The Magic of Life » History

The Olden Days of the Greater Los Angeles

Merlin — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 04:19:43 +0000

I ran into a very interesting collection of old photographs of Los Angeles and its surroundings and I could not help imagining how my children might look at photos of today and have the same nostalgic feeling about the good old 10s.

Look at that, the cars had wheels and were driving on the ground!

I sure hope that they will be able to say something like that. When I was a kid and started to read science fiction I was sure that by the time I was the age that I am now, we would have hover cars, colonies on the moon and on Mars.

OK, we got the internet instead but I would actually prefer at least solar system wide tourism, if not a decent hyper drive.

My son now has no such notion that it is desirable to have those gadgets and travel options (except maybe the hover board as in Back to the Future II) so that it is more likely that he will actually get it. If Kurzweil is right he might have another unexpected big change coming to him – like the internet for me – which actually might make it inevitable for him to have hover cars during his life time – - just because it is unlimited.

But let’s put these thoughts away and enjoy some nostalgia, Los Angeles Style…

NSU Prinz 4 – My First Car

Merlin — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 09:59:37 +0000

First I read in an auto-biography about the writers first cars. He thinks that you might forget the name of your first girlfriend or the birthday of your first wife, but you will forever remember your first car.

And then Dark Roasted Blend has a post about Adorable Micro Cars which, deplorably, leaves out my first car.

So, I decide to research what I can still find out about my first car and report about it here – all this despite the fact that I still know my first girlfriends name and my first wife’s birthday.

My first car was an NSU Prinz 4 (prinz = prince) which I bought for 1050 German Marks at the very end of my high school days in preparation of going to college, a half hour drive away. My web research showed me that my memory of it’s shape was not quite clean any more – this is what I found it looked…

…and I am one hundred percent sure that it was blue. No, I am not female! And, no, this is not my girlfriend, and neither is this me.

We did some good trips together and for one of the trips where I planned to sleep in the car I actually got my tools out and converted the passenger seat to a full reclining seat. It was indeed used and came handy in some other occasions as well.

But one day, in early December, on the way to a lecture on math, or was it physical mechanics, poor littel Prinz 4 came to a sputtering halt and all attempts to convince him to start up again failed. When dad was done with his daily work, we got the rope out and pulled le petite prince home and he got a place in he garage because he was sick – and I wanted to doctor on him.

We had pretty good service manuals for all kinds of cars for the do-it-yourselfer, so I got one of those and as soon as the winter break was upon us I was out in the garage with manual, hammer and wrench. But all attempts to fix this baby were met with persistent resistance and finally I broke down and pulled Mr. Prinz down to the dealership, for them to take a look. The first test they did, which I could not because if required more than a hammer and a wrench – a compression test – revealed that one of the two cylinders had burned through and suddenly I understood many of he effects I had seen during my own doctoring – like flames back-firing out of the carburetor.

Repairing this was out of the question for this old baby, as the repairs would have been much more that the car was worth.

I did by a new (for me) car at the same dealer – a Ford Taunus 20M – a car which I owned the shortest of them all – because I totaled it on the way from the dealer to the (German) DMV to get the license plates…

Marion, September 5th

New Telefunken Tubes and the High C Shines

Merlin — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 06:46:12 +0000

Thanks, Dennis, for sending me this great commercial for Telefunken tubes. I actually remember finding a radio like this in the attic, plugging it in to see if it still worked – did not – unplugging it, opening it, getting in there with some pliers and being thrown right across my room. Did not know then that these big metallic pots were capacitors (no, not flux capacitors!) that kept a charge for quite a while after unplugging the radio. Never forgot it after that, though.

Without further ado, here this little gem…

Click here to view the embedded video.

Just in case your German is a bit rusty, here’s the translation of what is said:

In a moment we will hear the high C.

NOW!

Bravo, bravo, nearly as Caruso!

We have to record this very gently.

The precious note is then entrusted to the antenna
which carefully puts onto the wave – to be received elsewhere.

And here comes the catastrophe!

What’s a beautiful radio if it has used up, hoarse tubes?

The wonderful note is wretchedly mutilated;
and what then leaves the speaker – for goodness sake!

But not to worry, your radio gets back its impeccable sound with new Telefunken tubes.

Out with them! (The old ones, into the trash – Müll)

And now listening to the radio becomes delightful again.
Often one new Telefunken tube is all it needs, and the sound is full and clear again.

Even the high C – brilliant again with new Telefunken tubes.

Let your specialist check your radio;
Maybe you should also rejuvenate it with new Telefunken tubes.

Joachim and Kerstin

Merlin — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 07:01:34 +0000

This post has no meaning for anybody but the people involved – so, if you are not one of them – please move on…

Still, here?

OK, a blast from the past in form of a very early picture of my good bud and his little sister.

(Click for bigger image – real big – a few MB)

Damn, time is an interesting phenomena!

Inaction

People over 35 should be dead

Merlin — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 08:10:46 +0000

Do you sometimes have the urge to run around the house with some scissors in your hand? Are you sometimes so fed up with all the well-meaning advise to be safe?

Here is an article that gets to the crux of it all, and article that I found (again) in the deep crevices of my hard drive, and who’s author I do not know. Sorry, author, that I can not credit you, but these words need to get out, so here they are…

People over 35 should be dead. Here’s why:

According to today’s regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were kids in the ’40s, ’50s, ’60s, or even maybe the early ’70s probably shouldn’t have survived.

Our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paint. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets, … and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets. (Not to forget the risks we took hitchhiking.)

As children, we would ride in cars with no seatbelts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pickup truck on a warm day was always a special treat. We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle.

Horrors!

We ate cupcakes, bread and butter, and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we were never overweight because we were always outside playing. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle, and no one actually died from this.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then rode down the hill only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the street lights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. NO CELL PHONES!

Unthinkable!

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo 64, X-Boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, video tape movies, surround sound, personal cell phones, personal computers, or Internet chat rooms. We had friends! We went outside and found them.

We played dodge ball and sometimes the ball would really hurt! We fell out of trees, got cut and broke bones and teeth, and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. They were accidents. No one was to blame but us. Remember accidents?

We had fights and punched each other and got black and blue and learned to get over it.

We made up games with sticks and tennis balls and ate worms, and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes, nor did the worms live inside us forever.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend’s home and knocked on the door, or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them.

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn’t had to learn to deal with disappointment. Some students weren’t as smart as others, so they failed a grade and were held back to repeat the same grade.

Horrors!

Tests were not adjusted for any reason. Our actions were our own. Consequences were expected. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law.

Imagine that!

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and problem solvers and inventors, ever. The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.

And if you’re one of them, congratulations!

Please pass this on to others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before lawyers and government regulated our lives, for our own good!

People under 30 are WIMPS!

A Guy’s Real Fairy Tale

Ray Manzarek about the beginning of the Doors

Merlin — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 08:33:17 +0000

During my first semesters at the University of Dortmund a break-through in album sales happened. While at the regular record store you had to shell out over DM 20 (that’s Deutsch Marks for all you young kids, the currency they had in Germany before the Euro) for a 30cm album, some entrepreneurial students started to sell those same albums for DM 14.95 or less in the entry hall of the cafeteria (mensa in latin-german).

This is where I got pretty much the whole collection of my albums I still have after so many years. Some of the early and important items in this collection are records from the Doors. Sure, we knew Jim Morrison by name but the other members of the band were more or less face and name-less.

Until today, when I found the great video site called L-Studio. L must be standing for Lexus as this site is hosted on a subdomain of Lexus.com. And why not – BMW sponsors TED, why should Lexus not have it’s own video site with – I have to say – excellent video.

Some of these videos are with and about Ray Manzarek, the creator of the Door’s characteristic keyboard sound. Hear him tell about the Door’s beginnings …

… and then look through the other video for more Ray Manzarek and try not to miss the series of Web Therapie with Lisa Kudrow.

UPDATE: just ran into the new video of Weird Al Yankovic – ‘Craigs List’ – were he pays homage to the doors – in his own special way. And the great thing is that Ray Manzarek actually plays the keyboards in this spoof of the doors! No wonder that Yankovic version sounds so authentic…

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Right to Bear Arms

Merlin — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 07:16:27 +0000

The most compelling reason against gun control is the consideration that with gun control and laws prohibiting the ownership and use of arms the law abiding citizen will give up his arms while the criminal, by the very definition of criminal not following the law, will keep and bear his arms. So the next time he wants to rob somebody his chances that the other person is able to defend him or herself are much smaller.

The organization Jews for the Preservation of Firearm Ownership has published a very well made video discussing all the aspect of the second amendment…

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Spread the word!

No related posts.

The US One Century Ago – Statistically

Merlin Silk — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 02:31:00 +0000

That was interesting! I ran into some statistics that somebody had collected with the intend to awe us all when we compare these numbers with the numbers of today.

The most intriguing aspect of these numbers is to try to interpolate what we will see in the days of 100 years from now. Looking at Ray Kurzweil’s Book ‘The Singularity is Near’, we can safely assume that the speed of development will increase. Mr. Kurzweil even expect the speed to increase exponentially.

When I look over only my own lifetime I have to admit that that assumption makes sense, but this also means that I don’t have a chance in the world to predict how our world will look in one hundred years.

Now, in order to bend your mind a bit, here are the statistics from 1907:

The average life expectancy in the U.S. was 47 years old.
Only 14 percent of the homes in the U.S. had a bathtub.
Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.
A three-minute call from Denver to New York City cost eleven dollars.
There were only 8,000 cars in the U.S. , and only 144 miles of paved roads.
The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.
The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower.
The average wage in the U.S. was 22 cents per hour.
The average U.S. Worker made between $200 and $400 per year .
A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year, a dentist made $2,500 per year, a veterinarian $1,500 per year, and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year.
More than 95 percent of all births in the U.S. took place at home.
Ninety percent of all U.S. doctors had no college education.
(Instead, they attended so-called medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press and the government as “substandard.”)
Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used Borax or egg yolks for shampoo.
Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from entering into their country for any reason.
Five leading causes of death in the U.S. were:
1. Pneumonia and influenza
2. Tuberculosis
3. Diarrhea
4. Heart disease
5. Stroke
The American flag had 45 stars.
(Arizona, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Hawaii, and Alaska hadn’t been admitted to the Union yet.)
The population of Las Vegas, Nevada , was only 30.
Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and ice tea hadn’t been invented yet.
There was no Mother’s Day or Father’s Day.
Two out of every 10 U.S. adults couldn’t read or write.
Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school.
Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at the local corner drugstores. Back then pharmacists said, “Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind,regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health.”
There were about 230 reported murders in the entire U.S.A.

What struck me as notable was the fact that hundred years ago 20% of the adult US population could not read or write. Looking at todays numbers that was pretty good, even though we are supposed to come to the opposite conclusion.

I found the following quote:

According to a recent US government report, The State of Literacy in America, released by the National Institute for Literacy (NIL), there has been a significant growth in illiteracy in America. Over 90 million US adults, nearly one out of two, are functionally illiterate or near illiterate, without the minimum skills required in a modern society.

Hitler’s Mountain Home

Merlin Silk — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 05:01:06 +0000

There is no doubt that politicians are celebrities. And just as we want to know how Brad Pitt lives or how Tiger Wood’s House looks we don’t mind looking into the private lives of politicians like George W. or Al Gore.

Now fast backwards some seventy years – do you think that it was different at that time?

I don’t think so. We can easily imagine that there were articles published showing how FDR lived his private life or what Winston Churchill did to wind down after a hard day at the helm of his country.

Wait, in the era there is another figure which is rather famous – - this leader of the the country in the center of Europe – what’s his name – oh yes, Adolf Hitler. Were people interested in him? No, that could not possibly be – he was the epiphany of evil!

Or could it be that at this time he was not considered the manifestation of pure evil. After all, FDR designed the American social security system after what he found in Germany. And even today Sarah Brady works on gun control that Hitler had already then modeled for her.

Maybe he was a celebrity as well and this could be the explanation that indeed in a British magazine ‘Home and Garden’ we find an articles from the 1930′s that immensely reminds me of todays magazine articles visiting stars and starlets homes to have voyeurs take a look.

Without further ado, here a glance in the life of a relaxed Führer.