First Looks category archive

My local rag points out that two remain afloat.

Eighteen shipyards on the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf coasts were part of the effort that, by 1943, cranked out ships at the rate of about three a day, and a cost of about $1.8 million each.

The idea was to build them faster than they could be sunk, though by the end of the war, only 229 of the 2,710 ships built had been lost, Porter said.

A little more than 441 feet long, about 57 feet wide, with a draft of roughly 28 feet, they could carry about 10,000 tons of cargo, enough to fill about 300 railroad cars.

Pictures at the link.

Freedom of screech.

Learn more here.

Family affairs.

Politeness is essential to customer service.

A 20-year-old employee said that when a friend of his came into Joy Grocery Store on North U.S. Highway 17, he picked up a .380-caliber gun kept at the store for security and began handling it. The gun accidentally discharged and struck his friend in the shoulder.

Come and have some fun.

When: Thursday, November 20, 6:00 p. m.

Where:
Greene Turtle
1401 Greenbrier Pkwy, # 2260 (Greenbrier Mall)
Chesapeake, VA (map)

There’s weather, and I’m under it.

Not very far under it, but under it nonetheless, so I’m taking a break.

Dan Casey investigates the “Case of the $928 Band-Aid.”

Read it and ask yourself, what can be right about a system that works like that?

Working the polls, and you should be too.

As the Republican voter suppression tactics show, if you don’t use your vote, you will lose your vote.

Via Job’s Anger.

Off to drink liberally.

Come help us celebrate.

When: 6:00 7:00 p. m., Tuesday, October 29.

Where:
Tripps Restaurant
101 South Independence Boulevard
Virginia Beach, VA (map)

Boys are piglets.

Sportswriter extraordinaire Bob Molinaro remembers the San Francisco earthquake of 1989. He was there. A nugget:

A few minutes before the scheduled start of Game 3 between the Oakland A’s and Giants, I was in a media workroom on the mezzanine at Candlestick Park when I heard a rumble from above. At first, we thought it was fans in the upper deck stomping their feet.

Then there came a stranger sound – like 62,000 people taking a collective deep breath – before the room began violently shaking. The lights went out as the shaking continued – for a total of 17 seconds, we would learn.

As this was happening, a feeling of helplessness began in my knees and sent me to the floor. I may have tried to crawl under a table. I remember thinking that I hope the TVs attached to the walls don’t come down.

At the time, my then-in-laws lived in the Bay Area and my father-in-law’s route home included the double-decker freeway that collapsed on itself. He happened to work late that evening.

RIP Tim Hauser, founding member of Manhattan Transfer.

Vocal jazz at its best.

No, he wasn’t actually from New York City, but he might as well have been.

Off to drink liberally.

New day, new place.

Drinking Liberally is a gathering place for liberals. Socialize and laugh in a friendly atmosphere.

When: 6 p., Thursday, October 16.

Where:
FM Restaurant
320 Granby St.
Norfolk, VA (map)

Family matters.

My aunt has passed away at 102.

She was ready to go.

Now I go to say farewell.