Author Archives: John Weeks

My friend Steve Portias, a San Bernardino lifer, has started work on a list of old restaurants, bars, markets and other businesses that were the popular hangouts of San Bernardino and environs back in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. It’s … Continue reading →

Here’s the back story on my composition of the song parody, “(Take a Spin on) State Route 210,” along with the 2007 column in which it first appeared. To hear an audio-only version of the song with guitar accompaniment, go … Continue reading →

An aspiring songwriter named Bobby Troup arrived in L.A. in 1946 after a long drive west on Route 66. It didn’t take him long to hit it big. During his road trip he had written a tune called “(Get Your … Continue reading →

Here’s a Top 10 list, culled from delish.com and other online sources, of weird foods actually served at county fairs throughout the USA: KOOL-AID PICKLES: Dill pickle chunks soaked in various flavors of Kool-Aid. MEALWORM COVERED CARAMEL APPLES: Only the … Continue reading →

The 1960s turned out to be a momentous decade in San Bernardino. A lot of important things happened. In 1961 Ray Kroc bought out the McDonald brothers and proceeded to turn their San Bernardino burger stand into the world’s largest … Continue reading →

When last we met up with the Phantom Detective, he was serving up rough justice in Redlands, Colton, San Bernardino and other locales in the Inland Empire. The action unfolded in “The Phantom’s Phantom,” a 2007 novel by Robert Reginald, … Continue reading →

He’s a man of the world. He’s seen it all. Done it all. Finally, though, he discovers the one place on Earth that speaks to his soul, and he knows immediately that this is where he will settle down. Ahhh, … Continue reading →

When the apocalypse comes, we might as well get a good seat. That’s what happens in “Invasion!,” a new one-volume trilogy of novels that modernizes and continues the H.G. Wells science-fiction classic, “War of the Worlds.” Much of the early … Continue reading →

   I think it was the busted toilet someone had discarded on the shoulder of Arrowhead Avenue, right under the sign that reads, “Keep San Bernardino Beautiful.”    Or maybe it was the half-eaten carton of cottage cheese, complete with … Continue reading →

There are more than 100 museums in the Inland Empire. You could visit one each weekend and it would take you almost two years to see them all. I haven’t visited all of them. But I have every intention of … Continue reading →