Category: Uncategorized

Yep, from the pound. Thanks Katie.

The Captain Morgan Rum commercials have been all over  tv, so it’s likely you’ve seen one of the off-beat “Got a little Captain in you?” ads.

The “Got a little Captain in you?”  refers to people after they drink the rum.  They drink Captain Morgan because it’s different as they are. And, we learn from the commercial that Captain Morgan Rum IS  very different, because, well, when you take a sip while standing up, ONE of your legs may suddenly rise and bend at the knee, signaling that you’ve got a little of “Captain” in you.

When you see a row of people with a “little Captain” in them,  it’s quite effective. And from the beginning, I wondered if there was any basis in fact to having a “little “Captain” in anyone.

I found the answer in the book, Discovery of France ,by Graham Robb, in the unnumbered picture section, between pages 142-43. The caption describes the 1905 photo as a staged scene in the spa town of La Bourboule. The image shows country folk performing a dance called the bourree—and it certainly looks like they have a “little Captain” in them.

I like this book by Brian Hayes.

The information about power  (electrical) grids is enlightening; I had no idea the country was divided into a number of power grids. The West and East have their own. A small part of Texas has its own. Fly-over country has its own. A future plan is to unite them all into one powerful (electrical)  grid.

From Barry Parr at Coastsider.com

San Mateo County Supervisor Rich Gordon is planning to attend Wednesday’s
Midcoast Community Council meeting. Coastsider wrote last week about
Supervisor Gordon’s proposal to limit who we can elect to the Midcoast
Community Council.

If you’re interested in how the Midcoast is governed by the county, you
should attend this meeting. If you have opinion about how we should govern
ourselves, you should plan to speak.

The meeting is at 7:30pm and this item will be discussed about ten minutes
after the meeting starts.

Unless we can get the Supervisors to hold a real meeting on the Midcoast,
this will be your only opportunity to speak at a convenient time and place.
The Supervisors will be discussing this proposal during the day on Tuesday,
Jan 27, in Redwood City.

The meeting will be held at Seton Medical Center Coastside: Marine
Boulevard & Etheldore, Moss Beach. Take Highway 1 to Marine Boulevard and
follow hospital signs uphill. Attendees must park in upper parking lots per
hospital policy. Turn left just before the end of the main driveway.

WHY THIS MATTERS

If you haven’t caught up on the issue, here are three items worth reading,
including a must-watch video of Supervisor Gordon’s legislative aide laying
down the law for our elected representatives:

http://coastsider.com/index.php/site/news/the_supervisors_must_stop_treating_the_midcoast_like_a_colony/

http://coastsider.com/index.php/site/news/video_supervisors_legislative_aide_lowers_the_boom_on_mcc_over_letter_to_la/

http://coastsider.com/index.php/site/news/coastside_democrats_ask_supervisor_gordon_to_bring_his_mcc_proposal_to_the_/

I also want to thank New Leaf  for choosing Half Moon Bay as the location of their first market outside of Santa Cruz. I can’t tell you what a difference it has made for us, having New Leaf here in town. If you haven’t been there yet, New Leaf specializes in organic foods and there’s plenty of local fresh produce to choose from. And there’s a discount for seniors.

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/1167543[/vimeo]

From a published biography (I don’t have the year) of Judge Manuel Jesse Bettencourt

Judge Manuel J. Bettencourt was born at Half Moon Bay, and he has capably filled the office of Justice of the Peace there of the Fourth Township since 1930, and was just re-elected to the office on November 8, 1938, for another four -year term.

Judge Bettencourt was born on February 11, 1886, son of John and Mary (Machado) Bettencourt. His father, who is deceased, was born on the Island of St. George, one of the Azores group. His mother is still living at an advanced age in San Jose.

Judge Bettencourt was educated in the schools of San Benito County and in Santa Clara County, his parents having moved to Mountain View in the latter county in 1902. In 1904 he went to work for the J.S. Belchor Company, dealers in feed and fuel, and continued for about a year in this connection, and then joined the Levy Brothers Department Store, where he remained one year, following which he entered the employ of the San Mateo Feed and Fuel Company.

In 1911 Judge Bettencourt became manager of the Bank of Half Moon Bay, which in 1927 was sold to the Bank of America, and he continued on as manager until 1930.

Prominent in fraternal and other organizations, Judge Bettencourt has been a member of Ocean View Lodge of OddFellows of Half Moon Bay for the past twenty-seven years, and for the same length of time has been affiliated with the Seaside Parlor of Native Sons. He is a member and officer of the U.P.E.C. and the I.D.E.S., Portuguese fraternal lodges.

He married Irene de Bennedeti, who was also born in Half Moon Bay.

Judge Bettencourt is rated as one of the most prominent and influentical citizens on the coast side of the county. Long active in civic and community affairs, he is held in the highest esteem by his fellow citizens, and his election to the post of Justice of the Peace on three successive occasions is concrete evidence of his popularity.

———–

I did not meet “the Judge,” as the locals called him; he passed away before I came her– but I was very lucky to talk with his wife, Irene, on several occasions. Irene was the most active 90-year-old in town. Nothing could stop her–she loved driving her bright yellow VW “bug” around Half Moon Bay as much as she enjoyed relaxing in the afternoon with a cocktail.

We called her Irene, not Mrs. Bettencourt. I wish I could describe how she wore her hair because it just completed her elegant “look.”  Irene Bettencourt lived in the home her husband, “the Judge” built about 1915 on Johnston Street, still home to many oldtimers. I recall Irene telling me that, when built, their home was on the outskirts of Half Moon Bay!

When Irene Debenedetti and Manuel Bettencourt wed, observers noted the marriage was a kind of “merger”, a marriage joining  Half Moon Bay’s Italian and Portuguese community.

When she was 99, Irene Bettencourt gave up driving, and maybe her afternoon cocktail, too. She told friends that she was finally tired. Irene Bettencourt passed away in Half Moon Bay at age 100 in 1990.

—————–

Judge Manuel J. Bettencourt passed away in June 1969.

Services will be held in Half Moon Bay Wednesday for Manuel Jesse Bettencourt, a well known real estate and insurance broker, a former banker, and a past Justice of the Peace.

Mr. Bettencourt died in his Half Moon Bay office of a stroke. He was 83.

A native of Half Moon Bay, Mr. Bettencourt was president of the Bank of Half Moon Bay from 1912 to 1928. In 1926 he sold his interest in the bank to the Bank of America but stayed on for two years as manager. From 1928 to 1950 [ed. Including the years of Prohibition and WW II] he was a Justice of the Peace, and until two years ago owned a lumber yard [ed. This would be Half Moon Bay Lumber, which was located on the Main Street side of the Bettencourt home.]

————–

[Note: I wish I had a photo of the Bettencourts together.]

Artist/landscaper Leon Kunke had a lot to do with introducing me to the creative and unusual world of cacti and succulents. No problem growing them in El Granada’s “banana belt.”

The succulent in the pot is a Haworthia coarctata v. adelaidensis

Last time I looked, Half Moon Bay Nursery on Highway 92 had a great selection of succulents. We also love visiting Flora Grubb in San Francisco. Succulents and cacti are one of their specialties. Both HMB Nursery and Flora Grubb Gardens make a good little outing. If you haven’t been to Flora Grubb, you are in for a big surprise.

Back in the 1960s, 70s, many artists came from San Francisco to Half Moon Bay to purchase flowers and plants. Sometimes they traded their paintings or handmade furniture for plants. One of the more fanciful artists was Tony Duquette, who just loved to interior decorate and went to great extremes in that endeavor.  A couple of years ago Wendy Goodman and Hutton Wilkinson wrote a beautifully illustrated book about Tony Duquette.