user locations: prof_improbable
wqed studios
from mister rogers’ neighborhood posted in television by prof_improbable
WQED is a public television station that was founded in 1954 as the brainchild of the Pittsburgh mayor, David L. Lawrence.
A friend and supporter of President Harry Truman, Lawrence wanted to have 12% of television programming dedicated to educational television. At the time, the FCC had put a freeze on issuing licenses since there were so many applicants. After much arm-twisting and corporate-wrangling, WEQD began broadcasting on April 1, 1954.
Among the notable productions to come out of WEQD is Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, the iconic and radical children's program that featured Fred Rogers as the soft-spoken and profoundly compassionate story-teller/moral paragon. The show ran from its initial start in 1966 until 2001 (through repeats and syndication).
The WEQD call letters refer to the latin phrase Quod erat demonstrandum which means "what has been shown."
Clever broadcasters, that group...
view full location details...harding senior high school
from mitch hedberg posted in television by prof_improbable
Opened in 1926, Harding Senior High School is the alma mater of comedian Mitch Hedberg (class of '86).
Go Knights!
view full location details...taqueria tlaxcalli
from blue wave 2018 posted in history by prof_improbable
Favorite restaurant of Democratic up-and-comer Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (from the Crowley/Ocasio-Cortez debate).
view full location details...bridgewater state hospital
from titicut follies (1967) posted in movies by prof_improbable
In the mid-60's, filmmakers Frederick Wiseman and John Marshall spent 29 days at the horrific Bridgewater State Hospital in Bridgewater, MA.
The resulting documentary is the cinéma vérité classic, Titicut Follies.
The film shocked audiences with its unfiltered depictions of the brutal treatment of patient-inmates. It also launched Wiseman's career: making exposé documentaries about social institutions in a style of direct cinema that could be best described as "a fly on the wall" filmmaking.
view full location details...nike missile site ms-70
from cold war, nuclear weapons posted in history by prof_improbable
During the Cold War from 1959 until 1972, the Twin Cities were protected by four missile battery sites. This is one of those four locations. The actual Nike-Hercules missile (or a reproduction of one) can be seen in a park in nearby St. Bonifacius.
The missiles were stored on underground rails and were brought to the surface by elevators. They were meant to bring down long-range enemy bombers.
All of the Nike sites were decommissioned on Feb. 4th, 1978.
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