in: Faits Divers, Obituaries, Thinking about Tagged: Patricia Harris, Patti Harris

Old Radio 2

October 11, 2018 by sergneri 1 Comment

The addiction continues – today I added a RCA Victor 4X (the small one in the photo) and a General Electric E-72 All-Wave. The GE is an AM broadcast, Police, and SW receiver. The RCA is an AC/DC table top model and both date from the 1936 time frame. So, we can easily see this … [Read more…]

Posted in: California History, Faits Divers, Science, Sea Stories, Thinking about Tagged: All-Wave, AM broadcast, General Electric E-72 All-Wave, Maritime Radio Historical Society, police, RCA Victor 4X, Short Wave, True Believer

Old Radio

September 16, 2018 by sergneri Leave a Comment

I haven’t posted in a while, why? The quick answer is Old Radio. When I was a kid in Eastern Washington, I spent many hours after sunset at the dial of our AM radio. From my basement bedroom, I ran a long wire antenna up to the eves of the house and clipped it to … [Read more…]

Posted in: Faits Divers, Science, Thinking about Tagged: Antique Radio, Electonics, G500, Tube, Zenith Transoceanic

Jalal Mansur Nuriddin, one of the Last Poets and earliest rappers, dies at 74

June 15, 2018 by sergneri Leave a Comment

Washington Post Obituary for Jalal Mansur Nuriddin

Posted in: Faits Divers, Obituaries, Politics, Racism, Thinking about, This Day in History Tagged: Jalal Mansur Nuriddin, Last Poets, Rapper

Zuka

May 31, 2018 by sergneri 2 Comments

Zuka (Zenaida Gourievna Booyakovitch) was born in Los Angeles in 1924. Her parents left Russia in 1917 during the Revolution and settled in America. Zuka studied at the University of Southern California where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. Her mentor, Estella Katzenellenbogen took her around Europe, England and France. She settled in … [Read more…]

Posted in: Faits Divers, Feminism, Obituaries, Thinking about Tagged: French Revolution, Les Oiseaux de Zuka, Louis Mitelberg, Violets, Women's March, Zuka, Zuka Mitelberg

We’re doomed

April 26, 2018 by sergneri Leave a Comment

The Guardian – April 26, 2018 Interview – ‘We’re doomed’: Mayer Hillman on the climate reality no one else will dare mention By Patrick Barkham The 86-year-old social scientist says accepting the impending end of most life on Earth might be the very thing needed to help us prolong it The Guardian – Interivew – … [Read more…]

Posted in: Faits Divers, Politics, Thinking about Tagged: climate change, Dark Mountain, fossil fuels, Mayer Hillman, Situationist, Situationist International

A horse race came off at Stockton

April 4, 2018 by sergneri Leave a Comment

San Joaquin News, Stockton: A horse race came off at Stockton on Saturday last, and the Journal thus deplores its inability to furnish the time : Our reporter unfortunately lost $5,50 together with eight drinks, and came home with sufficient building material in his hat to construct a brick house he has under contract, provided … [Read more…]

Posted in: California History, California Newspaper Archive, Faits Divers, Thinking about Tagged: 1851, Dame Rumor, horse race, Stockton, Stockton Journal

Escape at Niagara Falls

April 3, 2018 by sergneri Leave a Comment

Sacramento Daily Union, October 2, 1851 A young Cincinnati lawyer, Thomas A. Logan, had a narrow escape at Niagara Falls, recently. A young lady, a stranger to him, had ventured too far out on a projecting rock over the rapids above the cataract; she became giddy and screamed for help. Young Logan, who happened to … [Read more…]

Posted in: California History, California Newspaper Archive, Faits Divers Tagged: 1851, Niagara Falls, October, Sacramento Daily Union, whirlpool
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