Posts Tagged ‘cherry’

Learning From Japan, 2013: Homeless People Who _Use_ Bicycles Instead of Homeless People Who Steal Bicycles

Monday, April 8th, 2013

Homeless encampment, major Japanese city, city center, down by the river:

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Note the bicycle parking area.

Cf. San Francisco homeless encampment, under Interstate I-80, Mile Zero:

Note identical blue tarps as in Japan, sourced from, for all I know, the same factory in China.

One group uses bikes to get around, like to work ‘n stuff.

The other will strip your bike of any parts not superglued on in a New York Minute, as soon as your back is turned.

Which group do you prefer?

Remembering the Good Old Days When It was Legal for Tourists to Feed the Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill

Thursday, September 13th, 2012

Back in the day down there betwixt San Francisco’s Financial District and the Golden Gateway Apartments, tourists would come along and just hold their hands out, with astonishing results.

Wild parrots looking for a handout – via Gwen in a great capture from 2007, before The Law

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Ah mem’ries;

First it was all like this (Yes, this is the view you’ll get of the 415′s famous wild parrots from our Filbert Steps.)

The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill

But now it’s all like this. (Gee, should I get a Chinese character inked on my Europid skin and be a laughingstock for the rest of my life or should I get something cool like this instead? Mmmm, decisions, decisions…)

Wow! That’s a good one, Deanna Wardin of Tattoo Boogaloo.

That’s the best tattoo I’ve seen in the 415.

The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill were made famous a few years back by the movie with the same name. Get the new Special Two-Disc Collector’s Edition today, why don’t you?

A friendly pair in the Presidio. Click to expand:

They love to fly

and eat flowers.

Look to the Skies for Signs and Wonders…

Here’s the Reason Why the Cherry Blossoms You’re Seeing in the Late Winter of 2012 are NOT a Sign of Global Warming

Thursday, February 2nd, 2012

So, yes, January is a very early time to see cherry trees start to blossom but what you’re actually seeing are plum trees.

Now both kinds of trees are pretty much the same thing, so no biggee, but plums come out earlier than cherries – global warming doesn’t have anything to do with that.

Oh, here’s what they look like, rather a bit more pink than cherry, in my experience.

Near Clay and Davis, Financial District:

And here’s a nice shot from Flickr:

Via Son/Jon

The Wild Parrots of San Francisco’s Telegraph Hill, From Far Away and From Nearby

Tuesday, December 20th, 2011

Believe it or not, this is a color photograph of the Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill.

A view from the Financial from a few days back:

Click to expand

But leave us remember more colorful San Francisco scenes…

First it was all like this (Yes, this is the view you’ll get of the 415′s famous wild parrots from our Filbert Steps.)

The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill – Click to expand

But now it’s all like this. (Gee, should I get a Chinese character inked on my Europid skin and be a laughingstock for the rest of my life or should I get something cool like this instead? Mmmm, decisions, decisions…)

Wow! That’s a good one, Deanna Wardin of Tattoo Boogaloo.

[UPDATE: OMG, OMG, it's their One Year Anniversary on July 30th, 2011 - Joyeux anniversaire, Tattoo du Boogaloo! All the deets.]

That’s the best tattoo I’ve seen in the 415.

Ever more deets, after the jump

(more…)

The Best Tattoo in Town: A Flock of Cherry Headed Conures – The Wild Parrots of San Francisco from Tattoo Boogaloo

Friday, July 15th, 2011

[UPDATE: OMG, OMG, it's their One Year Anniversary on July 30th, 2011 - Joyeux anniversaire, Tattoo du Boogaloo! All the deets.]

First it was all like this (Yes, this is the view you’ll get of the 415′s famous wild parrots from our Filbert Steps.)

The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill – Click to expand

But now it’s all like this. (Gee, should I get a Chinese character inked on my Europid skin and be a laughingstock for the rest of my life or should I get something cool like this instead? Mmmm, decisions, decisions…)

Wow! That’s a good one, Deanna Wardin of Tattoo Boogaloo.

That’s the best tattoo I’ve seen in the 415.

The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill were made famous a few years back by the movie with the same name. Get the new Special Two-Disc Collector’s Edition today, why don’t you?

A friendly pair in the Presidio. Click to expand:

They love to fly

and eat flowers.

Look to the skies…

Enjoy Cherry Blossom Viewing in Golden Gate Park This Month Before Rec and Park Figures a Way to Charge for It

Thursday, April 7th, 2011

Somehow.

Thusly:

As seen near the Friend Gate of the now-paywalled Strybing Arboretum

Click to expand

Kirei desu ne!

The Loving Wild Parrots of San Francisco: Is This a Nest High Up in a Pacific Heights Eucalyptus?

Monday, April 4th, 2011

Could be.

These South American parrots should feel right at home in a south-of-the-Equator tree, non?

Click to expand

Will their chicks soon join the flock in Telegraph Hill?

Or maybe they’ll just end up hanging out in Sue Bierman Park eating flowers:

It will be one or the other, probably…

Which Do You Prefer? David Yu’s Japantown Cherry Blossoms by Day or by Night? The Very Definition of Sky Blue Pink

Monday, April 4th, 2011

Here’s J-Town by day

and by night:

(Sunrise this AM looked equally intense over the East Bay, let me tell you.)

(Avert your eyes from the plum trees they’ve got at the Peace Plaza on Post – they’re there to trick you into thinking you’re seeing cherry blossoms in January…)

Anyway, that’s what you call Sky Blue Pink.

That’s par for the course when the 415 enjoys chilly Blue Skies

Finally! It’s March, So Now Francisco’s Plum Trees Actually Look Like Plum Trees, Instead of Cherry

Thursday, March 10th, 2011

See?

Click to expand

My campaign to get area residents to call plum trees “plum trees” is picking up steam. Now, remember back in aught-eight, when some people called mountain lions “cougars?” Good times,* right? Well, those days are history. And, similarly, tout le 415 will be calling cherry trees “cherry trees” by January 2014 at the latest.

You’ll see.

*”Cougar corners St. Mary’s Hoopster in Danville” – that kind of thing.

A Sure Sign That It’s February in the Western Addition: Mercedes Benzes Enrobed with Plum Blossoms

Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011

See?

The NoPA part of the Western Addition in late winter:

Click to expand