Pin-ball Expo at Marin Civic Center

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photo by Donald Kinney

Old school pinball machines are pretty much relegated to history -- god, do I feel old.   But I felt like a little kid again when I was bouncing off over 400 vintage pin-ball machines Sunday afternoon at Pin-ball Expo at the Marin Civic Center exhibition hall.

There is an organization working to establish a permanent Pin-ball Museum right here in Marin County.





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photo by Donald Kinney

They were charging an arm and a leg for admission, but play on all machines was free -- theoretically, at 25 cents per game, 100 games would cover admission.   I only shot one game -- I'm not a very good pinball player -- but I DID manage to shoot lots of photos.



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photo by Donald Kinney

OXO (also known as Noughts and Crosses) is a tic-tac-toe computer game made for the EDSAC computer in 1952.   It was written by Alexander S. Douglas as an illustration for his Ph.D. thesis on human-computer interaction for the University of Cambridge.   OXO was the first digital graphical game to run on a computer.

This pin-ball back-glass has nothing to do with the EDSAC computer, although the game does have a very high-tech tic-tac-toe theme.

The simulation was played using a rotary telephone controller, and was designed for the world's first stored-program computer.   OXO is often listed as the first computer game.

In OXO the player played against the computer, and output was displayed on the computer's 35×16 pixel cathode ray tube.   The source code was short, yet it played a perfect game of noughts and crosses.   OXO did not have widespread popularity because the EDSAC was a computer unique to Cambridge.     source: Wikipedia



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photo by Donald Kinney

Even though they aren't lit very evenly, pin-ball back-glasses are easy to shoot, but trying to get shots of the bumpers and ball-bouncers is difficult because of the odd angle and limited depth of field.   An overhead shot would have solved the problem but I didn't get permission to bring my ladder.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Super Straight eh?   Well folks, come back tomorrow and I'll show you some really sexy pinball back-glasses.


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a walk around Chinatown

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photo by Donald Kinney

There's more to that Chinese inscription as you may have guessed, and to go with that beautifully designed gate I'm also guessing the inscription says something equally as beautiful.



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photo by Donald Kinney

This is the time of year -- the Chinese Eggplant is in, and I can't pass it by without snapping a few photos.   It's so artistic and that vivid magenta color always grabs me.



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photo by Donald Kinney

With Halloween coming up, it's one hundred percent fun right now down at 100% Fun.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Oh lord -- just when I've been thinking of getting back on my diet...



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photo by Donald Kinney

Because of it's dreaded blown out whites I could have easily discarded this photo, and I didn't even attempt to salvage the high-values -- I thought it would make a good example to demonstrate a Histogram:



Notice all those whites bunched up against the right-end of the scale?   Those are all the blown-out high-values on the lady's face, collar, and hat.   When I see a Histogram like this -- knowing that corrections are hard to make and usually less than 100% successful -- often I will just discard a photo and hope for the opportunity of a re-shoot under more even lighting conditions.


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Columbus Aveue, Nothbeach, S.F.

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photo by Donald Kinney

One of my favorite things to do on Sunday is go over to the Northbeach and Chinatown areas of San Francisco and spook around.

I go early because even though parking if free, parking gets tight after 8AM.   I usually park on Columbus a block down from the Washington Square and Peter-and-Paul's Church area.   Hey everybody --this is an open invitation -- if you are ever in Northbeach or Chinatown some Sunday morning we could probably pretty easily track each other down.   I could buy you a cup of coffee at Cafe Trieste or something.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Maybe just because San Francisco is so small and compact is why it has so many sidewalks.   Hardest sidewalks I know.   They eat shoes.



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photo by Donald Kinney

I usually steer clear of the 500 block of Green Street.   Bright and early on New Year's Day about 5 years ago, the bartender at Columbus Cafe came outside and hassled me for taking photos of his dirty stinking dive.   He wanted to confiscate my camera and everything.   I think he just wanted to mess with me.   I'd rather not run into that jerk again, so like I mentioned -- I steer clear of the 500 block of Green Street .

Now get this -- the bartender wanted to see my "permit" to take pictures, and when I couldn't produce a permit he said he was going to have to confiscate my camera.   I told him he could call the police if he wanted to, and we went around and around, and finally I managed to get out of there without the whole thing escalating into some sort of brawl, but one thing for sure -- he wasn't going to get my camera unless he pulled a gun or a knife...



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photo courtesy Marin Independent Journal

This is on "upper Grant Street, up in the direction of Coit Tower.   It has all sorts of funky shops, restaurants, all sorts of photogenic stuff, and even an art gallery with the funny name of "Live Worms".

These two photos aren't new, but CLICK for a shot of a music store, and CLICK for a shot of a mural.



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photo by Donald Kinney

I think I could think of a few rather suggestive things to say about this painting, but lets just enjoy it, shant we?   Don't you love the color of that dress?





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This new delicatessen might be a bit late with their grand-opening, and it looks like the proprietor might need an extra hand in the kitchen when and if he does open...


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brightening-up the Rainbow Tunnels

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photo by Donald Kinney

In my opinion, decisions about art is best not left to a committee, and I bet that is what Alan S. Hart had in mind just before his retirement as head of the San Francisco District of Highways in 1970.

When Cal-Trans found out that Mr. Hart had just gone ahead and had his crews paint the rainbows without their permission they jumped-up-and-down and raised-a-big-stink, but by that time Mr. Hart was already safely enjoying his retirement.   Cal-Trans announced that they were going to sand-blast the rainbows off, but a huge uproar went up from Marin County residents who almost unanimously wanted the rainbows to stay.



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photo by Donald Kinney

I can't locate any information saying how many times the rainbows have been given a fresh coat of paint, but as you know, paint fades over time depending on the choice of pigments and exposure to the sun.

Years ago someone got the brilliant idea to "paint it" with colorfast tiles, and someone else had even a more brilliant idea of selling a sponsorship for each tile.   Once again, Cal-Trans jumped-up-and-down and raised-a-big-stink because they theorized that the tiles would loosen over time and start falling on cars.   Hopefully each of the 3,000 people who donated $15 for their sponsored tile got their money back.



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photo by Donald Kinney

This is not a new photo -- I shot it about a year ago and it appeared not too long ago in the on-line edition of the San Francisco Examiner.

So why, if this is an old photo, does the paint look so fresh and bright? Because I Photoshopped the holy-heck out of it -- that's why...   I think they call it artistic license.   I normally don't take my Photoshopping to such an extreme, but I think I did just about everything to this image that was possible in Photoshop.   It sort of needed something...

Oh by the way, a sane person would never stop here to take a photo.   The first thing that might happen is that you are going to get a ticket for stopping in that area without an actual emergency, and the second thing that is even more likely to happen is you are in great danger of causing a serious accident.   I only stopped because I'm nuts and it was prior to 8AM on a Sunday when traffic was fairly light.   Again -- please do not stop there -- it is extremely dangerous getting back onto the roadway!



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photo courtesy Marin Independent Journal

O.k., I'm as old as dirt, so I can remember when they added the second bore in 1954.   Prior to that it was a tight squeeze getting two directions and four lanes of traffic through the original upper bore.

My family would often visit Grandma who lived in Marin (we lived in Pacific Grove down by Monterey) and before we entered the tunnel with the dangerously narrow lanes my mother would usually mutter a short prayer that we would make it through safely in our big yellow 1947 Pontiac.


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on the outside, Legion of Honor, S.F.

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photo by Donald Kinney

On Friday I ended up at the Legion of Honor but I really didn't feel like I was up to the mental task of going inside, so instead I just took a leisurely stroll around the magnificent building.   This is the archway as you enter the courtyard.



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photo by Donald Kinney

You'd think this guy would have it all figured out by now...

My first exposure to Rodin's "The Thinker" was way back in the early 1960's -- The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis was probably my favorite TV show, and each episode would begin with the young Dobie -- usually the victim of girl problems -- sitting right next to and assuming same pose of The Thinker -- the only difference, I think, was that Dobie was wearing all of his clothes.   CLICK for a classic YouTube Dobie Gillis video.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Oh God, we WILL glorify war and conquest, won't we?

Here we are, at a wonderful building that is supposed to commemorate the lost lives of World War I soldiers, and right out front is this bastard riding into war on his mighty stallion ready and able to viscously slice up his opponent.   Doesn't really make a whole lot of sense to me.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Oh, as an art critic I suppose I'm way out of my league, but I've always found this statue to be kind of weird.

It seems to have a lot to do with a man, a boy, and a snake intertwined between them.   There is no plaque to explain it, but the statue looks like it's been there a long time -- and someone has come along and knocked off the arms of the boy -- but I'm going with the notion that the statue was too controversial and has been banished to the outside.

CLICK for another view of this statue, and CLICK for another.


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Abalone Dots

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photo by Donald Kinney

If you knew me better, you would know that pretty ladies totally slay me.   It's terrible -- they bowl me over, knock me up-side the head, and can turn me into a tongue-tied blithering idiot with just one glance.   But that's just for regular pretty ladies -- the ones with genuine talent absolutely nuke me!

On Saturday at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival I thoroughly enjoyed four young lovelies from Sweden who go by the curious name of Abalone Dots.   God, they were good. Amen...

Pictured above is Elin Mörk -- vocals, violin, and viola.   I think she is a most beautiful and talented woman.   She is also the leader of the group.   An absolute knockout!   Bam...



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photo by Donald Kinney

The Abalone Dots' music seems to be a curious blend between Bluegrass and what I think must be old Swedish folk songs.   It's a tight group and they can definitely tear it up.   They managed to put a smile on everybody's faces!

Above is Rebekah Hjukström -- vocals, guitar, banjo, and dobro.



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photo by Donald Kinney

On mandolin, cello, and keyed fiddle was Sophia Hogman, and this lady was definitely all business.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Louise Holmer appeared to be the youngest member of the group -- vocals, bass, and piano.

I have a soft spot in my heart for stand-up string-bass players.   Although my brother died in the early 70's his primary instrument was the string-bass and he played professionally in various jazz bands and trios.


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a colorful Marin County

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photo by Donald Kinney

Everybody loves a photo of sunrise or a sunset, right? -- well, not everybody...   Some people are pretty picky...

Bet you didn't know that I have a photographic mentor -- well I do, but since since I haven't yet gotten his permission to use his full name, we'll just have to refer to him here by his first name -- it's Jan.   During the week Jan works as an art director for a television station in the mid-west, but on weekends he usually can be found hawking his exceptional photos at art fairs and festivals.   The sour economy has put a real squeeze on his sales recently, but people absolutely love his work -- including me.

Anyway, Jan is a traditional sleepyhead so I don't think he sees too many sunrises, but he claims to love sunsets -- but would rather experience them in person instead of shooting or looking at photographs of them.   Oh, I suppose it's because he has seen so many bad and trite photos of sunsets over the years.   So, I've been working on Jan to "bring him around" -- after all, I bet they get some wonderful sunsets back there in the mid-west.   Regretfully I'm going to have to keep working on him -- I'm sure he had a big yawn when I sent him this sunset shot earlier this week.   I didn't hear a peep...

So, why do I bother with such a person who doesn't particularly care for photos of sunsets?   Well first, he's a great guy -- and second, he knows a heck of a lot about Photoshop and photography in general.

Jan loves to photograph in the Southwest, but it is this area of the West-coast that he really has a passion for.   He's always asking me where I shot this or that, and when he arrives in town I always enjoy being the tour-guide.   Jan thinks the hidden-away town of Bolinas is just about the finest spot on earth.

So why do I call him my mentor?   Because about two years ago Jan sat me down and taught me what I think is an incredibly valuable Photoshop lesson -- that of first setting my high values (and sometimes the low values) with Levels, and then how to apply a Curve to my low values to bring out some detail in the shadows.

Up until this Photoshop lesson I had been using the to-be-avoided-at-all-costs Brightness/Contrast sliders -- often resulting in blown-out whites and lost-in-the-mud shadows.   I didn't even realize what was happening, but after his lesson I had a new tool -- it's called a Histogram -- which gives a graphical representation of the tonal values in a photograph.

A Histogram takes all of the guesswork out of Photoshop, and knowing how to read the Histogram has made a tremendous improvement in my photography.   Unless you have a few specular highlights, all the tones of your image should fit nicely within the Histogram -- if you have a big pile of spikes on the right side of the Histogram it usually means that you've got overexposed and "blown out whites" -- sometimes it's best just to do a re-shoot.   Conversely, if your high values don't reach all the way to the right end of the Histogram it usually means that your photo is underexposed, something that is easily corrected with Levels.   Fixable underexposure is always preferable to overexposure, which is difficult to correct.

If you shoot in RAW and use a conversion program such as CameraRAW, the Exposure slider is the equivalent to the Levels slider in Photoshop, and CameraRAW's Shadows slider serves as a preset or generic Curve.   Additional corrections and tweaks of Levels and Curves can be made once the image is imported into regular Photoshop from CameraRAW.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Here's a shot I snagged yesterday afternoon up at Alpine Dam, on the Fairfax-to-Bolinas Road.   Colorful, isn't it?



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photo by Donald Kinney

And when I spotted these backlit leaves yesterday I had to pull over and see if I could do anything with them.



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And I shot this colorful vegetation this past week while taking a hike out at China Camp on one of my favorite trails.


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S.F. M.O.M.A., part 2

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photo by Donald Kinney

I wasn't part of this guided tour at San Francisco's Museum of Modern Art, but next time maybe I should tag along and learn something -- my knowledge of Modern Art is woefully thin, although I have spent my entire life working in art related fields.

But expert or not, I knew EXACTLY where this tour-guide was going with her leading question to the group of:   "How may colors do you think are in this painting?".   One person replied "three", and another person said "basically two" -- but of course both guesses were wrong, and the tour-guide went on to explain all about how artists achieve a depth of color and range of tones in their paintings by mixing wet-into-wet and doing numerous transparent overglazes.



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photo by Donald Kinney



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photo by Donald Kinney



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photo by Donald Kinney



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photo by Donald Kinney

If you need to see more, click on these links:
rak7320
rak7340
rak7337
rak7312

And I apologize for the lack of information, but I decided I didn't want to turn this into a homework project and/or make a fool out of myself.


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Museum of Modern Art, S.F.

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photo by Donald Kinney

Ten points and a gold star (my highest award) if you guessed from yesterday's header (this photo) that we were headed for San Francisco's Museum of Modern Art.

Last Friday on my spur-of-the-moment visit to the City I had absolutely no idea it was where I was going to end up, although I've had a hankering to visit the SF-MOMA since it opened in 1995.   I suppose I had been waiting for the crowds to die down, but I now realize that was kind of a poor excuse -- the place will probably always be thick with visitors -- they have such wonderful things inside...



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photo by Donald Kinney

Oh, I'm sure they had all the details completely worked out, but I can easily imagine the construction crew scratching their heads over the blueprints -- wondering how they were going to make all those perfectly formed holes in that big curving wall.



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photo by Donald Kinney

This is a Diego Rivera painting.   Simple, yet strong.   Rivera is perhaps best known for huge murals in Mexico and other places here locally, such as City College, Pacific Stock Exchange, and San Francisco Art Institute.



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In the background -- excuse me for it being all fuzzy and out of focus -- is a painting by Diego Rivera's wife, Frida.   For more information CLICK to see WhatImSeeing.com's recent post on Frida.



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Before the crowds pushed me aside, I had the opportunity to stand directly in front of this Picasso and soak it all in.   For three or four minutes the painting was able to speak to me -- as if Picasso had gone to all that work entirely for my own personal enjoyment.

Come back tomorrow if you'd like to see more.


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Folsom Street Fair, continued

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photo by Donald Kinney

Sunday afternoon on Folsom Street -- a solid mass of humanity -- thousands of sweaty bodies in all stages of undress.   I felt quite out of place in my green polyester shirt.   At times, moving through the crowd was next to impossible.   Then I spotted these fellows with a bird's-eye-view of the festivity -- definitely a more relaxed way to take it all in.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Dominate me.   You are my master and I am your willing slave.



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photo by Donald Kinney

I suppose for the uninitiated, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence need a little bit of explanation.   I lifted the following from their website:

Starting in 1979 with just four nuns, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are now over 50 members strong.   The Sisters are made up of a very unique group of people who are as varied and interesting as our names.   One of our greatest strengths is our diversity of perspective; each member brings their own interests, drives and passions to the whole, making us all stronger.

Unlike more traditional nuns, we are an Order of many faiths, religions and beliefs.   However we are all united by the vows that each of us take: to promulgate universal joy, expiate stigmatic guilt and serve the community, our fellow Sisters and the Order of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.



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Holy Cow...   Just add ears and you've pretty much got a Batman.


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wild times on Folsom Street

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photo by Donald Kinney

Oh how interesting -- yesterday I had 20 "Blogger Followers", and today I have only 19...   Someone probably saw what was coming and gave me the boot.   I guess I've become just a bit too controversial.   I am absolutely delighted!   To quote our former Commander-in-Chief; "Mission Accomplished".



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So anyway, on Sunday I made my way over to the annual Folsom Street Fair, which I understand doesn't represent the whole of the gay community -- but this is definitely on the wilder side.

There was a heavy emphasis on leather -- for those who were wearing anything at all.   Spankings were being freely dispensed here and there throughout the wall-to-wall mass of sweaty flesh.   Menacing looking characters everywhere -- each with the heart of a pussycat.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Gold's Gym had an entire side-block of dancers on platforms performing bumps-and-grinds to a thumping beat.   And yes, the music was loud.   CLICK if you dare, for a slightly more risque version of this shot.



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photo by Donald Kinney

So, I guess it all boils down to love and understanding.   Acceptance and cooperation.   And that most essential ingredient -- having a really good time.   I'll show you a few more photos tomorrow.


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Polk Street, San Francisco

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photo by Donald Kinney

One block east of busy Van Ness Avenue is the lesser travelled Polk Street, packed with all sorts of interesting businesses and curiosities.

The photo is the stainless steel exterior of a restaurant on Polk.

The variety -- well, it's almost like going to the mall -- but I seriously doubt if YOUR mall has a store (for women only) with the mysterious name of Good Vibrations.   No, it isn't a music store...



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photo by Donald Kinney

Name your poison, or go with the ubiquitous tea.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Like I hinted, there's quite a variety of shops on Polk Street.   It's where the famous Swan's Oyster Depot is located.   You'll also find a pastry shop that is to die for, several little restaurants, no shortage of liquor stores and head-shops, a popular night-club called Red Devil Lounge, boutiques and purveyors of eastern mystical objects, and even two hardware stores if you need to do a bit of maintenance.



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Until I find out otherwise, I'm just going to assume that Camera Heaven is where good cameras go after they gasp their last breath.

Larkin Street is the next street east of Polk.


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San Francisco's City Hall

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photo by Donald Kinney

On Friday I had to wait for my car to be serviced, so I thought the best way to kill some time would be to hop on a bus and take a little trip over to San Francisco.   I had quite an adventure spooking around The City, but City Hall was one of the places I ended up.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Now, City Hall does have elevators -- but that's no fun.   Much more interesting to climb the marble stairs -- the maintenance crew obviously spends a lot of time keeping them spotlessly clean.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Now, I have to admit that my knowledge of City Hall is pretty limited -- so I lifted the following from Wikipedia:

The Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989 damaged the structure, and twisted the dome four inches (102 mm) on its base. Afterwards work was undertaken to render City Hall earthquake resistant through a base isolation system. In an earthquake, the mass of the dome threatens to act as a pendulum, rocking the building's structure and tearing it apart. But the base isolation system of hundreds of rubber and stainless-steel insulators inserted into City Hall's underpinnings has the effect of disrupting seismic waves before they can affect the structure. San Francisco's City Hall is currently the world's second largest base-isolated structure (after the International Terminal at San Francisco International Airport)—a triumph of seismic retrofitting.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Here's a little tip -- if you want to stay current on everything that happens in the vicinity of City Hall -- including but not limited to the Opera, Symphony, exhibits, events, happenings, celebrations, and protest rallies -- then you'll want to cozy-up to S.F. Mike's blog over at: http://sfciviccenter.blogspot.com.   Highly recommended.



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The last time I was inside City Hall was a little over a year ago when the powers-that-be had given the green-light to gay marriage.   Well, not long after, the voters of California decided they weren't quite ready for equality -- closed and simple minds once again had the majority.

Now, unless the couple in the above photo are pulling a fast-one -- I mean, who checks these things? -- I'm going to assume that they have all the necessary parts for prolific baby-making.   They were a cute couple -- I wish them a ton of happiness.

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San Rafael, California

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photo by Donald Kinney

Well to be honest, San Rafael, California, doesn't really have a lot going on for it, except that it's the largest city in Marin County and for it's historical importance as home to one of the string of 21 California Missions established to whip the local native population into submission so their souls would be suitable for "Heaven".



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photo by Donald Kinney

This is not Father Junipero Serra, as I've always assumed -- but Father Vicente de Sarria, the founder of Mission Archangel Rafael.   The mission was established in 1817 and received Mission status in 1822.   Between those dates it served as a hospital serving the sick for Mission Dolores in San Francisco.   You can read more about Mission Archangel Rafael here.

I've only been inside the Mission church once, so I decided to spook around once more -- after all, they have a sign on the door that says visitors welcome -- so with all the reverence I could muster I carefully opened the heavy door, only to find that they were right in the middle of a Mass, or whatever it is that they do.   Several people turned around to see who was coming in late -- imagine my shock -- I quickly backed out and closed the door.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Detail from one of the Palm trees near the Mission.   Artistic, isn't it?

CLICK for an old shot outside,
and CLICK for another inside the Mission.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Mt. Tamalpais as seen from San Rafael.   I think one of my goals in life is to photograph Mt. Tamalpais from every angle and under every weather condition -- a project that should keep me busy for a few years...


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