Friday, May 29, 2009

Weekly Post?

Well, I took a week off from blogging for no particular reason. Here are a couple of websites I ran across during that time.

After reading this QCTimes article about Fejervary Park's progress, or lack thereof, I was doing some surfing around the internet. I found this page, possibly run by someone from long before my time called Captain Ernie. There also seem to be some things from former Alderman and Fejervary Park defender George Nikolas. If you look around that website there are a lot of neat old postcards and pictures. In the section about Fejervary, there are many images of Mother Goose Land. My parents always told me about going there as kids, and I always thought it would have been great to pan for "gold" right here in Davenport. Somehow I don't think whatever the city comes up with will be as fun.

The other website I found over the last week is called ScanAmerica.us, and it has the audio from police radio frequencies from around the US, including some in the QC area. Check out the Iowa and Illinois pages, or almost any other state. They stream in Windows Media Player, which almost everyone should have. They can be kind of tough to follow, but its definitely cheaper than buying a police scanner. It also may include random frequencies like Bettendorf garbage collectors. I actually haven't listened to it enough to know just how good it is or isn't, but its definitely not perfect. Edit: I just discovered this site archives radio traffic, so you can listen to what went over the police radio on a certain day and time. I'll have to mess with this feature later.

I'm hoping to do a post one of these days on Bettendorf's "downtown" plans, but whenever I start writing about that particular town I seem to end up in a giant rant that I don't post. Maybe I can do better this time.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

If Downtown Davenport wasn't such a failure you wouldn't see Bettendorf going whole hog to develop one. Will look forward to your snide report. In the meantime leach on.

Anonymous said...

Can't you complain about the skate park or something? I have worked in downtown Davenport on and off for 7 years (below the train tracks between the bridges) and haven't seen a crack whore or junkie yet. I have seen several drunks come out of a few 3rd St. bars but thats about it.
What would be a success in this area? Bishops and VonMaur back with a buggy whip store down the street?

QuadCityImages said...

Bettendorf is just worried. LeClaire is out-Bettendorf-ing them lately, and Davenport has always out-urban-ed them. They're getting left in the middle and their 1980's infrastructure that made them seem so much nicer in the 1990's is starting to age just like Davenport's.

Anonymous said...

QCI, Thanks for the Captain Ernie link. If you look at the adds, Sandys, Shakeys... makes you remember what Davenport was like in the 1970's. For those that want to bitch about downtown Davenports failures, remember the Saratoga Bar at the base of the C. Bridge??? It has come a long way, in a positive way.
And although I have found memories of the Sandy's on Harrison Street, I recall the abuuting hardcore Cinema next door...
Blog more, I enjoy it..

George

Anonymous said...

The movie theater used to show regular movies. I remember seeing Jaws on Good Friday there. Insterstate Bookstore used to have their business at the corner of 14th and Harrison.

Nitrous55

Anonymous said...

The Cornet Theater was what it was called. Watched American Graffiti and Old Yeller time after time. Cheap movie and a place to go where I could go to get out of the summers heat. Then it went to porn and I was way to young for that.