Union Square

Union Square December 22-24, 2012

After shopping at Macy's Cellar for a cake carrier that isn't the size of a small house (they don't sell any that aren't freakishly huge, by the way), I decided to linger in Union Square and people watch and take some photos to remind me that all the people crowding into Union Square were real people with real lives, not just faceless shoppers or sidewalk obstacles.  I mean, they are those things, too, but I thought I'd look at their human side for a few minutes.

Easter with the Sisters

This first set of photos is mostly of the Easter bonnet contest, but also just general shots of the crowd in attendance.  Sorry, I didn't hang around for the Hunky Jesus Contest.

 

This second set of photos is the cast of the upcoming revival of the Cockettes' show, "Vice Palace" (with at least one original Cockette involved in the show).

New Year's Fireworks

Part One

Part Two 

Here is the video of the fireworks at the Embarcadero this past New Year's Eve.  The video is in two parts because of the ten-minute time limit on YouTube (they run 12 to 15 minutes every year).

Anyone who speaks the languages being spoken in the background is encouraged to let me know if anyone is saying anything offensive.

Another Tradition

Local Hero

Last year, I wrote about how I always watch "The Cat And the Canary" on or near New Year's Eve.  The only (tenuous) connection that this movie has with New Year's Eve is that midnight figures prominently into the plot (coupled with the fact that in college I would watch my 8mm copy of this movie on New Year's Eve).  I watched the DVD yesterday afternoon.

This year, I'll get a little more obscure and tenuous in revealing another personal tradition:  I also try to watch "Local Hero" on or around New Year's Eve (Chip and I watched it just last night).

"Local Hero" has no direct connection to New Year's at all.  But one year when Tower Records still existed, we went into Tower at Noe and Market one New Year's Eve looking for something appropriate.  We never found anything appropriate, but I discovered that (at that time) Chip had never seen "Local Hero" before.  So that was the evening that "Local Hero" joined our DVD collection, and we still watch it sometime near the changing of the year, just off the personal connection.

And I cannot really watch "Local Hero" without at least thinking about Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's 1945 film, "I Know Where I'm Going!"  Chip and I watched it this afternoon.  It hasn't got the same sense of magic and myth that "Local Hero" has, but the plots of both films have several common elements.

There is also Craig Ferguson's film, "Saving Grace," of which he says that he was deliberately trying to emulate "Local Hero."  And in a fairly recent video about "Local Hero," I heard Bill Forsyth say that with "Local Hero," he was hoping to capture the spirit of some of the Ealing comedies of the 1940s and 50s, such as "The Maggie" and "Whiskey Galore," both of which I own copies of (though I'm not sure I've watched "The Maggie".... Hmmmm.......)

So there's my movie recommendations for this holiday weekend (as well as the circuitous logic that leads me to recommending them for New Year's).  Start with "Local Hero."  Try "I Know Where I'm Going" if you can find it.  If you can't find that, try looking for "Whiskey Galore" or "The Maggie" or "A Run For Your Money" or any of the old Ealing comedies (including the Alec Guinness films, "Kind Hearts And Coronets," "The Ladykillers," "The Lavender Hill Mob" and "The Man In the White Suit.")  And if you're still looking for low-key comedy, look for "Saving Grace."

Jingle Bell Rock

Pee Wee's Playhouse - k.d. lang 

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.

Happy Easter: Eggs!

Eggs!

The Easter Bunny left something special just for you.

Yeah, I got your Easter eggs.... right here.

The Mighty Regis

Take Me Home

For St. Patrick's Day, here's a fake Irish band from LA, The Mighty Regis. Kind of a cross between The Pogues and improv theater. Austin Tichenor of the Reduced Shakespeare Company interviewed lead singer Franky McNorman (aka Mike O'Hara) on this week's Reduced Shakespeare podcast.

Band member names include "Gavin McLoud," "Paddy McRib" and "Ryan O'Neill."

Currently, The Mighty Regis's music can be downloaded from iTunes or previewed at their MySpace page. Song titles include "Me Mother Became a Werewolf," "Get Drunk and Go Home" and "A Tree Grows in Sligo."

Best. Hat. Ever.

We went with HB to see Cinematic Titanic live tonight. On our way home, we stopped to chat at Powell station before we went our separate ways (us to MUNI, HB to BART).

While we were chatting, this woman wearing the best Valentine's Day hat ever stopped behind us to adjust her hat. She was bickering a little bit with her husband, though I didn't really hear what they were bickering about. It wasn't serious, whatever it was.

He saw us looking at the hat and said "Have you ever seen a hat like that in your life?"

I asked if I could take a picture. He said, "Do you want me in it?"

We said sure. So he made a sour face to make fun of the way they'd been bickering a moment earlier.

So that's the explanation of the expression on his face.

I knew you would ask.

YMCA New Year's Connection

Here's another of my New Year's traditions.

Every New Year's Day, the Central YMCA hosts a "New Year's Connection" lunch for approximately 300 low-income seniors. They invite several music and dance groups to entertain the seniors, and both the San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band and the Dixieland Dykes +3 have been asked every year since I've been involved in both groups (Dixieland Dykes +3 were founded in 1995, and we've been doing this YMCA event for at least seven years if not more).

Today was the 30th annual such event, and the 18th consecutive year that I have attended. I now recognize many faces of people who have been attending every year for ten years or more.

This event is how I ensure that I start every year with aching, bloody lips -- each group plays for thirty to forty-five minutes.

This event is also incentive not to have a hangover on New Year's Day.

Click photos to enlarge.

Happy 2009

Happy New Year

Tradition

The Cat and the Canary

When I was in college, back when I was just a young whippersnapper, I owned a full Super8 print of Paul Leni's 1927 silent comedic murder mystery, "The Cat and the Canary." Okay, let's be totally honest. I still own it. It's here in my closet, along with my 8mm projector.

Since midnight figures into the plot somewhat significantly (the old man's will is read at midnight twenty years after his death), and since I rarely had anything to do on New Year's Eve, I developed a habit of watching "The Cat and the Canary" on New Year's Eve. I would start it just at the right time so that midnight in the movie would strike at midnight on New Year's Eve.

For the last five or ten years, Chip and I have gone to the Embarcadero to watch fireworks on New Year's Eve, so I don't perform my ritual exactly the same as I used to. But I still try to watch "The Cat and the Canary" close to New Year's, just out of personal habit (though now I watch the DVD, rather than go through the ritual of setting up the projector, the screen, picking out music for the soundtrack, etc.).

Of course, there's also that other classic New Year's Eve movie: "The Poseidon Adventure," wherein the cruise ship, SS Poseidon, is hit by a tidal wave and capsizes exactly at midnight on New Year's Eve:


Poseidon Adventure

New Year's Eve Plans

Dame Edna interviews kd lang

For the first time ever, Chip and I have plans for New Year's Eve. We're going to see Dame Edna Everage at the Post Street Theater. Then we'll probably go down to the Embarcadero for the fireworks.

Union Square, Christmas Eve

I did some last-minute shopping early this afternoon in Union Square. As you can see, San Francisco is completely overcast and gray today.

It wasn't the total mob scene that you might have expected. The only place where it was really difficult to walk down the sidewalk was outside Macy's, especially at the windows with the SPCA kittens and puppies in the window. Okay, I only saw kittens, but I couldn't get close enough to see much. I just assume that they had puppies as they have done in the past.

I also snapped a few photos around the Safeway and Macy's ice skating rink in Union Square. As you can see, it wasn't exactly a mob scene, either. The on-again-off-again rain probably had something to do with this.

Still, Union Square is always good for a few quickie photos, so here you go -- ice skating, the tree and the menorah.

As always, if you click on the photos, you'll get a larger 1248X936 version.

Unbridled enthusiasm

Go Tell It On the Mountain

Via Boing Boing:

This clip from a public access station shows two women singing "Go Tell It On the Mountain" with a karaoke tape with background vocals included. Their energy and enthusiasm just drip from your computer monitor.

The original source for the clip is a blog called "Classical Gas Emissions" that originates in Winnipeg.

Ad agency holiday party invitation

Charlie Brown Ad Agency

Via Boing Boing:

"I won a silver Addie!"

Oy, Holy Night

Oy, Holy Night

Found via... well, he knows who he is.

I'm impressed. She managed to do this without going to any of the obvious off-color "Fall on your knees" puns.

This year's Novelty-Do-Gooder-Christmas video

Do One Thing

Video for the BBC's "Do One Thing For Nature For Christmas" campaign.

Some of the ideas they suggest for things you can do for nature include: Feed mammals; Make a wood pile; Provide water for birds; Collect rain water.

Fairytale of New York

Fairytale of New York

Best. Christmas. Song. Ever.

Kirsty MacColl lives.

December Will Be Magic Again

Kate acoustic television appearance


Kate lip-sync television appearance


Fan lip-sync to studio recording

This is partly in response to someone's recent discourse on Christmas music. Kate only mentions Saint Nicholas and "Silent Night" in passing.

Also, this is partly in response to my iPod dredging this up on Shuffle while I was on the way to work this morning.

And this is partly just because I like the song, which is on the verge of turning 30 years old.