Chalk Visions

Chalk artist, Nikolas Larson, has started a blog to document his chalk drawings at various spots around the city.

The reason I'm familiar with his work at all is that I walk past his work on the way to and from the gym.  Near the corner of 15th and Market, at the Union 76 gas station, there is a place where the sidewalk widens in such a way that it's actually a pretty low-foot-traffic area, and Mr. Larson has drawn two drawings there now.

First, in early July, he drew an elaborate piece which, oddly, is not documented on his blog.  Because this particular little stretch of sidewalk is so low-traffic, the drawing stayed pretty fresh-looking for about two months.

Then, a week or two ago, the drawing disappeared overnight.  I assumed that either the city or the 76 station had washed it away.  But a new drawing, "The Prince of Wands," started to appear soon afterward.

The two drawings he has done in this spot are very similar in style, but his photos of his other works show a much broader range.  So when you have a few free minutes, go check out his blog, "Chalk Visions."

The Bobs

White Room 

I'm posting this in response to the number of times that people have posted the "Voca People" video to Facebook.  While I honestly believe that The Voca People are immensely talented, I also honestly find them heavily derivative of The Bobs (and The Bobs do it with half as many performers).

For a more direct comparison to The Voca People, here's a link to a complete mp3 of The Bobs' cover of The Beatles' song, "Helter Skelter."  (Don't worry, the mp3 is offered to the universe by The Bobs on their website, so the file should be perfectly legal.)  This song was recorded in 1983 -- about 25 years before Voca People came along.  As I recall, this album had a notice on it warning the listener that all the sounds on the album were made by the Bobs' mouths and other parts of their bodies.

A different kind of birdsong

Birds on the Wires from Jarbas Agnelli on Vimeo.

Found via Gizmodo

I've always been fond of "found" music and ways to read nature as music.  So I find this video interesting and entertaining.

Updated Bridge Photo

Cool nighttime shot from one of the Construction Cams (which, like the others, embiggens really nicely).

Work in Progress

For your Labor Day Weekend entertainment:

Bay Bridge Construction cams

Click on the pictures to embiggen them.  They're very cool, actually.

Empty Bay Bridge

Courtesy of SFist.

For those not in the Bay Area, the Bay Bridge is closed from 8 p.m. last night until 5 a.m. Tuesday.  This is all part of the replacement of parts of the bridge that's been happening ever since the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989.

Is that a car near the center bottom of the photo?