The Aerial "Tank" of the Future -- October 1, 2017

Flight, 01-February-1917

"By an inventor who should be interned." 

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The Giants won their last game of the season, on a walk-off home run by Pablo Sandoval.  This was a bad season, with 98 losses.  Matt Cain had a nice send-off after the game. 

Matt Cain, Goodbye -- September 30, 2017

Matt Cain, the Horse, retired today after pitching his last game for the Giants.  In typical Giants fashion, he left the game leading 1-0 and the bullpen blew the save.  More run support would have been nice.  He said he was proud that he had always worn the Giants' uniform.  He joined the team in 2005 and was the last active Giant who had been a teammate of Barry Bonds. 

Beat LA -- April 2, 2013

Yesterday the Giants lost their first game in Los Angeles 4-0.  Matt Cain started and pitched well, but the  it.  Tonight Madison Bumgarner shut out the Dodgers and the Giants won. 

2012 -- December 31, 2012

The Giants won the World Series.  I did not have high hopes when closer Brian Wilson had to undergo his second Tommy John surgery in April, and outfielder Melky Cabrera, their most consistent hitter, got suspended in August.  

The Occupy Movement has not been as active this year, but has carried on in many places.  The rebellion in Syria has grown.

I have enjoyed the regular monthly series. 

In January I wrote about the latest Treasures set from the National Film Preservation Foundation, Treasures From the American Film Archives, The West.  I participated in a 2010 blogathon which raised money to preserve two of the short films in the set.  I did my small part for the Internet Strike. 

In February I stopped the monthly Benny Bufano series.  I will pick it up again on an irregular basis as I photograph more of his sculptures.  We celebrated the 200th birthday of Charles Dickens.  San Francisco's Old Clam House celebrated its 150th birthday.  SMART (Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit) broke ground in Petaluma.

In March I started a monthly series of railroad ads.  

In April I posted a week of articles on the Titanic to commemorate the 100th anniversary of her sinking.

In May I participated in the third annual For the Love of Film blogathon: For the Love of Hitchcock.  I did five articles on Hitchcock in movie industry annuals.  We also celebrated the 75th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge. 

June was an exciting month.  Matt Cain pitched a perfect game against the Houston Astros on 13-June-2012.  This was the first perfect game in the history of the Giants.   Later in the June, the Giants swept the Dodgers in a three-game series.  This was the first time they had done that.

Also in June, I revived a monthly series of photos of classic cars from the 2010 San Francisco International Auto Show.  

On 24-June-2012 I celebrated the fifth anniversary of this blog. 

In July I reached the fifth anniversary of the cat pictures. Three Giants were elected to start on the All Star team, Pablo Sandoval, Buster Posey and Melky Cabrera.

Also in July I revived the monthly series of pulp magazine and comic book covers.  

In August, during the London Olympics, I posted a series of newspaper articles about Jim Thorpe.  I resumed the Grauman's Chinese series.  I also started a new series of ads for the Oz Film Manufacturing Company.  Caesar's Italian Restaurant closed. 

In September I moved to a new office building.  I miss hearing the sirens from Station One.  I talked to school kids about the topic of the DAR essay contest: unsung heroes of the Revolutionary War.  We celebrated the 150th anniversary of the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. 

Also in September, I stopped the monthly door series.  I'll probably make it an irregular series.  I started a short series within the slapstick series to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Keystone. 

In October, the Giants won the World Series, sweeping the Detroit Tigers.  I went to the parade.  BART celebrated its 40th birthday, and we observed the 50th anniversary of the start of Vatican II.  I stopped the monthly alley series.


In November, I was happy to see President Barack Obama get reelected.  Giants catcher Buster Posey was named National League MVP.  I started a new series of ferryboat photos. I attended a festival of historic vehicles that was part of the celebrations leading up to Muni's 100th birthday. 

In December, the San Francisco Municipal Railway celebrated its 100th birthday.  Pianist and composer Dave Brubeck died.  

Among the items in the series on the Van Der Weyde family were a Scientific American obituary of Dr P. H. Van Der Weyde, an obituary of son Nicholas J Van Der Weyde, and photos by his son Henry and his grandson William.  I may reduce the frequency of this series one of these months.

Inspired by the America's Cup trials, I included some images of yachts in the WA Coulter series.  I'll do more in 2013. 

I see I did not mention the killing of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin in Florida.  We don't know the whole story, but there is injustice there.  I did mention at least a couple of the terrible mass shootings that have taken place.  The NRA has helpfully suggested that the answer is more guns.  Teachers should be armed.  Firemen should be armed.  Everyone in a movie theater should be armed.  Violence begets violence.  The NRA used to be a good organization that taught responsibility.  It has become an agent of evil. 

The image shows Texas-born actress Florine McKinney, who appeared in many movies including Horse Feathers with the 4 Marx Brothers.  It comes from the wonderful site LucyWho (http://www.lucywho.com/).

1931 Chrysler Imperial GC Custom Line Coupe October 28, 2012

San Francisco's Academy of Art University has a fine collection of classic cars available for study by its design students. They shared the collection at the 2010 San Francisco International Auto Show.

The Imperial was Chrysler's top-of-the-line model.  Al Leamy designed the coachwork for this Imperial GC Custom Line Coupe.

The Giants beat the Tigers 4-3 in 10 innings to sweep the World Series.  The lead went back and forth a few times.  Matt Cain pitched well.  Sergio Romo saved it.  It was a suspenseful game.  I am happy.

Fireworks are blasting away in Pacifica.  This is the Giants' seventh win in the World Series, their 19th World Series.  They won the pennant in 1904, but refused to play in what would have been the second World Series against Boston because manager John McGraw felt he had been cheated by American League founder Ban Johnson.  They also won the Temple Cup against Baltimore in 1894. 

Pablo Sandoval is the World Series MVP.  Well deserved.  

Alley #32 -- July 10, 2012

Looking down Stevenson Street from Third.  Dave's Bar is hidden by the truck on the right.  Beyond it is the back of the Monadnock Building.  The Palace Hotel is in the background, across Annie Street.  The Hearst Garage is on the right. I took the photo on 19-June-2012.

The National League won the All Star Game in Kansas City 8-0.  Matt Cain started and pitched two scoreless innings.  Melky Cabrera got a single in the first and scored a run.  Pablo Sandoval hit a bases-loaded triple in the first and scored.  Buster Posey caught Cain, walked in the first, and scored.  In the fourth, Cabrera hit a two-run home run.  Cabrera was chosen as MVP.  Good game. 

Giants on the All Star Team -- July 1, 2012

Three Giants were voted to start on the All Star team, Pablo Sandoval, Buster Posey and Melky Cabrera.  Matt Cain was selected as a pitcher.

I forgot to mention yesterday that we had  lunch at the Metreon, at La Boulange, which has a line out the door every workday at lunch.  We both had grilled cheese.  Very good.  After, we watched Circus Bella in Yerba Buena Gardens. 

Door #23 -- June 13, 2012

The door of the Kohler and Chase Building at 26 O'Farrell.  Kohler and Chase was a pioneering music business, founded in San Francisco in 1850.  The building once held their store and their piano factory.

Matt Cain just threw the first perfect game in Giants franchise history.  The Giants also managed to score 10 runs against the Houston Astros.

Willie Mays 80 #2 -- May 7, 2011

06-May-2011 was the 80th birthday of the greatest baseball player who ever lived, Willie Mays. Last night we went to see the Giants play the Colorado Rockies and honor Willie Mays. When I left the office, I was shocked by the power of the wind. My cap blew off as I crossed Harrison. I found a huge crowd waiting in line at the front gate. I also found that the statue of Mays was wearing an orange party hat. I took this photo.

I walked around the outside of the park, waiting for the booth that sells Muni tickets to open. The line for the main gate extended across the bridge and past the McCovey statue. The line for the gate by the bridge went to the marina. The line for the Second Street gate stretched off down the Embarcadero.

I bought the tickets and had a nice chat about Pacifica with the seller. I went across the bridge and found the end of the line near the gate to the little ball field by the McCovey statue. The line wrapped around the statue, back across the bridge, and up to the front gate. My wife and daughter tried to join me as we passed the Dugout store, but a security guard rudely threw them out. I stayed in line to be sure to get one of the statues the Giants were handing out.

I went up to the Club level and looked at the exhibits. I found our seats, out in the left field corner. When the family made it in, we bought sandwiches and took them to our seats. The cold and the papers blowing around reminded us of Candlestick.

Before the game, the Giants honored Willie Mays on his birthday. Two of his teammates from the Birmingham Black Barons, Jimmy Zapp and the Reverend William Greason, were on the field, along with Hall of Famers Gaylord Perry, Orlando Cepeda, and Willie McCovey. Teammates Felipe Alou and Jimmy Davenport were also there. Lon Simmons read a letter from Monte Irvin. Jon Miller read a letter from President and Mrs Obama. Many people spoke on video, including Hank Aaron, President Bill Clinton, Barry Bonds, John Montefusco, and Bill Cosby, who led us all in a toast to his great friend Willy Brown. Willie Mays cried. I wanted to cry.

In the game, Matt Cain pitched against Ubaldo Jimenez. Cain gave up a home run in the first and two in the third. The Giants weren't hitting at all, scoring only one run through the 7th. They tied it in the 8th and won in the 9th. Brian Wilson got the win.

I felt bad, but we had to leave after the 8th. We took an N car to Powell, and drove home from Fifth and Mission.

Today is National Train Day.