Rachel Simmons: Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls
The Best American Travel Writing 2007 (The Best American Series)
Michael Tucker: Living in a Foreign Language: A Memoir of Food, Wine, and Love in Italy
Anderson Cooper: Dispatches from the Edge: A Memoir of War, Disasters, and Survival
A smoky haze fills the air in San Francisco and the sun has turned a dark, deep red as Northern California struggles through one of the worst fire seasons in recent history.
MODIS RapidFire shows a close-up of the vast banks of smoke.
These two videos show a robot with an absolutely amazing ability to respond to the environment and maintain its balance on uneven and changing terrains. My favorite part is around 2:03 when it frolics, yes, frolics. What next?
(BigDog is being developed by Boston Dynamics with help from Foster Miller, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the University Concord Field Station as a tool for military and police use.)
Take a look at how it responds to ice at 1:32. Unbelievable.
How amazing would it be to be able to see something like this in everyday life? An artist's view into what the metabolism, stride and motion of magnetic fields could look like.
Credits: A film by Semiconductor: Ruth Jarman & Joe Gerhardt
Space Physicists: Janet Luhmann, Bill Abbett, David Brain, Stephen Mende
VLF Radio Recordings: Stephen P McGreevy
Several years ago, I worked a full summer as a volunteer at a wildlife hospital and as a part of that received training on how to do raccoon foster care. Ever since, I've remained involved with foster program, providing either full time foster care or acting as a babysitter when other caregivers need to go out of town.
The ultimate goal of the program is to raise the orphans until they can be released back into the wild, and it provides a unique and immensely satisfying way to 'give back'! I've just signed up as a babysitter this year and hope to have an animal in my care soon.
As with every post I do on this subject, I'll note that wildlife should never be raised without proper training and supervision. Not only would the Department of Fish and Game toast your *ss (it's *illegal*) but it's too easy to do it incorrectly, to the harm of you and the animals.
(Kits from my first 'two pack')
Crissy Field, San Francisco
Local dog comments on wildlife protection / leash law regulations
Out for walk, I came upon a sleek, black, long-necked bird that appeared out of sorts.... one step closer and then another and he made no attempt to get away. Worried he was injured I returned with box in hand, on a mission to get him help.
He quietly focused his eyes on me. “I dare you.”
A pause.
A raising of the towel.
The tackle.
Bird and towel were dumped unceremoniously into the box, in a ball of feathers and terrycloth. A sharp beak punctured the box once, then shot up through the box top at my face. Devil bird.
One hour later I handed my ward over the counter to a wildlife hospital reception clerk. “What was this again?” she asked. “ A seabird?” I suggested. “One moment please.” She reappeared wearing construction goggles and carrying a bright yellow CAUTION sign. “They like to spear bright shiny things like your eyes, “ she explained. (--A pause to consider--)
A few days later, a progress call revealed he was a juvenile cormorant, anemic from a lack of food. His treatment? A full scholarship to the Marin-based Finishing School for Seabirds, where he would learn to hunt in style, sit with excellent posture, and learn which wines paired best with bay fish. Fancy.
Refreshing, sparkling magic... a new favorite drink to be found at Foreign Cinema in San Francisco.
"The French Kiss"
2 of Grey Goose
A kiss of Lillet
And a splash of Billecart - Salmon Brut Reserve
No taste of alcohol, yet not at all sweet, it's absolutely refreshing and goes perfectly with Foreign Cinema's Sunday brunch. Choose a sunny day, sit outside, and sip.
Just a sliver of dusk-inspired light shows behind a bank of incoming fog.
This morning I sent out an invitation to some girlfriends for a dress-to-the-nines-buy-yourself-something-pretty night out at San Francisco's Black and White Ball. One responded so perfectly that I couldn't stop smiling. Credit where it's due.
"I am in for dressing up...pre-party...looking good...meeting new people...flirting my ass off...being flirted with....having fun with my girls...drinking champagne....listening to Seal...staying out all night and staying up all morning...brunch in our Party Clothes....more pictures for Facebook....setting the bar....killing them with kindness....being a hit...being hit on....remembering what I'm made of...." Credit to Jen Brown :).
"The topography and beauty of the Orion Nebula like never before. Based on data obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope..." (source)
The Easter Fair on Union Street, San Francisco
Easter was one of my favorite holidays growing up. It started with the coloring of Easter eggs in green and yellow stripes, red with blue polka dots, green and purple swirls, and little designs made using a clear wax crayon.
The next day, we would run around the yard finding chocolate wrapped in brightly colored foils in the nooks of trees, little stuffed animals in tufts of grass, plastic eggs filled with colors-not-found-in-nature jelly beans under the porch step, and then the basket itself -- a basket filled with a heaped pile of plastic grass, chocolates, toys and the much-prized solid chocolate bunny.
A simple happiness.
The fog rolls in at night picking up city lights and weaving them into a soft, glowing blanket.
-- pictures of San Francisco at night
A fond farewell to Arthur C. Clarke, for his vision, imagination and the sense of inspiration he gave us for the future.''
"If we have learned one thing from the history of invention and discovery, it is that, in the long run - and often in the short one - the most daring prophecies seem laughably conservative." - Arthur C. Clarke
The beautiful colors we saw just a few minutes ago... San Francisco sunset.
I've never seen such massive ships (that take miles to turn or stop) get quite this close before. These two intersected right under the Golden Gate Bridge.
A friend passed this along today and it touched a rare chord.... a beautiful passage from "October" by Louise Gluck.
Snow had fallen, I remember
music from an open window.
Come to me, said the world.
This is not to say
it spoke in exact sentences
but that I perceived beauty in this manner.
Sunrise. A film of moisture
on each living thing. Pools of cold light
formed in the gutters.
I stood
at the doorway,
ridiculous as it now seems.
What others found in art,
I found in nature. What others found
in human love, I found in nature.
Very simple. But there was no voice there.
Winter was over. In the thawed dirt,
bits of green were showing.
Come to me said the world. I was standing
in my wool coat at a kind of bright portal -
I can finally say
long ago; it gives me considerable pleasure. Beauty
the healer, the teacher -
And from another friend, a beautiful, colorful find in the paintings of Leonid Afremov.
A San Francisco morning looking east over the city.
The fog is just pulling away to allow our spring sun some room.
Another fascinating and otherworldly discovery from the deep ocean...check out this underwater lake.
Flavors: Caviar and Champagne (flavorful, rare and exclusive)
The Organization: TED (Technology Entertainment and Design) "brings together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives. We believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and ultimately, the world. So we're building here a clearinghouse that offers free knowledge and inspiration from the world's most inspired thinkers."
Admission and Events: $6000, invite only, event registration closed through 2009. Check out their site for recorded talks!
Flavors: A Nice Microbrew and Chips (tasty, accessible, and filling)
The Organization: BIL is "an open, self-organizing, emergent, and anarchic science and technology conference that was created in response to those interested in but unable to afford TED. BIL has been created as a free space for people with ideas to come together and share them."
Admission and Events: Free, March 1-2 2008, Monterey
BIL and TED
From time to time, we get a sort of 'grayout' over the Bay, where the water is totally calm and exactly the same color as the sky above it. Add a dash of mist and we get the interesting visual misconception that boats are 'floating' in the air.
February 20, 2008 - San Francisco
Pictures of the lunar eclipse as seen from my roofdeck in Cow Hollow. The last shot is the dark sky under the full eclipse.
"[NASA] is predicting that "the moon will probably take on a vivid red or orange colour during the total phase" because there have not been any recent gas and dust emissions which block the sunlight and cause "dark" eclipses."
See estimated times for the eclipse here.
(2007 eclipse take in Germany, Winfried Rothermel/Associated Press)
In a recent search for flights, I found that my ticket price was often 30% to 50% higher with taxes included. Never having seen prices so inflated, it seemed worth a closer look. What I found was a baffling and long list of fees and taxes including the:
While I do appreciate the Animal and Plant Inspection Fee as the only one that is self-explanatory (that covers the cost of the beagle that sniffs my luggage when I fly in from Florida with a suitcase of oranges), I wonder why the income taxes we pay our respective governments can't cover all the things they need to do (including buying food for the beagle)?
Children's drawings, 5-foot-tall neon lights in the shape of flowers, and stuffed animals...delicious multi-colored stage.
A taste of KT Tunstall (melodic) and Joss Stone (sassy) wrapped into a strong, quirky presence (a la Bjork).. a presence adorned with sparkly, glitter-ful suspenders and a green tiara.
A crowd of complex and varied ingredients that mixed well for unexpected flavors.
Best known for Breathe Me and Destiny, I thought Sia was actually better live than on her CDs given a fantastic, 'I-feel-every-note-of-my-music-with-passion' presence.
It's been a long while since I've played music and this past warm Sunday morning proved the perfect opportunity to give it another go. With a couple of guitars, music books, and a computer hooked up to wireless (to look up lyrics and tabs) we hit the roofdeck for a sunny morning of music.
Mimosas, sassy KT Tunstall, earthy Sheryl Crow and the driving beat of Green Day were on the morning menu, set on a table of blue skies and Bay views.
Whatever your political affliliation, there's a beauty to be found in when people get some fire under them for progress and change.
This music video overlays a speech by Obama creating a certain sense of poetry and inspiration.
