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The new normal…
A little after 9 AM Monday, I got a series of texts from my kid starting with, “Someone threatened to shoot up the school.”
Um, yeah…
The scare started when one student’s Instagram story started spreading through the school. It warned that another kid was “threatening to shoot up our school” and that “he showed off his gun and everything.”
The screenshot of that story started getting passed around first thing Monday morning by the middle schoolers.
Naturally, it caused some upset. When I pulled up to the school to pick up SJ, there were already three news crews stationed on the sidewalk. A police SUV was parked in front and parents were rushing into the office to pick up their kids. It was chaos and they hadn’t yet made an official announcement. Parents were simply getting texts from their kids telling them that they were scared.
Everything turned out fine, at least for our community. There was a mix up. It wasn’t Lincoln Middle School in Alameda under direct threat, it was Lincoln High School in Tacoma, Washington.
Um, yeah…
It’s 2018 and this is the new normal.
I am not happy. None of this is not ok, and never has been.
On March 14 at 10 AM, there will be a 17-minute-long National School Walkout to “to protest Congress” inaction to do more than tweet thoughts and prayers in response to the gun violence plaguing our schools and neighborhoods.”
I’m in. SJ’s in. You?
–Rusty Blazenhoff
P.S. Don’t worry, the rest of the issue is lighthearted as usual.
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This space intentionally left not normal
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Real things you can’t actually buy: hey!
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| Not Actually Trefoils: I hope you can read these faux Girl Scout cookie boxes by Obvious Plant, ’cause they’re pretty funny (you might have to click through to really read them all). |
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Neptune Beach: “Coney Island of the West”
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Popsicles, high-divers, and well-to-do San Franciscans: A lot of folks don’t realize that right here on the island of Alameda, California (my home for the last 12+ years) there was once a bayside amusement park hailed as the “Coney Island of the West.” Not only was the popsicle invented here but MGM’s Tarzan, Olympic swimmer Johnny Weissmuller, performed at the popular beach resort, as did Jack LaLanne. There was a high-diving tower, giant salt-water pools, dance halls, a midway, a carousel, a rollercoaster, and a Ferris wheel (and lots more).
Now, the beach areas of Alameda’s West End had already been a popular staycation destination for wealthy San Francisco Victorians starting in the late 1880s. When Alameda’s Strehlow family opened Neptune Beach in 1917, weekenders made it an instant success and it ran for 22 years. However, once the Bay Bridge opened in 1936, San Franciscans no longer used the train or ferry service to Alameda. Cars made it easy for rich Bay Area folks to travel further away. So, crowds thinned and the once-great park went bankrupt in 1939 (which was the same year the World’s Fair opened on Treasure Island).
Now, if you go to the end of Webster Street and take a right to get to Crab Cove, you’ll be on the old site of Neptune Beach. There’s not much to look at anymore, unfortunately. Really the only remaining structure that I’m aware of specifically from the Neptune Beach era are the Neptune Court Apartments, some charming 1920s cottages which are now rented as year-round housing.
Some great images of the park in its heyday can be found starting here. Even better, here’s some footage of it, narrated by the late Alameda historian Andy Pagano.
Alameda beaches: cold then, cold now
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| This weekend: On March 3 and 4, as part of San Francisco History Days, artist Kasey Smith will be giving tours focused on the location and history of San Francisco’s ghost signs. The tours start at 11 AM each day at the San Francisco Mint. RSVP.
Los Angeles
[3/17] It won’t be long now! The first Rusty’s Electric Dream meetup in LA
Oakland
[3/5] Heather Gold’s Yarn, a comedy storytelling show especially for women who are ‘Hollywood old’ (age 29) at Homestead, 7 PM doors, 7:30 PM show
New York City
[4/1] 33rd Annual April Fools’ Day Parade, led by Joey Skaggs, Noon, begins at 5th Avenue and 59th Street |
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Rusty’s Electric Dreams is a weekly inbox zine from the curious mind of Rusty Blazenhoff.
Described as, “One of the most inspiring, weird and off-kilter collections of curated kitschy ephemera for the big-brained.”
People like it.
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