The Tower Stripped Bare

The bureau chief takes lots of photos of the San Francisco skyline, some of them featuring two towers that seem situated fairly close to each other. Both towers have construction cranes atop them. I featured them in blog entries on June 12, 2013 and again on August 24. It took me a while to figure out that while the tower on the right was being constructed, the tower on the left was being deconstructed.

This photo is from June 11 of this year. (Please click.)

This photo is from August 18.

This is from September 1.

And this is from November 16.

I wondered if they were going to take the whole building down and emailed the San Francisco Chronicle's excellent Architecture Critic, John King, to ask him that question. He replied that the building in question was the former AAA office building. It had been sold and the new owners had stripped off the utilitarian concrete facade and intended to sheath it in glass and remodel it into high rise apartments to feed SF's insatiable hunger for housing.

The building is now modestly covered in fabric. This photo is from today. I'll update when the building reveals its final form.

Japanese Animals

Recently the bureau chief was given a gift of rice crackers which had been bought in Japan. The crackers are very tasty and the packaging is wonderful. Apparently the animals depicted are racoons. This menacing looking guy is reminiscent of the racoons who sit on the back deck of the bureau and stare in at us.

These guys are way too happy and goofy to be Bernal Heights racoons.

Swedish Sisters Sing So Sweetly

They put tears in Paul Simon's and Patti Smith's eyes.

First Aid Kit performs Paul Simon's "America" at the 2012 Polar Music Prize. You can skip the ad after 5 seconds.

First Aid Kit performs Patti Smith's "Dancing Barefoot" at the 2011 Polar Music Prize.