Towering Over Alcatraz

This rusted water tower was once used to store water for drinking and fighting fires.

There used to be 6 guard towers on the island. This is the only one that is still standing.

Alcatraz had the first activated lighthouse in the West Coast in 1854. It was damaged in the 1906 earthquake and eventually torned down. When the 600 cell prison was built in 1909, they built a new 84-foot concrete lighthouse which you see here.

- AV

A is for Alcatraz on ABC Wednesday

Alcatraz Island as seen from a ferry boat traveling towards the former military fortress, prison, and temporary Indian homeland.

Once disembark the ferry boat, tourists will see this sign.

Tourists are free to roam around the former cell blocks while listening to a self-paced audio tour.

This is the view the prisoners would see from the small opening on the now rusted door. During New Year's Eve, prisoners could hear revelers sailing by on their boats laughing and drinking.

There were 6 full isolation cells called "The Hole" in the whole prison. Notice the double doors. Severely disruptive prisoners were confined here 24 hours a day and sometimes in complete darkness and restricted diets.

This is what it looks like inside "The Hole".

I lived in San Francisco all my life and this was my first trip to Alcatraz. The only way to access the island was by private ferry boats which are usually packed rain or shine.

I spent 4 hours there and wished I had additional time to see everything at a more leisure pace. The self-paced tour was very impressive where you could listen to prisoners' and guards' point of view while living on "The Rock", a nickname for Alcatraz. You might have seen the movie with the same name starring Sean Connery and Nicholas Cage.

I didn't realize the guards and their families lived on the eastern side of the island. Kids took a ferry to the mainland to go to school while the mothers tended to their gardens. Most felt so safe living on the island that they didn't even lock their doors at night!

The history of this island is so fascinating that I could not do it justice. There are numerous books written about this place. Here is a link to a great summary.

Stay tuned for more photos of my tour.

- AV

Wednesday Hero

Airmen from the 816th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron at an air base in Southwest Asia prepare a C-17 Globemaster III for an airdrop mission Jan. 14 to deliver humanitarian supplies to coalition forces in Afghanistan

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Gate 3

This gate leads to the China Basin boat dock in San Francisco. I thought the top of the rounded gate had an interesting contrast with the boats' masts in the distance.

- AV

Turrell Skyspace

Deserted walkway to the Turrell Skyspace

At the exterior of the Turrell Skyspace's narrow pathway

Looking into the skyspace from its entrance. Notice the opening at the top.

Looking at the entrance from the skyspace's interior.

Seats for the audience.

The photos above were taken at the San Francisco DeYoung Museum's Turrell Skyspace. It was a hidden area off to the side of the museum's garden. To get there, I had to walk through a deserted walkway (1st photo). At the end of the walkway, I encountered a circular inner wall and a circular outer wall with a narrow circular pathway in-between all the way around the structure (2nd photo). Next, you will see the interior of the skyspace with a one-piece curved cement bench (photos 3-5).



What could this Turrell Skyspace be used for? Perhaps a location to celebrate one's solitude, look into the sky from a seated position, or enjoy a unique audio performance from anyone who is willing to play. Watch one such performance on a YouTube video above.

Have you heard of the Turrell Skyspace? Here's a summary of what I found on the internet about James Turrell, the artist. A James Turrell skyspace is an enclosed room large enough for roughly 15 people. Inside, the viewers sit on benches along the edge to view the sky through an opening in the roof.

- AV

Neon Art

Contemporary neon art found at the Centre Pompidou museum, Paris

Outdoor Seating

This photo was shot from a museum's 2nd floor window overlooking its outdoor cafeteria seating area. Fortunately, this was taken early so you could see the shape of the chairs and the alignment of the tables. If I had waited a little longer, almost all the chairs were occupied by the lunch crowd.

Happy Friday,
AV

Fountains

These are the fountains located by Santa Clara's City Hall. By the way, the exposure time was 1/5 seconds at ISO-1600 without a tripod or flash. It took a few tries and breath holding to have the photo turn out not too blurry.

For you locals, Santa Clara is now one step closer to possibly becoming the new home of the San Francisco 49ers football team after the city council voted 6-to-1 last night to move forward with a feasibility study to build a new stadium about 5 miles from where we currently live. Luckily, we moved in 2006; otherwise, we would only be a few blocks from the proposed stadium site.

- AV

Z is for Zapcar on ABC Wednesday

I saw these cute little electric vehicles last summer and took pictures of them in anticipation of the letters X or Z. They are called Xebra made by Zap!

Here are some of the Xebra stats:

• 10 feet in length
• 5 feet wide
• 5 .05 feet in height
• 1720 pounds
• 3 cents per mile
• Maximum speed at 40 MPH (65 kmph)
• 25 miles per charge
• 3 wheel vehicle
• 2 seater
• Price starts at $10,000US from a local dealer
• Also comes in Ocean Blue, Zebra Flash, Kiwi Green, and Lipstick Red

Which color suits you?

- AV

Wednesday Hero

Cpl. Phillip E. Baucus
28 years old from Wolf Creek, Montana
3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force
July 29, 2006


Marine Cpl. Phillip E. Baucus was the nephew of Montana Senator Max Baucus. He joined the corps in 2002 and was sent to Iraq in March of 2005.

Cpl. Baucus was killed alongside fellow Marines Sgt. Christian Williams, 27 yrs old from Winter Haven, Fla. and Lance Cpl. Anthony E. Butterfield, 19 yrs old from Clovis, Calif. during combat operations in Al Anbar province.

"Phillip was an incredible person, a dedicated Marine, a loving son and husband, and a proud Montanan and American," Sen. Baucus said. "He heroically served the country he loved and he gave it his all."


These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Japanese Tea Garden, Part 2

I forgot to add this photo to yesterday's post, but it shows the steps on the Moon Bridge. Pretty steep and scary.

This is the Main Gate entrance. Too bad it was such a cloudy day in the City.

This is the tea room where visitors can drink tea, have cookies, and look out onto the zen garden.

From what I read, this is the oldest public Japanese garden in the United States. A few scenes from the movie "Memoirs of a Geisha" were filmed here. Here is some additional history of this garden written by the original creator's great-great grandson if you want to read up on it.

- AV

Moon Bridge

This is the "Moon Bridge" in San Francisco's Japanese Tea Garden. Visitors like to climb this steep bridge from one end to the other. I remember doing this as a kid.

- AV

Endless Stairways

I was at a local museum last month and saw these stairs in front of me. In my mind, this area was begging to be photographed. Although I would've liked one lower to the ground, but I think security might have taken me away if I was to lay on my stomach for the shots.

I'm taking an online photography course at a local junior college and part of self-introduction to the class, we had to describe what types of subjects we like to photograph. I had to ponder that for awhile... I guess I decided on "unusual", "architectural", and "travel".

What types of pictures do you like to take?

Happy Friday,
AV

La Fountaine des Mers Replica, Part 2 of 2

Here is a continuation of my post from Monday. This is a shot of the ladies behind the fountain. They deserve a close up look as they are typically blocked by a wall of water.

- AV

Y is for Youths on ABC Wednesday

Photo taken at a butterfly release event by the Children's Discovery Museum.

Photo taken at the same butterfly release event as the above photo.

Photo taken at a dance audition to perform at a local amusement park.

Photo taken at a local art fair where there was a huge slide to occupy the kids.

I looked through all my newer photos and couldn't find anything that started with the letter Y so I dug through my archives from my old newspaper days and came up with these photos.

- AV

Wednesday Hero

Sgt. Frank T. Carvill
51 years old from Carlstadt, New Jersey
3rd Battalion, 112th Field Artillery
June 04, 2004


When Frank T. Carvill told his sister he had been called up to go to Iraq, she was stunned. "Gee, Frank, are you going to be part of the AARP battalion?" she teased.

Carvill joined the Guard in the 80's out of a sense of patriotism. He was a devoted big brother to Peggy Liguori, who still remembers how as kids, he took her to see “Blue Hawaii” and “Born Free” at the movies. He was the longtime pal to Rick Rancitelli who admired Carvill’s “million-dollar vocabulary” and his writing and public speaking skills. In 1993. Sgt. Carvill was working in the WTC as a paralegal when it was attacked. He helped a co-worker down 54 floors to safety. In 2001, he was still working at the WTC. He had just left the North Tower moments before the first plane hit.

Sgt. Carvill was killed when his convoy was attacked outside of Baghdad.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your blog, you can go here.

La Fountaine des Mers

This is a replica of the La Fountaine des Mers found in front of the Paris Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The original La Fountaine is in Paris, France.

- AV

A Little Bit of Summer

With the cold & dreary weather, I thought I would post a little bit of summer to those suffering from the winter blues. Look, it's the Hula Hawaiian Shave Ice truck.

Stay dry and keep warm!

- AV

Man Observing & Its Shadow

I saw this interesting statue called "Man Observing II" by Viola Frey at a local museum. It's made of glazed earthenware, steel, and cement. I thought the shadow it casts was intriguing as well.

Happy Friday,
AV

X is for Xmas Parade Balloons on ABC Wednesday

At a recent night parade where everyone was fascinated at looking up at the snowman balloon.



Balloons all lined up on a side street getting ready to enter into the parade.

The poor ducky balloon was so tall that it had to be carried almost horizontally face down throughout the parade.



X is a difficult letter and I hope these photos will suffice. I'm curious what others have for X. I love parade balloons so here are a few from 3 recent holiday parades I attended.

- AV

Wednesday Hero

1st Sgt. Eric Crayton
From Sparta, Georgia


Sgt. Eric Crayton, the first sergeant for the Extension Detachment, Company C, Special Troops Battalion, 4th Infantry Division, serving Christmas dinner to Soldiers at the Pegasus Dining Facility at Camp Liberty, Iraq.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your blog, you can go here.

Francis Scott Key Statue

51 feet in height and costing $860,000, this statue was put up in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park in 1887. The inscription reads...
To Francis Scott Key
Author of the National Song
The Star Spangled Banner
This Mounument is Erected
By
James Lick
of San Francisco California
A.D. MDCCCLXXXVII

Close up statue of Francis Scott Key. Born in 1780 and a district attorney who was best known to have written a poem called the "The Star-Spangled Banner" after witnessing a battle between U.S. and British forces.

* * * * * * * * * *

Happy New Year's to All! I want to thank everyone for their support in 2007 by visiting and commenting on my posts. Without you, it would not be worth posting if no one wanted to read what I have to say. So, thank you and looking forward to sharing more photos with you in 2008!

If you made any resolutions in 2007, how did you do? Any resolutions you made in 2008 that you would like to share? My struggle is to always try to be more productive. If only there were more than 24 hours to a day. Again, this year, I vow to be even more productive.

- AV