Out and About

Emeryville at 50mph

wade — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 23:58:43 GMT

Took this photo at twilight through the closed windows of a car--well, a bus.

Killer flowers

wade — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 19:55:18 GMT

A colleague just sent me some flowers from a really accomplished local florist. Not ordinarily my thing, big-money floral arrangements, but I gotta say these things were just gorgeous. I spent 20 minutes bumping around on saturday afternoon trying to take a decent photo of them in the afternoon light.

A Wedding & a Trip to the Zoo -- All in One!

wade — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 16:21:31 GMT

Went to a fantastic wedding this weekend in SoCal. Apparently, it was traditional in the bride's family (they're from I think northern India) for the groom to come in on an elephant, and then the wedding party forms kind of a conga line in front of the elephant. So here we are in the parking lot of the hotel, doing our Bollywood thing. And I got to pet the elephant a bit--the hide is incredibly tough and rough and bristly, it feels like a brillo pad!

O Arkansas, Part II

wade — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 18:27:41 GMT

Just what I needed for Christmas--a little churchgoing. This is a shot of St. Paul's in Fayetteville, Arkansas, which has a lovely but unpretentious sanctuary. You can't make it ou in the picture, unfortunately, but the ribs supporting the vault have these little trellises of intersecting support members underneath them--they are very slightly reminiscent of the chapel designed by the local (and very well known) architect Fay Jones. Wonder if he went to church at St. Paul's? http://www.thorncrown.com/Photogallery1/index.html

O Arkansas, Part I

wade — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 18:22:14 GMT

I love this place, it's on the road from the NW Arkanasas Regional Airport, which probably has, btw, the most beautiful road going to and from any airport in the country. You feel like you're on the way to church camp--chugging along an old two lane road, and you pass, in Cave Springs, the ever-lovely Stuff Mart. Hard to tell if this is ironic or not, but it's good for a chuckle from city slickers like me.

Cal Shakes

wade — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 02:26:20 GMT

well, it' s always sad to go to the last cal shakes play for the season (As You Like It) , but I found this sign pretty funny. first, as is half of all shakespeare comedies don't involve cross dressing! and second, as if the bathroom is the right place to let people know about this!

Secrets of the City, Part I

wade — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 19:05:04 GMT

Working downtown these days (at http://www.zopa.com), I'm amazed at how much stuff is actually packed into a few square blocks. this is a picture of the 15th floor of i believe 353 Sansome. The owner of the building has declared the 15th floor terrace to be open to the public, and so you can take your lunch up there and sit underneath a little tree and forget about your cares for half an hour. Not bad!

The Blue Hour at Citizen Cake

wade — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 19:02:41 GMT

in the summers, from something like 5pm to 7:30pm, Citizen Cake, in Hayes Valley in San Fransicsoc, draws curtains across its huge west-facing exposure and they blow around a little in the draft, and give the whole room this kind of arabian tent feeling. Then, at 7:30 or so, they pull the curtains back and you get a lovely view of the parking garage across the street. Oh well!

Cool Floors at Boccadillo's

wade — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 19:00:08 GMT

there's a nice place in my neighborhood (downtown SF) for lunch called Boccadillo's. A little gimmicky, but I do like the trick where they encase 4-5 bottles of wine in the floor.

Dulles Is Still Not Dull

wade — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 18:58:36 GMT

Modern architecture is so often full of bluster--gimmicks of all kinds, really, things that make no real sense--and then there's Dulles. I took this picture after a long redeye and it was totally worth it to step out into the main terminal. A marvel, really, in the best sense of the word.

Giving Pre-fab Houses a Good Name

wade — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 08:59:26 GMT

This photo comes from a book on pre-fab houses I bought the other day. Can you believe how finished this thing is? It's pre-fab, and buildable enitrely with I believe two tools. It costs about $75,000 all in, I think. How about those apples?

Hurricanes & Windows

wade — Tue, 02 May 2006 17:39:13 GMT

so there are a lot of ways it turns out that houses in hurricane country (i.e., east coast of florida) protect their windows. I'm a big fan of the shutters on this house in the El Cid neighborhood in West Palm Beach, FL, and I have it from reliable authority that these shutters are actually hurricane protection. Sure beats the alternatives, which are often acrylic things you screw in over the window frame.

In Case There's Not Enough Fat in Your Life

wade — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 15:12:48 GMT

in Miami recently I stopped at a grocery store and found the most incredible stuff in the meat case. Pig's feet, for one, and then, shown in the photo here, is actual fatback, which I've never seen in California in all my life. I believe you tend to cook this with things like turnip greens, but my soul food bona fides are pretty weak. Pure fat! Take *that*, California.

My Fave Place for a Zwoopy Lunch

wade — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 00:41:51 GMT

this is a deluxe place in the basement of the Seagram building in New York. It's on the expensive side, but for your $20 you get this killer zwoopy design by Diller and Bofidio. (sp?) They used to have a cool catwalk, too, but I noticed on this trip that they'd gotten rid of it. Bummer!

The World's Most Deluxe Water Fountain?

wade — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 17:26:54 GMT

this water fountain is outside the central strain station in milan. Nuts!

The Eggs of Milan

wade — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 17:24:20 GMT

just spent some time in Italy as a vacation break before my next job starts. Window-shopping there is always amazing, and one thing I notice don this trip is how many eggs there are. Literally, I seemed to see eggs in a window on nearly every other street. I think the eggs pictured here are made of marzipan...

Man, I'm Not Into Jewelry But...

wade — Fri, 10 Mar 2006 22:27:15 GMT

check these wicked rings out by a young RISD graduate named Yuki Murata. Better photos at http://www.moderngoods.com/MG_jewelry.htm

Johnny Mac Will Never Die

wade — Wed, 01 Mar 2006 03:07:09 GMT

Not everybody's into tennis, but a few weeks ago I went to the SAP Open and lucked out. John McEnroe, who I spent my childhood watching on TV, was playing men's doubles at age 47! Anybody familiar with pro tennis will know that it's McEnroe about to serve in the picture at left. Watching doubles in tennis is a bit like watching baseball: strategy is super important, and the game unfolds slowly enough that you get a chance to admire the tactics as much as the athleticism.

Dessert for Kitchen Losers

wade — Sat, 21 Jan 2006 04:24:35 GMT

I had this dessert the other night, which I ordered purely to extinguish the fire in my mouth from going too heavy on the thai food, and i couldn't believe how beautiful and simple this was: just a little mound of coconut rice and some sliced mango. My kind of dessert, as it has like 3 ingredients. Wonder how much hassle it is to do that little ring with the mango slices....

A Little Christmas Magic

wade — Sat, 21 Jan 2006 04:07:01 GMT

I meant to get this up a little earlier, but i went to midnight mass on christmas eve at Grace Cathedral along with a few thousand other people who hadn't darkened the doors of a church all year, and the service was okay, if a little inaudible. But what was really beautiful was when the service was over, and you walked out the main door on the Eastern side of the church, you were struck by a huge beacon light that seemed suddently to have appeared atop the transamerica tower in the distance (a star in the East, no less). This picture is taken from my phone, so it's kinda muddy, but the light is clearly visible in the center, above the fringe of tree lights in the park opposite the church.

A Tribe Member in Afghanistan

wade — Wed, 11 Jan 2006 22:23:29 GMT

The reporter here is a Tribe member covering the military in Afghanistan. (Glad somebody's doing it!) Read all about Team Delta's tough mission http://www.hometownlife.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051124/NEWS06/511240303/1023

Accident in Mountain View at ~5:30pm Today

wade — Mon, 09 Jan 2006 05:54:49 GMT

Was stopping by a shopping center in Mountain View (at Grant and El Camino) to pick up some stuff today, and grabbed a quick bite with a friend. outside, on Grant street, somebody suddenly flipped their car up onto the side of the road. The response guys were on the scene within minutes. I did not ID the driver precisely but I think I saw police officer talking to a woman on the side of the road who looked a bit shaken but otherwise okay.

What Does This Sign Mean?

wade — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 18:46:09 GMT

I think it means, "beware of bird dropping". Other than that, maybe it means "beware of a bird's shadow frightening you." It's right on 80E across from emeryville. I only noticed it the other day when i was stuck in traffic!

History of Flip Flops, Part Ib

wade — Sat, 17 Dec 2005 03:17:33 GMT

So these Egyptian sandals are made of solid gold, and they have what look like the are the most painful little posts on either side at the back. You can barely see them in the photo.

It's Come To This, Apparently

wade — Wed, 30 Nov 2005 23:20:56 GMT

Went to the Billy Crystal show last night in SF (which was terrific) at the Golden Gate theater, which is more or less at Taylor and Market. But while waiting for my friend to show I noticed this sign a few doors down from the theater! Not only is Market Street getting a bit seedy, but apparently it's getting philosophical, too.