Green and Brown

First for the "Green" - Dig It!, a greening event in our very own Sunset District is coming up on Saturday, October 18th. This an opportunity to volunteer in our neighborhood, planting trees or helping clean up dismal playgrounds. Here are the details:

The Neighborhood Parks Council (NPC) is collaborating with Friends of the Urban Forest (FUF), Timberland, and SF Rec and Park on Dig It!, an Outer Sunset greening event on Saturday morning, October 18, 2008. Approximately 400 volunteers will work on various greening projects throughout the Outer Sunset, including tree plantings, and playground, park and schoolyard cleanups.

Two of the playgrounds that volunteers will be working on, Sunset and West Sunset Playground, received a failing grade in NPC’s 2008 Playground Report Card, meaning that these sites have safety and health concerns for the children of the Outer Sunset who play there.

Therefore, Dig It! is an exciting opportunity for San Franciscans to improve the condition of the recreational spaces in the Outer Sunset that need the most attention. Moreover, Dig It! addresses the fact that the Outer Sunset is an area of the City that greatly lacks adequate street trees and parks.

EVENT DETAILS

The event kick-off will begin will begin at 8am on Saturday, October 18 at West Sunset Playground at 3223 Ortega. At 1:00pm, volunteers will reconvene at West Sunset for lunch and prizes. Scheduled to appear are Sunset District Supervisor Carmen Chu and world-renowned environmental photographer James Balog.

The first 400 volunteers will receive a special Timberland t-shirt and a ticket to a concert that evening from 6:00 p.m. to 10:45 p.m. featuring Stone Gossard, founding member of Pearl Jam, at the Regency Center’s Grand Ballroom (1290 Sutter).


VOLUNTEER SIGN-UP

To volunteer at a Dig It! park, playground, or schoolyard cleanup project, contact NPC Outreach Coordinator Matthew Silva at (415) 621-3260 ext. 116 or msilva@sfnpc.org.

To volunteer at Dig It! tree plantings contact Reed Milnes at the Friends of the Urban Forest at reed@fuf.net or (415) 561-6890 ext. 103.

And now for the "Brown".
1970's buildings, how ever did you guess? First up, we have a specimen on 21st Ave from 1972.


Pretty typical, we've even seen this tile before. I don't take pictures of interiors of residences, that you can't see from the street. I could have pressed up against the glass to show you the mirrors. So many, many gold-framed, tiled mirrors.


Instead you will have to be satisfied with the wallpaper.


And a close-up of the rocky accent shapes.


As I headed down the block I spotted this cousin of the first. Although the windows are different, the ground floor has the same shape, and the rock stuff is the same color. However, the records show it wasn't built until 1975.

Cousins on Lincoln

I headed down to Lincoln Way to see if the road work was resulting in any new mis-spellings. Instead I found that some of my favorites have been or are in danger of becoming eradicated. As they put in new pavement and ramps, they are correctly labeling the avenues, but not even putting in "Lincoln".

How have I missed this in the past? It is somewhere between 38th and 41st. Note that the "I" is actually a "1".


As I headed down Lincoln I passed one of my favorite buildings.


What's up with the circles?


The entry is neat, too.


From the park I noticed that the building next door has almost the same layout. Look at windows. The one on the left has more garages. A check with city records confirms they were both built in 1928 and have the same number of rooms and baths.


From street level I never noticed that because the entries, although both with columns have very different feels.

The Pizza (and Beer) Place

The Pizza Place is on Noriega at 48th Ave. I haven't gone in yet, but the Yelp reviews are generally good. Of course I was drawn to the mural.


My memory is foggy, but it seems like the mural has been there a long time. Maybe before this was a pizza place, but without the pizza and beer angels?


And that's my favorite part, the glasses of beer hovering around the pizza, sandwich and salad.


Apparently there is good pizza, beer on tap, and a good local feel inside. And a car with pizza wheels.

(10/4/08 Update - I went and got a pizza and took some more photos which are here.)

Thanks to Buckeye Sue

Just for fun I went out to take photos of "Buckeye Sue's" childhood home on 38th Avenue the other day. In the process I came across yesterday's crazy house, plus this old commercial building on Noriega at 45th.

City records show it was built in 1949. I was attracted to it because it is pink. But then I saw all the tile. I also noticed a city Job Card, checked and there is an active permit for construction for "health food, acupressure, and acupuncture" use.


This storefront is on the Noriega side.

And this one is on 45th.


Sue - here's your block and old house. You can actually get cool views on Google Street View, too, just type in the address. Yum, you were so close to Polly Ann's.

You are Doomed

I first learned of this house on Curbed back in July. The location wasn't listed and I wondered how long it would take for me to come across it. Two-and-a-half months later I found it on 38th Ave.


I've been hesitating posting because I can only read the English stuff. I hope the Chinese(?) statements aren't something terribly offensive. If any reader of this blog can enlighten me, I would appreciate it.

Studying the old photo, it appears that the painting on the driveway is new.


That, combined with the writing right on the wall here makes me wonder. Where is the dividing line between graffiti and decorating your home? I know that home owners are compelled by the City to cover over graffiti. But how do they define it?

Curious Collections

I have a few additions to various collections. First, some more cement mix-ups.

Spotted on Noriega Street.

Say this one if you can. Forty-threeth.


Next, another named apartment. This is on 48th Ave between Kirkham and Lawton, unless I'm wrong, then it is on 47th.




And finally a house that has some really neat lines.

So much to love: the porthole, the glass blocks, the vertical and horizontal lines, circles & lines on the balcony echoed on the front railings.

On the road

I took a few other photos on my bike ride over to 18th Avenue Monday.


Can't say I've seen any decorations like these on the top of these flats at 19th Ave & Pacheco before.


They look a little weird from the side. I wondered if they were an afterthought, but no, they match this railing in the back.


Also finally got a photo of this house.


I love these giant motifs on the front and side.

18th Ave Mystery House

I saw an entry on Curbed about 1842 18th Avenue and the address sounded familiar. So I rode over to have a look. Apparently there is some story about this house and where it came from. One commenter had heard that the house was moved from the Presidio.

Does anyone know the story? Here's another view. I'm assuming the house used to be the color of the garage. The building permits indicate that a retaining wall was built and there was a bathroom and kitchen remodel.

My very first apartment, was an in-law a block from here. I must have walked by this house a hundred times to get down to the N, but I don't remember it. The garage, maybe a little.

Lincoln Way Viaduct

I walk under the viaduct that crosses Lincoln Way at Sunset quite often to go into the park. It is kind of creepy right underneath it. Hollow spaces that pigeons live in. Heck, I think you could toss a whole body up there.


It's kind of moldy, too.


From afar it does have a certain grace of shape.



The railings remind me of Golden Gate Bridge. See that little outcropping?


Here's what it looks like on top.


And the view from above.


There are a couple mysteries. What used to be here on the top of the outcropping?


And was this a light?

I couldn't find any old pictures of it. I did find this photo from 1932 showing the Sloat & Sunset viaduct, in the Library's collection. They have quite a few showing the construction, too.

I'm guessing it was built around the same time, as I found this impression on the sidewalk of the bridge.

Thom Ross's Buffalo Bill

Mercifully the fog returned today so I ventured down to Ocean Beach to see Thom Ross' Buffalo Bill & Indians art installation. It doesn't have anything to do with Sunset homes, but I know the beach is near and dear to many of our hearts.


The installation is a recreation of a 1902 photograph of William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody and his Wild West Troupe, which was taken at the same spot, below the Cliff House. There's a reproduction of the photo at the event, but photos weren't allowed.

Here's an article at the Chronicle where you can see the original photo and photos of the event when the sun was out. Donald Kinney also has some great photos on his site.


It runs through next weekend (Sept. 14th). The artist was there dressed in western garb and the flyer they handed out says on the 12-14th western historians will be in attendance.

He actually created 200 Lakota and Cheyenne figures in 2005 to represent the Battle of Little Big Horn and placed them at Medicine Trail Coulee. As I understand it, many of the Indian figures are from that installation. It is mentioned in the flyer and I overheard that artist explaining that he didn't create a historically accurate recreation of the photo, but the feeling comes through.

I think his statement about the installation, "The 'meaning' of the installation must be determined by the individual viewer; what they feel when they view this piece will be the 'meaning'", sums up how I feel about the beach. It has many uses and invokes varied reactions. It's a place for recreation or solitude. A place to feel connected to nature or to people. A place to feel the power of the ocean and your own place on the earth.