It was the first time the bureau chief had driven in the snow in many years.
It looked pretty once one was inside.
By the next day the streets were clear but the snow lingered in places.
It wasn't completely gone until it rained.
Monday, April 1, 2013
Spring Snow
On Sunday March 24, 2013 received weather wisdom in Richmond VA was that there would be snow flurries but nothing would stick. This turned out to be overly optimistic. (Please click.)
It was the first time the bureau chief had driven in the snow in many years.
It looked pretty once one was inside.
By the next day the streets were clear but the snow lingered in places.
It wasn't completely gone until it rained.
It was the first time the bureau chief had driven in the snow in many years.
It looked pretty once one was inside.
By the next day the streets were clear but the snow lingered in places.
It wasn't completely gone until it rained.
Friday, March 15, 2013
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Dark Shadows
Mme Le Chef took these photos at an exhibit which is now closed at SFMOMA.
http://www.sfmoma.org/exhib_events/exhibitions/459
The artist was projecting the names and coordinates of various local radio stations which were being played but for most of the people in the gallery, including the crew from the bureau, the important point was that the projection system could project really big and really dense shadows.
More.
And more.
And, of course, kids really like it.
http://www.sfmoma.org/exhib_events/exhibitions/459
The artist was projecting the names and coordinates of various local radio stations which were being played but for most of the people in the gallery, including the crew from the bureau, the important point was that the projection system could project really big and really dense shadows.
More.
And more.
And, of course, kids really like it.
Matching Outfits
The bureau is featuring some of Madame Le Chef's photos. This was taken on a fishing pier near the Golden Gate Bridge.The bureau chief finds this a wonderful vision.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Codex
Madame Le Chef heard about an international art book (as in books as works of art) expo called Codex which was being held in Richmond, CA. This Sunday past we decided to check it out. It was held in a former Ford assembly plant which has become an exhibition space. The building is very impressive industrial architecture and a block long. (Please click.)
Here's the side view.
The setting is also pretty impressive. It looks south west to San Francisco in the distance. Imagine workers eating their lunch with this view
Here's a more zoomed in view of SF.
Here's an example of the local wildlife.
The expo drew a good crowd and some of the books and book-like objects were remarkable. However, being handmade and often one-off they were far from inexpensive. In a way it was a trade show and there were some tables staffed by venerable firms selling fine leather for book binding.
The crowd from outside.
And in.
If you followed the link given above to the Wiki entry on Richmond, CA you would have learned that ships were built in Richmond during WW II and that Kaiser's Richmond Shipyards built more Victory and Liberty ships than in any other place in the U.S.
Around the corner from the exhibition space is a small museum dedicated to the famous female shipbuilders of the war.
Here's the side view.
The setting is also pretty impressive. It looks south west to San Francisco in the distance. Imagine workers eating their lunch with this view
Here's a more zoomed in view of SF.
Here's an example of the local wildlife.
The expo drew a good crowd and some of the books and book-like objects were remarkable. However, being handmade and often one-off they were far from inexpensive. In a way it was a trade show and there were some tables staffed by venerable firms selling fine leather for book binding.
The crowd from outside.
And in.
If you followed the link given above to the Wiki entry on Richmond, CA you would have learned that ships were built in Richmond during WW II and that Kaiser's Richmond Shipyards built more Victory and Liberty ships than in any other place in the U.S.
Around the corner from the exhibition space is a small museum dedicated to the famous female shipbuilders of the war.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
The South's Peculiar Institution
January 1, 2013 marked the 150th anniversary of the implementation of the Emancipation Proclamation. The bureau chief doesn't know if the fact that in 2012 three Hollywood films were released whose central theme was slavery is related in any way to this significant date. We have already discussed Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln". The other two films are Quenton Tarantino's "Django Unchained" and Timur Bekmambetov's "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter".
"Lincoln" is a historical drama while Tarantino's and Bekmambetov's works are both genre films. Tarantino's takes the form of a Spaghetti Western and Bekmambetov's is a Vampire/Martial Arts film. "Django" is a very good film while "Abraham Lincoln" is a lot better than I expected (I saw it on an airplane). What's interesting about these two genre films is that finally, after 150 years, after all the historical revisionism about how our civil war wasn't about slavery but about states rights, after the fantasies of the loyal slaves, happy to be on the plantation, a good sized segment of the ticket buying audience is willing to except the proposition that slave owners and slave traders are the moral equivalent of the Nazis that Tarantino gleefully destroyed in "Inglourious Basterds" or the evil vampires that had to be staked and beheaded in countless pre-Twilight vampire films.
One day after the second inauguration of our first African American president, we could observe that it can take a long time for things to change but sometimes they do.
"Lincoln" is a historical drama while Tarantino's and Bekmambetov's works are both genre films. Tarantino's takes the form of a Spaghetti Western and Bekmambetov's is a Vampire/Martial Arts film. "Django" is a very good film while "Abraham Lincoln" is a lot better than I expected (I saw it on an airplane). What's interesting about these two genre films is that finally, after 150 years, after all the historical revisionism about how our civil war wasn't about slavery but about states rights, after the fantasies of the loyal slaves, happy to be on the plantation, a good sized segment of the ticket buying audience is willing to except the proposition that slave owners and slave traders are the moral equivalent of the Nazis that Tarantino gleefully destroyed in "Inglourious Basterds" or the evil vampires that had to be staked and beheaded in countless pre-Twilight vampire films.
One day after the second inauguration of our first African American president, we could observe that it can take a long time for things to change but sometimes they do.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Innovators
Jonathan Swift supposedly said, "He was a bold man who first ate an oyster." The bureau chief adds that it was an interesting human who decided it was a good idea to sync up Phillip Glass's music for "Koyaanisqatsi" with Walt Disney's "Steamboat Willie".
It's very strange.
It's very strange.
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