Archive for July, 2022

Sand Sculpture

Revere Beach Boulevard, Revere, Massachusets

Granted, it doesn’t take much for me to wish I could make a trip to Revere Beach, preferably the way it was when I was 12 and worked the concessions, from cotton candy to pepper steaks to pizza.

To my dismay, the 2+-mile boardwalk of amusements has been razed. But a positive addition has been the annual Sand Sculpting Festival with an international competition, earlier this month.

Here’s one of many videos you can capture on line.

AVIATION WEEK

You may remember last week’s blog when I thought I’d be deep into Las Vegas slots when you read it. More like deep into the Public Safety Writers Conference.

Wrong in either case.

No more foreshadowing for this blogger — my writer/friend/partner in travels Ann Parker and I spent the day last Thursday at the Oakland Airport while our flight to LV kept getting delayed, 15 minutes at a time, then canceled, with no more flights that day! I’ll spare you most of the details, like missing luggage, in case I want to use the story for a piece of fiction some time.

This week is about milestones in aviation history. Quite appropriate also as we celebrated the “Moon Landing” on July 20, 1969.

On July 22, 1933, aviation pioneer WILEY POST came in for a landing on New York’s Floyd Bennett Field, the first person to fly solo around the world.

Two years later, Post and his good friend humorist Will Rogers died when their plane crashed near Point Barrow Alaska.

One-half left front view from slightly above of damaged directional gyro displayed on a small wood base.

I came across this story as I was writing my Alaska Diner series, and learned the name of the airport in Utqiagvik: the Wiley Post-Will Rogers Memorial Airport. I found some very interesting videos and websites. Here’s one of my favorite videos, showing Rogers plane, the Winnie Mae, being towed down the streets of Manhattan!

Know when to fold them

There’s a good chance I’ll be near some slots this weekend July 14-17—my first venture into the air since pre-Covid, landing in Las Vegas. You might guess it’s for a conference and not to gamble (other than the trip itself).

The Public Safety Writers Association puts on the conference to bring together mystery writers and people with public safety careers who write about their experiences. I’ll be on two panels, one about editing a manuscript and the other about blogging (hmm).

Attached are views of a miniature casino I put together for a conference in Reno a few years ago. It was auctioned off for the benefit of the local library. The slot machines were part of a souvenir key ring — I hacked off the “ring” part!

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“Close-up” of casino group.

No more fireworks

OK, I let the fireworks go on a bit. Sorry, it was those Sousa marches that don’t leave me for a while.

Now it’s on to July 10 and the birthday of Nikola Tesla. Little did he know a CAR would bear his name.

The best source I found for a complete biography is with the Tesla Memorial Society of New York.

There’s also an explanation of AC/DC (not the music group) and how Edison lost the battle of DC. It has always made me wonder why Edison is the household name for electricity. Well, until the CAR that is!

Be sure to check out the Manhattan corner that bears his name!

More next Thursday, July 14, Bastille Day, as well as the birthdays of Gerald Ford, Gustav Klimt, and Woody Guthrie. Any preference?

The Fourth

Happy Fourth of July!

My newsletter has some Happy Fourth bits. If you don’t subscribe and would like to, sign up here.

Here’s a reprint — a short story featuring The Cyclone roller coaster from Revere Beach, Massachusetts, c. 1950.

Even my cluttered crafts table has a flag, next to a miniature Post Office.