Posts Tagged ‘lighting’

Star of Bethlehem Fails to Appear Atop Civic Center’s Giant Christmas Tree 2009

Tuesday, December 1st, 2009

Our 2007 Civic Center Christmas / Holiday tree had a big Star of Bethlehem on top all the way through the season.

Our 2008 tree had a star that came and went.

And now, our 2009 tree has no star at all. Oh well. Looks a little plain now, huh?

Maybe they’re still working on it. Click to expand

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Speaking of plain, take note of the Great Gravel Plain of Civic Center – it’s what we get this year instead of grass or a Victory Garden the way we had last year.

Oh well.

If you like holiday trees, head to City Hall, where Rita Moreno (ask about her Grammy, Oscar, Emmy,and Tony) will star at the Rainbow World Fund Tree of Hope 2009 lighting celebration.

“Come to the tree lighting celebrationat City Hall with Mayor Gavin Newsom. Join us as we gather wishes and hopes for the future of our global community and give them wings. The event takes place on the rotunda inside San Francisco City Hall and features a concert by the San Francisco Boys Chous, Veronica Klaus and more. Free beverages and light refreshments.

 

  • 5:30 pm – Concert by the San Francisco Boys Chorus
  • 6:00 pm – Tree lighting celebration – Stuart Milk, nephew of Harvey Milk, will deliver a message of hope Presentations by actresses Rita Moreno, Sharon Gless and Yasumasa Nagamine, the Consul General of Japan.
  • 6:30 pm – Veronica Klaus will perform at a party to follow till 8:00 pm.

Send a wish to the Rainbow World Fund and they’ll turn it into an origami crane which they’ll add to the tree.

See you there.

Cute, Adoptable Pets are Back in the Decorated Windows of Macy’s Union Square

Monday, November 23rd, 2009

OMG, they’re back! Don’t go into Cute Overload when you see the pets of the San Francisco SPCA Holiday Windows program at the corner of Stockton and O’Farrell.

Folks were still setting up a few days back, but now would be a good time to check things out. And don’t miss the Union Square tree lighting at Nov. 27, 2009, 6:00 PM. Check the photos.

As seen on Saturday:

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Kitties and puppies, AFAICS

All the deets:

San Francisco

HOLIDAY WINDOWS AT MACY’S UNION SQUARE

Nov. 20, 2009 to Jan. 3, 2010

Macy’s will once again partner with San Francisco’s Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) to give homeless cats and dogs a second chance to find warm and loving homes. Holiday shoppers can glimpse some of San Francisco’s cutest animals, along with Santa himself, in Macy’s Stockton and O’Farrell Street windows. This year’s windows are inspired by Macy’s Believe campaign, which asks children to deposit their stamped letters to Santa in official Santa’s mailboxes in our stores. Animals up for adoption will frolic in front of a variety of doorsteps indicative of classic architecture, from colonial to cottage, modern to brownstone and log cabin to deco. Santa letters will arrive at Santa’s mailroom, where the jolly man himself will be checking his list to find out which dogs and cats have been naughty or nice. SPCA representatives will be on site while the pets are on display to answer questions from potential adopters.

20TH ANNUAL TREE LIGHTING CELEBRATES THE YOUNG PATIENTS OF UCSF CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL

Nov. 27, 2009, 6:00 p.m.

Macy’s Great Tree in Union Square, Macy’s gift to the city and most recognized Christmas tree will be officially lit in Union Square. A 85-foot Shasta White Fir from the Carlton Tree Farm in Mount Shasta will be adorned with thousands of twinkling lights and 1,500 red and gold ornaments. For the seventh year, Macy’s has made UCSF Children’s Hospital the beneficiary of its annual tree lighting. For $5, anyone can sponsor a light bulb to illuminate the tree; all proceeds go directly to the UCSF Children’s Hospital’s palliative care program, which supports families whose children have life-threatening illnesses. There will be musical performances and, of course, Santa Claus will lead thousands of holiday revelers in a spirited countdown before throwing the switch to light the tree.

See you there!

Embarcadero Center Winter Carnival and Lighting Ceremony a Huge Success

Monday, November 23rd, 2009

Last Friday’s Winter Carnival and Lighting Ceremony at the Financial District’s Embarcadero Center certainly was well-attended – maybe it was all the free garage parking. There were so many kids around, it made San Francisco look like a regular town instead of haven for cranky empty-nester NIMBYs.

Anywho, Mayor Gavin Newsom was there with the swells, getting “back into the swing of things,” apparently. Per Willie Brown:

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(My submission to produce Soul on Ice on Ice at this rink was rejected once again this year. Oh well.)

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The mise-en-scene, with the swells in the background and the norms in the foreground:

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And this is how it should be looking these days from Treasure Island:

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Have a Merry Holiday Shopping Season!

Mayor Visits City – Gavin Newsom Returns to Light Up Our Lives, Market Street Snowflakes

Friday, November 20th, 2009

He’s back, baby! San Francisco’s Mayor Gavin Newsom is back in town, both physically and mentally. So,  he’ll (OMG, is Gavin channelling giddy, laughing Tom Cruise?) once again have to deal with the so-called “delusional” media, but that won’t stop him from continuing to Take It Directly to the People, GWB-style. As here, with last night’s lighting ceremony for the Market Street Snowflakes.

Our mayor with the Snowflake Girls near the Powell Street Cable Car Turnaround at the dramatic Moment of Lighting. Dixitque Gavin fiat lux, et facta est lux:

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But let’s start earlier on in the evening. This was Market Street a little before the ceremony. It’s the darkest I’ve ever seen it, cause they turned off all the LED snowflakes (which have been burning the midnight oil quite a bit recently, as they were last summer, when they were being installed and tested) plus the streetlamps of the “Path of Gold” too.

Even a Toyota Prius driver would turn on the headlights with on a street this dark:

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The streetlights and snowflakes are wired in together? That would make sense:

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Anywho, back to the ceremony, apres-lux - can you see all them signs? Show Your Zip is the new “locals only” holiday shopping program. (It would appear that the San Francisco Ballet (nice new video they have on the homepage now) would have this program’s best discounts.) Scott Beale’s Laughing Squid is celebrating its 14th Anniversary as a local business with the help of famous Frank Chu. And The Jesus Loves You Guy was on the scene as well. Natch:

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The mise-en-scene last night. Aside from almost always appearing bored while waiting for others to finish speaking (looking left, looking right, looking left, looking up….), Gavin Newsom always handles these kinds of public events very well, as you would expect a charismatic leader to do:

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The Least-Yellowest Teeth in all Christendom. In fact, nowadays, they’re so white that they’re on the blue side, as if flourescent. Amazing:

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President of the Board of Supervisors David Chiu, taking time out of his interview with KGO-TV’s Lilian Kim to greet Frank Chu in front of The Gap, which is doing better these days, don’t you know.

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And this is how I left it, with the lights on ’til January 2010:

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Enjoy.

Winter Carnival and Lighting Ceremony is This Friday at Embarcadero Center

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

Remember back in the day, back in the 90’s, when you could attend a University of California law school and pay for the three years’ tuition by working part-time as a law clerk for a couple semesters in the Financial? Well, part of that job entailed moving your yuppie supervisor’s yuppie Saab convertible out of and then right back into the garages at Embarcadero Center once or twice  a day. Why? Cause of the sweet validation deal EC had where buying one cup of coffee for 25 cents (remember, it was the 90’s) at the 2 Embarcadero McDonalds (no longer there) would let you park for free for three hours. And sometimes, she’d even give you a quarter to pay for her coffee. Those were the days.

Well, they’re back baby. Sort of. Starting November 20th, 2009, you can park for free after 5:00 PM at the EC for four hours with validation and for free on the weekends. Of course you can park on the street during some of those hours but sometimes those free spaces can be hard to find, especially during the holidays.

Anyway, the validation program starts the same day as the Winter Carnival and Lighting Ceremony – and on that day only, the free garage parking starts at 4:00 PM. Deets below.

The lighted buildings of the EC in the back, 505 Monty up front – from a few years back. Click to expand:

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The scariest “craigslist etc” job imaginable – replacing light bulbs high atop the former Equinox revolving restaurantat 5 Embarcadero Center, aka Hyatt Regency Embarcadero. Click to expand:

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One down, 17,000 to go…

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All the deets:

We ain’t got snow, but we got lights…17,000 of them!

The ceremony takes place at the Holiday Ice Rink in Embarcadero Center, beginning at 6PM. This year’s theme is “Disney on Ice Presents Worlds of Fantasy”. The event will include performances by local musicians and a spectacular fireworks finale over the skyline.

A Winter Carnival precedes the Ice Show and Building Lighting, featuring fun activities for the kids – carnival games, interactive arts and crafts making booths, face painters, balloon twisters, musical performances and more – from 4 to 6PM.

Needless to say, the highlight of the evening is the initial lighting of Embarcadero Center’s dramatic office towers which illuminate San Francisco’s skyline with 17,000 lights throughout the holiday season.

There will be four hours of free parking at Embarcadero Center from 4PM.

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Disney On Ice presents Worlds of Fantasy Kicks off the Holidays with Embarcadero Center!

Experience four magical worlds in one ice spectacular when Disney On Ice presents Worlds of Fantasy comes to the Bay Area! Enter the wondrous world of Pixie Hollow to meet Tinker Bell and her fairy friends, speed through Radiator Springs with Lightning McQueen, Mater and the crew, and relive classic Disney favorites The Lion King and The Little Mermaid.From wheels to waves, Pride Lands to pixie dust, Worlds of Fantasy offers excitement for everyone!  Stop by Embarcadero Center’s 2009 Building Lighting Ceremony to get a sneak preview of this one-of-a-kind production prior to its stint in the Bay Area, February 24-March 7.

As San Francisco’s “Official Kick Off to the Holiday Season”, as declared by Mayoral Proclamation in 2002, Embarcadero Center is brightening the holidays this year on Friday, November 20th, with the Building Lighting Ceremony that we are so famous for.  The Ceremony takes place at the Holiday Ice Rink in Embarcadero Center Presented by Hawaiian Airlines and will begin at 6:00 P.M.  In addition to the ultimate mega mix of skating, dancing and the songs you love from Disney On Ice presents Worlds of Fantasy, the event will include performances by local musicians brought to you by KDFC and a spectacular pyrotechnic show finale which will dazzle the City’s skyline.  All this exhilarating entertainment has been designed to complement the highlight of the evening, the initial lighting of Embarcadero Center’s dramatic office towers which illuminate San Francisco’s skyline with 17,000 lights throughout the holiday season.

Preceding the Ice Show and Building Lighting is the Winter Carnival; a perfect event to share with the family. It will feature a host of fun activities for the kids such as carnival games, interactive arts and crafts booths, card making, balloon twisters, musical performances and more!  Come and visit with Santa to give him your holiday wish list!

For those wanting to get a jump start on their holiday shopping, Embarcadero Center retailers will offer holiday gift ideas and special discounts you will not want to miss, with four (4) hours of free parking from 4:00 PM.

Make it a date!  Meet family and friends at Embarcadero Center for an evening of fun, entertainment, shopping and great food!

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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 11 through January 3, 2010

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Boston Properties has made it easier to shop at Embarcadero Center this holiday season …  Starting November 20th, shop and dine at any Embarcadero Center store or restaurant and we will give you free parking!

Share the excitement of the holiday season and explore the shops, skate at the Ice Rink and top off the day with free parking – all at Embarcadero Center!  Our merchants will have stickers on hand to distribute to customers who shop at the Center.

Remember, holiday parking starts November 20th and continues through the end of day December 24 for all those last minute shoppers.  Hours of validation are 5:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, and four hours free on weekends.  On Friday, November 20, validation will begin at 4:00 p.m. for those who attend the Winter Carnival and Building Lighting Ceremony.

A Massive Lightning Strike Woke Up Central San Francisco this Morning – Power Outage

Saturday, September 12th, 2009

Were you “jolted awake by a blinding white fireball that engulfed” your building this morning around 8:36 AM, Saturday 12, 2009? If so, you were not alone. And if you miss that kind of stuff, as world-famous Xeni Jardin does, then you’re not alone, again!

It sounded like an airplane crashing into the Fillmore Center, if you happened to be at the intersection of Geary and Divisidero as I happened to be. Was it a groundstrike into Hayes Valley or the Western Addition or (or the NoPA, oh no, not the NoPA!) or Pacific Heights?

Of course the Pigs Giraffes & Elephants at our local PG&E power monopoly were dealing with power outages earlier this morning, but some additional service was lost by this big strike. (“Saint Francis Woods,” like there’s more than one? Where do these writers live, freaking Walnut Creek?)  Utility workers should focus their attention on soggy Golden Gate Park to make sure that Alanis Morrissette can put on her show this afternoon at Power to the Peaceful.

Did a transformer get hit? We’ll find out soon enough. Power at Post and Webster was out this morning just after the Big Boom of 9-12-9, so the strike couldn’t have been too far away.

Courage people, courage.

[UPDATE: Jay Barmann at SFist has the scoop. Here's the clap of thunder (craaaaaack!) and here's the result via PDX503. That's one less Audi, Chariot of the Yuppie, on the Streets of San Francisco.]

If only Megan Fox were here, to fix our transformer.

Oh, here she is, fixing the transformer of a 1969 Camaro in the movie Transformers:

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Or maybe PG&E, perhaps they could help….

It was Miller Time at the scene of yesterday’s lightening strike after workers towed away the cars and patched things back up. Actually, strike that, the bolt darkened the ground so let’s call it a darkening strike.

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For all you do, this Miller Time is for you.

Earth Hour 2009 in San Francisco – It’s Lights Out, Sort Of

Sunday, March 29th, 2009

Well, Earth Hour was marked in San Francisco last night with a whole mess of people scrambling up Twin Peaks to see the lights go out at 8:30 PM. Some expected the whole city to go dark, but that’s not the way it works. This photo of the Bay Bridge from last year shows how things operate.

See what Earth Hour 2009 looked like for yourself with a this time lapse video – City Hall, normally quite a bright building at night, is on the left. Watch it flickr off about ten seconds in. Click to play.

via adelcambre

Now here’s the view from Twin Peaks just after 8:30 PM. City Hall is the black void at the bottom. You can see that the people at Pepsi, 505 Montgomery and the unnamed dome to the right got a late start on EH09  (assuming they participated at all). Click to expand:

Many bars and restaurants were lit just with candles. See a list of some of the participants after the jump.

See you (dimly) next year!

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LED Streetlights Come to Town, Saving San Francisco a Couple Bucks a Month Each

Thursday, March 26th, 2009

See yesterday’s news conference in the “crime-riddenTenderloin / Adam’s Block area concerning Light Emitting Diode (LED) streetlights here with photos taken by Bill Wilson, and read all about this new technology here. The United States Department of Energy and PG&E have recently helped San Francisco conduct a beauty contest of competing brands of LED lights – read the gritty nitty here (.pdf, you might need to right click, Save File As… or whatever).

The upshot is that it’s not really worth pulling out existing street lighting to install LED lights. You can save a few bucks a month in electricity by converting a streetlight to LED and there are other benefits as well, so it appears we’ll eventually, slowly convert over with the hope that prices of these new kind of bulbs will go down. 

Take a look at the Before and After:

That’s a scene from the test in Outer Sunset. The first shot is lit with your typical High Pressure Sodium (HPS) streetlight. See how everything looks yellow, just like the background of all your nighttime photos taken outside? That’s due to sodium’s low color temperature, around 2000K or so. The same area lit by LED shows a more natural look, probably 4000-something Kelvin. If LED’s do nothing else, they’ll improve night photography in San Francisco.   

And here are the LEDs in action:

Hello lamppost,
What cha knowing?
I’ve come to watch your diodes glowing.

And speaking of the DoE, big ups to America’s new Secretary of Energy, Steven Chu. He just recently labored as a professor of physics and molecular and cellular biology at the University of California, Berkeley and he used to be the director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

More deets about the new lights in San Francisco after the jump.

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An Angry Sky Above San Francisco’s Financial District

Tuesday, December 16th, 2008

After getting hailed on and then seeing this swirling mass, you just might think we’ll be getting tornadoes next.

Wunderground says to look out for lighting.

Click to expand.

Stay warm.

Even More Obama Iconography in Golden Gate Park

Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008

What a difference a day makes. It seems Pikachu Pokemon is out and Barack Obama is in on the giant train under the living Christmas Tree at Golden Gate Park’s McLaren Lodge.

Tomorrow’s tree lighting should be more special because of Him.