BubblesVille
When we were young C. and I were lucky enough to spend a few years living and working in the East Bay across from the Bagdhad of Northern California.
In addition to the biology stuff I was doing it was an exciting time to be in an exciting place as the 1st big tech boom took off.
But more than all that it was the people.
All different kinds of people, mostly getting along.
Including El Cerrito, the home of the musical Fogerty brothers, that was a short bike ride under the BART tracks from where we lived.
So.
This is the America that I know and love:
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On top of everything else Bigger E. was born there so we head back every 2nd summer...This morning we're packing up to make our 10th trip since the year 2000...Will report back.
When we were there I worked in a US National Lab, and so got to see the interwebz come on-line with full graphical browser force, not to mention the first baby steps of the big data monster (strictly biologically speaking)...Very separate from all that, we also got to know a guy who had been an early-in at Pixar who, after vesting, went off and started a hypercard-based venture...That didn't last long but he did OK in the end.
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5 comments:
Hey now,that's my home town. But I claim all of the East Bay as home.It's where I cut my musical chops back in the 60's playing Blues Clubs and parties at UCB. I've mentioned it before but my brother went to El Cerrito High with the Forgerty Brothers and actually did a few gigs with them in the 50's. Have a great trip and try to catch a ball game or two.
I was lucky enough to spend 3 years in the early 1990's living and working in San Leandro. I really enjoyed:
1. The taverns (had 3 within a couple blocks of my apartment)
2. The people (Americans were both friendly and welcoming)
3. Being 1 BART stop away from an Oakland A's game whenever the urge struck (happened quite often...spent many an afternoon/evening in right field drinking beer and smoking)
4. The food (SF had so many great restaurants)
What I did not enjoy was the ubiquity (or my fear of it) of guns. I remember too many times getting into a (friendly?) argument over a few beers...realizing that I didn't really know the (friendly?) person I was arguing with...thinking that the might be carrying...and backing out of the conversation.
Oh. And Oakland had an undeserved reputation back then. Not violent at all, great place to spend an evening.
Fond memories all in all!
Mike
Happy Trails! I was a child of Marvellous Marin, then Divisadero St. by Alta Vista park. Will soon be having a visit from the character, now a downtown real estate lawyer, who used to leave his nose print next to mine on the window at Rezzaghi Motors on Hyde St., the local Ferrari dealer. I missed all the tech stuff but lived within easy walking distance of the original Fillmore Auditorium and did lots of shows at Avalon Ballroom, Longshoremen's Hall, the Straight Theater and such. Was just picking up a guitar towards the end of that tenure, almost learned to play it left-handed, though that was one of the lesser confusions of the time. Hope all your connections are easy and that you come home with a pile of new memories to add to what you've already accumulated.
sd--
Of course you and yours knew and played with the Fogerty boys!
Have seen one ballgame so far....Babe Ruth 10-9 cliffhanger...Home team in Kelso Washington left sacks jammed in bottom of 7th...Of course, I thought they had six more outs but that was it...Kids and arms apparently...Beautiful little ballpark though.
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Mike--
What the heck were you doing there?
We probably saw each other in the Alameda County Coliseum bleachers at that time...Although we spent more time shaded to center because we enjoyed hanging out with Hendu.
I completely agree with you re: Oakland's bad rap...Seems to me it is one of the few places in the States where black and white both live and work together.
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Danneau--
You were there in the real golden times!
Have fun with the real estate guy...Someone in that racket in that particular place must be doing very, very well, indeed.
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Have a wonderful vacation. was in San Francisco only one time, to catch the opera for 3 nights running. amazing opera house.
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