Tom @ the Berkeley Aquatic Park

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Berkeley Aquatic Park - 2026

photos by Styrous®
 

        

One of Tom's favorite places to go was the Berkeley Aquatic Park. He would spend hours enjoying the view and meeting up with friends.        

 

In his honor I revisited the site yesterday; as it's been decades since I went there with him, I got lost trying to get there but finally found the locations he adored. It is a peaceful and calm part of the crazy world where you can regenerate your mind and soul on a beautiful sunny afternoon or a rare warm late summer evening.        

 

 

 

 

 

Even the train which rumbles above the park does not disturb the tranquility and beauty of the marvelous location . . . 

 

 

 

 

. . . and the wildlife continues on undisturbed 

 

 

 

 

  

 

The park is located just east of the Eastshore Freeway (Interstate 80) between Ashby and University Avenues. The Works Progress Administration created the park in the 1930s simultaneously with the nearby Berkeley Yacht Harbor. Its centerpiece is an artificial mile-long lagoon that was cut off from San Francisco Bay by the creation of a causeway for the Eastshore Highway, during the construction of the approaches to the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge, also in the 1930s. The lagoon still communicates with the Bay through culverts under the freeway (one in line with Ashby Avenue, the other in line with Grayson Street). The east shoreline of the lagoon used to be the original shoreline of San Francisco Bay.         

 

The park features picnic areas, "Dream Land for Kids"—a large children's playground, a pedestrian-bicycle path, and a disc golf course. The lagoon is used by the Berkeley Paddling and Rowing Club year round, and by the Berkeley Water Ski Club during the summer months. The lagoon is also used by the nonprofit organization, Waterside Workshops, for their youth boating and sailing, and boat rentals to the general public on weekends.       

        

 

date & photographer unknown
 

        

Waterside Workshops also houses a community bike shop at the intersection of Bolivar Drive and Bancroft Way.              

 

 

date & photographer unknown

 

Historically, the Aquatic Park lagoon was also a practice site for the University of California crew teams.           

 

 

University of California crew team - 2006

photo by Styrous®  
 

 

 

        

        

                 

        

        

Viewfinder link:        

        

Tom White                                  

         

Net link:        

         

Waterside Worksite        

         

Youtube links:         

Berkeley Boathouse      

Kids in Berkeley Build Boats          

Rebuilding Together 2025            

Waterside Worksite                

         

        

        

         

        

         

Styrous® ~ Saturday, October 3, 2026        

      

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Events
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A+ Burger, avocados & Tom

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California Burger (recipe below)             

photo by Styrous®              

            

           

            

            

One of Tom's favorite eat-out meals was a very sloppy hamburger (the very best kind) from A+ Burger in the West Oakland part of Telegraph Avenue. A+ makes many kinds of burgers other than the California Burger shown with avocado above (link below). Unfortunately, A+ stopped using regular hamburger buns and switched to brioche which is a lousy bun for burgers; after a couple of bites they get soggy and a REAL mess to eat, so a knife and fork are needed to eat them instead of hand-held. "Let them eat cake."     

 

The avocado 

 

The avocado, botanically a large berry containing a single large seed, is native to the Americas, with archaeological evidence of early human use dating back thousands of years across various regions of Central and South America, now cultivated in the tropical and Mediterranean climates of many countries.       

The hamburger 

 

Originally just a ground beef patty, as it is still interpreted in multiple languages, and the name "hamburger" may be a reference to ground beef sold in Hamburg; evidence also suggests that the United States was the first country to create the "hamburger" as it is known today, where two slices of bread and a ground beef patty were combined into a "hamburger sandwich" and sold as such. The hamburger soon included all of its current characteristic trimmings, including onions, lettuce, and sliced pickles. I'm not keen on pickles in a burger so I always have them left out. Fries (known as Pommes frites in French, papas fritas in Spanish and Patates fregides in Catalan) usually go hand in hand with a good burger.   

 

There is still some controversy over the origin of the hamburger – mainly because its two basic ingredients, bread and beef, have been prepared and consumed separately for years in many countries prior to their combination. However, after controversies in the 20th century, including a nutritional controversy in the late 1990s, the burger is now readily identified with the United States, as well as a particular style of American cuisine, namely fast food. Along with fried chicken and apple pie, the hamburger has become a culinary icon in the US.      

              

            

Viewfinder links:        

         

Avocado Days         

Avocado Days ~ A Blog         

Marie Antoinette         

National Avocado Day         

Tom White                 

        

Net links:        

        

A+ Burger                

A+ Burger menu       

History ~ How the Battle of Hamburger Hill Got Its Name       

MSN ~ America’s new ‘mystery meat’ controversy        

News Point ~ CJP Spokesperson removed Following Burger Controversy    

NPR ~ Lawsuit Over Taco Bell's Mystery Meat            

Table for Two ~ California Burger recipe       

Takeout ~ McDonald's Recalls That Affected Millions

USA Today ~ McDonald’s CEO says mom to blame for viral tiny burger bite      

Visit Oakland ~ A+ Burger                   

        

YouTube links:        

        

Salmon Burger 🍔 From “A+ Burger        

A+ Burger app review for the iPhone/iPod touch!       

         

         

         

         

Styrous® ~ Thursday, October 1, 2026              

           

            

           

            

           

            

           

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Food 

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Billy Fury ~ That's Love

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Thinking about Tom recently, I've remembered one of my favorite songs from the fabulous nineteen fifties: That's Love by rock-a-billy musician Billy Fury.      
 

That's Love is a beautiful, gently bouncy, laid back and very romantic song that reminds us of how incredible true love is.        

 

 

      

     

     

Viewfinder links:       

        

Billy Fury         

Tom White         

      
Net links:       

        

        

        

        

        

        

        
        
     
YouTube links:       

        

Billy Fury ~ That's Love         

        

        

        

         

        
Styrous® ~ Sunday, September 27, 2026         
        

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Music Notes

Songs On the Viewfinder   

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Gelocatil 650 ~ 1993

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Gelocatil 650 - 

photos by Styrous® 

I just returned from a trip to Spain to take the ashes of Tom White to locations he loved on Menorca, an island just off the coast of Barcelona (more on that in a future article). The venture brought back many memories of our previous travels there, most of them pleasant and wonderful, some bitter sweet. One of those memories was Gelocatil.   

 

I discovered Gelocatil in the winter of 1993 when Tom and I were staying with our friend Maria who lived in Plaça Real in Barcelona (link below). Gelocatil is a trade name for the drug

paracetamol (also known as acetaminophen). Its history is part of the broader history of this widely used pain reliever and fever reducer, which dates back to the late 19th century. 

 

 

Gelocatil molicule

 

 

General History of Paracetamol/Acetaminophen

 

Synthesis and Early Use: Paracetamol was first synthesized by Harmon Northrop Morsein 1878. It was used clinically by Joseph von Mering in 1893, though its commercial use was limited at the time due to concerns about side effects (which were later linked to impurities or a minor metabolite of its chemical cousin, phenacetin).        

 

Rediscovery and Commercialization: In the late 1940s, research by Brodie and Axelrod demonstrated that paracetamol was the active metabolite of acetanilide and phenacetin, and importantly, did not cause the blood-related side effects associated with the latter. This research paved the way for its widespread adoption.     

In the United States, it was first marketed in 1950 under the name Triagesic (a combination drug), and then as Children's Tylenol Elixir in 1955. In the United Kingdom, 500 mg tablets were sold as Panadol starting in 1956. 

 

Rise in Popularity: Paracetamol's popularity soared, particularly in the 1980s, when aspirin was linked to Reye's syndrome in children. This led to paracetamol becoming the primary recommended analgesic and antipyretic for pediatric use, with a subsequent reduction in Reye's syndrome cases.     

 

Although many billions of doses of acetaminophen/paracetamol are consumed each year, scientists have yet to discover its mode of action. Its mechanism was believed to have been established in the 1970s and again in the 2000s, but neither of these theories survived scrutiny. It’s especially important to understand how acetaminophen works because of its well-known toxicity to the liver.  

    

 

 

 

 

Viewfinder links:           

 

Julius Axelrod               

Bernard Beryl Brodie           

Joseph von Mering         

Harmon Northrop Morse         

Styrous®        
Tom White        

        

Net links:                     

C&EN ~ How Does Acetaminophen Work? Researchers Still Aren’t Sure             

CIMA ~ Gelocatil (in Catalan)        

Gelocatil (in Catalan)  

         

         

YouTube:             

Gelocatil Gripe Forte Sin Receta 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

         

          

Styrous® ~ Sunday, December 28, 2025      

      

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Barcelona, España Journals

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Nine months on . . .

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w/Tom 

September 21, 2025 

selfie by Styrous® 

      

 

What fun we had! 

 

      

Viewfinder links:        

         

Immortal Loves           

One week on . . .              

Two weeks on . . .                

Three weeks on . . .                 

One month on . . .        

Two months on . . .  

Three months on . . .            

Four months on . . .          

Five months on . . .           

Six months on . . .           

Seven months on . . .           

Eight months on . . .           

Styrous®                

Thomas (bUtom) White           

The Times of Tom        

Tom White        

         

Net links:        

         

Styrous®              

Tom White        

         

Video links:        

        

butohdrawing ~ tik tak toe         

Butoh Oval: Betty Jo Costanzo and Tom White         

butoh photo 2015        

THREE x THREE, the divine comedy:           

The Times of Tom          

Tom @ 80          

              

              

             

Styrous® ~ Saturday, September 19, 2026         

 

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Adiós mis amigos . . . 

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Pete Latzo aka Joe Palooka

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Last month was the birthday of Welterweight Pete Latzo, aka, "Young Clancy”, who was born on August 1, 1902, in Colerain, Bedford County, Pennsylvania, near the heart of the coal-mining county.        

He spent some of his early years mining, and working as a "breaker boy" whose primary job was to pick slate and other impurities from anthracite coal.               

          

          

        

 

Cartoonist Ham Fisher met Latzo outside a pool hall and, impressed by his personality and sportsmanship, was inspired to create his popular character Joe Palooka.    

In 1920, Fisher put together a sample package of Joe Palooka (then titled Joe the Dumbbell) but was unable to attract interest. By 1927, he was working as a traveling strip salesman for the McNaught Syndicate. However, Fisher also hawked his own unpublished, unsold strip.

In 1928, after he secured over 20 sales, including to New York's Daily Mirror, Fisher informed his managers at McNaught, who decided to give Joe Palooka a trial run. The comic strip soon became a national success.        

 

   Ham Fisher ~ Joe Palooka 

 

 

In the 1930s the strip appeared in more than 600 newspapers, had a readership around 50 million, and inspired several movies.      

 

The strip helped to solidify the word "palooka" as a boxer who lacks grace or ability, although the character Joe Palooka was the heavyweight champion. A dozen low-budget film adaptations of Joe Palooka appeared from the 1930s into the 1950s. Comic books featuring Joe Palooka began in 1933 and continued through the 1950s.     

 

 

 Ham Fisher ~ Joe Palooka 
 

 

Originally the term welterweight was used only in boxing, but other combat sports also use it for their own weight division system to classify the opponents. If used, welterweight is typically between lightweight and middleweight. The first known instance of the term is from 1831, meaning 'heavyweight horseman', later 'boxer or wrestler of a certain weight' by 1896. This sense comes from earlier welter, 'heavyweight horseman or boxer' from 1804, possibly from c. 15th century welt, meaning 'to beat severely'. A professional welterweight boxer's weight is greater than 140 pounds, and no more than 147 pounds (about 63.5–66.7 kg).     

 

Latzo defeated Larry Johnson in a close ten round points decision before 12,000 at Madison Square Garden on February 21, 1930. He was defeated by future world heavyweight champion Jim Braddock before a crowd of 4,000, on October 17, 1928, at New Jersey's Newark Armory in a ten-round points decision. 

 

Latzo fought Jimmy Slattery, former world light heavyweight champion, in a seven-round No Contest on May 27, 1930, at Boston Garden. The purses of both boxers were withheld and they were ordered to leave the ring by the referee when it appeared they were exerting too little effort to merit continuing. 

 

In one of his last bouts on June 5, 1934, Latzo lost to Pennsylvania's state middleweight champion Teddy Yarosz in a fourth-round technical knockout in Millvale.       

Latzo left Scranton to reside in Marven Gardens, a suburb of Atlantic City, in Margate City, New Jersey, near the end of his boxing career around 1928. He died at the age of sixty-six in Atlantic City Hospital after gall bladder surgery in July 1968, having suffered from gall bladder ailments since his boxing retirement. His gall bladder issues may well have been a result of his boxing history as he was frequently the victim of brutal body blows to the stomach and both sides of his abdomen. He had had major surgery of some form in 1937 when he first retired from boxing, and a boxing benefit was held for him in December of that year. His funeral was held at Scranton, Pennsylvania's Holy Rosary Church on July 11, and he was buried in the city's Cathedral Cemetery, where his wife Catherine was laid to rest two years later.
 

 

 

 

 

 

            

Viewfinder links:         

         

James J. Braddock        

Ham Fisher        

Pete Latzo        

        

        

        

        

       

        

        

        

        

        

        

         

         

        

        

        

        

        

        

         

Styrous® ~ Thursday, September 3, 2026

       

          

         

         

         

         
         

         

          

         

          

 

 

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  Athletes

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