OT Sad History. Trans-Siberian Railway

A lot of people died pushing the transcontinental railroad tracks across the mountains of California, but nothing as horrible as that.

This is a great book:

Chinese workers blasted the tunnels through the crests with hand drills and black powder. They lived under the snow in winter.

You can walk through the abandoned Tunnel 6 and the snow sheds at the Sierra crest. It's creepy and beautiful.

this wasn't awalk in the park either,

Read McCullough, David (1977), The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the

Cool. On order.

How we worked, how we worked like the devil for our pay Through the wind, through the snow, and through the rain Blasting and cutting through Gods country like a knife Sweat stinging my eyes, there has to be a better life

But I can hear my children's cry I can see the tears in their eyes Memories of those I've left behind Oh just still ringing in my ears Will I ever go back again Will I ever see her face again 'cause I'll always remember that night As they waved goodbye to their fathers

We came from the North And we came from the South With picks and with spades And a new kind of order Showing no fear of what lies up ahead They'll never see the likes of us again

Driving the last spike Lifting and laying the track With blistering hands And the sun burning your back

But I can hear my children's cry I can see the tears in their eyes Oh memories of those I've left behind Still ringing in my ears 'cause I'll always remember that night As they waved goodbye to their fathers

We followed the rail, we slept under the stars Digging in darkness and living with danger Showing no fear of what lies up ahead They'll never see the likes of us again

- Genesis, "Driving The Last Spike"

wow.

The English used the Irish as the Chinese when they built theirs AFAIK

The Chinese were treated horribly in California. They weren't allowed to bring in their women; they were forced to live in Chinatowns. They died building the railroad. There were pogroms to drive the Chinese out of the gold fields and the towns. There were Chinese Exclusion Acts. Our HOA recently purchased the McGlashan Wilderness area in Truckee. They should rename it.

That was like, every Friday night in Dorchester MA when my father was growing up there in the 1930s. "Hey Davie wanna go beat up some Italians? Hey we know where some Irish are let's jump 'em. Hey wanna go kick the shit outta the Jews?"

guess they didn't have football teams to group people to beat up back then

The US is remarkable for its lack of sports hooligan violence, and its lack of deadly public stampedes.

You can go to a Giants-Red Sox baseball game in San Francisco and wear a Boston baseball cap and be perfectly safe. Someone might even buy you a beer.

The 1989 World Series game was played here in Candlestick Park and a major earthquake hit 30 minutes before the game started, as the stadium was filling up. Everyone filed out in a calm and orderly manner.

I lost a couple of Camac crates at work and a chimney at home. The power and traffic lights were all out and people drove super-politely. Everybody on our block brought out their ice cream and shared it before it melted.

Most of the rioting in Philly, Boston, etc. after big sports wins isn't locals but thousands of drunk college students from parts unknown looking for an excuse.

However if I had the choice of seeing an away game in NYC or NJ vs Philly I'd pick the former any day; Eagles fans are, in fact, pretty terrible.

I was in my neighborhood of origin, Jackson Heights, in NYC, when all the Pakistanis and Indians on 37th street started going crazy like they were cheering and taunting each other right after hearing some kind of news. I asked one, "Soccer?" He said, "No, cricket."

Cricket game? Did they all wake up at once?

Test match results get broadcast on short wave radio, often with ball by ba ll commentary. You have to grow up in an English-speaking country to be awa re of this - Americans don't speak English any more than they play cricket. You don't have to like it, but the people who do - like my wife - do take it all very seriously. Very odd.

They were probably watching on the Internet even Indians and Pakistanis in NYC have computers nowadays.

If you haven't seen "The Death of Stalin" yet, it's a great movie.

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y ball commentary. You have to grow up in an English-speaking country to be aware of this - Americans don't speak English any more than they play cric ket. You don't have to like it, but the people who do - like my wife - do t ake it all very seriously. Very odd.

The traditional media do make their content computer accessible these days.

Why you'd tie up a useful computer to watch-ball-by-ball cricket commentary escapes me, but my wife has been known to do it. Apparently aficionados ca n sub-divide the glacial tedium into more and less boring episodes.