SF MOMA

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photo by Donald Kinney

Enter one room of San Francisco's Museum of Modern Art and you might wonder -- just for a moment -- if the lights on the floor are something they are in the process of installing, or if they are already installed just laying there on the floor.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Well, when first spotting Michael Jackson taking up a prominent space at SF MOMA I gave a bit of a sigh, until I got closer and became completely captivated by the big ceramic cookie jar, or whatever it is supposed to be.

Oh, it's a very shiny M.J. and Bubbles (((only part of Bubble's ear is seen here, so CLICK for a photo of both M.J. and Bubbles))) done up with enough gold gilt to fill the bill. It's larger than life and it's wonderful. It seems like it could easily break.

Designed by Jeff Koons, born 1955.
A sign on the wall reads:

This exquisitely crafted sculpture is based on a publicity photograph of Michael Jackson and his primate companion, Bubbles. In addition to calling attention to society's obsession with celebrity, Koon's choice of materials and subject matter upends controversial divisions between art and commodity, the sublime and the trite. In what could be described as a piece of cheap kitsch blown up to near-life-size proportions (yet rendered flawlessly by Italian ceramicists Koons hired to execute the piece), the performer and his pet, wearing matching gold band uniforms, recline in a pose from classical sculpture. Bubbles is nestled in Jackson's lap; their limbs are confused to the point that one of the chimp's legs could easily be mistaken for a third arm of the singer. The pair is instantly recognizable and disturbingly beautiful. The use of a snow-white glaze for their faces and an excess of makeup -- in place of genuine facial expression -- invite questions about celebrity, gender, race, and image making.

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photo by Donald Kinney

SF MOMA was having a retrospective show -- they had brought stuff out of their archives, including a whole lot of great prints by my favorite photogs.

I had completely forgotten about William A. Garnett who I held in such high regard back in the 1960's. Garnett's shots from airplanes are stunning -- and amazingly graphic.

Garnett's print (((above))) is "Cultivation near Lockwood, California, 1953.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Well, what can I say about Roy Lichtenstein other than he, and those like Andy Warhol, really "DID IT". Smack dab. Case closed. Turn off the lights.

CLICK for a better image of Roy Lichtenstein's "dot painting" the young lady was inspecting.

CLICK for two Roy Lichtenstein paintings on today's "DailyDuo".


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National Cemetery, San Bruno

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photo by Donald Kinney

It is absolutely staggering to view the vast expanse of graves at the Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno, California, not far south of San Francisco.



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But stagger is what I did, although I've been there a few times before.
It's always a large experience.



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photo by Donald Kinney

It appears to go on for miles, but it is actually only 161 acres, seemingly almost sadly adequate for 137,435 veterans, many buried next to their spouses.

A smaller and older National Cemetery is located in San Francisco at the Presidio. World War II came along and -- you guessed it -- we ran out of space...


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old farm, Lobitos Creek Cutoff

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photo by Donald Kinney

The danger of filling my tank with gasoline is that I just might take off for parts unknown. But heck, I've been exploring the hills down behind Half Moon Bay for the past 40 years, so these parts are hardly unknown to me.



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But I never noticed this colorful bush before -- I stopped my car and spent a few minutes photographing it from every angle. Inevitably the farmer and his wife noticed me from a great distance. The lady farmer asked, in an unhelpful tone; "Can I help you?" -- I mean, what is that supposed to mean, other than get-the-heck-out-of-here.

Actually I asked her, but she couldn't hear me, what type of a bush this beautiful specimen is. I drove off without finding out but spotted the same bush at a residence yesterday in my hometown. I should find out it's name, but I bet someone in Blogland might know.



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And gee, I think it would have been fun to stand around and chit-chat with the farmer and his wife about their ranch, but since I didn't get a chance I can just make up my own little stories about them. I imagine they were City-folk who made some money and retired to a peaceful (((except for the pesky photographers))) little farm on Lobitos Creek Road. All the best to them -- I'll come back sometime when I'm invited.


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U.C. Berkeley Botanical Garden

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photo by Donald Kinney

Who would know that one of the quietest places in the Bay Area is in the hills of the East Bay, U.C. Berkeley Botanical Garden, right up above U.C. Berkeley. The place is so quiet, in fact, that when combined with my BIG EARS there's no telling what I might hear.



Anyway, while I was spooking around I overheard a docent who was leading a group explaining that the pond was home to a mama Garter Snake who has been having about ten babies each year.

Of course that reminded me that I had gotten a photo of a young Garter Snake two years previous in that spot spot. This (above) is that photo. The snake was more interested in the delicious bug in front of him than giving me a good three-quarter pose and a smile.

CLICK for an old KittyBLOG featuring the snake



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photo by Donald Kinney

I'm just going to assume that these fan-like plants are from Outer Space.



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The U.C. Berkeley Botanical Garden has a GREAT display of succulents and cacti. Fun to photograph. More plants from Outer Space, I assume.

CLICK to see more of the U.C. Berkeley Botanical Garden on what I call my "BIG" site at:
http://www.photoarrow.com/871ucbotanicalgarden.html


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pretty things I found recently

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photo by Donald Kinney

We've had an EXPLOSION this year of Douglas Iris -- they range from white and pale, to blue and purplish.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Postcard from Mount Tamalpais...
This is the more blue and purplish variety of Douglas Iris.



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photo by Donald Kinney

The Iris photos were taken in the Rock Springs area of our beloved Mount Tamalpais, and here it is -- Rock Springs, the headwaters of Cataract Creek, which will subsequently flow into Alpine Dam and join with the Lagunitas Creek on it's way to the Pacific Ocean by way of Tomales Bay.


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Madrone Trees, Mt. Tamalpais

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photo by Donald Kinney

These are colorful and mossy trunks standing out in the rain are Madrone trees. They are native to the Pacific Northwest.

This old grove of Madrones is just south of the hang-glider launch area on Ridgecrest Boulevard, way the heck up there on our beloved Mt. Tamalpais.
Definitely one of my favorite trees (((Redwoods come in first in my book))).



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Someone told me that Madrone trees are sometimes called "Refrigerator trees" because they are cool to the touch even on a hot day.

This one is all wet so you wouldn't want to hug it in this condition, but the next time you come across a dry Madrone tree on a hot day, go ahead -- nobody is looking -- give it a hug -- see how cool it is.



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That's what happens -- stand around too long in the damp and you start to grow moss. And this moss couldn't be any happier -- it livens up after rain.




This isn't a new photo (((I always tell you when they aren't))), but it shows the paper-thin bark that the Madrone grows and then sheds each year. It generally only does this on the sunny side of the tree, with the more shaded side of the tree developing a durable bark.


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The View on a Grand Scale

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photo by Donald Kinney

We're having a really wet year out here in California.
Mount Tamalpais, above, is loving it!

And with the clouds have come grand photo-ops.     Snap, snap, snap...



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photo by Donald Kinney

This is San Francisco Bay, just a bit to the left of Alcatraz looking east...
That would be Berkeley on the other side of the bay.



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photo by Donald Kinney

This was shot from China Camp, looking across the top of San Pablo Bay (upper thumb of San Francisco Bay) to hills, now a verdant green, in the Sear's Point and Lakeville Highway area. Hop over those hills are you are in the Wine Country -- the Napa and Sonoma wineries are waiting for you!


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a wild-oats sunrise at China Camp

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photo by Donald Kinney

Oh, I am a very lucky guy... Let me get out my compass...

To the south of me is San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge, to the west of me is our beloved Mount Tamalpais and the Pacific Ocean with a coastline that knocks my socks off, and to the north is a lush and verdant expanse of unspoiled rolling hills that we call West Marin.

But to the east is an unobstructed view across San Pablo Bay (((the northern thumb of San Francisco Bay))). It's the perfect vantage point for enjoying colorful sunrises reflecting off the water.



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photo by Donald Kinney

But to catch a sunrise a guy needs to get up extra early. After all, first, there is a blog to be written (((and don't forget the DailyDuo))), and a cat that needs food and a whole lot of morning love -- all of this before I can go searching for the perfect sunrise. This one is rather pretty, isn't it?


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Volunteer Oats

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photo by Donald Kinney

Always willing to help out, there is definitely no shortage of Volunteer Oats here in California.



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You'd think they would just snap off in the wind, but they are resilient. Great dancers too -- they do the Sway -- here up on the hill above China Camp.



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Here, taller than even our beloved Mount Tamalpais in the distance. Again, there is definitely no shortage of Volunteer Oats here in California.


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the versatile Lagunitas Creek

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photo by Donald Kinney

Ah yes, artful water...



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Ah yes, colorful water...



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And water that grows upside-down trees...


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creatures in their elements

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photo by Donald Kinney

I don't know about you, but I think it would be great fun to plug-into the head of this bull to eavesdrop on his thoughts. Certainly he couldn't be thinking of greener pastures. Oh, yeah, I suppose he might be thinking of his girlfriends. Or perhaps more close to reality -- nothing at all...



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Shown here is Drake's Bay at Point Reyes, taken from the little one-lane road that goes down to the Chimney Rock area.

Years ago a local dairy, Clover Milk, featured their mascot "Clo-the-Cow" in a series of billboard advertisements using all sorts of cute slogans and catchy phrases. One of my favorite was an illustration of Clo sort of dressed up to look like a typical scientist, with a caption reading; "Clo, out-standing in her field"



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So anyway, it was MUCH too windy out at the Chimney Rock area on Tuesday to do any close-up wildflower photography, so I retreated to the Estero Trail for a pleasant walk. I found this handsome fellow along the way.



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And yes, San Francisco is a destination for animals of the human kind. They come from all over -- mostly from Europe and Asia -- many Americans can't afford a trip to San Francisco right now. Good thing I only live about twenty miles away.


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colors of the Lagunitas Creek

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photo by Donald Kinney

I shot these late Tuesday afternoon, a mile or so upstream from where I normally hang out on the Lagunitas Creek.



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Many "locals" use the name of "Papermill Creek" interchangeably with "Lagunitas Creek", and yes, in the late 1800's Samuel P. Taylor built a water-powered paper mill in this area -- some of the stone foundations still exist. Today the area has been turned into a State Park and is a popular campground inside of a beautiful Redwood forest.

To quote Wikipedia:   The park is named for Samuel Penfield Taylor, who found gold during the California Gold Rush and used some of his money to buy a parcel of land along Lagunitas Creek. In 1856, Taylor built the Pioneer Paper Mill, the first paper mill on the Pacific Coast. In the 1870s, the North Pacific Coast Railroad was built between Cazadero and a pier in Sausalito where folks could catch a ferry to San Francisco. The railroad passed near Taylor's mill, and, ever the entrepreneur, he built the "Camp Taylor Resort" alongside the tracks. A destination for city-weary San Franciscans, the resort offered both a hotel and tent camping, as well as swimming, boating, fishing, and a dance pavilion.



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These days it's all about the Coho Salmon in Lagunitas Creek -- or the lack thereof. Thanks to ocean pollution, the population of the Coho Salmon has declined over the years to where it is estimated that only 500 Cohos return to the creek to spawn and die after their two years at sea.



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But OH, the colors of the Lagunitas Creek...
And WOW, the tranquility of the area is almost overwhelming...
All of this, pretty much right in my backyard -- I KNOW I'm a lucky guy!


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going to school in the Tenderloin

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photo by Donald Kinney

While making a safe retreat from the Mitchell Brothers Theater I found, just a half-block away on Olive Street, the Tenderloin Community School with the most interesting tiles made by students.

Obviously, they've been learning about the importance of recycling.



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A plaque reads:   Special thanks to the Bay Area Women's and Children's Center for spearheading and leading the community effort for the creation of the Tenderloin Community School and Family Center, and to the hundreds of Tenderloin parents, children, and volunteers who worked for ten years to make this school a reality.

CLICK for more information on a field of sixteen tiles.



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Yellow ones, red ones, white ones, and brown ones. They've got kids of all colors, and I'm just guessing that they ALL get along just fine.

The Tenderloin, besides being a crime-ridden hell-hole, is absolutely packed with low income people of color. This is often the first stop for immigrants on their way to the American Dream.

CLICK for Wikipedia information on the Tenderloin.



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Looks like they are learning all about bugs and ecology at the Tenderloin Community School. It's probably been years since I've stopped to admire and say hello to a Potato Beetle, but from my childhood I remember having great fun with what we called Stink Beetles. Maybe that's one of the reasons why my mother used to call me her "Little Stinker".



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And while Black Widow Spiders are interesting creatures it's best to be cautious. Yes, very mysterious creatures, these anthropoids.


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Murals, Mitchell Brothers Theater

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photo by Donald Kinney

San Francisco is well known for it's murals, especially in the Mission District, but this giant Whale mural done by Lou Silva in 1976 is on the rear of Mitchell Brothers Theater, on the fringe of San Francisco's very shady and exceedingly dangerous Tenderloin District.



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A wolf in sheep's clothing? Well, this theater has quite a checkered history -- it was here that the ubiquitous "lap dance" was invented. The Mitchell Brothers continually pushed-the-envelope of what they could get away with and were raided for running a brothel numerous times. And I suppose I could go on, but I think that's about all I'm going to tell you about what goes on inside -- I'd better let Wikipedia fill you in on some of the other details.



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But besides the theater's notoriety, there is more to the story -- and that would be the Mitchell Brothers themselves -- two kids who came from a really crummy up-bringing and seized on pornography as a way of making a living and supporting their drug habits.



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Lets just make a long story short by saying that Jim Mitchell ended up murdering his brother Artie -- oh it was a hugely sensational trial and Jim spent a whopping six years in prison. Jim Mitchell died in 2007, but yes, the theater is still open -- and more than willing to empty the wallets of those who seek the very finest hertosexual lust that San Francisco has to offer.


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