OldStuff
21
Feb 10
The Government’s Prohibition Poison Program
It was Christmas Eve 1926, the streets aglitter with snow and lights, when the man afraid of Santa Claus stumbled into the emergency room at New York City's Bellevue Hospital. He was flushed, gasping with fear: Santa Claus, he kept telling the nurses, was just behind him, wielding a baseball bat.
11
Feb 10
Wilshire & Bundy ca. 1968
I found this great photo of the intersection of Wilshire and Bundy in west LA. It was supposedly taken back in 1968.
5
Feb 10
North Korea’s Secret Infrastructure
I’ve been spending 10+ hours / a day at work and unpacking from my move, so the posts have been few and far between this week. I hope to pick it up next week.
Check out this great article: Infrastructurist, one of the best blogs on the net IMO, did a story on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, one of the most fascinating subjects around.
Last year, two Austrian tourists managed to enter North Korea by train at a border crossing that has been closed to foreigners since 1994. Lucky for us, they took lots of pictures. Below are a few samples from their extensive documentation of their trip (see the full visual and narrative account here, here and here). They also hit Pyongyang–a city 3 million people that does see a bit of tourist traffic–and took some special photographic interest to the city’s infrastructure, especially trams.
Pyongyang boasts a subway system buried deeper underground than any other on earth; this is done so that the system might better survive a blast from atomic weaponry. It might also serve as a makeshift bomb shelter. There are rumours that the public transit system also connects to a much larger non-public underground rail system extending well beyond the city’s surface infrastructure.
It reminds me of the PRC’s subterranean submarine base on Hainan Island. Don’t miss photos of that base on the FAS website. And let’s not forget the tunnels dug by the Viet Cong. Apparently, Mao liked to dig.
via Gallery: North Korea’s Secret Infrastructure » INFRASTRUCTURIST.
4
Feb 10
How To Hide An Airplane Factory
During World War II the Army Corps of Engineers needed to hide the Lockheed Burbank Aircraft Plant to protect it from a Japanese air attack. They covered it with camouflage netting and trompe l’oeil to make it look like a rural subdivision from the air.
15
Jan 10
What Should We Do With a Semi-Abandoned U.S. City? » INFRASTRUCTURIST
We’ve never had a situation quite like Detroit in modern American history: A major U.S. city — once the fourth largest in the country — losing over half of its population in a few decades, following the collapse of its principal industry. Just how bad has it gotten? Unemployment in the city has hit 27%, and houses are selling for an average of $15,000.
via What Should We Do With a Semi-Abandoned U.S. City? » INFRASTRUCTURIST.
10
Dec 09
Old Spruce Goose hangar is for sale — latimes.com
The hangar is visible on the right. Doesn’t seem big enough, really.
Old Spruce Goose hangar is for sale — latimes.com.
12
Oct 09
The Bizarre and Tragic History of Paraguay
Whenever I’m reminded of it, I’m astonished by the bizarre history of Paraguay, particularly its involvement in a war with three of its neighbors, the War of the Triple Alliance.
In modern terms, there’s really no equivalent. From Wikipedia:
Paraguay’s soldiers exhibited suicidal bravery, especially considering that Solano López shot or tortured so many of them for the most trivial offenses. Cavalry units operated on foot for lack of horses. Naval infantry battalions armed only with machetes attacked Brazilian ironclads. The suicide attacks resulted in fields of corpses. Cholera was rampant. By 1867 Paraguay had lost 60,000 men to casualties, disease, or capture, and another 60,000 soldiers were called to duty. Solano López conscripted slaves, and infantry units formed entirely of children appeared. Women were forced to perform support work behind the lines. Matériel shortages were so severe that Paraguayan troops went into battle semi-nude, and even colonels went barefoot, according to one observer. The defensive nature of the war, combined with Paraguayan tenacity and ingenuity and the difficulty that Brazilians and Argentinians had cooperating with each other, rendered the conflict a war of attrition. In the end, Paraguay lacked the resources to continue waging war against South America’s giants.
Kyle Hayes