… there’s still something you can do. …
Dave Carroll [Sons of Maxwell] – United Breaks Guitars
Update: Update
July 9, 2009
July 6, 2009
Fourth of July from the 52d Floor
We partied on the 52d floor of 555 California for the Fourth with maybe a hundred other people, from pre-toddlers to creaky oldsters. Pre-fireworks entertainment included watching everyone else, making faces at the adorable seven-month-old (maybe) girl at the next table, a buffet that included hotdogs and hamburgers, and a hosted bar.
The event opened at 7:30P so we were a bit perplexed when we walked in a few minutes later to see all the occupied tables and chairs. We found an empty table next to the windows facing Pier 39 so we could at least see the eastern portion of the dual-barge, synchronized show. As it got closer to showtime, people began genteely squabbling over whether tables could be “held” for expected guests.
I took pictures of the view as the sun faded and the colors greyed. We watched “our” barge being pushed up from the south and over to Pier 39. The hills behind Tiburon and further north looked like a Chinese watercolor as they faded, faded, faded in the distance. (I tried to capture that view. The photo also captures the reflections of the party in the window as the lights came on and the twilight darkened.)
Note the hunkering layer of clouds just waiting to drop down and obscure the evening’s entertainment.
Reflections on the window overlaying the views led to talk of Plato’s Cave. We watched the fog creep in, hoping it wouldn’t get so low the fireworks would (again) be fogged out. Dinner ships and private boats maneuvered into place. The Coast Guard churned back and forth keeping people out of the critical area, and then Hooray! The fog held high and right on time (9:30P) the show began.
I was using my digital camera, holding it steady on the railing between us and the window, which would have worked if there hadn’t been some young adults who kept moving under the railing to get close to the window to use their digital cameras AND BUMPING THE RAILING WHENEVER THEY DID!
Ahem.
So the pics here are of views of Telegraph Hill and the Bay/Alcatraz/Angel Island as the light fades and Coit’s lights come on. Followed by some of the better fireworks shots. (But oh … my, the City’s civic 4th fireworks just don’t compare to KFOG Kaboom!)
We stayed for a while after the civic fireworks were over, enjoying the amateur fireworks that were exploding to the west. I’ve included a couple shots off the west side of the building showing the Civic Center and downtown and the vista out to the ocean (Note how “straight” streets on a grid look all curvy as they go up and over hills…)
And then we wandered home and watched some fireworks that were still going off. We had a good time. (I enjoyed my first hot dog in MONTHS!)
All-in-all, I took over 170 photos, of which I’ve kept ninety-five. (That collection may still be weeded.) My bloggy photo gallery here contains only twenty-two.
July 2, 2009
Fishers give up on plan for Presidio art museum
Fishers give up on plan for Presidio art museum
… so I wrote another letter to the editor at the Chronicle (previous letter was 09/2007):
The Presidio was never the right place for the Fishers’ Contemporary Art Museum for reasons both practical and historical, reasons soundly argued by neighbors, historians, park enthusiasts, and environmentalists.
There are wonderful alternatives to the Presidio site in our city. Consider for a moment the effect of having the Contemporary Art Museum located near Pier 70/Potrero Point, an area poised for redevelopment! Donald Fisher could do immense good by building his museum there, at the edge of the Bay. Plenty of public transit. Space for parking without cutting down a single tree! Near the ballpark and the new UCSF Medical Center development at Mission Bay. Near all the new condos south of Market. Within shouting distance of Bernal Heights and Potrero Hill. A short transit ride from the southern neighborhoods.
The Contemporary Art Museum could knit the city together, bringing folks from the northern neighborhoods and the western neighborhoods over to our “other” shore.
Look what the ballpark and UCSF@Mission Bay have done for the surrounding areas!. The Fishers have the opportunity to do wonders for the central waterfront and the city if they build their museum there. Say you will, Mr. Fisher!
Update: Letter in today’s Chron.
McCain And Palin Personally Approved Internal Email Hunt For Leakers, Campaign Manager Says
McCain And Palin Personally Approved Internal Email Hunt For Leakers, Campaign Manager Says
I really don’t get it. All this uproar over whether Schmidt (with or without Palin and McCain’s approval) searched through staff e-mails to find out who was leaking information to the press about Palin’s diva behavior during the lead-up to last November’s election..
If you use a company server to send your e-mails, your e-mails are not private. The company owns the servers and can noddle through your e-mails to their heart’s content. And that’s not counting what anyone in the IT department with admin passwords can do.
A recent survey spilled the beans about what folks in the IT Department do out of boredom, curiosity, or maybe something less benign.
It should not surprise you that IT admins read your e-mails. Yes, they check logs to see what sort of Web surfing employees do. Turns out, yes, they check HR’s folders to see what everyone’s making and sometimes they leave taking data with them as they head out the door. There is no privacy on company computers.
Get over it, as Scott McNealy famously said ten years ago.
The subject was hotdogs and the Fourth of July
The link was to a classic hotdog-eating scene from a classic movie.
On this date in 1731 …
… according to The Writer's Almanac with Garrison Keillor …
It was on this day in 1731 that Ben Franklin founded the first circulating library, a forerunner to the now ubiquitous free public library. He started it as a way to help settle intellectual arguments among his group of Philadelphia friends, the Junto, a group of civic-minded individuals gathered together to discuss the important issues of their day.
[...]
[from Jessamyn West’s blog: librarian.net]
Billy Faier – The Five String Banjo
To those who purchased my CDs, my heartfelt thanks… I have decided to make my music available to everyone.
Billy Faier – The Five String Banjo
[via a tweet from @jessamyn, who adds BANJO!]
July 1, 2009
The Uniform Project
Brilliant idea.
The Idea
Starting May 2009, I have pledged to wear one dress for one year as an exercise in sustainable fashion. Here’s how it works: There are 7 identical dresses, one for each day of the week. Every day I will reinvent the dress with layers, accessories and all kinds of accouterments, the majority of which will be vintage, hand-made, or hand-me-down goodies. Think of it as wearing a daily uniform with enough creative license to make it look like I just crawled out of the Marquis de Sade’s boudoir.
[via Teapots and Polka Dots]
June 19, 2009
So much for PETA
PETA’s not happy that Obama squished a fly. Oh, well.
To make PETA even unhappier, I will tell the following “slice of Sal’s life” tale.
His nibs just opened the door down on the first level and shooed a pretty little skipper butterfly (who’d wandered in because I had the doors open this afternoon) out the door to freedom.
Within seconds a bird swooped down and had the skipper for dinner. The bird is now hanging about waiting for his nibs to flush more game in its direction.
Notify PETA.
June 18, 2009
Yosemite. 01-Nov-2006
I was thumbing through pictures taken during a long weekend at Yosemite in late October, early November 2006. The valley was so peaceful and lovely. The deciduous trees had turned. The hikes up toward Vernal Falls and elsewhere were still open, pending the first snow. Not many people cluttering up the space.
I was trying to find a photo that captured it all, perhaps a cheery yellow-orange tree against a Half Dome backdrop, but I had cheery yellow-orange trees and I had granite, but the granite photos all seemed to have evergreens in front of them and the fall colors didn’t have granite in the background. Ah. Here’s one.
If you ever have a chance to go for a few days to Yosemite when the crowds of tourists have gone but the valley isn’t deep in snow, Go!
