Boom Town

In my post intitled "Spring Light" I had this photo of the San Francisco skyline which was shot on May 9.

On June 4 I took a photo of the same area of the skyline at around the same time of day.

You can see that during the ensuing month a new construction crane was added to the scene. San Francisco can't get away from its roots as a boom (and bust) town.

Turneresque Sunset

Okay, there aren't any contrails in J.M.W. Turner's paintings but there are some very dramatic skies. I shot this sky on 5/20/13. Please click. Really.

More.

Yet more.

The Clock

"The Clock" is a remarkable work of art. It's a 24 hour film which is also a clock. It's made up of many short pieces of film from the entire history of that medium. In each excerpt, a clock, a watch or some other time-keeping device displays the time. That time is in sync with the actual time in whatever city "The Clock" is being shown in. It's currently at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art until June 2 at which time the museum will close for three years for an enormous remodel and addition.

The bureau chief watched over two hours of the film a week ago and was enthralled. True, at one time I was a little bored and at another time I was a little tired but that happens in all films. This is a film with no actual plot but with the over all theme of time passing and with many sub-themes that appear and disappear as the film ticks on. The artist, Christian Marclay, and his unknown collaborators have performed an unbelievable feat of research and editing. The sound is very skillfully cut so that the rapid transitions between the short pieces never seem jarring. The film will be leaving San Francisco shortly and I encourage Bay Area residents to see it while they can but it will undoubtedly continue its world tour and I urge readers to try to see it if it appears in a venue anywhere near you.

Spring Light

The evening light in San Francisco can be intense and beautiful this time of year. (Please click.)

More.

The northern horizon.

The sunset.

The night.

More Dogpatch

The  houses of Dogpatch are to the west of Third Street. To the east of Third Street is the waterfront. In the next decade it will be transformed by new housing. Today, part of it, like these cranes, is derelict. (Please click.)

They've become canvases for graffiti artists.

But part of it still functions. Like the crane on this dry dock.

Or these cranes.

Sometimes the derelict and the functioning are combined like this beached houseboat with the dry dock in the background.

Dogpatch

San Francisco's economy has been booming for a couple of years and this has caused a scarcity of housing, but now a number of new projects that were delayed by the endless permit process or stalled by the recession are being built. Almost all of the 4000 units of housing under construction are on the east side of the city. Many are being built on industrial properties that have lain fallow since the 60s or 70s. Thirty years ago the bureau chief worked on "The Right Stuff" in makeshift cutting rooms in recently abandoned industrial space along Third St. Now that street has very stylish looking light rail running down the center of it. (Please click.)

The city commissioned some rather Jetsons-esque public art to adorn the platforms.

When I worked on the "The Right Stuff", I was not aware that the neighborhood adjoining that part of Third St. was called Dogpatch.

It has now become one of the new hip neighborhoods. One way to tell that is the appearance of cultural institutions and large type.

Some of the institutions stand next to the older housing in the neighborhood.

Actually the old and the new seem to get along together.

Don't tell the Republicans but there are French signs in the neighborhood.

Some of the old gems have been preserved. I love the juxtaposition of the fire hydrant and the happy doggie.

A Sea Wind

Last Sunday (4/14/13) Mme Le Chef and I went out to Ocean Beach where an amazingly strong wind was attempting to blow the beach into the parking lot. You couldn't get out of the car without being sand blasted so we decamped and went up to nearby Sutro Heights where it was still ridiculously windy but we were above the airborne sand. You can see a long ways down the coast from the top of the hill.

We also had a birds-eye view of an intrepid (clearly deranged) wind surfer below us. Please click.

We actually had a higher than birds-eye view.

In honor of Otis Redding we watched a ship roll in.

And keep on rolling.