Thursday, July 02, 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!
posted by Sal Towse at 4:07 PM|
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... 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!
Labels: art, museums, news, San Francisco
posted by Sal Towse at 4:07 PM|
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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.
posted by Sal Towse at 11:13 AM||
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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.
Labels: news, privacy, technology
posted by Sal Towse at 11:13 AM|
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The subject was hotdogs and the Fourth of July
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
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]
posted by Sal Towse at 5:07 PM||
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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]
Labels: factoid, history, libraries
posted by Sal Towse at 5:07 PM|
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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!]
posted by Sal Towse at 5:01 PM||
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Billy Faier - The Five String Banjo
[via a tweet from @jessamyn, who adds BANJO!]
posted by Sal Towse at 5:01 PM|
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The Uniform Project
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]
posted by Sal Towse at 4:38 PM||
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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]
Labels: art, culture, shopshopshop
posted by Sal Towse at 4:38 PM|
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Thursday, June 18, 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.
posted by Sal Towse at 8:12 PM||
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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.
Labels: life
posted by Sal Towse at 8:12 PM|
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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!
posted by Sal Towse at 4:06 PM||
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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!
Labels: California, photographs
posted by Sal Towse at 4:06 PM|
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Wednesday, June 17, 2009
08 August 2004
My photo files were getting all higgly piggly. I have a master directory labeled filPhotos with subdirectories under it labeled Family, Travel, SanFrancisco, &c.
Ah, but under San Francisco, I had folders labeled SF2009-06-17 and SF2009-06-01 and so on and forth into the hundreds.
Over 8400 photos, if I can believe Picasa, and I probably can. ... Too many folders. And if I want to check through all the views to the east to have a look-see for a good one to post somewhere or send someone, where would I find it?
So in lieu of writing something I should be writing, I went through all my San Francisco photos and pulled out all the views to the east from this specific spot (not views to the east from the top of the Hill, nor views to the east from the Embarcadero ...). And found I had over 2000 photos. Some were dupes. Some were why-are-you-saving-that-Sal. I winnowed. A bit.
15-Nov-2005
I then moved the individual SF2009-06-01 and SF2009-06-10 sorts of folders into month-specific folders, only keeping those folders with a bunch of photos of a specific subject. e.g. SF2005-02-12MarriageEqualityCityHall (the one-year-anniversary party for the Valentine's Day surprise of 2004), SF2008-05-18BayToBreakers, SF2007-10BlueAngels, &c.
12-Feb-2008
So now things are a bit easier to handle, although I may start bundling the photos in larger SF2009Q1 and Q2 sorts of bundles. Fewer bundles, but not so few I wouldn't be able to find photos of that walk we took in April 2008 easily.
Results? Less overwhelming photage. With a final count, SFViewsEast: 2110. (Plus the few that are in my camera as-I-post.) I see more winnowing in my future.
posted by Sal Towse at 5:00 PM||
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Ah, but under San Francisco, I had folders labeled SF2009-06-17 and SF2009-06-01 and so on and forth into the hundreds.
Over 8400 photos, if I can believe Picasa, and I probably can. ... Too many folders. And if I want to check through all the views to the east to have a look-see for a good one to post somewhere or send someone, where would I find it?
08 August 2004
So in lieu of writing something I should be writing, I went through all my San Francisco photos and pulled out all the views to the east from this specific spot (not views to the east from the top of the Hill, nor views to the east from the Embarcadero ...). And found I had over 2000 photos. Some were dupes. Some were why-are-you-saving-that-Sal. I winnowed. A bit.
15-Nov-2005I then moved the individual SF2009-06-01 and SF2009-06-10 sorts of folders into month-specific folders, only keeping those folders with a bunch of photos of a specific subject. e.g. SF2005-02-12MarriageEqualityCityHall (the one-year-anniversary party for the Valentine's Day surprise of 2004), SF2008-05-18BayToBreakers, SF2007-10BlueAngels, &c.
12-Feb-2008So now things are a bit easier to handle, although I may start bundling the photos in larger SF2009Q1 and Q2 sorts of bundles. Fewer bundles, but not so few I wouldn't be able to find photos of that walk we took in April 2008 easily.
Results? Less overwhelming photage. With a final count, SFViewsEast: 2110. (Plus the few that are in my camera as-I-post.) I see more winnowing in my future.
Labels: life, photographs
posted by Sal Towse at 5:00 PM|
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Saturday, June 13, 2009
There but for fortune ...
23 Jul 2008
Sitting on a dock of the bay.
posted by Sal Towse at 12:23 PM||
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Sitting on a dock of the bay.
Labels: economy, photographs, San Francisco, SanFranciscoBay, Treasure Island
posted by Sal Towse at 12:23 PM|
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The Book Seer
The Book Seer
Entertaining. Tell it what book you just finished reading (assuming, of course, that you liked the book) and it will tell you what amazon.com and LibraryThing think you should read next (assuming, of course, that you want to read something similar).
posted by Sal Towse at 11:13 AM||
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Entertaining. Tell it what book you just finished reading (assuming, of course, that you liked the book) and it will tell you what amazon.com and LibraryThing think you should read next (assuming, of course, that you want to read something similar).
posted by Sal Towse at 11:13 AM|
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Friday, June 12, 2009
You talkin' to ME?
Smog check?
Yesterday morning I took pictures of three ships leaving within a ten-minute-or-so period, all of them spewing crap into the air. We, of course, need to have our cars smog-checked every two years. Ships coming in and out of harbor. Not.
Why not?
Update: Ah. ... A federal appeals court agreed Wednesday [27 Feb 2008] that state air pollution regulators can't order ships arriving at California ports to reduce their toxic contributions to local smog." The Court ruled that the State Air Board's rules couldn't take precedence over the federal Clean Air Act and the state would have to get a waiver from the EPA to allow its rules to go into effect.
OK. So when is =that= going to happen, now that TPTB at the EPA have changed? Soon? Have we asked?
posted by Sal Towse at 5:33 PM||
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Why not?
Update: Ah. ... A federal appeals court agreed Wednesday [27 Feb 2008] that state air pollution regulators can't order ships arriving at California ports to reduce their toxic contributions to local smog." The Court ruled that the State Air Board's rules couldn't take precedence over the federal Clean Air Act and the state would have to get a waiver from the EPA to allow its rules to go into effect.
OK. So when is =that= going to happen, now that TPTB at the EPA have changed? Soon? Have we asked?
Labels: economy, environmentalism, health, photographs, politics, SanFranciscoBay, ships
posted by Sal Towse at 5:33 PM|
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Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Privacy? Circumspection? Privacy? Privacy? Fuggedaboutit.
And so with nary a care, Leah Garchik spills the beans about Gavin's new digs, with enough information (price, street) that any stalker worth his/her salt could track down the address in (oh ... say ...) about ten seconds.
I dunno. If I were someone who attracts stalkers like Gavin does, I'd be a bit annoyed at Ms Leah leaking the info just because she could.
Maybe it's just me.
(And, yes, even though I'm not a stalker, the challenge of the day -- after finishing the ***Sudoku and both crosswords -- was to track down Gavin's new address. And it didn't take that long. ...)
posted by Sal Towse at 2:35 PM||
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I dunno. If I were someone who attracts stalkers like Gavin does, I'd be a bit annoyed at Ms Leah leaking the info just because she could.
Maybe it's just me.
(And, yes, even though I'm not a stalker, the challenge of the day -- after finishing the ***Sudoku and both crosswords -- was to track down Gavin's new address. And it didn't take that long. ...)
Labels: politics, real estate, San Francisco
posted by Sal Towse at 2:35 PM|
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Monday, June 08, 2009
Update on the ranunculus
People Who Wear Rose-colored Glasses See More, Study Shows
People Who Wear Rose-colored Glasses See More, Study Shows
A University of Toronto study provides the first direct evidence that our mood literally changes the way our visual system filters our perceptual experience suggesting that seeing the world through rose-coloured glasses is more biological reality than metaphor.
posted by Sal Towse at 3:02 PM||
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A University of Toronto study provides the first direct evidence that our mood literally changes the way our visual system filters our perceptual experience suggesting that seeing the world through rose-coloured glasses is more biological reality than metaphor.
Labels: science
posted by Sal Towse at 3:02 PM|
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When the Thrill of Blogging Is Gone ...
When the Thrill of Blogging Is Gone ... - by Douglas Quenqua
Interesting article. You must register w/ NYTimes.com to read.
[snippet]
Like Mrs. Nichols, many people start blogs with lofty aspirations — to build an audience and leave their day job, to land a book deal, or simply to share their genius with the world. Getting started is easy, since all it takes to maintain a blog is a little time and inspiration. So why do blogs have a higher failure rate than restaurants?
According to a 2008 survey by Technorati, which runs a search engine for blogs, only 7.4 million out of the 133 million blogs the company tracks had been updated in the past 120 days. That translates to 95 percent of blogs being essentially abandoned, left to lie fallow on the Web, where they become public remnants of a dream — or at least an ambition — unfulfilled.
Judging from conversations with retired bloggers, many of the orphans were cast aside by people who had assumed that once they started blogging, the world would beat a path to their digital door.
posted by Sal Towse at 2:49 PM||
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Interesting article. You must register w/ NYTimes.com to read.
[snippet]
Like Mrs. Nichols, many people start blogs with lofty aspirations — to build an audience and leave their day job, to land a book deal, or simply to share their genius with the world. Getting started is easy, since all it takes to maintain a blog is a little time and inspiration. So why do blogs have a higher failure rate than restaurants?
According to a 2008 survey by Technorati, which runs a search engine for blogs, only 7.4 million out of the 133 million blogs the company tracks had been updated in the past 120 days. That translates to 95 percent of blogs being essentially abandoned, left to lie fallow on the Web, where they become public remnants of a dream — or at least an ambition — unfulfilled.
Judging from conversations with retired bloggers, many of the orphans were cast aside by people who had assumed that once they started blogging, the world would beat a path to their digital door.
posted by Sal Towse at 2:49 PM|
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Full moon ... in stages
Last night as we were eating dinner (grilled lamb chops, stir-fried Chinese beans, and small red potatoes, cut and sautéed in olive oil with garlic and rosemary), I'd get up and walk to the windows occasionally. I was waiting for the full moon over the Bay Bridge - a photo op that comes once every twenty-eight days. If that.
At 8:50P there was still no sign of the moon. How can that be? Where is the moon? We finished dinner and moved to our chairs where we sat, finishing our glasses of wine.
A little after nine the moon finally appeared, rising orange behind the bridge. Then yellow. Then white, as it rose in the sky.
All Rayleigh, his nibs said.
posted by Sal Towse at 9:47 AM||
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At 8:50P there was still no sign of the moon. How can that be? Where is the moon? We finished dinner and moved to our chairs where we sat, finishing our glasses of wine.
A little after nine the moon finally appeared, rising orange behind the bridge. Then yellow. Then white, as it rose in the sky.
All Rayleigh, his nibs said.
Labels: BayBridge, photographs
posted by Sal Towse at 9:47 AM|
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Make a wish
When the younger guys were much younger, the loss of a helium balloon wasn't an occasion for tears.
When your balloon slips your grasp, don't cry. Make a wish.
Make a wish and watch the balloon as it slips up into the sky carrying your wish with it until (keep watching!) it is (keep watching!) so high it disappears from view.
The next time something slips from my grasp, I'll
Labels: life, photographs
posted by Sal Towse at 9:24 AM|
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Sunday, June 07, 2009
Last night's not-quite full moon
Still life with yellow ranunculus
His nibs was at the Academy of Sciences annual meeting for docents and other such yesterday and brought home some flowers: a gathering of small daisy-ish flowers and a gaggle of alstroemeria as well as a twosome of yellow ranunculus (?). I put the Peruvian lilies and daisy-ish flowers in a vase downstairs and brought the yellow flowers up to the landing on the second floor. Cheery as I go back and forth during the day.
posted by Sal Towse at 2:13 PM||
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posted by Sal Towse at 2:13 PM|
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Saturday, June 06, 2009
Prop 13, Education, and the current budget crunch
Read an interesting comment yesterday in my alumni magazine. An earlier issue had an article ("Struggling for Words") in which English Professor Jonathan Lovell rued the effects Prop 13 has had on education since it passed in 1978.
Oh, really? (or words to that effect) was the comment.
While the state of public education is deplorable, Prop 13 is certainly not one of the causes. Assessed values, tax receipts and school funding have all increased at faster rates than inflation since its passage in 1978. The provisions of Prop 13, which create a more stable tax base, will provide a relatively "soft" landing during the recession, as not all assessed values will fall from the grossly inflated market values of recent years. Without Prop 13, the decrease in property tax revenues would be even more dramatic than what we're actually seeing. -- Pete Conrad, '82 Business
Something to think about.
Another benefit of Prop 13 for education, which I've never heard mentioned, is that it created an incentive for families to stay put, not to trade up to a bigger house. As a result, our children went from K-12 with pretty much the same set of kids. The parents worked together for years and were gung-ho about working with the schools. We knew each other, our quirks, our pet peeves, our strengths. Instead of people moving in and out and up, we had a stable foundation for volunteerism and fundraising.
But, yeah. I hadn't thought about the precipitous fall in property tax revenues that there would've been without Prop 13.
Oh, you say? But wouldn't we'd've had a mess more money if Prop. 13 hadn't been around? Yeah. We would've. Year to year. And we would've spent every frickin' dime and be left now with unsustainable programs and no funds to run them. Rainy day funds are an anomaly in this state. Alas.
posted by Sal Towse at 11:59 AM||
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Oh, really? (or words to that effect) was the comment.
While the state of public education is deplorable, Prop 13 is certainly not one of the causes. Assessed values, tax receipts and school funding have all increased at faster rates than inflation since its passage in 1978. The provisions of Prop 13, which create a more stable tax base, will provide a relatively "soft" landing during the recession, as not all assessed values will fall from the grossly inflated market values of recent years. Without Prop 13, the decrease in property tax revenues would be even more dramatic than what we're actually seeing. -- Pete Conrad, '82 Business
Something to think about.
Another benefit of Prop 13 for education, which I've never heard mentioned, is that it created an incentive for families to stay put, not to trade up to a bigger house. As a result, our children went from K-12 with pretty much the same set of kids. The parents worked together for years and were gung-ho about working with the schools. We knew each other, our quirks, our pet peeves, our strengths. Instead of people moving in and out and up, we had a stable foundation for volunteerism and fundraising.
But, yeah. I hadn't thought about the precipitous fall in property tax revenues that there would've been without Prop 13.
Oh, you say? But wouldn't we'd've had a mess more money if Prop. 13 hadn't been around? Yeah. We would've. Year to year. And we would've spent every frickin' dime and be left now with unsustainable programs and no funds to run them. Rainy day funds are an anomaly in this state. Alas.
Labels: California, economy, education, politics
posted by Sal Towse at 11:59 AM|
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Naked, Drunk, and Writing - Adair Lara
Naked, Drunk, and Writing: writing essays and memoirs for love and money by Adair Lara. [an Amazon click]
Adair Lara was talking about her new book this past Wednesday at Book Passage, Corte Madera. (She also teaches classes there on occasion.)
I mentioned her appearance on Facebook (although I didn't drive across the bridge to see her) and added
Adair Lara wrote a column for the Chronicle ... until she didn't. I liked the column. Miss her.
A sample of her column work.
Fun thing about Amazon is that you can (often) poke into a book and see how it begins. On the first page of Lara's new book, I read
If I even think about writing, I find myself in the pantry eating cereal straight from the box. Writing is a scary, vulnerable, and in a way conceited act, one that says the words you set down are worth a stranger's time to read, and that this is a worthy use of your own time.
I may take Lara's book to Camp to read, even if I'm not intending to write a memoir any time soon. ...
posted by Sal Towse at 10:32 AM||
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Adair Lara was talking about her new book this past Wednesday at Book Passage, Corte Madera. (She also teaches classes there on occasion.)
I mentioned her appearance on Facebook (although I didn't drive across the bridge to see her) and added
Adair Lara wrote a column for the Chronicle ... until she didn't. I liked the column. Miss her.
A sample of her column work.
Fun thing about Amazon is that you can (often) poke into a book and see how it begins. On the first page of Lara's new book, I read
If I even think about writing, I find myself in the pantry eating cereal straight from the box. Writing is a scary, vulnerable, and in a way conceited act, one that says the words you set down are worth a stranger's time to read, and that this is a worthy use of your own time.
I may take Lara's book to Camp to read, even if I'm not intending to write a memoir any time soon. ...
Labels: books, commentary, people, writing
posted by Sal Towse at 10:32 AM|
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Wednesday, June 03, 2009
More clouds from yesterday
Labels: BayBridge, photographs, Treasure Island, weather, Yerba Buena Island
posted by Sal Towse at 10:06 PM|
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Pilot boat
The sky turns blue (Thank you, Rayleigh!) as the sun goes down behind us.
A pilot boat cruises in.
The bay, the hills, the shadows take on a blue-ish tinge as the sun sets and the City wraps itself in twilight.
posted by Sal Towse at 10:00 PM||
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A pilot boat cruises in.
The bay, the hills, the shadows take on a blue-ish tinge as the sun sets and the City wraps itself in twilight.
Labels: BayBridge, life, photographs
posted by Sal Towse at 10:00 PM|
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Clouds. Bridge.
I've looked at clouds from both sides now. ...
This is a cloud shot from yesterday (Tues) ...
posted by Sal Towse at 9:17 PM||
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This is a cloud shot from yesterday (Tues) ...
Labels: BayBridge, photographs, weather
posted by Sal Towse at 9:17 PM|
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[SCOTLAND] Crinan
At the get-together on Sunday we were trying to describe the Crinan Hotel and why it was a place we'd stay again in a flash if we had the time and the wherewithal and the time and the time and the time.
Why? Well, because walking along the canal and up into the hills is a dream and because the beds are soft and breakfast and dinner are included. The food is delish. The staff is invisible. The days are glorious whether they're sunny or not.
And then there's the view out your window across Loch Crinan:
A picture's worth a thousand words.
posted by Sal Towse at 4:08 PM||
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Why? Well, because walking along the canal and up into the hills is a dream and because the beds are soft and breakfast and dinner are included. The food is delish. The staff is invisible. The days are glorious whether they're sunny or not.
And then there's the view out your window across Loch Crinan:
Sept 2007
A picture's worth a thousand words.
Labels: photographs, travel
posted by Sal Towse at 4:08 PM|
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Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Bing
Monday, June 01, 2009
Adieu, Joseph Schmidt
Joseph Schmidt, a local purveyor of fine chocolates, now a subsidiary of Hershey's, will close as of June 30. Their chocolates are now on sale (3489 16th St.) as they skid toward the end of the month, although you wouldn't be able to tell from their Web site.
Old friends brought a "spring" box collection as a hostess gift when they came for dinner a few weeks back. The box is beautiful. The chocolates ymmm.
Adieu, JS. Another San Francisco tradition signs off.
posted by Sal Towse at 12:29 PM||
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Old friends brought a "spring" box collection as a hostess gift when they came for dinner a few weeks back. The box is beautiful. The chocolates ymmm.
Adieu, JS. Another San Francisco tradition signs off.
Labels: food, photographs, San Francisco
posted by Sal Towse at 12:29 PM|
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Saturday, May 30, 2009
New cranes
New cranes showed up in our vista a few days back.
We can only see a bit of what is happening on the eastern span. I'm assuming these new cranes are needed to lift the roadbeds into place for the temporary span that will be used while the permanent span is built, but ? who knows?
Is this the crane we're seeing?
Labels: BayBridge, Treasure Island, Yerba Buena Island
posted by Sal Towse at 11:41 PM|
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Back to the past ...
Reliving sixth grade, age 10. One of my class projects required a pyrographed report cover.
I decided a while back our sign-less (and dead-end, needless to say) path needed some signage, especially with the gang event scheduled for tomorrow.
Scrap plywood. Wood burner. Olde English staining polish. Bob's your uncle.
(Now to figure out a way to get the sign to stay up in the planters for at least the duration of the get-together.)
Sure to be a hit with ALL the neighbors. Heh.
[Update: Turns out one of the neighbors really likes the sign and asked if I'd mind if he screwed it into the wood retaining wall at the end of the path. He didn't want to appropriate my private property without my permission, he said. Gee. He likes it! Go right ahead, I told him.]
posted by Sal Towse at 5:04 PM|
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