:: 'hood is going downhill ::

:: abandonment proliferation ::

Not even Lay's gee-tar shop on Kenmore Blvd in Akron couldn't help this feller

:: Michael vs Prince ::

who wins?

:: Dale Chihuly at De Young Museum ::

Dale Chihuly has been blowing glass now for 40 years, and is highly regarded in the industry as not only a pioneer, but also a revolutionizing force in the field, a great instructor, and quite inarguably one of the best. The current exhibit at the De Young runs till September 28th, 2008.

read more about Dale's life and impact on the glassblowing field here.

:: Ferris Plock ::

SF resident Ferris Plock exhibit at Lower Hater store:

:: Circus Vargas ::

This past Wednesday night, my boy plug1 scored some free passes to an evening with Circus Vargas. Apparently Circus Vargas is one of the largest travelling circus groups touring that still utilizes a canvas tent. We skipped right to ring side despite being told to sit else where and struggled to get some decent photos. I had some nachos.

:: TGIF ::

I love Friday's so much I just couldn't hold it any longer

:: SF Wave Organ ::

The SF Wave Organ was installed into the side of a jetty in the Marina district in 1986 by the Peter Richards and George Gonzalez team. The concrete used to make this exhibit was gathered from rubble at the Laurel Heights Cemetery that was demolished in the 1950's.



A series of pipes, that extend into the water, are able to create the sounds you hear; which are specifically more prominent at high tide.



It's best to hold your ear up to the pipes to try and catch the full sound from the ocean. Which for me sounded like a very active conch shell with much more range. It's certainly a sound I wish I could pipe into my bedroom in the early morning.



sunset from the jetty



local windsurfer

:: Gumball 3000 Rally 2008 : pt 2 ::

This is Gumball 3000 rally coverage part 2, for day 1 of the 2008 rally. The rally with 35 different nationalities amongst 121 cars, starts in SF and ends in Beijing - right in time for the finals at this years Olympics. Only slightly more than half of this years participants are actually making it to the Asia leg of this years rally.



Maserati GT



classic Ferrari Dino



Lambo on Lombard



Lamborghini with CB antennas



these guys were totally strapped in the electronics department.. GPS, weather, live cam stream, who knows



alfonso doing some crazy dance..



the driver was revving the engine for this shot.. of course



this Gumballer had on the same jacket as me, and we started joking around. I then noticed what he had on that I didn't. ahem.



the Russian guys that push the Phantom... how gangsta in the matchin' track suits.



Ford GT cruising down Lombard with masked drivers



Classic 'Vett



finally spotted the Tesla Roadster after looking fruitlessly for it earlier



camo'd BMW



this F430 Spider has police lights and siren installation that was pretty sneaky



dropped & waiting.



1967 Ford, Elanor from Gone in 60 Seconds



Ferrari Enzo



Enzo rear



RR x Gumball 3000 x Nixon



camo'd 360 Modena Spider



armor like Vitamin C on this Murcielago



closeup



$400K+ Porsche Carrera GT



The two Playmates (Team Blondes) that were going to be driving the Mercedes-McLaren SLR featured in the rear. There are 3 of them, the girls -- triplets to be precise; guess the 3rd one was sick?



taken from inside the drivers orientation meeting Saturday morning (yup!)



Ludacrs?



like the matching orange calipers on this



this is Maximillion Cooper's XJ220



Willie riding large in the Gumpert Apollo



this VW Samba has been retrofitted with a Carrera 3.2 engine



the taxi C6



Maximillion Cooper -- the guy who started it all 10 years ago



Maybach 57 .. Gumball 3000 style



the Fuel Girls with Frawggy



the Hoff giving interview while propped on KITT (which apparently didn't make it all the way to L.A. on Saturday night due to mechanical issues).



Alfonso Ribiero and Joe Rogan in front of the Gumpart -- wow everyone wanted to pose with this thing.



the skinny on the Gumpert Apollo (according to the driver standing to the left) is that this is the only Gumpert currently in the U.S. What you see before you is a production-demo that they themselves just got last week. The actual street release isn't open to the public for another 2 weeks. This street legal car packs a 4.2 litre Audi V8 weighing in around 2400lbs and has a 6-speed sequential gearbox Formula1 style influencing. They just need to lift this sucker a few inches. it's mad low.



baby on the 'stang



this is part of the informational package you are given as a Gumball participant. For the Asia leg of the 2008 Gumball rally, there will be driving in China. So to assist with the interpretation of signs and general info -- the Gumball staff had these handy image/sign translation cards on a ring made.



the Hoff trying to run us over!!



the Hoff says --- YEAAHHHHHH!!!!

:: Gumball Rally 2008 in SF pt 1 ::

Bam! its been 5 years since the Gumball 3000 rally kicked off in SF -- last time I missed it, so I was not snoozin' this time. Tonight at the Fairmont the event was starting to slowly unfold. Go here for tomorrow's coverage of the starting day of Gumball 3000 2008



chrome dipped Gallardo



getting out of the Gumpert Apollo. This car has top speeds of 224 mph, and 0-60 in 3 seconds.



This is THE original KITT from the classic 80's TV show. Apparently the Hoff purchased it a long time ago. Seeing that he is participating in the rally this year (albeit only from SF > LA) he decided to polish it up, and bust it outta the garage. I hear that a few BMX guys are pinch driving for him after he stays behind in LA. rough life.



Frawggy.. comin' up clean as #### in front of the Fairmont (special spotlight on Frawggy coming soon)

Ferrari F430 Scuderia .. shark styles. imagine seeing that coming up in your rear view mirror.



Gumpert. Only 1 in the country.



RR Phantom Drophead kickin it large. On the first day, of a previous Gumball 3000 rally, the owner of this Phantom crashed another identical model. So.... he turned around and promptly purchased a replacement, had her decals slapped on, and re-entered the race. ridiculous.



this is as close as I could get to the Hoff, cus you know, don't mess with the Hoff.. berDerp!



XJ220 Jag



Puma is a big sponsor this year, as well as Nixon, Monster drink, Spy Optics and more. If you are wondering about the decals, they must be present on the car at all times during the rally. No trying to disguise yourself from the rest of the group.



inside of KITT

:: Dreidel on Date Night ::

spotted plastered on a magazine stand with my boy plug1

"..dreidel, dreidel, dreidel.. i made you out of claa-a-a-ay .."



dude is maxin' with his girl on "Date Night". Was at 111 Minna for the Full Custom Living exhibit. Pic by Drew Weidmann

:: Crouching Spider ::

The large, bronze Crouching Spider that sits near Pier 14, was recently named one of the best public art-works in the U.S. by Americans for the Arts.

This piece was created in 2003 by Louise Bourgeois as part of a series, this piece specially made for SF and was commissioned by the Arts Commission Sculpture. The large arachnid was only supposed to be here for 8 months but has been extended till May 2009.

a 27 foot long, massive spider is sitting on EMB waiting for you.

:: Mushroom Cloud Bear ::

I never did like these guys.. but isn't Mushroom Cloud Bear so great!?

:: Land of a Million Cereals ::

This weekend was the last day to catch the "Land of A Million Cereal" by Ryan Alexiev that was held at Mission 17 gallery, and was certainly the first cereal based exhibit I had ever attended.

Each piece took over a week, and apparently Trix cereal is the moneyshot when it comes to getting various slices of the color wheel. At least cereal is way cheaper than paint.



drawn from the Ravenna Mosaics



cereal skull







more from the Ravenna Mosaics





There are 5,000 images of cereal boxes on this wall, of which, 2,000 are unique.



With over 400 types of cereal on the market he has plenty to choose from.

:: Seward Street Slides ::

Over in the hills of Noe Valley, lies Seward Minipark. This park was initially created back in the 1970's and has certainly remained a unique SF hidden gem - with its double-barrelled, concrete twisting tubes nestled into this woodsy enclave - you have the chance to be a kid again for a few minutes . There are talks of some crazy aproned witch that chases all the fun-seekers away, but we didn't encounter that. Just a few kids, their parents, and some other hipsters like ourselves.

:: Obama stats with mystery food ::

anyone know what this last item is?

:: EMB from above ::

Recently I got a chance to see Embarcadero from a different perspective.

:: Speaker Sale ::

Speaker Sale! 15 dollaz!

(cart not included)

:: Download Festival @ Shoreline ::

This past Saturday my friend & I drove to Moutain View for Download Festival @ Shoreline.

I actually wound up winning tickets via SFSTATION (BIG UP! Thanks!), but when we got to the parking lot, they were charging $15! to park. WTF! guess they were subsidizing the cheap face value by slapping that on you all last minute style. anyways.. we did miss Tapes-'n'-Tapes, but got there mid-way through Flosstradamus' set. This festival wasn't as crowded as Live 105's BFD (check previous coverage here) and it was GA on the seating -- so getting a good seat was not hard at any time. the one band I didn't get a pic of here is Cut Copy who just destroyed it!

However, being old timers, we didnt stick around for Jesus & Mary Chain (I KNOW!) nor RJD2 (not so much concerned w/ missing him).. but J&M.C. oh well. we had already been there for 4.5 hours and it was another 2.5 before the final acts came on.



that's right!

"I got 99 problems and a b!tch ain't nar'n, I got 99 shoes that a b!tch ain't wearin'" - C-nile



Flosstradamus on the 1's & 2's



full members of Datarock



Natalie Portmans Shaved Head



BlitzenTrapper




Datarock on the run

:: Half-Life, Death at Blue Bottle, & absinthe ::

TRex @ SFMOMA



"Half-life of a Dream" exhibit



As much as I love Blue Bottle Coffee, this incident must have occured as we were in the cafe.. I know, some will say this is a sick/gross pic .. but I found it not only macabre but highly contrasting. OK. I'll stop now



From the "Half-life of a Dream" exhibit at SF MOMA



drinking absinthe @ Farallon