Archive for the ‘San Francisco’ Category
:: Lefty Monroe ::
Marilyn Monroe in an eternal pose at the famous SF downtown baseball-memorabilia-piano bar, Lefty O’Douls
:: SF Unionized Art & Technical Workers ::
this series of stencils was sponsored by SFMOMA and can be found outside of the museum grounds on a nearby stretch of sidewalk.
pieces done by Jessica Tully & Kim Munson in conjunction with the Labor Archives Research Center
[update: Kim was nice enough to point out that there are more pics on YBCA site and Bay Area Now ]
:: Audiffred Frieze ::
i’ve always liked the Audiffred Building that is located right at Mission and Embarcadero. It was originally built in 1889 by Hipolyte d’Audiffred to remind him of home -which was France.
Audiffred had made it to SF via Mexico (which we’ll come back to), and was smart enough to take into account why particular damage was done in the 1865, and the 1868 earthquakes; more importantly not to make those same mistakes architecturally. Most of those structures that had survived the two 1860’s earthquakes were subsequently destroyed by fire.
The only reason that Audiffred survived the 1906 earthquake was because of booze. straight up. The saloon keeper of the Bulkhead offered the dynamite/fire crew 2 quarts of whiskey EACH and a fire-hose cart full of wine to spare the building from being blown up to create a firebreak – and she was the only waterfront structure spared that day. They fought the fires for 3 days. This building is listed on the National Register #79000528
this is just a look at the frieze on the Audiffred building. John Geary and Samuel Brannan bought the lot that the Audiffred rests on for $850. It is said that Audiffred loaded up a donkey and walked here from Vera Cruz, Mexico, after the French invasion in Mexico didnt go so hot. he felt a bit uneasy being French after that escapade and bolted.
:: Donkey Frog ::
[the camera is broke again, I was saving these pics from August 2008 for a possible interview with Deborah & Marcia (who owns this ride) but that never materialized — so let’s do this.]
introducing Donkey Frog, a ’71 Buick Riviera “Boattail”, ridin on a pair of dem chrome tennis shoes
she actually started out white believe it or not.
Froggy’s exterior was done by House of Kolor and Kal Koncepts
i think the funniest thing about this pic below is, since it was taken on Friday before the rally, it was just parked right out front of the Fairmont for hours in broad daylight. I can only imagine what new Fairmont “well-to-doers” arriving for check-in must have thought when they saw this riser parked outside their 4-star hotel
Finally, here’s a pic on one of the owner’s phone showing a 30″ vs 24″ … pffft.
last but not least, here is Donkey Frog at a SEMA auto-show sporting the driver side with the rims you see above and the passenger side with these clear, polycarbonate compound rims that GE Polymershapes and Doug McGoon came up with – Doug runs MHT Wheels. About 18 months ago these rims would run you about $25 -30K a piece.
ribbit!
:: Boudin’s Gator Bread ::
today during lunch Plug1 & I took a nice leisurely foto-ramble, swinging over to Fisherman’s Wharf, and lo’ & behold we spotted a 40lb ‘gator bread creation being hauled by one of the Master Baker’s from Boudin.
off he goes…
we never did find out where he was going.
:: Financial District Buried Ships ::
what?! wait! where’s the ship pics!?
[sorry no ship pics – just some historical nuggets]
this is just a glimpse of the many buried ships that have been found or are speculating to be located in San Francisco’s Financial District, Embarcadero, and even Levi’s Plaza (which was uncovered in 1978 and still lies beneath the plaza). Click here for a map showing location of some 47 ships in the downtown – waterfront area, where the original shoreline was at First and Market Street and even all the way over at Sansome and California.
here in this first picture, albeit an “any-corner-USA” shot, we look at the location where if we go 35 feet underground the remains of Othello would be found. She measured at 200′ feet long when she was unearthed in 1994 while construction of a tunnel was taking place. Historians documented an 18-foot high section of a wooden hull that was sheathed in copper. Of course once they gathered as much information as possible they just bored right through her. This discovery places it right near the start of where the Mission Street wharf was once located.
Next, at this intersection lies below the remains of the passenger-cargo ships, the Trescott and also the ship Byron. Here you can find a listing of passengers that left the East Coast, on board the Trescott, bound for San Francisco in 1849. Additionally for the Trescott we find that a William Lord Stevens wrote a journal of his voyage on the Trescott also in 1849. I am speculating that perhaps he was on board that listing in the first link of this paragraph — after all it does say “16 others not listed” on the passenger roll call. just a theory.
you can actually view that logbook – albeit sorta hard to read and written entirely in verse – by clicking here.
1849 was undoubtedly a busy year for the San Francisco harbor — during this year alone over 800 ships arrived at the ports carrying some 40,000 passengers.
i could not find any info on the ship Byron other than what was located at the SF Genealogy site
:: overpass graff ::
recent excursion underneath a highway overpass produced these shots:
:: SF Pillow Fight 2009 – Return of the Feather Invasion ::
Last year we found ourselves in the middle of a pillow fight at ground zero – Justin Herman Plaza – this year we take an aerial perspective which I think you will enjoy.
click here for a large format pic of above
Pillow Fighting has been going on for many years — the most infamous one being in 2006 Atlanta where 10,000 people thwacked away with abundant pleasure.
you can read more about the Pillow Fighting phenomena here. Coincidentally if you are generally interested in flash mobs you can find stuff here and here.
flickr set of last night’s event here and watch a video snap here
:: Kelinci Series pt : SF : 3 ::
its been quite a bit since we last heard from my lil friend with his cigarette habit. He started exploring the city some and I havent heard back from him in a bit. This was the last sighting of him.
he mumbled something about taking off soon.. guess we’ll have to wait to see where.
:: SF Mini Taxis ::
Demetrios lives here in SF and has been driving a taxi since the early 1960s. Our paths happened to cross last Saturday morning and I figured I would snap some pics of his collection of mini-taxis that are modified to resemble local taxi companies, a hobby he has had now for several years.
he even has the Prius.
DeSoto in the house.
London mini’s
wuddup Veterans.woof!
and finally how about a classic Miami Yellow cab.. with detail down to the mileage rates on the body of the cab. tight.
:: Ahoy – me van ::
I think this van totally rocks.. with its post-fab-sea-farin’-observation-bubble-&-all
Yup!!
“Ahoy! I spot an exit cap’n about 10 knots to me starboard.. shiver me timbers there’s a White Castle there too .. yarrrrrrr”
:: Bad Vibes Bob ::
on January 8th, 2009, the Sherry Mae washed ashore at Ocean Beach. From the searches I did on teh google no one really knows if the Sherry Mae owners are aware that their 30’+ boat is now quite lonely (aside from the scavengers plundering her remains). Although I’m sure the Coast Guard and local officials have contacted them.
Many more people are wondering what exactly does “Bad Vibes Bob” mean? Being an Ocean Beach(er) I can tell you this — he was a legendary, humorous heckler amongst the surf krews here that would give newcomers a very hard time.
:: Sunsets and WordPress ::
catching Capitola Pier at Sunset
friend catches a sunball
amazing.
also.. i have switched over to WordPress..bare with me while I iron out any kinks.
:: SantaCon 2008 ::
Today was the 14th 15th!! anniversary of Santacon, originally sponsored by the San Francisco Cacophony Society, and at least 1000 Santas took over 3 areas of town today: The “Ho on Haight” covered Haight Street, “Mastrobation” focused on Mission and Castro, and finally the Klassik Kringle track which covers Fishermans Wharf and North Beach.
(Santas flask is big… gotta keep warm on the sleigh!)
I figured I would go where there would be maximum tourist shock factor and off to the Wharf I sprang this morning.
What can be said about Santacon? There’s lots & lots of Santas.
Departing Fishermans Wharf
sometimes as far as I can see …i just see Santa’s
Santas from above
Nothing can stop the RED TIDE! Ultimately this is split into 3 routes but merges later in the day — tonight at least close to 1000 Santiii converged into Yerba Buena Garden — (SFSanta tweets report terrorizing Westfield Mall and the Powell Street Cable car turnaround area)
Santa’s Agent force was definitely instrumental in keeping the Santa swarm from spilling into traffic, they assisted at crosswalks, and helped keep Santacon revelers from straggling off course.
Santa traffic helpers
Santas agents surround Mr. Chu — getting a briefing on the galaxies.
Santa agent helps maintain orderly conduct
Santa agent on guard at Pier 39
Santacon also has musical talent flowing abundantly through out it we found.
Banjo Santa
Santa Clarinet
ho-ho-hope
naughty and nice list
Santa Franklin
Santa has to break sometime … “ohhh yehhhh right here behind this tree where no one can see me”
Santa Dodgeball .. some eggnog will take away the sting Santa.
Santa was even spotted in trees
Santa be pimpin’
da ho tag
Could it be Sa-a-a-a-atan
rowdy santa!
Ninja Santa
I caught Miss Claus choking the chicken
Santa got ice!! and gold apparently.
Santacon invades Hooters
“not quite sure what to make of it are yah?” — yeh us either.
hooters girl and Tranny Santa discuss some wings
more of Santa’s agents
Reindeer dawgie!
Tranny Santa
Santa Elves
Flickr set here.
:: Mission Street Food meets Dirty South ::
Tonight, the folks over at Mission Street Food doled out the Dirty Dirty by unleashing some soul food goodies to the insatiable masses. The masterminds behind this, Bar Tartine cook Anthony Myint and crew, have cultivated quite a following that start lining up outside Lung Shan Chinese resto on Mission street, before 6pm.
What originally started as a mobile food truck experiment, back in early October, has steadily grown in numbers, and has now moved indoors (for a number of reasons). They have also started featuring weekly chef’s as their guests.
I got there this evening ready to reprezent! but alas, not only was I sooper hungry by the time I got there (admittedly later than I had expected), but there was a 45 minute wait.
I ate inhaled the PBQ-Kurobuta Berkshire Pork belly with Quince-onion sauce, potatoe salad and slaw on a fresh homemade flatbread.
Dirty Rice with rare beef and Smoke Duck beignet
All I can say is, this $6.50 pork belly sandwich (sorry no pic cus I ate it too quick!) is my new fav… the flavor just pervaded my palate and SWOOSH.. I had nothing left but crumbs and a big smile.
the Dirty South menu: butter fried cornbread, 40oz’s, mustard greens, Creole Catfish stew, grits, bacon and sweet tea.
past menu items have included brownies with brie, King Trumpet, asian pear slaw, and homemade scallion flatbread
:: gulls at OB ::
did you know seagulls can drink both fresh water and salt water.
:: Over to Columbia pt 2 ::
yesterday we took a look at the flight to Columbia, CA, and some scenes from the town itself.
Columbia is located about 170km East of SF. In the year 1850, a small group of men made camp near the site where Columbia sits.
Columbia yielded $87 million in gold at 1860’s prices.
They found gold in this area and a rush followed quickly. By 1852 more then 150 stores were doing quite well amongst the thousands of miners now occupying the area.
By 1860 after the easy gold had been mined, the town’s dimunition had started. In 1945 Historical Columbia State Park was born.
anitque bottles .. you can read more on Columbia’s history here and here
Oaktown!!
Mount Diablo
I dig this shot. Not sure which bridge this is.
we need more of these.
:: Over to Columbia ::
The last time we took to the Bay area skies we were in search of a hamburger — this time a Mexican restaurant situated in Columbia… NOT the country… but the town which finds itself situated in historical Gold Rush Tuolomne county.
We’ll look at aerial shots and pics of Columbia today and tomorrow.
foothills
does it even look real?
i like crop formations from the sky
Columbia street
working blacksmith shop
I feel like this is a live game of ‘Battleship‘
:: Irish Coffee Anyone? ::
Today a record was set by local Buena Vista Cafe, for serving the world’s largest Irish Coffee. Guinness Books personnel were on hand to verify and video record the event. It will take at least another 4 – 6 weeks before its official.
Having poured 10 litres of Irish whiskey, 10 gallons of coffee and dumping 4 pounds of sugar into a 12 gallon, 3 foot high container, and topping with some steamed frothy milk for the finale — the event was a success. It was certainly a frenzy in the tiny cafe-saloon that serves upwards of 2000 Irish Coffee’s a day.
This joint is famous for their Irish Coffee which has its roots forming in a November night of 1952, and today was the final run for a 3-day celebration marking its 56 year anniversary.
:: North Beach Pimpin ::
this guy is pretty gangsta.. and i know he be pimpin. look at all the gold this guy be sportin’ just for a solo lunch appearance along side Columbus Ave.
“..dont you see the big knot.
don’t you see the big chain”
:: 16th Avenue Mosaic Steps ::
Out in Golden Gate Heights, above the Sunset, climbing up 163 steps on the western side of a hill, lies the 16th Avenue Tiled Steps. SF has probably 350 stairways in the city. Most are utilitarian by design. Not this one. This neighborhood project was completed in August of 2005, which galvanized over 300 neighbors to play a part in the creation, and sponsorship, of this artistic staircase.
This work was inspired by the Santa Teresa Mosaic stairs in Rio.
I definitely got a workout that afternoon having walked from the ocean all the way up to the top of the steps. But what a view you get.
:: Wine and Porsche ::
On Sunday we cruised up to the Ledson estate to soak up sum sun, wine and over 70 vintage and new Porsche’s as part of Ledson’s 9th annual Porsche at Palace event — which brought out the Porsche Club of America to handle judging. The sun was out in abundance, the wine was flowing, and we purred & drooled over sleek, svelte designs of Porsche’s past and present. I think for the whole group we were intensely vibing on the 50’s and 60’s coupes.
’55 Continental Coupe
Speaking of coupe’s, its the cream 1955 Continental Coupe you see above & below that I happen to take the most pics of, actually wound up winning the People’s Choice award. But there were many, many different awards as there are many different classes, up to 15 I believe. Some cars drive in, some are brought in on flatbeds.
trunk tool kit. have the original set of tools and them not covered in rust? booyah bonus points.
There are also different types of judging, such as: the exterior only, the exterior and edges of underbelly, frame, and up-in steering wheel column area, to the utmost scrutinous of them all, the exterior, plus the underbelly, interior, etc.
Porsche Club of America judges in action
’55 Continental interior
:: Maltese Falcon swaggers into SF ::
Tom Perkins, as in Kleiner Perkins, decided at one point i just wanted the biggest boat , and spent 130$ million to build her in Turkey 2 years ago, however, he wants to sell it for a cool $223 million seeing how you know, there is a recession and all on luxury yacht sales… Alas..she makes her first entrance to the Bay Area.
here she comes
She reaches 289 feet long (almost as big as a foot ball field) and 42 feet wide. With its carbon fiber masts reaching almost 20 stories high, they had to time the under-crossing, of the Golden Gate, with low tides to not come too close.
The ironic thing is that she shares the same name as the famous book by Dashiell Hammet, in which the Maltese Falcon is a story about the psychology of greed. This boat is one of the largest yachts in the world. It is decked with a model Maserati car, two gi-normous VIP suites with 50″ TV’s, two smaller tenders 32 feet each to ferry passengers to and from shore when anchored, and is capable of traveling 3000 nautical miles at about 16mph. It has a crew of 20, and accommodates up to 12 guests.
Maltese Falcon side shot
Alcatraz and the Falcon
Maybe he should sail her around the Suez Canal where others say petrodollars are more, errr, abundant; but for now she will sit up in Belvedere so Tom can see it from his house.
:: Art Car Fest 2008 ::
This Thursday afternoon Art Car Fest again held a caravan from the Berkeley Amoeba to the San Francisco Amoeba. They have been doing this gathering for over 10 years. In between destinations today they stationed a parking lot pit stop at the Sports Basement in the Presidio. here is a sample of a few. They have other pitstops this weekend you can read about here.
this fella spends a lot of time visiting children’s homes and senior citizens. he’s a big hit!
uhh.. yehh hello?.. is Ray-Ray there?
Karkopelli
:: Cry Baby ::
seen at a recent San FranPsycho event here in SF.. Though not a fan of Cry Baby itself..You know you used to watch Officer Tom Hanson on 21 Jump Street wrestling with tough teenie-bopper topics… but spotting this cutie sporting 80’s garb I had to snap a pic
:: Buffalo Bill at Ocean Beach ::
Thomas Ross , a Bay Area native, now living & working in Seattle, recently put up an installation piece at Ocean Beach recreating a moment in history when Buffalo Bill Cody stood here with members of his travelling group, Buffalo Bill’s Wild West.
This event took place in 1902 right out by the Cliff House (here’s a good rendition of what Ocean beach might have looked like in 1902 for the laying of the Pacific Cable)
Ross’s piece includes 120 pieces that were transported down from Washington, and continues through the remainder of this weekend.
This particular piece is called Buffalo Bill and the Indians on the Beach
small reprint of the 1902 photograph.. they wouldn’t let you photo the larger format piece.
closeup of original 1902 picture
:: SF 5th Annual Crawfish Ho~Down ::
First and foremost I want to thank each and every person that came out to the 5th Annual Crawfish Ho~down on Saturday May 31st, 2008. We all had a blast and we hope that each of you did as well.
Each year we always come away with lessons that we’ve learned: either in terms of things we forgot, things to improve on, calibrating food & drink logistics, etc.. We strive to bring you a quality event where you can enjoy some great food, amongst good friends, meet new people and experience something culturally unique here to the Bay Area. So we hope to see ya’ll next year!
Thanks to everyone who volunteered in any way, helped out the day of, or who simply just brought your friends, and to Janice for many of these pictures
soo-o-o-o-o-oo…. jayeetyet?!
down at SouthWest Air Cargo ~ 12 a.m.
taters!
pepperin’ the mac n cheese
all chopped up!
cornbread muffins
spicey jambalaya
get em ready in the cooler
soakin..
throw in some corn
oooohhhh this pot is looking good
full swing..
whoever stole our flag — we want it back.
love it!
Jenny & her crawfish bib
crayfish beads!
you cant hide that cayenne mess!
what a great location.. crawfish, beer, golden gate and the Bay
it’s a frenzy down there!
Chesapeake Bay crabs courtesy of Janice and Baltimore Mike
crabs gettin’ down this year
someone loves Old Bay
this dude eats like 5- 10 lbs every year for the past 3 years! HollA!
food chain in effect..
yeh, overcast SF, but we had a blast and still managed to get our necks burned!
so cute!
we’ll be lookin’ for yah next year! http://www.sfcrawfishboil.com/
your hosts: Jayeetyet, Bayou Godfather, and Yownteaux
:: UrbEx Series : Pier 36 ::
This past weekend, along with our trip to Warehouse #6, plug1 and I made the leap into Pier 36; this area, along with a strip beginning at Pier 30 – 32, is slated to become a $15 million, 57,000 square foot park, sitting on a prime spot along the Embarcadero in the South Beach area.
This place had a certain air of creepiness to it, although we were there before 10am, it had the perfect preface for any good horror flick.
receipt rolls used to “roll” the interior — see the easter rabbit wind-sock?
at one point I turn to my left to see this face staring back at me. I won’t lie. I gasped. #$%W#*&(!! totally took me by surprise.
:: The 1906 Looff Carousel ::
Charles Looff was one of the original and most foreward thinking carousel engineers of his time. He built the first carousel at Coney Island in 1876. Over the course of a 40 yr span of constructing carousels, he built more than 70 of them; his sons even took up the family business expanding into roller coaster and ferris wheel development
Having been born originally in Denmark, learning woodcarving, and then migrating to the United States, he worked on East Coast projects awhile before focusing on California opportunities. The images you see below are from the local Zeum Carousel that was built in 1904.
What is interesting about this carousel is that it took a few relocations after disasters before it finally called SF its resting place. After the 1906 earthquake here in the Bay, it was sent to Seattle to Luna Park for about 7 years after which a fire prompted it’s return to SF’s Playland at the Beach. After spending some additional time under restoration in New Mexico, it then relocated to Shoreline Village for a number of years before finally being transported back to SF.
All of the carousels were handcarved and what makes this particular carousel unique is that it is the last one that has an intact collection of animals. All the 65 horses featured here have real horse hair for the tail.
Take a spin for $1.50
:: Swinging in Union Square ::
Union Square has proven itself to me time and time again to be a place where you can catch anything from an art show, to multi-cultural festivals, to films on the big screen… to live jazz. I ran across a swing dancing exposition a week ago .. and while this picture won’t do some of the amazing dancers there any justice.. I’m posting for posterity and archive sake.
while strikingly different and more lively than this scene 100+ years ago
:: BerDerp™ :: 
