Posts Tagged ‘civic center’

Awesome Bronze Japanese Guardian Lions Installed at Our Asian Art Museum – Donated by Marsha Vargas Handley

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.”

CRASH! Ginger Skaterboy Attacks MUNI Bus Stop Near City Hall – Broken Glass Everywhere – How #19 Polk Failed

Tuesday, May 7th, 2013

Here he is, in front of the Asian Art Museum.

Art student? I’m thinking art student with $19 headphones. Anyway…

…he’s the one who took out a huge panel of glass at the formerly famous* bus stop at McAllister and Larkin last week. There’s his weapon and there’s some of the glass he broke.

A modern-day warrior/Mean mean stride/ Today’s Tom Sawyer/ Mean mean pride:

Then, as twenty-odd people were staring at him, he yelled, “You should have stopped, Bitch!”

Indeed, a #19 Polk had just passed by him and a small crowd of fellow MUNI “passengers.”

Then, Dude sauntered up Polk, thusly:

How much does it cost Clear Channel / us to fix a glass panel at a MUNI bus stop? I know not.

$1000? $10,000?

On It Goes…

Exit the warrior, 
Today’s Tom Sawyer, 
He gets high on you, 
And the energy you trade, 
He gets right on to the friction of the day.

*Man-child Gavin Newsom had a press conference at the old bus stop at this location, back when urban farming was hot in the late-aughts. As seen from the CAAG’s Office, 355 McAllister:

Golden State Warriors Modify Semi-Publicly-Financed Arena Proposal – Say Hello To My Little Friend!

Sunday, May 5th, 2013

Well the announcement is officially coming this AM, but Messrs. Matier und Ross already have the skivvy on the brand-new, slightly-more-NIMBY-friendly proposal.

And, here, check the latest illustrations.

From the former proposal, a silvery looming UFO with kayak access…

…to the new proposal, a slightly lower silvery looming UFO without kayak access:

So Warriors, take that 13% rate down to 3% and then you might have something, you might have a privately-financed stadium deal.

Now let’s review our waterfront proposals.

The America’s Cup deal was poorly-negotiated on purpose so we could pay for Larry Ellison’s ego trip. It’s an ongoing travesty.

And 8 Washington is corruption.

But this here arena proposal seems OK fine to me, more or less.

I’ll now invite the rich, property-owning NIMBYs of SoMA to move to Fairfield, where 15% of the houses are in foreclosure.

Shopping Cart Tent City, Civic Center, San Francisco

Monday, April 29th, 2013

Dude’s been here for a while:

Click to expand

Hey, Look Who Supports the Golden State Warriors Waterfront Arena Plan: All These People – Today’s Big Rally

Tuesday, April 16th, 2013

Well I suppose if the San Francisco Establishment wanted to claim that it had support “across the spectrum” for the arena deal, they’d have Oakland Mayor Jean Quan, Aaron Peskin and a whole bunch of San Francisco Giants baseball players up there with them on the steps of City Hall today.

But this group will have to do.

All the deets:

“GROUP OF SAN FRANCISCANS TO LAUNCH NEW ORGANIZATION AND EFFORT TODAY SUPPORTING GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS’ WATERFRONT ARENA PLAN - Group consists of community leaders, Warriors fans, business, labor, entertainment industry representatives, and residents from across the Bay Area - Supporters plan to be out in force supporting the waterfront plan at public meetings, neighborhood events and community festivals

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – A group of enthusiastic San Franciscans from across the spectrum plans to launch a new organization today supporting the Golden State Warriors’ proposed waterfront arena plan. The group consists of community leaders, Warriors fans, representatives from the business and labor community, entertainment industry representatives and residents from across the city and the Bay Area.

The group has secured a diverse mix of local leaders to serve as the co-chairs for the effort, including:

Honorary Co-Chairs

Chris Mullin, Former Golden State Warriors player

Jim Wunderman, President & CEO, Bay Area Council*

Carmen Policy, Former NFL executive and San Francisco 49ers Team President

Community Co-Chairs

Jim Lazarus, Senior Vice President, San Francisco Chamber of Commerce*

Katherine Webster, President, South Beach-Mission Bay Merchants Association*

Shamann Walton, Executive Director, Young Community Developers*

Dr. Joseph Marshall, Founder, Omega Boys Club*

Members of the newly formed group plan to be out in force over the next several months supporting the arena project at public meetings and hearings, neighborhood events and community festivals.

The group is also planning to hold playoffs viewing parties across San Francisco to cheer on the team as they make a run for an NBA championship.

Who: More than 100 supporters are expected, including:

Adonal Foyle, Former Golden State Warriors player

Carmen Policy, Former NFL executive and San Francisco 49ers Team President

Jim Lazarus, Senior Vice President, San Francisco Chamber of Commerce

Dr. Joseph Marshall, Founder, Omega Boys Club

Janet Clyde, Owner of Vesuvio’s

Tom O’Connor, President, San Francisco Firefighters Local 798

Bob Graham, Supportive neighbor

Shamann Walton, Executive Director, Young Community Developers

What: Diverse group of San Franciscans to launch new organization and effort supporting the Golden State Warriors’ waterfront arena project

When: Today, Tuesday, April 16, 2013 12:00-1:00pm

Where: City Hall Steps, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place (Polk St. steps between Grove and McAllister Streets)”

How the Falun Gong Defeated Google – The Shen Yun 2013 “Extravaganza” Plays San Francisco’s Orpheum Theatre

Thursday, March 21st, 2013

All right, let’s say you’ve heard about the big Shen Yun 2013 show at our Orpheum Theatre and you want to find out a little about it, m’kay?

So you type into Google and this what you get:

What you won’t get is something like this:

The Falun Gong Show

Or Yelp reviews neither, like these:

The Yelp

And you certainly won’t find the official Chinese Communist Party (“Socialism, with Chinese Characteristics!”) website on Shen Yun all that easily, oh no:

Cult Studies [Uh, FYI, CCP, your agitprop website looks a little crude, like it's from your little buddy North Korea, just saying.]

So I guess the lesson to be learned is that if a small group of people want to game Google so that you’ll buy tickets to this show without knowing, in a general way, what it’s about first, then they can.

Things I now know:

SOYLENT GREEN IS PEOPLE;

THE BOLD ITALIC IS GANNETT COMPANY, INCORPORATED; and

SHEN YUN 2013 IS FALUN GONG 

That’s something to consider when you’re getting the hard sell at San Francisco Costco #144, as seen last week on 10th  Street:

Just saying,…

If Lech Walesa Doesn’t Like Gay People, Then Why Does San Francisco Honor Him with Lech Walesa Street?

Tuesday, March 5th, 2013

The News of the Day:

“Walesa said in a television interview on Friday that he believed gay people had no right to sit on the front benches in parliament and, if there at all, should sit in the back ‘or even behind a wall’.”

And here is Lech Walesa Street, off of famous-for-its-gay-people Polk Street, near famous-for-its gay-people Market Street, and just a half-block from world-famous San Francisco City Hall:

The former Ivy Street, at Polk:

If Bikes in San Francisco Were Required to Have License Plates, This is What It Would Look Like – A Gas-Powered Bike

Thursday, February 14th, 2013

What’s this, a motorized bicycle?

I wouldn’t park this rig in Civic Center and just walk away, what with its exposed gasoline tank and whatnot, but that’s just me:

Click to expand

 

Cyclists Have the Choice of Going North or South over Alamo Heights – Which is Better, McAllister Street or the Wiggle?

Wednesday, February 13th, 2013

If you want to get there and back again from the Panhandle bike path and Mid Market (and beyond), your best choice is McAllister Street.

It’s waaaaaaay better than The Wiggle route.

Why?

Well, why not? McAllister Street (aka the Hastings Cutoff) is shorter and swifter and straighter and safer

Actually, The Wiggle is The Rookie’s Choice, full of part-timers like CW Nevius (oh he just quit cycling in The City, hardly surprising) and fast fixie riders who don’t know any better.

And The Movement prefers the Wiggle, for some unknown reason. But if you just want to get from A to B, then its Market McAllister Divis and eventually Fell for you.

Like this – that’s UC Hastings, your Hastings Cutoff lodestar, there in the background on the left: 

Click to expand

So you climb a bit more using McAl, like 20 more vertical feet if you add up all the ups and downs, but big whoop.

All right, see you out there on the HC!

San Francisco City Hall Goes 49ers Red and Metallic Gold for Our 49ers – 2013 Edition

Friday, January 11th, 2013

See?

-

Click to expand