This will be a big year for Naval Aviation as it celebrates its 100th year. It all began shortly before 11 a.m. on the morning of 18 January 1911 when Eugene B. Ely took off from Tanforan racetrack in San Bruno, California in his Curtiss pusher biplane, and, in full view of thousands of spectators ashore, on ships and at the city piers, and in a flock of small craft gathered around, landed his bi-plane on the USS Pennsylvania that was anchored off the San Francisco waterfront. His biplane dove and snagged the arresting gear about halfway up its length. The Curtiss pulled ropes and sandbags to a smooth stop before reaching any of the safety barriers. This was the first landing of an airplane aboard a US Navy ship.
From its humble beginning in 1911, the Navy's flight program has grown to become a guardian of freedom for America and its allies. The U.S. Naval Aviation program includes three branches of the military: the Navy, the Marine and the Coast Guard.
I wish I could fly-a Blue Angel-yet! Plz mother may I?
Boy, I wonder how those adventurous pilots feel when they're piloting those Blue Angels! They must be feeling like Angels themselves. Do they go to the sun? Prob'ly not. They prob'ly don't go so high cos people won't be able to see 'em. Best case scenario: they might get sunburnt or something or worse case scenario, they might even like Maverick's BFF in Top Gun died. But not from being near the sun...
/Maybe they got codenames like in Top Gun-my all-time fave movie: Maverick was my fave, oh yeah he was played by Tom Cruise before he turned all Scientology on us. (Scientology is not a real religion) Luv 80s Tom Cruise! Anyway, enough about Tom Cruise who married a girl and not a woman. I prefer the sane Tom Cruise over the crazy Tom Cruise, butI digress...
Down on the ground, the feeling is exhiliarating hearing those Blue Angels flying overhead, must be even more exhiliarating piloting the plane. And imagine the responsibilities! Trying to keep the plane level, at top speed, and everything. They must have a lot of training and practice-well, I guess they practice on Thursday and Friday and the main event is on Saturday and Sunday.
Wonder if there's any women pilots? If so, hope they are much better than the guys. Watch out, guys. here comes women taking over the Blue Angels!
Enjoy Fleet Week, y'all!
Try to get a pix of the Blue Angels but was impossible-they were way too fast! They must
California's voters granted women's suffrage in 1911, when they adopted Proposition 4. Clara Elizabeth Chan Lee (October 21, 1886 – October 5, 1993) was the first Chinese American woman voter in the United States. She registered to vote on November 8, 1911 in California
Let the wind blow in
Whoosh
Brrr
But that's the price y'all pay for being a loyal (or not that loyal-I went over the As when I though the Giants didn't had a chance in prayer, Ah well. Perservance paid off, right?)
I remember.... I watched my 1st Giants game in that ballpark that was another team back then (sorry, they're were losers, but I stuck it out 'cos I thought they might win and now they've finally, FINALLY won! Now this is a winning team!
Now Candlestick-excuse me-Monster Park is used only for football games. 49ers games, to be precise. I remember when Candlestick Park was used for both baseball n' football games. As for me, I've never been to a football game, whether it's a 49ers (yay!) or Raiders (boo!) game. As I said before, 49ers once ruled the football field back in the 80s-that is one of the highlights of the 80s! Now they're in last place. :(
Writing about Britney being in the Castro district got me thinking, how did Castro became gay? It was a working class Irish neighborhood in 1930s until mid-1960s.
The Castro became a working-class Irish neighborhood in the 1930s and remained so until the mid-1960s.
There was originally a cable car line with large double-ended cable cars that ran along Castro Street from Market Street to 29th St. until the tracks were dismantled in 1941 and it was replaced by the 24 bus.
The U.S. Military offloaded 1000s of gay servicemen in SF during WWII after they were discharged for being gay. (It's wrong but what can you do about it?) Many settled in San Francisco, and so it began the outpouring of gays to the Castro neighborhood.
It became known as the epicenter for gays during the Summer of Love in 1967. The neighborhood, which was formerly known as Eureka Valley, became known as the Castro after the theatre at Market & Castro streets. San Franciscan gays move to Polk Gulch, where the rent in low or available for purchase for low down payment in the Victorian houses, after about 1970.
You heard of Harvey Milk? Well, he would become one of the most famous residents of the Castro. While he was running a camera store, Castro Camera, he started his campaign as a gay activist.
Included in Castro at that period was the 'Castro clone,' a mode of dress & personal grooming (nowadays, it's called metrosexual) tight denim jeans, black or desert sand colored combat boots, tight T-shirt or, often, an Izod crocodile shirt, possibly a red plaid flannel outer shirt, and usually sporting a mustache or full beard—in vogue with the gay male population at the time, and which gave rise to the nickname "Clone Canyon" for the stretch of Castro Street between 18th and Market Streets. There were numerous famous watering holes in the area contributing to the nightlife, including the Corner Grocery Bar, Toad Hall, the Pendulum, the Midnight Sun, Twin Peaks, and the Elephant Walk. A typical daytime street scene of the period is perhaps best illustrated by mentioning the male belly dancers who could be found holding forth in good weather at the corner of 18th and Castro on "Hibernia Beach," in front of the financial institution from which it drew its name. Then at night, after the bars closed at 2 AM, the men remaining at that hour often would line up along the sidewalk of 18th Street to indicate that they were still available to go home with someone (aka The Meat Rack).
Here's a video clip on how Castro became the gay epicenter:
Nowadays, Castro is still C-R-A-Z-Y. You never know what you might expect, what's waiting for you at the nest corner!
So beware n' have fun! Castro is party town!
You know you're in Castro when you see the rainbow flag around. Come pride month, the rainbow flag is around every pole in SF. Being gay is accepted. Some people who live in the City for awhile have turned gay.
According to the the stats, they've won 17 and lost 5 games at Spring Training. That's pretty commendable. I say, go team! They're unbeatable! Somebody try to stop 'em now!
I say, bring it on! They can take on any team (esp. LA Dodgers!)
Giants all the way!
Although I'm not a betting kinda gal, I'm betcha Giants'll take us to the World Series.
Breaking News: Britney Spears to Sing on Good Morning America on March 29 at the Castro!
She will be filming @ the Castro on the March 27; it will be shown on Good Morning America on March 29. (I like Britney, not! I got a love-hate relationship with Britney-she's a vapid airhead, good singer, bad choices.) Traffic will be C-R-A-Z-Y; no place to park (like there are usually places to park!)
If you intend to go, be prepared! A word of caution: for those going to work, trains will be jam-packed (as if it isn't always!) Don't drive that day to see Brit-Brit or to work, take Muni. If you take Muni get up early.
On the bright side, Castro will get lots of media attention after Brit-Brit's mini-concert. I predict it will become a tourist trap (as if it isn't already!) since Brit-Brit will make it famous all over again.
