This is what the TransAmerica Pyramid Building looks like from the ground on a typically foggy day in the 415. At least the sky was mellow yesterday - it wasn’t all angry, Midwestern-style.
On days like yesterday, you can’t see the shining star on top, either the natural or the artificial. Oh well.
But at least they didn’t leave the lights on, blazing away on the depopulated floors.
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There was a swarming mass of humanity on Fillmore betwixt Eddy and Jackson enjoying the Yelp-rated Fillmore Jazz Festival today.
Click to expand these photos.
Crab garlic fries. Yes, crab garlic fries:
Swinging on the Geary Bridge. Beginners welcome:
Today’s swing sched:
Pony rides, as one might expect to see so near to bucolic Post Street.
Tired doggies resting on Fillmore Street:
Ordinary people doing the extraordinary – the San Francisco Police Department. Starting salary at over $72,000. They’re hiring!
The biggest bank of Honda generators I’ve ever seen. Well, at least they don’t call it an “Eco-Urban” festival, the way they do with the Union Street Fair.
The Fillmore Jazz Fest continues tomorrow.
See you there!
FESTIVAL DESCRIPTION:
Every summer on July 4th weekend in San Francisco, Fillmore Street is home to the largest free jazz festival on the West Coast: The Fillmore Jazz Festival.
The festival annually attracts more than 90,000 people from all over the City, the Bay Area, and beyond. Visitors gather to celebrate and enjoy a musical tradition of live jazz, rhythm and blues, and gospel as well as local culture and fine cuisine in the heart of the city by the bay.
This year the Festival celebrates its 25th anniversary by once again blending art and soul from sunup to sundown, from Jackson to Eddy, presenting the music of old favorites as well as new ‘up and comers’ on multiple stages. You can also browse 8 blocks of fine arts and crafts, enjoy gourmet food and beverages, and participate in cooking demos by the Fillmore’s finest chefs.
More deets after the jump.
This was the scene last night in Chinatown, where people turned out with their candles to mark the 20th Anniversary of Tiananmen Square Massacre.
All photos by Whole Wheat Toast. See more at the Toasted Blog.
Portsmouth Square, San Francisco:
The Goddess of Democracy:
There doesn’t appear to be a whole lot going on to mark the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre (aka June 4 Incident, aka “6-4“) around San Francisco today so far.
This is the scene at the sometimes-busy Chinese consulate in the Western Addition – barricades are ready to be used if needed.
Appears as if there’ll be a candlelight vigil in Chinatown’s Portsmouth Square at the Goddess of Democracy statue around 7:30 or 8:00 PM tonight.
“Candlelight vigil 4th June at 8p at Portsmouth Sq, Chinatown, San Francisco re: Tiananmen Square”
Here she is, the GoD, being ignored last year by Mayor Gavin Newsom in all the excitement leading up to the international Olympic Torch Relay fiasco of 2008. (Don’t look forward to any more of those international relays – they’re cancelled forever by the International Olympic Committee due to actions from the Sacred Flame Protection Squad, etc.)
June 4th is being remembered in San Francisco, but it doesn’t seem to be that big a deal at this point. Here’s one account from Tiananmen, in the virtual pages of SFGate:
“Our eyes locked. He was attractive in a stern sort of way, with wide-set eyes and a strong, dimpled chin. He was probably four or five years my junior. We looked into one another’s eyes for a few seconds, our limbs locked in this aggressive parody of a dance. I had an absurd memory of senior prom…” On it goes.
Anyway, it looks like Chinatown will be the venue for the biggest 6-4 observation in town today.
Well, lookie here at the shiny, shiny top of the Transamerica Pyramid. Now, of course, at night during some special times (your November-December-New Year’s holiday mish-mash plus the Fourth of July) you can see an electric light up there, (as seen here on the far left).
But this shot wasn’t taken at nightime. That’s the noonday sun shining off of the westward face of the four-yard-tall mini-pyramid that tops the whole shebang.
Click to expand:. A seen from the brand spanking new Crissy Field Overlook in the Presidio:
Here’s a better look in black and white from the same angle just a few minutes later:
Of course, you can still see the reflected light but the intensity is about a hundred times less than the direct reflection seen in the colour photo.
It’s probably a polished metal panel up there, possibly aluminum.
Look for the Star of the Pyramid - you just might see it someday, if the sun lines up just right.
