#30 goes for a long 3.

This man can do anything!

Oscar Awards on Sunday

Thanks to the U.K. Daily Mail, we have a puzzle:

Your task, should you accept it, is to find the gilded Oscar statue among all these C3PO's.

Good luck!

The Rich and the Poor

They both have always been with us. And they always will.

Gravitational Waves

(Smart Guy)

Extreme Multitasking

Now here's an ambitious driver hard at work. I'm guessing he's signed on with Uber and Lyft and has Waze running, but I have no possible thoughts about the other four screens.

Any guesses?
Ain't life wonderful?

Claremont Hotel Berkeley

Hey! Look at this:

The brown building with the hip roof used to be a firehouse! And now, those of us familiar with Berkeley and the Claremont Hotel understand why the streets are so crazy in this section of town.

(As always, click to enlarge.)

Nostalgia

DW#1 is busy unearthing memories from our archives.

Some hidden treasures have been noticed.

One from early days at St. Albans School for Boys, about 1950:

That's me, half hidden behind the left shoulder of the gent in the blue blazer. And yes, coats and ties were required.

Then we move to Waikiki's Nick's Fishmarket and an historic evening sometime about 1972:

This delightful scene of design and construction fellows was the first time one of my expense-account meals totaled over $100 and I remember it well. My accounting department accepted the expense, and the meal was good!

San Francisco's Trans-Bay Terminal

The old concrete San Francisco antiquity that used to house the terminus of the ACTransit buses from the East Bay was demolished a few years ago.

The new Trans-Bay Terminal is slowly rising from the site. It's slow because the site is severely restricted in size and working/storage/marshaling space.

Rudy walks by this area almost every morning. Today he captured a great image of rising construction.

 That white steel structure left of center will eventually support the glass roof in the Grand Hall of the new terminal.

Can't wait for future construction pics as this significant addition to the Bay Area transit infrastructure takes form.

Cold Weather Soup

Thanksgiving has ushered in some downright chilly nights in Saranap. DW#1 sometimes meets the cold weather by preparing her version of R. A. Winnacker's lentil soup, which I so dearly love.

Here's a shot of last night's version, a mere two spoon-fulls* away from extinction:

Mmm, mmm, good.

*interesting thoughts about "spoonfuls" or "spoonsful" on Google. I prefer spoons full.

Just because...

You're welcome.

Hi there...

Hi there. I haven't been here for a while, probably a bit because blogging seems possibly outdated these days.
Or, is it just me?
As I ponder these silly questions, let me entertain you with some beautiful designs, European designs, from a time when automobiles were fresh and new and had few requirements imposed on them except to be beautiful and expensive and work reasonably well.

What I still don't understand is how the driver was able to cut sharp corners with the front wheels behind those fender skirts.

Memories

My goodness. Hard to believe, but Windows 95 is 20 years old today.

Seems like just yesterday.

In honor of Flag Day 2015

Presented herewith is a graphic history of the official flag of the United States of America as approved by the Congress of the United States:

(Looks kind of like a pane of postage stamps, doesn't it?)

This might be fun for the young ones. And, while we're on the subject, let's peel apart the 1801 Union Flag of the United Kingdom:

Now that, I think, is cool. (Thanks to Dr. M.Viant for the tip.)

Senior moments

One of the very nice things about retirement is the freedom to just relax and enjoy the moments. Last night we had dinner with my wife's two sisters at my sister-in-law's house. A very pleasant meal, with varied samples of some of the freshest fish available in our small corner of Northern California.

The after-dinner time, however, was the most pleasant. Just mature adults discussing the weighty national and world events of the day with sincerity, judgement, and intelligence.

...or not.

Nostalgia

This is almost painful.

Anyway, when I was a kid of four years, my parents faced the costs of essential-for-living items:

But, more recently, I've certainly seen things get smaller, not larger:

All in all, not too bad. :)

Definitely Spring

We've recently established a new garden area for our Frank Lloyd Wright Sprite based on some Chicago Fair in the early 1900's.

The designer, Bill Castlelon, really likes peonies, and he designed one into the Sprite garden.

And here it is, plucked:

It is truly awesome.

Signs of Summer

This is Mark Canha. He may not be with us for a long time, but he hits the ball.

Go A's!

Periodic Table

Nothing more.

Veterinary Medicine

Lion, meet CT Scanner:

Self-Portraits

First, back in February of 1960, famed American popular artist, Norman Rockwell, made a bit of fun of himself:

 That was then. Today, thanks to the Internet and Twitter, we have a contemporary version:

If the bottom painting's painting had been of The Prophet, there might well have been trouble.