Housing is planned for this area soon - and a permanent memorial art installation is also in the…read morepermitting plans for when the new development happens. A temporary memorial piece is in the works for the 10 year anniversary. Today there is the original metal 'heart tree' that is mostly rusted out and with many parts missing. It was dug up I think when the original warehouse got torn down a couple years ago. I liked the original and would like to see it refurbished and set in new concrete. That is my opinion for what its worth but I would like the families to have the say in that sort of thing as much as possible. I recently added 36 hearts made of wood and metal and connected with white thin ribbon. It is a 6 x6 and makes a square. I put it up on the 5th of December which happened to be the first Friday art celebration downtown. I didn't plan it that way it just happened to be the time I needed to assemble it and write names on ribbons when I started on the 3rd. I like that this heart square is a tribute to the original metal one with 36 hearts. The little hearts are a blank canvas and can be customized. I plan to take a little purple sharpie to Jennifer Kiyomi Tanouye's heart. I didn't know her personally but from her online photos I think she would like that.

Friends are always asking me "Tracey, how did you find out about (insert event here)?" to which I…read morefrequently reply with a simultaneous shoulder shrug, "I read." It sounds smug, I know, but if you have an interest in going out and seeing and doing certain things you find a way to learn about those things and where they're happening. I barely understand how people don't hear about them. Because of this I was genuinely surprised to first learn of Lost Landscapes of San Francisco in this, their 9th year of putting on shows. Admittedly, those shows are usually only once annually but I'm still surprised that this show didn't cross my path sooner. Lost Landscapes of San Francisco is a show curated by Rick Prelinger, an archivist who collects and assembles film and video footage of San Francisco. By the title, you might surmise that he's not assembling footage circa 2014 and you'd be correct. Though some footage appeared to be as recent as the 1970s, most of it is treasure from longer ago than that. All of it, circa whenever, is a view into the City's dreamy past. The premise here is that Mr. Prelinger mans the microphone and can tell you a bit about what you're seeing on screen but aside from that, the audience is the soundtrack (there is no narrative voice-over). Shouting out of comments, questions, and humorous remarks is encouraged though much of what is said may not be heard by all. The Castro Theatre is big (seats 1,400) and sells out for this show. Tickets are kept to a reasonable $15 (+ a small service charge, available through Brown Paper Tickets). You already missed the big show this year but there's another show, a fundraiser, on December 19th for which $15 tickets are still available (http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/941006). Lost Landscapes is somehow associated with the Long Now Foundation, an organization whose mission I've completely failed at decoding. It doesn't really matter. The only thing you need to know is that this show exists, is updated and changed regularly, screens annually, and generally sells out within 24 hours. If a view into San Francisco's unique and beautiful past sounds like something that interests you get tickets and go this year or get on their mailing list for future years. And when your friends ask how you found out about it just shrug your shoulders and tell them "I read". And: * An article which explains this event better than I can is here: http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/2014/12/02/forgotten-footage-illuminates-san-franciscos-lost-landscapes/ * More information about this year's show is here: http://longnow.org/seminars/02014/dec/04/lost-landscapes-san-francisco-9/ * And because I've been unable to discern a web-site (short of becoming a Long Now member) you can presumably learn of future shows by becoming a fan on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/591669327628193/

Its been a while since I've been to a Renaissance Fair, but I'm glad I made it. At first, I felt…read morereally out of place, and after spending fifteen dollars to get in, thought I made a mistake. The crew is completely in character, and then you have just regular attendees who are also dressed up and in character, and I felt like I was transported to a time that I know nothing about. The attitude of the people is incestuous and you get the feeling that at close, it turns into a massive orgy. Heaving bosoms are everywhere, and at times can be overwhelming. Some you wish weren't heaved in the first place, and others you can't stop staring at. The food was ok. I had chicken on a stick, and that was great, along with a veggie roll, but the fried plate combination was absolutely horrendous. My girl's niece got a waffle cone, cookies and cream, and that was excellent. On tap in the beer garden, which was a little too small in size served up wine, and beer (Guinness and Prohibition Ale) and some other honey booze called Mead which i didn't try. The entertainment was fun. We caught the last act of a strange man with a team of trained parrots doing some random crowd interactive fun, There was a group of foul mouthed kids in the front row that really added to the entertainment level. The best part of the entertainment was the joust though. These knights pulled off a real looking action packed duel that had the crowd wanting more. Wood would shatter at impact and the winner declared after each pass. The host of the event was very entertaining and the dedication of those involved really makes you believe that these people (weirdos!) do this all the time. There is nothing out of character. On site there was all sorts of random fun, most of all the bow and arrow range. I could have stayed there all day. It was a cheap thrill. Looking back, i realize that these people who do this are not only nuts, but obviously dedicated to a point where that if you can let your initial guard down, then you can have a lot of fun too. A few ales don't hurt either. Oh, and nothing beats holding a mace and thinking back to that scene in Braveheart when on a horse, Mel Gibson (freak) smashes that dudes face in when he's laying in bed. Mad gramercy yo.

I used to go to the Renaissance Faire in Marin county as a child who was in a madrigal singing…read moregroup. We went in full costume and had a singing guild. This renaissance faire had a few problems, though it was fun. 1.) The directions were awful. Getting off a 34th street was stupid and a waste of time and we backtracked 30 minutes. The directions should have specified to get off at 19th and walk east. 2.) Much of the food was too modern and anachronistic. This was disappointing because I remember whole wheat bread, whole cheese and yummy sausages from ren faires past. 3.) There were too many vendors and not nearly enough entertainment. I DID like the jousting, but it seemed more selling wares than anything else. The site in Marin with the trees was bigger, dustier yes, but it just seemed more authentic and less contrived. 4.) It was too small and there was not enough going on at all. I paid 15 dollars and had seen everything in about 30 minutes. Boo. More characters would definitely have been appreciated. 5.) The bier-garden seemed to have all the action. They should have had more gardens dispersed. I hope next year they expand and figure out a way to make things more entertaining.

Perviously full with commercial tenants, recent years has found same building boarded up &…read moreunoccupied. Cosmic Slop is one of many murals on boarded up storefronts. Name is on upper right hand corner. Wavy blocked letters "AMBOE" is in the center in bright colors. The spellings and colors' meaning don't resonate with me. Other muralists may know. The name Cosmic Slop may refer to the chaos & randomness of the universe. This mural reflects this sentiment. Creators: KFC, HAIR

I did the Silicon Valley Sprint Triathlon in july and it was well organized but there was one…read moreissue, they should have kept non-competitors out of the transition area. I have a crappy bike, but I'm sure other people may have been worried about random people hanging around their things. This past weekend I did the California Sprint Triathlon in Pleasanton. The swim was too short unless I miraculously transformed into Michael Phelps and the run was wayyy too long. It was around 5 miles rather than a 5k(due to a paucity of course officials toward the end.) It's not a pleasant surprise after swimming and biking. It was good training i suppose, but its a lot of money to spend on a race that you can't even compare to your past races because the distances are inaccurate. I enjoy doing the events, but I would like to get what i sign up for. I hope they learn from their mistakes.

Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me…read more A little about me: I'm no pro triathlete. I run with my age group and usually finish somewhere at the bottom of my age group, but I'm just there to have fun and finish. I've participated with a few other racing companies around California and Nevada, and USA Productions really stands out with their incompetence. The first time I've dealt with USA Productions was when my friend wanted to try a triathlon a little further away, so we met in San Jose and did the Silicon Valley Sprint Triathlon in 2012 at the UVAS Reservoir. At the last second, they moved the triathlon from Lake Almaden to the UVAS Reservoir because of health issues with the water. To be brief here, the experience wasn't 100% pleasant with a lot of the problems repeated in 2014. Now fast forward to 2014 I've moved to Sunnyvale, and I see they have a Super Sprint at Half Moon Bay. Ironically, they moved it from the UVAS reservoir to HMB because of the drought. The distances were super short, and I didn't put much training time in, and I wanted to see HMB, so I decided that they probably patched their issues in 2 years and signed up. My biggest issue in 2012 was waiting forever to get my T1 bags back, but T1 and T2 were only 6 miles apart, so what's the worst that could happen? Since this was a short race, I finished around 9:30am. I left the expo to get my bag since it was supposed to be coming "soon" (I didn't get my bag until 11:45am). It's not like I missed anything at the expo, since there was no food setup and barely any vendors there. After the first batch of bags came in at 10:30am, the lawn area outside T2 became a miserable camp site of people waiting another hour to get their bags. Next time, just make a post race bike race from T2 to T1 to get our own bags... it would've been much faster. Other problems I had *T1 had the same entrance and exit, so those in the back had a really long transition *Long run barefoot from swim end back to T1 (some of it was covered by carpet, some if it wasn't) *Not enough room on the racks in T2 *Crossing the highway three times *The Sprint race was delayed by 30 minutes (not totally their fault, but still annoying to deal with after you wake up extra early to get there on time) *Nobody was checking numbers at the run turn around. I know triathletes are generally more awesome than the average person, but someone could easily cheat and turn around early. So after reading other reviews and going through my experience with USA Productions, they haven't gotten their act together, so I'm not going to waste any more of my training and weekends with them anymore.

The Ferry Observation Deck is definitely a low key great spot!!…read more It's located in Jack London Square, directly above Rosenblum Cellars, basically you walk behind this place and go up the stairs. Great views of the Bay, the park, and the Ferry!! It even has a telescope up there!! I always drop by here when I'm in Jack London Square!!

Easy. This is easy. If you are around and about anyplace at Jack London Square, chances are, that…read moreyou can take in an unexpected view aloft. The Ferry Observation Deck is located on the waterfront at JLS, situated on top of Rosenblum Cellars. There are no gates, or doors. There is a flight of steps behind Roseblum Cellars to get to this second floor lookout. The place is always open.

on 3 sides of this utility box is a view of Temescal Creek under an orange sun. inside the…read moretransparent shape of a butterfly, 2 Ohlone natives are rowing in a canoe and 2 Ohlone hunters are watching them from land. at the bottom left of the butterfly is the word "Ohlone" indicating the image is of the Ohlone people/nation. the creek is reddish brown in colour and the land is green. a cherry blossom tree is blooming. stalks of tall flowers are shown on all 3 sides.

This Lion is alongsdside the S.F. Bay hiking trial which runs in front of him. oblivious to the…read morebird flying past him, he's intently watching/looking for something. whether it's dinner or a rogue element is unclear. same lion came be seen while exiting the Albany parking lot on the Masonic St. side. the trees planted next to the lion creates a sense of realism to it's presence.