Building Faces IV

Unattractive cap, I guess. And, what's with the tongue?

Building Faces III

I know this one. It's "Louie," right?

Building Faces II

I don't know. Maybe an angry cat?

Building Faces

A chickadee?

Erosion is a Powerful Force

Grand canyon of the Colorado River cuts its way across the deserts of Arizona.

(Click to enlarge)

Walk-off Hits!

The Oakland Athletics have an endearing way of celebrating a game-winning hit::

Go A's!

Believe in Mass Transit

Travel together, whenever you can.

Golden Gate Bridge 50th

It bent in the middle. In 1987. Remember?

Boston Marathon

Sad. Watertown Massachusetts this afternoon.

Spring in Saranap!

It took awhile, and the weather is still a bit iffy, but DW#1's gardening is really paying off. Marvel with me:

Americas Cup update

Here's a shot of Emirates-New Zealand boat between trials off the coast at Naples, Italy.

Very colorful, with lots of sponsors. Whether it represents New Zealand, or the Emirates, I have no idea.

In any case, they deserve the brief rest between time trials.

Americas Cup 2013

As we approach the Americas Cup Race on San Francisco Bay later this year, we're starting to get some good pictures of the boats and their crews.

This is a shot of  "Artemis", one of the catamarans. I am totally captivated by the design of these boats and their resultant speeds. There will be, I guess, no faster wind-powered boats designed for many years.

Expect to see many more pictures here and @americascup on Twitter.

Sakura!

DW#1 gazes in wonderment at the cherry blossoms which today celebrated with blooms the anniversary of her birth.

Mighty impressive on this rainy, damp morning.

Acer Japonicum

Little bit of Japanese lingo there. We're talking Japanese maples, of which there are about 400 varieties.
Of these, we have a mere three:

But, wow are they magnificent in the early spring!
We love it. :)

I am ready!

Mr. Rocketmann

Herr Wernher Magnus Maximilian, Freiherr von Braun didn't much care whom he worked for, as long as he was working on rockets. 
I was impressed by his casual pose in front of one of his creations.
And then I looked up his name, in order to verify the spelling.
And I was further impressed.
Good grief! What a name.

20 March 2013

Enjoy.

March 11, 2011

This place is beginning to look like a compilation of natural disasters. Anyway...

Yamada, Iwata Prefecture, two years ago.

Massachusetts March Beachtime

This gentle picture of beachside living in Massachusetts earlier this week, reminds us that the pictures of Spring flowers posted earlier in this blog are not generally available everywhere at this time of year.

I've been admonished, and it don't feel good.

Okay, DW#1 says I missed a few signs of Spring out front. Here are some of the signs:

 The camellia, of course. It's always first

Then the cymbidium.

California poppy, Orange (for the Giants!)

 And yellow
(with a green background, for the A's!)

 A daffodil

And some pansies










There may well be some few that I've missed, and I'm sorry.

It's been a long, cold winter...

...and we should get a few more rainy days. However, there are signs of hope.

Where there's hope, there's life, right? :)

Snow is often inconvenient

During the Winter months, I am reminded at times of the reason I felt no loss when I adopted the West Coast over my well-known East Coast.

I think its hazard lights are blinking.

Cold Front passes through 94595

Mt. Diablo this afternoon.

There's more than one way. . .

. . .to roll a wheel!

I'm really not suggesting this, even with three rambunctious grandsons.

Memories

I'm guessing 1972 or thereabouts. Architect I.M.Pei and his structural engineers used an unusual structural concept for steet-framed buildings in the use of the exterior wall for structural support:

I remember it well. :(

Kodo

DW#1 took me and two friends into deepest Berkeley Sunday evening, to Zellerbach Hall. We found instant parking, believe it or not, in part because most of North America was watching SuperBowl XLVII. Guess what? DW#1 had made the correct choice! And, the power never failed at Zellerbach during the extraordinary feats of Kodo, the traveling Taiko group.

.

It was a riveting show, with world-class performers and a bunch of beautiful drums. Amazing rhythms and wonderful variations thereof.

DW#1, by the by, points out the lack of printed scores for the musicians. She states that every move must be memorized through practice, and then more practice.

 

If you get the chance, by all means leap at the opportunity to see Kodo Taiko

 (P.S. cut & paste: http://youtu.be/8zSa6Zz2Zrs High volume, full screen.)(P.P.S.: This one is even better: http://youtu.be/C7HL5wYqAbU Especially for all grandsons wherever located.)