Posts Tagged ‘piano’
Monday, July 12th, 2010
JMO, sorry. Does Sunday Streets really make business “boom?” I don’t know.
All’s I know is that some people like it and some people don’t.
24th Street looked like a ghost town compared with SSes past, but all the bars were full with sports fans:
Click to expand
Mostly the same old thing, but this 36′er(?) caught my eye. (I’ve heard of 29ers, but these wheels are huge…)
I can’t say I know how this piano steers. You could see the keys going up and down:
And the SFMTA was out there giving away crappy bike lights. (Turtle lights are good as a back-up, though.)
See you at the next SS!
Tags: , 2010, 29er, 36er, bay area, bicycle, bike, bikes, california, free, inch, inches, july, lights, mission, piano, San Francisco, SFMTA, sunday streets, Wheel
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Tuesday, January 19th, 2010
Why did Shanghai, the largest city in China, become one of our 16 Sister Cities in 1979? Well, we should all thank former Mayor and current U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein:
“It was sort of a race between Los Angeles and San Francisco to establish a Sister City relationship with Shanghai and of course San Francisco won – and it was the first such Sister City relationship between an American city and a Chinese city.”
(Once again L.A. loses, of course(?) - thanks DiFi.) Now it turns out that our Big Sis is hosting a big party this year – it’s World Expo 2010. So, that’s a good excuse for a bunch of the Bay Area’s cultural organizations to represent, via the Shanghai Celebration featuring Honorary Chair and San Francisco First Lady Jennifer Siebel Newsom.
Jay Xu, Director of the Asian Art Museum, confronting a media scrum after today’s announcement:
Check out the calendar of upcoming events all related to the Paris of the East - it’s packed, baby. Swan Lake featuring San Francsico Ballet Principal Dancer and Shanghai native Yuan Yuan Tan will kick things off from January 23-31 and then on February 12th comes the debut of the cornerstone of the Shanghai Celebration, a big exhibit at our Asian Art Museum simply called Shanghai. It’s going to be mega.
Just ask Jay Xu:
“The 2010 World Expo that opens in May is Shanghai’s coming-out party, the official debut as the city reclaims its position as a global powerhouse. The Asian Art Museum’s Shanghai exhibition was timed to coincide with this prominent international event. Only through understanding its tumultuous history, can one truly understand the progressive and stylish Shanghai of today.”
O.K. then.
Our jet-setting mayor was on hand to cheerlead for San Francisco, a part of his job which I think everybody would agree he does well. He was dressed for rain today, with blue jeans, and a pair of brown shoes that he claimed were “ruined” by the wet:
More deets from the AAA:
“The Shanghai Celebration is an unprecedented, year-long festival presented by more than thirty San Francisco Bay Area organizations commemorating the 30th Anniversary of the sister city relationship between San Francisco and Shanghai.
Spearheaded by the Asian Art Museum, the Celebration runs throughout 2010, coinciding with the World Expo presented in Shanghai from May to October. The more than 50 Shanghai-related programs feature exhibitions, concerts, performances, films, lectures, book readings, artist demonstrations and other special events and cover topics such as Shanghai’s architecture, jazz, historic Jewish communities, Art Deco design, filmmaking industry, contemporary art, cuisine, high-rise urban planning and fashion.
The cornerstone of the Celebration is the Asian Art Museum’s presentation of Shanghai, a major exhibition examining the visual culture of one of the world’s most cosmopolitan cities, scheduled for February 12-September 5, 2010.
For the Shanghai Celebration program calendar of events, and a list of participating organizations, please visit www.shanghaicelebration.com.”
Check the lengthy, lengthy sked, after the jump.
(more…)
Tags: 2010, American Jewish Committee, Anchee Min, angel island, Angela Au, architect, Architecture and Survival, art, Art Deco, Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Art Speak, Arts Commission, Arts of Pacific Asia, AsiaAlive, asian art museum, Assignment Shanghai, Ballet, Better City, Better Life, Birth of Jazz in Asia, botanical garden, building, Building Green in China, celebration, Chamber Music Concert, China, chinese, Chinese Jews of Kaifeng, city club, City Club Roundtable, comics, concert, Congregation Emanu-El, Conservatories, Contemporary Figurative Painting, Cultural Encounters, Dany Chan, de Young, Decorative Arts, documentary, dr., Drunken Dishes, East Meets West, Economica, Ellen Lou, Embroidery, Exhibition Opening, Eye of the Tiger, Fabric of Everyday life, Fall Antiques Show, Fall Antiques Show Preview Party Benefit, First Free Sunday, First Thursday Lecture Series, Forbidden City, Friday Nights, gala, Gavin, Golden Age of Chinese Nightclubs, High-rise Architecture, Historically Sensitive Development in Shanghai, immigration, Immigration Station, jay xu, Jeff Heller, jennifer, Jews in Modern China, joan chen, Later Jewish Communities of Shanghai, Lehrhaus Judaica, Li Xiaofei, library, life, Lisa Claypool, lounge, Lunar New Year, Lunar New Year Flower Market, Lynn Marie Kirby, matcha, Mayor, Mint, Moderne and Modernity, Music at Meyer, Music Festival, Newsom, O Perspective, old, Old Mint Building, Open Books, Opening NIght Gala, Oregon Reed College, Past/Present/Future, Personal Stories and Reminiscences, Photographs on the Eve of Revolution, piano, Preview, professor, Propaganda Poster Art, public, reception, Recital, Remaking of China’s Gateway to the World, Renee Chow, SAA, San Francisco, san francisco ballet, San Francisco Botanical Garden Society, San Francisco Museum and Historical Society, Sandra Lee Gallery, shanghai, Shanghai 2010, shanghai celebration, Shanghai Connection, Shanghai Dress, Shanghai Film Series, Shanghai Jazz, Shanghai Painting, Shanghai’s Jews, Shuang Stella Zhang, siebel, sister city, Sisters, Society, society for asian art, spur, SPUR Urban Center, Station, stories, String Quartet, swan lake, Swinging Chinatown, target, Target First Free Sunday, U.S. Immigration Station, UC, uc berkeley, UC Berkeley Art Museum, urban center, Visual Narratives of Inter-War Shanghai, Women & the Global Economy, Xian Rui 2010, Yuan Yuan Tan
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Saturday, May 2nd, 2009
You know what makes you better than all those melon farmers out there? It’s the fact that you hang your hat every night in the City and County of San Francisco. That makes you special. To celebrate you, the California Academy of Sciences is offering free admission for you (and your neighbors). Just match up your zip code with the handy chart below, gather up the necessary proof of where you reside, and head on over to Golden Gate Park.
And the nice thing about this free admission program is that it probably won’t be as crowded as it sometimes gets on the third Wednesday of the month, when everyone gets in sans tariff.
Celebrated Missionites getting a little camera time in front of the green screen before entering the Cal Academy yesterday. Bide your time, your free day is coming:
Read the fine print. Click to expand:
Thanks, Bank of America.
Tags: 2009, 94102, 94104, 94105, 94107, 94108, 94109, 94111, 94112, 94114, 94115, 94116, 94117, 94118, 94121, 94122, 94123, 94124, 94127, 94129, 94130, 94131, 94132, 94133, 94134, 94158, academy, academy of science, academy of sciences, address, bank of america, Bayview, Bernal Heights 94110, calfiornia academy of science, california, California Academy of Sciences, castro, chinatown, code, cole valley, cow hollow, Diamond Heights, downtown, dr., excelsior, farrington, Francis Wood, free, golden gate park, greg, haight, Hunter’s Point, id, Ingleside, Lakeshore, Laurel Heights, letter, marina, Miraloma Park, mission, Mission Bay 94103, museum, music concourse, neighborhood, neighborhood free days, Noe Valley, north beach, pacific heights, parkside, phd, piano, potrero, presidio, proof, renzo, richmond, russian hill, San Francisco, science, sciences, seacliff, SF, soma, spring, st., stonestown, sunset, telegraph hill, tenderloin, treasure island, Visitacion Valley, wachovia wednesdays, western addition, zip
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Thursday, March 19th, 2009
There was a jubilant mood this morning at the California Academy of Sciences‘ Leadership in Energy and Design (LEED) award ceremony this morn. Why’s that? Platinum, baby - that’s LEED’s highest possible rating. We knew about this last year - it’s never too late to celebrate, of course. But “Can Green Design be Good Design?” Hell yes, says the New Republic:
“Renzo Piano’s sublime California Academy of Sciences (CAS), one of last year’s most widely praised buildings and the winner of a platinum rating from the Leadership in Energy and Design standard system—the highest rating from the world’s leading eco-rating program. Piano is also, by the way, among the starriest of the starchitects.”
O.K. then. This morning’s mise-en-scene, the four-story rainforest dome to the left and the tower of the de Young Museum far off across the Music Concourse. Click to expand.
Jared Blumenfeld (not “Blumenthal“), Director of the San Francisco Department of the Environment and interim General Manger of Recreation and Parks, explained the difficulty of attaining LEED Platinum status for those building large museums:
Mayor Gavin Newsom, don’t miss his bit today in the HuffPo: “Greening Buildings to Save Jobs“, pointing up to the famous Living Roof:
After Mayor Newsom briefly spoke of his grandfather, Arthur L. Menzies, former Supervisor of Plant Accessions at nearby Strybing Arboretum (aka San Francisco Botanical Garden), things got a little feisty. He emphatically stated that the CAS is the “envy of New York City.” O.K. then.
Comes now, Dr. Greg Farrington, Director of the Cal Academy:
He discussed a recent visit to Central Park, or as he called it, “Golden Gate Park East” and made reference to the American Museum of Natural History, which he envies for its subway access. (Dr. Farrington is actually “lusting after” the concept of a subway going to the CAS. Maybe someday…)
Dr. F went on to extol the Thursday evening nightLife program, which is targetted for those aged 21-35. He stated that Nightlife has won over fans on Facebook – for example, someone whose initial reaction was “how geeky can you get?” is now a huge fan.
He warned the audience members to be careful what they toss into the garbage at CAS. He jokingly suggested that former employees “now work at the de Young” after having gotten the boot for trash transgressions.
But he’s a big picture kind of guy, pointing out that CAS is attempting to answer two questions:
1. How did we get here?
2. How do we find a way to stay?
Fair enough.
We went from this, Renzo Piano’s original vision seven years ago…
…to this, the LEED platinum award (sadly comprised mostly of silicon and oxygen), one of just 119 in the world:
Look for it on display the next time you visit the CA Academy of Sciences.
See you there!
More deets after the jump. (more…)
Tags: academy, academy of science, academy of sciences, arboretum, architect, award, blumenfeld, building, calfiornia academy of science, california, California Academy of Sciences, central park, ceremony, council, counsel, de Young, dr., farrington, gavin newsom, gold, golden gate park, green, green building, greenest, greg, jared, leadership, Leadership in Energy and Design, LEED, Mayor, museum, music concourse, new york, nyc, phd, piano, platinum, renzo, rivalry, San Francisco, science, sciences, SF, silver, strybing, United States, world
Posted in architecture, environment | 1 Comment »
