The Mission Railroad (1860-1942)

Thanks to a Mission Mission, I found out this very interesting bit about a Southern Pacific Railroad line that used to run through the Mission District. I know railway and light-rail lines once criss-crossed this City, but this is particularly interesting.

I walk past the Juri Commons "park" nearly every day (and twice a day at that). It has always been slightly baffling to me and I long suspected a MUNI railway line ran down it's corridor. But now I know better and a better man I am for knowing.

President Barack Hussein Obama and the United States of America (January 20, 2009)

There been times that I thought I couldn't last for long
But now I think I'm able to carry on
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gonna come

Sam Cooke

Patrick McGoohan (1928-2009)

No sooner did my brother hip me to this (thanks Tim!), then news hits the stands that Patrick McGoohan has passed away.
I undoubtedly first saw McGoohan on television some time in the late 1970s when I was a child. Perhaps it was The Man in the Iron Mask with Richard Chamberlin? I think so. At any rate, his intense visage and unique voice are ingrained deep in my memory. Like many others my age, I discovered his meisterwerk, The Prisoner, long after it's 1967 debut but was captivated by the serial. Much popular art from that highly vaunted year seems terribly dated now - and there are bits in The Prisoner which do place it firmly in a specific time and place - BUT overall it manages to be timeless on a lot of levels, not to mention enjoyable.

Goodbye Patrick McGoohan. Rest in Peace, No. 6

Max Roach (1924-2007)

Today would have been Max Roach's 85th birthday. WKCR in New York is celebrating with 24 hours of his music. What else is there to say?