World o' Jeff

Ones and Zeros

2011-12-29T13:31:00.000-08:00

Well, we made it through another harrowing Christmas season without any terrorist incidents- no shoe bombs or exploding underwear threats. The TSA did their best Grinch imitation and confiscated a particularly suspicious looking cupcake, but the public was not fooled. They are not accepting the notion that baked goods are a sufficient threat to an airliner. But thirty nine years ago today, a brand new jumbo jet was lost over something which seemed equally innocous.

There wasn't a bomb aboard Eastern Airlines Flight 401 as it flew toward Miami on the night of December 29, 1972. The airplane itself was a Lockheed L-1011, brand sparkling new. Here I digress and interject that I refer to the L-1011 as the binary airliner, not only because her name is made of ones and zeros, but also because they featured the most sophisticated flight controls in the air at that time. The plane was full of ones and zeros.

This particular airframe had been delivered to Eastern on July 30, 1972 and was not yet five months old. She carried serial number 1011 (a most interesting and binary coincidence) and was the tenth passenger airframe completed. All of the earliest L-1011's went to Eastern, she carried tail number N310EA (one-zero again) in sequence with her sister ships. She had completed just 501 landings prior to that morning, when she departed Tampa to New York's Kennedy airport as Flight 164 where she would then turn around and return to Florida that evening.

The flight was by all accounts comfortable, luxurious and uneventful. The big L-1011 departed JFK at 9:20 PM and headed south. Captain Robert Loft put the bird in the sky and then turned on the autopilot, whose ones and zeros controlled the plane for most of the trip. The big Rolls Royce engines purred along, so silently that Eastern referred to their L-1011's as "Whisperliners". At only two-thirds capacity, the passengers stretched out. The L-1011 has always been one of my personal favorites- the power of the Rolls-Royce engines, the spacious cabin whose very high ceilings and wide aisles provided a great environment for flying. The night was clear, the winds calm. The passengers were Holiday travelers, returning from Christmas and preparing for the New Year.

Upon approach to Miami, a minor problem occurred. The landing gear was lowered, but the green nose gear light did not illuminate. Probably the bulb, the flight crew decided, but not wanting to risk their brand new airplane, they abandoned their approach. First officer Bert Stockstill increased their altitude to 2000 feet and turned the Whisperliner west over the Everglades. Captain Loft instructed him to reengage the autopilot, so the ones and zeros flew the plane while the flight crew diagnosed the problem. Soon the pilot, first officer, flight engineer and an Eastern L-1011 maintenance specialist were engrossed in attempting to replace a failed light bulb. So engrossed that no one noticed that First Officer Stockstill had nudged the control column and unknowingly turned off the altitude hold. The flight crew realized their error seconds before the big L-1011 flew itself into the swamp.

Amazingly, of the 176 souls on board, seventy five lived. One hundred and one perished, including the three man flight crew who became so obsessed with a failed light bulb that they somehow forgot to fly the plane. Survivors and victims seemed almost randomly disbursed, as if a computer were randomly assigning ones and zeros. In the end, there were seventy five ones, and one hundred and one zeros. One brand new fifteen million dollar aircraft, absolutely airworthy in every way except for a failed light bulb was destroyed. In the Florida swamp, investigators found the nose landing gear. It was down and locked.

To mark each anniversary, survivors gather to remember the experience, give thanks to the rescuers and honor the victims. They will reflect on how their lives were affected by the massive convergence of ones and zeros. Among those attending will be Flight Attendant Mercedes Ruiz, who wrote the poem below in February 1972 when the accident was still fresh in her memory:

Because I've been granted the gift of life
I want to live each moment to the fullest
I want to submerge my being much more than before
Into the wonders of nature and love.
I want to reach and feel,
because feeling in itself is a way of loving.
I want to tremble at the wildness of the storm,
and bathe myself with rain.
I want to touch the clouds
and hold the blue within one word.
I want to cry before the ocean waves
because they rush to me and kiss me
and then they leave.
I want the wonder of the starry night above,
the moon, a sigh, and each of all my silences.

The ones and zeros can change the course of our lives in an instant. Let us remember all of the souls flying back to Miami on that clear December night- those that returned safely to earth, and those for whom fate had other plans.

For those who desire to read more, here are two excellent sites:

Eastern 401 Homepage
Remembering Eastern 401

Carols of Peril

2011-12-22T15:37:00.000-08:00

December is a bit of a heavy month, what with the Holiday tucked in between some tragic anniversaries. So before any of you start to get down, let's change gear and go for some Holiday tunes. The cheerful folks at Jezebel tracked down their Worst Christmas Songs of All Time and entered them into a nifty NCAA style playoff (except without the bribes, as far as I can tell) and proclaimed the worst ever Christmas song to be "The Christmas Shoes," a ghastly guilt ridden tale of a little boy rushing to bring his hospital bound Mother a new pair of shoes so she can die. That's pretty happy, eh?

Here's the link but hide the sharp objects before clicking:

Okay that WAS pretty ghastly, but is it truly the worst? That sounds a bit like a dare, doesn't it? Off to the research laboratory. The Gizmodo folks even offer an strong alternative, a dreadful Bill Danoff tune called "Please, Daddy Don't Get Drunk This Christmas." This time, Mother is spared the relief that death can bring and has to be fully conscious while her children plead with their father not to wreck yet ANOTHER Christmas with his drinking. Cheerfully presented in a live performance folk format resembling the Peter Paul and Mary of Dysfunctional families. Ah, I feel warm.

Now who would have guessed that there would be TWO different songs called "Daddy's Drinking Up Our Christmas?" Well, maybe me, but I mean of you normal, well adjusted folks? The Commander Cody version is the more lighthearted of the two. In this one, Daddy quits his job, goes on a bender, wrecks the car and drinks every dime they have, to a zydeco rhythm. Ho Ho Ho!

And now the darker side, Same Title and different tune. This one, by none other than Smiley Bates himself, maintains the starving child and the overall theme but adds a shameless harlot across the street in the bar with Daddy, luring him astray while the family huddles in shame/ guilt/ tears/ vomit. You get the idea. Makes getting run over by a reindeer seem rather palatable.

As wonderful as they are, the drunken whore mongering Daddy songs are actually self-cancelling. We need something to cut through the clutter. If only, say, someone had taken the old Augie Rios novelty song "Mamacita, Donde Esta Santa Claus" from 1958 and remade it, maybe in a 1978 Disco Extended version with a wall of strings- that would have legs. Now who to do the vocals- what about, maybe, Charo?

Now we're getting somewhere. ladies and Gentlemen, my Aluminum Christmas Tree Champion Discoball winner- the 1978 Disco Remake of "Mamcita, Donde Esta Santa Claus" by none other than Charo.
Don't thank me all at once.

Clipper Maid

2011-12-21T09:39:00.000-08:00

A very sad anniversary to recognize- it was twenty-three years ago today that a Boeing 747-121, bearing s/n 19646 and registered to Pan Am as N739PA took off from Heathrow and ascended into immortality. Clipper Maid of the Seas as she was known was the third and final flight of the day from London to New York and was filled with passengers anxious to return home to the states for the holidays. Among the two hundred fifty nine aboard were thirty five students from Syracuse University returning home after a semester abroad.

The fifteenth 747 ever assembled, Clipper Maid was delivered to Pan Am in February of 1970. Now well into her middle age, she had circled the globe for almost eighteen years without incident. That morning she had arrived at Heathrow from San Francisco and parked at Kilo 14 from which she would depart as Flight 103. She pushed back at 18:04 PM local time and was given take off clearance at 18:24. Pilot Captain James Bruce "Jim" MacQuarrie, a Pan Am veteran with over 4,000 hours of experience at the helm of the 747 pushed the thrust levers forward for the final time and three hundred tons of aircraft raced down the runway and lifted off.

Clipper Maid climbed to 31,000 feet and entered Scottish airspace at 19:00 GMT. Air control at Prestwick, Scotland contacted the craft. Captain MacQuarrie radioed back "Good Evening Scottish, Clipper One Zero Three. We are at level Three One Zero."

Moments later First Officer Raymond Wagner requested oceanic clearance. Pam Am 103 was flying normally at flight level 310, compass direction 316 magnetic, and airspeed of 313 knots. Everything was exquisitely ordinary. And then at 19:02.46.9, PA103 disappeared from radar.

Of course we all know what happened, that a cowardly act of terrorism literally blew the 747 apart. And as tragic and horrifying as it was, today is a day to remember the victims and their families and not the perpetrators.

Twenty three years ago today, Clipper Maid of the Seas was torn from the sky taking with her two hundred seventy souls heading home for the holidays. May their memory be part of us now and always.

Avonye, Nichole Elizabeth, flight attendant, 44 years, born 05.05.44, Croissy-Sur-Seine, France, French

Avritt, Jerry Don, flight engineer, 46 years, born 30.07.42, Westminster, California, American

Berti, Noelle Lydie, flight attendant, 40 years, born 24.12.47, Paris, France, American

Engstrom, Siv Ulla, flight attendant, 51 years, born 21.09.37, Berkshire, England, Swedish

Franklin, Stacie Denise, flight attendant, 20 years, born 16.02.68, San Diego, California, American

Garrett, Paul Isaac, flight attendant, 41 years, born 16.11.47, Napa, California, American

Kuehne, Elke Etha, flight attendant, 43 years, born 17.03.45, Hanover, Germany, German

Larracoechea, Maria Nieves, flight attendant, 39 years, born 03.03.49, Madrid, Spain, Spanish

MacQuarrie, James Bruce, captain, 55 years, born 30.09.33, Kensington, New Hampshire, American

McAlolooy, Lilibeth Tobila, flight attendant, 27 years, born 02.11.61, Kelsterback, Germany, American

Murphy, Mary Geraldine, purser, 51 years, born 14.05.37, Middlesex, England, British

Reina, Jocelyn, flight attendant, 26 years, born 26.05.62, Isleworth, England, American

Royal, Myra Josephine, flight attendant, 30 years, born 20.12.58, London, England, American

Skabo, Irja Syhnove, flight attendant, 38 years, born 03.07.50, Oslo, Norway, American

Velimirovich, Milutin, chief purser, 35 years, born 14.10.53, Middlesex, England, American

Wagner, Raymond Ronald, first officer, 52 years, born 18.01.36, Pennington, New Jersey, American

Pan Am Flight 103 Passengers

Ahern, John Michael Gerard, bond broker, 26 years, born 16.04.62, Rockville Center, New York, American, Seat Number 30C

Aicher, Sarah Margaret, playwright, 29 years, born 09.02.59, London, England, American, Seat Number 46C

Akerstrom, John David, 34 years, born 20.05.54, Medina, Ohio, American, Seat Number 25A

Alexander, Ronald Ely, businessman, 46 years, born 15.07.42, New York, New York, Swiss, seat number 42C

Ammerman, Thomas Joseph, marketing manager, 36 years, born 06.08.52, Old Tappan, New Jersey, American, seat number 16E

Apfelbaum, Martin Lewis, stamp dealer, 59 years, born 16.08.29, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, American, seat number 15H

Asrelsky, Rachel Marie, student, 21 years, born 26.11.67, New York, New York, American, seat number 38D

Atkinson, William Garretson III, engineer, 33 years, born 18.08.55, London, England, American, seat number 15A

Atkinson, Judith Ellen, art historian and consultant, 37 years, born 18.01.51, London, England, American, seat number 15B

Bacciochi, Clare Louise, hair stylist, 19 years, born 15.03.69, Warwickshire, England, British, seat number 50K

Bainbridge, Harry Michael, attorney, 34 years, born 16.11.54, Montrose, New York, American, seat number 4B

Barclay, Stuart Murray, businessman, 29 years, born 28.11.59, Farm Barnard, Vermont, Canadian, seat number 18G

Bell, Jean Mary, 44 years, born 16.03.44, Berkshire, England, British, seat number 5A

Benello, Julian MacBain, student, 25 years, born 28.12.62, Brookline, Massachusetts, American, seat number 23H

Bennett, Lawrence Ray, pharmaceutical chemist, 41 years, born 05.11.47, Chelsea, Michigan, American, seat number 15J

Bergstrom, Philip Vernon, army sergeant, 22 years, born 21.12.66, Forest Lake, Minnesota, American, seat number 46A

Berkley, Alistair David, professor of law, 29 years, born 11.04.59, London, England, American

Bernstein, Michael Stuart, lawyer, U.S. Dept. of Justice, Office of Special Investigation, 36 years, born 03.07.52, Bethesda, Maryland, American, seat number 47D

Berrell, Steven Russell, student, 2O years, born 19.06.68, Fargo, North Dakota, American, seat number 46F

Bhatia, Surinder Mohan, businessman, 51 years, born 21.05.37, Los Angeles, California, American, seat number 34D

Bissett, Kenneth John, student, 21 years, born 19.12.67, Hartsdale, New York, American, seat number 31J

Boatman-Fuller, Diane Anne, playwright, 37 years, born 08.01.53, London, England, American, seat number 22H

Boland, Stephen John, student, 20 years, born 28.09.68, Nashua, New Hampshire, American, seat number 46 G

Bouckley, Glen John, sales, 27 years, born 24.02.61, Liverpool, New York, British, seat number 39K

Bouckley, Paula Marie, sales, 29 years, born 14.10.59, Liverpool, New York, American, seat number 39J

Boulanger, Nicole Elise, student, 21 years, born 28.10.67, Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, American, seat number 28B

Boyer, Francis, 43 years, born 22.06.45, Toulosane, France, French, seat number 9A

Bright, Nicholas, businessman, 32 years, born 29.08.56, Brookline, Massachusetts, American, seat number 13A

Browner (Bier), Daniel Solomon, 23 years, born 20.08.65, Parod, Israel, Israeli, seat number 21A

Brunner, Colleen Renee, student, 20 years, born 01.04.68, Hamburg, New York, American, seat number 44C

Burman, Timothy Guy, banker, 24 years, born 09.10.64, London, England, British, seat number 38G

Buser, Michael Warren, advertising executive, 34 years, born 08.08.54, Ridgefield Park, New Jersey, American, seat number 35B

Buser, Warren Max, civil engineer, 62 years, born 22.09.26, Glen Rock, New Jersey, American, seat number 35A

Butler, Steven Lee, teacher, 35 years, born 30.08.53, Denver, Colorado, American, seat number 36G

Cadman, William Martin, musician, 32 years, born 10.09.56, London, England, British, seat number 29J

Caffarone, Fabiana, 28 years, born 30.09.60, London, England, British, seat number 7B

Caffarone, Hernan, 28 years, born14.12.60, London, England, Argentinean, seat number 7A

Canady, Valerie, auditor, 25 years, born 29.06.63, Morgantown, West Virginia, American, seat number 24K

Capasso, Gregory, student, 21 years, born 12.12.67, Brooklyn, New York, American, seat number 48H

Cardwell, Timothy Michael, student, 21 years, born 05.07.67, Cresco, Pennsylvania, American, seat number 37D

Carlsson, Bernt Wilmar, diplomat, 50 years, born 21.11.38, New York, New York, Swedish, seat number 17H

Cawley, Richard Anthony, businessman, 43 years, born 09.07.45, New York, New York, American, seat number 16J

Ciulla, Frank, banker, 45 years, born 06.08.43, Park Ridge, New Jersey, American, seat number 11B

Cohen, Theodora Eugenia, student, 20 years, born 10.09.68, Port Jervis, New York, American, seat number 21H

Coker, Eric Michael, student, 20 years, born 23.04.68, Mendham, New Jersey, American, seat number 43B

Coker,Jason Michael, student, 20 years, born 23.04.68, Mendham, New Jersey, American, seat number 43A

Colasanti, Gary Leonard, student, 20 years, born 01.08.68, Melrose, Massachusetts, American, seat number 43C

Concannon, Bridget, 53 years, born 13.07.35, Oxfordshire, England, Irish, seat number 33H

Concannon, Sean, 16 years, born 18.02.72, Oxfordshire, England, British, seat number 33J

Concannon, Thomas, 51 years, born 21.11.37, Oxfordshire, England, Irish, seat number 33G

Corner, Tracey Jane, 17 years, born 04.05.71, Sheffield, England, British, seat number 33A

Cory, Scott, student, 20 years, born 27.09.68, Old Lyme Court, Connecticut, American, seat number 46D

Coursey, Willis Larry, military, 40 years, born 25.08.48, San Antonio, Texas, American, seat number 36K

Coyle, Patricia Mary, student, 20 years, born 04.06.68, Wallingford, Connecticut, American, seat number 20B

Cummock, John Binning, 38 years, born 31.05.50, Coral Gables, Florida, American, seat number 3A

Curry, Joseph Patrick, army captain, 31 years, born 21.03.57, Fort Devens, Massachusetts, American, seat number 44K

Daniels, William, Allen, research chemist, 40 years, born 28.03.48, Belle Mead, New Jersey, American, seat number 9H

Dater, Gretchen Joyce, student, 20 years, born 17.05.68, Ramsey, New Jersey, American, seat number 52J

Davis, Shannon, student, 19 years, born 19.02.69, Shelton, Connecticut, American, seat number 31A

Della-Ripa, Gabriel, Pan Am Airlines employee, 46 years, born 03.04.42, Floral Park, New York, Italian, seat number 2B

DiMauro, Joyce Christine, marketing director, 32 years, born 09.05.56, New York, New York, American, seat number 11J

DiNardo, Gianfranca, 26 years, born 14.10.62, London, England, Italian, seat number 20C

Dix, Peter Thomas Stanley, management consultant, 35 years, born 06.05.53, London, England, Irish, seat number 14B

Dixit, Om, college professor, 54 years, born 29.12.33, Fairborn, Ohio, Indian, seat number 24A

Dixit, Shanti, 54 years, born 14.12.34, Fairborn, Ohio, American, seat number 24B

Dornstein, David Scott, student, 25 years, born 03.04.63, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, American, seat number 40K

Doyle, Michael Joseph, accountant, 30 years, born 21.05.58, Voorhees, New Jersey, American, seat number 9B

Eggleston, Edgar Howard III, air force sergeant, 24 years, born 13.10.64, Glens Falls, New York, American, seat number 32D

Ergin, Turhan, student, 22 years, born 14.05.66, West Hartford, Connecticut, American, seat number 28C

Fisher, Charles Thomas IV, banker, 34 years, born 24.12.53, London, England, American, seat number 25K

Flick, Clayton Lee, businessman, 25 years, born 23.02.63, Coventry, England, British, seat number 50J

Flynn, John Patrick, student, 21 years, born 24.11.67, Montville, New Jersey, American, seat number 45A

Fondiler, Arthur, attorney, 33 years, born 12.12.55, West Armonk, New York, American, seat number 47C

Fortune, Robert Gerard, insurance executive, 40 years, born 24.07.48, Jackson Heights, New York, American, seat number 1A

Freeman, Paul Matthew Stephen, 25 years, born 02.04.63, London, England, Canadian, Seat Number 46B

Fuller, James Ralph, corporate vice president, 50 years, born 17.09.38, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, America, seat number 3H

Gabor, Ibolya Robertine, 79 years, born 14.06.09, Budapest, Hungary, Hungarian, seat number 26F

Gallagher, Amy Beth, student, 22 years, born 30.08.66, Pointe Claire, Quebec, Canada, American, seat number 23G

Gannon, Matthew Kevin, foreign service officer, 34 years, born 11.08.54, Los Angeles, California, American, seat number 14J

Garczynski, Kenneth Raymond, industrial engineer, 37 years, born 17.10.51, North Brunswick, New Jersey, American, seat number 47K

Gibson, Kenneth James, army specialist four, 20 years, born 16.02.68, Romulus, Michigan, American, seat number 48K

Giebler, William David, bond broker, 29 years, born 08.07.59, London, England, American, seat number 30B

Gordon, Olive Leonora, 25 years, born 09.03.63, London, England, British, seat number 45G

Gordon-Gorgacz, Linda Susan, 39 years, born 15.09.49, London, England, American, seat number 37A

Gorgacz, Anne Madelene, 76 years, born 27.09.12, Newcastle, Pennsylvania, American, seat number 38A

Gorgacz, Loretta Anne, 47 years, born 15.03.41, Newcastle, Pennsylvania, American, seat number 37B

Gould, David, college professor, 45 years, born 03.01.43, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, American, seat number 22C

Guevorgian, Andre Nikolai, businessman, 32 years, born 11.11.56, Sea Cliff, New York, American, seat number 11A

Hall, Nicola Jane, 23 years, born 03.02.65, Sandton, South Africa, South African, seat number 23K

Halsch, Lorraine Frances, special education teacher, 31 years, born 06.11.57, Fairport, New York, American, seat number 35C

Hartunian, Lynne Carol, student, 21 years, born 13.03.67, Schenectady, New York, American, seat number 44A

Hawkins, Anthony Lacey, businessman, 57 years, born 13.11.31, Brooklyn, New York, British, seat number 28K

Herbert, Pamela Elaine, student, 19 years, born 27.03.69, Battle Creek, Michigan, American, seat number 37J

Hilbert, Rodney Peter, 40 years, born 19.07.48, Newton, Pennsylvania, American, seat number 16H

Hill, Alfred, 29 years, born 29.06.59, Sonthofen, Germany, German, seat number 14A

Hollister, Katherine Augusta, student, 20 years, born 26.08.68, Rego Park, New York, American, seat number 54C

Hudson, Josephine Lisa, nurse, 22 years, born 14.05.66, London, England, British, seat number 50D

Hudson, Melina Kristina, student, 16 years, born 25.01.72, Albany, New York, seat number American 29A

Hudson, Sophie Ailette Miriam, 26 years, born 22.09.62, Paris, France, French, seat number 29H

Hunt, Karen Lee, student, 20 years, born 07.01.68, Webster, New York, American, seat number 31K

Hurst, Roger Elwood, marketing manager, 38 years, born 12.07.50, Ringwood, New Jersey, American, seat number 2H

Ivell, Elizabeth Sophie, dog handler, 19 years, born 21.04.69, East Sussex, England, British, seat number 19C

Jaafar, Khalid Nazir, student, 20 years, born 01.05.68, Dearborn, Michigan, American, seat number 53K

Jeck, Robert van Houten, 57 years, born 08.10.31, Mountain Lakes, New Jersey, American, seat number 4J

Jeffreys, Paul Avron, musician, 36 years, born 13.02.52, Surrey, England, British, seat number 38J

Jeffreys, Rachel, advertising executive, 23, years, born 29.04.65, Surrey, England, British, seat number 38H

Jermyn, Kathleen Mary, student, 20 years, born 27.12.67, Staten Island, New York, American, seat number 49A

Johnson, Beth Ann, student, 21 years, born 24.03.67, Greensburg, Pennsylvania, American, seat number 36B

Johnson, Mary Alice Lincoln, student, 25 years, born 14.06.63, Wayland, Massachusetts, American, seat number 33D

Johnson, Timothy Baron, student, 21 years, born 30.11.67, Neptune, New Jersey, American, seat number 26A

Jones, Christopher Andrew, student, 20 years, born 04.03.68, Claverack, New York, American, seat number 52K

Kelly, Julianne Frances, student, 20 years, born 27.06.68, Dedham, Massachusetts, American, seat number 21E

Kingham, Jay Joseph, pharmaceuticals executive, 44 years, born 03.03.44, Potomac, Maryland, American, seat number 5B

Klein, Patricia Ann, social worker, 35 years, born 16.06.53, Trenton, New Jersey, American, seat number 28A

Kosmowski, Gregory, marketing executive, 40 years, born 08.10.48, MiIford, Michigan, American, seat number 8H

Kulukundis, Minas Christopher, ship brokerage director, 38 years, born 17.12.50, London, England, British, seat number 51K

LaRiviere, Ronald Albert, 33 years, born 19.11.55, Alexandria, Virginia, American, seat number 20H

Leckburg, Robert Milton, engineer, 30 years, born 12.10.58, Piscataway, New Jersey, seat number American 34C

Leyrer, William Chase, businessman, 46 years, born 24.08.42, Bay Shore, New York, American 2J

Lincoln, Wendy Anne, student, 23 years, born 21.01.65, North Adams, Massachusetts, American, seat number 28D

Lowenstein, Alexander Silas, student, 21 years, born 25.02.67, Morristown, New Jersey, American, seat number 20D

Ludlow, Lloyd David, army sergeant first class, 41 years, born 06.02.47, Macksville, Kansas, American, seat number 51A

Lurbke, Maria Theresia, 25 years, born 26.11.63, Balve Beckum, Germany, German, seat number 52A

Mack, William Edward, puppeteer, 30 years, born 24.04.58, New York, New York, American, seat number 36B

Malicote, Douglas Eugene, army specialist four, 22 years, born 31.08.66, Lebanon, Ohio, American, seat number 48B

Malicote, Wendy Gay, 21 years, born 31.07.67, Lebanon, Ohio, American, seat number 48A

Marek, Elizabeth Lillian, actress and peace activist, 30 years, born 17.02.58, New York, New York, American, seat number 36C

Marengo, Louis Anthony, marketing director, 33 years, born 09.02.55, Rochester, Michigan, American, seat number 3J

Martin, Noel George, 27 years, born 31.05.61, Clapton, England, Jamaican, seat number 53A

Maslowski, Diane Marie, currency trader, 30 years, born 10.08.58, New York, American, seat number 8B

McAllister, William John, 26 years, born 18.10.62 in the Isle of Mull, Argyll, Scotland , Scottish, seat number 14E

McCarthy, Daniel Emmet, banker, 31 years, born 02.11.57, Brooklyn, New York, American, seat number 6B

McCollum, Robert Eugene, university professor, 61 years, born 12.05.27, Wayne, Pennsylvania, American, seat number 7J

McKee, Charles Dennis, army major, 40 years, born 03.12.48 , Arlington, Virginia, American, seat number 15F

McLaughlin, Bernard Joseph, marketing manager, 30 years, born 12.12.58, Cranston, Rhode Island, American, seat number 36A

Melber, Jane Susan, musician and teacher, 27 years, born 01.01.61, Middlesex, England, American, seat number 27H

Merrill, John, seaman, 35 years, born 11.07.53, Hertfordshire, England, British, seat number 37K

Miazga, Suzanne Marie, student, 22 years, born 31.07.66, Marcy, New York, American, seat number 23A

Miller, Joseph Kenneth, accounting firm executive, 56 years, born 27.05.32, Woodmere, New York, American, seat number 10B

Mitchell, Jewel Courtney, army second lieutenant, 32 years, born 14.06.56, Brooklyn, New York, American, seat number 27A

Monetti, Richard Paul, student, 20 years, born 11.09.68, Cherry Hill, New Jersey, American, seat number 20E

Morgan, Jane Ann, attorney, 37 years, born 19.03.51, London, England, American, seat number 42A

Morson, Eva Ingeborg, 48 years, born 29.04.40, New, York, New York, American, seat number 19G

Mosey, Helga Rachael, student, 19 years, born 21.09.69, West Midlands, England, British, seat number 22K

Mulroy, Ingrid Elizabeth, 25 years, born 22.04.63, Lund, Sweden, Swedish, seat number 34J

Mulroy, John, journalist, 59 years, born 01.04.29, East Northport, New York, American, seat number 34G

Mulroy, Sean Kevin, 25 years, born 03.05.63, Lund, Sweden, American, seat number 34H

Noonan, Karen Elizabeth, student, 20 years, born 26.12.67, Potomac, Maryland, American, seat number 20A

O'Connor, Daniel Emmett, U.S. diplomatic service, 31 years, born 22.09.57, Dorchester, Massachusetts, American, seat number 25H

O'Neil, Mary Denice, student, 2l years, born 02.04.67, Bronx, New York, American, seat number 38K

Otenasek, Anne Lindsey, student, 21 years, born 31.01.67, Baltimore, Maryland, American, seat number 45K

Owen, Bryony Elise, 1 year, born 29.04.87, Bristol, England, British, seat number 19D

Owen, Gwyneth Yvonne Margaret, student, 29 years, born 03.05.59, Bristol, England, British, seat number 19D

Owens, Laura Abigail, 8 years, born 01.01.80, Cherry Hill, New Jersey, American, seat number 35K

Owens, Martha, 44 years, born 02.06.44, Cherry Hill, New Jersey, American, seat number 35H

Owens, Robert Plack, 45 years, born 05.03.43, Cherry Hill, New Jersey, American, seat number 35G

Owens, Sarah Rebecca, 14 years, born 09.12.74, Cherry Hill, New Jersey, American, seat number 35J

Pagnucco, Robert Italo, attorney, 51 years, born 20.10.37, South Salem, New York, American, seat number 4A

Papadopoulos, Christos Michael, 45 years, born 11.11.43, North Lawrence, New York, American, seat number 17A

Peirce, Peter Raymond, architect and student, 40 years, born 28.09.48, Perrysburg, Ohio, American, seat number 47G

Pescatore, Michael, businessman, 33 years, born 06.09.55, Solon, Ohio, American, seat number 17J

Philipps, Sarah Susannah Buchanan, student, 20 years, born 15.08.68, Newtonville, Massachusetts, American, seat number 49C

Phillips, Frederick Sandford, student, 27 years, born 08.05.61, Little Rock, Arkansas, American, seat number 21F

Pitt, James Andrew Campbell, student, 24 years, born 06.11.64, South Hadley, Massachusetts, American, seat number 29K

Platt, David, architect, 33 years, born 13.12.55, Staten Island, New York, American, seat number 8A

Porter, Walter Leonard, musician, 35 years, born 10.03.53, Brooklyn, New York, American, seat number 25C

Posen, Pamela Lynn, student, 20 years, born 30.01.68, Harrison, New York, American, seat number 26K

Pugh, William, businessman, 56 years, born 29.02.32, Margate, New Jersey, American, seat number 21D

Quiguyan, Crisostomo Estrella, hotel cashier, 43 years, born 16.03.45, London, England, Filipino, seat number 30A

Ramses, Rajesh Tarsis Priskel, 35 years, born 26.05.53, Leicester, England, Indian, seat number 22A

Rattan, Anmol, 2 years, born 24.09.86, Warren, Michigan. American, seat number 24C

Rattan, Garima, computer programmer, 29 years, born 15.07.59, Warren, Michigan, American, seat number 23D

Rattan, Suruchi, 3 years, born 20.06.85, Warren, Michigan. American, seat number 23E

Reeves, Anita Lynn, 24 years, born 03.09.64, Laurel, Maryland, American, seat number 45D

Rein, Mark Alan, businessman, 44 years, born 12.02.44, New York, New York, American, seat number 2A

Rencevicz, Diane Marie, student, 21 years, born 13.07.67, Burlington, New Jersey, American, seat number 29G

Rogers, Louise Ann, student, 20 years, born 13.02.67, Olney, Maryland, American, seat number 29D

Roller, Edina, 5 years, born 24.11.83, Hungary, Hungarian, seat number 26D

Roller, Janos Gabor, 29 years, born 26.03.59, Hungary, Hungarian, seat number 26E

Roller, Zsuzsana, 27 years, born 21.12.61, Hungary, Hungarian, seat number 26G

Root, Hanne Maria, management consultant, 26 years, born 15.12.62, Toronto, Canada, Canadian, seat number 34K

Rosen, Saul Mark, businessman, 35 years, born 24.11.53, Morris Plains, New Jersey, American, seat number 32A

Rosenthal, Andrea Victoria, student, 22 years, born 05.02.66, New York, New York, American, seat number 35D

Rosenthal, Daniel Peter, student, 20 years, born 02.06.68, Staten Island, New York, American, seat number 21J

Rubin, Arnaud David, 28 years, born 18.05.60, Waterloo, Belgium, Belgian, seat number 39G

Saraceni, Elyse Jeanne, student, 20 years, born 01.06.68, East London, England, American, seat number 36D

Saunders, Scott Christopher, student, 21 years, born 20.05.67, Macungie, Pennsylvania, American, seat number 24D

Saunders, Theresa Elizabeth Jane, marketing, 28 years, born 24.10.60, Sunbury-on-Thames, England, British, seat number 14F

Schauble, Johannes Otto, 41 years, born 08.08.47, Kappellenweg, Germany, German, seat number 49K

Schlageter, Robert Thomas, student, 20 years, born 12.08.68, Warwick, Rhode Island American, seat number 28G

Schultz, Thomas Britton, student, 20, years, born 05.01.68, Ridgefield, Connecticut, American, seat number 45C

Scott, Sally Elizabeth, chef, 22 years, born 17.01.66, Huntington, New York, British, seat number 56G

Shapiro, Amy Elizabeth, student, 21 years, born 28.10.67, Stamford, Connecticut, American, seat number 37G

Shastri, Mridula, 24 years, born 12.02.64, Oxford, England, Indian, seat number 24H

Sheanshang, Joan, 46 years, born 16.12.42, New York, New York, American, seat number 41C

Sigal, Irving Stanley, research biologist, 35 years, born 23.05.53, Pennington, New Jersey, American, seat number 13B

Simpson, Martin Bernard Christopher, financier, 52 years, born 25.10.36, Brooklyn, New York, American, seat number 27K

Smith, Cynthia Joan, student, 21 years, born 06.10.67, Milton, Massachusetts, American, seat number 41A

Smith, Ingrid Anita, chiropodist, 31 years, born 12.11.57, Berkshire, England, British, seat number 4H

Smith, James Alvin, 55 years, born 11.03.33, New York, New York, American, seat number 27G

Smith, Mary Edna, army sergeant, 34 years, born 14.07.54, Kalamazoo, Michigan, American, seat number 34A

Stevenson, Geraldine Anne, 37 years, born 31.03.51, Surrey, England, British, seat number 22E

Stevenson, Hannah Louise, 10 years, born 23.09.78, Surrey, England, British, seat number 22F

Stevenson, John Charles, 38 years, born 13.09.50, Surrey, England, British, seat number 22D

Stevenson, Rachael, 8 years, born 01.09.80, Surrey, England, British, seat number 22G

Stinnett, Charlotte Ann, 36 years, born 07.02.52, Duncanville, Texas, American, seat number 19J

Stinnett, Michael Gary, army specialist, 26 years, born 27.05.62, Duncanville, Texas, American, seat number 19H

Stinnett, Stacey Leanne, 9 years, born 30.07.79, Duncanville, Texas, American, seat number 19K

Stow, James Ralph, businessman, 49 years, born 18.07.39, New York, New York, American, seat number 15E

Stratis, Elia G., accountant, 43 years, born 17.06.45, Montvale, New Jersey, American, seat number 1B

Swan, Anthony Selwyn, 29 years, born 15.05.59, Brooklyn, New York, Trinidadian, seat number 41K

Swire, Flora MacDonald Margaret, medical student and researcher, 24 years, born 22.12.64, London, England, British, seat number 39D

Tager, Marc Alex, 22 years, born 03.08.66, London, England, British, seat number 26H

Tanaka, Hidekazu, 26 years, born 13.05.62, London, England, Japanese, seat number 24G

Teran, Andrew Alexander, student, 20 years, born 31.08.68, New Haven, Connecticut, Bolivian, seat number 27D

Thomas, Arva Anthony, student, 17 years, born 26.04.71, Detroit, Michigan, American, seat number 19A

Thomas, Jonathan Ryan, 2 months, born 29.09.88, Southfield, Michigan, American, seat number 32K

Thomas, Lawanda, air force sergeant, 21 years, born 17.02.67, Southfield, Michigan, American, seat number 32K

Tobin, Mark Lawrence, student, 21 years, born 04.04.67, North Hempstead, New York, American, seat number 32G

Trimmer-Smith, David William, publishing executive, 51 years, born 26.04.37, New York, New York, American, seat number 12A

Tsairis, Alexia Kathryn, student, 20 years, born 06.07.68, Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, American, seat number 21G

Valentino, Barry Joseph, exhibit designer, 28 years, born 25.02.60, San Francisco, California, American, seat number 20G

Van-Tienhoven, Thomas Floro, 45 years, born 30.05.43, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Argentinean, seat number 2B

Vejdany, Asaad Eidi, 46 years, born 24.02.42, South Great Neck, New York, American, seat number 20C

Vrenios, Nicholas Andreas, student, 20 years, born 20.08.68, Washington, DC, American, seat number 46E

Vulcu, Peter, stockbroker and student, 21 years, born 01.08.67, Alliance, Ohio, American, seat number 20K

Waido, Janina Jozefa, 61 years, born 19.03.27, Chicago, Illinois, American, seat number 50A

Walker, Thomas Edwin, electronics specialist, 47 years, born 11.12.41, Quincy, Massachusetts, American, seat number 16A

Weedon, Kesha, student, 20 years, born 02.10.68, Bronx, New York, American, seat number 37H

Weston, Jerome Lee, engineer, 45 years, born 11.11.43, Baldwin, New York, American, seat number 10A

White, Jonathan, accountant, 33 years, born 14.07.55, North Hollywood, California, American, seat number 55J

Williams, Bonnie Leigh, military, 21 years, born 12.01.67, Crown Point, New York, American, seat number 46K

Williams, Brittany Leigh, 2 months, born 13.10.88, Crown Point, New York, American, seat number 46J

Williams, Eric Jon, army sergeant, 24 years, born 15.08.64, Crown Point, New York, American, seat number 46J

Williams, George Waterson, army first lieutenant, 24 years, born 17.05.64, Joppa, Maryland, American, seat number 33K

Williams, Stephanie Leigh, 1 year, born 23.05.87, Crown Point, New York, American, seat number 46K

Wolfe, Miriam Luby, student, 20 years, born 26.09.68, Severna Park, Maryland, American, seat number 21K

Woods, Chelsea Marie, 10 months, born 06.02.88, Willingboro, New Jersey, American, seat number 25F

Woods, Dedera Lynn, air force sergeant, 27 years, born 04.02.61, Willingboro, New Jersey, American, seat number 25G

Woods, Joe Nathan, civilian military worker, 28 years, born 05.03.60, Willingboro, New Jersey, American, seat number 25D

Woods, Joe Nathan, Jr., 2 years, born 24.09.86, Willingboro, New Jersey, American, seat number 25E

Wright, Andrew Christopher Gillies, site agent, 24 years, born 02.05.64, Surrey, England, British, seat number 55G

Zwynenburg, Mark James, investment banker, 29 years, born 14.10.59, West Nyack, New York, American, seat number 12B

Lockerbie Residents

Flannigan, Kathleen Mary, 41 years, born 26.01.47, 16 Sherwood Crescent

Flannigan, Thomas Brown, 44 years, born 20.12.44, 16 Sherwood Crescent

Flannigan, Joanne, 10 years, born 13.06.78, 16 Sherwood Crescent

Henry, Dora Henrietta, 56 years, born 27.03.32, 13 Sherwood Crescent

Henry, Maurice Peter, 63 years, born 18.07.25, 13 Sherwood Crescent

Lancaster, Mary, 81 years, born 12.01.07, 11 Sherwood Crescent

Murray, Jean Aitkin, 82 years, born 29.11.06, 14 Sherwood Crescent

Somerville, John, 40 years, born 31.05.48, 15 Sherwood Crescent

Somerville, Rosaleen Later, affectionately know as 'Rosalind', 40 years, born 31.05.48, 15 Sherwood Crescent

Somerville, Paul, 13 years, born 21.01.75, 15 Sherwood Crescent

Somerville, Lyndsey Ann, 10 years, 13.07.78, 15 Sherwood Crescent

remembering park slope

2011-12-16T20:31:00.000-08:00

Fifty-one years ago today, on December 16, 1960, the residents of the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn were in the middle of a brisk winter morning when a most unwelcome visitor descended among them- a brand new United Airlines DC-8 Mainliner. The big jet, only a year old, had collided with a TWA Super Constellation in mid flight and was plunging to a premature end in a busy New York neighborhood. It happened much too quickly for anyone to react. A few miles away in Staten Island, a TWA Constellation on final approach to La Guardia was making a similar plunge.

Sadly, it wasn't the first time that such a meeting had happened. Just four years prior, an eerily similar accidental collision between a United DC-7 Turboprop and another TWA Constellation sent them both plunging into the Grand Canyon, where the wreckage remained for years.

The "Star of Sicily" was a Lockheed Super Constellation, model L-1049. It had entered service in 1952 and was just over eight years old with 21,000 odd hours in flight. It carried registration number N6907C and had departed Columbus, OH at 9 AM bound for New York's La Guardia with 39 passengers and a crew of 5. The triple-tailed Turbo Propeller driven Super Constellation was the backbone of TWA, a design from the immediate postwar era which had been the staple of air travel in the fifties, but was just now being outpaced by the new jet airliners entering the market from Boeing and Douglas.

In contrast, the United Airlines Douglas DC-8-11 Jet was nearly brand new. N8013U was only the twenty-second DC-8 off the assembly line. It had been completed in 1959 but not delivered to United until after the DC-8 received its Airworthiness Certificate in August of that year. The plane had only 2,434 hours in the air at the time of loss. Its powerful Pratt and Whitney JT3-C engines allowed it a cruising speed that was nearly double that of the Connie. Ironically, this aircraft carried the name "Mainliner Will Rogers", after the beloved orator who, tragically, had been killed in an air crash hinself in 1936. N8013U had departed Chicago O'Hare Airport at 9:11 AM bound for New York Idlewild with 77 passengers and a crew of seven.

The flights appeared to proceed routinely for both aircraft, except for limited visibility due to clouds and some fog. The United Flight was under the control of New York Air Route Traffic Control Center, which had guided them to a holding pattern point known as Preston and governed their descent from 25,000 to 5,000 feet, at which point they would be advised to contact Idlewild Approach. Unknown to NYART was the fact that N8013U's VOR radio receiver was misbehaving, meaning that their ability to hold their precise assigned course was less than certain. In fact, they were eleven miles off course and instead of circling Preston, were headed directly for Miller Field on Staten Island. In addition, they were traveling at just over 300 knots, despite being assigned an airspeed of 250.

At the same time, TWA Constellation N6907C was under the control of La Guardia approach and was also heading in the direction of Miller Army Air Station, while preparing for an ILS approach at Runway 04. The flight was descending to 5,000 feet when it was advised of "traffic at 2.30, six miles northeast", which was the misplaced DC-8. No acknowledgment came back from the TWA crew.

At 10:33 AM, both aircraft were flying inside cloud cover when suddenly, at an altitude of approximately 5,200 feet, the DC-8's number four engine sliced through the upper fuselage of the Constellation. The Connie's fuselage broke into three pieces and the wreckage fell about one mile onto Miller Field. The DC-8, badly damaged, continued for approximately ten miles before plummeting into the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn with the huge tail section coming to rest at the intersection of Seventh Avenue and Sterling Place. Victims and airplane parts rained from the sky. A church, a laundry, a funeral home and several apartment buildings were destroyed or badly damaged. Several people on the ground were killed, including occupants of a car that was crushed by the DC-8. All in all, over 130 people lost their lives in what was, at the time, the worst air disaster in American air space.

For a moment, there was a bright spot as rescuers found a survivor- eleven year old Steven Baltz of suburban Chicago was badly burned but alive. To many it seemed miraculous, and the whole city of New York prayed for him, but his injuries were too great. His lungs were badly damaged by the fire and the child succumbed to pneumonia the following day.

The tragedy was heartbreaking. The very first crash of a passenger jet in American airspace was a thoroughly avoidable collision of two totally airworthy craft. Two neighborhoods in ruins, and the greatest death toll in American history, and all ten days before Christmas. The heartbroken city dug out from the rubble, buried its dead and carried on. The tragic 1956 Grand Canyon crash had led to the "black box" data recorders on commercial aircraft, and significantly, this incident marks one of the first times such data was utilized in investigating a mishap. And there was one more significant development from this tragedy-then newly elected President Kennedy created a task force for Air Traffic Control that created the basic system that we use today.

One year ago this morning, to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the tragedy, the Park Slope Neighborhood Council and Methodist Hospital held a memorial service at Greenwood Cemetery and unveiled a granite memorial to those lost. It is a tragic reality that the development of safe passenger air travel has a human cost. This was not a wartime accident, this was a civilian accident in peaceful airspace. The victims were ordinary citizens. The child who survived briefly could have been any eleven year old in the country. Just people in their daily routine of travel, and the time of year certainly compounds the tragedy and adds a poignance. May the victims never be forgotten.

New York Times Park Slope Series Here

A reminiscence from Steven Baltz' Younger Brother Here

Life Magazine Photos of the Crash Scenes Here

50's Travel Photographs taken by Dean Bowen, TWA Co-Pilot lost in the crash, Here

cabbages and kings

2011-11-12T10:03:00.001-08:00

For Caroline and Carlos

My cousin Caroline is my modern day Mary Ann Singleton. She came to San Francisco on vacation and found her life waiting for her there. Caroline fell in love with the city, went home to Michigan, packed up and moved. She and I are kindred spirits in a way- she nearly repeating my own journey to Los Angeles of twenty years ago. We are the exceptions- of the nigh on thirty first cousins of our generation, we are the two that fled the furthest from the rust belt town of our youth. After eight years in the Bay, she is much a part of San Francisco as a cable car.

Cabbages and Kings, my Father calls it- the wanderlust, the need to go out into the world to find the life that fits. It's not easy to leave the security of home and family, but for some- it is a necessity. And unlike the poem, we've thus far evaded being devoured by any walruses and carpenters that loiter on mythical seashores.

Last night I sat in a pew in the Swedenborgian Church, a lovely old stone structure with a hand hewn wooden roof. We watched under candlelit chandeliers as Caroline walked down the aisle in a vintage ivory lace and satin dress to be married to the love of her life, Carlos. They both looked radiant. I represented the western side of the family, along with her brother Robert from Boise - we call him the runner up in our wanderlust competition. Her mother, sister Christine, and brother Stephen all made the trek from the midwest to be part of the celebration.

We remarked at the reception just how far we have come- both geographically and emotionally, from the rust belt of our childhood. Although it permeates us and helps define us, it does not control us. Her life is in San Francisco, just as mine is in Southern California. We both traveled to where our lives told us they needed us to go, but the family bond is still strong. We are of each others kind, and always will be, even though we followed the voices that spoke of Cabbages and Kings.

yellowed newspaper clipping

2011-09-01T13:34:00.000-07:00

This is a repost from 2007. I was completely enveloped by the story when I first heard it. Only after posting it did I realize that the woman I wrote about had the same maiden name as my mother. Dedicated to the memory of the two Patricias.
-----

My neighbor Ron is someone I would have to describe as an Auto Rights Activist. He has personally saved more old cars from destruction than anyone I have known. Think of him as the antidote to a demolition derby, dragging home wrecks and restoring them to glistening beauty. Usually these cars represent a chapter of his youth, and lead to a story about life with his family in Lubbock, Texas. From the assemblage of veterans on the block, it appears that his family tended to favor Ford products.

For example, one time, Ron showed up with a totally sun baked 1950 Ford sedan. The body and chassis were remarkably intact, but the car simply looked like it had been parked on the sun. This one reminded him of his Grandfather, who had an almost identical car back in Texas in the early sixties. Ron recalled how his Grandmother referred to it as the "little gray Ford". Another time it was a green and white mid-fifties Ford sedan with factory air conditioning, but that one reposed in the driveway for only a short period of time.

Ron's mother Sue passed away recently from cancer. He went back to Lubbock to the little mid-century house he grew up in, only the second house of her adult life, and began the task of sorting through belongings that had been accumulating there since LBJ's first term. Clothes, shoes, books, photographs, papers, catalogues, magazines. Some recent, some not. In the cedar chest were the family papers. His Grandfather's Military Discharge papers were there, along with his Parent's Marriage License, almost every document pertaining to the lives of her four boys, and a yellowed newspaper clipping.

He carefully unfolded the clipping. It was dated September 30, 1957. The headline read "Four Killed on Area Roads". It was published on a Monday and told how four people, three adult women and one nine year old child, were killed the previous day in three separate crashes. There was a black and white photograph of a mangled 1955 Ford sedan. One could not tell the color but Ron knew instinctively that the car was light green. It had belonged to his Aunt Patsy.

Ron does not remember his Aunt Patsy, his father's second-youngest sister. He was only two years old when she died. She was only twenty-seven years old herself. He had grown up keenly aware of her absence. He heard his family talk about her over the years, especially his Grandmother and his Aunt Bobbie. There is a picture of him on his first birthday in her arms. He does not recall this photo being taken.

She has raven black hair, dimpled cheeks, and a big smile. She is a beautiful young woman. He has seen other pictures of her also, including one of her in her casket. Her son Donnie appears in a similar photograph. Ron recalls that he knew better than to ask his Grandmother about those photos. He knew almost nothing about the accident which claimed their lives. His Grandmother was unable to discuss it. According to Aunt Bobbie, Grandmother had to be heavily sedated to even get through the funeral.

From his Aunt Bobbie, he knew that Uncle Tommy, a baker in downtown Lubbock, had worked part of the day that Sunday. His mother had offered to help the young family buy a badly needed bigger house, so Patsy and the kids picked her up at her house in Cone, Northwest of Lubbock, and drove to the bakery downtown to get Tommy. They spent a long afternoon touring and looking at potential new homes.

When the day drew to a close, they dropped his mother off at about 8:30 pm and headed back to Lubbock on Highway 82. It was a busy two lane road and Patsy was driving. Tommy was in the right front, and nine year old Donnie was seated between them in front. In fifties highway etiquette, the eldest got first dibs on the front seat. They were nearing home when a car being driven by a twenty-one year old man from Fort Worth pulled out to pass and hit the green Ford sedan head on.

For the first time, Ron was holding an article which calmly reported a family tragedy. According to the newspaper, Aunt Patsy was thrown through the windshield. Both she and Donnie died at the scene. Tommy suffered broken ribs and other injuries. Their daughter Nancy, age four, and six year old Jack were both in the back seat. Also riding in the car were two of their neighbor's children who had come along for the Sunday drive. They all survived, as did the young man and his girlfriend in the other car. He suffered a broken leg in the crash. Neither car was equipped with seat belts. The newspaper reported that the victims were taken to three different area hospitals. It then went on to detail the other two accidents, duly noting that one of the victims was, in fact, a negro.

Aunt Bobbie offered more detail. She herself had stopped by the bakery that day. She was running errands with her own mother-in-law, Lucille. Lucille was a brassy woman who was often hired by local farmers to find water on their land with a divining rod. She was known to have a sixth sense. She waited in the car while Bobbie ran into the bakery. When Bobbie came back , Lucille cast her eyes on the green 1955 Ford sedan. "That's Patsy's car, isn't it" she asked. "Yes, it is, you've seen it before" Bobbie replied. Lucille said nothing more, but continued to eye it with a troubled expression as Bobbie pulled away.

Ron admitted to me that the green and white 1956 sedan he had purchased began to remind him too much of Aunt Patsy's car. Virtually identical in styling, he believed it was even the same color. That's why it remained in the fleet for such a short time.

Aunt Patsy and Donnie were laid to rest in the family plot next to her father. Her mother joined them there in 1984. Ron's own parents are a couple of rows away in the same cemetery. Uncle Tommy eventually remarried and moved out of state. Ron grew up with only a peripheral awareness of his cousins' existence. Fifty years have gone by. The babies are now middle aged. The smiling young adults are now old, and Patsy's brothers and sisters are joining her one by one. The passage of time does nothing to erase the tragedy of lives cut short on a Sunday night. The newspaper articles are clipped out and placed in the cedar chest where they yellow, but they are not thrown away.

It is all but impossible for us to understand such a loss in the context of its own time. To imagine an era where ladies wore single strands of white pearls and dainty hats, but then could be suddenly thrown through the windshields of pastel colored sedans is beyond our ability to comprehend. It bemoans the limitations of technology at a fixed point in time. And while it may seem to us to be primitive, it was the state of the art at the time. These were just the risks one assumed in daily living. Life changes in an instant, and this fact is as true today as it was in the late summer of 1957. Perhaps that is what makes the memories so precious.

On the nightstand next to Ron's bed, there is a framed photograph of a smiling young woman holding a one year old boy. She has raven black hair and dimples in her cheeks.

v

2011-07-11T10:35:00.000-07:00

Five years later. The memories are still clear, but less obtrusive. We're pretty much all still here somehow. The last five years haven't been the greatest, but I wish you'd stuck around for them. I don't cry anymore, I don't scream anymore. I think I'm just numb. Does anyone really get over this kind of a loss anyway? We go on, but do we ever really get over it?

Be at peace, John. We'll never forget you.

sudden storm

2011-05-28T09:56:00.000-07:00

Very tragic news this week as a category 5 Tornado smashed into the town of Joplin, Missouri, cutting a swath of destruction through the center of town and even hitting the local hospital. The tragedy has claimed 139 lives so far, making it the deadliest single tornado recorded and surpassing the prior record from 1953, an event which preceeded my own birth but nonetheless had an enormous impact on my childhood.

My hometown of Flint, Michigan was hit by a category 5 tornado in June of 1953. It descended on a muggy Midwestern summer night with almost no warning and mowed through hundreds of homes while it meandered eastward at a rate of approximately 30 mph. The storm left an entire neighborhood in ruins and cost 116 persons their lives. Sadly, almost half of the victims were children. The tragedy is recalled as the Beecher Tornado.

Both of my parents were young adults at that time, and the disaster had a lasting effect on them. My brother was born five years later in 1958 and myself in 1960. While the Beecher Tornado had long since passed, we were keenly aware of what had happened. My mother told stories of the rescue efforts and recounted stories of those who survived and those who did not. I vividly recall her telling the story of the woman who outran the tornado in her 1949 Buick, with the speedometer reading 100mph as the wind repeatedly lifted the back wheels off the ground. Her six children cowered in the back seat in fear but the car made it to safety.

When my brother and I were older, she showed us home movies my uncle Bill had taken the day following the storm. It was virtually impossible for my five year old consciousness to discern what the piles of rubble in the movies had once been. We were raised with a very healthy respect for the destructive potential of nature, a respect that I believe we shared with every schoolchild in the city of Flint.

Mother was particularly nervous on humid summer nights, the kind that hung in the air and produced the thunderstorms which hatch tornadoes. While she never tried to cause needless alarm, she kept a keen eye on the skies as she watched us playing in the lush Michigan grass. It was universally understood in our neighborhood that a weather siren meant the immediate cessation of playtime and a dash for shelter. Many a summer evening was spent listening to the rain in the basement, waiting for the all clear signal to be broadcast over the little blue transistor radio.

It was not until adulthood that I actually looked at a map of the destruction and discovered what Mother had always known- the Tornado touched to earth almost exactly two miles north of the bedroom I shared with my brother. She was keenly aware of that fact every time a humid summer night occurred, it was a line on her brow. However, she somehow never imparted that knowledge unto us.

Of course, storm warnings matured rapidly after the tragic events of 1953, and the truth is that we were dramatically safer at all times than only a few short years before. But this terrible sudden storm in Joplin reminds us that the need to be vigilant does not dissipate with time, and natural disasters do not fall out of fashion.

The passage of time has not diminished the memories of the citizens of Flint, nor has it lessened the tragedy of the loss of a hundred and sixteen lives when the winds dashed the houses against the Michigan clay. We will remember always.

roses

2011-05-23T07:00:00.000-07:00

I'm worried about the Heirloom. Although its trunk looks thick and healthy, the buds seem to wilt too easily in the sun. The Chrysler Imperial alongside seems indestructible in comparison, and the neighboring Antique has exploded in bountiful pink blossoms, but the darn Heirloom gives me daily fits.

It is an essentially optimistic statement to tend the rose garden in a rented house, an act made all the more transient when the property is for sale. The daily watering and tending is juxtaposed with nice lady realtors in Lexus SUV's showing the property to prospective new owners. Whoever they turn out to be, I can't help but hope that they have a fondness for roses.

I guess I'm surprised that I've seen then this far along already. I cut them severely back to twigs in February, and wondered if I'd even see then start to grow back. But roses want to grow, and given the most rudimentary care, will bounce back. The new shoots started to appear within two weeks. I had buds for Easter, and a multicolored cascade of roses for Mother's Day.

I wonder aloud who will care for them when I move on. I'm only here for what seems like a momentary respite, and in that short time, these living things have grown dependent on me for basic care. Perhaps I depend on them as well for a reminder that I can still make an impact, albeit a tiny one, in this spinning green orb.

It's not lost on me that caring for the roses is allegorical, that in tending flowers in a transient rose garden I am somehow symbolizing so many people whose world has spun out of control and who are trying to reclaim even the tiniest parts of it again. I can't undo the damage caused by unchallenged greed on Wall Street, and I can't find jobs for all who need them, but I can make flowers grow in the garden and talk to them and tend them for whomever comes along next. I'm not saying we can heal society with such singularly insignificant gestures, but perhaps we can begin to heal ourselves.

kate and patsy

2011-05-08T07:08:00.000-07:00

They were much more like sisters than mother and daughter. For starters, they were only twenty one years apart. Also, they didn't act like mother and daughter per se- they were lifelong best friends, and all but inseparable. And neither of them exactly acted like a grown up all that often.

In over a year of writing, I can't believe I hadn't written about Kate. My brave and pragmatic Missouri born Grandmother. The one who married too hastily, and focused her energy on the children she loved. She played the hand she was dealt with laughter and courage. She all but lived with us during my childhood, while always maintaining an apartment to ensure her independence.

They both loved to surprise the other. Like the time in 1979 when we moved to a new house and Patsy didn't tell Kate. She knew we were planning to move, of course, and was rather dreading the whole thing. So when we had the opportunity to move up the actual date, we conveniently forgot to mention it. I picked her at her apartment and drove her to our house, stopping off at the new house to check on something. And there we were, all moved in and set up. She just about fainted. Score one for Patsy and I.

Then there was Kate's birthday that year. Mom had taken her for her birthday weekend to the brand new Hyatt Regency hotel in Flint. They had a formal dinner on Friday night, and were enjoying a casual luncheon in the atrium on Saturday when the Gorilla appeared with the birthday balloon bouquet. Fortunately, there just happened to be a photographer there to record the presentation for history. Score one more for Patsy, with another assist to yours truly. I still have the picture.

And that led to the Big Party. Of course, Kate wanted to return the favor. She and I talked the family into a big surprise birthday party for Patsy. We had made plans that bordered on military precision involving refreshments, decorations, and even staging the guests down the block at a rendezvous point to preserve the element of surprise. Kind of a challenge doing a surprise party for Mother in her own home, you see.

We sneaked supplies and decorations into the house for weeks. All went well until the afternoon of the party, when Mom was unexpectedly home. I fidgeted, looking out the window at my poor Volkswagen so full of booze that it hunkered down on its axles.

"Not to worry", said Kate. She put all the butter down the garbage disposal, then began making chocolate chip cookies. "Patsy, we're out of butter" she called out in angst. Mom couldn't believe that the butter she had just purchased was already gone, but somewhat reluctantly agreed to go get some more. That have us the crucial time we needed to unload the car and set up the basement decorations.

Three hours later, I went out for a walk and met approximately 40 guests at the cul de sac. We all walked to the front door, lit the candles on the cake that happened to be in my hands, and rang the bell. Mom answered the door in absolute shock. The party proceeded downstairs where everything had been prepared in secret- food, a punch bowl, a fully set up bar- in short, a gigantic party, totally under the radar. We got her good that time. A big one for Kate and myself as raconteurs. It was a fabulous time.

This is my fourth Mother's Day now without either of them, and it doesn't seem to get any easier, just more remote. The only thing that makes it bearable is the thought they are together. And wherever they are, there's laughter and mischief. That's what happens with pranskters like those two around.

Happy Mother's Day Kate and Patsy, my darling girls. I'm so grateful for all the crazy and wonderful times we had together. I love you both so much.

back to the broiler

2011-05-05T12:06:00.000-07:00

The last time I visited, the place lay in ruins. An illegal demolition attempt had been halted just in the nick of time before the buildinhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifg was totally lost. I was there the next day and surveyed the ruins of Johnie's Broiler, nee Harvey's, a much loved landmark in the City of Downey, CA. On that day, local mulled around and stared at the debris. Many fought back tears. The Broiler was a proud architectural landmark, a place that had become part of the fabric of the community. Nearly everybody had a connection to the Broiler and a story about it. Countless couples had been on dates there and raised their families in the shadow of the red Broiler sign, and there it lay in ruin.

And then something amazing happened. People didn't give up. The Friends of Johnie's and the Los Angeles Conservancy and other conservation groups worked with the city of Downey to find a way to restore the Broiler instead of allowing demolition. Rallies and fundraisers were held. The pressure was kept up until good news was announced- Jim Louder of Bob's agreed to lease the property and the City participated with development funds. The unanticipated result is that the Broiler rose from the ashes.

I was there on Sunday taking pictures, and was so captivated by the flavor of the resurrected Broiler that I went back Sunday night to capture the signage. It looks great, it feels like the old Broiler again and it was packed with people. It's not a perfect restoration but rather a very sensitive adaptive re-use. The look is great and the functionality is actually improved. Wow, this story actually has a happy ending. Many thanks to all who took part- the City of Downey, the Los Angeles Conservancy, the Friends of Johnie's, and the Coalition to Save & Rebuild Harvey's Broiler. It's a bitchin' place!

More photos of the demolition here

And of the restored Broiler here

panther

2011-04-28T22:11:00.000-07:00

Serena sleeps at the foot of my bed. She lies on her side somewhat like a capsized ocean liner, her pudgy paws are stretched out in front of her. In her dreams, she is a panther. Her adventures seem to take her far from home. She runs and runs through the jungle, her little paws moving back and forth on the bedspread. She talks excitedly although I am not sure who she is speaking to. Her tiny heart races. The moon reflects on her glossy black coat.

Some nights I wonder if I should wake her, as if the pack of lions chasing her are too close or if the vine she was swinging on suddenly snapped or maybe the giant wooly mammoth she was pursuing almost stepped on her. Or perhaps she was uncertain which of the goblets before her was the Holy Grail. Some nights she seems to cry out. I worry that there is sometimes a fine line between an adventure film and a horror flick? Who gets script approval? Do cats have nightmares?

Am I in the dream? Does she pull me off the railroad track right before the 5:18 from Phoenix comes roaring by? Or am I the superhero that swoops down and rescues her just in the nick of time? Is there some kind of a role reversal going on? Some mornings she wakes up and looks at me, and I feel a tinge of disappointment in her eyes when she realizes that she has not yet grown large enough to eat me. Maybe tomorrow, she almost seems to say to herself.

I wonder where her nocturnal adventures have taken her, and marvel at how they always manage to bring her home just before morning. The sun rises and shines on the glossy black coat of the little ten pound cat, lying on her side at the foot of my bed. In her dreams, she is a panther.

twilight

2011-03-11T18:31:00.000-08:00

The sun disappears behind the mountain at four o'clock in the winter, and the Deepwell neighborhood begins its lazy descent into twilight. I water the ficus hedges and the rosebeds, and once the greenery is sated I start out on my walk.

The neighborhood is a study in fifties geometry- long low ranch homes and tall majestic Palm Trees. The homes are a mixture of sweet old lady originals and glamorous restorations. The picture windows are either hidden behind yellowing draperies or else wide open with Bertoia chairs and Eames lounges on proud display.

It is twilight and the light of the day is fading, although darkness has not completely taken over. The jet trails stand out in the rapidly fading skies, the crescent moon almost directly overhead. A neighbor walks his dog, hurrying to get home before dark. A little blond girl on a bicycle calls out to her mother not to go so fast. Yard lights and porch lights awaken. Dramatic yard lighting highlights certain Palm Trees like movie stars at a premiere. The only sound is the crickets. It is peaceful and exquisitely ordinary.

I wonder to myself, was it like this last night in Japan? Did the people clear the dishes and fold the laundry with no inkling of what was about to happen? Was it this exquisitely ordinary, and can it all really change that quickly? Are we that fragile?

The skies have gone dark, with only the moon to guide me as I walk home under the silhouettes of the Palm Trees.

ooh, shiny!

2011-02-28T10:49:00.001-08:00

Canned hams, polished Airstreams, Atomic wonders and even a homemade truck camper- some original, some restored, some reinvented to indulge an owner's fantasies- as individual as hot rods once were, these are the retro trailers from the 2011 Airstream Show at Palm Springs Modernism Week.

They are famous and luxurious names like Airstream and Spartan- and some lesser known like Airfloat and Road Chief. There's even an super modern Holiday House, a little known venture from the founders of Harry and David. They range from the late thirties through the early seventies, and each has a story to tell- of places visited, families hosted, and adventure together on the open road.

Hook one up to the Country Squire wagon and let's go!

See more photos here

the end of the plain plane

2011-02-26T15:14:00.000-08:00

Modernism week was fabulous this year, eight days incredible mid century design all served up like a swirling and delicious dessert. In addition to architecture, themes of advertising and design were introduced. Among the unexpected jewels of the show this year was this amazing exhibition of the rebranding of Braniff Airlines in 1965.

Driven by Mary Wells of Well Rich Greene, the transformation of the airline was in no way limited to the advertising- instead everything was redecorated- including the aircraft inside and out- painted in seven pastel shades of blue, green, yellow, orange and even lavendar, the runway service equipment, the terminals and yes, the flight attendants. Still known as Stewardesses at that time, they were totally transformed by Emilio Pucci, a complete ensemble including dresses, coats, scarves, serving suits (with culottes), bags, shoes and boots, and yes, even a space age plastic bubble to protect one's hair while boarding.

The exhibition followed the transformation from the Pucci "Gemini IV" collection of 1965 through the wild "Ports of Call" look and on through the adoption of a much moe subdued Halston look of 1977. Simply to die for. Have a look.

See a complete photo essay here

sweet sticky dog

2011-02-16T12:17:00.000-08:00

A repost of the first ever World O' Jeff essay- four years ago today. Where does the time go?

Valentine's day was this week and the impending trauma of it forced me to come up with a plan. I decided to tackle it head on. Calling Will (who is alternately Sacco to my Vanzetti or Cybill to my Mary Ann), we assembled a group of friends to meet in West Hollywood in pursuit of a Stunning Martini. The only requirement was to wear black, head to toe. I used a vintage tuxedo jacket and bow tie to create a dashing flair, Will did a tone on tone number with a black silk tie, bad boy Tony chose a biker jacket and black denim to set a completely different mood within the same color statement. It's all about our personal flair.

Our mourning party progressed to the Abbey where we found ourselves at a table in the wind tunnel (many of you will know where I mean- its like a covered outdoor bowling alley with wall sconces) next to a totally fun lesbian couple- they were chatting with us about a fashion show they were planning to help launch a line for a designer they were unfamiliar with. David-who-knows-everything was already familiar with the event and was lobbying to score a spot on the VIP list (I was on the VIP list once at a Cemetery, but that is a story for another day). Anyway, somewhere in the second round she shared that the designer was named Honey Labrador.

Honey Labrador? I burst out- I knew her in the 90's in Chicago. My friend crazy ass Ron (the one who thought he was Joan Crawford) used to hire her for Spiegel photo shoots. We would drink heavily and think of alternate names for her with the same cadence- Lobster Thermidor, Sunny Ecuador, even Crosley Shelvador. I guess the drinks made it seem clever. Anyway, the fun couple were amused and actually relieved that someone had heard of Honey. So relieved that they bought us a round. Very cool girls.

Of course, I had to call Crazy Ass Ron in Chicago and tell him the news. I left a message on his cell phone from the Honey Labrador Fan Club. He called back a few minutes later snickering. "Honey Labrador- that was 1993! How the hell did you remember that?" "You know me", I replied. "How could I ever forget a girl named sweet sticky dog?"

love from iowa

2011-02-14T12:38:00.000-08:00

As a special Valentine's Day dedication, take a listen to this 80 year old grandmother, third generation Iowan, talk about her support for her gay son and his husband. She is made of the awesome:

remembering sabena 548

2011-02-11T13:19:00.001-08:00

The jet pushed back from the terminal just after 7 pm on Valentine's Day, 1961, and taxied to runway 22 to await takeoff clearance. The weather at Idlewild was cold. The last minute commemorative photographs taken on the gangway show ladies and gentlemen wearing heavy winter coats. It was already dark, and there is a dusting of snow on the tarmac.

The plane, however, was warm and inviting. Boeing airframe number 17642 was a 707-329 long distance Jet Airliner. It has been completed in late 1959 and first test-flown on December 31st. Once certified, the aircraft had been delivered to its new owner on January 15, 1960. Sabena World Airways registered the craft as 00-SJB. One of twenty they would ultimately purchase, this was only the second one they had received. With just barely three thousand hours in the air, it would commemorate its thirteenth month in service during the flight.

Sabena was very proud of their expansion into Jet travel, and the craft was richly emblazoned with the Boeing 707 logo at each fuselage door, alongside their promise of "world service". Their own logo, a highly stylized "S" in period font, curved up the blue vertical stabilizer like a cat's tail.

As brand new as the aircraft seemed, so too was the very idea of transatlantic jet travel in itself. It has been said that the Boeing 707 really started the Jet Age, and that had only been recently. The 707 received its airworthiness certificate on September 18, 1958, and airline deliveries began shortly thereafter. Why, airline travel itself was still quite new. having made great progress in the peaceful postwar 50's. But as with any new technology, there had been issues. A midair collision of a TWA Super Constellation and a United DC-7 Turboprop over the Grand Canyon in 1956 set into motion greatly expanded flight tracking and led to the establishment of the FAA.

The safety of air travel has suffered a setback just days before Christmas 1960, when another Constellation was rammed by an off-course United DC-8 Jet while both were circling this very same airport, Idlewild. Airplane parts rained down upon two neighborhoods in New York. But these thoughts were not on the minds of the passengers of Sabena Flight 548 on that evening of February 14, 1961. They were all busily dreaming of their upcoming adventures in Europe.

The entire US Figure Skating Team were on board. They had elected to travel together to the world championships in Prague. Sixteen athletes were on the flight, along with eighteen coaches, assistants, and family members. They accounted for over half of the passenger list of sixty-one.

No one on the trip had more to look forward to than sixteen year old Laurent Owen of Winchester, Massachusetts. Daughter of Olympic Champion Ice Skaters Guy Owen and Maribel Vincent Owen, Laurie has her eye set on the World Ladies Figure Skating Championship. She had won the US Gold Medal in Ladies Singles less than a month prior, and was accompanied my her mother and sister, Maribel Owen, who had won the Gold Medal in pairs skating with her partner Dudley Richards.

Laurie was an intense young woman with bright eyes, a graceful manner and a charming smile. She had become a media sensation since winning the US Championship, and had been nicknamed the "Winchester Pixie". The very week of the flight she graced the cover of Sports Illustrated in a red costume and white skates. She would have walked by pictures of herself on the newsstand in order to reach the boarding gate.

Many other talented skaters were on board as well. Single skaters Gregory Kelley, Bradley Lord, Rhoda Lee Michelson, Douglas Ramsay and Stephanie Westerfeld; Pairs skaters Ila Ray Hadley and Ray Hadley, Jr., and Laurie Jean Hickox and William Holmes Hickox, both brother and sister teams. Ice dancers Roger Campbell and Dona Lee Carrier, husband and wife skaters Robert and Patricia Dineen, who had a nine month old son, Dallas "Larry" Pierce and Diane Carol Sherbloom, who won the gold at the US Nationals despite only working together for five weeks, and many others.

Sabena 548 taxied along Runway 22 and lifted off from New York on its overnight transcontinental flight. No one had an inkling that once aloft, they would not reunite with the Earth.

The flight itself was by all evidence uneventful. The 707 approached the airport in Brussel-Zaventem on schedule for an expected 10 AM landing, but had to abort the first attempt and circle the field for a second approach. While circling, it became evident that something was terribly wrong. According to eyewitnesses, the 707 began to pitch "like a bucking bronco", until it stood almost straight up on end and disappeared into a farmer's field. A horrible loud crash and a fireball ensued. Sixty-one passengers, eleven crew, and a farmer on the ground were killed. It was the first crash of a 707 in passenger service.

FAA Investigators would later conclude that the most plausible hypothesis was a malfunction of the stabilizer adjusting mechanism, but no absolute cause was ever established. It is worth noting that the crash of an Air France 707 at Orly Airport in 1962 was caused by an eerily similar failure, and that the stabilizer controls were later modified.

The US Skating Team, and most of the seasoned US coaches, were gone.

The photographs of the wreckage are heartbreaking. Skates and Olympic jackets were strewn across the field. particularly heartbreaking is the poignant image of a partially burned copy of Sports Illustrated, with a smiling Laurence Owen, among the twisted metal of the once-proud Sabena flagship.

The world championships were canceled out of respect for the US team. The sadness of such a loss will never really fade, the joy of youth and the excitement of competition cut short before their time. These young people, lost just as they were coming in to the height of their athletic talents. It truly is beyond comprehension.

Recently I came upon archival footage of the 1961 US Finals. Held in Colorado Springs in January, 1961. It's both wonderful and tragic- as it puts faces on the names of the victims in a very real way but also tells their stories and allows us a glimpse of them at the high point of their young lives. It allows us to see them as they would most want to be remembered.

It's such a charming display. The men wear ties and tailored jackets. The contestants are referred to as Mr. and Miss. Even the judges have a formality to them, displaying their scores at the sound of a whistle. It was a more gracious time.

In Pairs Skating, the silver medal was won by siblings Ila Ray Hadley and Ray Hadley, Jr. I love how they open to "I Could Have Danced all Night":

The Gold Medal in Pairs Skating went to Maribel Owen and Dudley Richards. Watch how relaxed and poised they look:

In Ice Dancing, the Silver Medal was won by Donna Lee Carrier and Roger Campbell. Watch their precise footwork and they skate to "Biding My Time" and "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off":

Diane Sherbloom of Los Angeles and Larry Pierce of Indianapolis only had five weeks to put their routine together. They're charming- watch them open with "Pennies from Heaven". Later in the program, they Cha-Cha to "Isle of Capri"- it's really lovely.

The Men's Single Gold Medal was won by twenty-one year old Bradley Lord. A handsome young man with a great deal of poise, this is a great performance:

And last but certainly not least, here is our Winchester Pixie, the captivating sixteen year old Laurence Owen, with her gold medal performance. She really is a pixie, isn't she?

Fifty years can be both a lifetime and a moment, and the passing of time does noting to diminish the tragedy of the loss. Rest well, young souls. We will always miss you and wonder what you could have achieved.

Read more about Sabena 548 here

And read more about the US Figure Skating Team here

(Originally published as Winchester Pixie in April, 2009)

sunday drive: ford house- aurora, il

2011-02-08T12:04:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the absence, but just when you thought life couldn't get any crazier, it proves you wrong- terribly wrong indeed. "Be flexible," the self help books say. Well, if I were any more flexible I'd be a goddamned rubber chicken. But I'm still here, and I get points for that.

And yeah, I've noticed that this Sunday Drive is being posted on Tuesday, so I guess it's YOUR turn to be flexible, gentle reader. besides, the pictures were actually taken on a Sunday Drive, April 14, 2001. I was in Chi-town looking at a car (big surprise) and saw an article about this deliciously crazy house in the tribune. My traveling companion and I picked up the phone and called the guy, who turned out to be an architecture professor at a local college. After a delightful chat, he invited us to drive out and see the house. Cheerfully, we did.

It was built for Ruth Van Sickle Ford and her husband, Sam. She was a driving force behind the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, and chose avant garde architect Bruce Goff to design a very courageous and fascinating structure. The spherical house was less than pleasing to some of their neighbors, to the point where Ford placed a sign in the front yard saying "We don't like your house either." They sold the house upon her retirement in 1961, but the fascinating house has survived in amazing original condition. These photos are by from my personal tour in 2001. Notice how astonishingly intact everything is, right down to the kitchen cabinets. A treasure. Enjoy.

ones and zeros

2010-12-29T11:34:00.001-08:00

Well, we made it through Christmas without any repeat of last year's incident when a Northwest Airbus 330 was very nearly brought down by a tiny amount of liquid explosive secreted in a terrorist's underwear. Disaster was apparently averted by a defective firing device and the passengers, in our era highly energized, attacked the man and diffused the situation. He is unlikely to see the light of day anytime soon, and the public is adjusting to the notion that something so small could bring down an airliner. But thirty eight years ago today, a brand new jumbo jet was lost over something much more insignificant.

There wasn't a bomb aboard Eastern Airlines Flight 401 as it flew toward Miami on the night of December 29, 1972. The airplane itself was a Lockheed L-1011, brand sparkling new. Here I digress and interject that I refer to the L-1011 as the binary airliner, not only because her name is made of ones and zeros, but also because they featured the most sophisticated flight controls in the air at that time. The plane was full of ones and zeros.

This particular airframe had been delivered to Eastern on July 30, 1972 and was not yet five months old. She carried serial number 1011 (a most interesting and binary coincidence) and was the tenth passenger airframe completed. All of the earliest L-1011's went to Eastern, she carried tail number N310EA (one-zero again) in sequence with her sister ships. She had completed just 501 landings prior to that morning, when she departed Tampa to New York's Kennedy airport as Flight 164 where she would then turn around and return to Florida that evening.

The flight was by all accounts comfortable, luxurious and uneventful. The big L-1011 departed JFK at 9:20 PM and headed south. Captain Robert Loft put the bird in the sky and then turned on the autopilot, whose ones and zeros controlled the plane for most of the trip. The big Rolls Royce engines purred along, so silently that Eastern referred to their L-1011's as "Whisperliners". At only two-thirds capacity, the passengers stretched out. The L-1011 has always been one of my personal favorites- the power of the Rolls-Royce engines, the spacious cabin whose very high ceilings and wide aisles provided a great environment for flying. The night was clear, the winds calm. The passengers were Holiday travelers, returning from Christmas and preparing for the New Year.

Upon approach to Miami, a minor problem occurred. The landing gear was lowered, but the green nose gear light did not illuminate. Probably the bulb, the flight crew decided, but not wanting to risk their brand new airplane, they abandoned their approach. First officer Bert Stockstill increased their altitude to 2000 feet and turned the Whisperliner west over the Everglades. Captain Loft instructed him to reengage the autopilot, so the ones and zeros flew the plane while the flight crew diagnosed the problem. Soon the pilot, first officer, flight engineer and an Eastern L-1011 maintenance specialist were engrossed in attempting to replace a failed light bulb. So engrossed that no one noticed that First Officer Stockstill had nudged the control column and unknowingly turned off the altitude hold. The flight crew realized their error seconds before the big L-1011 flew itself into the swamp.

Amazingly, of the 176 souls on board, seventy five lived. One hundred and one perished, including the three man flight crew who became so obsessed with a failed light bulb that they somehow forgot to fly the plane. Survivors and victims seemed almost randomly disbursed, as if a computer were randomly assigning ones and zeros. In the end, there were seventy five ones, and one hundred and one zeros. One brand new fifteen million dollar aircraft, absolutely airworthy in every way except for a failed light bulb was destroyed. In the Florida swamp, investigators found the nose landing gear. It was down and locked.

To mark each anniversary, survivors gather to remember the experience, give thanks to the rescuers and honor the victims. They will reflect on how their lives were affected by the massive convergence of ones and zeros. Among those attending will be Flight Attendant Mercedes Ruiz, who wrote the poem below in February 1972 when the accident was still fresh in her memory:

Because I've been granted the gift of life
I want to live each moment to the fullest
I want to submerge my being much more than before
Into the wonders of nature and love.
I want to reach and feel,
because feeling in itself is a way of loving.
I want to tremble at the wildness of the storm,
and bathe myself with rain.
I want to touch the clouds
and hold the blue within one word.
I want to cry before the ocean waves
because they rush to me and kiss me
and then they leave.
I want the wonder of the starry night above,
the moon, a sigh, and each of all my silences.

The ones and zeros can change the course of our lives in an instant. Let us remember all of the souls flying back to Miami on that clear December night- those that returned safely to earth, and those for whom fate had other plans.

For those who desire to read more, here are two excellent sites:

Eastern 401 Homepage
Remembering Eastern 401

merry christmas darlings

2010-12-25T09:13:00.000-08:00

For Patsy, for my family in Michigan, for anyone missing a loved one today, and for all of you who keep me going, here is my Christmas wish for you- the most perfect voice with the most heartfelt Christmas song of all time:

Merry Christmas, Darlings!

Love,

Jeff

duelling mimis

2010-12-24T09:20:00.000-08:00

We're almost there- one day to go. Going to keep with our "nice" theme today with a holiday double-dose of Mimi- Mariah Carey herself with my favorite modern day Christmas tune.

For my fabulous retro friends, who live in the past because the future is not what it used to be, who can do the swim and ther frug and know the names of every hairstyle of the Johnson Administration, here's an awesome sixties version with white go go boots and ironed hair to make the Ronettes jealous:

And for those who live for fabulousness, and who understand that what separates us from the animals is our ability to accessorize, here's a version that's so far over the top it's already halfway down the other side- live from Disney World in Orlando, Christmas 2004, emerging from Sleeping Beauty's Castle, with giant wooden soldiers, a gaggle of boy dancers, giant gingerbread men, Raggedy Ann and Andy, Santa-hatted throngs and daytime fireworks. It's Mimi, and All I want for Christmas is You.

Whichever camp you prefer, retro or camp, enjoy your own personal Mimi.

Joyous holiday to each and every one of you.

All I want for Christmas is you.

Originally published in Dec. 2008

Nice is nice

2010-12-22T13:06:00.000-08:00

I simply love the style of the sixties. The narrow ties, the bouffant hairstyles, the elegant cocktail dresses, the entire world dressed as if about to step out of a 1964 Thunderbird. It seems I was mad about "Mad Men" living before there even were "Mad Men" to be mad about. Or something.

Even the lowly sitcom had panache, to wit the Dick Van Dyke show with the lovely and talented Mary Tyler Moore. Both trained dancers, in case suburban living should suddenly cause one to burst into song. Which it often did.

And in their third season, the revered Christmas Special, called "Alan Brady Presents". All in all one of the best Christmas episodes of any sitcom (mental note: remember when sitcoms HAD Christmas episodes?)

I'm simply ALL about this hot Santa-On-Santa action- an original song by Persky and Denoff, and Dick and Mary do an engaging dance number. Be sure to listen to Mary's cutesy catty comments at the end of each line, and watch their faces- they are having a great time. An underplayed classic. So decorate the aluminum tree (pride of Manitowoc WI), turn on the four color wheel and enjoy. And yes, Nice IS nice.

clipper maid

2010-12-21T00:01:00.000-08:00

A very sad anniversary to recognize- it was twenty-two years ago today that a Boeing 747-121, bearing s/n 19646 and registered to Pan Am as N739PA took off from Heathrow and ascended into immortality. Clipper Maid of the Seas as she was known was the third and final flight of the day from London to New York and was filled with passengers anxious to return home to the states for the holidays. Among the two hundred fifty nine aboard were thirty five students from Syracuse University returning home after a semester abroad.

The fifteenth 747 ever assembled, Clipper Maid was delivered to Pan Am in February of 1970. Now well into her middle age, she had circled the globe for almost eighteen years without incident. That morning she had arrived at Heathrow from San Francisco and parked at Kilo 14 from which she would depart as Flight 103. She pushed back at 18:04 PM local time and was given take off clearance at 18:24. Pilot Captain James Bruce "Jim" MacQuarrie, a Pan Am veteran with over 4,000 hours of experience at the helm of the 747 pushed the thrust levers forward for the final time and three hundred tons of aircraft raced down the runway and lifted off.

Clipper Maid climbed to 31,000 feet and entered Scottish airspace at 19:00 GMT. Air control at Prestwick, Scotland contacted the craft. Captain MacQuarrie radioed back "Good Evening Scottish, Clipper One Zero Three. We are at level Three One Zero."

Moments later First Officer Raymond Wagner requested oceanic clearance. Pam Am 103 was flying normally at flight level 310, compass direction 316 magnetic, and airspeed of 313 knots. Everything was exquisitely ordinary. And then at 19:02.46.9, PA103 disappeared from radar.

Of course we all know what happened, that a cowardly act of terrorism literally blew the 747 apart. And as tragic and horrifying as it was, today is a day to remember the victims and their families and not the perpetrators.

Twenty two years ago today, Clipper Maid of the Seas fell from the sky taking with her two hundred seventy souls heading home for the holidays. May their memory be part of us now and always.

Avonye, Nichole Elizabeth, flight attendant, 44 years, born 05.05.44, Croissy-Sur-Seine, France, French

Avritt, Jerry Don, flight engineer, 46 years, born 30.07.42, Westminster, California, American

Berti, Noelle Lydie, flight attendant, 40 years, born 24.12.47, Paris, France, American

Engstrom, Siv Ulla, flight attendant, 51 years, born 21.09.37, Berkshire, England, Swedish

Franklin, Stacie Denise, flight attendant, 20 years, born 16.02.68, San Diego, California, American

Garrett, Paul Isaac, flight attendant, 41 years, born 16.11.47, Napa, California, American

Kuehne, Elke Etha, flight attendant, 43 years, born 17.03.45, Hanover, Germany, German

Larracoechea, Maria Nieves, flight attendant, 39 years, born 03.03.49, Madrid, Spain, Spanish

MacQuarrie, James Bruce, captain, 55 years, born 30.09.33, Kensington, New Hampshire, American

McAlolooy, Lilibeth Tobila, flight attendant, 27 years, born 02.11.61, Kelsterback, Germany, American

Murphy, Mary Geraldine, purser, 51 years, born 14.05.37, Middlesex, England, British

Reina, Jocelyn, flight attendant, 26 years, born 26.05.62, Isleworth, England, American

Royal, Myra Josephine, flight attendant, 30 years, born 20.12.58, London, England, American

Skabo, Irja Syhnove, flight attendant, 38 years, born 03.07.50, Oslo, Norway, American

Velimirovich, Milutin, chief purser, 35 years, born 14.10.53, Middlesex, England, American

Wagner, Raymond Ronald, first officer, 52 years, born 18.01.36, Pennington, New Jersey, American

Pan Am Flight 103 Passengers

Ahern, John Michael Gerard, bond broker, 26 years, born 16.04.62, Rockville Center, New York, American, Seat Number 30C

Aicher, Sarah Margaret, playwright, 29 years, born 09.02.59, London, England, American, Seat Number 46C

Akerstrom, John David, 34 years, born 20.05.54, Medina, Ohio, American, Seat Number 25A

Alexander, Ronald Ely, businessman, 46 years, born 15.07.42, New York, New York, Swiss, seat number 42C

Ammerman, Thomas Joseph, marketing manager, 36 years, born 06.08.52, Old Tappan, New Jersey, American, seat number 16E

Apfelbaum, Martin Lewis, stamp dealer, 59 years, born 16.08.29, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, American, seat number 15H

Asrelsky, Rachel Marie, student, 21 years, born 26.11.67, New York, New York, American, seat number 38D

Atkinson, William Garretson III, engineer, 33 years, born 18.08.55, London, England, American, seat number 15A

Atkinson, Judith Ellen, art historian and consultant, 37 years, born 18.01.51, London, England, American, seat number 15B

Bacciochi, Clare Louise, hair stylist, 19 years, born 15.03.69, Warwickshire, England, British, seat number 50K

Bainbridge, Harry Michael, attorney, 34 years, born 16.11.54, Montrose, New York, American, seat number 4B

Barclay, Stuart Murray, businessman, 29 years, born 28.11.59, Farm Barnard, Vermont, Canadian, seat number 18G

Bell, Jean Mary, 44 years, born 16.03.44, Berkshire, England, British, seat number 5A

Benello, Julian MacBain, student, 25 years, born 28.12.62, Brookline, Massachusetts, American, seat number 23H

Bennett, Lawrence Ray, pharmaceutical chemist, 41 years, born 05.11.47, Chelsea, Michigan, American, seat number 15J

Bergstrom, Philip Vernon, army sergeant, 22 years, born 21.12.66, Forest Lake, Minnesota, American, seat number 46A

Berkley, Alistair David, professor of law, 29 years, born 11.04.59, London, England, American

Bernstein, Michael Stuart, lawyer, U.S. Dept. of Justice, Office of Special Investigation, 36 years, born 03.07.52, Bethesda, Maryland, American, seat number 47D

Berrell, Steven Russell, student, 2O years, born 19.06.68, Fargo, North Dakota, American, seat number 46F

Bhatia, Surinder Mohan, businessman, 51 years, born 21.05.37, Los Angeles, California, American, seat number 34D

Bissett, Kenneth John, student, 21 years, born 19.12.67, Hartsdale, New York, American, seat number 31J

Boatman-Fuller, Diane Anne, playwright, 37 years, born 08.01.53, London, England, American, seat number 22H

Boland, Stephen John, student, 20 years, born 28.09.68, Nashua, New Hampshire, American, seat number 46 G

Bouckley, Glen John, sales, 27 years, born 24.02.61, Liverpool, New York, British, seat number 39K

Bouckley, Paula Marie, sales, 29 years, born 14.10.59, Liverpool, New York, American, seat number 39J

Boulanger, Nicole Elise, student, 21 years, born 28.10.67, Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, American, seat number 28B

Boyer, Francis, 43 years, born 22.06.45, Toulosane, France, French, seat number 9A

Bright, Nicholas, businessman, 32 years, born 29.08.56, Brookline, Massachusetts, American, seat number 13A

Browner (Bier), Daniel Solomon, 23 years, born 20.08.65, Parod, Israel, Israeli, seat number 21A

Brunner, Colleen Renee, student, 20 years, born 01.04.68, Hamburg, New York, American, seat number 44C

Burman, Timothy Guy, banker, 24 years, born 09.10.64, London, England, British, seat number 38G

Buser, Michael Warren, advertising executive, 34 years, born 08.08.54, Ridgefield Park, New Jersey, American, seat number 35B

Buser, Warren Max, civil engineer, 62 years, born 22.09.26, Glen Rock, New Jersey, American, seat number 35A

Butler, Steven Lee, teacher, 35 years, born 30.08.53, Denver, Colorado, American, seat number 36G

Cadman, William Martin, musician, 32 years, born 10.09.56, London, England, British, seat number 29J

Caffarone, Fabiana, 28 years, born 30.09.60, London, England, British, seat number 7B

Caffarone, Hernan, 28 years, born14.12.60, London, England, Argentinean, seat number 7A

Canady, Valerie, auditor, 25 years, born 29.06.63, Morgantown, West Virginia, American, seat number 24K

Capasso, Gregory, student, 21 years, born 12.12.67, Brooklyn, New York, American, seat number 48H

Cardwell, Timothy Michael, student, 21 years, born 05.07.67, Cresco, Pennsylvania, American, seat number 37D

Carlsson, Bernt Wilmar, diplomat, 50 years, born 21.11.38, New York, New York, Swedish, seat number 17H

Cawley, Richard Anthony, businessman, 43 years, born 09.07.45, New York, New York, American, seat number 16J

Ciulla, Frank, banker, 45 years, born 06.08.43, Park Ridge, New Jersey, American, seat number 11B

Cohen, Theodora Eugenia, student, 20 years, born 10.09.68, Port Jervis, New York, American, seat number 21H

Coker, Eric Michael, student, 20 years, born 23.04.68, Mendham, New Jersey, American, seat number 43B

Coker,Jason Michael, student, 20 years, born 23.04.68, Mendham, New Jersey, American, seat number 43A

Colasanti, Gary Leonard, student, 20 years, born 01.08.68, Melrose, Massachusetts, American, seat number 43C

Concannon, Bridget, 53 years, born 13.07.35, Oxfordshire, England, Irish, seat number 33H

Concannon, Sean, 16 years, born 18.02.72, Oxfordshire, England, British, seat number 33J

Concannon, Thomas, 51 years, born 21.11.37, Oxfordshire, England, Irish, seat number 33G

Corner, Tracey Jane, 17 years, born 04.05.71, Sheffield, England, British, seat number 33A

Cory, Scott, student, 20 years, born 27.09.68, Old Lyme Court, Connecticut, American, seat number 46D

Coursey, Willis Larry, military, 40 years, born 25.08.48, San Antonio, Texas, American, seat number 36K

Coyle, Patricia Mary, student, 20 years, born 04.06.68, Wallingford, Connecticut, American, seat number 20B

Cummock, John Binning, 38 years, born 31.05.50, Coral Gables, Florida, American, seat number 3A

Curry, Joseph Patrick, army captain, 31 years, born 21.03.57, Fort Devens, Massachusetts, American, seat number 44K

Daniels, William, Allen, research chemist, 40 years, born 28.03.48, Belle Mead, New Jersey, American, seat number 9H

Dater, Gretchen Joyce, student, 20 years, born 17.05.68, Ramsey, New Jersey, American, seat number 52J

Davis, Shannon, student, 19 years, born 19.02.69, Shelton, Connecticut, American, seat number 31A

Della-Ripa, Gabriel, Pan Am Airlines employee, 46 years, born 03.04.42, Floral Park, New York, Italian, seat number 2B

DiMauro, Joyce Christine, marketing director, 32 years, born 09.05.56, New York, New York, American, seat number 11J

DiNardo, Gianfranca, 26 years, born 14.10.62, London, England, Italian, seat number 20C

Dix, Peter Thomas Stanley, management consultant, 35 years, born 06.05.53, London, England, Irish, seat number 14B

Dixit, Om, college professor, 54 years, born 29.12.33, Fairborn, Ohio, Indian, seat number 24A

Dixit, Shanti, 54 years, born 14.12.34, Fairborn, Ohio, American, seat number 24B

Dornstein, David Scott, student, 25 years, born 03.04.63, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, American, seat number 40K

Doyle, Michael Joseph, accountant, 30 years, born 21.05.58, Voorhees, New Jersey, American, seat number 9B

Eggleston, Edgar Howard III, air force sergeant, 24 years, born 13.10.64, Glens Falls, New York, American, seat number 32D

Ergin, Turhan, student, 22 years, born 14.05.66, West Hartford, Connecticut, American, seat number 28C

Fisher, Charles Thomas IV, banker, 34 years, born 24.12.53, London, England, American, seat number 25K

Flick, Clayton Lee, businessman, 25 years, born 23.02.63, Coventry, England, British, seat number 50J

Flynn, John Patrick, student, 21 years, born 24.11.67, Montville, New Jersey, American, seat number 45A

Fondiler, Arthur, attorney, 33 years, born 12.12.55, West Armonk, New York, American, seat number 47C

Fortune, Robert Gerard, insurance executive, 40 years, born 24.07.48, Jackson Heights, New York, American, seat number 1A

Freeman, Paul Matthew Stephen, 25 years, born 02.04.63, London, England, Canadian, Seat Number 46B

Fuller, James Ralph, corporate vice president, 50 years, born 17.09.38, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, America, seat number 3H

Gabor, Ibolya Robertine, 79 years, born 14.06.09, Budapest, Hungary, Hungarian, seat number 26F

Gallagher, Amy Beth, student, 22 years, born 30.08.66, Pointe Claire, Quebec, Canada, American, seat number 23G

Gannon, Matthew Kevin, foreign service officer, 34 years, born 11.08.54, Los Angeles, California, American, seat number 14J

Garczynski, Kenneth Raymond, industrial engineer, 37 years, born 17.10.51, North Brunswick, New Jersey, American, seat number 47K

Gibson, Kenneth James, army specialist four, 20 years, born 16.02.68, Romulus, Michigan, American, seat number 48K

Giebler, William David, bond broker, 29 years, born 08.07.59, London, England, American, seat number 30B

Gordon, Olive Leonora, 25 years, born 09.03.63, London, England, British, seat number 45G

Gordon-Gorgacz, Linda Susan, 39 years, born 15.09.49, London, England, American, seat number 37A

Gorgacz, Anne Madelene, 76 years, born 27.09.12, Newcastle, Pennsylvania, American, seat number 38A

Gorgacz, Loretta Anne, 47 years, born 15.03.41, Newcastle, Pennsylvania, American, seat number 37B

Gould, David, college professor, 45 years, born 03.01.43, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, American, seat number 22C

Guevorgian, Andre Nikolai, businessman, 32 years, born 11.11.56, Sea Cliff, New York, American, seat number 11A

Hall, Nicola Jane, 23 years, born 03.02.65, Sandton, South Africa, South African, seat number 23K

Halsch, Lorraine Frances, special education teacher, 31 years, born 06.11.57, Fairport, New York, American, seat number 35C

Hartunian, Lynne Carol, student, 21 years, born 13.03.67, Schenectady, New York, American, seat number 44A

Hawkins, Anthony Lacey, businessman, 57 years, born 13.11.31, Brooklyn, New York, British, seat number 28K

Herbert, Pamela Elaine, student, 19 years, born 27.03.69, Battle Creek, Michigan, American, seat number 37J

Hilbert, Rodney Peter, 40 years, born 19.07.48, Newton, Pennsylvania, American, seat number 16H

Hill, Alfred, 29 years, born 29.06.59, Sonthofen, Germany, German, seat number 14A

Hollister, Katherine Augusta, student, 20 years, born 26.08.68, Rego Park, New York, American, seat number 54C

Hudson, Josephine Lisa, nurse, 22 years, born 14.05.66, London, England, British, seat number 50D

Hudson, Melina Kristina, student, 16 years, born 25.01.72, Albany, New York, seat number American 29A

Hudson, Sophie Ailette Miriam, 26 years, born 22.09.62, Paris, France, French, seat number 29H

Hunt, Karen Lee, student, 20 years, born 07.01.68, Webster, New York, American, seat number 31K

Hurst, Roger Elwood, marketing manager, 38 years, born 12.07.50, Ringwood, New Jersey, American, seat number 2H

Ivell, Elizabeth Sophie, dog handler, 19 years, born 21.04.69, East Sussex, England, British, seat number 19C

Jaafar, Khalid Nazir, student, 20 years, born 01.05.68, Dearborn, Michigan, American, seat number 53K

Jeck, Robert van Houten, 57 years, born 08.10.31, Mountain Lakes, New Jersey, American, seat number 4J

Jeffreys, Paul Avron, musician, 36 years, born 13.02.52, Surrey, England, British, seat number 38J

Jeffreys, Rachel, advertising executive, 23, years, born 29.04.65, Surrey, England, British, seat number 38H

Jermyn, Kathleen Mary, student, 20 years, born 27.12.67, Staten Island, New York, American, seat number 49A

Johnson, Beth Ann, student, 21 years, born 24.03.67, Greensburg, Pennsylvania, American, seat number 36B

Johnson, Mary Alice Lincoln, student, 25 years, born 14.06.63, Wayland, Massachusetts, American, seat number 33D

Johnson, Timothy Baron, student, 21 years, born 30.11.67, Neptune, New Jersey, American, seat number 26A

Jones, Christopher Andrew, student, 20 years, born 04.03.68, Claverack, New York, American, seat number 52K

Kelly, Julianne Frances, student, 20 years, born 27.06.68, Dedham, Massachusetts, American, seat number 21E

Kingham, Jay Joseph, pharmaceuticals executive, 44 years, born 03.03.44, Potomac, Maryland, American, seat number 5B

Klein, Patricia Ann, social worker, 35 years, born 16.06.53, Trenton, New Jersey, American, seat number 28A

Kosmowski, Gregory, marketing executive, 40 years, born 08.10.48, MiIford, Michigan, American, seat number 8H

Kulukundis, Minas Christopher, ship brokerage director, 38 years, born 17.12.50, London, England, British, seat number 51K

LaRiviere, Ronald Albert, 33 years, born 19.11.55, Alexandria, Virginia, American, seat number 20H

Leckburg, Robert Milton, engineer, 30 years, born 12.10.58, Piscataway, New Jersey, seat number American 34C

Leyrer, William Chase, businessman, 46 years, born 24.08.42, Bay Shore, New York, American 2J

Lincoln, Wendy Anne, student, 23 years, born 21.01.65, North Adams, Massachusetts, American, seat number 28D

Lowenstein, Alexander Silas, student, 21 years, born 25.02.67, Morristown, New Jersey, American, seat number 20D

Ludlow, Lloyd David, army sergeant first class, 41 years, born 06.02.47, Macksville, Kansas, American, seat number 51A

Lurbke, Maria Theresia, 25 years, born 26.11.63, Balve Beckum, Germany, German, seat number 52A

Mack, William Edward, puppeteer, 30 years, born 24.04.58, New York, New York, American, seat number 36B

Malicote, Douglas Eugene, army specialist four, 22 years, born 31.08.66, Lebanon, Ohio, American, seat number 48B

Malicote, Wendy Gay, 21 years, born 31.07.67, Lebanon, Ohio, American, seat number 48A

Marek, Elizabeth Lillian, actress and peace activist, 30 years, born 17.02.58, New York, New York, American, seat number 36C

Marengo, Louis Anthony, marketing director, 33 years, born 09.02.55, Rochester, Michigan, American, seat number 3J

Martin, Noel George, 27 years, born 31.05.61, Clapton, England, Jamaican, seat number 53A

Maslowski, Diane Marie, currency trader, 30 years, born 10.08.58, New York, American, seat number 8B

McAllister, William John, 26 years, born 18.10.62 in the Isle of Mull, Argyll, Scotland , Scottish, seat number 14E

McCarthy, Daniel Emmet, banker, 31 years, born 02.11.57, Brooklyn, New York, American, seat number 6B

McCollum, Robert Eugene, university professor, 61 years, born 12.05.27, Wayne, Pennsylvania, American, seat number 7J

McKee, Charles Dennis, army major, 40 years, born 03.12.48 , Arlington, Virginia, American, seat number 15F

McLaughlin, Bernard Joseph, marketing manager, 30 years, born 12.12.58, Cranston, Rhode Island, American, seat number 36A

Melber, Jane Susan, musician and teacher, 27 years, born 01.01.61, Middlesex, England, American, seat number 27H

Merrill, John, seaman, 35 years, born 11.07.53, Hertfordshire, England, British, seat number 37K

Miazga, Suzanne Marie, student, 22 years, born 31.07.66, Marcy, New York, American, seat number 23A

Miller, Joseph Kenneth, accounting firm executive, 56 years, born 27.05.32, Woodmere, New York, American, seat number 10B

Mitchell, Jewel Courtney, army second lieutenant, 32 years, born 14.06.56, Brooklyn, New York, American, seat number 27A

Monetti, Richard Paul, student, 20 years, born 11.09.68, Cherry Hill, New Jersey, American, seat number 20E

Morgan, Jane Ann, attorney, 37 years, born 19.03.51, London, England, American, seat number 42A

Morson, Eva Ingeborg, 48 years, born 29.04.40, New, York, New York, American, seat number 19G

Mosey, Helga Rachael, student, 19 years, born 21.09.69, West Midlands, England, British, seat number 22K

Mulroy, Ingrid Elizabeth, 25 years, born 22.04.63, Lund, Sweden, Swedish, seat number 34J

Mulroy, John, journalist, 59 years, born 01.04.29, East Northport, New York, American, seat number 34G

Mulroy, Sean Kevin, 25 years, born 03.05.63, Lund, Sweden, American, seat number 34H

Noonan, Karen Elizabeth, student, 20 years, born 26.12.67, Potomac, Maryland, American, seat number 20A

O'Connor, Daniel Emmett, U.S. diplomatic service, 31 years, born 22.09.57, Dorchester, Massachusetts, American, seat number 25H

O'Neil, Mary Denice, student, 2l years, born 02.04.67, Bronx, New York, American, seat number 38K

Otenasek, Anne Lindsey, student, 21 years, born 31.01.67, Baltimore, Maryland, American, seat number 45K

Owen, Bryony Elise, 1 year, born 29.04.87, Bristol, England, British, seat number 19D

Owen, Gwyneth Yvonne Margaret, student, 29 years, born 03.05.59, Bristol, England, British, seat number 19D

Owens, Laura Abigail, 8 years, born 01.01.80, Cherry Hill, New Jersey, American, seat number 35K

Owens, Martha, 44 years, born 02.06.44, Cherry Hill, New Jersey, American, seat number 35H

Owens, Robert Plack, 45 years, born 05.03.43, Cherry Hill, New Jersey, American, seat number 35G

Owens, Sarah Rebecca, 14 years, born 09.12.74, Cherry Hill, New Jersey, American, seat number 35J

Pagnucco, Robert Italo, attorney, 51 years, born 20.10.37, South Salem, New York, American, seat number 4A

Papadopoulos, Christos Michael, 45 years, born 11.11.43, North Lawrence, New York, American, seat number 17A

Peirce, Peter Raymond, architect and student, 40 years, born 28.09.48, Perrysburg, Ohio, American, seat number 47G

Pescatore, Michael, businessman, 33 years, born 06.09.55, Solon, Ohio, American, seat number 17J

Philipps, Sarah Susannah Buchanan, student, 20 years, born 15.08.68, Newtonville, Massachusetts, American, seat number 49C

Phillips, Frederick Sandford, student, 27 years, born 08.05.61, Little Rock, Arkansas, American, seat number 21F

Pitt, James Andrew Campbell, student, 24 years, born 06.11.64, South Hadley, Massachusetts, American, seat number 29K

Platt, David, architect, 33 years, born 13.12.55, Staten Island, New York, American, seat number 8A

Porter, Walter Leonard, musician, 35 years, born 10.03.53, Brooklyn, New York, American, seat number 25C

Posen, Pamela Lynn, student, 20 years, born 30.01.68, Harrison, New York, American, seat number 26K

Pugh, William, businessman, 56 years, born 29.02.32, Margate, New Jersey, American, seat number 21D

Quiguyan, Crisostomo Estrella, hotel cashier, 43 years, born 16.03.45, London, England, Filipino, seat number 30A

Ramses, Rajesh Tarsis Priskel, 35 years, born 26.05.53, Leicester, England, Indian, seat number 22A

Rattan, Anmol, 2 years, born 24.09.86, Warren, Michigan. American, seat number 24C

Rattan, Garima, computer programmer, 29 years, born 15.07.59, Warren, Michigan, American, seat number 23D

Rattan, Suruchi, 3 years, born 20.06.85, Warren, Michigan. American, seat number 23E

Reeves, Anita Lynn, 24 years, born 03.09.64, Laurel, Maryland, American, seat number 45D

Rein, Mark Alan, businessman, 44 years, born 12.02.44, New York, New York, American, seat number 2A

Rencevicz, Diane Marie, student, 21 years, born 13.07.67, Burlington, New Jersey, American, seat number 29G

Rogers, Louise Ann, student, 20 years, born 13.02.67, Olney, Maryland, American, seat number 29D

Roller, Edina, 5 years, born 24.11.83, Hungary, Hungarian, seat number 26D

Roller, Janos Gabor, 29 years, born 26.03.59, Hungary, Hungarian, seat number 26E

Roller, Zsuzsana, 27 years, born 21.12.61, Hungary, Hungarian, seat number 26G

Root, Hanne Maria, management consultant, 26 years, born 15.12.62, Toronto, Canada, Canadian, seat number 34K

Rosen, Saul Mark, businessman, 35 years, born 24.11.53, Morris Plains, New Jersey, American, seat number 32A

Rosenthal, Andrea Victoria, student, 22 years, born 05.02.66, New York, New York, American, seat number 35D

Rosenthal, Daniel Peter, student, 20 years, born 02.06.68, Staten Island, New York, American, seat number 21J

Rubin, Arnaud David, 28 years, born 18.05.60, Waterloo, Belgium, Belgian, seat number 39G

Saraceni, Elyse Jeanne, student, 20 years, born 01.06.68, East London, England, American, seat number 36D

Saunders, Scott Christopher, student, 21 years, born 20.05.67, Macungie, Pennsylvania, American, seat number 24D

Saunders, Theresa Elizabeth Jane, marketing, 28 years, born 24.10.60, Sunbury-on-Thames, England, British, seat number 14F

Schauble, Johannes Otto, 41 years, born 08.08.47, Kappellenweg, Germany, German, seat number 49K

Schlageter, Robert Thomas, student, 20 years, born 12.08.68, Warwick, Rhode Island American, seat number 28G

Schultz, Thomas Britton, student, 20, years, born 05.01.68, Ridgefield, Connecticut, American, seat number 45C

Scott, Sally Elizabeth, chef, 22 years, born 17.01.66, Huntington, New York, British, seat number 56G

Shapiro, Amy Elizabeth, student, 21 years, born 28.10.67, Stamford, Connecticut, American, seat number 37G

Shastri, Mridula, 24 years, born 12.02.64, Oxford, England, Indian, seat number 24H

Sheanshang, Joan, 46 years, born 16.12.42, New York, New York, American, seat number 41C

Sigal, Irving Stanley, research biologist, 35 years, born 23.05.53, Pennington, New Jersey, American, seat number 13B

Simpson, Martin Bernard Christopher, financier, 52 years, born 25.10.36, Brooklyn, New York, American, seat number 27K

Smith, Cynthia Joan, student, 21 years, born 06.10.67, Milton, Massachusetts, American, seat number 41A

Smith, Ingrid Anita, chiropodist, 31 years, born 12.11.57, Berkshire, England, British, seat number 4H

Smith, James Alvin, 55 years, born 11.03.33, New York, New York, American, seat number 27G

Smith, Mary Edna, army sergeant, 34 years, born 14.07.54, Kalamazoo, Michigan, American, seat number 34A

Stevenson, Geraldine Anne, 37 years, born 31.03.51, Surrey, England, British, seat number 22E

Stevenson, Hannah Louise, 10 years, born 23.09.78, Surrey, England, British, seat number 22F

Stevenson, John Charles, 38 years, born 13.09.50, Surrey, England, British, seat number 22D

Stevenson, Rachael, 8 years, born 01.09.80, Surrey, England, British, seat number 22G

Stinnett, Charlotte Ann, 36 years, born 07.02.52, Duncanville, Texas, American, seat number 19J

Stinnett, Michael Gary, army specialist, 26 years, born 27.05.62, Duncanville, Texas, American, seat number 19H

Stinnett, Stacey Leanne, 9 years, born 30.07.79, Duncanville, Texas, American, seat number 19K

Stow, James Ralph, businessman, 49 years, born 18.07.39, New York, New York, American, seat number 15E

Stratis, Elia G., accountant, 43 years, born 17.06.45, Montvale, New Jersey, American, seat number 1B

Swan, Anthony Selwyn, 29 years, born 15.05.59, Brooklyn, New York, Trinidadian, seat number 41K

Swire, Flora MacDonald Margaret, medical student and researcher, 24 years, born 22.12.64, London, England, British, seat number 39D

Tager, Marc Alex, 22 years, born 03.08.66, London, England, British, seat number 26H

Tanaka, Hidekazu, 26 years, born 13.05.62, London, England, Japanese, seat number 24G

Teran, Andrew Alexander, student, 20 years, born 31.08.68, New Haven, Connecticut, Bolivian, seat number 27D

Thomas, Arva Anthony, student, 17 years, born 26.04.71, Detroit, Michigan, American, seat number 19A

Thomas, Jonathan Ryan, 2 months, born 29.09.88, Southfield, Michigan, American, seat number 32K

Thomas, Lawanda, air force sergeant, 21 years, born 17.02.67, Southfield, Michigan, American, seat number 32K

Tobin, Mark Lawrence, student, 21 years, born 04.04.67, North Hempstead, New York, American, seat number 32G

Trimmer-Smith, David William, publishing executive, 51 years, born 26.04.37, New York, New York, American, seat number 12A

Tsairis, Alexia Kathryn, student, 20 years, born 06.07.68, Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, American, seat number 21G

Valentino, Barry Joseph, exhibit designer, 28 years, born 25.02.60, San Francisco, California, American, seat number 20G

Van-Tienhoven, Thomas Floro, 45 years, born 30.05.43, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Argentinean, seat number 2B

Vejdany, Asaad Eidi, 46 years, born 24.02.42, South Great Neck, New York, American, seat number 20C

Vrenios, Nicholas Andreas, student, 20 years, born 20.08.68, Washington, DC, American, seat number 46E

Vulcu, Peter, stockbroker and student, 21 years, born 01.08.67, Alliance, Ohio, American, seat number 20K

Waido, Janina Jozefa, 61 years, born 19.03.27, Chicago, Illinois, American, seat number 50A

Walker, Thomas Edwin, electronics specialist, 47 years, born 11.12.41, Quincy, Massachusetts, American, seat number 16A

Weedon, Kesha, student, 20 years, born 02.10.68, Bronx, New York, American, seat number 37H

Weston, Jerome Lee, engineer, 45 years, born 11.11.43, Baldwin, New York, American, seat number 10A

White, Jonathan, accountant, 33 years, born 14.07.55, North Hollywood, California, American, seat number 55J

Williams, Bonnie Leigh, military, 21 years, born 12.01.67, Crown Point, New York, American, seat number 46K

Williams, Brittany Leigh, 2 months, born 13.10.88, Crown Point, New York, American, seat number 46J

Williams, Eric Jon, army sergeant, 24 years, born 15.08.64, Crown Point, New York, American, seat number 46J

Williams, George Waterson, army first lieutenant, 24 years, born 17.05.64, Joppa, Maryland, American, seat number 33K

Williams, Stephanie Leigh, 1 year, born 23.05.87, Crown Point, New York, American, seat number 46K

Wolfe, Miriam Luby, student, 20 years, born 26.09.68, Severna Park, Maryland, American, seat number 21K

Woods, Chelsea Marie, 10 months, born 06.02.88, Willingboro, New Jersey, American, seat number 25F

Woods, Dedera Lynn, air force sergeant, 27 years, born 04.02.61, Willingboro, New Jersey, American, seat number 25G

Woods, Joe Nathan, civilian military worker, 28 years, born 05.03.60, Willingboro, New Jersey, American, seat number 25D

Woods, Joe Nathan, Jr., 2 years, born 24.09.86, Willingboro, New Jersey, American, seat number 25E

Wright, Andrew Christopher Gillies, site agent, 24 years, born 02.05.64, Surrey, England, British, seat number 55G

Zwynenburg, Mark James, investment banker, 29 years, born 14.10.59, West Nyack, New York, American, seat number 12B

Lockerbie Residents

Flannigan, Kathleen Mary, 41 years, born 26.01.47, 16 Sherwood Crescent

Flannigan, Thomas Brown, 44 years, born 20.12.44, 16 Sherwood Crescent

Flannigan, Joanne, 10 years, born 13.06.78, 16 Sherwood Crescent

Henry, Dora Henrietta, 56 years, born 27.03.32, 13 Sherwood Crescent

Henry, Maurice Peter, 63 years, born 18.07.25, 13 Sherwood Crescent

Lancaster, Mary, 81 years, born 12.01.07, 11 Sherwood Crescent

Murray, Jean Aitkin, 82 years, born 29.11.06, 14 Sherwood Crescent

Somerville, John, 40 years, born 31.05.48, 15 Sherwood Crescent

Somerville, Rosaleen Later, affectionately know as 'Rosalind', 40 years, born 31.05.48, 15 Sherwood Crescent

Somerville, Paul, 13 years, born 21.01.75, 15 Sherwood Crescent

Somerville, Lyndsey Ann, 10 years, 13.07.78, 15 Sherwood Crescent

night of silence

2010-12-19T00:54:00.000-08:00

Possibly my favorite Advent Carol of all time, composed by Daniel Kantor (1981). This performance by the San Diego Men's Chorus. Stunning in its simplicity. Nearly unimprovable. Nothing more to say. Please listen.

Much love to all this Christmas season.

Cold are the people, Winter of life.
We tremble in shadows this cold endless night.
Frozen in the snow lie roses sleeping.
Flowers that will echo the sunrise.
Fire of hope is our only warmth.
Weary, its flame will be dying soon.

Spirit among us, Shine like the star.
Your light that guides shepherds and kings from afar.
Shimmer in the sky so empty, lonely-
Rising in the warmth of your Son's love.
Star unknowing of night and day, Spirit we wait for your loving Son.

the eagle has landed

2010-12-18T01:14:00.000-08:00

For John, on the second anniversary of his untimely passing. Rest well.

That was John's code. It meant that he had gotten some last night. I would see this message scrawled on a business card left in my cubicle.

It was 1985, and I was working for a major corporation in Michigan. John was my most intense post college friendship,we were like frat brothers who hadn't met until after graduation. He was my IT support person, and the term "Metrosexual" was probably coined to describe him. Our first post-work adventure was shopping at J.L Hudson. I should have had an inkling.

We became close friends, traveling companions, drinking pals and bong buddies. Living in a rust belt town with very limited sophistication, we learned to travel. We traveled for shopping, for movies, for concerts, for adventures. I saw Betty Blue, the Psychadelic Furs, Sid and Nancy, The Pretenders, and Blue Velvet because of him. He had friends in Chicago. I wanted to see the Prairie Home Companion in Minneapolis. He wanted to experience Boxing Day in Toronto. By now we were also workout buddies, and we had both noticed a certain spark in the shower, although we both double dated with women. By now I had noted that my future was elsewhere, but I was yet to act on it.

It was on a weekend trip to Dad's cabin in a Michigan winter that we managed to land the Eagle ourselves. The cabin had a gas powered sauna, which once warmed up, allowed our relationship to find a new level. He admitted that he was bisexual in words moments before he demonstrated it in gesture. At some point his wrist somehow made contact with the heating element, causing a burn which he wore as his mark of retribution for weeks to come. It was one of many inside jokes we would have. And it was the first that I began to notice a pattern of him disappearing for a while after the Eagle landed. But he always came back around, and the situation repeated itself.

I guess it peaked on our trip to Europe. We had both scheduled vacation for the same week. The entire office knew where I was going, and John created a cover story of a camping trip. Only our General Manager's secretary knew the real story, and we sent her a post card from Paris. Paris was wonderful. Our first night there we shared the company of a girl named Gina, on subsquent evenings we somehow got by without her. We discovered early on that wine was cheaper than Coca Cola, so we drank heavily and fucked like dogs. His regret spirals were conveniently short in duration by then, and pretty much gone by nightfall. And while I never thought of him as gay, it became clear that he was enjoying himself. Perhaps this was his week to just let his guard down and live. I must admit he did it well.

Things cooled after that trip, as I had suspected they would. I was now ready to be out, and steered accordingly. I believed he was bi, so his needs were much more supplemental in nature. We spent less time together, although we remained friends. I transferred to Chicago, he took a job in Denver. We saw each other a few times after that. He came up one weekend to Chicago, I spent thanksgiving one year with his new girlfriend and himself. We spoke of the past landings of the Eagle in code.

I guess the letters stopped shortly after I moved to California. I saw him on a flight to Atlanta in the summer of '97, he wore a wedding band and a few extra pounds. We exchanged pleasantries but neither seemed compelled to stay in touch. Our paths were divergent by then.

It was on a whim that I typed his name into google and found a memorial site in his honor. Cancer, at age forty-eight, leaving a wife and two surviving children. Damn. Very sad.

I recall one conversation over Guinness Stout where he asked, "Where are the friends that we are going to know for the rest of our lives?" I wish I had been that friend for him. I'm certainly grateful for the adventures we had.

For John, in remembrance of Paris all those years ago, Edith Piaf from the year of his birth and Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien.

Rest well, my friend. No regrets.

blanche waits for santa

2010-12-17T11:25:00.000-08:00

Looking for a festive holiday performance art display that your neighbors will remember for years to come? Well, here's one that's easy. Take one 1964 Cadillac Sedan de Ville, preferably in a Holiday compatible color. I chose Blanche, nicknamed for obvious reasons.

Position Blanche on your lawn. Use 300 outdoor red lights to outline the defining characteristics of the car, especially the tail fins and the peak of the hood. Now add nine hundred sequential blinking white lights on the horizontal surfaces to simulate snowfall. Add a festive holiday wreath on the grille, and optionally, a plastic Santa behind the wheel. Wait until dusk, turn on parking lamps, and enjoy. Serves thousands.

remembering park slope

2010-12-16T14:56:00.000-08:00

Fifty years ago today, on December 16, 1960, the residents of the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn were in the middle of a brisk winter morning when a most unwelcome visitor descended among them- a brand new United Airlines DC-8 Mainliner. The big jet, only a year old, had collided with a TWA Super Constellation in mid flight and was plunging to a premature end in a busy New York neighborhood. It happened much too quickly for anyone to react. A few miles away in Staten Island, a TWA Constellation on final approach to La Guardia was making a similar plunge.

Sadly, it wasn't the first time that such a meeting had happened. Just four years prior, an eerily similar accidental collision between a United DC-7 Turboprop and another TWA Constellation sent them both plunging into the Grand Canyon, where the wreckage remained for years.

The "Star of Sicily" was a Lockheed Super Constellation, model L-1049. It had entered service in 1952 and was just over eight years old with 21,000 odd hours in flight. It carried registration number N6907C and had departed Columbus, OH at 9 AM bound for New York's La Guardia with 39 passengers and a crew of 5. The triple-tailed Turbo Propeller driven Super Constellation was the backbone of TWA, a design from the immediate postwar era which had been the staple of air travel in the fifties, but was just now being outpaced by the new jet airliners entering the market from Boeing and Douglas.

In contrast, the United Airlines Douglas DC-8-11 Jet was nearly brand new. N8013U was only the twenty-second DC-8 off the assembly line. It had been completed in 1959 but not delivered to United until after the DC-8 received its Airworthiness Certificate in August of that year. The plane had only 2,434 hours in the air at the time of loss. Its powerful Pratt and Whitney JT3-C engines allowed it a cruising speed that was nearly double that of the Connie. Ironically, this aircraft carried the name "Mainliner Will Rogers", after the beloved orator who, tragically, had been killed in an air crash hinself in 1936. N8013U had departed Chicago O'Hare Airport at 9:11 AM bound for New York Idlewild with 77 passengers and a crew of seven.

The flights appeared to proceed routinely for both aircraft, except for limited visibility due to clouds and some fog. The United Flight was under the control of New York Air Route Traffic Control Center, which had guided them to a holding pattern point known as Preston and governed their descent from 25,000 to 5,000 feet, at which point they would be advised to contact Idlewild Approach. Unknown to NYART was the fact that N8013U's VOR radio receiver was misbehaving, meaning that their ability to hold their precise assigned course was less than certain. In fact, they were eleven miles off course and instead of circling Preston, were headed directly for Miller Field on Staten Island. In addition, they were traveling at just over 300 knots, despite being assigned an airspeed of 250.

At the same time, TWA Constellation N6907C was under the control of La Guardia approach and was also heading in the direction of Miller Army Air Station, while preparing for an ILS approach at Runway 04. The flight was descending to 5,000 feet when it was advised of "traffic at 2.30, six miles northeast", which was the misplaced DC-8. No acknowledgment came back from the TWA crew.

At 10:33 AM, both aircraft were flying inside cloud cover when suddenly, at an altitude of approximately 5,200 feet, the DC-8's number four engine sliced through the upper fuselage of the Constellation. The Connie's fuselage broke into three pieces and the wreckage fell about one mile onto Miller Field. The DC-8, badly damaged, continued for approximately ten miles before plummeting into the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn with the huge tail section coming to rest at the intersection of Seventh Avenue and Sterling Place. Victims and airplane parts rained from the sky. A church, a laundry, a funeral home and several apartment buildings were destroyed or badly damaged. Several people on the ground were killed, including occupants of a car that was crushed by the DC-8. All in all, over 130 people lost their lives in what was, at the time, the worst air disaster in American air space.

For a moment, there was a bright spot as rescuers found a survivor- eleven year old Steven Baltz of suburban Chicago was badly burned but alive. To many it seemed miraculous, and the whole city of New York prayed for him, but his injuries were too great. His lungs were badly damaged by the fire and the child succumbed to pneumonia the following day.

The tragedy was heartbreaking. The very first crash of a passenger jet in American airspace was a thoroughly avoidable collision of two totally airworthy craft. Two neighborhoods in ruins, and the greatest death toll in American history, and all ten days before Christmas. The heartbroken city dug out from the rubble, buried its dead and carried on. The tragic 1956 Grand Canyon crash had led to the "black box" data recorders on commercial aircraft, and significantly, this incident marks one of the first times such data was utilized in investigating a mishap. And there was one more significant development from this tragedy-then newly elected President Kennedy created a task force for Air Traffic Control that created the basic system that we use today.

This morning, to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the tragedy, the Park Slope Neighborhood Council and Methodist Hospital held a memorial service at Greenwood Cemetery and unveiled a granite memorial to those lost. It is a tragic reality that the development of safe passenger air travel has a human cost. This was not a wartime accident, this was a civilian accident in peaceful airspace. The victims were ordinary citizens. The child who survived briefly could have been any eleven year old in the country. Just people in their daily routine of travel, and the time of year certainly compounds the tragedy and adds a poignance. May the victims never be forgotten.

New York Times Park Slope Series Here

A reminiscence from Steven Baltz' Younger Brother Here

Life Magazine Photos of the Crash Scenes Here

50's Travel Photographs taken by Dean Bowen, TWA Co-Pilot lost in the crash, Here

from our house

2010-12-15T10:01:00.000-08:00

From Hallmark, 1954. A charming holiday bi-fold card, dimunitive in scale, from before the day when holiday greetings became so big and bossy.

From our house to your house, Merry Christmas.

patriot act

2010-12-10T15:25:00.000-08:00

I can't watch "I Love Lucy" anymore. It reminds me too much of her. The same strong will, the sheer determination. Nothing stood between Lucy and her crazy scheme. They were so much alike.

Like the time with the cookies. It was Christmastime 1990 and thanks to a Bush in the White House, we were building up to a war- Desert Shield, it was called at that time. Mom was seeing TV reports of all the troops away from home for the holiday and she wanted to do something nice for them. Somewhere she stumbled across a cookie recipe that was approved by the Marine Corps. It contained no processed sugar, instead it used fruit juice for sweetener. She baked a trial batch and declared it "not bad". She decided that instead of holiday cookies for the family, she would forego that this year and bake cookies for the troops instead.

I admit I encouraged her, I thought it was a cute little project that would give her something fun to do. I guessed she would make ten dozen, maybe twenty at the outset. It would give her something to talk about to the card club.

The cookies seemed to take a long time to bake. Every day it seemed she was mixing dough, or had a batch in the oven. Mother always thought big, I began to wonder exactly how many cookies she planned to bake. But it was her gig, I didn't interfere.

Finally the cookies were ready to ship. At that point I asked her point blank how many she had made. "Eleven Hundred" she said somewhat sheepishly. ""Eleven Hundred Cookies?" I asked. ""No" came her reply. "Eleven Hundred Dozen".

Eleven Hundred Dozen. Eleven Hundred DOZEN. She baked Thirteen Thousand Two Hundred cookies to send to the desert to feed to troops that she would never meet. She spent more than a month on the project. The Marines had to send four trucks to pick them all up. She received a Commendation from the Marine Corps Commander.

I told this story at the time to a client who chuckled and said, "Your Mother is quite a patriot". Yes, she was. And she was quite a Mom.

Originally published in Feb. 2008. Merry Christmas, Patsy.

animated gem

2010-12-09T09:40:00.001-08:00

So lovely I had to repeat it this year. A tiny treasure. From CBS, first shown for Christmas 1966. Stunning in its simplicity, this little gem embodies the spirit of Holidays. Designed by R.O. Blechman and animated by Willis Pyle. Hand drawn, if you can imagine a time when such gracious things happened. Music arranged by Arnie Black. Shown well into the seventies. Lovely. May your holidays be as exquisite. Love to all of you.

fairytale of new york

2010-12-04T19:53:00.000-08:00

Why does it work so well? It's a Christmas tale about the struggle of immigrants, about alcoholism and drug addiction, about failed dreams and broken relationships, anger tempered with the memory of love. An exquisite tale. No "all our troubles will be far away", no "chestnuts roasting on an open fire", this one's real- a remembrance set in pain. Take the Pogues, add in the the haunting and inimitable Kirsty Mac Coll, set it against the magical twinkling lights of New York and you have Fairytale of New York. Stunningly beautiful, a holiday switchblade from 1987 that still cuts to the bone.

You took my dreams from me, when I first found you.

Savor it:

friendly skies

2010-11-21T08:17:00.000-08:00

The news is exploding with horror stories about innocent airline passengers being submitted to incredibly invasive searches in exchange for the apparently suspicious act of attempting to board an aircraft. Women have been forced to remove their prosthetic breast, men humiliated over a prosthetic testicle, and one retired gentleman forced to remove his colostomy bag in a manner more befitting an autopsy than a security screening, all at the hands of the TSA.

I had my own experience with "enhanced security", at the hands of the Canadians back in August. I had done quite a bit of travel over the summer, thirteen flights in July and August. The last trip of the season took me to Vancouver. It was returning to the US that I found myself in the "enhanced security" line, and even though I have NEVER set off a metal detector in my life nor had any more serious encounter with the law than a parking ticket, I was given the opportunity to prove I was not a terrorist.

So while my laptop was being checked for bomb residue, I was given the choice of an invasive pat down or am electronic strip search. Here I digress. I've got a great cock, and everyone who sees it loves it. Thick, veiny shaft, pouting head, a gentle curve that drives em wild. Jumps to attention at a moment's notice. And I'm not ashamed to show it off. So I'm sure that the pervert who spends all day looking at peoples scanned junk LOVED it. They all do. And I have no doubt that he took a picture of it as a keepsake, because we all know that that line about no images able to be stored or printed is total bullshit. But just to prove no hard feelings, if he wants to send me the print, I'll autograph it for him. And maybe include a color print in the return envelope. Because it's not about my junk, which is primo, but rather about the total violation of my fourth amendment rights without ANY cause or justification whatsoever.

And then it gets worse. In the line next to me is a family of four- two blond, blue eyes parents probably about 30 years old and their two children, a boy of perhaps three years old and a little girl of four, plus all of the ephemera that comes with children of that age. As I am being processed, the male agents are checking the children's toys for bomb residue, then they glove up and proceed to pat down the kids themselves. The agents are both middle aged hefty men. And I am certain that I am watching child abuse. I glance over at the parents and they seem as horrified as I am. And it occurred to me, that if the safety of our society is truly dependent on white gloved thugs feeling up little girls, then we don't deserve to survive.

Ah, but our safety is worth it, blah blah blah, you blather. Yes, I would be more forgiving if it were in fact the only solution, or necessary or even successful, but it's all theater designed to give us the illusion of safety, and there's nothing about feeling up little girls or taking pictures of grandma's boobs that will make us one iota safer. Michael Chertoff is trying to tell you that it's the only answer, but he's a paid consultant for the scanner's maker, so his "expert" testimony is somewhat tainted. Experts agree the scanner is far from foolproof, so it will not make us magically safe. But it will condition us to give up our fourth amendment rights. Right now, the airport is Abu Ghraib without the dogs. And unless we scream, and scream at the top of our lungs, the fourth amendment will be irretrievably lost.

Want air safety? Call El Al. Since 1946, there have been zero terrorist incidents on their flights. And what accounts for their amazing record? They ask questions. Seemingly innocent question, but then they observe the answers. And based on this, they decide who is likely to be a risk and deserve further scrutiny. No shoes removed, no pictures of your cock, no one feeling up your grandmother.

They have air safety, we have theater. Currently our options are electronic strip search, enhanced pat downs, or not flying. It is not random that in July and August I was on thirteen commercial flights, and since my experience I have been on zero.

I have no further plans for flying under this climate of terror.

sunday tour: casual concours

2010-11-03T14:47:00.000-07:00

My favorite show. The Great Autos Casual Concours, now in its second year in Palm Springs. Over 160 cars arranged on lush green grass under perfect Desert skies. A marvelous day indeed. Lots of great forties classics, a sea of fabulous fifties and swingin sixties, and of course seventies madness. Three alumni who previously shared my garage. And bestof all, the efforts benefitted the Desert Aids Project and other local LGBT charities. Fun for all! Enjoy!

See More Photos Here

gayberry: one year later

2010-09-29T15:31:00.000-07:00

Exactly one year later, Serena and I awoke under desert skies as brand new residents. Surrounded by boxes, we were taken by the tranquility of our newly adopted home and hopeful that the change from the din of Los Angeles would prove to be a correct decision. Palm Springs. The Rainbow Casket. Gayberry. We were here.

At the one year mark, I must say that it has treated us both well. Serena peers out the glass door much of the day, and has developed a fondness for desert life. She is particularly fascinated by the Lizard channel.

I'm relaxed and reinvigorated by the pace of the desert. The social life here is more spontaneous than in LA, perhaps because of the lack of traffic. One is not exhausted and ready to drop by the time they get home, so there is still some energy remaining to meet people out for a drink or a bite. And there is only a minor penalty for distance, which is the leading cause of shut-ins on the west side. I can even drive all the way to Palm Desert in twenty minutes, even thought it's still too far or civilized people to attempt.

In the desert, forty-something isn't automatically equated with the dinosaurs, so being relative chicken and all I've even been asked out on dates. Specifically I've dated two different people in the last year, with unspectacular but non-menacing outcomes. Okay, I must be honest. One was quite promising from afar, but one examined close up had me scrambling for the witness protection program. (Memo to staff: better vetting.) The other was a nice guy with a kind smile, whose hobbies were gardening, and using the internet as his personal petting zoo. No big loss, and I'm still willing to entertain the notion should a more promising candidate amble by, so there we are.

And coolest of all, I'm keeping myself more or less afloat with this here writing thing. Paying gigs do interfere with ones blogging time, but I'm happy with what I'm doing and so far am keeping the wolf away from the door. Technically, he's three doors down.

But I think he's busy prowling on the internet.

Hope? Nope. DOPE.

2010-09-28T11:01:00.000-07:00

Roadside signage in Temecula, CA 9/23/10. Photo by Jeff Stork

crisp clear morning

2010-09-11T06:34:00.000-07:00

I was uncharacteristically awake at 5 am. Not one of those moments of awake where I then roll over and fall back asleep, but stone cold awake.

I decided to take a pre-dawn drive to relax myself. It's an hour of day where LA freeways are pretty much wide open. I took the 101 to the 405 to Mulholland, and drove back along the apex of the hills on a twisty two-lane mountain road. The sun gradually rose revealing a crisp, clear morning- cloudless and glorious. To my left was the San Fernando Valley, on my right was Hollywood. It all seemed so very serene.

I was smiling and relaxed when I pulled the car back into the garage at just after 6 am. Just what I needed- a glorious morning. Then I came inside and logged onto the computer just in time to read that the first tower had fallen.

To those who were lost, I wish eternal rest and peace.

To the families that are still trying to cope with their loss, I wish love and strength.

To the politicians who have usurped this tragedy and used it to rationalize an aggressive action totally unrelated to this, I wish eternal damnnation.

on this day

2010-09-11T06:24:00.000-07:00

We are reminded that the wonder that is modern air travel can be literally hijacked to become a vessel of mass destruction.

May all those affected find peace.

AA11 Boeing 767-223ER N334AA MSN 22332 Delivered 4/13/1987.
North Tower

Crew:

John Ogonowski, 52, Dracut, MA, Pilot
Thomas McGuinness, 42, Portsmouth, NH, First Officer
Barbara Arestegui, 38, Marstons Mills, MA, Flight Attendant
Jeffrey Collman, Flight Attendant
Sara Low, 28, Batesville, AK, Flight Attendant
Karen Martin, Flight Attendant
Kathleen Nicosia, Flight Attendant
Betty Ong, 45, Andover, MA, Flight Attendant
Jean Roger, 24, Longmeadow, MA, Flight Attendant
Dianne Snyder, 42, Westport, MA, Flight Attendant
Madeline Sweeney, 35, Acton, MA, Flight Attendant

UA175 Boeing 767-222ER N612UA MSN 21873 Delivered 4/8/1984.
South Tower

Crew:

Robert J. Fangman, Flight Attendant
Michael Horrocks, First Officer
Amy Jarret, 28, North Smithfield, RI - flight attendant
Amy R. King, Flight Attendant
Kathryn L. Laborie, Flight Attendant
Alfred G. Marchand, 44, Alamogordo, NM - flight attendant
Victor J. Saracini, 51, Yardley, PA - pilot
Michael C. Tarrou, Flight Attendant
Alicia N. Titus, 28, Flight Attendant

AA77 Boeing 757-223 N644AA MSN 24602 Delivered 5/8/1991
Pentagon

Crew:

Charles F. Burlingame, Herndon, VA, Pilot
David Charlebois, Washington DC, First Officer
Michele Heidenberger of Chevy Chase, MD, Flight Attendant
Jennifer Lewis, 38, Culpeper, VA Flight Attendant
Kenneth Lewis, 49, Culpeper, VA, Flight Attendant
Renee May, 39, Baltimore, MD, Flight Attendant.

UA93 Boeing 757-222 N591UA MSN 28142 Delivered 7/1/1996
Shanksville, PA

Crew:

Lorraine G. Bay, Flight Attendant
Sandra W. Bradshaw, Greensboro, NC - Flight Attendant
Jason Dahl, Denver, Colorado Pilot
Wanda A. Green, Flight Attendant
Leroy Homer, Marlton, NJ - First Officer
Cee Cee Lyles, Fort Meyers FL - Flight Attendant
Deborah A. Welsh, Flight Attendant

flint drive: angelo's coney island

2010-09-07T15:15:00.001-07:00

Flint natives will not need to read the text. And since only a handful of the rest of you will anyway, I'll keep it brief.

Angelo's was THE Coney Island restaurant, for the classic Flint Coney Island hot dog with genuine loose meat sauce, Koegel's Vienna dog, and steamed bun. Add onions and mustard. Heaven.

And besides thatm, a Flint institution. A fading location on Davison Rd. where it had been since 1960. A coworker used to say if you stayed there for a week, you'd see everyone in Flint. Politicians to whores. Often together. And we won't get into which is more trustworthy. (Ever had your taxed raised by a hooker?) Grandmother lived around the corner in a house with an old lady loan shark, who used to give her a break in the rent in exchange for answering the door late at night and taking the bad of money. Ah, the golden days of Flint.

Recently returned to the hands of the longtime owners that sold it to shady characters (no, not hookers) and set it on a decline. Now rescued, it looks very much the same as I remember. Controlled patina, for sure. I miss the original sign, which stood as a beacon since 1960 until it collapsed upon itself in a wind storm.

But all in all, a damn fine hot dog. Dad liked it too.

when pigs fly

2010-08-31T12:36:00.000-07:00

Unsigned era cartoon supplied by Jeffrey Struyk- given to him by a TWA Captain

The Flying Pig, aka Boeing 727-231

Okay, I'm back as you know and in honor of the eleven aircraft I rode last month and their highly differentiated flying characteristics, I offer this amusing and true tale from the hallowed halls of TWA.

The Boeing 727 was their second passenger jet. It was intended for smaller hops than the 707, and so it was smaller in length, and designed to be more efficient. There was a debate about whether to have two or three engines- in those days, at least three engines were required for international flights over water and jet fuel was ten cents a gallon, so that pretty much sealed the deal. The 727 took to the skies in late 1963 and TWA began flying then in the spring of 1964.

It was a very good plane and soon became the backbone of domestic jet travel. That being said, it was not without its peculiarities. Possibly owning to the tail mounted third engine, the plane would tend to try and waddle left and right upon takeoff and landing. This caused them to acquire a nickname among TWA pilots- the "Flying Pig."

And then it went a step further. An unknown group began to assign individual 'pig" nicknames to each individual airframe, which is a lot of work considering the fact that TWA operated over 90 of them. So you might be flying to visit Aunt Martha on the "Heavenly Hambone", the "Wiener Winger" or even "Pigmalion". Their names were often found written on the logbook or scrawled in crew spaces where no passenger would see. It became an enormous inside joke.

Here, thanks to the excellent researchers at airliners.net, are the known nicknames of the fleet of "Flying Pigs"- take a look, the creativity is awesome. And yes, I do think of the pun as an art form:

N12301 -231 Porky's Flagship
N12302 -231 Porky's Petunia
N12303 -231 Hambone
N12304 -231 Porc du Jour
N12305 -231 Picnic Ham
N12306 -231 Heavenly Hambone
N12307 -231 Pigadilly
N12308 -231 Duroc Delight
N52309 -231 Sows About It
N52310 -231 Squealor Pealor
N52311 -231 Spring Chitlin
N52312 -231 Lard Sakes
N52313 -231 Kermit's Desire
N94314 -231 Hampshire Humper
N64315 -231 Hog Lander
N44316 -231 Trough Aloft
N74317 -231 Weiner Winger
N74318 -231 Pigmalion
N64319 -231 Aurora Boarialis
N64320 -231 Lard Above
N64321 -231 Heavenly Hog
N64322 -231 Ham Sweet Ham
N64323 -231 Petulant Porker
N64324 -231 Gilty Lady
N54325 -231 South Dakota Suey
N54326 -231 Me-a-Farrow
N54327 -231 Poland China Diner
N54329 -231 Makin' Bacon
N54330 -231 Short Lardage
N54331 -231 Smokin' Porkin'
N54332 -231 Porky's Palace
N54333 -231 Pig o' my Heart
N54334 -231 Truffle Hunter
N54335 -231 Strato Swine
N54336 -231 Fog Hog
N54337 -231 Oklahoma Oinker
N54338 -231(A) Pickled Pig's Feet
N64339 -231(A) Star Swine of Beirut
N54340 -231(A) Bacon Bomber
N54341 -231(A) Gloria Vandergilt
N54342 -231(A) City of Smithfield
N24343 -231(A) Boaring Soaring
N54344 -231(A) Old Lang Swine
N54345 -231(A) Pork Link Connected
N64346 -231(A) Sue Oui
N64347 -231(A) Road Hog
N54348 -231(A) My Hammy Vice
N54349 -231(A) Sty Stream
N54350 -231(A) Sow Belly
N54351 -231(A) Ozone Oinker
N54352 -231(A) Ham Commander
N54353 -231(A) Poland China Clipper
N54354 -231(A) Millenium Wallflower
N84355 -231(A) Porker Forker
N84356 -231(A) San Juan Sow
N84357 -231(A) Barbados Bristler
N831TW -31 Boeing Oink
N833TW -31 Ham Tram
N839TW -31 Piggy Sue
N840TW -31 Sky Pig
N841TW -31 Thunder Pig
N842TW -31 Porky's Pride
N844TW -31 Pork Chop
N845TW -31 Warped Hog
N846TW -31 Lil' Porky
N847TW -31 Schwine Der Blitzen
N848TW -31 Hog Jaw
N849TW -31 Lard Limo
N850TW -31 Jimmy Dean
N851TW -31 Short Snort
N852TW -31 Queen of the Sty
N853TW -31 Kitty Hog
N854TW -31 Cloud Boarer
N855TW -31 Slow Pork
N856TW -31 Porcine Princess
N857TW -31 Swine Flew
N859TW -31 Gloria DeJavaline
N889TW -31 Celestial Chitlin

I think I'll book my next trip on the "Strato Swine."

Gentlemen, start your pigs.

gone 404

2010-08-30T13:37:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm back. Did you miss me? If you haven't noticed, it's been a whirlwind of travel but I am home for a few weeks.

Palm Springs to San Francisco and back, to Corona del Mar and Thousand Oaks and home, to Washington, DC and on to Detroit, then to Flint, Flint to Saugatuck and Three Oaks, Three Oaks to Kankakee, IL, to Kalamazoo (where I most assuredly do NOT have a gal), back to Flint, a quick run to Lansing and home again (via Dallas!), only to turn around and head back to LA and then off to Vancouver.

I've been on eleven airplanes (from a triple seven to a prop job that reminded me of a Jenny), two buses, a cruise ship, a car ferry, a pontoon boat, and behind the wheel of a range of cars from a '67 Fleetwood to a preproduction Nissan, with a Clenet Continental thrown in for good measure.

Most has been professional and is detailed on my other site, PS Automobilist. But there was lots of family and friend time as well as hometown stuff that will find its way here.

But I'm glad to be home. I have a stack of boarding passes and a million photos. Best of all, the desert is cooling off- today's high will be 92 or so. It hit 115 when I was traveling. I hope this means autumn is coming. I'm ready for it.

Summer is exhausting.

iv

2010-07-11T22:26:00.000-07:00

Four years today. The tears still fall as if it were yesterday. The memories are vivid, indeed far too vivid. As the dust settles, I hope you found the peace that evaded you in this life. I think of you so often.

I heard you play this so often I think of it as your theme song:

I love you and I miss you.

dinner at eight

2010-06-20T19:03:00.000-07:00

My father kept his Chris-Craft in the little seaside town of Saugatuck, Michigan, along the Michiana Dunes. It was a quaint seaside tourist village that was full of antique and craft shops, outdoor cafes, and art galleries. In other words, it was Homo Heaven. Just two hours north of Chicago, and a straight shot from Detroit, it had over the decades gained the reputation of being the Fire Island of the Midwest. Dad was unaware of this when seeking stevedore service for the Chris, but as I was living in Chicago at the time, it became my vacation home. I spent many enjoyable long weekends in the dunes.

One weekend, I was on the boat with my friends Cliff and Brian. My Dad and stepmother, Wanda, were staying at their nearby Condo. They called to suggest that we should all do dinner. Father and I were both adhering to the Mutual Nonaggression Pact of 1986, and they always liked my friends, so I had no concern that we would all have an enjoyable evening.

We made reservations at the Cafe Sir Douglas. It was the nicest restaurant in the little town, and was part of the oldest gay resort. I had many happy memories of the resort and its many facilities, including the sparkling blue pool and the notoriously anonymous "Dunes Rooms" accommodations for the friendly traveller. I decided not to give the folks a full tour. I rounded up my friends and headed over to get my folks. We chatted during the short drive to the cafe.

As the three pointed star led us into the parking lot, the headlight beams illuminated a whole row of Jeeps and Blazers. Trucks were everywhere, and I wondered to myself as I parked between two Broncos, whether it might possibly be "Womyn's Weekend".

We walked in to the cafe, myself first, Cliff and Brian, and then my folks. The host recognized us and said, as our table wasn't quite ready, perhaps we would like to go downstairs and wait in the bar. I wondered if he had noticed that my parents were with us.

I descended the circular stairway into the Island of Sappho, accompanied by my snickering friends and my bewildered parents. The bar was crowded, and absolutely female. An attractive woman offered her seat to Wanda and then asked if she would like a drink. She declined graciously. Dad looked around and commented, "I wonder where all of these girls come from." "I think most of them are from Detroit" was my reply.

Dad went off to the men's room. On this particular evening I knew that he would require no accompaniment. I turned to Wanda and asked, "Does father understand that he's in a room surrounded by three hundred Diesel Dykes?" "Well, Dear" she said. "Your father doesn't think in those terms."

blessed union

2010-06-16T16:46:00.000-07:00

From June 2008. Reposted in honor of the closing arguments today in the Prop 8 trial.

I park my car on the side street, because the boulevard is too dusty. it's less than a five minute walk each evening from the showroom. I turn right at the mechanic's shop and go about half a block. If the motor home is on my side of the street, I'll cross over to avoid the noise. The motor home is always there. It never leaves the block.

Miguel is inside fucking his ugly mistress. His name might not really be Miguel, that might just be the name on his pocket. We exchange occasional pleasantries when I encounter him during the day. I'm not sure what her name is, we've never actually spoken. I only know her voice from her loud sighs as he fucks her. The motor home windows are open this time of year.

It's a small block, and everyone seems to know each others' business. Miguel is married to a short fat woman and has a six year old son by her. He's a handsome lad, and we see him occasionally on Saturdays. I don't know if the boy is aware of the secret life of the aging Winnebago or not. I am told that Miguel can't get a divorce, because he is Catholic. So this is his best solution. I don't know if she is Catholic or not. Perhaps she's a Mormon. I wonder to myself whether it is a greater sin to fuck one's ugly mistress with a condom, or without.

I really know very little about them. I can't imagine the path she wandered down that made her believe that being fucked by a married man in a deteriorating RV behind his workplace is as good as she is going to get. She sometimes shows up with a little girl about three years old, I don't know if the child is the product of this union, or was fathered by another Casanova with a camper.

But I do know that the Catholic Church and the Mormons pumped forty million dollars into my state to make sure that my relationship cannot have the acceptance that Miguel and his vile sham of a marriage have. And I know that these people, as fucked up as they are, had the legal right to vote on the status of MY life. And that is the most fucked up part of all.

twister

2010-06-06T12:55:00.000-07:00

Warm weather has finally taken hold in the midwest, driving away the tentative feeling associated with a sunny day as the possibility of frost becomes more remote with each lingering afternoon. Of course, the midwesterner in me realizes that it is not quite summer yet, but rather it is tornado season, a time for serious and powerful thunderstorms to demonstrate to those who toil below the fragility of life as we know it. With each tornado sighting I see on the internet, I am transported back to my childhood.

My hometown of Flint, Michigan was hit by a category 5 tornado in June of 1953. It descended on a muggy Midwestern summer night with almost no warning and mowed through hundreds of homes while it meandered eastward at a rate of approximately 30 mph. The storm left an entire neighborhood in ruins and cost 116 persons their lives. Sadly, almost half of the victims were children. The tragedy is recalled as the Beecher Tornado.

Both of my parents were young adults at that time, and the disaster had a lasting effect on them. My brother was born five years later in 1958 and myself in 1960. While the Beecher Tornado had long since passed, we were keenly aware of what had happened. My mother told stories of the rescue efforts and recounted stories of those who survived and those who did not. I vividly recall her telling the story of the woman who outran the tornado in her 1949 Buick, with the speedometer reading 100mph as the wind repeatedly lifted the back wheels off the ground. Her six children cowered in the back seat in fear but the car made it to safety.

When my brother and I were older, she showed us home movies my uncle Bill had taken the day following the storm. It was virtually impossible for my five year old consciousness to discern what the piles of rubble in the movies had once been. We were raised with a very healthy respect for the destructive potential of nature, a respect that I believe we shared with every schoolchild in the city of Flint.

Mother was particularly nervous on humid summer nights, the kind that hung in the air and produced the thunderstorms which hatch tornadoes. While she never tried to cause needless alarm, she kept a keen eye on the skies as she watched us playing in the lush Michigan grass. It was universally understood in our neighborhood that a weather siren meant the immediate cessation of playtime and a dash for shelter. Many a summer evening was spent listening to the rain in the basement, waiting for the all clear signal to be broadcast over the little blue transistor radio.

It was not until adulthood that I actually looked at a map of the destruction and discovered what Mother had always known- the Tornado touched to earth almost exactly two miles north of the bedroom I shared with my brother. She was keenly aware of that fact every time a humid summer night occurred, it was a line on her brow. However, she somehow never imparted that knowledge unto us.

Of course, storm warnings matured rapidly after the tragic events of 1953, and the truth is that we were dramatically safer at all times than only a few short years before. And although many tornadoes have struck in the ensuing 50 plus years, none have caused the loss of life that was so ingrained on my young parents. The passage of time has not diminished the memories of the citizens of Flint, nor has it lessened the tragedy of the loss of a hundred and sixteen lives when the winds dashed the houses against the Michigan clay. The news can take me back there in an instant.

sunday drive: by imperial decree

2010-05-10T10:55:00.000-07:00

They were sexpots with wheels- voluptous styling, plush interiors, and lots of automotive jewelry. They seemed to drip with chrome and styling gimmicks- monstrous fins, freestanding headlamp pods, swiveling seats, square steering wheels, and eagles literally woven into the upholstery fabrics and embossed into the leather. It's like Chrysler Corporation meets Imperator.

George Hamilton seduced Delores Hart in a '59 Crown Convertible. Tony Randall rescued Doris Day's virtue in a '59 Le Baron. Ethel Merman complained about being last in a '62 convertible, Leigh Taylor-Young committed vehicular manslaughter for kicks in a sexy '68 convertible. And Ann-Margaret launched herself into film notoriety by torpedoing off a curve in a white '64 Crown hardtop.

Of course we're talking Imperial, the highest achievement of Chrysler Corporation, who maintained a separate production line to make a comparative handful of chariots to rival Cadillac. They were positioned with dramatic advertising headlines like "By Imperial Decree" and "Gay Companion". And while they did not win the sales race, they're certainly fun and fascinating to remember. So we're dropping in on the Imperial Owners Club Statewide meet, held this past weekend in Palm Springs.

So here we go, "By Imperial Decree"

More Imperials Heree

kate and patsy

2010-05-08T15:00:00.000-07:00

They were much more like sisters than mother and daughter. For starters, they were only twenty one years apart. Also, they didn't act like mother and daughter per se- they were lifelong best friends, and all but inseparable. And neither of them exactly acted like a grown up all that often.

In over three years of writing, I can't believe I haven't written about Kate. My brave and pragmatic Missouri born Grandmother. The one who married too hastily, and focused her energy on the children she loved. She played the hand she was dealt with laughter and courage. She all but lived with us during my childhood, while always maintaining an apartment to ensure her independence.

They both loved to surprise the other. Like the time in 1979 when we moved to a new house and Patsy didn't tell Kate. She knew we were planning to move, of course, and was rather dreading the whole thing. So when we had the opportunity to move up the actual date, we conveniently forgot to mention it. I picked her at her apartment and drove her to our house, stopping off at the new house to check on something. And there we were, all moved in and set up. She just about fainted. Score one for Patsy and I.

Then there was Kate's birthday that year. Mom had taken her for her birthday weekend to the brand new Hyatt Regency hotel in Flint. They had a formal dinner on Friday night, and were enjoying a casual luncheon in the atrium on Saturday when the Gorilla appeared with the birthday balloon bouquet. Fortunately, there just happened to be a photographer there to record the presentation for history. Score one more for Patsy, with another assist to yours truly. I still have the picture.

And that led to the Big Party. Of course, Kate wanted to return the favor. She and I talked the family into a big surprise birthday party for Patsy. We had made plans that bordered on military precision involving refreshments, decorations, and even staging the guests down the block at a rendezvous point to preserve the element of surprise. Kind of a challenge doing a surprise party for Mother in her own home, you see.

We sneaked supplies and decorations into the house for weeks. All went well until the afternoon of the party, when Mom was unexpectedly home. I fidgeted, looking out the window at my poor Volkswagen so full of booze that it hunkered down on its axles.

"Not to worry", said Kate. She put all the butter down the garbage disposal, then began making chocolate chip cookies. "Patsy, we're out of butter" she called out in angst. Mom couldn't believe that the butter she had just purchased was already gone, but somewhat reluctantly agreed to go get some more. That have us the crucial time we needed to unload the car and set up the basement decorations.

Three hours later, I went out for a walk and met approximately 40 guests at the cul de sac. We all walked to the front door, lit the candles on the cake that happened to be in my hands, and rang the bell. Mom answered the door in absolute shock. The party proceeded downstairs where everything had been prepared in secret- food, a punch bowl, a fully set up bar- in short, a gigantic party, totally under the radar. We got her good that time. A big one for Kate and myself as raconteurs. It was a fabulous time.

This is my third Mother's Day without either of them. The only thing that makes it bearable is the thought they are together. And wherever they are, there's laughter and mischief. That's what happens with pranskters like those two around.

Happy Mother's Day Kate and Patsy, my darling girls. I'm so grateful for all the crazy and wonderful times we had together. I love you both so much.

(Originally posted May 9, 2008)

sunday drive: el rancho vista

2010-04-26T10:20:00.000-07:00

It seems to be bit more upscale neighborhood than the Racquet Club Alexanders- maybe it was a bit pricier or perhaps it wasn't targeted as much to vacationers. The homes are a bit more substantial looking, largely with garages in lieu of carports. They have the same type of detailing, and are very nicely executed. Clerestory windows, butterfly rooflines, decorative masonry and stone screens. The landscaping is more terraced and creates more of a third dimension of context for the viewer. Largely intact and in very good condition, with no Frankenmoderns and only a few restoration candidates remaining.

It's the El Rancho Vista Estates, developed by Roy Fey and designed by Donald Wexler and Richard Harrison. Just east of the airport, it's very easy to squint and imagine a Super Constellation or a newfangled Boeing 707 on final approach. Oh, look- it's Martini Time. Catch you all later.

Enjoy the El Rancho Vista Estates:

View more El Rancho Vista Photos here

flying ashtray

2010-04-17T14:13:00.000-07:00

She was laid up on the outskirts of Bournemouth Airport in the Southern Part of England. Nearly thirty years old now, she sat devoid of engines for nearly five years as her components were slowly robbed away for use on other airframes. Her fuselage and empanage was remarkably intact as she withered away, desolate and forgotten. People motored by every day and gave her nary a glance, and certainly few that saw her recalled how close to tragedy she had been, how a miraculous act had spared her a watery grave in the Indian Ocean and made her, for a time, the most famous airplane in the world.

It was in the spring of 1979 that she made her first flight, soaring over the spring green countryside of Seattle. Christened City of Edinburgh, she would early in life acquire a different nickname. She was a 747-236B, the 365th to be assembled. She carried msn 21635 and was registered G-BDXH. She entered service for British Airways in the late spring and was soon circling the globe.

She was only three years in service when it happened. Under the command of Captain Eric Moody as Flight 9, she was flying under the traditional British Airways call sign of Speedbird 9 en route from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Perth, Australia at 36,000 feet when suddenly things were very askew. The windscreen was covered with light flashes resembling St Elmo's Fire. The wings and engines seemed to become engulfed in light and the smell of sulphur permeated the cockpit. Engine number four flamed out and was shut down, followed by engine number two. Within minutes, engines one and three shut down, almost simultaneously. Speedbird 9 was the world's largest glider.

Captain Moody made a most ominous announcement to the passengers:

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking. We have a small problem. All four engines have stopped. We are doing our damnedest to get them under control. I trust you are not in too much distress."

By now, Speedbird 9 had already sent a Mayday to Jakarta and calculated that they could remain aloft for approximately 23 minutes before they would have to ditch in the Indian Ocean. Oxygen had deployed but not all masks were working, notably Captain Moody's was among the inoperative. He decided to make a dramatic descent to a point where the passengers would be able to breathe, and descended 6,000 feet in just over a minute. He had unknowingly saved the life of every one of the 274 souls on board.

With breathing restored, but perilously close to the point where they would have to ditch, the crew once again attempted to restart engines. And engine number four roared to life. Then engine number three restarted, followed in quick succession by engines one and two. Speedbird 9 was alive.

Descent had stopped and the flight was once again ascending when the St Elmo's fire reappeared at just under 15,000 feet. Ominously, engine number 2 began to stumble. The quickly shut down engine number 2 and descended to just under 12,000 feet, the lowest safe altitude to clear the mountains on the approach to Jakarta. Once preparing for landing, the flight crew noted very poor visibility. They would have to rely on an instrument landing, but a very complicated one in which the first officer monitored the airport's DME (Distance Measuring Equipment). He then called out how high they should be at each DME step along the final approach. They made their own glide slope. It was a very treacherous task. Once on the ground, they could not safely see to taxi through the badly sandblasted glass, and had to wait for a tow to the gate.

Ground crews quickly discovered that the engines were clogged with volcanic ash. Speedbird 9 has inadvertently flown through an ash cloud from an eruption of Mount Galunggung. The molten ash created the light effect passengers had noted, as well as completely sandblasting the windshield. Without realizing it, the pilot has performed the perfect maneuver- diving beneath the cloud into cool dense air where the ash would crystallize and break off, allowing sufficient cool air for the engines to restart. The action saved 274 lives and three year old 747 from a certain death.

The crew and passengers formed a group called the Galunggung Gliding Club by which they could remain in contact. The City of Edinburgh was restored and returned to service with a new nickname, the Flying Ashtray, bestowed on her by a very grateful crew. She flew through 2001 for BA and then from 2002-2005 for European Air Charter, whose bankruptcy caused her retirement and ultimate demise.

And then she was gone. On July 16, 2009, workers with cutting machines moved in to dismantle her. Within two days, she was nothing more than shredded aluminum. It's a terrible pity that she couldn't have a more noble ending, especially considering the two hundred seventy four souls who thought that they were goners are eternally grateful that the Flying Ashtray helped bring them home.

The grand old girl deserved better.

Read an excellent recollection here

See her sad demise here

here's the story

2010-04-08T16:35:00.001-07:00

Look closely- it's more than a cute '54 Ford Convertible. Notice the background. Drove into LA a week ago Sunday for a classic car show, then went for brunch with a few friends to nearby Valley Village. I mentioned to them that we were around the corner from it, so we had to drive by and this fun photo op appeared. Yes, boys and girls, it's the Brady House. Intact and original except for the tacky fence, a bit like Jan tarting it up for her appearance in "Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway".

Iconic. Enjoy.

sunday drive: racquet club estates

2010-04-04T14:19:00.000-07:00

A special destination for a milestone. The Sunday Drive feature made its debut on Easter Sunday 2008 with a look at historic signage in Santa Monica. We've had a lot of fun drives since then, and now being in Palm Springs there's a lot more I'd like to share with you in the next year, all hiding in plain sight waiting to be discovered.

For today's drive we are going to the height of mid century modernmism - the Racquet Club Estates of Palm Springs. Designed by William Krisel of Palmer and Krisel, and built by the Alexander Construction Company between 1959 and 1962 as weekend homes for the tragically hip, this little neighborhood started life with a cocktail shaker in its hand and a Thunderbird in the carport. My personal favorite is the butterfly, but all feature the kicky elements of mid century at its most expressive- decorative block masonry, stone screening, cathedral ceilings and maximum glass.

For our special Easter 2010 Sunday Drive, grab a Martini and check out these great homes of Racquet Club Estates:

The neighborhood website is here
See many more photos here

artificial flowers

2010-03-19T17:08:00.000-07:00

For no real reason, except that I stumbled on this and think it's way cool. Like an old friend, albeit a slightly odd old friend. It's from Tenderloin, the 1960 Bock and Harnick muscial comedy about the miserable abused souls in the garment district. And before you peg them as miscreants, they went on to write Fiddler on the Roof.

So relax and emjoy. Who besides Bobby Darin could create such a swingin' tune about poor orphan children freezing to death in a sweat shop? Take it away...

secret love

2010-03-19T13:58:00.000-07:00

My former neighbor Michael called on Saturday, leaving a message with a more than usual sense of urgency to it. Alarmed, I quickly called him back.

We had been good neighbors and caring yet slightly awkward friends, standing about an arm's length apart and eyeing each other with a 50/50 mixture of slight disdain and moderate amusement. I always told Michael that the difference between us was that I was looking for a man with a Degree, and he was looking for one with an outstanding warrant. Michael, you see, liked the bad boy looks, with a preference for tattooed Latin types.

He hmself was a polite Texas boy who came to the big city, and seemed to have more success with restoring his classic cars than any suitors that looked his way. Over the years I lived down the block I never met any serious boyfriends, although I was aware of a couple of long term buddies that would stop by for brief periods of time.

When I called him back, he told me about Antonio. Antonio was a handsome Latin-Armenian man that Michael had picked up in a bar in the valley almost eleven years prior, and since that fateful night had visited him weekly. Antonio was Catholic, deeply closeted, and lived with family, so his availability, both physical and emotional, was severely limited. They had never been on a date, never been out in public past the occasional errand, and their focus was primarily physical, but had been ongoing for eleven years. I had known about his existence, but had never met him.

Apparently Antonio had called the previous Saturday, but Michael was tired and did not invite him over. He didn't call back the following day but Michael didn't think anything of it. The week sped by and Michael rang him the following Saturday, but there was no answer, so Michael left a message. In a few minutes the phone rang, but on the other end of the line was the voice of a young woman. It was Antonio's niece, and she had called back to tell him that Antonio has suffered a heart attack and passed away the previous Sunday. The young lady took his email to send him details about the memorial.

Michael had called me in a blend of grief, sorrow and confusion. Although in reality a play buddy, Antonio had been a constant in Michael's life for over a decade. It was the longest relationship of his life, Michael observed, and in many ways the best- neither asked for anything beyond the moment. No fights, no demands, just being together in the now. But how does one mourn what was essentially a secret relationship? Should he go to the service? What should he say to the family? How does one reveal a secret relationship, and to whom? The burden of keeping the secrets of the departed combined with the need to say goodbye to someone he deeply cared for posed vexing questions. He did not know if Antonio was out to his family. He wasn't even certain if that he had been given his real name. We talked for over an hour, and I realized that he had much deeper feelings for Antonio that he had ever admitted, possibly even to himself.

I listened to Michael describe what seemed like a scene from Brokeback Mountain- when Ennis learned that Jack had been killed. I thought the parallels were striking, and was more than a little saddened for Michael and the loss that he was bearing, alone, in the year 2010. For me it was a sad reminder of how far we still have to go.

In the end, Michael went to the service and introduced himself to the family. He recognized some patrons of the bar where they had met, and was able to describe the situation and share his feelings with them. I'm grateful that he was able to find that closure. How many of us in this day and age never do?

sunday drive: town and country center

2010-02-28T07:37:00.001-08:00

Oh My God, it still exists! Today's Sunday Drive is really a walk, okay a stroll, and it's a leisurely stroll at that- through the iconic 1947 Town and Country Center, a mixed use retail-restaurant-office outdoor space in the late International Style. The intersection of curvilinear and rectangular, devoid of superflous ornamentation, and almost as pure as Mies.

Possibly the loveliest intact unrestored space left in palm Springs, and of course it's threatened with demolition by out of town developers who want to tear it down to make a street in order to benefit their proposed re-use of the boring, forgettable, unfashionable Desert Fashion Center. Totally unnecessary, there's a thoroughfare a half block away. But that's how out of town developers think. They don't give a damn about anything but money in their pockets. For now, there is detente - the City Council wisely won't issue any demolition permits until the proposed project is "well along in construction" and they haven't done a thing toward it, and so the Center lives. It's screaming for adaptive re-use. The Palm Springs Modern Committee, the Friends of the Town and Country and the Palm Springs Preservation Foundation are screaming for it to get the adaptive re-use it so deserves.

Take a look- isn't it breathtaking? Who could tear down such a magical space?

See more photos here

Visit the friends of town and country center here

the palm springs modern committee here

and the palm springs preservation foundation here

sunday drive: trailerite

2010-02-21T08:05:00.000-08:00

The country found its wanderlust in the postwar decade. True there had been trailers in the thirties, mostly small boxy creations, but the dream was fulfilled in the fifties. The birth of the interstate highway system and the advent of the high compression engine created smooth ribbons to travel upon and powerful cars to traverse them.

That the trailers evolved as well was all but a foregone conclusion. The Airstream and the Spartan were the most deluxe. The Spartan, produced by the Spartan Aircraft company (owned by J. Paul Getty) was a masterpiece of aluminum and birchwood and ranged in size from 28 all the way up to 50 feet in 1956. Wally Byam introduced his Airstream trailer in 1936 but his products caught fire in the postwar decades of the fifties and sixties (not literally of course, that was the Ford Pinto.)

Modernism Week here in Palm Springs has been a smash success and I've had an awesome time. Yesterday was an awesome vintage trailer show here at the ACE Hotel and we were treated to Airstreams, a Spartan, a Silver Streak and a few lesser brands.

So just for a moment be like Nicky and Tacy in search of the Bungalowette trailer, and come along with me to the trailer show.

Maybe you'll end up being a trailerite too...

More Trailer Show Here

sweet sticky dog

2010-02-17T16:03:00.000-08:00

A repost of the first ever World O'Jeff essay- three years ago today. Where does the time go?

Valentine's day was this week and the impending trauma of it forced me to come up with a plan. I decided to tackle it head on. Calling Will (who is alternately Sacco to my Vanzetti or Cybill to my Mary Ann), we assembled a group of friends to meet in West Hollywood in pursuit of a Stunning Martini. The only requirement was to wear black, head to toe. I used a vintage tuxedo jacket and bow tie to create a dashing flair, Will did a tone on tone number with a black silk tie, bad boy Tony chose a biker jacket and black denim to set a completely different mood within the same color statement. It's all about our personal flair.

Our mourning party progressed to the Abbey where we found ourselves at a table in the wind tunnel (many of you will know where I mean- its like a covered outdoor bowling alley with wall sconces) next to a totally fun lesbian couple- they were chatting with us about a fashion show they were planning to help launch a line for a designer they were unfamiliar with. David-who-knows-everything was already familiar with the event and was lobbying to score a spot on the VIP list (I was on the VIP list once at a Cemetery, but that is a story for another day). Anyway, somewhere in the second round she shared that the designer was named Honey Labrador.

Honey Labrador? I burst out- I knew her in the 90's in Chicago. My friend crazy ass Ron (the one who thought he was Joan Crawford) used to hire her for Spiegel photo shoots. We would drink heavily and think of alternate names for her with the same cadence- Lobster Thermador, Sunny Ecuador, even Crosley Shelvador. I guess the drinks made it seem clever. Anyway, the fun couple were amused and actually relieved that someone had heard of Honey. So relieved that they bought us a round. Very cool girls.

Of course, I had to call Crazy Ass Ron in Chicago and tell him the news. I left a message on his cell phone from the Honey Labrador Fan Club. He called back a few minutes later snickering. "Honey Labrador- that was 1993! How the hell did you remember that?" "You know me", I replied. "How could I ever forget a girl named sweet sticky dog?"

each day is...

2010-02-13T08:18:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow marks another Valentine's Day and I have dusted off the special holiday ensemble in head to toe black. This year I've added the optional mantilla, and the result is very dashing. Although the concept of romance is as remote and inconceivable to me as the likelihood of meaningful health care reform is, I nonetheless feel very loved and very blessed to have such a wonderful network of friends.

For all of you, a wonderful Valentine's Day treat- here's the violet eyed beauty in an inrcedibly chic rendition of a holiday classic.

From Pal Joey, please welcome the Mouse with the Built, Miss Kim Novak:

Each day is Valentine's Day

in the groove

2010-02-12T12:48:00.000-08:00

When I got laid off last summer (with one hour's notice, thank you very much) I immediately began thinking of Palm Springs. I've been coming out here to unwind and stargaze for the last eighteen years, and always told myself that if I could make a living out here, I'd move in a heartbeat. So when it all went down last summer, I decided to give it a try.

I wasn't entirely sure whether the weekend retreat would play on a week long schedule. But there was literally nothing to lose. Some friends tried to discourage me, my stylist warning me that "everyone who moves to Palm Springs becomes an alcoholic". So contrarian that I am, I moved out here, and quit drinking. And shock of the world, I'm becoming a gym rat. At age forty-whatever. I know, I'm shocked as well.

But after a couple of months of spinning my wheels, the whole gig is working for me. Gayberry is a small town, with all of the small town charm that exists nowhere in Los Angeles. I know the names of all the people in the Coffeehouse, and they know my name and my favorite latte. I chat with the regulars and catch up. For example, I learned from several sources there that someone named Josh is the town tramp. I guess I should look him up.

I have cardio buddies at the gym and am now doing cardio six days a week, instead of forcing myself to get maybe three sessions per week. That, plus the lack of alcohol and the pounds are falling off. My trainer is probably as excited as I am. And in all honesty, the people at the gym are quite nice and friendly. I've learned to relax and spend time there. It's become a pleasant destination instead of a resented task.

And the freelancing has picked up. February is on a pace equal to the average month last year, and with a couple of breaks could even pull ahead. Even better, the six day bell to bell workday is long gone. I'm loving my desert home. So I guess the midlife crisis is finding its own level. It's funny, I always thought I should live here and when I try it, I find out I'm right. I hope you all are so fortunate as to love the place where you hang your hat.

8F FF

2010-02-07T17:58:00.000-08:00

Handsome nose on the runway

No, it's not Morse code, or even "Bobby Brady" in piglatin. It's my airgeek's way of noting that the first 747-8F (RA501 N747EX msn 35808), having completed its gauntlet testing and now its high speed runway testing, will take to the air for the first time tomorrow, February 8, with a scheduled flight at 10am Pacific Time. This is a good time to remind y'all that Boeing seems to fly on gay time, so I;m betting the big bird acutally leaves the runway about 10:30. Yes, I'll be home, thanks for asking, and watching the Boeing Live Feed.

Look at that handsome profile- double stretched fuselage, gracious new wings and those sexy GenX engine nacelles give the 747-8i a distinctive new look

Forty years later, the 747 still has it. Have a pleasant first flight, 8F.

big bird

2010-01-21T13:52:00.000-08:00

The departure was getting out of hand, especially for Pan Am. The airline which was the model of efficiency and professionalism was struggling with a late departure on Flight 2 to Heathrow. The flight, which had been sold out for months, actually did push back at one point only to return to the World Port when an engine overheated on the runway. They made the decision to change equipment which caused even more delay. They would have canceled the flight completely except that the entire world was watching. Pan Am Flight 2 was the first scheduled passenger flight of the jumbo jet era, the entry into service of the Boeing 747-121.

N736PA Clipper Victor at Heathrow, 1970

The plane was created for Pan Am. CEO Juan T. Trippe had told Boeing management in 1966 that if they would build a bigger jet, he would commit to buy 25 of them on the spot. Boeing, sounding like a line from "Field of Aircraft Dreams" told him that if he would buy them, they would build them, and so the deal was struck in April 1966- 25 airplanes for a staggering $525 million dollars.

It was a huge undertaking for Boeing, as they had to design a totally new airplane and construct a new facility to build it in all at the same time. They had gambled their entire future once before, and the 707 that resulted catapulted them past Douglas to preeminence as an airplane manufacturer. Now they were rolling the dice again.

N747001 City of Everett in Seattle, 1968

Less than three years later, a very big plane sat on the runway at Boeing field waiting for takeoff. It was the City of Everett, tail number N747001, MSN 20235, and line number 1- the very first 747-100 prototype. It flew on March 9 1969 and despite a small problem with flaps, soon paved the way for production to begin. Airplane production ramped up quickly, more quickly than Pratt and Whitney could ready the massive plane's new JT-9D engines, which were suffering from teething pains. At one point, almost 20 new 747-100's sat around Everett waiting for their engines. Airworthiness was issued in December, 1969, and preparations began for passenger flight.

Three brand new 747-121's await engines in the summer of 1969. They are Clipper Victor (N736PA), Clipper Young America (N735PA) and Clipper Defender (N738PA)

First Lady Pat Nixon christened the first Pan Am 747 on January 15, 1970 at Dulles International Airport. The actual aircraft she honored was Clipper Victor (N736PA, msn 19643, line # 11). This was not the plane chosen for the first passenger flight. They selected Clipper Young America (N735PA, msn 19642, line #10), but when the engine overheated, they made a last minute substitution.

Clipper Victor, N736PA, the actual plane that the First Lady had christened, was hastily fueled and readied for flight. Among the last minute preparations was a hasty re-naming so that the "Clipper Young America" would be the first 747 in service. They had already announced the name of the plane that would be making the historic flight and didn't want to answer any unpleasant questions about engine problems. Only the keenest observer would notice a one-digit variation in the tail number.

Finally at 1:52 AM, N736PA pushed back from the World Port and ushered in the era of the Jumbo Jet, bound for Heathrow and infamy. After an uneventful flight, Pan Am Two Heavy touched down at 14:14 GMT. Ultimately, the 747 was kinder to Boeing than it was to Pan Am. The recession and fuel price spikes of the early 70's put Pan Am in a very tight spot economically, with high debt and only partially filled planes, and set then in a precarious place leaving airline deregulation to deliver the knock out punch. Sadly, the first 747 to fly, the N736PA Clipper Victor, was itself lost at Tenerife in a tragic accident for which it was not to blame.

But the majestic 747 has flown on. Two generations have grown since then. An astonishingly high percentage of the traveling public have no firsthand knowledge of life before the 747. It has evolved through several versions and has sold 1,418 copies. The most recent version, the 747-400, has been produced for over twenty years, concluding production in December 2009 with just over seven hundred made. And very first of the newest version, RA501 N747EX, the 747-8, is being gauntlet tested today as I write in prepation for first flight next month. It is longer, the iconic fuselage will be stretched in two places, and fitted with totally new wings and new General Electric GENx engines.

The first 747-8, RA501 N747EX msn 35808 being prepared for gauntlet testing

I hope she flies forever. Happy anniversary, big bird. You've still got it.

senatorfold

2010-01-20T07:48:00.000-08:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, meet the new senator Elect from Massachusetts, Scott Brown:

While I'm certainly not steering the blog back into politics, as there are many very good political writers out there, I nonetheless do want to share my observation that this election is groundbreaking in a unique way. For decades, prostitutes, whores, sex workers, and indeed just good old fashioned garden variety sluts felt excluded by the political system. Yes, they could meet a Senator in an airport bathroom, and occasionally affix a diaper to one, but couldn't envision themselves holding the office themselves.

Well, thanks to the GOP that artificial prophylactic barrier, the so-called tramp ceiling, has been shattered. Indeed, our newest leader was only a staple away from the Full Brownie, with hardly an eyebrow raised. As long as he supports the Corporotracy and oppresses the right minorities, it's all good. So elect prostitutes- they're probably more honest than what we have now!

Oh, and a song dedicated to Senator Elect Brown. Heck of a centerfold, Brownie:

five-o

2010-01-09T08:57:00.000-08:00

His name never really fit him. His mother intended to call him William and then at the last minute elected to name him after his father instead. The name has never really fit him, so it is no surprise that I had to rename him. To me he is and always will be the inimitable Trixie.

Trix is my best friend, closest confidante, partner in crime and Vera to my Mame. He may be the eye of the drama hurricane, as crazed roommates and unsuitable suitors swirl around him in a haze, but he is of my tribe. We look out for each other.

So here's a salute to Trixie on the 50-watt anniversary of his birth. I love you lots.

And you'll always be older than me.

sunset over seattle

2010-01-08T14:25:00.000-08:00

Couldn't resist sharing this photo of the very first Dreamliner 787 (ZA001, N787BA, msn 40690) at sunset over Seattle on test flight number 9. Majestic. This says everything about what flight is supposed to be. (Photo credit: Boeing)

aloft

2010-01-07T10:06:00.000-08:00

Ready...Set...

Go!- ZA001 takes to the skies

I'm way late in mentioning it, for several reasons. First, December is a somber month for air travel because of some significant crash anniversaries, and second I simply wasn't certain just how much of an air geek I'm willing to confess to, but the news is out.

The first Boeing 787 Dreamliner, ZA001 (N787BA) completed her gauntlet and runway tests in mod December and was ready for flight test. On the morning of December 15, the plastic fantastic pushed back from the gate and headed for the runway. Boeing 1 was given takeoff clearance slightly behind plan, at 10:27 AM. Test pilot Mike Carriker and co-pilot Randy Neville taxied past thousands of onlookers. Capt. Neville pushed the thrust levers forward and raced down the runway. ZA001 lifted off gracefully and flew into aviation history. Two years late, and amid much skepticism, the Dreamliner flies like the Boeing she was made to be. The carbon fiber jet is here, and air travel will never be the same.

Geek that I was, I was watching the live feed from Boeing and reading comments on Twitter at the same time. I admit to tearing up when the bird flew over the live camera. "See ya later", it seemed to say. "I gotta fly." Here's first flight footage from KOMO in Seattle:

And after three hours, in deteriorating weather conditions, Captain Carriker brings ZA001 for a picture perfect landing in heavy rain: (official Boeing feed includes tower communication)

Just over a week later on December 22,the second Dreamliner, ZA002, wearing the ANA launch colors in tribute, also took to the skies. Except for a nose gear door alignment, the flight was flawless as well. Now that the new year is here, the two are flying pretty much daily and will be joined by the third flight test plane shortly. Dreamliner is here.

ZA002 above the Olympic Mountains

As much angst as they cause us, you have to love Boeing for betting the bank on their product. They did it with the 707, and launched the modern jet age. They did it with the 747, and changed the face of travel. And now the Dreamliner arcs her graceful wings and takes to the sky. Welcome, Dreamliner. We've been waiting for you.