EssEff Foggy Fourth of July Fireworks (Time Lapse)

Back from Michigan in time for the Independence Day festivities. We've got a great vantage point on Russian Hill to watch the fireworks display in the bay, but... it's always a crapshoot with San Francisco fog.  This year we only saw the low altitude blasts, reflections off the water, and some pretty pastel clouds.  No matter, it was still fun. Here a time-lapse of the entire fireworks show, shot with my GoPro from the terrace.

Alcatraz and the Artist Ai Weiwei At Large

We've lived in EssEff for over 30 years, most of that on Russian Hill with a view of the bay. We see Alcatraz every day, and yet have never set foot on the island. Just one of those things that we've been meaning to get around to but never quite do.  Until today.

Alcatraz from Russian Hill

Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei, in collaboration with the For-Site Foundation, Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, and the National Park Service has erected a large scale art installation on the historic site which will be on display until April, 2015.

Ai Weiwei self-portrait as a silk kite in "With Wind" installation

"Ai’s sculpture, sound, and mixed-media installations occupy four locations in the former prison: the New Industries Building; a group of cells in A Block; the Hospital; and the Dining Hall. With the exception of the Dining Hall, these areas are usually restricted to the public, but all are open throughout the run of the exhibition. @Large turns Alcatraz into a space for dialogue about how we define liberty and justice, individual rights and personal responsibility. In artworks that balance political impact with aesthetic grace, the exhibition directly and imaginatively addresses the situation of people around the world who have been deprived of their freedom for speaking out about their beliefs — people like Ai himself.  A vocal critic of his nation’s government, Ai was secretly detained by Chinese authorities for 81 days in 2011, and is still not permitted to travel outside China. As a result, the artist was unable to visit Alcatraz during the planning of this exhibition; he has developed the artwork at his studio in Beijing, with the help of the FOR-SITE Foundation."

This was the impetus we needed. Sigrid arranged for tickets, we Uber'd down to Pier 33 and took the ferry to the island.

At Pier 33

Russian Hill from the ferry.

Russian Hill from Alcatraz

The mash-up of tourist attraction / art installation / political statement invokes a bit of cognitive dissonance. The impossible job of resolving these disparate elements falls squarely on the shoulders of the person guiding, exhorting and lecturing the group tour.

Gabby was our guide for the tour and she admirably addressed the challenging task, getting through the canned spiel, answering questions, and herding the group to and through the installations. Both during and after the tour we had adequate time to enjoy and explore the installations before catching the last ferry back.

The work is necessarily large and accessible, the political message is explicit and literal, the aesthetics bright and appealing. Anything small, discrete and subtle would simply be overwhelmed and lost in the setting of the hulking prison and it's depressing history.

Photography was permitted throughout, so without further ado, some images from Sigrid's Canon and my Samsung S5, focused on three of the more visually arresting galleries

With Wind

Trace

Refraction

Like any tourist destination or major museum art exhibit, at the conclusion of the tour we found a variety of books written by and about the exhibit as well as a wide selection of branded swag and souvenir tchotchkes.

As noted, there is nothing surprising about this. Still - given the ambition and artistic message of the installation is focused on the oppression of jailed, tortured and murdered artists and dissidents - some of this crap strikes a jarring note. I can't help but think this trivializes the artist's intent.  An Ai Weiwei mousepad? An AiWewei quote "Once again, the facts have been erased." printed on a giant rubber eraser? Really?

The exhibit notes explain that Ai Weiwei's passport has been confiscated by the Chinese government, he has not been permitted to travel out of China, and he has consequently not directly seen his exhibition or this display. He gets the benefit of the doubt.  But I do think someone on the commercial end of the exhibition has completely jumped the shark.  But let's wrap on a more positive note.

After 30 years, we finally checked the Alcatraz tour off of EssEff staycation list.

Moreover, we both thoroughly enjoyed the Ai Weiwei installation - definitely recommended.

Finally, I was really tickled to see this:

Although you've already seen three images of the dragon kite head in this post, you probably did not notice that the eye of the dragon has a twitter logo for a pupil. And the eyebrow is the artist's twitter handle.  Ai Weiwei is a big fan of social networks.

So I'll be tweeting this review to him as soon as I post it.

UPDATE: For-site takes note

@for_site @aiww Thanks... It's a great and inspiring art installation.
— Mike Wallach (@MWatLarge) December 5, 2014

 Editors Note: Am now frantically proofing the post for typo.

EssEff Fourth of July Fireworks from Russian Hill

Some years we get a clear view of the fireworks from our terrace on Russian Hill. Some years we do not. This year a high fog rolled in.  We could see the displays set for low and medium level, but the high blasts were lost. Still, they produced a very nice pastel colored fog bank.

Thought I'd try to capture the event with my new GoPro. The GoPro's wide angle let us pick up both the Pier 39 and Crissy Field displays, as well as the crowd gathering at the corner of Green an Jones to watch the event. I started the time-lapse about a half hour before the display, and unfortunately ran out of storage before the finale. We'll know better next time.

The "Serene" Summit

Our building merited a feature in the Sunday Chron from architectural critic John King. This from a recurring series highlighting buildings and architecture that King finds worthy of note.

We've been living here over 20 years, and over that time the tone of local architectural critics (amateur and pro alike) has softened considerably. I recall a column from the late great San Francisco columnist Heb Caen where he referred to The Summit as a "beast of building". Even now, John King seems a bit conflicted, simultaneously describing the building as "serene", sculptural" and "intrusive". Make up your mind John.

[NOTE: I removed the embedded video clip because it obnoxiously ran ads automatically without asking. Video Linked Here.]

A High-rise Classic in an Awkward Locale

Urban buildings exist in two realms, the heavens and the earth, and Russian Hill's tallest tower shows the potential tension well. Developer Joseph Eichler wanted to stack views upon views, and he did so with a flared shaft of concrete and glass at once sculptural and serene. But the impression down low is blunt, the historic setting serving as little more than a launch pad. Now the hill has a 40-foot height limit, leaving Eichler's aerie on its own - still intrusive, but letting us admire the architectural drama without fearing what might come next.

The Summit 999 Green St. Architect: Tibor Fecskes | Style: Modern | Size: 32 stories | Date built: 1965

Of course, the best way to view our building is from the inside looking out.

Summit building cameo in "Cloud Atlas" + review

The Summit in Cloud Atlas

Underwhelmed by the book, I was not particularly interested in shelling out good money to see "Cloud Atlas" in the theaters. Now that it is available "On Demand" with our HBO subscription, I finally got around to it.

I had another reason for watching the movie. When I was serving on the homeowner association board, we  were contacted by the movie production company requesting permission to use an external "set up" shot of the building in the movie. We thought the request a bit odd, as anyone can photograph a building from the outside. Regardless, after reviewing the cast, we requested a direct negotiation with Halle Berry. Alas it was not to be.  We agreed to the shot and they paid the association a little money which we contributed to the Wounded Warrior project.

So... About 14 1/2 minutes into the movie our building makes a brief cameo appearance. I watched on the PC so I could do a screen capture and post it here (see top of page). The title on the screen is "San Francisco, 1973". For locals of a certain age, there is an obvious mistake in the shot. Yes, the Summit building was here (completed in '65), and yes the Transamerica building was here (completed in in '72). However, the Bay Bridge suspension cable lights featured in the shot were not installed until the bridge's 50 year anniversary in 1986.  There are surely more mistakes, I suspect the Embarcadero Freeway would have been visible in this shot in 1973.

Am I being overly picky for a 3 second shot in a 3 hour movie? Perhaps. For me, that shot was the highlight of the movie. As for the movie itself... well... here is the bloated, overlong, overwrought six minute trailer which, as it turns out, was a pretty good proxy for the bloated, overlong, overwrought movie itself:


The two words most frequently associated with this pretentious piece of crap during its theatrical release was "Oscar bait". At least, for once,  the Academy did not take the bait.

The funny thing is I like every actor in the movie. I mean - Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugo Weaving, Ben Whishaw, Susan Sarandon, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Grant.  What's not to like?  And I like almost everything the Wachowski's have ever done. And I enjoy epic science fiction with time/space bending narratives. So what went wrong? Two things.

First - Tom Hanks. Look. I hope Tom Hanks wins an Oscar for "Captain Phillips".   In that flick, the actor disappeared into the role. A great, believable performance. But in "Cloud Atlas" all I could see is Tom Hanks in bad makeup with laughably phony ridiculous accents. He was a continuous distraction.

Second - The book. Nothing can get past the source material here. The new age-ish, "we are all connected" , "reincarnation until you get it right" karmic mysticism was hard to swallow. This is a movie and book that demands you appreciate that it has something VERY IMPORTANT to say about the HUMAN CONDITION, LIFE, THE UNIVERSE, and EVERYTHING.  If instead it comes across as a load of pretentious horseshit, well - the movie is just not going to work for you. It didn't work for me.

On a positive note, the Wachowskis came through with a visually sumptuous CGI ride. And that, at least, gives the movie one unique distinction. It is the rare movie that is better than the book it is based on. The movie is bad. The book is worse.

First Day of Americas Cup Final Team Oracle starts in the hole and keeps digging.

Hope for a competitive Final Series in the America's Cup was muted when a 2 point penalty was assessed against Team Oracle for cheating in the 45 competition.

Larry Ellison's Sailing Team Was Slammed With Huge Penalties For Cheating 

"Now a jury for the America's Cup has imposed severe penalties on the team, harsher than any in the race's 162-year-old history, reports Reuters Ronnie Cohen. The jury docked the team two "points" and kicked three people off the team. Oracle also has to pay $250,000 to two charitable foundations. The America's Cup finals are a series of 17 races. Those two points mean that Oracle will need to win 11 races while its competitor, Emirates Team New Zealand, will only need to win 9."

After the first day of racing, it does not look like Team New Zealand will need those two penalty points. The first race looked competitive for a while, but the Kiwi's seem to have Larry's boys outclassed.


As noted in prior posts, we've got a view of about half the course from our vantage on Russian Hill. Sigrid got out the long lens and I was playing around with time-lapse video on the droid and conventional video from the Olympus Stylus Tough. I suspect this may not last more than a week, so we'll enjoy it while we can. Some sample shots from the terrace:

 

UPDATE:New York Times coverage of the race:

Already in Hole, Oracle Drops First Two Races to New Zealand

Jim Wilson/The New York Times

SAN FRANCISCO — Emirates Team New Zealand skimmed above the waves of San Francisco Bay faster and better than the defending champion, Oracle Team USA, on Saturday to win the first two races of the 34th America’s Cup.