The Apples in Stereo

Here is a link to The Apples in Stereo. Good for listening at your laptop unit...

Impressive

This picture is from way back in September, but I just found it again while looking through my old folders. You see the progression of the rebuild of the Bay Bridge, which spans from Oakland to San Francisco. Eight miles of bridge!

It's going to be very interesting when they get to the point of switching traffic from old to sparkly new...



This picture was taken while I rode the F Transbay AC Transit bus.

Oakland revealed

Although Oakland is well-known for its robberies, skuzzy burger drive-ins, Gold Teeth shops and gang-related violence, there are some overlooked gems one shouldn't miss! Let your eyes be amazed at Oakland's Morcom Amphitheater of Roses. Yes, Oakland has a Italianate renaissance rose garden, complete with water chain and grotto element.

This game is fun

Here I am playing shuffleboard. I enjoyed knocking the other team's pucks off the board.

The white junk on the board is salt.

Headlining

I really want to go to these shows but I probably will be lucky to go to one or two of them.

Nov. 5: Eef Barzelay (of Clem Snide), Cafe du Nord
Nov 17, 18: Hot Buttered Rum String Band, The Independent
Dec. 1: The Dears, The Independent
Dec. 2: Gogol Bordello, Berkeley Community Theater*
Dec. 19, 20: Joanna Newsom, GAMH

*This band is probably one of the best acts to see live....ever. Explosive! I saw them at Slim's in March and was pretty much blown away. I have no idea if the BCT knows what it is getting into by inviting this retinue of overzealous Russian-Serbo-Croatian gypsy punk rockers to perform under its roof. There will be mayhem and chaos. I hope I can make it! Go! Go!

Attended, Bought

Attended:
Friday evening at the Doug Fir in the fair city of Portland, Oregon, I went to see The Heartless Bastards with my sister and brother.

Simply awesome. Even more so after three Maker's Marks. Hoo-yeah. They have some music on their site.

Bought
There is one less ticket available for Joanna Newsom's two night appearance in late December at the Great American Music Hall. Get your tickets, people! Joanna rarely tours due to the cumbersome harp...and her new album comes out in two odd weeks.

Product

This is a drawing and watercolor I did in LA 134a last week. The idea is that I (violently) imposed drainage pools onto a building and eucalyptus tree grove in order to see the impact of built structures on the groundplane. The displaced trees are then exploded into the sky.

It's not meant to be realistic. But you probably figured that one out already.

Complaint

So WHY exactly are hedgehogs banned in the State of California?

Those feet are adorable. What's more...the guy is palm-sized.

Dumpies

It's Thursday. Wait, it's Friday. I have to get up in four hours to pack, shower, commute and attend class at 9am where we present our Vectorworks viewport assignments. Ho hum. I am packing because I am going to Portland for the weekend.

Still, despite the favorable change of venues, I am stuck in the dumpies. I don't know what the deal is, but it needs to be fixed soon. There are still 6-7 odd weeks of school left where I need to produce inspired, uplifted final projects. As it stands, such things won't happen very easily in a state like this.

Perhaps I just need mom....

It was a weekend

This coming weekend I am going to Portland, city of roses, to attend a family celebration. No, it isn't a Halloween party. No, I don't have a costume, either. It is my three uncles' birthdays on Saturday...two of them are turning 58 and my uncle David is turning 60. My dad would have also turned 60 with them if he was around today.

Sixty! I can't believe it. How time flies. Seems like just yesterday they were turning 45 and 43. Alas.

It will be a fun two days of family goodness. I hope it doesn't rain. It always frickin' rains when I am in Portland in the fall. Never fails.

This weekend was good because I took an actual day off for once. I slept in until 1, thereby kind of sleeping part of the day away, but it was still quite fab-u.

This entry is boring. I will write more when there is something interesting to share.

Other news: this week I plan to purchase two new albums: Joanna Newsom and the Decemberists just released new work.

Finally. It's over.

Some time ago last summer I told my reader(s) about my journey to Ko Lanta Yai. Well, even though that trip ended in late June, our class project continued. It only ended TONIGHT, nearly five months after our research team arrived in Bangkok.

From 9am yesterday until nearly 1am today, our team of 10 strong (well, more like 6-7) worked like we had guns to our heads to produce 10 final presentation boards of our recommendations. Our professor, Louise, is going to Thailand on Monday to deliver the proposal to the island. I hand it to this lady for staying at our sides until it was all printed and ready to go. She is confident and excited about the proposal we are making towards this island's (sustainable) future.

But while good and everything, I am just glad to have the thing over with. I feel like I know more about Ko Lanta Yai than I do my own neighborhood. Today, I put in about 12 hours and I am not the hardest working person on the team by a long shot. My friends Rusty and Mike are actually still at school finishing a village axonometric drawing we need for the last remaining board to be printed. But we owe our lives to Ms. Sadie.

Alright....Friday 1am. Glad to be home from school. Ko Lanta Yai....you just wait. You are gonna be impressed.

In other news, my sister bought a house in NE Portland and got a job offer the SAME week. She is psyched. I am excited to see it when I go home next weekend for my three uncles' birthdays. I am missing Halloween to do so, but I don't have a costume anyway.

Part of the whole

Can you find my contribution? It's in the front row of the class model.

This is what I spent three hours doing today.

Weekend wrap up

Stork Club: Friday I went to the Stork Club at 23rd and Telegraph to meet up with my friend Woody very briefly. The two "bands" that I was lucky enough to see were pieces of work. And by that, I mean that their program and delivery was altogether vexing and induced bodilly reactions that approached nausea. I came home and did a little research, these two bands are called "The Hospitals" (as in take me to the hospital now before I vomit) and "The Skates" (the first band that played, "Bobby Blood" was good apparently). Anyway, the Skates were two dudes kneeling on the floor making noise into a looping device. It was very loud and disturbing. Their one song lasted about 14 minutes. The Hospitals took about 30 minutes to set up their drum set. When they finally began, the drummer began screaming into the mike and managed to knock over his snare drum. After the snare was set back into place, the drummer yet again became wiley. At one point, he ran off stage with the mic and disconnected several cables along the way. He then proceeded to tell us he was sorry a few times and insisted on starting the song over. I left at that point because the music was so thrashing my insides became distressed.

Axons: My school project this week is an axonometric drawing of some buildings on campus with some proposed drainage basins to be installed in the glade. My rough is finally complete and I shall put it onto vellum tomorrow if all goes well. Then I have to cut some chip board and fold some paper for my topo models that are *also* due on Wednesday.

Haircut: I got my hair cut on Saturday. I normally hate going to the salon on Saturday because all the picky people show up then. I usually have my appts. for Thursday evenings, but this week it was cancelled because Christine injured her back. I was squeezed in on Saturday. End result is ok, although it looks kind of Carole Brady right now. It needs a few weeks...

Kickball: Sunday at 1:00 Adam scheduled a co-ed kickball game at Rossi field in San Francisco at Arguello and Anza. By 1:30, our group was 12 kickers strong, splitting up into two teams of 5 and 7 in order to account for equal skill level. By 2:45, two more people had arrived and we had a fine core of 14 people playing kickball. Don't remember who won, but it probably wasn't us...

I have touched a Nobel

On Wednesday, Orhan Pamuk was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature.

In 2002, the guy was in DC and he was a guest on the television program I used to produce. As the only woman in a production crew of 5 people, I also had the job of doing makeup on the show. I don't remember the exact details, but I think Mr. Pamuk had some pore issues and suffered from an unruly moppish haircut...which he appears to still have.

Blast outta the past

This photo is circa 1986...yeah, people. I was in the fourth frickin' grade. Eat it up. We were in Loreto, Mexico (Baja) with my father for a vacation in July. The setting is the La Pinta Hotel (I do realize I just typed "The The Pinta Hotel"). Yes, we went to Baja in July. And it was hot as you could ever guess.



My sister was in the sixth grade and was practicing being difficult.

Plant life

Here are some favorite plants encountered and photographed at Blake Garden over the last week.


I call these leafy cabbages.


I call these muppet plants.




I call these puffy cabbages.




I call this one "Rachel's shoe on path."

Someone stole my tarp. Well, Jackie's tarp.

Last night and this morning was the first time it has *rained* in the East Bay since perhaps late April or early May. This is not a lie. It may have gotten dewey in between that time, but basically we've been in the dry season for 5 months.

Last night I got home around, er, 2am ish and it was pouring. I walked up my little balcony and saw my two bicycles, fully exposed, drenched and looking pretty sad. I got a camping tarp out of the back of my car and draped it over the bicycles. It was a perfect fit, actually. This morning, it was still raining and the tarp was keeping the bikes safe and dry.

I get home tonight around 1am. The tarp is gone. I may be jumping to conclusions, but I think some damn Berkeley hoodlum stole my tarp. Ugh. That means homeless dudes or ladies are rummaging up my steps. That is so annoying. I hope Jackie never asks for the tarp back. I've had it close to a year now after we used it for a field trip we held last fall. Anyway, what gives? I was excited thinking that I had an answer to my bike weathering dilemma...but now the tarp is gone. I hope the rain stays away so I can figure out a new weatherproofing plan.

Bay Area Derby Girls Night

On Saturday I am going to see the B.ay A.rea D.erby Girls showdown near the Oakland Airport. This should be pretty fun and a nice change of pace to what my life is about on a day to day basis. I look forward to cups of MGD and seeing some body checking.

Tonight I took a nap from 7-1030pm, so now I am up and on the Internet. I should go to sleep but I am kind of wired. This week has been hard at the start, but midweek things trickled down. I am trying to enjoy it rather than work to get ahead for next week. If anything I have learned these past few weeks is that I will never likely "get ahead". It is better to use that down time to nap and try to exercise and see Roller Derbys in Oakland.

I just heard the door open, so that means Pedro is home or someone with a key to our place just broke in. I am hearing the stove flame light up under the tea kettle, so I am assuming it is Pedro and not some burglar.

Sunday morning pet peeve rant

I just got home from nearly an all nighter in studio. Typical story, but anyway, I just need to vent an annoyance before I get a few hours of shut eye (gotta be back at school in 8 hours!).

My irritation stems from the uncouthe practice that young people my age have for using Mason jars as regular drinking vessels. Do you know what I am talking about? These jars are ridiculously oversized and inappropriate for using as a water glass. They are clumsy, dangerous (glass breaks) and garrish looking. I am not referring to those little jam and jelly jars that some folks use to serve orange juice in. No, sir. These jars run anywhere from 28-32 ounces, maybe more!


This is *NOT* a glass. It is a jar for pickling and preserving food!

Imagine having to watch someone quench their thirst with a large emptied Best Foods/Hellman's mayonaisse jar? This is what I am talking about! It's vulgarity and unrefinement to the tenth power. The most inane thing about this whole situation is the fact that most of these jar abusers have two or more personal Nalgene or Nalgene-esque bottles at their disposal to use. Yet they still reach for the jar! Society's underlings have found a way to mock the upright and steadfast practices of the proper glass and cup-using cultures. And to my estimation, it won't be the last time, either.

Say no to drinking out of scuzzy old jars. Reach for a clean, 12 ounce glass and join the normal people.