A Day in San Francisco

February 11th

This morning we're leaving San Francisco to head out to Alcatraz. 

Bridge!  This is the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

The Rock.  Sean Connery escaped from here in 1963.

The Golden Gate Bridge. (Not named for it's color.)

A little bit of San Francisco.

A little more San Francisco.

Building 64 and the dock.

Skyline silhouette.

A quick timeline of Alcatraz:

1775 - Spanish claim the island and name it for the pelicans found there

1846 - Alcatraz is given to Julian (William) Workman to build a lighthouse

1846 - Purchased by John Fremont 

1850 - Established as a US military reservation

1861 - Used as a Civil War POW camp

1868 - Declared a military prison

1934 - Declared a federal prison

1963 - Alcatraz, as a prison, is closed

1969 - Native American occupation

1971 - Native American occupation ends

1973 - Opened to the public

1986 - Registered as a national historic landmark

Guard Tower.

Guard tower, now with seagull.

A kayak flotilla going by.

Some weird round buildings off in the distance.

Dan heading up to the remains of the officers' club.

Surprisingly, Alcatraz has a wide range of plants.  Because so many different people lived here, and brought their favorite plants, there are now over 230 species of plants on the island.

Fuchsias (Fuchsia magellanica).

Tree Aeonium (Aeonium arboreum) and Irises, maybe Dutch.

Mimosa!  (Mimosa scabrella)

M.C. Escher could get excited about these stairs.

I don't know what this one is.

Halfway up the hill.

I was amused by the way the roads cut up through the city. 

Also, on the left, the monster from Skifree is attacking the city.

The Warden's House Garden.

The garden was constructed for Warden Swope's wife, Edna in the early 1950's.

Entrance to the Administration block, which leads into the main prison.  

Because we're at a prison, not a garden.  I kind of forgot.

Model of the island.

Yup, those are prison cells.

During the federal penitentiary years the average number of prisoners was 260, with a high of 360.  

There are four cell blocks, A (not used during federal years), B & C (336 cells for general population), and D (42 cells for unruly inmates aka isolation).

"The Hole," D Block cells 9-14, had an anti-chamber outside of the cell.  

I guess it served to isolate you even more. 

Below D Block are the "dungeons" for even worse punishment.

The average cell is 5' x 9'.  D Block cells were larger, but you didn't want to be there.

All the layers of the mess hall floor over the years.

Oh hey, it's that bridge.  It spans the Golden Gate, which is the strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean.  The color of the bridge is International Orange.

Montbretia or Coppertips (Crocosmia).

Ladybug!

This bee wouldn't cooperate.  

More Aeoniums.

Artsy photo in the flowers.

Torch lilies (Kniphofia uvaria).

I think these are the flowers of the aeonium.

There's that bridge again, this time among greenery.

The roof of this building holds water.  That seems...not good?

The seagulls seem to enjoy it though.

I think this is the first time there are more photos of me than there are of Dan at any location.

So people did wear ball and chains.  It wasn't just in Looney Toons cartoons.

As we leave Alcatraz I encourage you to learn more about the gardens.  You can do so here.  Also, go dig up a copy of the 1996 movie The Rock starring Nicholas Cage and Sean Connery and watch it.

I was taking a class in textile surface design and my instructor suggested we go see this exhibit at the de Young Museum.  So we went.

Coverlet (1960)  Cotton; double-weave

Optical illusion fabric!  It's all made of rectangles, there are no curves in it.  

Buddhist altar cloth (Late Edo Period) Silk; gold leaf, 3:1 twill.

Woman's mola blouse (mid-20th century)

Indigenous to the people of Panama and Colombia.  Also, chicken!

Japanese Apron (1900) Cotton; indigo-dyed plain weave.

Utility or tool bag (early 20th century)  Cotton; indigo-dyed plain weave.  

Radish!  Daikon to be specific.

Handkerchief printed with Punch and the Baby, scene 2 (19th century) Cotton; plate printing.

We wandered off into other parts of the museum and found Batman.

Apparently it's a Hyena mask from Mali.

Hippo?  Mask from Côte d'Ivoire.

Lion mask from Burkina Faso.  I'm not sure they've ever seen a lion.

Wall of glowing masks.

The Gold Scab: Eruption in Filthy Lucre (The Creditor) by James McNeill Whistler (1879)

This is the same Whistler as "Whistler's Mother." You know, the portrait of the dreary lady in a chair. 

Dress 3 by Karen LaMonte (2001)

This was really cool.  It's a sculpture of a dress, but it's hollow, and the inside has a sculpture of the body wearing the dress.  

Butt!

Salmon Trout and Smelt by Samuel Marsden Brooks (1873)

I thought this was amazing.  It looks like the fish are coming out of the painting.  

I feel like I could grab one.

Bookcase settle by Frederick H. Meyer (1904)

I may need one of these.

Fruit Still Life by Flora C. Mace and Joey Kirkpatrick (1997)

ENHANCE!  It's all made of glass.

Ultramarine Stemmed Form with Orange, from the Persian series by Dale Chihuly (1992)

Rover's Garden Grows by Dale Chihuly and Italo Scanga (1991)

Is the dog dead and things are growing out of it?  Did you even see the dog?

Right: Turkana Woman (Man Adorned series) by William Morris (2001)

Left: Suspended Artifact: Jackal Mask with Baleen and Gourd by William Morris (1995)

 Ah Mr. Pomodoro, we meet again!  

Sfera con sfera (Sphere No.2) by Arnaldo Pomodoro (1963)

If it's a huge version of a normal small thing, it's probably a Claes Oldenburg.

Corridor Pin, Blue by Claes Oldenburg (1999)

We headed downtown and ran into a Chinese New Year parade.

There were marching bands.

It's the year of the Rooster.

Sponsored by Southwest.

 Little kids dressed as chickens.

 People with staffs dressed like Rufio.

Three dragons.  

I haven't figured out the best settings for action shots on my camera, so things are going to be blurry.

Chinese New Year Princesses?

RAAAAAR!  Dragon!

This one's less blurry.

 Flags!

 Fan dance?

 A pink dragon.  The dragons sometimes chase a ball.

 The ball represents the "Pearl of Wisdom."

 Oh hey, it's the mayor.

 Shouldn't the Grand Marshal be at the front of the parade?  

Chinese New Year, brought to you by Hyundai.

I was getting pretty cold and hungry.  We left the parade to find food and to head back to our hotel.

This concludes our adventures for today.

A Little Bit of Florida

February 3rd-5th

Every year my mom, her sisters, my cousin, and I get together for a weekend of hanging out, drinking champagne, and general merriment.  This year we went to Florida and some of us went to the Dali Museum.  Spoiler: he sometimes painted things that weren't giraffes on fire.  If you want to know more about the artwork, and see ones I didn't take photos of, you can learn more here.

 Port of Cadaqués at Night (1918)

 The Lane to Port Lligat with View of Cap de Creus (1922)

 Still Life - Sandía (1924)

AKA Look!  I'm Picasso!

 Girl's Back (1926)

 Portrait of My Sister (1923)

There was an original portrait, of which the face on top is from, and then Dalí painted the second upside down portrait over it.  Their relationship was complicated.

 Portrait of My Dead Brother (1963)

Apparently Dalí was named after his father, but also his older brother, who died a year before Dalí was born.  What's with artists being named after dead siblings?  Van Gogh has a similar story.

 Gala Contemplating the Mediterranean Sea Which at Twenty Meters Becomes the Portrait of Abraham Lincoln - Homage to Rothko 2nd Version (1976)

That's a mouthful for a title.  Also, this painting is large; it's 99¹⁄₄" x 75¹/₂".
If you need to, take off your glasses or squint to see Lincoln.

The Weaning of Furniture-Nutrition (1934)

Lobster Telephone (1938)

Doesn't have quite the same ring as Banana Phone. 

Enchanter Beach with Three Fluid Graces (1938) 

The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus (1958)

Sentimental Colloquy (1944)

The Hallucinogenic Toreador (1969)

The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory (1952)

Persistence of Memory may be one of Dalí's most well-known works.  It's the melting clocks.

Apparently this one represents the nuclear age.  

Velázquez Painting the Infanta Marguerita with the Lights and Shadows of His Own Glory (1958)

Galacidalacidesoxiribunucleicacid (Homage to Crick and Watson [and Franklin]) (1963)

At least he gave his artwork names.  I hate "Untitled 23."

The museum had a neat central staircase.

They also had a temporary exhibit about Frida Kahlo.

Portrait of Luther Burbank (1932)

...Is he a vampire? or a zombie?

 Facsimiles from The Diary of Frida Kahlo: An Intimate Self-Portrait

Frida and the Miscarriage (1932)

Hospital Henry Ford (1932)

You don't see much art dedicated to miscarriages. 

The Flower of Life (1944)

She could give Georgia O'Keefe a run for her flowers that are actually genitalia theme.

The Chick (1945) 

Self-Portrait with Small Monkey (1945)

Spirals and squares and triangles! Oh my!

In the evening we went to a hibachi place.  My cousin and I got Buddha drinks.

Sally's trying to figure out if Nancy will notice that she stole her drink.

Mary and Mom are waiting for food.

The next day we went boating. 

We saw some neat birds.

Wore some beach chic hats and cover-ups.

And got cold on the ride home.  Greg was our captain.

These pelicans (and one egret) are waiting for the fisherman to toss them some guts.

Walking along the beach in the evening, I found this sand sculpture.  

The seal life is watching Superbowl LI.

These weekends are always a blast, and I've missed the last two.  It was great to rejoin the Hags.

This concludes our adventures today.

Jack's Peak

January 28th

It was a nice day, so we went to Jack's Peak for the afternoon.

 Got a nice view of Monterey.

 You can make out Fisherman's Wharf and Cannery Row.

 Dew stuck in a web.

 A view of Seaside.

 Why is this street SO much larger than any of the other ones?

 My trusty companions.  Ta is pulling Dan up the hill.

It was a nice little hike.

This concludes our adventures for today.