Frisco Vista

This photo of the San Francisco skyline was taken from a rooftop on Potrero Hill.

Virtual NoCal

• At the Shipyard : A history of Burning Man
• SFMOMApreparing for celebration of its 75th year : “a pioneering force in art worldwide and an unparalleled destination for the people of the San Francisco Bay Area” might be a little strong, but still …
• San Francisco’s graffiti : More “character-driven” than elsewhere?
• Using SF to rally opposition to stimulus spending : We’re a reliable target for the right (and proud of it)
• Culture on a budget : Free museum admissions by the bay
• Tenderloin : The movie

There was a time when San Francisco’s Mitchell brothers were considered by many to be hip, heroes of the counterculture. Today, as a result of the direction their lives took, they are more likely to be perceived as examples of the degradations of porn.

But I’ve seen worse. Just the past weekend. In my own backyard.

I mean, the Mitchells weren’t cannibals, as far as I know. Apparently the same can’t be said for Cooper’s hawks. Four of the birds have been inhabiting my backyard this summer. They must have hatched from the same nest this spring. They got big fast, and our squirrels and finches have been looking nervous, keeping a wary lookout. These fierce birds squeeze their prey to death with their sharp viselike talons.

So this weekend I went out back and found that now we have three Cooper’s hawks — one of them was feasting on another. After I took the picture above it picked up the dead bird and flew away with it, as if it were but a single feather.

Not exactly a bambi moment.

Let’s head down to SoCal for a picture today. This image of an artist on Venice Beach is one of my more popular photos posted to Flickr. Why is that, do you suppose?

We’ve had several cherry tomatoes, but this is the first full-size tomato of this summer. Always an event!

Since converting our swimming pool to a garden we have had a lot more wildlife around. This year two pair of kestrels have taken up residence. We also have a lot of butterflies, beas, and hummingbirds.

This caterpillar is a swallowtail. They like plants in the carrot family, and this one was enjoying a lunch of dill. Eventually he will turn into a butterfly that will look something like this.

There are a few more photos in my nascent garden set on flickr.

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Virtual NoCal

• Google mapper busted : In the Presidio
• Create your own SF map : Via SFist
• Memorial to the Abraham Lincoln Brigade : It’s near the Villancourt Fountain
• The old old Academy of Sciences building : It was on Market Street before the fire
• Chronicle “exposé” was aimed at protecting Newsom : According to Randy Shaw of Beyond Chron
• Why are injuries increasing on SF trains? : The Feds want to know
• My God It’s Cold!!!!!!!! : A tourist gets introduced to sunny San Francisco

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This year our garden has been a little deficient in red flowers. An exception is the Maltese Cross, which produces large globular composite flowers. These are doing well. Above you can see them in the garden; below is a close-up (not too well focused, but it will give the idea) in a cut bouquet.

We have had weird swings this spring and summer between long chilly stretches and brief scorching temperatures.

The reason is clear: the ice caps are melting, and as a result our weather is bipolar.

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This is the garden from the narrow side, looking west. Clevr had trouble with this image, so I just stitched it in Photoshop.

Hey! I see a weed!

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Virtual NoCal

• Art of the African savanna at the de Young : 60 sculptures by artists of the Luba, Songye, Chokwe, and Luluwa cultures
• Namastenancy not impressed by de Young preview : An overbearing “stench of class and power”
• Frisco Psychedelia : Vintage posters exhibited in Denver
• East Bay unemployment at all-time high : “This is the deepest we’ve been”
• Amygdules at Sibley Volcanic Reserve : “Fossil bubbles”
• An award to be proud of? : The Chronicle’s editors “should be asking themselves if . . . they went too far in slanting . . . stories against immigrants”
• Edible Expeditions : At the Conservatory of Flowers

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Panorama of pool garden, year 2 on CleVR.com

We actually took a step backward this year, in a way, because we expanded the garden by taking out more concrete, and so we undid some of our work from last year. But the garden recovered nicely and is doing well, especially considering our cold, gloomy June. The monster plants on the right are tomatoes, which are already starting to bear fruit.

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We have many bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds in the garden this year.

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This 1914 video shows opium paraphernalia being burnt in what is now the Civic Center area. At the time the area had not yet been rebuilt following the ’06 earthquake (because voters would not pass bonds for funding the project because of the corruption of city leaders), but here you can see the new city hall under construction.

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via bluehour on the Asian Art Museum blog

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The city would not at first seem an AskMen kind of place. But they rank it the third best city in the world to live in (after Chicago — hey, they’re men’s men, the cold and wind don’t bother them — and Barcelona, and before London and Sydney). This is mainly, I guess, because it is one of the healthiest sizeable cities, it is tech savvy and has a “culture of innovation,” and the people are educated and smart.

But they’re a little confused about at least one thing. “The city’s boy-to-girl ratio (male: 51%; female: 49%) doesn’t seem promising at first,” they write, “but remember this is San Francisco, so you can shave a good 8% to 10% off the competition right there.”

I guess if you ask men, only the guys are gay.

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Rebecca Cathcart, writing in today’s NYT about Gov. Schwarzenegger calling for a study of legalizing marijuana in California, says:

Sales could raise $1.2 billion to $1.34 billion in annual tax revenue, some estimates say.

But that would be little salve for the state’s deficit, which could reach $20 billion in 15 months if ballot initiatives proposed by the governor do not pass….

But surely the economic consequences of legalizing marijuana are more complex that just straight tax revenue on direct sales. Two consequences that come immediately to mind:

• Increase in tourism dollars. Isn’t that what happened in Amsterdam?
• Decrease in prison expenses. Aren’t most of our prisoners incarcerated for drug offenses?

This is why the governor is acting sensibly (for once) in calling for a study.

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image via celebrity-cash.com.

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For them as cares, Twitalyzer offers a list of “the 100 Most Influential people in Twitter who say they live in San Francisco.” Gavin Newsome is number three.

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Not all businesses are contracting in the down economy. Robert Berman, based in Santa Barbara, has opened a new gallery in San Francisco, located at 1632 Market Street. For its inaugural show, the gallery is featuring historical photos (newly printed) of San Francisco by Julius Shulman. Shown is San Francisco Bay Bridge under Construction, 1934.

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Last night the ceremony announcing this year’s winners of the Goldman prize for environmental activism was held in San Francisco’s Opera House. The award is the brainchild of Richard and Rhoda Goldman. Rhoda passed away in 1996. This year it appeared Richard’s health had taken a turn for the worse, although he still spoke cogently. Click here for more »

United Nations Plaza was conceived as the entrance to a grand walkway leading from Market Street to City Hall, a vision that never quite materialized. The plaza commemorates the founding of the United Nations in San Francisco.

On Wednesdays and Sundays the plaza hosts a farmers market, while an arts and crafts fair holds sway on most Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. In the photo above the fair is at its colorful best (but sometimes it is a little too colorful).

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The strange shapes lurching over the pollarded trees of Civic Center Plaza are not homeless shelters — they are an “environmental sculpture installation,” entitled The Upper Crust, by Patrick Dougherty. The eight-foot tall structures are made of  18,000 lbs. of willow saplings interwoven into the sycamore trees. No fastenings were used; instead, the saplings were bent and twisted through the branches.

The installation will run through November.

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Maybe it’s just because I’m familiar with it, but the freeway system in the Bay Area seems a lot more sensible than in DC, where I have been visiting.

To go left in the nation’s capital you usually have to start off to the right. Generally, to get anywhere at all you have to go in a circle first.

Something fitting in that.

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Image (not acually DC) from 1Sock’s photostream.

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