:: Kelinci Series : Istanbul : pt 13 ::
another long hiatus from our intrepid explorer Mr. Kelinci – we last saw our wanderlust globe schlepper basking in the sun – today we get a much anticipated update after his dad started his diligent search for his rabble-rousing son.
Seems that Kelinci is still kicking it with his cousin and we now catch up with the pair in the bustling city of Istanbul
Istanbul has an extremely rich history, having been settled possibly as early as 3000 B.C., finding itself a very suitable location to be later gobbled up by the Roman Empire in the early 100’s B.C. By the time 306 AD rolled around, it was crowned the Byzantium capital of the entire Roman Empire by Constantine the Great
You can see the spires of the Hagia Sophia in the background to the left
After barbarous wars, antigovernment riots, the rebuilding of the Hagia Sophia, and the final official relocation of the Ottoman Empire capital to Ankara, Istanbul continues to grow at a staggering rate. The city’s population hovering at 13 Million and receiving over 500K immigrants a year – it is the fifth largest city proper in the world and is a crucial cultural and financial center for the country of Turkey.
if you look closely in the pic below you can spot our favorite troublemaker waiting for the light to change
:: Treadmill with a View ::
i’m thinking maybe somebody hauls out a generator and wires this thing up so they can jog on their treadmill with a view of something else besides their garage
:: Telegraph Hill diorama ::
I present to you: “Telegraph Hill diorama” — featuring hipsters, raccoons, pigeons & more.
(this is found nestled in some rocks near Coit Tower)
:: 5Pointz Aerosol Art Center ::
Recently on a trip to NYC I took the 7 over to Queens, NY to visit the venerable 5Pointz Aerosol Art Center (aka the Institute of Higher Burnin). This outdoor exhibit space features over 300+ pieces and murals, from artists all over the world. The building itself is a 200,000 square foot warehouse situated in Long Island City & initially opened in 1993 under the name Phun Phactory. It’s current curator and “housekeeper” is Jonathan Cohen who helped re-open the space in 2001 after it was almost destroyed by vandals. I am hoping to cover more of this building in the future since part of the structure was inaccessible since earlier this year when a fire escape collapsed. I won’t be able to show all the pieces, obviously, so you can see the flickr set here.
:: small distraction ::
just a small distraction from your every day routine..
nothing to see here.. move along
:: CandyLand on Lombard ::
Hasbro Entertainment marked today’s 60th anniversary, of the famous board game, CandyLand, by transforming 575 feet of tourist mecca Lombard Street into a life size Candyland board game. They put down 30,000 pieces of colored squares (which looks like jigsaw puzzle pieces sorta) to mark the colored squares that we all used to covet moving to next before our bratty sibling(s) could get there.
as SFist points out, they did change a few things: Queen Frostine is now Princess Frostine, and no more molasses swamp?! Whaaat?
Local University of California SF Children’s Hospital allowed groups of children to form colored teams to participate in a friendly game down the crooked street
there have been 49 million units of CandyLand sold since it’s inception and first production run in 1949.
This is for today, August 19th, only.
:: Beer Robot ::
i caught wind yesterday of Wired’s Beer Robot serving up some frosty beverages at 21st Amendment – so I traipsed on over after work and caught this appliance-HAL-iphone-esque-kegerator in action.
complete with its line of widgets
i like the HAL 9000 eye
have you seen Asahi’s beer robot?
you can follow Wired’s Beer Robot on twitter here
:: Old ‘n’ Tired ::
i’m old. i’m tired. leave some change. take your newspaper & leave me alone
:: Brake FAIL ::
Earlier today a moving van’s brake’s failed coming down 21st street, headed towards Church – my gosh this crash must’ve been loud!
it started by the truck coming down this steep @ss hill
luckily no one was hurt .. look what it did to this truck — FOLDED! like an accordion almost
I hope these guys got full coverage on this thing
:: tree-grrrrr ::
like a tree you might see out of Sleepy Hollow :: found on Duboce
:: UrbEx Series : Hotel romp ::
stumbled onto this abandoned hotel that has been vacant now for a few years. It had worn the signature emblems of hotel chains such as Ramada and Holiday Inn during its prime
now it rests silently amongst a row of seafood restaurants and scattered bars
i’m really surprised there were no signs of squatters
:: Iz the Wiz : RIP 2009 ::
my buddy plug1 over @ whatimseeing invited me along for some fotosnappin’ tonight of a memorial mural recently done for “Iz the Wiz” aka Michael Martin, who passed away suddenly while in Florida at the young age of 51. I really enjoy graff (as any frequenter to Berderp knows) but I just hadn’t done enuff homework I suppose & am just now stumbling across the legendary: Iz the Wiz. So here’s a short shout-out to a sorely missed figure in the graffiti culture. [can any one identify who did this piece below?]
Iz began his career in the early 70’s, being a Queen’s native, and had a nascent rise to the creme de la creme as one of NYC’s prolific graff artist . Known for his popular “Iz” tag, he was featured in the venerable Style Wars documentary, and also appeared in Wild Style. He held the title of “All-City” King for many, many years throughout the 70’s & 80’s. But so many years of inhaling aerosol fumes without protective masks lead to kidney issues in the 90’s, and then finally his passing away last month.
12oz prophet has quite a bit of links on him
you can see more of IZ’s work here & here.
:: Zubelda’s Ghost Sign ::
an ancient Zubelda’s Cigarette ad .. a ghost ad if you will.. on a building that is one hundred years old.
This is located in Uptown Tenderloin, along Geary – I love the brick in this ghost sign from Hotel Toronto (formerly known as the Leiah Hotel, Wesley Hotel, and Hotel California).
Built in 1909. Architect unknown.
:: the crux of a Berderp ::
melting berDerp.
this is the crux of “what is a berderp?”.
:: Nespresso : Art of Coffee ::
On June 19th the Nestle Nespresso Art Exhibit & Tasting bar, situated in an ersatz cast iron building, opened an exhibit at their new SoHo location. The artist which made this possible is Ricardo Bellino, a Brazilian born entreprenuer. Yes. That Ricardo Bellino of Trump Realty Brazil & the “original” apprentice of Donald “you’re-fired” Trump.
Bellino got his inspiration while in another Nespresso boutique over on Madison Avenue.
Nespresso donated 130,000 of their popular single-serving coffee capsules to facilitate these 6.5′ x 6.5′ pixelated creations which must have taken hours upon hours to construct
All the proceeds from the Tasting Bar go to four different partnering charities.
:: Kelinci Series : Tibet : pt 12 ::
we all know how parents get when they haven’t heard from their kids in a long time – and it has been almost 2 months now since Kelinci reared his mischevious head. I fielded a late night frantic phone call from Kelinci Sr., and unfortunately was unable to provide a recent update to his son’s whereabouts. So it appears now that Kelinci Sr. has set out on his own search for his rabble-rousing son.
Knowing his son’s affection and fondness for the exotic and tucked away locations, Kelinci Sr. starts his journey in the country of Tibet. Widely known around the world for its struggle for independence from China, Tibet has the acquired the nickname “Roof of the World” – its average elevation of 16,000 ft and finds itself sharing borders with Nepal, Bhutan, and China.
Almost 50% of the ethnic Tibetan population is nomadic or semi-nomadic. The Tibetan plateau is the source of some of the world’s major rivers, such as the Yellow River, the Ganges, the Indus, and the Yangtze.
:: bag lady ::
bag lady. err…not that kind of bag lady. or maybe a bag monster.
the average person uses 500 plastic bags a year. SF has already reduced its bag usage by 5 million bags per month. We were the first city in the US to implement a ban on plastic bags and the initiative has really caught on around the world.
:: 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 ]
:: Post Secret ::
It all started in 2004 when Frank Warren handed out 3,000 postcards to strangers and asked them to mail back anonymously a secret that was not only true but had never been shared with anyone.
Later that year, after the first exhibit closed in Washington, D.C., the word spread quickly and he started receiving home made artistic postcards.
Now Frank receives nearly 1000 postcards a week, and has received overall nearly 250,000 postcards.
some were funny.
but many were not.
some were just down right insane.
im sure Johnny would be stoked on this.
His website www.postsecret.com has gotten over 100 200 million visits as each Sunday he posts new cards that are sent to him.
Bedford Gallery in Walnut Creek is showing this for one more day if you have a chance to make it there. This is the only West Coast stop. Don’t sleep
:: Kelinci Series : Maldives : pt 11 ::
Kelinci and I both share the same affinity for a few things: travel, good times, cute girls, and tropical places. I had caught wind that he was going to hook up with a long lost cousin who had invited him to a nice comfy atoll in the Indian Ocean about 430 miles from Sri Lanka — this slice of tropical eden is known as the Maldives
the Maldives are made up of 26 atolls consisting of over 1100 islets of which only 250 are inhabited. The Maldives has about 400 miles of coastline and covers an area of about 186 square miles. Absolutely gorgeous.
:: 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.
:: Kelinci Series : Tehran : pt 10
kelinci! i didnt expect you to turn up in Iran my friend.. AND.. you’re smoking again. tsk tsk
spotted out & about.. waitin on a smoothie.. later seen carousing with the cuz in the hills surrounding Tehran
next, he got himself invited to dinner at a local Persian family home, and while they were eating a traditional delicacy, called Kaleh Pacheh, he climbed up into the mix. Something about cow tongue (called zaban in Farsi) drives him wild.
apparently its deee-lish.
finally we see some of the locals weren’t too fond of their rompin’ at the market
:: 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!
:: BerDerp™ :: 
