Cioppino is a fish stew that originated in San Francisco. It is Italian-American and is based on various regional fish stews and soups of Italy. It can have any combination of seafood in it, plus fresh tomatoes and wine. Typically, hunks of sourdough bread are served alongside for mopping up the sauce. Now I’m hungry.
Sourdough yeast can be passed along for generations. The unique flavor of sourdough from San Francisco is the basis for Boudin Bakery, when Isidore Boudin, master baker from France, heard about the special flavor held in these sourdough starters and started making sourdough bread with it.
Nordstrom is closing its San Francisco department store after 35 years, alas. Downtown retail is having some serious problems there, although IKEA last week opened a store in the area: https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/28/business/nordstrom-san-francisco-closure/index.html
Rice-A-Roni is indeed the “San Francisco Treat”, having been inspired by the wife of a son of Italian immigrant Domenico DeDomenico. Tom’s DeDomenico’s wife Lois was inspired by a rice/pasta pilaf recipe that she got from an Armenian immigrant. Her brother-in-law, Vince DeDomenico, invented the Rice-A-Roni dish by adding dried chicken soup mix to the pasta/rice combo.
David Letterman once, while visiting San Francisco, went to various upscale restaurants asking for Rice-A-Roni as a film crew tagged along. He could find the dish nowhere.
David Letterman’s first job in television was as a weatherman, news anchor, and TV host on WLWI in Indianapolis. As a weatherman, he demonstrated the sense of humor for which he would later become famous: he once congratulated a tropical storm for being upgraded to hurricane status, he predicted hailstones “the size of canned hams,” and he gave weather readings for fictitious towns.
On Feb 4, 1982, Late Night with David Letterman aired the first “Stupid Pet Tricks” segment; included were a dog who hugged people, another dog that answered the telephone, and a bunny riding a skateboard.
According to Wikipedia, the first late-night television talk show was The Faye Emerson Show, which was hosted by actress Faye Emerson. The show, which ran for 15 minutes, usually featured Emerson interviewing political and other famous individuals, one of whom was Josef Stalin. The show lasted just one season.
The Faye Emerson Show initially aired for the 1949-1950 TV season. On her show Faye Emerson interviewed Joseph Stalin, as @Railer13 shared with us.
For the 1954-1955 TV season, The Tonight Show, Tonight Starring Steve Allen debuted. TV personality Gene Rayburn did the narration for the show. Rayburn, born Eugene Peter Jeljenic and of Croatian descent, was born in Christopher, Illinois, in the south central part of the state.
The late Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and former President Bill Clinton share the same birthday, Aug.19 (1921 and 1946, respectively). Both were also born in the South - Roddenberry in El Paso, Tex., and Clinton in Hope, Ark.
Bill Clinton was the 42nd Governor of Arkansas, from 1983 to 1992.
Bill Clinton was also the 42nd President of the United States, from 1993 to 2001.
At the Bill Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock AR, the restaurant on site is called 42.
“The Summer of ‘42” was released in 1971, when I was 10. It’s a great flick for a formative young boy.
(The last sentence is not trivia it is commentary. And it’s the truth.)
In 1971 Jennifer O’Neill was 23. And Gary Grimes was 16. It was his first major role.
In 1975 when Jennifer O’Neill was 27, she was in The Reincarnation of Peter Proud.
Another great flick for a formative young boy.
Today, Jennifer O’Neill is 75 years old. And according to wiki, holy crap!, she’s been married at least 9x.
Jennifer O’Neill, hoo boy!
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has been responsible for administering the presidential libraries of every US president since Herbert Hoover. Prior to Hoover, presidential papers of retired presidents were part of the Library of Congress, other libraries, historical societies, and private collections.
The Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum was not under NARA supervision from its founding in 1990 until it was brought into the system by mutual consent in 2007.
In the futuristic world of the film Demolition Man, Arnold Schwarzenegger had once been U.S. president, and that idea was introduced by Sandra Bullock’s character talking about the “Schwarzenegger Presidential Library”. There had been a Constitutional Amendment allowing people not born in the U.S. to become president between the time that Sylvester Stallone’s character went under the ice and the time that he’d come back.
Ironically, the movie came out before Schwarzenegger was governor of California in real life.
The first governor of California was a man named Peter Hardeman Burnett. Burnett, who was born in Tennessee and raised in Missouri, was elected governor in 1849, a year before California achieved statehood. Although his family had owned slaves, he advocated for California to be admitted as a free state, but he did push for the total exclusion of African-Americans in California. He also signed into a law a measure which called for the enslavement of native people in California, and called for the extinction of the native peoples.
Peter “Pete” Wilosn was Governor of California from 1990 to 1998, serving two terms. Prior to that, he was the mayor of San Diego, CA. As governor, Wilson focused on reforms in the areas of health coverage for employees of small businesses, workers compensation, and education. In addition, he signed into law two major pieces of crime-related legislation–the “Three Strikes” law (25 years to life for repeat felons) and the “One Strike” law (25 years to life upon the first conviction of aggravated rape or child molestation).
Pete Wilson ran for President in the 1996 election. After deciding to run, he almost immediately had throat surgery that kept him from announcing – or even talking – for months. His campaign only lasted one month and a day.
Pete Wilson is also a US Marine. He served as a 1st Lieutenant with the 1st Marine Division in the 1950s.
Pete Wilson’s beard grew so fast, a profile in Newsweek revealed when he was representing California in the U.S. Senate, that he shaved three times a day.
FLAGRANT FALSE ADVERTISING!!! 
or something… carry on
Billy Gibbons and the late Dusty Hill, the guitarist and bassist, respectively, of the blues-rock band ZZ Top, are/were known for their long beards. Despite his name, Frank Beard (the band’s drummer) has usually worn only a mustache, and no beard.