Author Archive
January 18, 2015 by tomdalzell
London Bridge. In Arizona.
This man was named Robert Paxton McCulloch. He inherited a fortune when he was 14 years old. He made his own fortunes with superchargers and chainsaws. And then he moved the London Bridge from London to Lake Havasu, Arizona. Sort of. Pieces of it face a structurally sound, well-engineered bridge. The irony of London Bridge […]
January 17, 2015 by tomdalzell
Tools
As I was preparing this post on tools as decorative accessories, I saw on Daniella Thompson’s Facebook page a story about this sign being stolen. It is from the former Pacific Saw Works, at 4401 Martin Luther King Jr. Way in Oakland, founded in the 1930s by Alexander J. Ponchione. Today the building is home to […]
January 13, 2015 by tomdalzell
Guest Post by Ted Friedman: Do You Know Berkeley Cafe Owner Who Mugged Teley Mural in ’92?
A guest post – the first for Quirky Berkeley. Ted Friedman is a longtime south side resident who has forgotten more about Telegraph Avenue than most of us will ever know. He is a contributor to Berkeleyside, reports for the Daily Planet, runs a blog the Berkeley Reporter, and has been a collaborator and supporter of […]
January 12, 2015 by tomdalzell
Giant Hammers
After looking at my post of tools-as-decoration, my friend grieved the absence of any giant tool signs in Berkeley. Yes, we have our tool-lending library which is all well and good, but not any giant tools. I think that our only giant anythings are the giant tire on Gilman: … and the over-sized loaf of […]
January 11, 2015 by tomdalzell
My Posters
You see, what happened was this. I posted the collection of political posters from Red Sun Rising, and at the end of the post included a photo of me working at my desk at the United Farm Workers legal department office on West Gabilan Street in Salinas from the late 1970s. Lincoln Cushing, the universe’s […]
January 3, 2015 by tomdalzell
Castles in Berkeley
If you search The web for “castles in Berkeley,” the first result will be this: This is not in our Berkeley. It is Berkeley Castle, in the town of Berkeley, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom/Great Britain/England. It was built in the 11th century. Tradition holds that Edward II was murdered there on September 21, 1327. Something about […]
January 3, 2015 by tomdalzell
Bryn Mawr College in My Life
The interior shots of the Hume Castle – which is also known as the Hume Cloister – remind me of Bryn Mawr College. My mother grew up in Bryn Mawr. Her father taught at Bryn Mawr from 1914 until 1920. My mother went to Bryn Mawr. We lived in Bryn Mawr starting in 1959, […]
January 3, 2015 by tomdalzell
Up on the roof…
The song for this page is obvious. The version is not so obvious. Or: Not an easy choice, is it? The premise for this page is simple. Structures on roofs. Let’s let the photos explain. Gary Rosenberg’s work on three conjoined apartments at Bancroft and Acton is stunning. Fruit trees crowd against the […]
January 2, 2015 by tomdalzell
Gabby and the roof – Philadelphia
Gabby worked on the United Farm Workers grape boycott in Philadelphia from the fall of 1969 until August, 1970. I met him in the fall of 1969 in West Philadelphia and we became fast friends. We had both been in Delano in the summer of 1968 but somehow did not know each other. For him, […]
January 2, 2015 by tomdalzell