Mark Di Suvero at Crissy Field

While walking at Crissy Field, I came across these structures that were huge. I had no clue that they were, I found out that they art done by artist Mark Di Suvero. Di Suvero is pretty amazing. He was injured in an elevator accident and had to learn to walk again. He became an arc welder and started to create his art.

What was cool, is that I had no idea that they were there and they were scheduled to be taken down three days after I was there, so I got very lucky:

"Will"-1994

"Are Years What?"-1967. This thing weights 14.5 tons

"Dreamcatcher"-It took seven years to build

"Old Buddy"-Named for the artist dog

"Mother Peace"-I love the peace sign in it (below):

"Magma"

"Huru"-55 feet high

And finally my favorite:

"Figolu-Took six years to build and with the sea buoys on it (below):

It was really cool to see these works of art just sitting there in the field. Don't think that I will ever see something like this again.

A Walk Along Crissy Field

Crissy Field in San Francisco is one of my favorite places to walk. It was a former U.S. Army airfield that is totally beautiful to enjoy the day. People enjoy many activities there:

A kayaker getting ready

People fishing

Flying kites

Building rock art

Watching ships go by

But I like it because of the great views and it makes me feel relaxed:

Nature

Downtown San Francisco

The Pacific Ocean and Angel Island 

The little waves crashing in

The Golden Gate Bridge from Crissy Field

A Little Music Mix

Away all weekend but here is some music to dance to:

One to remind us one the sacrifice that our many veterans have made:

Finally, one of my favorites that makes me think of what a great world we live in:

Memorial Day 2014

Monday is Memorial Day here in the United States. To many, it means BBQ, drinking beer and having a good time. To me, it means to remember all those who have given their life to this country. Being a veteran myself, I feel that it is important to honor those who have given their lives for this country. Also, I statue anybody who has ever served this great country (All pics were taken at the San Francisco National Cemetery):

A U.S. Army bugle 

The Tomb of the Unknown Solider at San Francisco National Cemetery

One of 48 Medal of Honor winners buried at the San Francisco National Cemetery

Erected for members of USS Oregon (BB-3) who lost their lives during the Boxer Rebellion

This last one is hard as this headstone is my Dad. We had no relationship as from the time I was about four I did not see him until I was 26 and then maybe five or six times after that until he died. Even though, we had zero relationship I am still proud he served:

A Small Peek at the S.F. Muni Metro Light Rail

I don't know why 1) I have been taking pictures of the Muni's Metro Light rail, 2) Why I am doing this blog?? Anyway, since I took the pics I might as well share them.

San Francisco is a huge public transit place. They have Muni buses above ground all over the city and then they have the Muni Metro Light Rail. It is the subway for just San Francisco. Here are the facts: The Muni Metro system consists of 71.5 miles (115.1 km) of standard gauge track, seven light rail lines (six regular lines and one peak-hour line), three tunnels, nine subway stations, twenty-four surface stations and eighty-seven surface stops. It goes above ground in many places around the city and will take you to the zoo, shopping districts and to AT&T Park among other places:

The ticket machine

Civic Center Station

A Light Rail train coming into a station

Waiting to go

Somebody about to get off

The train

Coming into the station

A map of the whole system

To be honest I have a love/hate relationship with Muni Metro Light Rail. It is great when it is working but there are a lot of delays and that is when I hate it-lol. 

Pretty in Ink-North American Women Cartoonists

The San Francisco Library is hosting an exhibit called Pretty in Ink, the history of North American Women Cartoonists. A lot of it is stuff that I find really cool. A lot of women have drawn cartoons over the years and sadly even though they drew them well, they are lesser known:

Edwina Dumm  (1893-1990) (above and below) was the first full-time female editorial cartoonist. She started drawing editorial cartoons in 1915 for the Columbus (Oh) Daily Monitor. She was famous for drawing the comic strips Trixie and Cap Stubbs.

Next up is Jungle Comics with artwork done by Marcia Snyder  during the 1940's:

The next two are the work of Tarpe Wills(1915-1988) who created Miss Fury. Miss Fury was created in 1941 before Wonder Woman and was pretty risque for the time:

An original Sunday strip dated 5-27-1945

An ad for Miss Fury

Here is Dale Messick (1906-2005) and her creation Brenda Starr which ran for about 70 years. Messick was the chief artist until 1980:

Finally, here is some of the work of Grace Drayton (1877-1936). She created popular period comics and created the "Campbell Soup Kids" ads:

Pretty in Ink was super cool. I learned a lot and will be doing more research into this subject.

Duets to Dance To

Decided to go with some Duets to dance to on this Monday:

The Bay Area Free Book Exchange

Near the El Cerrito BART station, there is a pretty cool place. It is the The Bay Area Free Book Exchange. You can drop off books for others to enjoy or browse around and find books to love and enjoy and the best part of it is all free. It somewhat disorganized but it is a great treasure hunt for books:

It may look like boxes of junk but for book lovers it is heaven. They have given away just over 442,000 thousand books since opening in May of 2009.