More bricks and views of the gutted Belli buildings...

Behind Canessa, three wythes of bricks appear...

the front page: just to keep on toe, it's 111 Minna...

Telegraph Hill Dwellers - Events:
In the Rubble of the Past...
The Future Begins...

June 5-30, 2006

You are invited to view an extraordinary collection of photographs taken by North Beach photographer J.B. Monaco (1856-1938), documenting the 1906 earthquake and its immediate aftermath. These images capture the courage and determination of North Beach, Russian Hill and Telegraph Hill survivors who would go on to rebuild our wounded City.

Presented by
The Telegraph Hill Dwellers

Canessa Gallery
708 Montgomery Street at Washington
San Francisco, CA 94111
Hours: Mon-Fri, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
415/296.9029 www.thd.org

J.B. Monaco, the man in lower picture, is on view at Canessa through June. A North Beach photographer at the time of the 1906 earthquake and fire, his studio is still a part of the city.

TransAmerica Pyramid as it looks from Google Earth

Solstice June 21, 2003

Recently in Jackson Square...

Honoring a gay pioneer's contribution to San Francisco: "He would nightly close the bar via a signature sing-along; a rowdy rendition of 'God Save Us Nelly Queens.' Sometimes Sarria would lead out the bar's patrons and drag entertainers to serenade gay people being held in jail."

The Black Cat lives...

SAN FRANCISCO / Castro block renamed to honor gay pioneer: and this...

Muisti|kirja: My Back Pages: San Francisco, 1988, the poetic haunts of the Black Cat in the mist

Influences/Resonances: this is under the category of never name a restaurant a French swear word, but then you need a list if French does not come easily to you. Bug...

Amorphic Robot Works: Machines: Urge

Chico MacMurtrie's contribution to Yerba Buena Gardens is worth a visit with friends.

Inflate - Purchase Our Inflatable Structures [boing boing]: e.g. Office in a Bucket. The Black Cat once had an inflatable office created by the Ant Farm. In the morning, he'd turn on the fan and the office would appear. Inside, it was its own little world with an obscure view out the window of the back porch of the building where it was situated on Union Street.

Restaurant turnaround, big deal.

The best approach is under the radar. Unfortunately The Black Cat is not a foodie or even business savvy.

He wants to go in. He wants to be welcomed or at least not scowled at (in North America, anyway). He wants to see a clean, bright, airy, honest space and furnishings, and if any style, he'd pick modern. The Black Cat likes special seats, such as a window seat with a view. He likes pricing moderate to low, food great and staff prompt, especially when it comes time to present the check.

Distant memory of a start-up: Intersection coffee house run by AH of Coffee Cantata

A favorite: Rocky Point Lodge, Klamath Falls

Nicholas Coley returns to Canessa with a new show...

Installation views of Donn Curry at Canessa, which closed this weekend.

More pictures of the earthquake shack...

This is the very last day the Black Cat could possibly visit the earthquake shack, and guess what, he was there and the so were the shack volunteers, mostly busy with packing. But they were very nice and told the small assembled crowd all about the "wood tents," who stayed there (the working class) and how they were built. Start with the floor (Douglas Fire 1x4); build the top plate around the four edges of the floor; raise the plate up and start nailing the redwood boards, usually 1x6, but in the case of the particular type "A" shack on view, 1x4. No studs are used (even at corners) except at openings.

If you have sharp eyes, you can figure out as well as anyone else how to build an earthquake shack.

Mississippi Renewal Katrina cottage, similar to earthquake shack...

Earthquake cottage is in there.

Depleted Uranium For Dummies By Irving Wesley Hall

15 Best Skylines in the World

America's overvalued real estate

Prospect Park cc courtesy Joe's NYC

A Trans-California Ramble: Re-walking John Muir's 1868 trip from San Francisco to Yosemite--a young couple from Santa Cruz walks and describes the experience on the web and later, in a book.

Update 4/8/2006: See the article in the paper.

canessagallery.reddogpieface.com › Exhibition Installations, San Francisco › Coley
Nicholas Coley shows Bay Area Landscapes through March.

::Fat::Architecture::: "‘In a Lonely Place’ takes the form of a huge 7 meter inflated black sphere punctured by a half-timbered structure. Inside, a stair leads up to a viewing platform, from where the surrounding void is broken by small pinpricks of light, made by transparent panels cut into the sphere."