Sorry, dear. I'm gonna be a bit late. . .

Traffic is really stopped up tonight.

Zut alors!

Sometimes (not often) I wish I had been born French.

Trees have haircuts

Okay, we're discussing Land Use patterns here. A municipality with lots of land likes to build an airport, for the prestige and the income. Good.
The land around the airport is not appropriate for housing, schools, or commercial uses. Golf courses are okay.
Thus, most municipal airports have adjoining municipal golf courses.
Makes sense, right?
However, golf courses like trees. Airports do not like trees.
Hence, as at Buchanan Field, Concord CA above, we give the trees haircuts.
It looks weird, but it makes sense.
Q.E.D.
(Don't ask. :))

The Old Fishing Hole

Glimpses of Saipan:


http://bit.ly/MBdyYP



:)

A scenic drive through the hills of San Francisco

If you, like me, enjoy driving, even driving in The City, you must spend 10 minutes of your precious time to enjoy the video referenced below. You will be happy that you did. And, you might finally have an answer to what caused all those recent "donuts" on San Francisco's streets.

Go here, cut and paste if necessary, and thank me later:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuDN2bCIyus
Click on "DC SHOES" and sit back.

Thanks also to Bloomberg West for making it available. And I note that it's also showing up on the cable news channels. Oh, well.

Always needed

One Wise Owl

(Click to enlarge)

Really neat visual!

Afternoon, 4 July

First:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ETrr-XHBjE
Then:
http://pjmedia.com/spengler/2012/07/04/a-national-anthem-that-begins-and-ends-with-a-question/2/

If you can make both work, both are worthshile.

Happy Fourth!

Happy Independence Day

Hog Island Oyster Farm

First, you have to get to Tomales Bay. It took us 1 hour, 35 minutes. We took Sir Francis Drake through Ross.
Second, it helps if the weather is beautiful, bright and sunny, as it was today.
Third, you really have to like fresh oysters.

Simply said, the five of us shared 5 dozen oysters. We enjoyed all sixty. Immensely.

Seen through Soviet Eyes

This map was posted on the main www.winnacker.com page on Wednesday. I've repeated it here so it can be expanded (by clicking) for more detailed study. I was interested to see the apparent importance of the railroads, indicated by dark black lines, to the Soviet Union.

Study and enjoy. :)

Food events

'Twas a busy, food-infused week.
First, from our Atlanta house guests, a simply crabmeat and egg omelet, qua pizza. You should definitely try this. (Crab meat is available in a can, if fresh is not in season.)

And then, on the weekend, off to Tilden Park, just past the steam trains, to a celebratory picnic for a young 90-year-old friend from UCBerkeley. Food was catered by "Rick & Ann's" although Rick and Ann have long been divorced. The Birthday Youngster is on the left.

Followed by a stop at a strip mall in Pleasant Hill at "Kobe Japan," a restaurant run by a very inventive Chinese-American who has learned the Japanese way of food very well:



All in all, a succesful week. :)

Filoli Gardens After Scenes

Sure, beating up everything outside on the patio is fun, but

Standing in front of the East side of the Pacific Ocean is also good, unless

 a meeting of the Red Hat Ladies gets in the way.

Find an honorable course, Love your fellow man, Live a wonderful life.

That's Fi Lo Li

Q.E.D.

Dematerialization

Photoshop is amazing, even in Shanghai.

Lunch in San Francisco

Twitter has moved into new San Francisco offices. It's a long way from South Park in a short 5 years! This place is "Mid-Market", on Market Street close by City Hall. The streets are a bit sticky, but the newly-remodeled building has an open roof. This roof is landscaped and open to a lovely California sky on fog-free days.
Today, they had an all-hands barbeque on the roof:

Not too shabby!

Together

In the morning, after I rise, get dressed, and open the cat door, when I return to the bedroom there are often three adorable lumps on the bed.

Two of them are purring.

Cookie Time!

If the ancient Romans had had Oreos:

Bet it would have tasted good. :-)

NASA rewards us

They changed the colors, for some reason, but please now look at Planet Venus (upper left) floating between me and Sun yesterday.

Cool.

Or, to be literal about it, "Hot!"

Somestimes. . .

. . . I'm just feeling bad.



:-)

Northern California Food

Our local restaurant fare has driven at least one New York writer over the edge. From Saturday's WSJ, consider:
"The following year, Patterson opened Coi, his intimate San Francisco oasis. There, he delights in poking fun at endemic gastronomic stereotypes, but instead of rejecting that legacy wholesale, Patterson elevates it. His California Bowl takes on brown rice and avocado in the form of paper-thin, crispy-does-it "chips" (think papadum) and a creamy-smooth dip."
And it continues on, and on, and on in that vein.
It should be actionable, "maltreatment and disrespect of the language." At least.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303610504577418871114965262.html?mod=WSJ_Magazine_LEFTTopStories

Golden Gate's 75th Birthday Celebration

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/video?id=8679035&pid=null

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/video?id=8679035#&cmp=twi-kgo-video-8679035

bit.ly/Kd4UM1

(One of the above should work)

Happy Birthday!