Park(ing) Day Enthusiasm Curbed by Heat

Park(ing) Day: an annual event where artists, activists, and citizens transform metered parking spots into temporary public parks. Originated in San Francisco by art and design collective Rebar, Park(ing) Day grew to a national -- nae, global -- event in a surprisingly short time.  The event was begun in 2005, and the PARKcycle, a man-powered park vehicle, debuted in 2007.

Now you'd THINK that if you wake up on Park(ing) Day in the city where it originated you'd see creative spots for miles.  Not so.  In fact, I had to work rather hard to find relatively few examples of observance. Could it be that I was looking in the wrong places?  Quite possibly.  But I had taken the precaution of checking the website for likely makeshift parks, so you can't say I didn't try.  Could it be that it was darned near 80 degrees in the shade in The City today and nobody wanted to set up on asphalt?  Also quite possible.

After waiting out the midday sun, I began my search at 3rd and Mission, roughly attempting to mirror the route the PARKcycle would have taken earlier in the day while visiting installations.  From Mission, I trekked over to Market Street (on which I didn't see a single park!), and eventually hopped the F-Line streetcar to Valencia, which had been touted as a likely hub for the event.  Walking several blocks from Valencia's origination at Market Street down to 25th, I passed only a handful of parks, most of them uninspired. Nothing like the rather creative pictures I'd seen from previous years.  Ah well.  Nonetheless, I took a few shots.

Though I would have preferred to have seen this thing on the move, I was at least lucky enough to spot the Rebar PARKcycle visiting the Bicycle Coalition area.

This folding chair park at Valencia & 20th lacked a certain panache, but did benefit from a row of trees.

This mini-park at Valencia &19th gets a few points for the wood pillar and its park ranger.

But this one at Ritual Roasters, Valencia & 21st was by far the most successful park I witnessed, for sheer participation.  Par(k)-tay!

P.S.  SFist has a better photo gallery of, well, pretty much these same parks.  There's one though that was obviously already gone by the time I walked past.  Free Design Clinic, Valencia and 20th -- where'd ya go?

I See Tweed People

According to Laughing Squid,  "Tweed Rides – group bicycle events in which riders eschew spandex in favor of elegant, vintage-inspired riding attire – are growing in popularity, with newly-announced rides in San Francisco, Chicago, and Sydney, Australia."  So when I heard that SF Tweed would be riding, I ventured out with a new-fangled camera hoping to capture a few jolly shots.  Unfortunately, by the time they finally sallied forth (with a rousing "tally ho!") the lack of light presented a challenge.  However, I did collect a few shots of the dapper tweeds frolicking on a tennis court in Delores Park before the pedaling began in earnest.

Though there was no sporting green, there were mallets.  Though there were no horses, there were bicycles.  So whether the game the Tweeds played on court should be considered polo or croquet is a question best left to them, but the games didn't end there, as they also performed choreographed moves on bike and field.

 

You may notice that even the lasses are sporting handlebar mustaches in this event.

A Tweed reminds the crowd that "we are not Critical Mass!  We obey the traffic laws and are polite to the motorists."  However, if the Tweeds have already entered an intersection en masse when the light changes, they are instructed to continue through.  Which is why many of them are carrying "Intersection Diplomat" signs.  Like this one:

As always... click to enlarge.

We're Off to See the Skidders

Assured by the Tuesday noon siren that all was well in The City today, I ventured out of doors to see for myself the much-discussed-of-late Hugo Hotel, a former tenement building which, in the roughly 20 years it has been sitting vacant has become a site-specific art installation (called Defenestration) featuring "seemingly animated" furniture escaping out through windows, heading for the fire escapes, and clinging to the side of the building.  Though the owners have been reluctant to sell, a jury this week decided that enough was enough and awarded the city eminent domain. The hotel is slated to be demolished and replaced with a mixed use facility to include "affordable" housing.

Now... had I done that much research before going out into the world, I might have thought twice about trekking my way out to 6th and Howard Streets, where the "site specific art installation" doesn't leap out at you quite as much as the appropriateness of the word "tenement."  There is no doubt on this corner that you are, indeed, on skid row.  Which is somewhat unfortunate because it's a very interesting building and, in another part of town, it might have been saved as a tourist attraction.  As it is -- where it is -- it won't be.

Though I did take my camera along for the visitation, this was a part of town where even if you could find a shaded shot out of the noonday sun you wouldn't necessarily want to display valuables.  (I took the shot above and quickly pocketed my camera). I decided to share better pictures taken by braver souls instead.

There are very decent ones HERE.

But since I was out, I decided to take advantage of other photographic opportunities.

You see, although it's been far too long since Frank Sinatrat made an appearance on these pages, he is back on the prowl.  After a long, unplanned stay in Nashville, Frankie came home with a friend -- Lion L. Messi -- who Frankie is showing around.  There's a long backstory here, playing out on Facebook, but by the time of these pictures it had become obvious to Messi's owner that while Frankie had pants, Messi did not.  These are the first of a series of shots in which Messi will only venture out fully covered... and, well, his options were limited.

Messi, I'm glad you're willing to go out again, but....

A stop along Market Street

 

 Frank, are you SURE this is the way to the wizard?

These don't look like poppies to me....

Yeah, yeah... "great and powerful."  Got it.

Now look, my friend here needs some pants!