Posts Tagged ‘spring’
Tuesday, January 26th, 2010
Well it’s late January in San Francisco so it’s time for our sidewalk plum trees to begin blossoming. Yeah, they look a lot like cherry trees and that causes people around town to start talking about how global warming / climate change is making the cherry trees of April wake up three months early or something.
You can double-check with the Friends of the Urban Forest if you want, but I’ll tell you, those flashes of pink you see brightening up the otherwise-dreary Streets of San Francsico these days are early-rising Prunus blireiana, aka Flowering Plum trees, or something similar.
Be patient and you’ll be rewarded with real cherry trees in March – check out the sked at the San Francisco Botanical Garden at Strybing Arboretum in Golden Gate Park.
If this January blossom is cherry, I’ll eat my hat:
This will be the scene in the Financh in a couple of months – our wild parrots love all kinds of prunus blossoms of course.
Take heart, Spring is just around the corner…
Tags: 2010, april, balmy, bloom, blossom, cherry, climate change, day, February, Festival, global warming, golden gate park, ground, groundhog, hanami, hog, january, Japanese, japantown, march, plum, post, sakura, San Francisco, spring, street, tree, warm
Posted in flora | No Comments »
Thursday, October 15th, 2009
Did you know that the University of San Francisco has satellite campuses in Cupertino, San Ramon, Santa Rosa, and Sacramento*? (I didn’t.) Anyway, the Jesuits are riding to the rescue for students “trapped” by the University of California and California State University, or something like that. Read all about it:
“USF has stepped up to offer select courses to Californians at its regional campuses and we’ve lowered tuition more than 50% for these courses. The courses are offered through USF Steps Up, a new program to help non-USF students trapped by the devastating budget cuts at California’s public universities and give them the classes they need to graduate.
“The University of San Francisco is committed to California’s students and is swinging open its doors in Cupertino, San Ramon, Santa Rosa, and Sacramento to help students fulfill their General Education (GE) coursework. Classes start January 25th and federal student aid may be available for eligible students attending other area universities.
USF’s main campus as it appears when Sausalito has Fourth of July fireworks:
“For over 150 years the University of San Francisco has excelled at educating California’s students. In these tough times, we hope to serve your educational needs as well. Come learn with our excellent faculty at one of our regional campuses.
What: Transferable General Education courses for spring semester 2010
When: January 25 – May 13, 2010
Where: Cupertino, San Ramon, Santa Rosa, and Sacramento
How: Attend USF as a visiting student
How much: Tuition is $560 a unit for classes in the USF Steps Up program
‘USF Steps Up’ to Offer Half Price Courses
Response to California’s Budget and Education Crisis
SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 15 — The University of San Francisco, a private Jesuit university, will offer a limited number of general education courses for half price at its regional campuses starting in January 2010. The courses are offered through USF Steps Up, a new program to help non-USF students trapped by the devastating budget cuts at California’s public universities and give them the classes they need to graduate.
Budget cuts at the University of California and California State University systems have resulted in layoffs, course reductions, and higher fees and left students scrambling for classes, many of which have been cancelled. “I’ve heard heartbreaking stories from my colleagues at state schools,” says Jennifer Turpin, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of San Francisco. “Students are begging to get into classes, but they can’t graduate because they can’t get the classes they need. We realized we could help these students and California by offering these classes at our regional campuses, where USF already has a presence.”
More deets after the jump
* Sacramento, where you at Sacramento?
(more…)
Tags: 2009, 2010, area, art, Bay, budget, california, campuses, course, csu, cupertino, cuts, east, GE, general education, north, philosophy, politics, private, psychology, public, public speaking, regional, sacramento, San Francisco, san ramon, Santa Rosa, semester, sociology, south, spanish, spring, statistics, step up, steps up, U.S. history, UC, university, university of san francisco, USF, usf steps up, west, writing
Posted in education | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009
This burbling, straight-out-of-Yosemite water sprung up on Divisidero yesterday.
Probably been fixed by now…
Tags: blvd., boulevard, broken, department of public works, divisidero, dpw, geary, infrastructure, Muni, pipe, San Francisco, spring, street, water
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off
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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Friday, April 10th, 2009
Supplies of Diva da’ Bunny and her friend Dude da’ Bunny were low this Spring in the bay area. Perhaps the unusually low number of WalMart stores in the 415 / 510 / 650 regions can explain why we didn’t get our fair share of chocolate hip hop.
As Diva da’ Bunny says: “Bling! Bling!”
Click to expand:
Here’s a haunting visage, huh?
Make sure you don’t pick up the evil version by mistake:
Have a happy Easter Spring Break!
Thank Gaia we still have photos of these Vernal Equinox Lagomorphs.
Ah memories.
Tags: bling, bunny, california, candy, chocolate, da', diva, diva da' bunny, dude, dude da bunny, easter, hip hop, hollow, inside, jewely, rabbit, real milk chocolate, San Francisco, SF, spring, western addition
Posted in food and drink | Comments Off
Saturday, April 4th, 2009
Boy oh boy, the little squirts of the Mission District had a blast this morning at the annual San Francisco Police Department Easter Egg Hunt at Mission Playground on 19th Street.
Were tears shed by some of the hundreds who didn’t win the bicycle? Oh yes. Oh well.
Mission Station Sponsors Annual Easter Egg Hunt Saturday
In the spirit of community policing, the command staff and officers of Mission Police Station will sponsor its annual Easter Egg Hunt for children ten years old and under on Saturday, April 4, at Mission Playground,19th Street between Valencia and Guerrero, beginning at 10:00 A.M. There will be entertainment, a raffle for a bike, and a special appearance from the Easter Bunny.
Better luck next year…
Tags: 19th, break, cops, department, dept., easter, mission, mission district, mission station, officer, playground, police, San Francisco, san francisco police department, SFPD, spring, Steve, street, Thoma, valenceia
Posted in events | Comments Off
Thursday, April 2nd, 2009
This pair of finches could be seen bringing nesting material to an open-air junction box yesterday. Is this a safe place to nest, in with all those wires?
The boy finch stands guard while the girl finch checks things out. Click to expand:
Probably. One of the tags has “Digital Telephone” on it and DSL never killed anything of course. But you never know what else is in there.
Stay safe, finchees.
Tags: box, digital, dsl, female, finch, high-voltage, house, house finch, male, nest, phone, presidio, red, San Francisco, spring, telephone
Posted in Animals | 1 Comment »
Monday, March 23rd, 2009
Luxury denim maker 7 for all Mankind had a bit of a housewarming the other day for its relatively new San Francisco store at 224 Grant in Union Square. So that’ll be the only place in the Bay Area you can get its products outside of an upscale department store for now - don’t bother dropping by the Costco. (Of course Costco is the place to go to get lesser jeans that fall apart easily, looking at you Calvin Klein. Moving on…)
Click to expand.
It’s Spring, time for a new collection. Some of the products are super soft and “pre-distressed,” so they look like some strangers’ prized broken-in jeans. That’s where your money goes.
Straight out of Los Angeles County. When pants have a serial number…
Accessories as well:
In the face of our recession, 7FAMK is opening up boutiques all over the country this year.
Somebody still has money to spend, apparently.
That’s encouraging. Srsly.
Tags: 224, 7, 7 for all mankind, 777, 7FAM, 7FAMK, ave, avenue, boutique, collection, denim, Grant, jeans, leather, mankind, purses, San Francisco, seven, seven for all mankind, shoes, shopping, spring, store, street, upscale
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Tuesday, March 10th, 2009
Well back in January, people around town were upset about the “cherry trees” starting to bloom, but actually, those were cherry plum trees (Prunus cerasifera, syn. P. divaricata aka Myrobalan). Of course these trees have the word ”cherry” in their name, but they’re a kind of plum nevertheless, known for “early flowering.” Our balmy winter might have encouraged a quick start this season.
But now, the actual, true cherry trees are getting into the act, as seen here in Golden Gate Park a few days back. Click to expand:
So next month, the cherry groves of San Francisco will look like this:
That will usher in the Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival starting April 11, 2009, which will bring in the anime fans to participate in Japantown’s big parade. Elements of the anime contingent will be, as usual, salacious and bizarre.
Thusly:
And thusly:
Enjoy your cherry trees, San Francisco!
Tags: 2009, anime, balmy, bloom, blossom festival, california, cherry, civic center, contest, cosplay, cosume, early, golden gate park, japan, japantown, parade, plum, post, San Francisco, spring, street, trees, weather, winter
Posted in flora | Comments Off
Monday, February 2nd, 2009
Well, considering our balmy January, 2009 it’s only natural to expect the fruit trees of San Francisco, like your cherry and your plum, to start awakening for Spring. That’s good news for the wild parrots of Telegraph Hill, anyway.
Now the cherry trees near the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park still have no buds, but a lot of other trees in the city are already going like gangbusters. Will we have cherry blossoms on Post Street this April, when the annual Japantown Cherry Blossom Festival rolls around?
This is what some trees near Stow Lake looked like in January, 2009
Only Punxsutawney Phil knows for sure.
Don’t tell the wild parrots about the blooms. The wild parrots of San Francisco love to eat flowers, num num:
Happy Ground Hog Day, San Francisco.
Tags: 2009, Add new tag, balmy, bloom, blossom, cherry, climate change, day, Festival, global warming, golden gate park, ground, groundhog, hanami, hog, january, Japanese, japantown, plum, post, sakura, San Francisco, spring, street, tree, warm
Posted in parks | 1 Comment »
