Seeing how it was built makes me feel it has less power now, like it has less control over me. In my daily nightmares it usually has a solid core of molybdenum or that Terminator II kind of metal. And sometimes, on a few nights, the good ones, it’s creamy nougat.
Mmmmmm, nougat.
But, as you can see, it’s mostly just air in there, it’s not solid at all:
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You Maniacs!You blew it up! Ah, bless you! God bless you all to Heaven!
“In late November, a beloved member of the Ragazza staff, and broader San Francisco restaurant community, was the victim of a terrible crime. To help this individual get back on their feet, Ragazza, along with several other establishments, are hosting a fundraiser. All proceeds will benefit the crime victim. Funds will be raised through several sources.”
And check out all the local businesspeople who are contributing, below.
“1.On Monday, January 24, Ragazza will donate 100% of sales proceeds to this cause. For this evening, Ragazza will hold an intimate benefit dinner, with a special menu designed by Chef Sharon Ardiana. The meal will be served family style, with antipasti, salad, pizza, entree and dessert. Seatings are at 5:00 pm, 7:00 pm or 9:00 pm. The cost is $35/person, including wine, excluding gratuity and tax. As of 1/13/11, the 7pm seating is sold out. To make a reservation or to be put on the 7pm waiting list, please email Laurie at laurie@aocsf.com.
2. A variety of items will be auctioned off on eBay, between Friday, January 21st and Monday, January 31st. Auction items include special meals at notable San Francisco restaurants, cooking lessons, private meals prepared by Bay Area chefs, art, photography, wine and other items. To see all items up for auction or to bid on an item, please visit this link.
3. You may send a cash donation to benefit the victims of this crime. To do so, please send a check made out to our fiscal sponsor, La Cocina, Inc. Please write Ragazza Fundraiser in the memo line so that your contribution goes directly to our cause. Donations may also be made on the evening of January 24 at the restaurant. For your donation to be tax deductible, it will need to be made via check payable to La Cocina, Inc. Donations may be sent to:
La Cocina
2948 Folsom Street
San Francisco, CA 94110-4028
Note that all auction items and donations made via check to La Cocina, Inc. are tax deductible over the fair market value of the item (in the case of auction items). La Cocina is a registered 501c3 organization.
Full details coming soon, along with links to the eBay bid pages once the auction is live (anticipated to be on Friday, January 21). Here’s a preview of some of the items we will have available for bid…..
Dinner for 8 in your home, cooked by Frances Chef/Owner Melissa Perello.
Italian cooking lesson, wine tasting and dinner for 4 prepared in your home by Chef/Owner of Ragazza, Sharon Ardiana and Suzanne Drexhage
Dinner for 2, with wine pairings, at your choice of either A16 or SPQR
Wine dinner for 4 at Andalu
Dinner for 2 at Bar Tartine
Chef’s Dinner for 2 at Cafe des Amis, with wine pairings
Customized meal for 2 at Delfina, menu designed by Chef/Owner Craig Stoll
Customized meal for 2 at Flour + Water, menu by Chef/Owner Tom McNaughton, with wine pairing
Wine dinner for 4 at Garibaldi’s
Dinner for 2 at Gialina..and you can go to the head of the line!
Dinner for 4 at Nopa, seated with Chef/Co-Owner Laurence Jossel and Wine Director Chris Deegan
Dinner for 4 at the Chef’s Table of Rotisserie & Wine – meet Tyler Florence and Chef Jeremy Fox
Customized cake by Elizabeth Falkner of Citizen Cake, sized to serve 40 people!
2 dozen cupcakes from Kara’s Cupcakes, delivered by cupcake maven and owner, Kara Lind Marlowe‘s famous Marlowe burger, delivered to your office w/all the fixin’s…for 8 people
Carnitas dinner for 4, delivered to your door by Nopalito.
Sundae making party for 24 by Bi Rite Creamery
Cocktail making class for 15, along with signed copies of Art of the Bar at Comstock Saloon
Coffee tour/tasting for 6 at Equator Coffees & Teas- the coffee of Ragazza & The French Laundry
Cooking clases at La Cocina
Poker party for 5 at Le Club….burgers, bourbon or champs, your own dealer & private table Pizza Politana pizza party for 15 at your home
High end tequila tasting for 4 at Tres Agaves
Margarita party for 20 at your home by Tortilla Heights
A case of mixed Italian red wines, selected by Chamber and Chambers Wine Merchants
Gift certificates to Boulevard, 18 Reasons, Bi Rite Market, Ominvore Books, Absinthe, Lori Anderson Skincare,Pal’s Takeaway Sandwiches, Incanto and more!
A day of custom photography, with Katie Newburn, photographer
2 custom art pieces by artist Michelle White
50 custom cards/envelopes, designed and printed by Olive-Route letter press.
Custom canvas printing of your favorite photo by photographer, Nick Vasilopoulos
2 hours of custom tattoo work with the amazing Shannon Archuleta
And still more to come……
Little did you know that when you buy the Bi-Rite Ice Cream, you’re supporting San Francisco’s Version of the Taliban or mutaween (see below). Oh well.
Will the MDNA manage to cross Market Street some day?
Consultants:
1. Alice Carey and Company
Author: Mission Dolores Survey and Update of Context Statement: Bill Sugaya, Director
2. Carol Roland, PhD; Roland-Nawi Associates
Author: Mission Dolores Historic Context Statement
3. Joseph Stubbs, Graphic Artist Mission Dolores Historic Context Statement
4. Vincent Marsh, Architectural Historian
Author: 523 A and B Survey Forms: Golden Gate Lutheran Church (601 Dolores)
And Second Church of Christ, Scientist (651-655 Dolores)
5. Gideon Kramer, KramerGraphics/graphic design & production
6. Jacob Moore, Webmaster
1. $46,500.00: Mayor’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development through the San Francisco Historic Preservation Fund Committee. To have Alice Carey and Company complete the survey work in the Mission Dolores Neighborhood. Our context statement will also be updated.
2. $25,000.00: Mayor’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development through the San Francisco Preservation Fund Committee. To have Carol Roland-Nawi create an historic context statement for the Mission Dolores Neighborhood.
3. $2,500.00: San Francisco Victorian Alliance. To survey Golden Gate Lutheran Church (601 Dolores), Second Church of Christ, “Scientist” (651-655 Dolores), Mission Dolores Park and Duggan’s Home (3434 17th Street). Both churches are under threat of demolition. The Christian “Science” Church, designed by William H. Crim, currently has a demolition permit pending.
1. Peter Lewis, President
2. Gideon Kramer, Vice President
3. Ted Olsson, Secretary
4. Joe Cain, Communications Manager
5. Steve Haigh, Past-President: Victorian Alliance
6. Jose Luis Leiva, Professor
7. Shelagh Ross,
8. Andrew R. Galvan: Curator of Mission Dolores Church
9. Marius Starkey, Artist
10. Ted Scourkes,
11. Arnie Lerner, AIA
12. Lucia Bogatay, AIA
It’s practically a landmark now – you can’t miss this 90 foot tall icon if you’re in the area.
As it looks at sunset:
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All the deets, from when it was new:
Artist Andy Goldsworthy Makes New Art from Aging Presidio Trees. Renowned artist interprets the historic Presidio forest
Presidio of San Francisco (September 18, 2008) – Renowned British artist Andy Goldsworthy is bringing his vision to the Presidio in a new work that showcases efforts to save the Presidio’s aging forest. The artist’s team has begun work in the Presidio in a cypress grove along the Bay Area Ridge Trail above Arguello Boulevard. The new work is entitled “The Spire.”
”The Spire” will be made from 30 to 40 cypress trees that the Presidio Trust forestry crew has saved following its reforestation effort in the area. The sculpture will be about 15 feet in diameter, tapering to 90 feet at its peak. The Trust has removed about 150 dying trees from the grove and over the next decade, will replant 1,200 trees in the area. The new trees will grow up around the sculpture, which will eventually disappear into the forest. “The sculpture will be a poetic reference to the forest’s past and will welcome the next generation of trees,” said Presidio forester, Peter Ehrlich. “In 20 years the new trees will be about as tall as the sculpture.”
Goldsworthy is known to many through the 2001 film, “Rivers and Tides.” He draws his inspiration from places and creates art from materials found close at hand, such as twigs, leaves, stones, snow, and ice, and his works interact with their environment.
“The Spire” recalls one of his earliest sculptures, “Memories,” also spires of mature trees, created in 1984 in the Grizedale Forest in the Lake District of North West England. “I have not found another great location for this type of work until now,” said Goldsworthy. Today, the sculptures are among the more than 60 works of art in the Grizedale forest.
The Presidio Forest was planted by the United State Army at the end of the 19th century in an effort to beautify the post and to set it off from the city that was growing around it. “The forest is made up of Eucalyptus, pines, and cypress trees. The trees were planted over a short period of time. While the Eucalyptus trees are thriving, the pines and cypress, which typically live for about a century, are dying. We will replant these trees in one- and two-acre groves over the coming decades,” said Ehrlich. “By staggering the reforestation over as long a period as possible, we will create an uneven-aged forest, one that will be healthier and more sustainable.”
The Presidio Forest is a dramatic example of how people have shaped the landscape of the historic military post. In 2006 Goldsworthy visited the Presidio and was inspired by the history and character of the forest. The Presidio’s man-made forest is an evocative backdrop for the artist who strives, “to make connections between what we call nature and what we call man-made.”
Work on the sculpture will continue through the end of October, at which time the public will be invited to take a walk along the Bay Area Ridge Trail and discover “The Spire.”
Andy Goldsworthy was born in 1956 and spent his childhood in Yorkshire, England. He has made most of his art in the open air in places as diverse as the Yorkshire Dales, the North Pole, and the Australian Outback. He is known to many Americans through the film, Rivers and Tides, which was released in 2001. His works in the Bay Area include “Stone River” at Stanford University made from the rubble left after the Loma Prieta earthquake, and “Drawn Stone” at the De Young Museum in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, which also recalls San Francisco’s earthquakes and their effects.
The Presidio of San Francisco is a national park and a National Historic Landmark District. Four hundred and sixty nine historic buildings and diverse historic landscapes, such as the forest and the parade grounds, contribute to its landmark status. The Presidio is overseen by the Presidio Trust, established by Congress in 1996.
Isn’t it awesome? OMG, it opens up!* Check out the insides via an awesome video from Wired.com:
But, as you know, getting anything done in the 415 ain’t cheap - San Francisco has a well-earned reputation of being America’s most expensive city in which to conduct business, west of Chicago anyway. So why not see what you can do to help?
Check it:
“The Black Rock Arts Foundation is proud to collaborate with artistsSean Orlando, Nathaniel Taylor, David Shulman, and their talented crew (FiveTonCrane.org) on the installation of the iconic, large-scale sculpture, The Raygun Gothic Rocketship at Pier 14 on San Francisco’s waterfront from August 2010 until September 2011. The 40-foot-tall art piece, The Raygun Gothic Rocketship, offers a retro-futuristic, highly-stylized vision of space travel circa 1930’s-1940’s science fiction and is the latest in a series of temporary public art exhibitions sponsored by BRAF with the aim of enlivening and activating public spaces.“
(If we can manage to keep the vandals, the taggers (both corporate and non), away from this thing, we’ll be in good shape.)
“Dear Friend:
You are invited to join us in celebration of the Black Rock Arts Foundation’s latest Civic Arts Programproject, the installation of the Raygun Gothic Rocketship at Pier 14 in San Francisco, California. Come hear more about this ambitious undertaking from the crew that made it happen. Enjoy entertainment, dj’s, light refreshments and surprises from the Rocketship crew! The Rocketship will remain on view, free to the public, until October 7, 2011!”
*Sadly, the ship’s hatch won’t be open to the public for various reasons, like the ADA and the chance of falls from 15 feet up etc…
Remember all the trouble people had getting Harvey Milk back into City Hall, what with all the issues involving the placement of the busts of former Mayor Willie Brown and that Filipino-killing super-cracker Frederick Funston? Well, now that that’s over, why not get your own Harvey?
It’s new, it’s you. Check it out at HarveyMilkSculpture.com. And best of all, most of your money will end up going to the San Francisco Arts Commission, MilkFoundation.org, GLBT Historical Society and Lyric.
CELEBRATE GAY PRIDE YEAR ROUND WITH YOUR VERY OWN COMMEMORATIVE BUST OF HARVEY MILK
Available in three styles, the busts are replicas of the commemorative sculpture of Harvey Milk located in San Francisco’s City Hall.
60% of proceeds support the San Francisco Arts Commission, MilkFoundation.org, GLBT Historical Society and Lyric.
SAN FRANCISCO, June 23, 2010 – Director of Cultural Affairs for the San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC) Luis R. Cancel is pleased to announce that Jonah Hendrickson, one of the original artists who created the commemorative bust of Harvey Milk at San Francisco’s City Hall, has made replicas of the bust, which are available for sale. Following the dedication of the sculpture in City Hall in 2008, both Mr. Hendrickson and the Arts Commission received numerous calls from people interested in purchasing reproductions. According to Mr. Hendrickson, “I realized there was a demand from parties who wanted their own copy for the home. I just thought, if people wanted these, why not make them available?” The busts, which come in three styles in both bronze and plaster, can be purchased online at harveymilksculpture.com and range in price from $350 to $2,500, see below for further details. Sixty percent of all proceeds will benefit the San Francisco Arts Commission, MilkFoundation.org, GLBT Historical Society and Lyric.
“I thought if these reproductions take off, it would be a great opportunity to channel a percentage of the profits back to the LGBT community,” said Mr. Hendrickson. “My hope is that these donations will continue Harvey Milk’s legacy of furthering equal rights and also support the great civic work of the Arts Commission, which ensures that the arts are an integral part of the City’s identity.”
Now yesterday, Jackson West pointed out that a stickerer of the Buddha was “caught on tape” (so to speak) on one of a series of videos being used to promote Kodak’s new Flip-like digital video camera, the rugged, waterproof Play Sport Zx3. But then, somebody edited the vid, so now you can’t see the culprit on the video.
Sadly, it appears that one of the scenes featuring this green-screen gentleman got cut. (Really, it’s an awesome video all-around. Thanks Kodak Marketing Department!)
