Echoes

As you can see, I ended up back in San Francisco again this past week, but this time with a couple of differences: a) it was on business, and b) I made it up early enough in the morning to try and catch the sunrise. Alas, all I caught was fog. Very pleasant morning though, and I was nevertheless able to grab a few shots before heading back out of the city still early enough to avoid the inevitable traffic build-up.

Tomorrow I am off to Japan, just in time to catch the ongoing monsoon season. Fortunately, typhoon Molave already headed north so with luck I should avoid any knock-on delays from the problems this caused in Hong Kong. Even so, the weather forecast is promising 80 degree daytime temperatures with heavy rain and gusty winds. Lovely time, therefore, to be using the crowded Tokyo metro system and wearing a suit!

Back next weekend before heading again into San Francisco for DAC.

Anti-Aircraft Flowers

Getting married has always been something that's a bit hit-or-miss, but up until now it's rarely threatened the lives of those hired to make the happy day pass with a bang. According to the BBC, that just changed.

A bridge and groom in Italy hired a small plane to fly past the wedding party and drop a bouquet for a line of women guests to catch. Alas, the flowers never quite made it that far, electing instead to dive into one of the engine intakes thereby bringing the whole shooting match down, destroying a hostel in the process.

Thinking laterally, therefore, can't we save some money by using ground-to-air daffodils instead of missiles to protect key installations from attack by, say, the North Korean air force? If a small bouquet can bring down a twin engined plane, just think of the havoc a decent sized floral display could inflict on a fast moving jet fighter? Or, in the case of the aforementioned North Korean air force, a small microlight kitted out-with a paintball gun?

Cut the defence budget & save the country: buy flowers instead.

Firework For The Common Man

Really, I despair. Despite the obvious dangers of playing with what's basically explosives on a stick, it never ceases to amaze quite how stupid some people can be. Now, you may want to blame it drink, drugs or over medication; you may think it's all down to a deprived childhood, poor nutrition from birth or a mother who smoked (crack, most likely); you may even conclude it's just youthful high spirits or a "phase" your precious youngster is going through. Well, it's not. Some people are simply, wholly and utterly congenitally stupid.

I submit in evidence the above. A future Darwin Award winner is shown standing on the bumpers of two adjacent cars while one of his "friends" lights a firework rocket placed directly under his crotch. Yes, it's that dumb. And yes, it has the expected results.

Gives a whole new meaning to the term "crotch rocket" which, as I type this, I now realise probably offers an explanation as to what they hell they thought they were doing. When you are that dim-witted it must make it difficult to accept that this is a term applied to a fast motorcycle, and not something to be taken literally.

Really, I despair.

City View

Even though noting this plan right now is largely an excuse to post one or two more shots of San Francisco, I'm looking forward to doing a two day photography seminar in and around the city at the end of September. Details here. Chris Honeysett has a wonderfully sparse way of looking at things and clearly has a detailed knowledge of San Francisco and how it looks through the lens of a camera.

Meanwhile, this public sculpture is called "Cupid's Span" and sits close to the Bay Bridge, on the Embarcadero. It's part of the overall redevelopment of the entire area following the serendipitous clearing of the ugly freeway that used to blight the area prior to 1989. In addition to the park which contains this sculpture, the main attraction as a result of the regeneration has become the Ferry Building. I'll post a bit more on this later once I get round to doing something with a matching picture, but suffice it to say it's become one of the premier gourmet markets in San Francisco and the centerpiece to an entire waterfront area.

Independence

Happy July 4th.

COTW

Given that we're doing acronyms this week, here's another: "customer of the week", an accolade I just garnered at the Starbuck's I go to daily when in the office.

On the plus side, free coffee! On the minus side, I will only get there twice this week. Still, fame is fame but fortune is better, so even just two free drinks is better than none.

Happy July 4th!