Recent Blog Posts
SFWeekly: “Nonconformity Still Reigns”
on Jul 1, 2008 in Media San Francisco history blog Brown Twins character characters colorful Emperor Norton Frank Chu kook kooks Norton San Francisco San Francisco Twins San Francisco Weekly SF Weekly SFWeekly Apparently yours truly is the go-to source on non-conformity in historical San Francisco. That's the way the SFWeekly is leaning, in any case. An hour of phone-schmoozing with intrepid reporter Lauren Smiley resulted in the following introduction to...
Something new: weekly Time-capsule podcast, September 15-21
on Sep 16, 2008 in San Francisco history blog San Francisco history podcasts Charles Lindbergh Circus Emperor Norton messenger boys Ringling Bros. San Francisco San Francisco Fire san francisco history Schwarzeneggar Streets of San Francisco Strike time capsule A little explanation is in order So. The schedule of Sparkletack production has fallen off a bit during the past year, and for that I apologize. I miss the show myself, so I've decided to tweak the format a bit. Here's my new plan. I started to thi...
Emperor Norton Day: “Le Roi est Mort”
on Jan 7, 2009 in Just plain cool San Francisco history blog 1880 bicycle Emperor Norton St. Mary's Church It’s Emperor Norton Day One hundred and twenty-nine years ago today, the Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico crumpled in front of Old St. Mary’s Church on the edge of Chinatown, and died on the way to the hospital. Thir...
San Francisco Timecapsule: 01.12.09
on Jan 11, 2009 in San Francisco history blog San Francisco history podcasts 1861 1899 Emperor Norton King Ludwig Lola Montez Lotta Crabtree San Francisco Chronicle THIS WEEK'S PODCAST TRANSCRIPT: 1861: the notorious countess Lola Montez dies in New York; 1899: a small boy defends himself in a San Francisco courtroom. January 17, 1861 Countess Lola Montez -- in Memorium As was undoubtedly marked on your calen...
SEÑOR COCONUT - El Baile Alemán (2000)
on Mar 25, 2009 in cha-cha cumbia downtempo electronic latin merengue 2000 chile emperor norton señor coconut Label: Emperor Norton Country: Chile Release Date: 2000.07.04 Upon the American arrival of El Baile Alemán, the first record from Señor Coconut y su Conjunto, listeners were forced to contemplate the notion that a traditional Latin group from S...