The secret life of a Silicon Valley airport In San Carlos, SQL is code for an aviation ‘cult’ that flies organ donations and rescued pets By Kali Shiloh Photos by Philip Wartena The San Carlos Airport, also known as SQL, is one of about 20 small airports in the Bay Area. (Photo by Philip Wartena) Bennett Taber steers his small aircraft toward the San Francisco Peninsula at 25,000 feet in the air, keenly aware that he is flying between tragedy ...
Read MoreThe ever-ascending athlete talks motherhood, mountaineering and “The Peak of Evil” ahead of her Redwood City Nat Geo talk. By Emily Olson Day at the office: mountaineer Hilaree O’Neill will showcase stories and imagery from her climbs at the Fox Theater in Redwood City as part of the speaker series Nat Geo Live. (Photo by Cory Richards) For most people, a life of ups-and-downs is merely a metaphor. For Hilaree O’Neill, it comes with the job. The ...
Read MoreA photographic tour through the early days of the tech industry By Anna van Raaphorst-Johnson and Dick Johnson Customer engineers working on a General Electric mainframe. (Image courtesy of the Computer History Museum archives) For all of the recent boom and widespread hype of modern day Silicon Valley, it remains compelling to consider that the region’s ties to technology and computer innovation date back well over 60 years. Deep in the archives of the CHM’s Fremont warehouse. ...
Read MoreThe triumph and the tragedy…the Play and the Revenge of the Play…the Rugby Years? A photographic historical tour of the Bay Area’s most heated football tradition By Charles Russo Dating back to the 1890s, the Big Game — the annual Stanford-Berkeley showdown — is the oldest sports rivalry in the West. (Courtesy of the Stanford Historical Photograph Collection) This weekend will see the 122nd incarnation of The Big Game, one of the oldest, most well-known and contentious rivalries ...
Read MorePeninsula resident Katharina Pierini has compiled a unique glimpse into the unseen world of Bay Area wildlife By Charles Russo A lone bobcat photographed along the coast. (Photo by Katharina Pierini) Katharina Pierini is surprisingly quick to refer to herself as “skittish.” That can come across as a bit of a dubious admission, especially if you’ve seen the images of her in action— with a chainsaw strapped to her back as she rides a dirt bike ...
Read MoreTalking photography and environmentalism ahead of Redwood City’s Nat Geo speaker series by Charles Russo At the water line in the Great Bear Sea, British Columbia. (Photo courtesy of Cristina Mittermeier) There are no shortage of quotes about the power of photography, many of them overwrought, but some finely tuned to the nuance and potential of the craft. Speaking with Cristina Mittermeier — contributing photographer, speaker and explorer for National Geographic — I kept thinking of a simple quote, ...
Read MorePhotographer Erika Carrillo shares more than 15 years of imagery from Neil Young’s Bridge School Benefit. Photos by Erika Carrillo/Text by Charles Russo Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters (and Nirvana fame) performing at the Bridge School Benefit in 2011, one of many times he has played the concert. (Photo by Erika Carrillo) This final weekend in October will mark what would have been the 32nd year of the annual all-acoustic charity-based Bridge School Benefit ...
Read MoreHalf Moon Bay nearly broke the scales this year with the biggest gourd ever grown in the U.S. By Charles Russo Let’s Get Ready to Rumble: Last year’s weigh-off champ Cindy Tobeck (right) stands atop her pumpkin (“The Death Star”) after clocking in at 2002 pounds. Yet her competition was formidable — six time weigh-off champ Joel Holland showed up with the largest pumpkin ever grown in America. (Photos by Charles Russo) “It’s the biggest prize money in ...
Read MoreThe Bay Area’s most famous native son provides a case study for what can be unearthed from your family’s official records. By Charles Russo Cheeks of Fury: A four month-old Bruce Lee pictured with his mother in family immigration files. (Document Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration in San Bruno, CA) Don’t let the chubby cheeks and dopey expression fool you, that kid is in fact the most badass martial artist to ever walk ...
Read MoreA centennial glimpse back for millennials going forward by Charles Russo The gentlemen of Phi Kappa Psi, circa 1917. (Courtesy of the Stanford Historical Photograph Collection) The 2017 school year begins today at Stanford University, and The Six Fifty sees it as an opportune launching point for our new visual history column — The Time Lapse, which will showcase a wide range of historical photography from many areas and eras of the Peninsula over the years. For this first ...
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