dimanche 31 août 2008

Bonjour!

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San Francisco sparkles in the distance, part of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge being at the center left of the image, as "Louis" points his toy Olympus over the balcony rail. Trainers are exercising horses at Albany Fields in the left foreground.

vendredi 29 août 2008

Le Vendredi «Sky Watch» Foggy rush hour

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The fog was heavy enough at evening rush hour to make it seem almost night on the freeway, seen at the bottom of the image. Unaltered except to crop most of the building next to Chez la Vache out of the image.

jeudi 28 août 2008

Mount Tamalpais

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Mount Tamalpais, viewed from le balcon Chez la Vache, is symbolic of Marin County. Marin County is across the Golden Gate Bridge north of San Francisco. Much of "Mount Tam," as it is often called by locals, is protected within public lands such as Mount Tamalpais State Park and the Mount Tamalpais Watershed. Mount Tamalpais is the highest peak in the Marin Hills, which are part of the Northern California Coast Ranges. The elevation at its highest point is 2,571 feet (784 metres).

The name Tamalpais was first recorded in 1845. The meaning of the name is not well-established and there are several versions of the etymology of the name. One version holds that the name comes from ostensibly Coast Miwok words for "coast mountain" (tamal pais). Another holds that it comes from the Spanish Tamal pais, meaning "Tamal country", Tamal being the name that the Spanish missionaries gave to the Coast Miwok peoples. Yet another version holds that the name is the Coast Miwok word for "sleeping maiden" and is taken from a "Legend of the Sleeping Maiden". Despite its persistence this legend actually has no basis in Coast Miwok myth and is instead a piece of Victorian-era apocrypha.

The Coast Miwok are said to have believed that an evil witch dwelled at the top of Mount Tamalpais and therefore never set foot on the peak.

Offering trails for hiking and biking, and even spots for outdoor weddings, "Mount Tam" is a popular destination for tourists and Bay Area residents alike.

mercredi 27 août 2008

ABC Mercredi - "F" - Fantail

ABC Wednesday - "F"
Fantail


See all the other participants: "ABC Wednesdays"

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The U.S.S. Hornet again provides us with a photo for "ABC Wednesday." Today, we are standing on her Fantail, looking through the Flag toward San Francisco. The Fantail is the area of the stern of a ship above her rudder and screws. In the case of the Hornet, the Fantail is below the Flight deck.

"Louis's" series on the U.S.S. Hornet
.

U.S.S. Hornet
Flight Deck
Crane
Apollo Space Capsule
Avenger
All Zipped Up!

mardi 26 août 2008

lundi 25 août 2008

Le Lundi «Odd Shots»: Fire!

"Odd Shots Monday" is hosted by Katney's Kaboodle

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"Louis" usually aims the toy Olympus over the freeway and the buildings on the other side of the freeway when he is taking photos of the Bay from his balcony. However, tonight there was a fire in some construction debris outside a building that is being remodeled, so the toy Olympus tried to catch some of the action.

vendredi 22 août 2008

Le Vendredi «Sky Watch» - 20:00 heures

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After a sparkling day, the evening mists settle in on the Golden Gate Bridge and the Bay.

jeudi 21 août 2008

Dippity-do-dah-two!

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In the original Dippity-do-dah post, San Francisco was wearing a cap of fog and the Bay was hazy. Here's the same view on a sparkling clear day.

mercredi 20 août 2008

ABC Mercredi - "E" - Elevator

ABC Wednesday - "E"
Elevator


See all the other participants: "ABC Wednesdays"

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The stern of the Cape Mohican, which you saw in "Louis's" post "See-through ship", is configured as an elevator whose function is to put heavy equipment ashore. Cape Mohican is part of the MARAD fleet. She landed rescue equipment after the Indonesian tsunami and has served in both Gulf Wars.

mardi 19 août 2008

Bring out the boats!

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Ignoring the layer of fog almost completely obscuring Angel Island and still obscuring completely Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge, someone shouted "bring out the boats," and this group gleefully responded!

lundi 18 août 2008

Le lundi «Odd Shots»: Voler par le brouillard!

"Odd Shots Monday" is hosted by Katney's Kaboodle
Flying through the fog!
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There's a lot of action this afternoon off Albany Point! A helicopter came flying out of the fog to circle la petite péninsule. Just below the helicopter and slightly to the left is a parasail. Just left of center, two sailboats ply the Bay. If you look carefully along the right shore of Albany Point, you'll see some of the Urban Art "Louis" often features here.

dimanche 17 août 2008

Bande de bleu

Band of blue

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The sun takes advantage of a break in the morning fog to paint a band of blue across the Bay in a picture framed by Sausalito in the background and Albany Point and Point Isabel in the foreground.

samedi 16 août 2008

Matin bleu

Blue morning

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An empty tanker heads through the ship channel between Sausalito and Angel Island toward the Golden Gate on a blue fog summer morning.

vendredi 15 août 2008

Le vendredi «Sky Watch» - Indescriptible

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Indescribable
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An un-retouched sunset seen from the balcony of Chez la Vache is "Louis's" entry for this Sky Watch Friday. If you enlarge the image, note the vapor trail at the top.

jeudi 14 août 2008

mercredi 13 août 2008

ABC Mercredi - "D" - Flight Deck

ABC Wednesday - "D"
Flight Deck


See all the other participants: "ABC Wednesdays"

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A view of the Flight Deck of the U.S.S. Hornet. This deck has launched and recovered many planes of many types. These Essex-class carriers in World War II had a top speed of 30 knots, almost 40 miles-per-hour. During flight operations, the carrier would turn into the wind and the speed of the ship would be increased to Flank speed - in other words, as fast as she could go. This provided extra lift for planes taking off. Can you imagine this 900 foot-long carrier hurling itself through the water at almost 40 miles-per-hour?

That's San Francisco you see in the background.

dimanche 10 août 2008

Dippity-do-dah!

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Sailboats dot a hazy San Francisco Bay, seen from Laguna at Pacific in hilly San Francisco on a fog-shrouded afternoon.

samedi 9 août 2008

Phare dans la distance

Lighthouse in the distance

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In the hazy distance, the Point Bonita Lighthouse is seen on the Marin Headlands from China Beach in San Francisco.

vendredi 8 août 2008

Le vendredi «Sky Watch» - Aube d'été

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Summer dawn
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jeudi 7 août 2008

Les acrobates

The acrobats

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While the Beach Bum Birds were taking a chill pill, nearby these two children were being acrobats on the beach. "Louis" took about 20 shots, trying to capture the child on the left in a cartwheel, but the child was too fast and the camera too slow. So we have to settle for this image of the child about to launch into another cartwheel.

mercredi 6 août 2008

ABC Mercredi - "C" - Crane

ABC Wednesday - "C"
Crane


See all the other participants: "ABC Wednesdays"

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This crane was used for many functions on the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Hornet, but its primary function was to load and offload aircraft from the ship's hanger deck.

mardi 5 août 2008

Jouets de Noël?

Christmas toys?

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Seen from San Francisco's China Beach on a hazy day, with Marin County in the background, an Evergreen container ship from China makes its way toward the Golden Gate, bound for the Port of Oakland. Are your Christmas toys on board?

lundi 4 août 2008

Le Lundi «Odd Shots»: See-through ship

"Odd Shots Monday" is hosted by Katney's Kaboodle

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If you click on the image to enlarge it, the ship on the right, the Cape Mohican, has ports open on both sides of the bow, making her a see-through ship. These two ships are part of the MARAD fleet anchored at the former Naval Air Station in Alameda.

dimanche 3 août 2008

samedi 2 août 2008

Beach Bum Birds

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These birds decided to take a break on the beach at Land's End, San Francisco.

vendredi 1 août 2008