Posts Tagged ‘ceremony’
Tuesday, May 14th, 2013
I missed the big installation yesterday but KTSF was there.
Check it.
Here’s what the “South Lion” looks like. Its left paw is “resting on a Buddhist jewel with an openwork design of sculpted peonies, a flower closely associated with lions.” DNKT.
This is a composite shot, but it’s the best one I have now. Guardian lion, 1868-1912. Japan. Bronze. Gift of Marsha Vargas Handley in memory of Raymond G. Handley
These critters certainly have found an appropriate resting place!
The ceremonial unveiling is coming soon.
All the deets from your Asian Art Museum:
“ASIAN ART MUSEUM INSTALLS TWO JAPANESE BRONZE LIONS ON FRONT STEPS
The Asian Art Museum has installed two monumental Japanese bronze lion sculptures on granite plinths outside the museum’s front entrance on Larkin Street. Recently acquired by the museum through a donation from longtime supporter Marsha Vargas Handley in memory of Raymond G. Handley, the 800 lb. sculptures date to the late nineteenth century and are similar to the majestic guardian lions typically placed opposite each other outside Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines.
The practice of adorning public buildings with sculptures of lions is a time-honored custom in the US–the New York Public Library and the Art Institute of Chicago are noteworthy examples. The granite plinths outside the Asian Art Museum may well have been intended to support sculptures of lions when the building was originally built in 1916 to serve as the San Francisco Main Public Library. The museum is now following that longstanding tradition–this time with a uniquely Asian spin–giving a sneak peek of the treasures held inside.
The lion on the museum’s south side has its left paw resting on a Buddhist jewel, with an openwork design of sculpted peonies, a flower closely associated with lions. The south lion’s mouth is open, and the north lion’s is closed, symbolizing the sounds and spirit of the Japanese pronunciation of the first and last letters of the Sanskrit alphabet: “A” is pronounced with the mouth open, and “Un” with the mouth closed.
Physical Description: These lions’ enormous size—nearly five feet tall and six feet long— and standing positions are unusual. Paired guardian lions outside shrines today are often shown seated or crouching, and most are made of stone, wood, or, less commonly, ceramic. This pair of large sculptures also stands out in material (bronze). Relatively few bronze guardian lions from before World War II survive, due in part to mandatory metal collections ordered by the Japanese government during the war.
Conservation: The lions have undergone extensive conservation treatment, including repairs to the feet that fasten them to a new, customized base—a strategy of earthquake preparedness. Several layers of protective coating were applied to resist weathering of Ceremonial Unveiling: Details for a forthcoming ceremonial unveiling event will be announced soon.”
Tags: 2013, art, asian, asian art museum, bay area, bronze, california, ceremony, civic center, guardian, installed, japan, Japanese, library, lion, lion dog, lions, Marsha Vargas Handley, metal, museum, Raymond G. Handley, Raymond Handley, San Francisco, sdog
Posted in art | No Comments »
Friday, September 28th, 2012
I’ll tell you, there are two kinds of San Franciscans:
1. People who know / care about who the current Mayor is; and
2. People who think the Mayor of San Francisco is still Gavin Newsom or Willie Brown or Dianne Feinstein*
A third of the first group welcomes the new City Target store, a third doesn’t care, and a third opposes this corporate chain-store invasion, man.
And the second group? They either don’t care or they welcome this store.
Golfing for Gift Cards and Bullseye doggie dolls:
*Which you know, isn’t too far from the truth, IRL.
(Oh, which of the two groups listed above is larger? The second one.)
I, for one, welcome our new corporate overlords.
As does Charlize Theron:
Feel free to continue shopping online until October 14th.
(And hey, where’s our Masonic and Geary Target, when’s that one coming?)
See you at the City Target on the Second Sunday of October 2012!
Tags: 3rd, 4th, bullseye, ceremony, chain, Charlize Theron, City, Dianne Feinstein, geary, gift card, golf, howard, market, masonic, Mayor, Metreon, mission, new, Newsom, october 14, open, soma, Sony, south, store, stores, target, willie brown
Posted in shopping | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 26th, 2012
Here’s why:
Seule Paris est digne de Rome; seule Rome est digne de Paris.
Solo Parigi è degna di Roma; solo Roma è degna di Parigi.
Only Paris is worthy of Rome; only Rome is worthy of Paris.
That means that Paris has been “twinned” with Rome in an exclusive sister-city relationship. It’s an “elaborate cultural partnership,” as they say.
So does that mean that Mayor Ed Lie will be lying once again today?
Yep, pretty much.
But you’ve got to realize that things are more or less on autopilot at City Hall these days, so it’s not really his volition.
(And if Willie Brown could get away with something, then Ed Lee should be able to as well, else it’s racist or something.)
Now, here’s what we really have with the City of Light. We have one of these things:
“Les pactes d’amitié et de coopération signés par la Ville de Paris“
Which in American is “pacts of friendship and cooperation signed by the City of Paris.”
Which, IRL, is rien de bien grave (no biggee). See Below.
IMO, we should be like Dubai, which ID’s itself as a Partner City with Paris.
All right, TTFN. But remember, We’ll Always Never Have Paris.
IRL, Paris, France is friends with just about everybody. The list of partner cities:
2012: San Francisco
2011: Dakar
2011: Sao Paulo, signed an amendment to the Cooperation Agreement of 2004
2011: Yerevan
2011: Rio de Janeiro
2011: Ramallah, signed a pact of friendship and cooperation inauguration, the Garden of Nations, a bust by French sculptor Emile-Antoine Bourdelle (1861-1929), including Ramallah to Paris
2010: Doha
2010: Tel Aviv-Jaffa
2009: Istanbul
2009: Quebec
2009: San Francisco
2009: Rio de Janeiro
2009: Quebec
2009: Jericho
2009: Istanbul
2007: Phnom Penh
2006: Montreal
2006: Cairo
2006: Beirut
2005: Copenhagen
2004: Tunis
2004: Sao Paulo
2004: Rabat
2004: Casablanca
2003 St. Petersburg
2003: Quebec
2003: Algiers
2002: Geneva
2001: Porto Alegre (joint statement)
2001: London
2000: Madrid
2000: Athens
2000 (updated in 2004): Washington
1999: Warsaw
1999: OVA (Arab Towns Organization)
1999: Mexico
1999: Buenos Aires
1999: Amman
1998: Sydney
1998: Sofia
1998: Lisbon
1998: Yerevan
1997: Tbilisi
1997, Santiago
1997: St. Petersburg
1997: Riyadh
1997: Prague
1997: Beijing
1996: San Francisco
1996: Quebec
1996: Chicago
1995: Jakarta
1993: Beirut
1992: Moscow
1991: Seoul
1987: Sanaa
1987: Berlin
1987: Amman
1985: Cairo
1982: Tokyo
1958: Kyoto
1956: Rome (Twin Exclusive)
And in other news, George P. Shultz was a Nixon and Reagan appointee, not a Carter appointee. (You’d be amazed how many people think (or say) he’s a Carter appointee.)
Anywho, ever more deets, including a visit to Le Twitter HQ in the corrupt Twitterloin:
“From September 25 to 28, the mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoë, is visiting San Francisco to strengthen ties and cooperation between the two cities.
The mayor of Paris has a full agenda for his stay in California. After a welcome reception at the Consulate of France in San Francisco, he visited two companies Parisoma and Twitter. 27 in the morning, he will go to Parisoma a common workspace, exchange and support for entrepreneurs. Created by the French Stéphane Distinguin, Parisoma accompanied nearly 300 start-up since its inception in 2007.
Bertrand Delanoë must also discover the new headquarters of Twitter in the SoMa district, the famous social network of micro-blogging, along with its CEO Jack Dorsey. With New York, Paris is the city with the most subscribers to his Twitter account, and this year the City of Light became the first in the world to exhibit his tweets in the public space, the place Châtelet.
Paris delegation has always aimed to encourage more trade with San Francisco, mainly on economic and technological. Several meetings with the mayor of this city, Edwin Lee, are well planned and Bertrand Delanoë is expected to sign a memorandum with him, in line with those of 2006 and 2009 to facilitate cooperation. This will be an opportunity to discuss joint projects twinned towns and to consider connections between the research teams.”
Tags: 10th, 1956, 2012, amitié, appointee, bay area, bertrand, bertrand Delanoë, brown, california, carter, CEO, ceremony, Cities, City, City Hall, civic center, coopération, d'amitié, d. c., delano, delanoe, Democrat, ed lee, Ed Lie, edwin lee, former, france, french, friendship, George p Shultz, George Shultz, italian, italy, Jack Dorsey, market, Mayor, Mayor Edwin Lee, Mayor’s Office, memo memorandum of understanding, MOU, nixon, paces, pact, paris, Paris Mayor, Parisian, parisian mayor, Parisoma, partner, partner cities, Partner City, Reagan, Really, relationship, renewing, republican, Rhinoceros, roma, rome, Room 200, San Francisco, sign, signing, Sister Cities International, sister city, Sister City Program, Stéphane Distinguin, street, strengthening, twitter, twitterloin, Ville de Paris, Washington, willie
Posted in politics | No Comments »
Monday, July 23rd, 2012
Or reception, whichever.
As soon rolling down Scott near Steiner:
Click to expand
Tags: bride, cable car, ceremony, fake, groom, jones, marriage, o'farrell, party, real, rolling, scott, steiner, street, veil, wedding, western addition, white
Posted in events | No Comments »
Wednesday, December 28th, 2011
I’ll tell you, in this field of ice skating newbies, there’s just one person who knows how to do it right, gracefully twisting and turning.
Can you spot her?
Click to expand
She makes it look easy.
All the deets.
Tags: 2011, bay area, california, ceremony, christmas, Embarcadero, Embarcadero Center, ferry building, financial, holiday, Holiday Ice Rink, Holiday Ice Rink at Embarcadero Center, hours, i heart santa, ICE, ice skating, justin herman, lighting, Mayor, occupysf, parking, plaza, rental, ringer, rink, San Francisco, skate, skated, skating, wOMAN
Posted in sports | No Comments »
Monday, December 12th, 2011
People just can’t get enough of holiday ice skating at Justin Herman Plaza.
This is what Friday Night Date Night looks like:
Click to expand
See the queue? People can’t seem to get enough…
Tags: 2011, bay area, california, ceremony, christmas, date, Embarcadero, Embarcadero Center, ferry building, financial, friday, holiday, Holiday Ice Rink, Holiday Ice Rink at Embarcadero Center, hours, ICE, ice skating, justin herman, lighting, Mayor, occupysf, parking, plaza, rental, rink, San Francisco, singles, skate, skated, skating
Posted in events | No Comments »
Monday, December 5th, 2011
Here’s the Holiday Ice Rink at Embarcadero Center, which is located right next to OccupySF this year.
Click to expand
Be sure to click on over to see if they will be closed for private parties.
All right, see you there!
All the deets:
“Delighting families, couples and ice skating enthusiasts for over twenty years, the Holiday Ice Rink at Embarcadero Center presented by Hawaiian Airlines, the largest outdoor rink, will open to the public for nine magical fun-filled weeks beginning November 9 through January 8, 2012.
Plan a special holiday experience with your friends and family and skate under the stars in the shadow of the waterfront throughout the holiday season at Embarcadero Center, where you can shop, skate, dine and park for free. There’s no better place during the holiday season than Embarcadero Center!
The Holiday Ice Rink at Embarcadero Center presented by Hawaiian Airlines continues to entertain families from around the Bay Area thanks to the support of its generous sponsors…
Phone Number: 415.837.1931
Email Address: echolidayrink@gmail.com
Location: Justin Herman Plaza, adjacent to Four Embarcadero Center and across from the historic Ferry Building
Hours of Operation:
Open 10:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m., Sunday – Thursday
Open 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 p.m. on Friday & Saturday
90 minute sessions that start on every even hour
Private party booking* is available
The Rink may be closed due to inclement weather or private party bookings. Call the ice rink manager at 415.837.1931.
* Sessions not open to public if sold to a private party.
Admission
Adults $9.00; Seniors/Children ages 10 and under $5.50
Monday – Friday until 6:00 p.m.
Adults $9.50/Children ages 10 and under $6.00
Friday 6:00 p.m. session until closing on Sunday
Skate Rentals: $3.50″
Here’s what it looked like at the lighting ceremony a couple years back:
Click to expand
(My submission to produce Soul on Ice on Ice at this rink was rejected once again this year. Oh well.)
The mise-en-scene, with the swells in the background and the norms in the foreground:
And this is how it should be looking these days from Treasure Island:
Have a Merry Holiday Shopping Season!
Tags: 2011, bay area, california, ceremony, christmas, Embarcadero, Embarcadero Center, ferry building, financial, holiday, Holiday Ice Rink, Holiday Ice Rink at Embarcadero Center, hours, ICE, ice skating, justin herman, lighting, Mayor, occupysf, parking, plaza, rental, rink, San Francisco, skate, skated, skating
Posted in sports | No Comments »
Thursday, December 1st, 2011
[UPDATE: Uh oh, looks as if the "Bike-Friendly Saturday" YMCA Y-Bike event on December 3, 2011 has been cancelled. 
]
Appears as if our Presidio Trust has got you covered in December 2011.
But let’s check with the Great Yoda of Chestnut Street:
Via niallkennedy – click to expand
Yep, he’s all, “Covered you are.”
Check it:
Holiday Lights Tree Lighting – Friday, December 2
Join the Presidio community for the Holiday Lights Tree-Lighting Ceremony, a Presidio tradition. The gathering will be held on Friday, December 2, from 5:30 to 6:30 pm. Meet at the corner of Lincoln Boulevard and Funston Avenue in the Main Post (across the street from the Presidio YMCA). Bring your singing voice . . . music will be provided by the Golden Gate Carolers. Refreshments will follow. After the festivities, stick around for an Evening Forest Walk, beginning at 6:15 pm. This family-friendly, 20-minute lantern walk will allow you to experience the enchanting park in the dark. Bring a flashlight! For more information, visit the website.
Volunteer Day at Dragonfly Creek – Saturday, December 3
Join us for Presidio Volunteer Day at Dragonfly Creek on Saturday, December 3, from 8 am to 1 pm. At this special commemorative stewardship event, Presidio staff will host diverse volunteer activities highlighting restoration and sustainability. Projects include planting, weeding, and spreading mulch at Dragonfly Creek, as well as various stewardship activities at the Presidio nursery, salvage yard, and nearby gardens. Come out and lend a hand! Family-friendly. All ages welcome. If you are a bird enthusiast, arrive at 8 am for a Fort Scott bird walk. Volunteer check-in begins at 8:30am. Registration is required. Call (415) 561-5333 or email volunteer@presidio.gov.
Bike-Friendly Saturday at the Presidio YMCA – December 3
Join the Presidio Community YMCA for a bike-friendly Saturday! Its YBike Instructors will lead biking activities for all ages. There will be two group rides: one for children 12 and older, and another for families with children of all ages. The Y will also offer Learn to Ride and Basic Skills lessons. This event will take place from 9 am to Noon on Saturday, December 3 at the Presidio YMCA Main Post Gym, located at 63 Funston Avenue. Please visit YBike for more information.
Family Night Hike – Saturday, December 3
Come join us for a night time adventure for all ages in the Presidio! The Family Night Hike will be held on Saturday, December 10, from 5:30 to 7 pm. This naturalist-led event will start and end at the newly renovated Rob Hill Campground, just off Washington Boulevard overlooking Baker Beach. On this relaxed walk, we will learn about the unique natural and cultural history of the Presidio illuminated by a half moon and starry night sky. The walk will end with a campfire and story at Rob Hill Campground. There will be a 25 person limit on this walk, so make reservations as spaces go fast! RSVP required to Alisha Cahlan at acahlan@presidiotrust.gov. Wear comfortable walking shoes, layered clothing, and bring a water bottle.
Create With Nature at Rob Hill – Saturday, December 10
Family Create With Nature:
Sculpture in the Park
Saturday, December 10
10 am to Noon (drop in anytime)
Meet at Rob Hill Campground
Families! Flowers, pine cones, leaves, stones, branches, bark, and other wonders of nature are the inspiration and the materials for this day of spontaneous collaborative artistic expression. Get creative, and have fun while appreciating and honoring nature. RSVP to nature@presidiotrust.gov or (415) 561-4449.
Christmas with Walt Disney Screens in December
This holiday season the Walt Disney Family Museum at the Presidio is featuring the film Christmas with Walt Disney. Look back at the ways Walt celebrated the holidays — at home, at work, at play, on TV and at the Studios. From animated cartoons to rare home movies, this holiday movie was produced by Don Hahn—Academy Award®-nominated producer of Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King, and is narrated by Walt’s daughter Diane. The film screens daily at 1 and 4 pm (except Tuesdays and on December 10). Tickets are available online. For details, visit www.waltdisney.org. The museum is located at 104 Montgomery Street, on the Main Post, in the Presidio.
Tags: art, bicycles, Bike-Friendly, bikes, ceremony, christmas, cyclists, DRAGONFLY CREEK, families, Family, Family Museum, fun, hike], hiking, holiday, kids, lighting, museum, night, Night Hiking, presidio, Presidio Trust, Saturday, stewardship, tree, trust, walt disney, walt disney family museum, wdfm, weekend, yoda
Posted in parks | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, November 15th, 2011
This is unprecedented.
This is the City Family extending the Market Street lighted Christmas snowflake zone all the way to Mid-Market.
See?
Click to expand
They used to stop at 5th Street, but now they don’t – they go farther this year.
Hurray!
Won’t this please our corporate overlords at Twitter? (Probably not, but, you know, can’t hurt to try.)
All right, come to the annual lighting ceremony with the Mayor this Thursday evening, if you want:
“Snowflakes on Market – Lighting Ceremony
Nov. 17, 2011 through mid-January 2012
More than 140 five-foot-wide energy-saving LED illuminated snowflakes will decorate Market Street’s signature “Path of Gold” light poles this winter from Second to Sixth streets. A lighting ceremony, featuring dancers from the San Francisco Ballet’s Nutcracker, is scheduled for Nov. 17 at 6 p.m. near the cable car turnaround at Powell and Market streets. The event is free and open to the public. For information, visit www.marketstreetassociation.org.
It will go a little something like this, probably.
Dixitque Gavin fiat lux, et facta est lux:
Those are Nutcracker-starring “Snowflakes” from the San Francisco Ballet. (The run starts up again December 9th this year.) Jessica Carter is the snowflake in the middle, so I’m told.
Happy Holidays!
Tags: 19, 19th, 2009, 2011, 6th, 7, ABC, ABC 7, association, bay area, black friday, board of supervisors, cable car, california, ceremony, christmas, city family, county, delusional, discount, ed lee, edwin lee, electricity, frank chu, gavin newsom, girls, holiday, Jessica Carter, jesus loves you, jesus loves you guy, kgo, led, light, lighting, locals, market, Master of Ceremonies, Mayor, media, Merchants, mid market, news, November, president, San Francisco, shopping, show your zip, sign, snowflake, snowflakes, street, streetlamps, streetlights, turnaround, TV, twitter, union square
Posted in holidays, politics | 3 Comments »
Friday, September 30th, 2011
[UPDATE: Famous photographer Steve Rhodes is on the scene right now:
Step 1: Kiss the bride under the largest classical dome in the western hemisphere;
Step 2: Evacuate
Via Steve Rhodes - click to expand]
All that hullabaloo in Civic Center this AM is just CIVIC RESPONSE 2011.
Deets below.
The calm before the storm:
Click to expand.*
All the deets:
“Multi-Agency Joint Evacuation Exercise – Civic Center Area - ”Civic Response 2011″ – September 30th 2011, 10:30am
Exercise Overview
This will be a coordinated multi-organization joint evacuation drill involving the facilities management and security agencies, as well as the involved building tenants from within the San Francisco Civic Center area. This multi-agency drill will involve civilian and uniformed responders from the local and state government levels and is aimed at helping ensure public safety in the event of an actual emergency.
There will be approximately 1,500-1,800 building tenants evacuated and dozens of responders involved in this exercise. The participating agencies will activate their fire alarm plans and evacuate their tenants to pre-designated locations at Civic Center Plaza, UN Plaza, and the War Memorial area.
Participating Buildings – City Hall, Dept Public Health at 101 Grove Street, UC Hastings College of the Law, Veteran’s Building at 401 Van Ness.
The Command Post will be the SF PUC Mobile Command Vehicle (MCV) which will be parked on Grove Street between Polk and Larkin across from the Bill Graham Auditorium.
Mission: All participating buildings will execute their evacuation plans simultaneously and safely while keeping aware of the other facilities tenants.”
More deets, after the jump
(more…)
Tags: 101 Grove, 2011, 401 Van Ness, Airwing, bill graham auditorium, bride, buildings, ceremony, City Hall, civic center, civic center plaza, Civic Center Work Group, Civic Response, Civic Response 2011, college, command post, department, Department of Emergency Management, dept., dome, evacuation, exercise, fire, Fire Drill, General Services Agency, Goal, grove, gsa, larkin, law, marriage, media, mission, Mobile Command Vehicle, Multi-Agency Joint Evacuation Exercise, Polk, public health, Public Safety Department, radio, Real Estate Division, safety, September 30th, September 30th 2011, SF PUC, sffd, SFPD, SFPUC, sheriff, street, tenants, uc hastings, UN Plaza, university of california, Veteran's Building, War Memorial, wedding
Posted in government, health | No Comments »
