Photo fashions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For Saturday at the Occupy Oakland march, the well dressed photographer selected not just good cameras, but a gas mask and helmet.

From the WLJ photo files

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BTW speaking of Oakland, travelers from Oakland should fee right at home rooting for the home team for a football game in Canberra in Australia . . . because their football team is named The Raiders, also.

The whole Internets is watching!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Protesters at Ogawa Plaza watch events elsewhere in Oakland, Saturday.

Row of shields

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At 1 p.m. the Move In Day protest march started down Broadway.

 

First Arrest at Move In Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first arrest occured about five minutes into the event.

A Coolpix week

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Metlife did a flyover of Oakland on Wednesday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This hood was seen in downtown Berkeley this week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The center of the Occupy Movement.

Snapshot collecting in Berkeley CA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have run this photo before but we are rerunning it so that we can put this copy into the new Smirking Chimp column on Friday morning.

The same column will run but with different accompanying photos in the blog section of Bartcop and in Op Ed News.

All these should be posted by 11 a.m. PST Friday Jan. 27, 2012

Snapshot collecting will be one of the many topics in this one column

Who dune dat?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We saw this bit of street art in Berkeley CA some time ago.  Don’t think we posted it before.

Coolpix on patrol

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We saw some chalk artists working on this image in Downtown Berkeley recently.

A Super car?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Does Clark Kent drive this car?  We saw this car recently in Berkeley CA

Show me a sign!

This shot was taken in Pasadena CA on Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Brass Knuckles?

This vehicle seems to be sporting a decal depicting a set of brass knuckles.

Don’t try cutting him off in traffic, eh?

Did Banksy get here first?

When we saw (and photographed) this bit of art (graffiti)  in Sacramento CA, we wondered:  Did Banksy do this one, too?

Photo for Jersey Bill

Old Buick

This old sedan (believe it to be a1938 Buick) was spottend last October in San Francisco.

Maybe the folk who run pictures of car-spotting (and truck-spotting) in San Francisco will see this post and cross post it on their flickr page:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/26655725@N00/

They have permission to use this picture on their page if they want it.

In the next coupla days we’ll be taking more photos in Pasadena Ca. 

Tune in again to see what sorty pictures we get on the old Sony camera that uses floppy disks.  (Hence the derivation of this blog’s name.)

Poetry in Photos

Does this photo remind anyone of a line from a Thomas Gray poem?

“The curfew tolls the knell of parting day, / The lowing herd winds slowly o’er the lea, . . .”

Better than a Rolls Royce?

Nothing is better than a Rolls Royce, right?

A Ford is better than nothing, right?

Therefore you have logically proved that a Ford is better than a Rolls Royce

Better Buick Shot

The downside of using a digital camer that uses floppy disks is that once you’ve taken a photo, finding which floppy it’s on, is like playing the old shell game with a con man.

This is the photo from Oct of 2008 that we wanted to run in the earlier posting.

Now where did we put the URL for the SF car spotters on Flickr?

Here’s their URL

http://www.flickr.com/groups/26655725@N00/

Hope they find this post.  Hey, guys, you can use this shot!

Bees and Birth Control

The bee is such a busy soul

He has no time for Birth Control

And that is why in times like these

There are so many sons of bees

Car-spotting in Berkeley

Earlier this year, we did s0me car-spotting in Berkeley CA.  Occasionally we may run some photos from there when we run low on “this just in” photos from Pasadena.

Torpedoback in Berkeley

This example of car-spotting was achieved earlier this year in Berkeley

Chevy in Santa Monica

This old chevy was seen earlier this year in Santa Monica.

Not a Car-spotting Photo

This photo of a Harley Davidson motorcycle does not seem to qualify as a car-spotting photo, but it’s the only picture we have available to use today.

Better than none

A poor quality photo such as this “get closer” shot of 57 Chevy in Pasadena CA, is better than no picture at all.

Gilmore Gas Pumps

This gas station in Pasadena has Gilmore Gas Pumps, which used to be seen more often in the L. A. area in the past.

(Since we won’t have access to a computer on Memorial Day, we have posted two photos on Sunday.)

Has it been a year?

It doesn’t seem like a year since the last time we took photos of a jacqueranda bush in bloom.  It doesn’t seem like ayear because the last time we saw them blooming and took a picture was when they were blooming in Australia last November and December.

So, we’ll post the picture we took Sunday in Pasadena CA and see if Kevin at

http://www.laobserved.com/

finds this picture of more intest for an L. A. based audience, than a shot from Sydney or Fremantle.

Avanti

This Avanti was seen in Pasadena CA today (May 26).

Distinctive Fin

For a photographer who enjoys car-spotting, sometimes just seeing a distinctive Cadillac tail-fin can be fun.

Mini Cooper

This Mini Cooper was seen in Pasadena CA on Thursday, May 28, 2009

Old Chevy Pickup

This old Chevy Pickup truck in Pasadena CA was spotted on the way to the computer to post today’s entry.

Civic Pride

Sometimes the most noticeable part of a car is the license plate.

What is it?

The car-spotter must know what the car is to be able to list it as a car-spotting acomplisment, so the next time we see this vehicle driving around in Pasadena CA, we’ll try to flag it down and find out what it is.

Tell all your friends! ! !

The driver of this vehicle, seen Saturday May 30, in Pasadena CA, wrote down the URL for this blog and said he would take a look.  Hope he does and hope he then tells all his buddies about it and, please, you do it too!

Esthetics

This vehicle is hidden behind a facade of advertising material, which seems to spoil the esthetics of the car’s design.

Others “on the road”

From time to time the photos will not be car-spotting pictures, but will be shots of sights and scenes (and statues) and such seen while traveling “on the road” to find good car-spotting subjects to shoot and post.

This bicycle was seen in Pasadena CA on Sunday May 31.  It was made by a firm with the name Derringer.  Dunno if they are the same company that makes the small pistol or not.

White belt level of Car-spotting

Seeing an old Volvo in good shape is about the “white belt” level of Car-spotting achievements.

Car-spotting on a Hawaiian Shirt

Even Hawaiian shirts are getting into the Car-spotting act.  This shirt was seen on Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena on June 2, 2009.

Speeding Tickets

People who own red sports cars say that they get a disproportionatly high number of speeding tickets.  Take a look at this picture and see if you can say why that might be so.

Seeing is believing, but . . .

If you get a good car photo you can post it on Flickr, but to qualify as a Car-spotting photo you have to be able to identify what kind of car (make model year all that) it is.  Should car spotters form a group that sets the rules?

1941 Ford Pick-up

While going out for our Saturday morning coffee, we noticed this turck (1940 Ford ?) and took a snapshot for this Car-spotting blog, we run.

After posting this item, some fact-checking revealed this is a 1941 Ford pickup (complete with 1941 California license plate).

Down on the (Colorado) Blvd.

Just minutes after seening the truck in the post below, we were about to cross Colorado Blvd. at Lake Street, in Pasadena CA, when we spotted this old two-door sedan of the Ford make.

Since we will be at a great Car-spotting event tomorrow, we will post this Sunday entry, a bit early

Concours in Pasadena Sunday

We posted the Saturday and Sunday picture both on Saturday because on Sunday (if it doesn’t rain) we will try to get some top notch Car-spotting photos taken.  (Tune in on Monday to see what happens!)

Check out the Coucours’ online web site:

http://www.laconcours.com/

Is that the best ya can do?

This picture of the Austin taxi on display at Beckham’s Restaurant in Pasadena CA was the only picture we took Sunday.  It was unfortunate that we didn’t get to the Contours.  This restaurant was established in1979.  Did the soccer guy do restaurants before he started playing soccer?

Chicken Boy Statue

Running around taking Car-spotting pictures for this Car-spotting blog, we see many famous and/or unusual statues so we will use them for a change of pace from time to time.  This “Chicken Boy Statue” is well known in the Los Angeles area, but may not be famous as far as residents of Canberra are concerned.  They however are in no position to castigate any other city’s unusual statues.

Pasadena Rams?

Ths statue of a ram was seen in Pasadena CA.    The one in Canberra is much kinkier.  We prefer the one in Australia.

Rams in Pasadena?  Perhaps, back in the day, they were Roman Gabriel fans?

This statue reminds me of Raymond Chandler’s description of General Sternwood adn the bit about the flower clinging to the mountain (like the mountain goats do).  It’s a stretch.  Should I apologize to Chandler fans for playing the Google bait card on them?

Barnfind

In car-spotting (carspotting) terms seeing an interesting old car that obviously isn’t in use is called a “barnfind.” (barn find, or barn-find?).  We noticed this old something-or-other in Pasadena this morning.  We can’t say exactly what kind of car it is, so there’s car-spotting points off for that, but no matter what, it is a barnfind.

This otter be a good photo

When we saw this statue in Pasadena CA, we knew we otter take a photo.

From the archives file

This photo from our car-spotting archive file is of an old Ford truck that was seen and photographed earlier this year in Santa Monica CA

Isn’t it a ’38?

This is a photo from the archives.  It was taken in early 2009, in San Francisco CA.  Isn’t the truck a 1938 Ford?

Car spotting in Australia

Taken in Sydney

Chev pickup

This truck was seen in Santa Monica (it was just north of Rose, so that meann’s it one truck over the line, eh?) today, Sunday, June 14, 2009

On the fly . . .

This Nash Metropolitan was seen Sunday (June 14, 2009) in Pasadena CA on Lake St. waiting for a trafic light to change.  Getting car-spotting photos of cars in traffic is the ultimate car-spotting challenge.  Do they have trafic lights in Alameda?

The new Ford something-or-other

Ford was showing off it’s new something-or-other in Santa Monica on Sunday.

Barracuda

This Barracuda was spotted in Santa Monica on Sunday June 14, 2009

The Streets of San Francisco

This old Fod pickup (34?) was seen earlier this year on the streets of San Francisco.

A VW is a V-dub is a righthand drive bus?

Not all the car-spotting photos will be taken in Southern California.  This mundane VW bus was photographed in Sydney Australia.  Note how all the cars are parked “on the wrong side of the street.”  This is a file photo from the archives and was taken in January of 2009

Palm tree flying too close to the ground

Traveling around looking for great cars to shoot, you see some unusual sights such as this palm tree that seemed to want to not grow up, but to act like a Willie Nelson fan and stay close to the ground.

Remember Dune Buggies?

This vehicle, which technically is a 67 Volkswaggen, has been modified to the “dune buggy” style.  It was spotted earlier this year in Santa Monica CA.

Seen in Pasadena

More from Pasadena

1931 Brough motorcycle

This motorcylce seen in Pasadena CA on Saturday June 20, 2009, was identified by the driver as a 1931 Brough Superior.  He has been riding it since 1971,

More from Pasadena

57 Chev

This 57 Chev was seen in Pasadena CA on Saturday June 20, 2009

Hot dog!

Nick’s cafe in Los Angeles was a great place to fuel up with a hot dog that was very tasty, big and not at all expensive.  We had the kraut dog, recalled (with fondness) similar stops at Harry’s in Sydney, and then resumed our search for great car-spotting photo opportunities.

The Pike in Long Beach

Being “on the road” can take you to varioius types of destinations.  For some, the Pike in Long Beach is an amusment park that bring with it, fond memories of days from decades ago.

Hotel Morrison

Isn’t this boarded up and empty building in downtown Los Angeles, near the Staples Center, the Hotel Morrison where the Doors shot a cover picture for one of their albums?  As we recall this is that location.  A restaurant worker across the street confirmed that this was indeed formerly known as the Hotel Morrison.  Are they going to restore it, or . . .?

The face in the window

Have you ever gotten the feeling that someone is watching you?

The Bird

 

Have you ever seen an angry bird that seemed to want to flip you off?

Doughnut shop philosophy

Does this philopsophy from the Westwood section of LA hold in Concordia Kansas?

Car-spotting at its best

 

1940 Ford DeLuxe Coupe

Going to the bank today in Pasadena CA, we had a car-spotting great moment when we had the chance to take pictures of this 1940 Ford coupe which parked at the bank.

On the road from Fremantle to Fremantle

We saw this roadsign on the road East from Fremantle to Fremantle (if the earth really is round and we don’t fall off the edge of the earth).

A vanishing breed

People who read newspapers to become well informed voters seem to be slowly disappearing from American culture.  It is encouraging to find a statue of a newspaper reader.    This statue of Harry Culver, in Culver City CA, honors the city’s founder, who was also a newspaper publisher.

57 Chev convert

We saw this 57 Chev in traffic waiting for the light at Venice and Lincoln in L. A. on Sunday.

The grass is alway greener . . .

When we left the Mar Vista section of Los Angeles, we hit out for distant lands.  When we arrived in Sydney Australia, the first thing we went to see was Australia’s biggest book store. 

We wanted to get some information about the book store and we chatted up a young girl who was working as a sales clerek there.  We told her about our trip to Australia and she said she wanted to go out into the world and see things such as the Museum of Jurassic Technology in Los Angeles.

That Museum was within walking distance of the apartment in Mar Vista.

She sure proved the old saying about the “grass is always greener . . .”

Venice Beach Sign Image

This illustration for a proposed sign for use at Venice Beach will be part of my next column.  I´ll link folks here so they can see what I´m talking about

Ford Sdn

Today (July 10, 2009), while waiting for the bus to get to Santa Monica, we saw this old Ford (seems to be a 1934) sedan pull up to the light.  So we took a picutre for the car-spotting blog!

Irish tourists in Venice CA

Some tourists from the country surrounding Dublin, will most likely be the newest visitors to this blog, eh?

George Clayton Johnson’s B-day party

 

The Mystery and Imagination book store in Glendale held a party to help George Clayton Johnson celebrate his 80th birthday.

George Clayton Johnson turns 80

George Clayton Johnson celebrates his 80th birthday.

George Clayton Johnson’s party in Glendale

George Clayton Johnson celebrated his 80th birthday at a party held at the Mystery and Imagination bookstore in Glendale on Saturday July 11, 2009.

George Clayton Johnson lookin’ good at 80

It’s not everybody who can say they knew Rod Serling and wrote for his famous TV show, but George Clayton Johnson can say it beause he did just that.

“Like a candle in the wind . . .”

Soul Storage?

We saw this flyer for the Soul Storage Company on a pole in Westwood today.

Their web site is at:
The Soul Storage Company
or you can call them at
1-877-437-3603

Ya wanna bet this could only happen in L. A.?

A photo for Neal

This example of graffiti art was found on the sidewalk near the Venice branch of the Los Angeles Public Library.

Toy-spotting

This toy version of an airstream trailer was spotted in Santa Monica. According to someone in the store, there weren’t many of them made.
We were glad to see (and take a picture of) this one.

Towing Hall of Fame

If you have gone out “on the road,” then perhaps you don’t need to be told about the
Towing Hall of Fame?

1955 Metro Truck

 

On Sunday, July 26, 2009, while visiting the flea market in Berkeley CA, we saw a truck that brought back old memories of Scranton and also a trip to the U. S. Grand Prix at Watkins Glen in 1965 . . . and some people from the past, too.

More pictures of the Berkeley Metro

 

This truck was seen on Sunday July 26, 2009, at the flea market in Berkeley CA.

Bogus Type

In the old days, newspapers, when they needed to show words but didn’t want to print the actual story (because it hadn’t been written yet) would use words in Latin.

Did they actually type excerpts from Ceaser’s Gallic Wars (or somesuch?) or did they just type the Latin Dictionary or what?

Breaks for “favored few”?

Early questions

Seeing is believing

Who goofed?

Closer look is below

Back to car-spotting

On the way to the Santa Monica Public Library to post some photos of newspaper stories (so some concernced citizens would see how they looked on-line) we took along our old camera (that uses floppy disks – hence the blog name) just in case we saw anything of interest.

We say this Model A-looking vehicle in downtown Santa Monica on Sunday August 2, 2009.

That’s more like the kind of photos visitors expect to find on a car-spotting blog, eh?

Austin Healey 3000

This Austin Healey 3000 was seen in the cusp area of Venice and Santa Monica on Tuesday August 4, 2009.

Model A truck

This Model A Ford truck was seen parked on Rose while approaching the Venice Beach on Tuesday August 4, 2009 (mid-afternoon.)

Old Pontiac

That’s a 1954 isn’t it?

Where’s Neal Cassidy when we really need him?

This bus was seen in Venica CA on Thurdsy August 6, 2009

Car-spotting challenge

The car-spotting challenge:  your bus is coming and you see a 1940 Ford two-door.  Can you get your camera out, turned on, warmed up (it’s an oldie that uses floppy disks), and get the picture and still get the bus?  This photo was taken on Venice Blvd near the Venice Beach on Saturday August 8, 2009.

(Yes.)  You see the pictures.

Just another Ferrari?

While waiting for a bus to take us to the Santa Monica Public Library, we wondered if we should pull out the old camera and maybe get a photo for our car-spotting blog.  So we took the camera out, turned it on, and voila! this car pulled up to stop for a red light.  We thought Oh, it’s just another Ferrari, but then we realized that some poor folks (such as the ones who live up there in Alameda) might not get to see such exotic cars as often as the people in L. A. do; so we took this picture just for those unfortunate folks who live in the city that is near Berkeley.

Unusual

You don’t usually see a McDonald’s teamed up with a gas station.  We saw this one in Marina del Rey CA, today, August 14, 2009, and so we took a pictue to show this facet of the “on the road” culture.

American Ute?

This 1964 El Camino (Chevy) looks like what the Autralians call “a ute.”  It was seen on Lincoln at Venice in L. A. on Sunday Augutst 16, 2009.

Totenkopf fashion motif

Have you noticed the recurring fashion motif of skulls?  It seems the young folks can’t wait for the Death Panels to get rid of the old folks for them.

Hemp smoothie?

Yeah, but does a hemp smoothie give folks the munchies?  This sign was seen in Santa Monica.

El Magnifico caught by paparazzi!

The WLJ paparazzi department caught “el Magnifico” in Venice today (Friday August 21, 2009).  Sometimes it’s not the car but the drive that causes us to take a shot and post it on this blog.

Chain Reaction

This mushroom cloud made up of industrial strenght cain is based on a political cartoon done by Conrad for the L. A. Times.  It can be found on Main St. in Santa Monica close to the Civic Auditorium.

Hearse

Deacon Daniel of the Bleeding Deacons rock band was on the beach at Venice last Saturday with the bands (his) old caddy hearse.  So were we.   So we took a picture.

Walking a pet in Santa Monica

This fellow was walking with his pet in Santa Monica on Tuesday August 25, 2009.  We asked if we could take a picture.  He said “Ok.”  So we did.

World’s Laziest Journalist’s self-portrait

 

 

HELLO, WORLD!

The World’s Laziest Journalist offers this self-portrait to the world.

Reporting live from the Cow’s End

 

This is the first posting with photos from the recently acquired lap-top.  I got an external drive for floppy disks and took the above photos just a few minutes ago while coming to the Cow’s End (cofffee house in Venice CA) where I can use the wi-fi and now post photos and words!

SM Pier at 100

The Santa Monica Pier is celebrating its 100th birthday.  There will be a birthday party on Sept. 9.  This newspaper shown here being distributed in Venice CA, is just one of the reminders that locals are getting to tell them all about the festivites.

Kiss a TV star for $5

Photo copyrighted by Bob Patterson

This photo (taken a short time back) shows TV star Oliver Hudson trying to sell kisses for $5 each on the Ocean Front Walk at Venice CA beach.  It was reportedly part of a scavenger hunt.

Totenkopf fashion motif

The young folks these days seem to be eagerly awaiting the Republicans’ Death Panels, which will decide who among the old geezers will get medical care and who will be left to die a long slow death from their medical conditions.  The Totenkopf fashion motif has been very popular and seems to be getting more popular than ever now that the Healthcare debate is encouraging folks to take a stand on the Death Panels.  Note the skulls on the ground in the background of this picture.

Egad, Igor, we’ve created a monster!

This picture shows the World’s Laziest Journalist’s mobile news center in work on the evening of Sept. 4, 2009.  With this new setup, we could – dare I say it? – Rule the world . . . of on the spot reporting.

Binoculars are big in Venice CA

This building in Venice has what may be the biggest (statue of a pair of) binoculars in the world.

If memory serves correctly this was (still is?) the building for the Ad agency BBD & O.

For more on this roadside attraction click this

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/10111

The Parking Meter Building

The Henry Medina, West Los Angeles, Parking Enforcement Facility was designed (by Nadel Architects Inc.) to resemble a parking meter.  It is on Sepulveda Blvd.  one traffic light south of Pico Blvd.  Note the “coin slot” on the left side of the building and the hours across the top to suggest one of those 12 hour meters you see in some place.

Note we specifically went there and took this picture so that we can send it in as a suggestion to the roadside America folks who are looking for tips.

Maybe if we give them several good tips we can get them started on doing another site for Roadside Australia?  Who says the World’s Laziest Journalist doesn’t do any traveling?

The hours are embossed across the top of the “dial.”  Below is a detail of the “coin slot” to the left of the “parking meter’s face.”

Low-rider makes movie in Marina del Rey

This low-rider style Chevy was spotted on the morning of September 9, 2009 on Washington in the Marina doing some scenes for a movie which was tenatively titled “Valentine’s Day.”

Model A snow-mobile

We came across this snapshot of a Model A snow-tractor at a flea market in Berkeley and we just had to have it.

We’d love to get a comment from anyone who has any knowledge about this vehicle.

Edsel-spotting in San Francisco

This car (an Edsel which we think is a 1958) was seen in San Francisco on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2009

while we were searching for Burritt Street.

Car-spotting at the Beat Museum

This 1941 Pontiac was seen while visiting the Beat Museum in San Francisco on Saturday Sept. 19. 2009.

We will write a column about visiting the Beat Museum last October and again this September for our next Weekend column for the Smirking Chimp.

We love the Beat Museum.

Re-do of the Model A snowmobile

Spring 1942

Second attempt to save this image titled “Spring 1942.”  What ship was it where the photo was taken?  Where was she going?  Running away from the war or to somebody?

Car-spotting in snapshots

I’d take the coupe on the far left.

Many moons ago

 

 

 

 

What do you mean that years from now millions of people will see this snapshot on the Internets?

Hey, hey, LBJ, how many educations did you kill today?

On Thursday, September 24, 2009, students at UCB (Berkeley) held a rally supporting the teachers’ walkout over budget cuts.  The protest rally was held at Sproul Plaza which was the scene for many famous Free Speech rallies in the Sixties.  The times they are a changing!

Escape from Alameda! ! !

A gathering of ArtCars in Berkeley on Sunday, September 27, 2009, was a strong enough lure to get this car to leave Alameda.

Dodge van

 

 

 

This ArtCar was spotted in Berkeley on September 29, 2009, just after they had a gathering of ArtCars in conjunction with the montly last Sunday music celebration.  Apparently this vehicle started out as a Dodge van.  Now, it’s quite different.

Sparrow from Corbin Motors

We were told that this was a Sparrow and that in  2000 the Corbin Motors company made three hundred of them.

On a day when we didn’t have the camera with us . . .

While walking on Lincoln Blvd., earlier this week, we had a great car-spotting moment.  Unfortunately we did not have our digital camera (that uses floppy disks) when we spotted a 1927 four door phaeton Bentley that was British Racing Green.  Oh well, maybe if we carry our camera with us every day, then the next time we see it . . .

Coffee and Writing

The first morning in my new digs and I was up at 0600.  I made a cup of coffee and was hitting the keystokes by 6:18.  I had racked-up 991 words by 7:30.

To be continued . . .

Posting from On the Road

It is tough to post on the road and so we hope to be able to soon get the chance to post some great new car-spotting pix on the other blog at

http://floppyphotos.wordpress.com

It may take a week or so to get into position to be able to post again on a regular schedule.

Meanwhile be advised that our guess is that Obama will use the 50,000 troops figure for starts on Tuesday night and also be aware that the weather in San Franciso has been remarkably beautiful this year at this time.

Winter arrives in Santa Monica

While folks in Santa Monica CA flock to the ice skating rink, folks in Australia are awaiting the results of the Melbourne Cup race which will be held Tuesday.

The world is a big place and it truly is a case of “different strokes for different folks.”

On a winter’s day in Santa Monica

These folks at the ice skating rink in Santa Monica will probably be telling all their friends about the World’s Laziest Journalist’s blog.

Good on them.

I spy another Ferrari

Crossing Admiralty Way this morning (Nov. 10, 2009) we saw another example of why it is good for a guy with a car-spotting blog to always carry his (floppy disk) digital camera.

Hollywood Special

Has the “recession” got you down?  Need a new job?  Well here’s a Hollywood combo special you might want to investigate.

Get a new resume and a facelift!

For more see their web site

http://www.resumefacelift.com/

Then, as Humphrey Bogart said in “Treasure of the Sierra Madre”:  “Go get ‘em tiger!”

Reporting live from the latest student demonstration in Berkeley

Reporter Michelle Quinn, of the New York Times San Francisco bureau, is shown Friday posting an update during the student strike at University of California’s Berkeley campus.

Student Demonstration

 

 

 

Protesters at University of California Berkeley, of Friday November 20, 2009, occupied Wheeler Hall as part of the protest against a recent fee hike.

Replacing Mario Savio . . .

A student, who identified herself as “Alex,” uses a bullhorn to keep the crowd informed about the latest developments for the occupation of Wheeler Hall druing a student protest at University of California Berkeley, Friday November 20, 2009.

Cars seen at the 2009 SF Car Show

These are just some of the interesting old cars seen at this year’s San Francico Car Show held in late 2009

More from the 2009 SF Car Show

The 2009 Car Show in San Francisco attracted many car-spotting fans

Hotrod-spotters gone wild

Classic car-spotting at the SF Car Show

December 14, 2009 Car-spotting Report

Photos taken on Decemer 14, 2009 in B erkeley CA.

T-bird Spotting

This T-bird was spotted in Berkeley on Dec. 16, 2009.

Meyers Manx spotting

While car-spotting in Berkeley today we came across this Meyers Manx, which seems to have the engine missing.

But is it art?

This image, which seems to merge the nose of a B-25 with the body of a buffalo, was seen in Berkeley on Thursda December 17, 2009 (at Ashby and Telegraph – I think).

Checker spotting

These vehicles were seen during a stoll on San Pablo in Berkeley today (Friday Dec. 18, 2009.)

Car Show Flashback

These are more photos from the recent San Francisco Car Show.

MB 180 D

Spotted in Berkeley Friday.

Under Wraps in Berkeley

Do the tail lights give you a clue as to what might be under this tarp in Berkeley?

Statue of a tired Christmas Shopper

This statue, seen recently in San Francisco, seems to depict a tired Christmas Shopper.

Gone but not forgotten

Hasn’t someone done a book about buildings that used to be gas stations?

Duke Ellington Statue at UCLA

 

This statue of Duke Ellington, on the UCLA campus, is to the right (as you enter) of Schoenberg Hall.  It’s tough to spot, but if you make the effort you will see it.

What’s that I see?

There seems to be an old Chevy pick-up in this yard in Berkeley, CA.

Google goofs

Today, fans are celebrating Elvis’ 75th birthday.

Google did not use a tribute graphic on their home page to mark the occasion.

Shame on Google.

If Elvis is reading this at his home in Kalamazoo, happy birthday you old hound dog!

World’s Laziest Journalist in action

Students at Berkeley protest state budget cuts on Thursday March 4, 2010.

World’s Laziest Journalist’s photos

Stalled bus delays students protesting budget cuts.  Taken March 4, 2010 on Telegraph Ave. in Berkeley CA

Berkeley Protest

Students of UCB were temporarily delayed by stalled bus Thursday.  Students marched from Berkeley campus to Oakland to protest budget cuts.  Photo taken on Telegraph Ave (near the Willard school) on Thursday March 4, 2010.

Scabs scoot

Scabs get ready to race to the finish line which symbolized the picket line.  Some students agreed to “race” to (and across) the finish line.  Photo taken Thursday March 4, 2010 at the Sather Gate area of UCB campus.

Who was that masked man?

Unidentified student (he’s masked dontcha know?) hoists a protest sign Thursday, March 4, 2010, at the Sather Gate on the Bekeley campus.  Students were protesting budget cuts.

The real deal masked student photo

 

Earlier today, we posted a different photo of the masked student.  This is the shot we intended to post.

It seems that keeping track of which photo is on which floppy disk is more difficult to do than it was in the day of Nikon F’s and rolls of Tri-X.

“What a drag it is gettin’ old . . .”

Return to the Nikon fold

This is one of the shots I took with my new Nikon Coolpix camera on Sunda March 7, 2010.

It’s a jungle out there. . .

Robert Dean Frisbie would be green with envy.

Back to Car-spotting

This 1961 Falcon pickup, spotted in Berkeley CA on Monday, March 8, 2010, is almost 50 years old.

1937 Canopy Express

This old Chevy “Canopy Express” was seen in Berkeley CA on Tuesday, March 9, 2010.

Chevy truck-spotting in Berkeley CA

We took our new Nikon Coolpix camera on a car=spotting walk and the first (the very first) vehicle we saw was this Chevy truck which has been featured on the DOTS department of Jalopnik.

A truck with its own web page!

This canopy express Chev was spotted in Berkeley CA on March 9, 2010.

This old chevy has been run by its current owner for the last 39 years.  It was truck no. 3 for M. W. Hancock before the paint faded.  The owner described it as a “canopy express.”

This truck has its own webpage! 

Click this:

http://home.znet.com/x1937/canx.htm

The truck’s history is on that page.

We saw this truck in Berkeley (near the Berkeley Bowl) on Tuesday, March 9, 2010.

We told the current owner (last 39 years) that we had seen his truck featured on jalopnik’s Down on the Streets department and he said he’d like to see it.  We’ll try to get the URL for those pictures and send them to the owner.

We’ll send an e-mail to the DOTS photo editor.

We told him that the owner that could use any of Floppy Photos pictures of his truck on the truck’s page, if he likes.

There you have it!

A Google image search for a photo of Philipe Harrington Stillman, just concluded, was inconclusive.

We got this picture at a flea market.  On the back it is marked:  “Philipe Harrington Stillman.”

So no the Internet is a  bit more complete.

Snapshot-spotting

This photo (which appears to be a real print and not a half-tone) was found for sale in a Berkeley flea market.  This tree is sort of a limbo stick for cars, eh?

We have found more good old car snapshots and will be posting them as time permits.

WWII snapshot

Car fans will get enjoyment from this WWII era snapshot.

Old West Snapshot

 

The car in the background may be a good clue as to when this picture was taken.  Where?  Your guess is as good as mine.  Sorry about the shaddow on the print.  Will reshoot and repost later in my lifetime.

Look! Up in the sky . . .

Look!  Up there!  Isn’t that the kid who will become Superman? ? ?

More Snapshot-spotting

Isn’t this a great nostalgia filled snapshot?

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

It seems that the British have a different concept of “Homeland Security” than the Yanks do.

Ferrari-spotting

 

So far we think we spotted more Ferraris in Los Angeles than we do in Berkeley.  Wednesday, we did spot this Ferrari in Berkeley, so we know that they are out there.

Seen on Shattuck

We took the new Nikon Coolpix for a car-spotting walk on Shattuck on Friday and this is one of the many we shot.

Bus-spotting

We also did some bus-spotting while on the Friday walk on Shattuck.

Hearse-spotting

We also saw this Pontiac hearse on the Friday walk.

Jeep-spotting

We also spotted what seemed to be a WWII vintage Jeep on Friday’s walk.

Adams family house with solar panels?

This house with solar panels made us wonder:  Would it have been a funny cartoon if Charles Adams had drawn the Adams family home with solar panels on it?

Truck-spotting

We spotted this old truck in Berkeley recently.

Barn Find makes good

This barn find came with sales brochures in Sweedish language.

Car-spotting in Berkeley

This barnfind Volvo PV 444 has won various Volvo competitions.

1954 Volvo PV 444

This award winning barnfind Volvo had the original brochures and only 18,651 Kl on the odometer.  It is being displayed at McKevitt Volvo in Berkeley CA.

More photos for the LASAAC guys

I hope all my friends in the Los Angeles Shelby American Automobile Club see these pictures.

Flames seen in Pleasonton

Keep on truckin’ (in Pleasonton)

Custom cars

We went to the Good Guys Custom Car and Hot Rod show in Pleasonton CA on Saturday March 27, 2010 and took our new Nikon Coolpix along.  We have posted some more shots below this posting.

No utes

 

We didn’t see any Austalian right hand drive utes at the recent car show in Plesanton CA.  We did see a Studebaker pickup.

Kaiser Woody?

This car, which we saw at the recent car show in Pleasanton, CA, seems to be a Henry J. Kaiser woody.

Chimp Graffiti

This graffiti was spotted recently in Berkeley CA.

Another Photo for Ray W.

This sign is not on the wall of the employee lounge at the World’s Laziest Journalist’s home office (we wish it were).  It is posted on the wall where tours at the Nethercutt Museum begin and that gives us a legitimate reason for calling Jalopnik’s photo editor’s attention to this post.  When Jalopnik ran an item linking to one of our posts about the 2009 SummerNats in Canberra, they sent several hundred new readers our way.  Will lightening strike twice?

Unusual Street Name

Could the fact that there’s a stage production with the same name have something to do with this street sign spotted on Cinqo de Mayo 2010 in San Francisco?

A photo for beatnik wannabes

This SF alley is next to the City Lights Book Store.

Jersey Bill’s 1931 Chev (as seen in the Sixties)

We got it to work one time but then the next try seems to have failed.

Or maybe we have to post the entry and the photo will magically appear?

Try again

Maybe I can just put the ****ing URL there and make it happen?

Or maybe not?

Let’s see what happens.

Jeep-spotting in Pleasanton

This jeep was spotted at the recent car show held in Pleasanton CA.

Tipical Venice Tourist Photo

Two skateboarders pass each other at the Venice Beach skateboard park

on Saturday April 17, 2010.

Renovated Myrna Loy Statue at Venice H. S.

The famous statue of Myrna Loy at her old alma mater Venice High School has been refurbished and is back on display.

The youngest member of the Merry Pranksters

On Saturday, April 17, 2010, we met Happy Ivy in his bus in Venice CA.  Happy says that he was the youngest member of the Merry Pranksters and that he traveled “on the bus” with Ken Kesey and Neal Cassady. 

This seems to be the link to his facebook page

http://www.myspace.com/happyivy1999

Auburn Boattail Speedster

On Friday, April 16, 2010, we saw this Auburn boattail speedster in Marina del Rey, CA.

Car spotting report for April 24

These poor quality grab-shots of the 36 Ford (above) and a roadster (lower) were the best I could do.

LA Festival of Books

These photos were taken april 24, 2010 at the L. A. Festival of  Books held on the UCLA campus.

The one that got away

On our way to the L. A. Festival of books, we spotted the big woody bus . . . but were unable to get a photo of it.

So here is the link to their website

http://www.bigwoodytours.com/

Electric truck spotting?

This truck seems to be a hybrid electric truck.  It was seen on the Venice/Marina del Rey cusp area on Friday April 25, 2010.

David Lynch-spotting

David Lynch was spotted at the Los Angeles Festival of Books held April 25 – 26 in Los Angeles on the UCLA campus.

Disrespect for a professor in Berkeley

Maybe this professor at Berkeley is a “hard marker”?  It seems that somebody doesn’t like him.

Motorized bike

We saw this motorized bike in Venice CA (or was it actually in Marina del Rey?) of Friday April 23, 2010 and took the photo and decided to post it.

Bonus photo

20 Grand

When this Duesenberg was new it sold for 20 Grand.  At that time, houses sold for 1,500.  It is now insured for $12 million.

Photo for Nic in KS

Bet you won’t see one of these t-shirts in Concordia.

Cute dog shot

Isn’t he cute?  Seen on Ocean Front Walk in Venice CA on Sunday, April 25, 2010.

Car-spotting Experiment

We sat on the bench at Windward and Pacific in Venice CA and started to wait to see how long it would be  before a great car arrived.  After about ten minutes in the afternoon of Sunday, April 25, 2010, this Cobra drove up and ended the experiment.

Tourist cliche photos

Some tipical tourist shots from Venice CA.

Is it a ’58 or a 57?

The front of this truck pickup seems to be a 58 Ford.  The back end seems to be from a 57 Ford.  The guy who was driving it wasn’t sure what it was.  He was going to put it on E-bay.

Bushville America

The banking and foreclosure crisis aren’t gone and forgotten for some Americans.

Car-spotting from a train

Getting car-spotting photos from a moving train seems to be a bit like the police training exercise where targets pop-up and there is just a fraction of a second for the trainee to decide to fire his gun or not and shoot well if he does squeeze off a round.  We got these photos on our most recent commute.  We’ll try to do better the next time.

Land Rover-spotting

This Land Rover was spotted in San Francisco on Cinqo de Mayo 2010.

Homage to David Plowden

We’ve always admired the photo work of David Plowden, but for economic reasons, we have, in the past, been a bit reluctant to use film for urban landscape photos.  Now that we have our new Nikon Coolpix and film and development costs are not a factor; we are shooting more frames of more subjects.  These shots were taken from an Amtrak train going from L. A. to the SF bay area. 

Check out his work on his website:

http://www.davidplowden.com/

Castle Air Museum (from a train)

We’ve seen Castle Air Force Base from the train several times while going back and forth between L. A. and San Francisco.  Someday we’ll stop in Merced and get a closer look at (and better pictures of) all these historic airplanes.  For now, we have to shoot on the run.

Better Photo of Yoo Poster

This is a better photo of the John Yoo poster because it does a better job of establishing that it was taken in Berkeley CA

Old music for the new depression

Members of a music group called “The Spirit of 29″ are shown performing on Friday May 7, 2010 at Cal Berkeley.

Student Hunger Strike Continues

The students participating in the Hunger Strike at University of Calilfornia at Berkeley continue their effort on Friday May 7, 2010.

Escapist Literature

Is this island in the San Francisco bay the birthplace of “escapist literature”?

Bugatti-spotting

Bugattis have been in the news lately, so we thought we would post this photo we took recently at the Nethercutt Auto Museum in the L. A. area.

Missing link

The URL for this place’s web site must be the link to the missing link.

http://www.missinglink.org/

Peace Symbol = Welcome to Berkeley

When it came time for the Shattuck Hotel in Berkeley to get a makeover, the design firm thought that nothing said “Berkeley” better than a peace symbol and so now when you go to check in, you will find a peace symbol (in marble?) as the first thing you see in the foyer of the aforemention refurbished hote.

Photos for Mike M

While taking photos Monday, May 10, 2010, of the Student Hunger Strike at UCB, we found the Free Speech Movement Cafe and took some photos for Mike Malloy and members of his radio show’s audience.

Malloy often quotes the words featured on the plaque shown in the lower photo.  Click on the photo to see a bigger version of that same photo.

Hunger Strike Update Photos

The Student Hunger Strike at UCB looked much different on Monday, May 10, 2010, than it did last Friday.  On Tuesday this area of the campus had returned to “normal.”

Back to Berkeley Car-spotting

Between taking photos Monday in the rain and Tuesday morning in the bright sunny Berkeley morning, we got a wee bit of car-spotting done.  We saw this Comet on Shattuck.

Tuesday Hunger Strike update

On Tuesday, May 11, 2010, the site of the Berkeley Students’ Hunger Strike had reverted to normal.

This isn’t computer science

Apparently different cermonies were held Monday at UCB.  This was the one for Integrated Biologoy and not the one for computer science.

Seen in Berkeley

In the old days, we would have taken a photo of this sign seen in Berkeley on Tuesday, May 11, 2010, and tried to sell it as a feature photo to AP.  We’ll send the link to the Berkeley Daily Planet and give them permission to use this photo of what we think is a humorous sentiment.  (Did an Aussie post it?)

Australian Philosophy in Berkeley

This sign, seen Tueday, May 11, 2010, in Berkeley CA expresses an anti-gun sentiment.  Was it posted by an Aussie?  We’ll send the URL to Berkeleyside and give them permission to use this frame on their site.

Bukowski night in Berkeley

David Calonne, editor of the new Bukowski collection titled “Absence of the Hero” was at Moe’s Books in Berkeley Tuesday (May 18, 2010) night, to promote the new book.

Both Berkeleyside and Berkeley Daily Planet have permission to use this photo on their web sites.

Pedestrian sign in Braille

This pedestrian cross walk sign with Braille was something that caught our eye recently in Berkeley.

Berkeley Daily Gazette

Some folks think that things change.  Some don’t.  Folks from both sides might make points by pointing out this copy (seen in the window of a bike shop on Telegraph Ave.) of the Berkeley Daily Gazette from the early seventies.

That paper is part of Berkeley History.  Another student protest (hunger strike) was in the news earlier this month.

Do things change?

Arnieville in Berkeley CA

Activists in Berkeley set up a tent city called “Arnieville” to protest recent budget cuts in CA.

Berkeley Daily Planet, Jane Stillwater’s blog, and Smirking Chimp have permission to reprint any of these photos.

Nikon on the loose

Crossing the street in San Francisco last Wednesday, we were sure glad we had our Nikon Coolpix in our pocket for a “grab shot” of car-spotting in SF.

Car-spotting in Berkeley CA

Saw this Thursday night on Shattuck on the way to see “Some Like It Hot.”

Dodge in traffic in Berkeley

This 1948 Dodge was seen Saturday (May 29, 2010) at University and SanPablo in Berkeley.

Adventures of the Coolpix camera

While in the Cartoon Arts Museum in SF, we decided that we just had to take a photo of this SF Heart.  Different hearts are left (from 2004 apparently) all over SF.  Since we carry the Coolpix everywhere we go; no problem.

Arnieville Updates

We will try to take photos, cover the story, post photos in a timely manner, communicate with various editors, write about other stuff for other websites, as fast as possible, but until we learn how to be in two places at once, the coverage won’t be “live from the scene.”

To be continued . . .

Good question

If Ansel Adams lived long enough to use a digital camera, would he have used the B&W option?  We asked ourself that question as we shot this picture of the Golden Gate Bridge from Berkeley, recently.

“Just Below the Angels”

This plaque in the Free Speach Movement Cafe on the campus of UCBerkeley, commmeorates Mario Savio a leader of the Free Speach Movement.

Snapshot/car-spotting

On the back of this old snapshot, it says “Capital United States Washington.”  At least that’s what I was told it says.

Mixed Message

It is what it is

 This decal, seen in Berkeley (or was it Oakland?) seems to depict a hand grenade in the form of a heart.  What does it mean?

Art car in Berkeley

This “art car” was seen Saturday, May 29, 2010, in Berkeley CA.

Good times

If you had a Duesenberg and didn’t have good time; shame on you!

Art-car spotting

This art car (seen in Berkeley CA) seems to have an ocean motif.

Familiar face

We occasioinally go to the flea market and buy some old snapshots.  We look for ones with old cars or airplanes in them.  This Ford caught our eye, but we couldn’t help but think that the guy looks familar.  Anybody know who this dude was?

NYC pranksters strike in Berkeley CA

If you look them up on the Internets you will find that the TrustoCorp is a group of New York City pranksters.  So how did one of their pranks turn up in Berkeley CA (at Oregon and Telegraph)?

Or you can just click on this link:

http://www.trustocorp.com/

Always carry the Coolpix!

Is it shocking to learn that the city of Berkeley uses electric vehicles for local runs?

Sometimes a great notion

We were passing Dave’s Record Shop in Berkeley last weekend, when we had a great idea.  We went in and asked if anyone had invented a turntable that plays old albums so that you can hear them on you computer.  He showed us this one which does just that.  Dang!  There goes another great idea.

Snapshot-spotting

This old snapshot of a Buick convertable was recently added to our collection of interesting old snapshots.

Graffiti in Berkeley

This photo of graffiti in Berkeley CA is supposed to go with this column

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/bob-patterson/29284/the-oscar-grant-verdict-and-civil-unrest

Art-car in Berkeley CA

This art-car was spotted recenlty parked in Berkeley CA

Art car . . . or not?

Is this car, seen in Berkeley CA an art car or not?  The car-spotting photographer thinks that it should qualify as such.

Berkeley’s gigantic tuning fork

This gigantic tuning fork (world’s biggest?) is on Shattuck Square in downtown Berkeley CA.  We will use Flickr to share these three photos with the

http://www.berkeleyside.com/

audience.

How the blog got its name

When we first started this photo blog we were using the Just Above Sunset Photo site’s summer intern camera which uses floppy disks to store images.  Hence the name “Floppy Photos.” 

We’ve upgraded to a Nikon Coolpix camera and are enjoying the heck out of it.  Don’t have to worry about running out of floppy disks in the middle of a shoot!

Now, the big problem is where to take the new camera next?

Ireland?

France and Germany?

Back to Kalgoorlie?

Tune in again next time or post suggestions.

Visiting Berkeley CA

It’s not unusual to see an ArtCar in Berkeley CA.  The driver of this car said she was just visiting from out of state.

SPHS ’61 moment in SF

We were walking around in San Francisco’s Union Park district Wednesday, June 16, 2010, when we came upon an art gallery that caught our eye.  When we were in high school, one of the guys was always saying:  “I looked in the window and I saw James Dean’s face . . . and it was wonderful!”  There was an image in the SF art gallery window that caused us to have a high school flashback moment.

The guy was named Harold Hartshorn but we all called him “Hotch.”  Neither he nor anyone else ever seemed to know what that word meant or how he got that particular nickname.

Maybe someday he’ll do a Google search for his own name and find this blog post?

Through the viewfinder

When we learned that the Beat Museum in San Francisco will feature an “On the Road” around the world theme display this summer, we thought we’d revive an old photo prjoject and take something around the world and photograph it in famous places.  We took this photo at People’s Park in Berkeley CA.  Taking a photo with two centers of interest is a very big challenge.  We didn’t think this was a very good photo so it seems likely we will scrap the idea.

Bay windows

Homes with “bay windows” are ubiquitous in the SF bay area.  Is that how they came to be called “bay windows”?

Arnieville in Berkeley (2.0)

When the Arnieville budget cuts portest returned to Berkeley CA on Monday, Alex Tracy was there shooting for Demotix.com. 

We’ll save you the trouble of doing the Google search.  To see his photos, click here:

http://www.demotix.com/photo/363974/arnieville-tent-city-against-schwarzneggers-budget-cuts

Graphics-spotting

We spotted this pair of cool graphics in downtown Berkeley CA.  Don’t  know what they mean but they look nice.

The roving photographer

Michael Parenti was at Moe’s Books on Wednesday night to promote his newest book, “God and His Demons.”

Volvo-spotting

This Volvo was seen in Berkeley CA on Tuesday, June 29, 2010.

That’s what I was thinking . . .

Adopt a 120 lbs. cat?

While walking back from breakfast today (Saturday June 26, 2010) we spotted this flyer seeking a new home for a 120 lbs. panther.  It seems that the poor cat, who lives on a 6 acre ranch in Ca., needs a new home.

They posted an e-mail address and so we will help the cat (possibly) find a new mommy and daddy.  It’s an e-mail address at the ATT net and the name is redpanther36.

Isn’t “Panthers need love” a solid Oakland sentiment for many years?

With Coolpix at the ready . . .

We saw this tour bus in Oakland on Saturday June 26, 2010.

LOAFing in Berkeley CA

On Sunday, June 27, 2010, we got photos of this V-dub which is part of the Loaf Love Tour of the USA.  They were in Berekeley visiting the Berkeley Bowl.

For more about the tour click

www.loaflovetour.com

Arnieville Update

Artist David Cook is in charage of constructing a wire mesh and paper mache statue of Califonrina’s Governator.

Bus-spotting in SF

While visiting the second annual Super Heroes Street Fair in San Francisco, on Saturday, July 11, 2010, we saw an old White bus (top) and a very old White bus (middle) and while leaving a bus we photo’ed but couldn’t identify drove past (bottom).

More Cowbell!

When we spotted this pickup truck in Berkeley, we immediately knew thatt the owner didn’t need a suggestion about adding a cowbell.

Ute in Berkeley?

This vehicle seen in Berkeley looks more like an Australian Ute than an American Ranchero.  That in turn reminded us that Yanks in Australia who prefer to celebrate Christmas in the more traditional snow and sleighbells way, often use the Forth of July for a traditional Christmas event.

Merry Forth of July, y’all!

Walkabout with a Coolpix

BART art  We saw this art in at a BART station.

A World’s Laziest Journalist’s tradition

Photos of jaquaranda’s in bloom is a World’s Laziest Journalist tradition.

We saw these in Berkeley CA recently.

Berkeley Car-spotting moment/flashback

This Berkeley car-spotting moment brought on a sixties flash-back.

Jersey Bill knows the back-story.

Statue at Arnieville

The folks at Arnieville have unveiled a statue to help them make their case for avoiding budget cuts.

A plug for one of favorites

We’ll run a plug for our favorite (at the moment) fire plug, which is in downtown Berkeley CA, just off Shattuck.

Transbay terminal

Put this 2010 shot of SF architecture in your scrapbook because it seems the building is due for some changes.

Spotting for Trolly-dodgers

While taking photos at the second annual San Francisco Super Heroes Street Fair, we noticed that some old street-cars seemed to be stored at the business next door.  So we took some photos for trolly dodgers.

Did you know that the full name for the famous baseball team from brooklyn was:  “Trolly Dodgers”?

The Magic Bus updated

Folks advocating the legalization of pot took this bus to the second annual Super Heroes Street Fain in San Francisco, held Satuday July 10, 2010, to help promote their effort. 

The spokesman gave us a web site for the bus online but we couldn’t find anything for the magic bus trip.

We hipped the spokesman to the digihitch web site and suggested they cross post their adventures there.

We will try to provide updates as the November election in CA appraoaches.

Super Heroes Street Fair (Part II)

We took the new Nikon Coolpix to the Second Annual Super Heroes Street Fair in San Francisco on Saturday, July 10, 2010, to get some photo coverage for this site’s regular viewers.

Super Heroes Street Fair in SF

The second annual Super Heroes Street Fair was held in San Francisco on Saturday July 10, 2010. 

We used our new Nikon Coolpix to take about 200 photos.  Here are some we thought show what folks who didn’t go, missed.

Are you a turtle?

This statute of a turtle is one of two in the foyer of the Berkeley City Hall.

World’s Laziest Journalist = hot dog expert?

Are the hot dogs served at this place in Berkeley CA as good as the ones served at Harry’s on Wheels in Sydney?

Maybe we should go back to Harry’s to refresh our memory, just to be fair?

The Good Old Days

Fog City Gem

We were strolling in the Cow Hollow section of San Francisco and we spotted this Buick Roadmaster.  Best guess is that it is a 40 (or maybe 41?).

Ask the man who owns one.

We saw this 1941 Packard in Frisco on Sunday.

Hangin’ out if Frisco

This photo was taken in SF on August 25, 2010.

WLJ covers the news!

The World’s Laziest Journalist (and his trusty new Coolpix camera) was able to cover the opening of the new Blicks Art Supply store in San Francisco.

Ever seen a gnarlier grill than this one?

How would you like to see this grill in your rearview mirror?  We think it is the gnarliest grill we’ve ever seen.  We spotted it in San Francisco on August 18, 2010.

SF art scene

The World’s Laziest Journalist approves the latest public work of art in San Francisco.  To learn more about the work of art at Powell and Market click:

http://powellandmarket.blogspot.com/

Just like the Sixties

On Wednesday, August 25, 2010, fand were lining up for a Bob Dylan concert in San Francisco.

Bus-spotting in SF

We spotted this bus in San Francisco on Wednesday, August 25, 2010.  The hotel people didn’t want us to ask about the bus.  Hmmmm.  Were there any big rock concerts scheduled for that night?

We haven’t tasted this place’s hot dogs yet, so we can’t say if they are better than Harry’s in Sydney or not.  Stay tuned for a taste test report (maybe next Wednesday?).

Papoose Puppy

If a photo of a cute papoose puppy is taken by a photographer from Berekely while visiting in Santa Monica, is that photo eligible to be used as the feature foto of the day on the Berkeleyside site?

(http://www.berkeleyside.com)

If it gets posted in the Berkeleyside flickr group photos will it be bounced for not being a photo of Berkeley stuff taken in Berkeley?

This photo was taken by a Berkely photographer in Santa Monica on Thursday Sept. 9, 2010 (at Forth ST. and SM Blvd?).  We had to take several frames to “get it.”  This was the best frame.

Well, we should soon find out the answers to these questions.

To be continued . . .

Trolly-spotting

Fans of trolly-spotting will enjoy themselves on Market Street in San Francico, CA.

Typical Berkeley!

Does your city offer valet parking for bikes?   Well, does it?

Dunebuggy-spotting

We spotted this classic “Baja” style dune buggy in Berkeley CA, recently.

Which one?

“Keep your eye on the ball” is usually good advice, as long as there is only one to see.

Who knows?

We saw this sign in L. A. (Venice area) and we have no idea what it means.

289 FIA Cobra

A work of art!

This isn’t a modern art painting.  It’s a window at the Santa Monica Public Library reflecting a different area of the same building.

Aussie flashbacks

My photos from my trip to Australia have been in storage for some time, but last week I took them out of the storage unit and can now post some of the good ones that I didn’t have time to see and post while I was “on the road.”

Only in L. A.!

This gas station in L. A. (at Lincoln and Rose in Venice) features an ad for hair coloring thatt includes a mirror so that folks can check themselves out as they pump gas at the self-serve island.

The World’s Laziest Journalist did a column that mentioned this.

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/bob-patterson/31329/report-from-la-la-land

Only in L. A. can would be stars worry about their hair while pumping gas.

It looks like a song title

This guy sitting on a bench by one of the docks at Fort Mason (where the library was holding the annual SFPL Book sale) was just watchin’ the tide roll in and it reminded me of a song title from long ago.  (“Watchin’ all the girls go by.”?)

Coolpix on the prowl

We are not sure what electric bikes are like but it seems like Venice CA will soon have them.

So we took a picture of the World’s Greatest Wine-O

While visiting Venice Beach’s Ocean Front Walk, we had a great photo-op.

Dharma Bums tribute in L. A.

This tribute to Jack Kerouac is part of the Greenline’s LAX Airport/Aviation Blvd. station.

A car-spotter’s day in L. A.

In the morning we walked past a place on Lincoln Blvd., in Venice CA, that specializes in Bronco trucks.

Further along, we saw this Mercury.

At about 2 in the afternoon, we saw this Dodge Truck in traffic at Rose and Lincoln, in Venice CA.

A few minutes later, as we walked to Venice Beach, we saw this 59 Caddy convertable after we crossed Rose and Main.

More photos from the trip to Oz

AKA “The Falcon” as seen in Kalgoorlie.

We often wonder if he got his writing project finished and published.

Venice Beach flashback

Does anyone remember X Swami-X?

Another photo for Jersey Bill

Those were the days, my friend, we thought they’d never end.

Special guest

The “special guest” at the most recent meeting of the Los Angeles Shelby American Automobile Club can be seen in the background of this photo.

Replica vintage BMW motorcycle

This new motorcycle, which we saw at Motorcars of Hollywood, on Lincoln Blvd., in Marina del Rey, is made in China and is a licensed reproduction of a post war BMW motorcycle.  According to William Byrd, the reproductions are still being made under a post war agreement and this one is for sale.

http://www.motorcarsof hollywood.com

We took more photos of other vehicles there and will try to post them over the weekend.

TR-3 in Rush Hour Traffic

We saw this TR-3 at Washington and Lincoln this morning and were able to get some photos before the light changed and it went on  its way.

Archive material

Snapshots from the Sidney trip in 2008 and 2009.

Snapshots from Oz

These lads are shown at the Bonn Scott statue in December of 2008.

“Top of the world, Ma!”

Some fans can’t wait to see the newest Batman movie.

Austalians can do something Americans can not and that is buy a cocktail in a can.

Summer Nats 2009 car-spotting

Deuce with blue flames paint job seen at SummerNats in early 2009.

Right-hand drive 1955 Ford with flame paint job.

Just because you see something and take a snapshot, doesn’t mean you know exactly what it is.

Flashbacks to trip to Australia

This vintage Ford pickup looks to be about a ’48.

Mighty-boy trucks are more commonly seen in Australian than the USA.

Another Mighty-boy truck at SummerNats 2009.

Bon Scott statue in Fremantle

Our photos of the Bon Scott statue in Fremantle bring a lot of hits to our humble little blog and so we will post this close up we took in December of 2008.

More flashbacks

The tower in Sidney is seen reflected in the windows of a neighboring building.

This truck was seen at SummerNats 2009.

Two kinds of roses seen in Freo.

Car blogging competition

Jalopnik is hunting for the new top car blogger.

Check it out at

http://jalopnik.com/5653809/americas-next-top-car-blogger-round-one-vote-with-your-eyeballs

Cheers!

24 hour comic event in Berkeley CA

We took some photos on Saturday, in Berkeley CA, of the 24 hour comicbook drawing marathon.  The event took place at the store called Comic Relief.

From the photo desk

These grafitti stickers seem to indicate someone in Berkeley isn’t having a nice Indian Summer day.

Litquake’s North Beach Tour

Tour looks at scene described in poem being read by the tour guide.

The tour meet-up/starting point was the Beat Museum.

The tour stops at one of the many points as it walked up Grant.

Some of the Beat coffee houses don’t look the same these days.

Tour looks at scene being described in a Ginsberg poem while it is being read by the tour guide.

Coolpix isn’t a Nikon F

We love our new Nikon Coolpix camera, but there are times, such as Sunday in SF watching the air show, when we do miss our Nikon F and the 500mm telephoto lens.

Sunday in “the City”

The fellow wearing this T-shirt (seen Sunday in SF by Union Square) said it was a reference to a T-shirt from or inspired by “a French movie.”

On the road to Sacramento

Art cars, on their way to an annual meet-up in Sacramento, made a point of driving up Telegraph Ave. in Berkeley on Friday, Oct. 8, 2010.

The Berkeley side web site was scheduled to publish more photos over the weekend.

http://www.berkeleyside.com

We will try to post some more of our photos in their flickr group later today.

Can you see me?

Did we catch someone preparing a site that would compete with Google’s Street View?  We saw this vehicle in Berkeley and couldn’t take the photos and get the information written on the hood and door at the same time.

Since Jalopnik like photos of all kindsw of cars, especially unique ones, we’ll post these photos and then send the URL to their tips editor.

A plug in Jalopnik can be good for about 400 hits.

Late pics from the WLJ photo desk

While we were taking the photos of the Litquake’s Beat Tour of SF, we had a chance to take one classic-car-spotting shot of this old T-bird

Bouchercon snapshots

We’ve been attentding Bouchercon (the convention for mystery writeres and fans) in San Francisco and these are some of the snapshots we took on Friday.  We’ll take more today.

1948 Rolls?

We had time for a bit of car-spotting while attending Bouchercon in San Francisco.  This class act seems to be a 1948 Rolls Royce.

Ready or not?

This home in Berkeley CA seems to be ready for Halloween.

More Bouchercon Photos

We took our Nikon Coolpix along to the Bouchercon 41 held in San Francisco.

Seen at Bouchercon 41 in SF

For our write-up on Bouchercon 41 (held this weekend in SF) flip over to our other blog for “The World’s Laziest Journalist,” elsewhere on th wordpress site.

Cinderblock Peace Symbol

This cinder building block was seen in (appropriately enough) Berkeley CA at the home on the south-west corner of Newbury and Russell.  We’ll see if this photo is good enough to be used in the “Where In Berkeley?” feature on the Berkeleyside website.

 Wanna see if it was?  Go to

http://www.berkeleyside.com

later today/this week to find out.

Clicking with the Coolpix

Here are some more photos taken at Bouchercon 41 in San Francisco.

Rescued from the e-roundfile

Does the color scheme indicate that this Jerry Garcia T-shirt does double duty for a Giants fan?

Photos for Uncle B.

Here are some more photos I took Wednesday in SF.

T-shirt-spotting at Bouchercon 41

We spotted these interesting T-shirts at Bouchercon 41 in San Francisco.

A visit to McCovey Cove

Police, reporters, adventurers, and fans flocked to McCovey Cover for game one of this year’s installment of the World Series.

A visit to China Basin

These folks had the McCovey Cove experience on the first day of the 2010 World Series.

McCovey Cove

Folks in McCovey Cove could see themselves on the scoreboard as they prepared for Game One of the 2010 World Series.

“We were so much older then . . .

. . . we’re youngert than that now.”

Bus fire in Berkeley CA

The World’s Laziest Journalist got to this bus fire in Berkeley today (November 8, 2010) before the firemen did!

Is it worth it?

To joing the Apathy Coalition . . . or not?  That is the question.  We asked this guy (in Berkeley CA) recently, if we could take a photo of his jacket.  “Whatever!”

Halloween in Berkeley CA

The Farmers blimp was seen Sunday October 31, 2010 flying over Telegraph Ave. in Berkeley.  Maybe they were scoping-out the Raiders game?

Halloween on Russell St.

Wasn’t that a scream?  Halloween in Berkeley CA was quite an event.

Ghoulish Car Pool

This ghoulish carpool was part of Sunday’s Halloweeen festivities on Russell St. in Berekeley CA

King Kong’s Captive

On Wednesday, November 03, 2010, we finished writing our analysis of the election results and were pondering the question of just how mean the Republicans will treat the President next year. 

To read the column click this link

http://worldslaziestjournalist.wordpress.com/2010/11/03/back-to-the-drawing-board/

We asked our self some questions:  Are the Republicans going to be real bad sports and subject the Prez to the uber-torture level of sadistic play?  Do ya think they’ll impeach him?

We replied to our self:  “You bet!”

How could we visually represent the situation?

Then we remembered some photos we had take (many moons ago) of Jessica Lang as King Kong’s captive.  As we recall, AP used one of our shots of the Kong statue, taken from a nearby building in Culver City, being prepared for the scene. 

Yeah, King Kong’s Captive sums up the situation visually, fer sure.

Lotsa luck, Barry.

Weird SF statues

Since we usually stop to take photos of interesting statues and since we are in a bit of a hurry to go take a walk in the Indian Summer weather, and since we don’t know the story about these SF statues, we’ll just post and run.

We know who you are; we saw what you did

This is the second time we got a photo of the NAVTEQ camera car working in Berkeley CA.

If he asked for your autograph?

If this guy aske you for your autograph, would you give it to him?  I did.

http://www.justabovesunset.com/id810.html

Flame paint job

Flame paint jobs on hot rods seems to get some hits for our blog.  Here is a flame paint job on a 57 Chev which we saw in Pasadena about a year ago.

First Berkeley Photo-Walk

Look up.  Look down.  Lookr all around our town.  Stop the photo walk to do car spotting.  The photo walk didn’t get to the memorial set up by the Ashby BART station.

There is a “there” there

This art installation on Shattuck just south of the Oakland/Berkelehy city line proves that there is  both a “here” and a “there” in Oakland.  Gertrude Stein was wrong when she said that there was no “there” there.

Good Question!

While taking photos of the sunet last night (in Berkeley CA) we stopped to wonder:  “Why is it called the ‘Golden Gate’”?

That reminds me . . .

While taking this photo on Russell St., we were reminded of a story by Edgar Allan Poe.

Paint it black?

A tad of underexposure over-emphasizes the door’s redness.

See a resemblance?

We thought this young fellow looked like a sixties icon.

Cute

The lower photo answers the question: Where in Berkeley CA was the first photo taken?

Car-spotting on Telegraph Ave.

We saw this 57 Chev on Telegeraph Ave., in Berkeley last week and had our Nikon Coolpix handy.  So we took several photos.

One man’s trash . . .

We spotted this on a recent walk but we can’t submit it to Berkeleyside’s “Where in Berkeley” feature because we didn’t note down the exact place where we saw it.

Just another Coolpix day in Berkeley CA

The fellow in this truck has a very interesting theory about who really shot the Beatles guy.

Berkeley truck-spotting

This 37 Chev truck (formerly an ambulance) was seen in Berkeley CA on Friday December 10, 2010

Walking in Berkeley with a Coolpix

Frost on cars is not something you see in Berkeley CA every day, so we took a picture.

UCB snapshot

Seen sitting near Sather Gate.

Dew U like close-ups?

Smiles are where you find them

Where is Peter Max when we really need him?

Love that Coolpix

These photos of a hummingbird seen in Berkeley earlier in the year, were taken with a Coolpix and cropped.

T-shirt-spotting in Berkeley CA

A t-shirt urging teaching was spotted recently in Berkeley, CA.  How appropriate is that?  Note an Aussie was wearing the T-shirt.

Cool Carseat-covers

Penguins are always cool.

R U Ansel Adams fan?

On a Coolpix day

This broken window was seen on Christmas Eve at the remians of the old SF Transbay Bus Terminal.

A Mile in Jack Kerouac’s shoes

Jack Kerouac reportedly hung out at the Vesuvio’s cafe in North Beach.  On Christmas Eve, we stopped in and had a cup of coffee and enjoyed the view.  We wondered:  Could Kerouac’s DNA still be on some of the walls or furniture?

Club 55

It looked better on the camera’s screen.

Banksy’s advice to SF

“If at first you don’t suceed – call an airstrike.”  Solid American philosophy.

Motorcycle Museum Restaurant

Eddie Rickenbacker’s in SF seems to be both a Motorcycle Museum and a Restaurant.  We didn’t get to try the food.  The prices seemed reasonable.

We will especially try to get our lawyer to this place. 

For more click this link

http://maps.google.com/maps/place?hl=en&rlz=1R2DIUS_enUS351&wrapid=tlif12940994135601&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=eddie+rickenbacker’s+san+francisco&fb=1&gl=us&hq=eddie+rickenbacker’s&hnear=San+Francisco,+CA&cid=658176639137007143

Trip to SFMOMA

The top two photos were taken at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in the roof plaza area.  The work of art is a giant slab of metal (slowly adding a venier of rust) that gains an added level of abstractness with the shaddow of a nearby building on it.

The lower photo is some gutter art from nearby.

It was a fun afternoon excursion on a sunny winter’s day.

What’s a Woolloomooloo?

These signs in Sydney let the traveler know that this is the Wooloomooloo section of Sydney.

Santa on a Cycle

We had our Coolpix ready in a moment when we spotted this Santa on a motorcyle in San Francisco (at Union Square) on Christmas Eve.

Flame paint job on a Deuce

Cars with flame paint jobs seem to bring hits to my blog, so we are running these shots (taken at SummerNats 2009) because a Deuce with a flame paint job is a classic.  We understand this car took “best of show” award at that event.

Closed

This out of business business in Canberra caught our eye some time ago.  We are just now getting around to posting this photo.

Why not?

Taking a picture of a sign that urges people not to take photos, seemed like a challenge to us.

Scooter-spotting in L. A.

We took this photo a few months back, while visiting in L. A.

Nick Cave and Queen Victoria?

We took this photo in Sydney about two years ago.

Adventures with a Coolpix (in Berkeley CA)

We should have saved this shot and submitted it for a “Where in Berkeley” shot for the editors at the Berkeleyside  website.  Oh well, too late now.  We found this cat on Adeline just near Ashby.

Good advice

Second the motion!

Jack Scribner’s Union Oil gas station

As part of our new snapshot project, we found this photo of Jack Schribner’s Union Oil gas station.  We don’t know where it is or was but the car makes us guess that this is a print from a snapshot taken in the forties or fifties. 

Anyone with better information is invited to share it via a post in the comments section.

(Update on Sunday Jan. 16, 2011) The read is correct.  Using a powerful negative loupe we gave the print another look.  This is Jack Scribner’s Union Oil Station.

Puddle-spotting

We don’t know where this photo was taken but writing on the print indicates it was taken on Nov. 26, 1926.

If you know where this is please share that info in the comments section.

Thanks!

History club trip on October 9, 1936

As part of our new snapshot project, we acquired this 8X10 print of the Waukegan Township High School History Club’s historic trip on October 9, 1936.  There is no indication if the club went somewhere on the DC-3 or if their history trip was just to an airport to see it.

Isn’t it doubtful that that many folks could fit into a DC-3?

We are not sure where we are going with our snapshot collecting project but, so far, it has been fun finding items such as this.

If anyone knows about this WTHS History Club trip please add your information in the comments section.  Thanks!

Best working man’s car ever!

As part of our new snapshot collecting fact finding process, we acquired one that includes this portion that shows a 36 Ford Sedan parked next to a 40 Ford convertable. 

To our way of thinking, the 1940 Ford Convertible was the best working man’s priced production car ever made.

Other cars (such as a Cobra) make for a more exotic collector’s prize, but for a mass produced affordable car, we have always put the 40 Fords Deluxe convetable and Coupe, at the top of the list.

Now, back to reality . . .

Back on the Bestsellers List

The statue in this photo (taken recently in Berkeley) is of topical interest because Mark Twain’s autobiography was recently published by the Berkeley Press and is landing on various Bestseller Lists.

Remember rumble seats?

We love the car with a rumble seat in the line of cars shown in this old snapshot.

Truck-spotting at Venice Beach

Last year, we took this photo at Venice Beach

They don’t make ‘em like that, these days

Peerless Auto.  This old car in an old snapshot was something we happened upon while working on our snapshot project.

Happy Australia Day!

Since Jan. 26 will be Australia Day, we dug into the archives and will post this photo of an old Holden.  The shot was taken at SummerNats 2009.

Old School for Australia Day

These “Ol Skool” hot rod shots from SummerNats 2009, seemed like a good way to note Australia Day.

Remember the Berkeley Barb?

We are writing a new column that will be a book review of a just published look at the Alternative Press in the Sixties. 

Berkeley blogger and war correspondent Jane Stillwater took this photo which we hope to be able to use as an illustration for the Book Review when we finish it (tomorrow?) and post it.

There are more than just Skimpy’s bar

In the W. A. city of Kalgoorlie, Skimpy’s isn’t the only bar.  Here is a view of Judd’s.

What the well dressed Time Traveler will wear

We met some time travel tourists in SF this weekend.

Bright spot in downtown SF

The white building in downtown San Francisco put a bright spot in our day.

Hey, hey, life goes on as usual in Berkeley CA

Where is Mario Savio when we really need him?

When is a flame paint job not a flame paint job?

We’ve run photos of flame paint jobs and so when we saw this truck in L. A. (a few months back) we snapped a photo to run as a variation on the theme.

It would seem to be the ultimate un-flame paint job, eh?

Blasphemy in Berkeley CA

This banner was seen on Ashby recently.

Big troubles in “the Sunshine State”

Americans who have visited Australian may have noticed that they have their own “Sunshine State.” 

Recent news stories indicate that their Sunshine State may need some humanitarian help from the USA and, over the Superbowl weekend, we will be doing a column to be posted on Smirking Chimp and other American based web sites.

When Australia needs a helping hand, will America respond?

Americans should hold a benefit concert for the Austalian weather disaster victims.

Where in Berkeley?

It’s in Berkeley CA.  But where exactly?

Sixties Sentiment

Why are payphones disappearing?

Is there a dead payphones graveyard where they all g0?

Mural-spotting in Berkeley CA

This mural is across from Shakespeare and Co. on Telegraph Ave. in Berkeley CA.

The MOG truck seen in Berkeley

When we saw the MOG truck in Berkeley, recently, we took a picture.

Snow in Berkeley CA

It’s not often folks get to see snow in Berkeley CA

Rolls Royce with a flames paint job

Whenever we see a car with a flame paint job, we take a photo.  When we see a Rolls Royce waiting at a light that has a flame paint job (on Sunday, Feb. 20, 2011), we ran out into the line of waiting cars to get these photos.  It’s not every day in Berkeley that you see a Rolls . . . let alone one with a flame paint job.

New shoes in Berkeley CA

The young lady promoting the Sierra Club in downtown Berkeley CA has some groovy new shoes, so we took a photo for the photoblog.

More rain Friday?

This recent rain shot reminds us of Friday’s weather forcast.

Celebrity-spotting on Ocean Front Walk

We spotted William Johnk Nielsen on Ocean Front Walk the day before the Oscars.

Gnarly Harley in Venice CA

We saw this Harley Davidson motorcycle in Venice CA on Oscar Day, so we took some pictures.

El Camino spotting in Venice CA

We spotted this El Camino in Venice CA.

Starry Night in Venice CA

This mural seen from Ocean Front Walk in Venice CA is an homage to Van Gogh.

Banksy or Picasso?

Was either Banksy or Picasso doing grafitti in Berkeley, recently?

This ain’t in Berkeley!

Hollywood is still close to Hollyweird.

Ocean Front Walk trough the viewfinder

Good old Ocean Front Walk in Venice CA.  There’s always a new photo to take, so always bring your camera.

The cafe latte was born in Berkeley CA

Bachelor Party from Down Under

These guys from Melbourne stopped off at Venice Beach CA while traveling to a wedding in Las Vegas.  When a blogger from Berkeley spied them it was time to take some shots for the photo blog.

Spot of color in Santa Monica

This is a shot of the new Santa Monica Place.

The Ghost in Venice CA

We saw this photo of Keith while walking up Lincoln Blvd., in Venice CA recently and so we took a photo.

St. Paddy’s Parade in SF

We got some photos at the Saint Patrick’s Day Parade in SF.

The 8 of clubs

Many years ago, in Ripley’s “Believe It or Not,” we read about a guy who over the course of his lifetime, had found an example of every one of the cards in a deck of cards.  We will not try to duplicate that feat.  We took a photo of this card, but that’s it.  We don’t intend on spending the rest of our life taking photos of the various solo playing cards we spot.

Time to play the Door’s “The End”?

Shouldn’t every radio station play the Doors’ “The End” all at the same time?

Motorcycle-spotting in Venice CA

The fellow said this kit made motorcylce was a Page.  It was spotted recently in Venice CA.

Candid photos in the good old days

Film heads can only envy the young folks today who can take digital photos in dark places with no problems (really?) but back in the day “available light” photography was a challenge.  We found this snapshot while researching the topic of snapshot collecting.  We have no idea who took it.  Where. or When.

We may write a column on it just for a change of pace topic.

Fallout in Berkeley?

It can’t come here, if it’s against the law.  Can it?

World’s smallest front yard

Tourists come from all over the world to stroll along Ocean Front Walk in Venice CA.  The most popular section is from the Santa Monica Pier down to Venice Blvd.  If you stroll further south towards Washington Blvd. and the Venice Pier, you will (if you look at the beachfront homes) see one that claims it has “the world’s smallest front yard.”  We saw it recently and took some photos.

St. Stupid’s Day Parade in SF

These photos were taken at the St. Stupid’s Day Parade in San Francisco today, April 1, 2011.

Bird-spotting in Venice CA

This is a bird we spotted recenlty in Venice CA.  It’s a bird.  We spotted it.

Walk sign

This “walk” sign, seen recently in Venice CA, seems to send a mixed message.

Quoting Kerouac in L. A.

This art installation was seen recently in L. A.

Chopped Bug spotting in Berkeley CA

On Monday, March 28, 2011, we spotted (and got a photo of) this Volkswagen (with an oval rear window) on Shattock in Berkeley CA.

Photo for Mike M

This bumper sticker (seen recently in Berkeley CA) reminded the photographer of the Mike Malloy radio show.

Trip to 1940 World’s Fair

The World’s Fair Headquarters building (now a leasing office) as it appeared on Wednesday, March 30, 2011.

Canadian tourists stop at 1940 World’s Fair site.

More St. Stupid’s Day Photos

Never heard of Sea-sick Steve?

Can you believe that this Brit (seen at the 2011 St. Stupid’s Day Parade in SF) has never heard of Sea-sick Steve?

Student Elections at UCB

Students at UCB are holding student elections.

Read my protest sign

Not to worry if you arrived at the St. Stupid’s Day Parade without a protest sign; there were plenty available.

Is that Cool(pix) or what?

One of the things we did on Saturday (April 2) was to go to Looking Glass Photo with our trusty Nikon Coolpix and take photos of the Leica salesman and his products.  Is that cool or what?

To see what kind of pictures the Leica guy takes go to

http://www.thomasbrichta.com

The Opening of the Ear Peace Records Music Store

On Saturday (April 2) we went to the opening of a new record store in Berkeley.  We will write a column about that and post it on Smirking Chimp, Bartcop, and submit it to Op Ed News.  The column will explain all about who were famous musicians who came from the Berkeley and Oakland areas of Cali.

Waldo-spotting in San Francisco

Visitors to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, who have sharp eyes, might notice Waldo on the roof of a neighboring building.  He is right to the right of the gray oblong box that is just about dead center.  He is just under an air conditioning unit.

The Berkeley Attitude

What’s the propper attitude on campus these days?  We took this photo on the UCB campus Wednesday April 6.  When does spring break start?

Pan Am Memories

This bas-relief image was found recently on Treasure Island in the San Francisco Bay.  Didn’t Pan Am’s China Clipper have a base on the same island?

Learn by doing

We have been trying to remember what we learned about Photoshop in the course we took at Santa Monica College.  Now, with the textbook, it is “Learn by doing” time.  This is one of our first (new) efforts.

Who doesn’t like cats?

We saw this bit of sticker art in Berkeley CA recently.

Bus-spotting in Berkeley CA

We saw the Adina bus on Telegraph Ave. in Berkeley on Monday, April 11, 2011.  So we took some photos.

Celebrating National Columnists’ Day

So who did we write our annual National Columnists’ Day column about this year?

To find out try these links:

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/bob-patterson/35547/a-gonzo-celebration-of-national-columnists-day

http://bartblog.bartcop.com/2011/04/14/national-columnists-day-for-gonzo-journalists/

Freudian Slip-pers!

We saw these Freudian Slip-pers for sale in Berkeley CA, so we took a photo.

Tourbus-spotting

While walking around, we spotted the tour bus for the Elephant Revival band at the Berkeley Bowl, so we took a picture.

The Saturday Photo

Sign seen in Berkeley CA recently (like Thursday?).

Take back the night day at UCB

Berkeley had this display for their take back the night day.

Dream deferred in L. A.

This sign was seen at the Avaiation Station of the L. A. light rail system.

Spingtime in Berkeley means Lilacs?

If these flowers are lilacs, then it must be Spring Is Here! time in Berkeley CA.  Ya think?

Berkeley CA bus-spotting

We saw this bus on Telegraph Ave. in Berkeley CA recently, so we took a new bus-spotting photo for our vast audience of regular readers.

Has this photo been posted previously?

Know this feeling?

There’s a Boston fan in L. A.?

Apparently there is one.

Where does Jack Kerouac alley take you?

This alley in San Francisco is close to but not right “at” the Beat Museum.

For Gonzos only?

A mural of Venice in Venice

We saw this mural of Venice Italy in Venice CA, so we took a photo.

Classic old car-spotting in Berkeley CA

We spotted this 1942 Buick Special on Telegraph Ave., on Friday April 29 and so we took some photos.  A friend of the owner said the vehicle has 69,000 original miles.  Since it is 69 years old; you do the math.

What’s a good cure for a sore throat?

What happens if this bird gets a sore throat?

Where in Berkeley CA?

One of the murals in Berkeley features a bum sleeping.  Do you know where this mural is?

Berkeley CA Philosophy lesson

I think so too.

Walking around with a Coolpix

This must be the place where Mario Savio leapted into prominence in 1964.

Mural-spotting in Santa Monica CA

How could one window be crooked?

The roving camera clicks and having clicked moves on . . .

We are taking some photos for a column about “disposable art.”  We’ll post the link when we get that column written and posted at sites such as Smirking Chimp, Oped News, and Bartcop.

Photo for “Kurt in the Art Dept.”

The fellow at Tiki News collects Tiki culture stuff.  We used to work with him in Santa Monica, so when we found this curtain for sale in Berkeley CA, we thought we’d take a photo, post it, and try to get word to him.  We won’t get no commission, so we’ll try to post an item about what happens after this post gets posted.

A day early?

This mural was seen in the work stage (above) and then finished (?) a week later, in San Francisco.

If we post these photos as a “Thursday extra” does that mean we can take Friday off?

Tiki god (statue) arrives at UCB

 On Thursday May 12, 2011, men wearing “Event Staff” T-shirts were seen delivering a Tiki god statue to the campus of the University of California in Berkeley. 

No other caption material was available.

So you don’t condone torture?

Folks who don’t dig America’s use of torture held a demonstartion on Friday at UCB.

The Lost Weekend (pictures)

We did not post any photos for a few days, so here is a weekend’s worth to catch-up.

HUH?

We saw this bit of “disposable art” in Berkeley CA.  Unknow what it means.  Your guess is as good as mine.

Sunday’s photo?

If I post a “disposable art” photo on Saturday afternoon, that should mean that I don’t have to post one Sunday and can take the day off! ! !

Dook! Dook! Dook!

We saw this example of Berkeley’s disposable art on Sunday at the Jazz on Fourth event.

Elephants in Oakland?

Some fans of the Oakland A’s have merchandise that features an elephant on the left sleeve.

Wednesday’s photo

We thought it was worth our while to take a picture of these interesting seat covers.

Better than no new picture at all?

What song has the lyrics:  “I see a red phone and I want it painted black!”?

48,000 Corks collected!

From the WLJ photo desk

Back in the old B&W days of photography, putting folks under a tree to take their photo was not a good idea if there wasn’t a solid shaddow area.  The bright highlights and the dark shaddow areas on one face were challenging to print.

Digital photography has made much of Photogaphy easier, but when we saw the guys from the band called “Fellowship of the Beard,” our fist intint was from the old days and we wanted to avoid the highlights and deep shaddow challenge.  We ignored out instinct and took a photo.

As you can see, the digital camera exposed for the background and plunged the people into deep shaddow.

Live and learn, eh?

One more photo

It’s difficult to tell, but this sunset shot taken last week in Oakland is a color shot and not a B&W one.

Scuff plates and running boards?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When was the last time you saw a vehicle on the streets with a scuff plate?

Holiday weekend batch of photos

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plaque in Berkeley CA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mural in Oakland CA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

V-dub spotting in Alameda (AKA the Island that rust forgot.)

Disposable Art

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Car-spotting in Berkeley CA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On D-day in Berkeley we spotted a V-dub with a great paint job and a MGB, so we did out duty and took some car-spotting pictures to post here.

Today’s photo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is that clear enough?

Another day; another photo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How old is your local newsstand?

Kansas or Berkeley?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’re not in Kansas, Toto.  We are in Berkeley CA and always carry our Nikon Coolpix with us.  In the last few days we noticed these items and took some shots.

 

 

Bride, Bikers, and Beat Museum

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s not every day that a Hernri-Cartier Bresson wanna be gets a grab shot with a bride, bikers, and the Beat Museum in it.  We got this shot recently in SF.  Did we already run it?

Photos for Slap Art column

We didn’t have the time to post these and then put a link to this page into a column that appeared elsewhere.  Oh, well.

You can read the column at

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/bob-patterson/36743/fame-and-fortune-via-slap-art

Early new photo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Folks in Berkeley CA are not sure if theis is some new Banksy art or if it was done by a Banksy clone.

Hidden Persuaders?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is using a cocktail for phallic symbolism subtle or not?

Positively Fourth St.

“Defenestration” in San Francisco CA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This art installation, titled “Defenestration,” done by artist Brian Goggin, was seen in San Francisco CA at Sixth St. and Howard.

Wandering with a Coolpix

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We saw this fellow in San Francisco so we took a photo.

One more

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

. . . so we took a photo.

Good advice in Berkeley CA

Looking for the Ninas (in Oakland CA)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New York Times fans used to spend Sunday mornings “looking for the Ninas.”

 

Slap Art from Broke

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amsterdam flashbacks?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Does this sign in Oakland CA make you think of Amsterdam?

Change of Heart(s) in S. F.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Hearts around Union Square in San Francisco have been changed. 

The Hearts are decorated by various local artists and used to emphasize the city’s tourist attractions and artistic heritage.  They provide perfect backgrounds for tourist shots.  The one on the Southwestern (?) corner of Union Square can be photographed from the inside of Union Square and thus provide the tourists with some famed cable cars adding more local color to the background.

On photo patrol . . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While on photo patrol duty, we did some bus spotting in Oakland CA.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We saw this picture of a Berkeley CA variation of van Gogh’s “Starry Night” painting at the Chalk Art Festival in Berkeley CA.  (What a co-inky-dink,eh?)

 

Walkabout with Coolpix

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is this titled “Space alien with cupcake”?

A yellow streak in Berkeley CA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coolpix report from Berkeley CA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Does the last hippie drive this car seen in Berkeley CA over the weekend?

More Coolpixing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Groovy!

 

Oz tourist in Berkeley CA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This Aussie needed some directions to get to Telegraph Ave. in Berkeley CA.  We made sure that he made the effort to also see People’s Park.

Stencil scene in Oakland

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This stencil art was spotted in Oakland CA recently.

New photos to post!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Went for a walkabout in Oakland.  We were reminded of Santa Monic and the staris and Venice and the canals.

Photog on the loose

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We saw this T-shirt in Berkeley CA recently.

Can’t dogs in Oakland read?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We saw this sign in Oakland over the weekend.

Tough Commute in S. F. on Monday

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s not every day that foreign tourists in San Francisco get to take photos of the BART police in riot gear.  It happened Monday August 15, 2011, when Anonymous and BART face each other over the blockage of cell phone signals.

More Broke in Berkeley CA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It looks like Broke is still active in Berkeley CA.

Did you realize?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who knew that scuba was big in W.VA.?

Photo-patrol report

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moon over Berkeley CA.

Accidental composition

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes the composition of a photo can be improved by a stupid bird who wanders into the frame.

Color study

Sometimes a vivid splotch of color in a drab setting makes it worth snapping the shutter, eh?

More Broke Art

San Francisco photo patrol

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Milan Italy streetcar

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Twin Cities streetcar

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

San Francisco CA is a street car spotter’s Valhalla.

Odd color saturation in SF CA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The color saturation caught our attention and so we took this photo in San Francisco CA.

Local color in Berkekely CA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We saw this colorful display on Shattock this week.

The Energizer bunny of the Berkeley Art scene

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many time we see sticker art by Broke in Berkeley CA.  Does that mean that he lives in Berkeley?

Meanwhile down in Monterey . . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We went down to Monterey CA to take a look at some of the cars that are in that city this weekend for all kinds of fun and frivolity.  We posted a column about our adventures

http://www.opednews.com/articles/That-s-the-way-a-car-colle-by-Bob-Patterson-110819-966.html

 

Anonymous BART protest in San Francisco

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The World’s Laziest Journalist was one of the many writers and photographers on hand Monday to record (for posterity) the Anonymous protest against the BART Police Department.

 

The massive police presence at the site where the Anonymous demonstration against the methods used by the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) was scheduled to take place on Monday August 22, 2011, made it obvious that there was a high likelihood that a large number of arrests would be made.  The first clue was the buses standing by to transport more arrestees than would fit in a squad car.

 

The first arrests at theCivicCenterstation came soon after the demonstration scheduled for 5 p.m., started.

 

Flyers proclaiming:  “Anonymous Does Not Regret This Inconvenience” were handed out to commuters.

 

The demonstrators who were not arrested in the station left and walked downMarket Streetto the Embarcadero.  They requested permission to enter theFerryBuildingbut the San Francisco Police Department stonewalled that option.

 

The demonstrators continued their efforts late into the evening.

 

According to reports on KCBS radio, about two dozen demonstrators were arrested about 9 p.m.

 

 

BART protests in San Francisco continue . . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For an individual attempting to provide web sites with both news stories and photo coverage of the continuing series of protests against the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Police Department by the group called “Anonymous,” the inherent dangers to the art of journalism are becoming apparent. 

 

On Monday, August 22, 2011, this columnist went to theBARTCivicCenterstation to get some news photos.  Through a combination of experience, intuition, luck and skill we took, and subsequently posted, photos that illustrated the events from the early part of that night’s events.

 

To augment our after event fact finding process, we attended the Special Meeting of the BART Board of Directors held inOaklandon August 24, 2011.  That provided us with background information from both sides which will help improve the quality of any subsequent news stories.  We took photos of the massive media coverage of the meeting that started at 9 a.m.  According to statistics provided by one reporter, there were 32 members of the media, 18 BART PD officers, and 14 members of the public who submitted speaker cards, and a Board of Directors quorum in attendance. 

 

We took photos that illustrated the heavy TV presence at the Board meeting, but since the board took no direct action, we didn’t see any news value for making the effort to post photos of a bunch of video camera operators at work.

 

At that meeting a protest spokesperson, Kristoff, said that the protests would continue, so on Monday August 29, 2011, we traveled to theCivicCenterstation to take photos if something newsworthy occurred. 

 

The protesters changed tactics and no arrests were made in that station.

 

The protesters moved above ground and the responsibility for security changed from the BART Police Department to the San Francisco Police Department. 

 

Various people spoke to the multitude of reporters about the Anonymous and No Justice No BART criticism of the BART PD.  Several representatives of other protest groups (such as nudists and Native American Rights) with other causes, tried to avail themselves of the easy access to the large media contingent on hand to draw attention to their issues.

 

The protesters decided to walk to the Powell Street BART station and did so.

 

When it seemed to the World’s Laziest Journalist that the evening was drawing to a conclusion, we took a bus to the downtown area to catch an AC bus back toBerkeley.  As the bus approached the Embarcadero BART station area, we observed another phase of the BART protest and took some more photos.

 

For an individual writing about the event has to be a subjective report.  You can’t take photos of arrests and talk to the PIO (Public Information Officer) at the same time.  You can’t be on the scene and get an overview from the sidelines simultaneously.  When another reporter says that arrests were made earlier at the Embarcadero station ticket booth, you can’t categorically state hearsay evidence into a news story without either your own visual confirmation or an official police statement.  The San Francisco Chronicle reported in its edition for Tuesday August 30, 2011, that two arrests were made at the Embarcadero station.

 

In the old days, a photographer would have to go develop the film and have an editor “AKA the photo desk” select a frame to make a print which would then “move on the wire” if it was good enough to meet their standards of excellence.  Now, a digital photographer has to get to a computer, download his work, and for vertical shots, rotate the appropriate files.  Then he edits his own work.  We know of one instance where an editor used the opinion of a stringer to confirm “the desk’s” selection from the available frames.

 

A photographer can’t do the digital file clerk work and (if he is working at home and lacks internet access) simultaneously monitor Internet news organizations at the same time.  KCBS news radio indicated that the protesters had changed tactics for their protest on August 29, 2011. 

 

We will use the ominous implications for the Journalism Industry that we see in the shrinking number of professional journalists as a topic for a future column.  We will revisit the BART PD vs critics’ dispute as events warrant.  We will, as time permits, use the topic of online photojournalism for some future columns, as time and inspiration permits.

 

Taking photos of the arrests that occurred on Monday August 22, 2011, provided a bit of nostalgia and the sense that “we still got it,” for a photographer who was reminded that some things haven’t changed much since doing similar work in the L. A. area in the seventies. 

 

Covering the BART board of directors meeting was similar to coveringSanta Monicacity council meetings back in the days when Clo Hoover was the mayor and coveringCulver Citycouncil meeting when that group shared their building with a branch of that city’s fire department. 

 

Liberal media relies on altruism to provide content.  Conservative media uses money to tailor their content to their ulterior motives.  In an extremely long and extended contest, human nature tends to indicate which group will survive an endurance contest.

 

For more photos check out the pictures posted on the Op Ed News site and the blog section of Bartcop.com

 

BART cop protest continue in SF

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We posted this photo of Kristof at the BART cop protest on BARTcop and on Op Ed News but we need to post this photo here so we can practice using this post to make a link to use this photo with a Smirking Chimp column.

BART arrests in SF

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The BART cop protests resulted in more arrests on Thursday Sept. 8, 2011.

We will try to use this posting to get a photo to go with a Smirking Chimp column.

More BART cop arrest photos

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More BART cop protest arrests were made in San Francisco on Thursday August 8, 2011.  This is the scene outside the station where the arrests were made.

San Francisco protests as usual

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was another No Justice No BART demonstration in San Francisco on Thursday Sept. 8, 2011.

Coolpix walkabout in Berkeley

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aussie flashback

More from Oz trip

Oz Pix

Bon Scott statue

More from Oz trip

Big Ka-boom in Oz

Top of the World, Ma!

Sydney Bridge

First, ya gotta grab the media’s attention . . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MM rocks OO

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Michael Moore delivered a spirited speech at Occupy Oakland (=OO) on Friday, October 28, 2011.

Venice CA prepares for Halloween

Jim Morrison’s locker or urban legend?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This locker at Wooden Academy (AKA UCLA) is reputed to be the one Jim Morrison used while at film school there.  Some skeptics think this is just an urban legend.

Update from Occupy Sproul Plaza

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These tents were gone by Thursday morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Take down this tent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was over very fast.

Seen at OO

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This Halloween decoration was seen Tuesday at Occupy Oakland.

HST fan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can you guess what movie I saw on Saturday?

Venice CA mural

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If the Venice CA Post Office is sold, what will happen to this historic WPA mural?

Seen at General Strike in Oakland CA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photographers take photos of one another.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The last general strike in the USA happened Wednesday in Oakland.  The last one before that was also in Oakland in 1946.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Voters are upset.

Perhaps the most surrealistic moment at the General Strike in Oakland was a chat with Mayor Quan’s husband.  He was scrambling to help her regain the goodwill of the protesters. 

The atmosphere at the latest general strike was similar to that we noted at a previous visit to the L. A. County Fair, a few years back.

 

The last general strike in the USA started at 5 a.m. on December 3, 1946 in Oakland. 

Some businesses which were open at 8:30 a.m. on November 2, 2011, were closed later in the day.

When given the choice of giving in to fatigue early and then posting some photos with a short roundup or staying longer and not being able to get to the Internets on the same day as the event, this columnist chose to get the photos posted at about 4:47 p.m. PST.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oakland’s Mayor’s husband joined the protesters on Wednesday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Protester stops traffic.

 

The coolpix at work

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We took our Coolpix camera to the General Strike in Oakland on Wednesday.

Coolpix at work

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We may use this photo to illustrate a column that will be posted on Op Ed News, Smirking Chimp, and Bartcop.

Column Illustrations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another photo for the column

Didgeridoo at Occupy Berkeley

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This American at Occupy Berkeley used some plastic pipes to build his own didgeridoo, which is an Australian musical instrument.

New photo for column

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’ll use this photo for a column on Smirking Chimp about the Student Strike

 

Occupy Cal gets in Tents

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the old days, St. Reagan (when he was governor) would have said:  “Mr. Occupy tear down these tents!”

The Available Light Photo Challenge

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Always carry your camera with you

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seen on Shattuck in Berkeley CA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now there is a flames paint job!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A car with a flames paint job always gets our attention.  Since we try to carry our Nikon Coolpix with us at all times, that means that we can get pix of all the flame paint jobs we see.  Should we do a photo book on that theme?

A year without a basketball season?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some people think Occupy Oakland is more important the possibility that there will not be a new basketball season.

How do you define poignant?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the books that was available at the Occupy Oakland library was “The Little Engine That Could.” 

Is that poignantcy in action or what?

The Battle of the Teepee at Occupy Oakland

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Occupy Oakland in the news again

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A San Jose student records the moment for posterity (and a student project)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Work starts on teepee adjacent to Ogawa Plaza.

On the afternoon of Tuesday, November 29, 2011, Lone Wolf, a Native American, was initially thwarted in an effort to erect a teepee on Frank Ogawa Plaza, site of the Occupy Oakland protest.

After repeated conferences between protesters, a lawyer, police and city officials a permit was issued for a teepee to be erected adjacent to the Plaza with restrictions.

With scores of journalists recording the event, construction of the teepee was begun.

A tent curfew late Tuesday night might provide a new confrontation.

 

Occupy Oakland treesitters

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After most of the protesters were chased out of Frank Ogawa Plaza in Oakland, most of the medi didn’t (a few days later) notice protesters up in some near-by trees.

Ain’t dat de truth

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This example of folk art was seen at Occupy San Francisco recently.  It was seen in front of the Treasury Building and that site was cleared out over the weekend.  So this piece of art is now part of protest history.

“There you go again . . .”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Would Ronald Reagan be surprised to see UC Berkeley students going out on strike to support the Occupy Protesters?

Beat sentiments seen at Occupy Cal

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This chalk sentiment seen at Occupy Cal reminded us:  the Beat Museum’s website has a new look.  Click on over to

http://www.kerouac.com/

to take a look.  Tell ‘em the World’s Laziest Journalist sent you their way.

Black Friday in SF

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Press coverage Friday was extensive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tourists pass protesters on Black Friday in San Francisco CA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Occupy SF protester attempts to take a siesta while protesting on Black Friday in ‘Frisco.

We posted some different photos and this story on the Op Ed News site.

Massive numbers of tourists, shoppers, protesters, journalists, and officers from the San Francisco Police Department converged on the Union Square area of the famed city by the Bay (dubbed “Baghdad by the Bay” by columnist Herb Caen) to partake in the city’s annual celebration of Black Friday.  There were some heated discussion between the compassionate conservative Christian conspicuous consumers and the Native American style philosophers who believe that the Public Service Announcement featuring Iron Eyes Cody (it’s on Youtube) had things in accurate perspective forty years ago. 

 

Occupy San Francisco used the day to protest the philosophy behind America’s conspicuous consumption by those who have an excess of purchasing enthusiasm to point out that today’s frivolous gift is just grist for tomorrow’s land fill garbage dump.

 

(Didn’t Charlie Manson produce a Christmas Carol titled “Oh, Garbage Dump!”?)

 

The world’s laziest journalist (combining columnisting and photography) observed the annual Black Friday events for four hours before succumbing to a bout of fatigue, but the next generation of “record the event for posterity” in the “first draft of history” manner continued their vigil for potential dynamic still and video images.

 

San Francisco’s legendary Laughing Squid man was present as he is for almost any and allSan Franciscoevents tinged with political overtones.  (Where isSan Franciscocolumnist Freddy Francisco, when he is needed most?  Will it be up to the World’s Laziest Journalist to track him down and do a profile of the ubiquitous protester?)

 

San Francisco’s nude protesters were conspicuous by their absence Friday.

 

Is it true (as some conspiracy theory lunatics would have us believe) thatSan Franciscoin 2011, will be vying to regain the highly covetedHippestCityin the World Award that it previously had captured in 1967 – 69, as didParisin 1926 – 28?

 

Is it true that the trophy has engraved upon it, the classic passage by Hunter S. Thompson:  “ . . . but no explanation, no mix of words or music or memories can touch that sense of knowing that you were there and alive in that corner of time and the world . . . .”?

 

Whatever.

On Black Friday, the tourists, the shoppers, the protesters, the journalists and the police officers all seemed to be in total agreement with the Hunter Thompson sentiment:  “There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was <I>right</I>, that we were winning.”

Comparing the tumultuous Black Friday celebration in San Francisco with other noteworthy Fog City events from the past, such as seeing the Jefferson Airplane perform free at Golden Gate Park, brings to mind a bit of Sixties philosophy:  “Nostalgia ain’t what it used to be.”

Have a hella-groovy day.

 

Odd street Art? Where else, but in Venice CA!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About a month ago, we encountered this street art in Venice CA (near the Cow’s End Cafe).  Dunno what it means or who did it, but we thought it was certainly worth a photo.

Banksy or not?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We spotted this bit of art work in Berkeley CA.  We asked our Banksy expert if it was a genuine Banksy.  His expert reply was:  “It could be.”

Isn’t it Ironic?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is it ironic that one of the places where Occupy Oakland got kicked out by the police was at a site known as “Champions for Humanity” or “Heroes for Humanity”? or not?

Rejected by the BBC

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We took this photo Tuesday (Nov. 29, 2011) at Occupy Oakland.  Later in the day we sent it to the Photos of the Day people at the BBC.  It seems they didn’t use this photo, so I guess I can post it on my little old blog.

 

Snapshots from Thursday

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scuffle Thursday at Occupy SF

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Firemen douse smoldering tent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fences ready for possible use.

Grateful Giants Fan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This t-shirt caught our eye while visiting San Francisco (CA) on Thursday Decembr 1, 2011, so we took a photo for our World’s Laziest Journalist’s photo blog.

T-shirt opinion in Berkeley CA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This t-shirt (seen in Berkeley CA) seemed worth the effort of clicking the shutter button.

Will some future historian say that this photo taken at Occupy San Francisco on December 2, 2011, is a bit of graphic history?

Huh?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes a Nikon Coolpix is an easy way to take notes.

Old Photo trick still works

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The old Nikon F era photo trick of underexposing to get better color saturation works with a Coolpix too.  We took this photo Sunday Dec. 11, 2011 at Venice Beach.

 

Can you say “Zone System”?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who can see a scene like this with pure whites and deep shadows and not think of Ansel Adams and flip the digital camera to B&W mode?  We saw this recently at the Transbay Terminal in SF CA.

Just like Ansel Adams?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are still in our Ansel Adams wannabe stage.

More B&W

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With B&W you can never have enough shades of gray

The Year in Review photo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We saw this bit of folk art at Occupy SF’s site at the Treasury building some time back.  It says it all for this year, American Journalism, and . . . ?

Solar powered waste baskets?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Venice beach seems like the natural place to have solar powered waste baskets, so we took a photo (see the old MTV beach house in the background?).  We wrote up a story for Op Ed News about taking photos of the Jim Morrison mural at Venice.  To read it click this link

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Visiting-the-Jim-Morrison-by-Bob-Patterson-111210-947.html
 

 

 

Christmas season at Venice Beach

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Venice (Beach CA) drum circle played on Saturday December 10, 2011.

A bus named Lil Further

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bus seen in Venice CA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Side view

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bus seen in Venice CA

This bus, named Lil Further, (not to be confused with Ken Kesey’s bus named Furthur) was photo’d on Saturday morning (December 10, 2011) in Venice CA.

 

 

Bus-spotting in Venice CA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bus seen on Lincoln Blvd. in Venice CA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back of the bus

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we spotted this bus from the Sea Shepherd organization

http://www.seashepherd.org/

on Lincoln Blvd. in Venice CA, we took a photo for bus-spotting fans.

Seen in Venice CA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Santa and the LAPD held a charity event at Muscle Beach in Venice CA today (Sunday Dec. 11, 2011).

 

New York = pizza’s Vatican?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rats!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This chalk art was seen recently near the BART entrnce in downtown Berkeley CA.  Oh, rats!  We just had to take a photo.

Car-spotting in San Francisco

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Deuce was spotted in San Francisco on walk taken Friday December 15, 2011.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The new exhibit at the Beat Museum will be mentioned in my Year-in-Review column which will be posted Sunday afternoon (I hope!).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This trailer was on a tour of the USA for a beer company.  We’ll try to give them a better plug in a future column that will be posted in the usual places.

 

Column photo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This photo will be used with my new column on Smirking Chimp.

Good eats + German C&W Music

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sign in San Francisco

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lunch stop in San Francisco

We noticed that the lunch truck food fad is going strong in San Francisco.  We also noticed that their sign reminded us of our favorite German Country and Western band.

What?  You didn’t know?

Which?  That there are good eats in SF or that there is Country and Western music in Germany?

 

Who done dat?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At first we thought that this might be a work done by Banksy, but then we read that Blek le rat is having a show in SF (at the 941 Gallery on Geary).  Is it either one?  Is it an imposter?  Who done dat?

 

 

 

 

Columnist’s dream Xmas

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Try again

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For use with Smirking Chimp column

Column Photo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This photo will be used to illustrate my new Smirking Chimp column which will go up Friday morning in the blog section.

Summer Nats flashback

An unusual flames paint job on a right hand drive deuce delivery sedan.  We saw this in Australia at the 2009 Summer Nats.

Silicone Beach photo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Will a pair of binoculars help me find the new Google office in Venice CA?

Encounter with the 7 cees bus

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We met the folks from the 7 cees bus today in Berkeley CA.  We will post this photo now because we will probably use it with the column for the Smirking Chimp which will be posted in the blog section on Friday.

For more about these artists from Wisconsin click to their site

http://www.7cees.org/

 

Photos from Oz for Jersey Bill

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

cut away view

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look familiar, Bill?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Does this photo take you back to the good old days?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How could a 1939 Chev have a right hand drive?

THE Black Bird

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Think we’ll use this frame (with the action leading to the right side of the frame) to illustrate the new column we will post on Smirking Chimp tomorrow.

SF Sticker Art

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whatever.  Captain Stay-fly?

Berkeley CA sticker art

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We copy that, Broke.

Runnin’ outta goog pix to post!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This example of street chalk art seems very appropriate for downtown Berkeley CA because that is posted as “Bear Country!”

Coolpix Quest

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This example of graffiti seen in Berkeley CA seems to have been made with one long, continuous line.  Well done, whoever did it!

The CA Red Sox? ? ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have Red Sox fans in California come up with there very own logo?  We may use this shot to illustrate our next Smirking Chimp column.

Flower power on the road in Berkeley CA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don’t think you’ll see any signs like this in New York state.

Are fans getting ripped off?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Going to use this one with the new column at Smirking Chimp

Try again

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For use with new Smirking Chimp column

Isn’t that verboten?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The World’s Laziest Journalist is still monitoring developments for a local story.

Not exactly a scoop

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This illustration will be used and explained in my column that will be posted on the Smirking Chimp site on Friday morning (Pacific Time).