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!
“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.”
John Rizzo - He fixes problems, he has an engineering background.
London Breed – She was born in District Five. She was born in District Five. She was born in District Five. One imagines she’s still turbo-pissed at Mayor Ed Lie for not appointing her earlier this year. She’s raised the most money and has the support of Kamala Harris and Willie Brown.
Christina Olague - Pronounced ”oh law gee” with a hard “g?” News to me. (Does she have a cold or is that her voice? Wow.)
“Hello. My name is, uh, Christina Olague. I’m Supervisor of this District. I was appointed in January. And I’m very thrilled and excited to be, uh, serving the community as the district Supervisor.”
And oh, here’s the big pitch for supporters, which I’ll tell you I didn’t see any:
“We need your presence!!! Please come out to hold up signs, wear your Tee Shirts and pass out literature. All the Candidates will be there. We want them to see strong support for Christina Olague. Got Questions? Call 415-724-0136 – Shelley B. Bell”
So, the Olague campaign wants the other candidates to see Olague has lots of support? OK fine, if that’s the way you want to do it.
Anyway, she’s a big fat SELLOUT and that’s why she got appointed over a moderate like London Breed.
And oh, she’s lying about that whole perjury issue with the Mayor and Ross Mirkarimi. Oh well.
Thea Selby - ”I am super happy to be here…” Apparently, running for Supe is “hecka more fun” than you can imagine. And, apparently, everybody should consider running.
Julian Davis – “There are pro-development interests that are controlling the agenda of City Hall.”
This was the first attack against the Interim Supe during this forum.
“How do they get away with it? I’ll tell you – they get away with it by choosing your leaders for you. Over the past two years in San Francisco we have seen an appointed Mayor, an appointed District Attorney, an appointed Sheriff, and an appointed District Five Supervisor. Ask yourself is that’s participatory democracy the way we envisioned it? The answer is that it is not.”
Hope Johnson –
“…if those people are really representing you or if they are merely selling out to the highest bidder. And as Supervisor, I would hope to continue to ensure that government acts in our best interests and try to curb the abuse of authority some of which you’ve heard Mr. Davis talk about just a few minutes ago.”
And there you have it.
[UPDATE: Well, surprise surprise, Christina Olague got an endorsement last night. See Comments.]
The reason why tonight’s D5 Democratic Club (warning: links to FB) debate doesn’t matter:
Christina Olague is going to win the election, that’s why.
The reason for that is because she’s already been appointed to the job.
The reason for that is because she sold out her “progressive” values in order to get appointed. Remember RUN ED RUN? That was Christina Olague.
And hey, remember that whole perjury thing involving, speak of the Devil, Mayor Ed Lie and Commissioner Debra Walker? Remember how one protagonist spoke clearly and freely at City Hall and the other panicked and ran away to hide like a stupid cow? That runner and hider was Christina Olague, who said she might have to recuse herself from the Ross Mirkarimi vote due to, due to what? Due to somebody saying something? I don’t get that.
Anywho, there are institutional reasons why it benefits all parties concerned to host/attend this shindig, so here it comes.
All the deets:
AUGUST 8 Meeting Reminder
Dear District 5 Democrat,
Don’t miss out. On Wednesday, August 8, we’ll be hosting the first debate for the District 5 candidates for Supervisor from 6:00 PM to 8:30 PM at the Park Branch Library in the Haight.
The D5 Dem Club will also be making our endorsement for Supervisor. All registered club members and Democrats who have attended at least one prior meeting in the past year will have an opportunity to vote for their top-3 preferred candidates at this important discussion.
The debate and endorsement meeting will be held at the Park Branch Library in the Haight, 1833 Page St. The debate will begin promptly at 6:30pm, but members will be able to cast their endorsement vote at any time during the meeting. Voting will end promptly at 8:30pm and votes will be tallied at that time.
All registered candidates have been invited to participate, and once again we want to thank all the members who have join our club and made introductions to our members.
The following candidates have already confirmed:
London Breed Julian Davis Daniel Everett Hope Johnson Christina Olague Andrew Resignato John Rizzo Thea Selby
We hope to see you on Aug. 8 at the Park Branch Library!
If you have any questions about our Wednesday meeting, do not hesitate to email your club president Alex Doniach at board@d5dems.org.
We hope to see you next week!
Warm regards, D5DC Board
Oh, and to spoil the surprise, Christina Olague will get endorsed. Kell surprise.
Wednesday, November 2 at 6pm, SF Main Library – Koret Auditorium, 100 Larkin St., 557-4277
What happens when one of the funniest and smartest authors around gets interviewed by a MythBuster? Hear which space legends might be as combustible as urban ones when Mary Roach and Adam Savage chat it up about Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void, San Francisco’s One City One Book selection for 2011.
Before the conversation, enjoy the premiere of Rockets of Yesterday, an eye-popping video tour of 1950s and 60s rocket dreams, curated by archivist and space enthusiast Megan Prelinger.
Mary Roach is the author of the bestselling books Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife, and Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex. She lives in Oakland, California.
Adam Savage is an American industrial design and special effects designer/fabricator, actor, educator, and co-host of the Discovery Channel television series MythBusters.
Packing for Mars will be available for purchase from Readers Bookstore and Mary will be signing after the program.
Note: Seating is limited. Doors will open at 5:45pm.
Plus, an extra sweet partnership:
Smitten Ice Cream in Hayes Valley – the folks behind that space age-y liquid nitrogen fueled instant ice cream maker — is making a special new space-themed flavor, Moon Pie, to coincide/partner with San Francisco Public Library’s annual One City One Book which this year is Packing for Mars by Mary Roach. A space themed ice cream flavor for a space-themed book!
The Moon Pie flavor will be a marshmallow ice cream with chocolate and graham cracker cookies. Yum.
The Library will be setting up a table outside Smitten’s shop next Thursday (10/27) and Friday (10/28) at 4 p.m. and Saturday 10/29 at Noon, giving away some free copies of the Packing for Mars book to the first handful of people who order the new Moon Pie flavor. Smitten is located at: 432 Octavia Street at Linden in Hayes Valley.
Plus, the Library’s big One City One Book event on Nov. 2 (Author Mary Roach in Conversation with Adam Savage) at the Main Library will feature an extra special prize treat courtesy of Smitten.”
Instead, you ought to do something about poor cell phone coverage in San Francisco.
Like what about you Upper Haight, Cole Valley, Panhandle, NoPA people? Why don’t you come on over to tonight’s big meeting regarding cell phone service.
Check it:
“October 19, 2011, 6:30 p.m.
Haight Ashbury Park Branch Library, 1833 Page Street”
All right, see you there!
“Dear Neighbor,
We want to have a conversation with you about improving wireless coverage in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood.
AT&T is working hard to improve wireless coverage in San Francisco. We would like to invite you to attend a community workshop to discuss our plans to upgrade service in the Haight-Ashbury. These upgrades will provide improved coverage and better wireless service.
To learn more: attend a community workshop at 6:30pm on Wednesday, October 19, 2011 at the Park Branch Library, at 1833 Page Street.
This community workshop is an opportunity for you and your neighbors to discuss wireless infrastructure with us in an informal setting. We will be ready to talk about our broad plans for the city and specific plans for your neighborhood.
We appreciate your time and the opportunity for us to have a dialogue about San Francisco’s wireless infrastructure needs. For questions or additional information please contact 415-646-0972 or visitwww.att.com/bettersanfrancisco.“
"FYI – we did do an iPad 2 training and demo a few months ago. Patrons specifically asked about Chinese-made tablets so the International Center Librarian specifically reached out to find some manufacturers to learn about their tablet computers. No sales pitches can be made. It’s purely informational session about the device and how it can work with library’s resources such as eBook downloads."
Uh, our San Francisco Pubic Library has a “Chinese Center” that puts on bilingual demonstrations about how tablet PC’s like the Acer Iconia Tab and ASUS Eee Tab Transformer are better than Apple’s iPad 2?
“Acer Inc., a top computer company in Taiwan, and Central Computers Co. will talk and demo the features of the popular Acer Iconia Tab and ASUS Eee Tab Transformer, including what iPad 2 doesn’t have. The program will be in English and Chinese.”
“Please join me this Friday along with Assemblywoman Fiona Ma for a community meeting to discuss Assembly Bill 183, regarding Alcohol and Self-Checkout machines at grocery stores/supermarkets. Leaders in our community have expressed concerns about the sale of alcohol to minors and intoxicated persons through automated self-checkout machines. Learn more about what we’re doing and how we can work together to make our communities safer.
Currently, he’s skedded to be on hand tomorrow morning, along with Senator Mark Leno.
We’ll just have to wait to see what happens.
All I have to say is hot L. Z., HOTEL LIMA ZULU, RTB, RTB.
“The construction of the Bayview Branch Library is part of the Branch Library Improvement Program (BLIP), which is funded by a $106 million bond measure to upgrade or replace the city’s branch libraries. A separate fundraising campaign by Friends of the San Francisco Public Library will provide new furniture and equipment for the new library. The new Bayview library is being rebuilt as a world-class library with separate children, adult, & teen areas; a large program room; an interior courtyard; public art; study rooms and space to provide expanded library services to the community. Designed by THA Architecture and constructed by KCK Builders, this 9,000-square-foot building will provide a seismically safe, universally accessible and environmentally sustainable library facility.”
