@KatyG: I certainly will, as soon as an appropriate anniversary pops up -- she's one of my favourites! In the meantime, you're in luck - the Sparkletack half-hour podcast on Lotta is one of my most p...

That's right, and though I haven't read it yet, I've heard it's very good -- written by Douglas Kelley, and linked to from my own blog....

My pleasure, Katy ... and feel free to check out my other website, which is PACKED with it. :)...

bluecanary: Exactly! Check out "the Ruination of Fatty Arbuckle", a podcast on that very subject. sagitta100: Great idea, and I hope they're reading this ... there's a link to their story about the M...

"Well, I don’t want John McCain to win the contest, but I don’t want Senator Obama or Senator Clinton to win either." So ... this campaign of yours is going to accomplish that how? I can't believe I...

That's what I'd like to know ... can I get a witness?...

The language is terrific -- and the truth is, the papers from around the turn of the century are just loaded with bizarre arcana. Usually I just shake my head and keep scrolling, but this one I just c...

Very cool indeed! A whole passel of similar (and much older) items are on display at the San Francisco Railway Museum near the Ferry Building ... www.streetcar.org...

Sal: Beirut (Lebanon) was also known as the "Paris of the East" ... and Winston Churchill famously called Marrakech the "Paris of the Sahara". Bet we could come up with a dozen of these "Paris of the...

That's a great question, Jeremy - Dutch Charley was one of the guys who got kicked out of town by the second committee of Vigilance in 1856; since the Chronicle was founded in 1865, if De Young tangle...

Coming soonish to Sparkletack.com!...