Name That Spot

Take your guess in the comments.
UPDATE: Guess this one was a little too easy. theCara, from the comments, got it and got it fast.
Snow on Mission Street!

This stuff fell from the sky just a few minutes ago and I'm calling it snow.
You think I'm wrong, but try walking up the stairs from 16th/Mission BART while water is cascading back down, stepping carefully over a whitened sidewalk, and checking the wonder on kids' faces - and then pay heed to this "distinction":
Hail and snow are formed by different processes and thus look quite
different, although both are composed of ice.Snowflakes are composed of single or conglomerated ice
crystals, whereas hail is a ball of ice.Snowflakes form when an ice crystal grows in very cold air
at the expense of surrounding water vapor.
By the way, there are many other shapes of ice crystals
(platelets, columns, etc.) that can form in a similar way,
but under different atmospheric conditions.Hail usually starts as a frozen drop of water on a soil or
pollutant particle. The frozen drop is repeatedly carried aloft
and dropped by strong updrafts and down-drafts in a thunderstorm.
As the hailstone rises and falls, super-cooled water droplets
freeze to its surface, enlarging it.Both snowflakes and hail drop from the clouds where they formed
when they become too heavy for the upward atmospheric motions
in the clouds to support them.
Did I mentioned it snowed on Mission Street just now?
Dear MUNI, Maybe Switch Back to the Roman Alphabet Now?

I appreciate the attempt to prepare us for The Big One when the cell towers go down and the only thing left will be Morse Code. But I failed out of Cub Scouts and I can promise you I will never learn this.
(Spotted @ Mission/18th St.)
Flag Change at Alcatraz
A bit of a special moment on The Rock that I happened to see while on a tour with my visiting parents. I dig the precision and respect the officers give to the process.
(Be sure to lower your computer's volume because the wind really batters the microphone, especially in the beginning; the sound of the ratchet later is pretty cool, though.)
Name That Spot

Make your guess in the comments.
UPDATE: And, BAM, commenter Lemon nailed it, the side of Alioto's, Folsom and 14th.
Alien Life: San Carlos Alley Sprites
![]()
Captured here in high summer, the sprites of San Carlos alley begin to emerge in late spring, just off 19th Street. These photonic flowers only bloom in the afternoon when the sun reflects mysteriously off some top-floor windows.
So keep an eye out for these special visitors when winter ends.
The Three Hos

From the misspellings to the vintage sexism, this flier has it all.
Inside, on the night before Christmas Eve Eve, the 500 Club is feeling toasty and festive.

George Lucas Procrastinates, Too

I had a long-time employee of his confirm afterward that this is him, in line in front of me today at Borders at the Westfield mall. He's got some courage coming out in public right now with this thing going 'round the sphere:
If the Trailer’s a-Rocking
I don't expect much of a Monday night.
But a friend was having a get together at Gestalt before returning to do the Lord's work in Africa, so I dragged my butt out. It was a crazy night. The high point was when we followed some bumping music to the above Airstream camper parked in front of DoubleDutch.
When security from DD tried to tell the silver-trailer-dweller to turn his music down, the response was not positive. "You don't come into my house and tell me how to live!" was part of the tirade.
The bouncer backed down.
Tree Angel

Reader Anna Spektor found this by accident at a private residence at Shrader and Belgrave. She says:
the house name is "Ursa Minor Dacha", which is pretty cool in itself, but they also have this sculpture carved out of a dead tree.
Thanks, Anna!
The New Beauty Bar

Some say Beauty Bar is super-douchey and should be shunned. I live equidistant between it and Bender's, and I have to say that the nights I've chosen Beauty have never been disappointing - rowdy, cheesy, caveman fun. I look forward to seeing how the remodeling turns out.








