Monthly Archives: February 2015

Mort: Mr. Spock

Another Icon down, with the passing of Leonard Nimoy today at the age of 83. While you couldn’t really say I was ever a Trekkie, on the other hand, who the hell doesn’t like Star Trek? Maybe not all of … Continue reading

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Frisco Beat: Adios, House of Fans — or, The Adventure of The Diagraph Stencil Machine

A couple of Thursdays back I did a tour by appointment for a guy who just couldn’t hit the burg on a Sunday, but didn’t seem to mind handing over bigger bucks to pay for wear-and-tear on my gumshoes and closing-in-on-forty-years of expertise. … Continue reading

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Tour: Late for Oscar

Viewership for the Oscar ceremonies dropped way down this year, according to news on the net — a trend I got in on. People had requested a Hammett tour for the 22nd, so I gumshoed up and hit the mean streets for a … Continue reading

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Hammett: On This Day

Eighty-five years ago today Alfred A. Knopf published a novel titled The Maltese Falcon — as I always say, the sickest Valentine’s Day novel ever. If they hang you — some pretty sweet talk. . . .

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Hammett: KALW and the Mystery of the Black Bird

The Maltese Falcon presides over San Francisco — the novel, the film, a thousand and one statues made of plaster, the two or three (or more?) figurines wrought out of lead with a golden bronze patina — the lead ones from … Continue reading

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