author archive
Thursday, April 12th, 2007
tour review — ferry building (sf city guides)
Here’s the thing — I love San Francisco, I love history, and I love walking. Luckily for me, there are a billion walking tours out there, and every so often I take one. I do my best to keep my know-it-all mouth shut and learn a thing or two, pick up a few ideas for […]
1 Comment » - Posted in Walking tour reviews by richard - sparkletack
Wednesday, April 11th, 2007
sparkletack interviewed – VerySpatial podcast
San Francisco is about to be invaded by geographers! The annual convention of the Association of American Geographers is coming to town, and Jesse Rouse, cohost of the VerySpatial podcast (an excellent show covering geography and geospatial technology) thought I would be a good candidate to give their listeners some idea about what there is […]
2 Comments » - Posted in Media by richard - sparkletack
Sunday, April 8th, 2007
#59: Starr King and the California Civil War (pt. 1)
Over 100,000 people a day travel the Geary Street corridor. But how many glance over and notice the grey statue standing watch at Franklin Street? Only a very few look even further, and notice the low, stone sarcophagus nestled in front of the gothic Unitarian Church. Walk right up to it and you’ll discover that […]
13 Comments » - Posted in San Francisco history podcasts by richard - sparkletack
Wednesday, March 14th, 2007
book review — “River of Shadows: Eadweard Muybridge and the Technological Wild West”
I read a lot of books on San Francisco and California history. And though these posts are labeled “book reviews”, the only books you’ll ever see here are those that I’ve really enjoyed. In short, if you see it here, it’s a great book — I’ve no urge to write about the stinkers! And if […]
7 Comments » - Posted in Historical book reviews by richard - sparkletack
Friday, March 9th, 2007
mission street railroad graphic
I have more than a passing interest in transportation and urban infrastructure issues — not because I have any expertise in the subject, mind you — I just find it fascinating to ponder the way technology and movement have shaped our surroundings. Craig Butz, a listener of mine, feels the same way. While examining his […]
15 Comments » - Posted in From the community,Just plain cool by richard - sparkletack
Wednesday, February 21st, 2007
#58: The Crocker Spite Fence
History is rife with bizarre confrontations and grand feuds, but in San Francisco none were more bizarre than the showdown between Charles Crocker (bellicose railroad robber baron) and Nicholas Yung (unassuming German undertaker). Call it “a tale of two egos”. It was over a very small piece of land, but this property was located on […]
24 Comments » - Posted in San Francisco history podcasts by richard - sparkletack
Wednesday, January 10th, 2007
book review — Mark Twain’s “Roughing It”
I read a lot of books on San Francisco and California history. And though these posts are labeled “book reviews”, the only books you’ll ever see here are those that I’ve really enjoyed. In short, if you see it here, it’s a great book — I’ve no urge to write about the stinkers! And if […]
7 Comments » - Posted in Historical book reviews by richard - sparkletack
Monday, January 8th, 2007
tour review — 1906: phoenix rising (sf city guides)
Here’s the thing — I love San Francisco, I love history, and I love walking. Luckily for me, there are a billion walking tours out there, and every so often I take one. I do my best to keep my know-it-all mouth shut and learn a thing or two, pick up a few ideas for […]
2 Comments » - Posted in Walking tour reviews by richard - sparkletack
Monday, August 21st, 2006
sparkletack interrupted… an update
My time away from the show has been action-packed, both because of the profusion of ideas for changes and improvements, and also because my personal life has taken an unexpected turn for the hectic. Moving out of my cozy apartment after almost eight years turned into a much more complicated maneuver than I had imagined, […]
9 Comments » - Posted in Notes by richard - sparkletack
Monday, May 8th, 2006
announcement: sparkletack takes a break
well, here goes: as i give attention to some exciting san francisco related projects that i’ve been cooking up, including the writing of a book, sparkletack will be on hold for a month or two. the book will be a how-to guide on the subject of urban history podcasting, something I hope will inspire sparkletack-like […]
12 Comments » - Posted in Notes by richard - sparkletack
Sunday, May 7th, 2006
#57: The Reber Plan for San Francisco Bay
Unsurprisingly, San Francisco’s history includes an amazing number of extremely “creative” plans which seem to us today to be absolutely insane. In 1945, a schoolteacher and amateur theatrical producer named John Reber devised a plan to solve all of San Francisco Bay’s water and transportation problems in one fell swoop. His outrageous proposal was to […]
2 Comments » - Posted in San Francisco history podcasts by richard - sparkletack
Sunday, April 30th, 2006
#56: Lotta Crabtree — the San Francisco Favourite
In this week’s podcast we’ll marvel at beautiful Lotta Crabtree, quintessential star of the late 1800s. She was the protege of Lola Montez, the highest paid performer on Broadway, the darling of the entire nation, and the most popular comedienne of her era. As you may already suspect, her story begins right here in California, […]
5 Comments » - Posted in San Francisco history podcasts by richard - sparkletack
Sunday, April 16th, 2006
#55: Caruso, the Palace, and the 1906 earthquake
This week’s podcast chooses just one of the many thousands of individual stories to emerge from the catastrophe, following the eccentric Italian superstar and the storied hotel through their respective trials and tribulations. One survives… but the other does not. For further edification: » “The San Francisco Earthquake” – Gordon Thomas, Max Morgan Witts » […]
9 Comments » - Posted in San Francisco history podcasts by richard - sparkletack
Saturday, April 8th, 2006
#54: The Notorious Lola Montez
This week’s podcast grapples with the unbelievable legend of Lola Montez, the gorgeous Irish peasant girl with the soul of a grifter and the heart of a despot. She lived about three lifetimes’ worth of adventure, turning Europe upside down and provoking a revolution in Bavaria before conquering Gold Rush-era San Francisco with her scandalous […]
9 Comments » - Posted in San Francisco history podcasts by richard - sparkletack
Wednesday, April 5th, 2006
Tour Review — Dashiell Hammett’s San Francisco
Here’s the thing — I love San Francisco, I love history, and I love walking. Luckily for me, there are a billion walking tours out there, and every so often I take one. I do my best to keep my know-it-all mouth shut and learn a thing or two, pick up a few ideas for […]
Sparkletack was the blog and podcast of a guy obsessed with diggin' up San Francisco history. The site is on permanent hiatus.
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