Comments | jtemperance: October 17, 1989

jtemperance

October 17, 1989

Oct 17, 2009 21:16

Twenty years ago today at about 5PM I finished my walk home from work, listening to the World Series pregame show on my AM/FM Sony Walkman. I entered the front door of our warehouse at 37 Clementina when everything started shaking. There were huge light fixtures suspended from the ceiling that swayed back and forth in long arcs. The editor of ( Read more... )

Comments 7

Boingo traceroo October 18 2009, 14:28:05 UTC

I was living in San Luis Obispo at the time. It was allegedly within the radius of the earthquake; I was walking, however, and didn't feel a thing. When the phone lines finally cleared up, my aunt in Boston called to find out if I had been evacuated since the news there reported to her that the nuclear power plant 12 miles away from me had closed down.

For me, the greater personal tragedy was this, which I will never forget: I had tickets to see Oingo Boingo perform on Halloween night in San Francisco that year. The theatre collapsed in the earthquake. No rain date, no makeup, opportunity lost forever!

Damn you, earthquake -- damn you to hell!!!

Trace

Re: Boingo jtemperance October 19 2009, 22:00:15 UTC

Wow, that was probably at the Fillmore! They didn't reopen until about 1994.

Did you ever see that YouTube clip of Oingo Boingo on the Gong Show?

Re: Boingo traceroo October 20 2009, 01:17:48 UTC

No! The Gong Show? Say it isn't so! Ian and I will have to look that up tonight.

Trace

Re: Boingo jtemperance October 20 2009, 06:33:24 UTC

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTRd1a5MVMw

I just left the Hotel Amnesia koganbot October 18 2009, 21:19:25 UTC

I was in downtown Oakland, at work. Some filing cabinets fell over. My desk was fine. (It wasn't really my desk; a temporary office.) Someone had a car and we had all sorts of plans how to drive back to San Francisco; then as we heard more news we realized none of the plans would work. I managed to reach Leslie by pay phone. I actually was better off than she was, since she was at home without electricity, while I had people to hang with. Hours later, BART managed to power up and get me to Embarcadero, and I simply walked home to the Mission from there.

Hex Enduction Hour was 1981 for me. 1989 was all L'Trimm and Roxanne Shanté and Cynthia and Bam-Bam and Paris Grey and Pajama Party.

Re: I just left the Hotel Amnesia jtemperance October 19 2009, 22:04:05 UTC

I didn't discover the Fall until my senior year of high school, which was 1987. In 1981 I was just listening to pop radio and still ignorant about alternative/underground music, a situation that would last until 1982 (7th grade) when I started buying records for the first time and became a fan of Adam Ant.

Re: I just left the Hotel Amnesia jtemperance October 19 2009, 22:11:10 UTC

I think what I liked in 1981 was Hall and Oates and the J. Geils Band.