Archive for the ‘news’ Category

An El Camino Stretch

Friday, June 17th, 2011

Like any good blogger I have a news catcher that sends me alerts when stories crop up about my topic of choice, “El Camino.” Most stories are about our California road, but sometimes other subjects find my inbox, like this: starting Monday, June 20 a stretch of El Camino Real is going to be closed by construction crews for four months in the Bay Area. That’s the Galveston Bay Area. In Houston, TX. Sucks for them.

Occasionally I catch stories about the famed Chevrolet El Camino car/truck hybrid, usually sourced from car news and gossip site Jalopnik.com, and they’re typically pretty entertaining. Jalopnik loves them some ‘Mino and it shows. This week they posted an ad for a modified El Camino for sale in Detroit on Craig’s List, and it leaves me speechless. The owner stretched the truck bed, added another rear axle, and made various other cosmetic “enhancements.” Wow. Quite possibly the ugliest vehicle I have ever seen. Plus, he got the Ackermann geometry all wrong. I mean, geez.

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I’m being unnecessarily mean. It may not look like much but I acknowledge it’s quite a feat of automotive engineering and craftsmanship and the owner claims it runs great, so kudos for that.

Kudos also to Jalopnik for dropping some real El Camino science in their writeup:

El Camino Real, or the Royal Road, refers to the 600-mile long padre path spanning San Diego to San Francisco, and interconnecting the California Missions. The builder of today’s Chevy El Camino with seis ruedas was obviously on a mission – a mission to make this the most El Camino-ist El Camino in the whole PBR-drinkin’ world.

True that.

[Source: Jalopnik]

Patch a Match, Natch

Sunday, May 15th, 2011

Patch.com Screen Grab with Missions
I first heard of Patch.com from Ryan Sebastian of Treatbot. A few months back we were chatting at a South FIRST Fridays event and he told me Treatbot had been interviewed by Adelaide Chen of Milpitas Patch, and that Mayra Flores de Marcotte was preparing to launch a new Campbell Patch. I knew Mayra’s handmade Kerfufle jewelry and her husband Josh’s Lost San Jose photography from exhibits at The Usuals. Treatbot…South FIRST Fridays…The Usuals…these are all luminous bodies in the AllCamino firmament, so let’s say Patch.com came to me well-recommended by these indirect El Camino connections.

I immediately checked it out and learned Patch.com is a slick, coordinated, AOL-owned network of hyperlocal news sites about communities across the country. Several are in California so I subscribed to all the Bay Area Patches for cities that lie on El Camino Real or have mission connections. I figured this would be an excellent way to catch news stories about the road. My current, growing list of Patches to follow is:

Back in November, as I was embarking on the the Shellmound Peace Walk through Milpitas, I contacted Adelaide in the spirit of networking and to my surprise got signed on as a freelance contributor. Since then she has given me the opportunity to write three articles for Patch—my first experience in journalism. It was a blast writing with a professional voice and (full disclosure) it was quite cool to be paid for those pieces.

Recently, however, she let me know that all Patches are adding a new feature: blogs. They are offering space for bloggers to write in their own voices about local topics they are passionate about. Patch bloggers don’t get paid, but they gain expanded exposure to a wider audience while retaining independence and ownership over the content. I knew right away this was a natural fit for me. Freedom!

I contacted the various Patch editors and so far the response has been quite positive. This is new for everyone so I’m still figuring out how it will work, but here’s the vision. AllCamino.com will continue to exist independently exactly as it does today; I’ll still do what I do. But if I write a post that might interest a particular Patch’s readers, I may cross-post to that Patch’s blog. Or I might write a standalone piece at Patch and just link to it here.

I’m taking baby steps now. I  just published my first Patch blog at Los Altos Patch. The editor there, L.A. Chung, was the first to activate my Patch blog and she’s been very supportive and helpful so to her go the spoils. Click the link to read it:

An El Camino Real Journey

By Bill Moore | May 10, 2011
El Camino Real is an important part of California history and Bay Area life. AllCamino.com is a blog that celebrates the past, present and future of The Royal Road.

It’s a fairly generic piece. My intention is to use it as an introduction on every Patch. See, I can do that. Freedom!

bell_scuDo you like my profile photo there? It took me many takes and half an hour to get it right. It’s a trick-shot self-portrait and all I had as a guide was the little mirror on the back of my cameraphone. It was a lot harder than I expected and I got some funny looks from drivers whizzing by on El Camino. Can you locate that bell?

I think this Patch relationship will be a lot of fun. The symbolism is irresistable. AllCamino is the virtual link among the various Patches, just as El Camino Real is the concrete link that joins the real cities. These Patches are stitched together by a common thread that together make up the fabric of Northern California. Um, too much? Sorry about that.

I love the breathless tone of press releases—they’re invariably so thrilled!—and I always wanted to write one, so here we go:

Today AllCamino.com is thrilled to announce a new partnership with Patch.com. Blogger Bill Moore says, “This is the dawn of a new era of Bay Area hyperlocal storytelling. AllCamino and Patch create unique synergy and an enhanced value proposition for our combined readership along the El Camino Real information superhighway.” Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post and recent addition to the AOL family, remarks, “We are thrilled to roll out one of the most exciting offshoots of our turbo-charged web presence. This week we launch a great new chapter for Patch.com.”

That’s a real quote from Arianna, by the way, just not about me specifically. A real journalist wouldn’t take a quote out of context like that, but hey I’m a blogger. Freedom!

Baby Bell

Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011

The other day I was watching a video on CNET about AT&T trying to acquire T-Mobile. The video is hosted by CBS’ Kara Tsuboi reporting from Downtown San Francisco. At one point she explains that many stores will probably close as a result of the merger, for example redundant stores which are located near each other. To illustrate the point she stands on a corner that has a T-Mobile store across the street from an AT&T store. So what does all this have to do with El Camino? As the camera zooms in on AT&T, the storefront is obscured by an El Camino Real bell!

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My jaw dropped. I had no idea there was a bell Downtown San Francisco. The only one I had seen in the city is at Mission Dolores. I didn’t recognize the corner but fortunately the street address of the store is clearly visible so it was easy to figure out the bell is at 3rd and Market. Here’s the odd thing: on Google Street View, the bell is not there. Maybe it’s brand new?


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Nope, I found this article which states that bell was erected in December, 2009. There’s more to the story. The first El Camino Real bell was installed in Los Angeles in 1906, but the thirteenth was located a few years later here at 3rd and Mission in San Francisco. At some point the bell disappeared but in 2009 Caltrans found and restored one of the original 100-year-old bells and installed it in the same spot.

Last year I decided that Mission Street in Downtown San Francisco counts as El Camino Real, so I can’t say why the bell is a couple blocks over on Market. My guess is the bell was placed here in 1909 because of its proximity to Lotta’s Fountain which held a special significance to the city as a meeting place after the still-fresh 1906 earthquake and fire. The city commemorates the earthquake here every year on its anniversary, April 18.

It’s surprising that Google Street View for that intersection hasn’t been updated in over a year. The next time I’m in the area I’ll definitely take some pictures. However I must credit CNET with the scoop.


Watch the full video at CNET:

El Camino Real Derby

Tuesday, February 15th, 2011

Turf Race at Golden Gate Fields

Saturday, February 12, 2011 was the 30th running of the El Camino Real Derby, a 1 1/8-mile grade 3 horse race for three-year-old thoroughbreds. This race has been held at scenic Golden Gate Fields in Berkeley for the past three years, but it originated at historic Bay Meadows in San Mateo, just off El Camino Real. Bay Meadows closed for racing in 2008.

This year’s derby was an exciting one. The winner, Silver Medallion, trailed in fourth place on the far side before coming from behind in the final furlong in a dramatic upset, paying $15 on his 1:50.45 time. Early favorite Comma to the Top floated him wide but failed to answer the challenge as Silver Medallion mounted an impressive drive, scoring 1 1/4 lengths ahead of Jakesam who flattened against the inside rail but held on along with Positive Response to finish in the money. I have no idea what I just said but a secret fantasy of mine is to learn to speak horse-racing-ese. It’s way cooler than pirate. Watch the entire race below:


[YouTube]

This was Silver Medallion’s second and biggest win, earning $120,000 out of the total $200,000 purse for owner Michael J. Ryan. His trainer is Steve Asmussen. His jockey, though, is no stranger to the El Camino Real Derby winner’s circle. Saturday he was ridden by the great Russell Baze, who has won this event eight times, more than any other rider by far. He is in fact the winningest jockey in North American history—11,000 victories and counting—and an inductee in the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame.

Silver Medallion, Russell Baze

The El Camino Real Derby is aptly named after the Royal Road because the derby is on the path to the coveted Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing. Past El Camino winners have gone on to win one Kentucky Derby, five Preakness Stakes, and one Belmont Stakes. Silver Medallion is off to a great start. Let’s see if he can continue to bring in the gold.

Viva The Alameda

Thursday, January 13th, 2011

CIMG0344I’ve been on a little hiatus since Christmas but yesterday was 1/11/11 which I have on good authority is an auspicious time for new beginnings. Let’s get it started! Yesterday for lunch I stopped by the Louisiana Territory Cajun food truck for a Po’ Boy, selecting a “Pepper Picker” with sausage and peppers and onions and special sauce. Mmm…so good! This truck has serious El Camino cred and is a friend of this blog. My new buddy Cherie who manages the truck hipped me to this article in Metro last week about The Alameda. I hadn’t seen it. Thanks, Cherie! [Update: corrected to spelling of Cherie’s name.]

The article “Street of Dreams” by Gary Singh is about recent changes on The Alameda, focusing on A Plan for “The Beautiful Way” which came out of the community meetings and planning process I was privileged to participate in from 2009-2010. He calls out some of many businesses which make The Alameda so awesome: The Usuals, Crema, and newcomer Black & Brown.

CIMG0274Then he goes on to gripe a bit about the plan, the 100-page document BMS Design Group produced after studying current conditions and collecting community input. Singh’s biggest concern is that the plan will drive out the funky eclecticity of the Town Center stretch south of Lenzen by imposing homogeneity with matching lampposts and coordinated newspaper racks. I think his fear is unfounded. It’s not like some developer is razing the buildings to the ground and building from scratch because then, sure, you might end up with something like Santana Row which is perfect and commercial but inauthentic. The whole purpose of the community meetings was to hear from the people who live and work there what needs to be fixed (traffic!) and what needs to be preserved (bells!). I was very pleased with how BMS ran the meetings and I am more than satisfied that the plan captures the soul of The Alameda. All the technical details are designed to make the Town Center a more accessible and inviting place that will draw visitors and impart to them the special and historic character of the place.

All the same it’s great to see press about El Camino and I’m glad people are noticing all the positive changes happening. It’s noteworthy that Metro Newspapers is itself located on El Camino, in San Jose’s SoFA district. The Alameda and SoFA are like bookends on downtown, and both are blossoming into urban treasures. The Alameda has a ways to go but they have a beautiful road map.

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Read “Street of Dreams” by Gary Singh, Metroactive.com, January 5, 2011.


Turn-by-turn

Thursday, December 2nd, 2010

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I’m still writing about the Shellmound Peace Walk. How did I end up there? I learned of the walk when my family and I went to the Gathering of Ohlone PeoplesIMG_2019 at Coyote Hills Regional Park in Fremont on October 3, 2010. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, watching traditional Ohlone dances, trying (and failing) to make fire, and learning all about Native life. One of the exhibit tables belonged to Indian People Organizing for Change (IPOC) and was staffed by Corrina Gould and Perry Matlock. They were promoting the Shellmound Peace Walk which immediately captured my imagination, especially when I found out they were going through Milpitas. I resolved to join the walk if logistics permitted.

Logistics permitted, so the morning of November 17 I left my car at the Great Mall and took public transit to Alviso Marina. I had a bit of a wait since all the other walkers were coming from the Oakland/Berkeley area and were stuck in rush hour traffic. I didn’t mind; it was a beautiful, sunny morning out on the Marina and I quietly contemplated the views of the water, tule marsh, and the Valley hills until everyone arrived.

Corrina explained to us the significance of Alviso: that her Ohlone ancestors lived there and collected salt for trade. (The Alviso salt ponds continued to be a major commercial operation up until pretty recently.) When the Spanish rounded up Indians they used Alviso as a collection point before marching them to Mission San Jose so our Peace Walk that day was approximating their trail.

We set off. Our route took us from the Marina down First Street, towards Tasman. Earlier that morning I had sent a tweet to Adelaide Chen of Milpitas Patch to let her know the Walk was coming through, and I was delighted she came out to meet us on First Street. I recognized her from her profile photo and introduced myself, and she was a great sport, walking along with us while we chatted. She commissioned me to write the article for Patch, which was an unexpected opportunity. I was a little hesitant because I envisioned myself later that evening furiously pounding out the article on my laptop while soaking my feet in an Epsom salt bath and I was worried about possible electrocution hazards, but I accepted. She gave me some quick journalism tips which were a big help because I would have been stuck after who/when/where/why/what’s-for-lunch. My new assignment colored the rest of my day though because now I had real responsibility, and I felt I had to inform everybody that the casual conversations we had been having were now “on the record.”

We turned up Tasman, passing through Cisco land. We took a break on a patch of grass in front of a Cisco building where we were questioned by some Cisco employees, probably plainclothes security. I suspect they wanted to make sure we weren’t protesting them, but they were happy when Corrina told them we were just passing through. It was strange being here because I work very nearby, so reflecting on ancient peoples in the midst of all the high-tech companies that comprise my world now was a jarring juxtaposition. Crossing Coyote Creek into Milpitas grounded me because the creek has special significance to me. I live and work close to it, and it’s a constant feature I’ve seen on many old maps so it helps me link the past and the present.

The next point of interest for the Walk was Elmwood Correctional Complex, former site of an Ohlone shellmound. As we passed we could hear the shouts of inmates; I don’t know if they were shouting at us, for us, or if they even knew we were there. Our group said prayers and dropped tobacco—traditional medicine—for the spirits of the dead. Turning up Abel we walked along the culvert that used to be Penitencia Creek and marveled at a number of majestic blue herons gathered there. I could see the Jain Center on Main Street and thought about how this spot is a spiritual nexus for Milpitas. The Ohlone buried their dead here, and the Franciscans gave penance here, giving Penitencia Creek its name. I remarked on the irony of passing Serra Center, a strip mall named for Father-President Junipero, considered by many to be a symbol of Indian oppression. His 297th birthday happened to be exactly one week later, November 24.

We rested again outside Carl’s Jr. and IPOC co-founder Johnella LaRose gave us some history of the Walk and its roots in 1978’s The Longest Walk and its connection to numerous international Peace Walks for varied causes such as nuclear non-proliferation. I interviewed Jun Yasuda, the Japanese Buddhist nun heading our procession, to understand her dedication to Native American causes. She explained to me that as a Buddhist she is drawn to confront human suffering such as the Indians endured through history. Also she sees traditional Native selflessness—putting the community ahead of one’s self—as compatible with Buddhist teaching and a way forward for mankind to Peace. Maybe Columbus was onto something when he confused the so-called “Indians” of the “New World” with residents of India, birthplace of Buddhism.

The rest of the trek was a long haul up Abel to Milpitas Boulevard and Warm Springs. We were supposed to turn onto Mission Boulevard and end at Mission San Jose but our late start caught up with us so we ended the day at Booster Park in Fremont. IPOC provided food fixin’s and I made myself a peanut butter, jelly, and corn chip sandwich. After a ten-mile walk I think officially it was The Best Sandwich I ever tasted. My feet were tender and my thighs ached (as much from the barbell lunges I did in the gym the day before as from the walk) and I was more than a little damp from the unseasonably warm weather, but it was all worth it. We sat in a circle and several in the group shared their thoughts and feelings on the day.

I had planned to take a bus back to the Great Mall but I ended up catching a ride with a driver who kindly shuttled those who had to retrieve vehicles left in Alviso. It was astounding how quickly we got back, retracing by car in minutes the route it took us hours to walk. Modern transportation is a gift, but being able to complete the walk, even for just one day, was a blessing.

History Detectives, South City Edition

Friday, November 26th, 2010


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Prepare yourself for sheer hyperlocal awesomeness. El Camino High School and South San Francisco High School have been playing a cross-town rivalry football game annually for almost fifty years. They call it the Bell Game. South San Francisco Patch wrote a great article about this year’s game. It’s a fun read because in finest rivalry tradition, it was a nail-biter down to the finish. Patch published some terrific photos here. I left a comment on the article, asking why it’s called the Bell Game. I saw on a map that both schools are practically on El Camino Real, so I wondered if the name is a reference to the historic El Camino bell markers. South San Francisco Patch editor Drew Himmelstein replied that she wondered the same thing and promised to look into it.

And boy did she.

Read her full account here. Really. Go read it. I’ll wait.

 …

She made my day, going all out to get to the bottom of this story, enlisting the help of local historian Kathy Kay. Their ultimate findings were surprising, but not disappointing. Let’s just say with a knowing wink that I suspect there is more to the story than even the involved parties were aware of. El Camino Real loves its bells, and works in mysterious ways to get them.

Tukufu Zuberi - World Economic Forum Annual Meeting Davos 2009Drew’s efforts reminded me of one of my favorite TV shows, “History Detectives.” San Jose’s own Tukufu Zuberi would be proud. I just hoped Drew wore protective linen gloves as she was thumbing through those old yearbooks.

Pounding Pavement for Peace on Patch

Friday, November 19th, 2010

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So let me tell you about my Wednesday. I participated in the Shellmound Peace Walk, a ten-day walking tour around the Bay Area of sites  sacred to the Ohlone Indians. I walked the first day, from Alviso Marina, through Milpitas, all the way to Fremont: ten miles. On the way I tweeted to Adelaide Chen of Milpitas Patch, a hyperlocal news site, that we were coming through town. She actually came out and met us in San Jose and talked me into writing an article and providing photos for the site! So here it is, my journalistic debut. I will follow up soon with a more personal account of my experience and the great people I met. I have tons to talk about.


Native Americans Visit Elmwood to Remember Burial Site (in Milpitas Patch)

A group promoting awareness of ancestral burial sites walked from Alviso to Fremont on the first day of the Peace Walk.

By Bill Moore

(that’s me!)
Read more >


Ridin’ on the Green Line

Saturday, November 13th, 2010

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Early November I started noticing something new on my street: Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority’s Route 66 is now being serviced by shiny new hybrid buses. They’re hard to miss with eye-catching “Hybrid” labels on the sides, a reworked VTA logo with a new green swoosh around it, and a big boxy hump on the roof.

I went to VTA’s web site to check them out and learned that VTA is purchasing a “fleet of 90 American-made, low-emission diesel electric hybrid buses.” The cool thing is they used federal stimulus money as well as California Prop 1B funds to buy buses that are built by a company nearby in Hayward, creating and preserving green jobs here in the Bay Area: your tax dollars at work. The new buses are 90 percent cleaner and emit 15 percent less greenhouse gas than the nineties-era all-combustion coaches they replace.

I love that Route 66 is the first to get these new buses. This route is the historic “El Camino de San Jose”  bus line, coming up through San Jose on Monterey Road from the south, continuing onto First Street through downtown, then cutting over to Oakland Road and Main Street in Milpitas. After a few twists it terminates at Dixon Landing and North Milpitas Boulevard, at the county line. This bus was the first one I took on both my epic bus trips up and down El Camino Real.

CIMG0680All the new hybrid buses I had seen were similar to the old diesel-only ones—white paint jobs with blue and red stripes down the side. Earlier this week though I was driving on Oakland Road and I saw something completely different: a hybrid bus with a brand new colorful full-body wrap! It was gorgeous, depicting a blue sky, a field of golden poppies, and native California wildlife. I desperately wanted to take a picture of it so I rashly made the decision to “follow that bus!” How hard could that be? It’s a bus that stops, right? It turns out I’m really bad at trying to front-tail a bus. I raced ahead of it (obeying all speed and traffic laws, of course) and pulled over to snap a shot of it, but I kept messing up the timing.CIMG0653 At one point I pulled way ahead of the bus into a parking lot and parked…behind a hedge. D’oh! After a couple more botched attempts I decided to go for the sure thing. I got behind it and followed it to the Great Mall where I know it waits for several minutes. Brilliant. Then I was separated from it by a red light. C’mon! C’mon! When I got to the mall it was still there. Awesome. Park, get out of the car, and bam, off it goes again. Augh!!! Back in the car, I tried to catch it at the Milpitas Library but failed to find a good ambush spot. Vroom, it’s gone. Sunnyvale biscuit! I’m no quitter. Undeterred I pulled ahead, determined to find a good spot, but I had a problem. I didn’t know the route past the library, and I didn’t have time to pull up the map on my smartphone. I literally had to sniff out the route, hopping from bus stop to bus stop. I felt like a caveman tracking a woolly mammoth (with fewer emissions). I lucked out and guessed correctly that it turns off Jacklin onto Escuela. I tried to trap it at the end of Escuela but again it eluded me because I couldn’t park close enough. By then I was literally shaking with frustration at the absurdity of it all so I just followed it until it finally came to rest at the end of the line. I parked in the Sunnyhills Apartment complex of all places. I had all the time in the world so I got my shots. Victory. I have no idea what the driver on break thought of the crazy guy stalking him from San Jose and taking tons of pictures of his bus, so I simply told him I was admiring the new paint job, and he understood that.

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I should mention that going southbound, Route 66 goes to South San Jose all the way to Santa Teresa and terminates at Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center. The street it turns onto to get to the hospital is Camino Verde. “Green Road.” Kinda perfect.

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Chris Gulker, Hyperlocal Hero

Friday, October 29th, 2010

Chris Gulker Self Portrait. Copyright Chris Gulker.
Copyright Chris Gulker

I was saddened to learn that one of the founders of InMenlo passed away this week. Chris Gulker founded Menlo Park’s excellent hyperlocal web site with his wife Linda Hubbard Gulker in June 2009. I don’t know the Gulkers but I discovered InMenlo this past summer and thoroughly enjoyed its professional design, personal touch, and beautiful portrait photography as I scoured it for El Camino Real news. InMenlo immediately became an inspiration for AllCamino. Chris was an avid technologist and talented photo-journalist, and it shows in the web site.

As it turns out Chris is cited as being influential in the development of blogging.  Through Gulker.com, the personal web site he started in 1995, he pioneered the ideas of the blogroll and link attribution, two elements which contributed to blogging becoming the inter-networked, mutually beneficial phenomenon that it is today.

Chris succumbed to brain cancer on October 27, 2010. He was 59. He will be missed not just by his family and friends but by the beloved Peninsula community he served so well. The global community of bloggers—hyperlocal and otherwise—owe him a debt of gratitude.

[Source: InMenlo]