Robert Manners

Sesquicentennial, anyone?

A link-happy tribute to our town...

My dear little hometown of Oakland turned 150 on Saturday. I forgot to buy a card. But there are a whole bunch of links explaining the event, if you're interested. I think I may toddle down the street some lunch-hour and take in the museum exhibit, and maybe even do a little reading about Oakland.



For example, did you know that literary lesbian expatriate Gertrude Stein, pretty-boy Tarzan portrayor Buster Crabbe, I-Spy icon and perennial Special Guest Star Robert Culp, Beverly Hillbilly and producer Max Baer Jr., the hateful and grotesque Tom Hanks, brilliant novelist Amy Tan, both Ted Lange and Jill Whelan from The Loveboat, grumpy TV-detective and faux-Hawaiian Jack Soo, sports-chatterer Bob Costas, Star Wars hero Mark Hammill, has-been rapper MC Hammer, "Glamorous Life" drummer and songstress Sheila E, tragically deceased action star Brandon Lee, and the ever-fabulous Pointer Sisters were all born here in Oakland. I wasn't born here, but both my parents, my sister, and my niece and nephew were.



Plus, Oakland possesses the only salt-water lake contained within a city in the entire world! Here are some lovely pictures of Lake Merritt:

None of these pictures are mine...I assume them to be in the public domain, but if not I certainly apologize for any copyright infringement.