What’s Going On?

The Fleet Week 2009 Air Show in San Francisco this year was perhaps a slight disappointment from the many years that I’ve been attending. Before you you think that this was a total failure continue reading and I will explain everything. The Blue Angels are by far one of my all time favorite things to see every year and although some of the maneuvers are pretty much routine they always seem to keep me in awe. They are by far one of the most skilled men and women of our Armed Forces that are chosen to be a part of the Navy’s flight demonstration team. However, this year the weather put a damper on the show for Saturday and the Blue Angels had to put an end to their show fairly quickly and ugly conditions on Sunday prevented the Blue Angels to do any maneuvers up into the clouds.

First off, Thursday was a good and sunny day down at the Marina. The Blue Angels including their Hercules C-130 and a few other propeller planes took to the skies over San Francisco. The Blue Angels were doing their typical survey flights over the city to get a general feel of location for how the show will be for Saturday and Sunday. Also present for a little practice were three propeller planes including one bi-plane. The pilots of the four planes were Sean Tucker with Team Oracle, Melissa Pemberton with Melissa Aerobatics, Tim Weber with Geico, and Michael Wiskus with Lucas Oil Pitts. Also joining in a solo practice was Julie Clark with Chevron who has clocked in over 30,000 hours of accident free flying and Airship Ventures which flew a large blimp across the skies.

The next day on Friday, the air show was in full swing for a full complete practice with great sunny skies. The day was exceptional with just beautiful weather and the show was pretty amazing. Like Thursday all of the previously mentioned pilots took part in practice in addition to a couple more demonstrations by a United Airlines 747 and Gregory Colyer who flew the T-33. The great weather allowed for some great images and I am so thankful that I came to the practice on Friday because the next two days were gloomy.

Saturday was a partly cloudy sky with most of the clouds burning off as it passed Marina Green and to the east. Yes I attended on Saturday as well. I told you I love planes and jets, who doesn’t? Saturday is the first official day of the Fleet Week Air Show and boy was it exciting. Planes all over the skies and right over your head makes for one exhilarating day. The show included all the above pilots and planes plus a United States Coast Guard HH-65 helicopter which performed a diver rescue demonstration who dove and was retrieved from the water, the Patriots jet team, and with a couple surprises that were not on the schedule like two F-16s, four T-6A Texan II planes, and a C-17C Globemaster III cargo plane. Ending off the airshow were the Blue Angels which had to cut short their performance due to the fog rolling into the Bay. According to one of the pilots I spoke with the FAA would not allow them to fly without 3 miles of visibility. When I heard that I totally understood because the Blue Angels need pinpoint accuracy when flying at high speeds and all those crazy aero acrobatics.

Later Saturday night the Blue Angels held a “Meet and Greet” for about 45 minutes at Pier 39. There fans could meet up close and personal with the pilots of the F-18s, C-130, and the rest of the crew. I had a chance to get autographs with all of them and they too were happy to answer any questions about the Blue Angels or the Navy. This was the first time I had ever met the Blue Angels first hand and I thought it was a pretty cool experience. Following the “Meet and Greet” there was a live 80s cover band that played all the greatest hits named Fast Times at Pier 39 and further down the waterfront at Pier 3 there were fireworks presented by the Hornblower Cruises and Events.

Sunday was a gloomy day much far worse than Saturday, but the good thing about Sunday was that the air show still went on without a hitch. The show went on despite overcast clouds and light fog. Even more surprising is that the Blue Angels took to the skies with a modified program which made me happy. Still great maneuvers in the sky and some awesome pictures of a high speed low pass by from one of the F-18s that created a cool water vapor bubble effect. On Sunday I had a different vantage point from the other three days, I was at Aquatic Park which is a nice place to watch, but a horrible place to take pictures because of all the obstructions of buildings and boats that are in the harbor. Other than that it was a cool place to be with many people who clapped and gave a bunch of Ohs and Ahs.

Overall, I lied. The air show was great. The weather for the first half was great, but the remaining half the weather wasn’t cooperating at all. The planes and their pilots took to the air with an amazing show. Seeing the giant Airbus A380 was a great sight to see two years ago. I just can’t wait to see what’s in store for next year.

A selection of pictures from the San Francisco Fleet Week 2009 Air Show can be seen by clicking on the picture link above. Please feel free to leave me a comment below for the pictures and/or the posting.

LovEvolution 2009 is a dance music parade and festival that happens once a year. Formerly known as Love Fest and Love Parade, LovEvolution is in it’s 6th year and larger than you can imagine. People took to the streets early Saturday morning awaiting the parade of floats, DJs, and dancers. People young and old came out to check out this yearly event and just about the only time in San Francisco that you can come dressed with next to nothing, well in some people’s cases they did just that.

LovEvolution is a week long celebration that started off the week with numerous DJs playing at different clubs throughout the city ending with the LovEvolution parade and festival. The LovEvolution parade started on 2nd and Market Streets and concluded at Civic Center Plaza where a $10 admission fee was charged for the festival. The festival lasted until 8pm where festival goers could enjoy more partying at other after parties located locally with ticket prices ranging up to around $80 per person.

The parade route was completely swamped with people dancing and grooving to the beats that the DJs were throwing out and it was an intensly populated parade that cross traffic was held up for almost a couple hours. No traffic, that I know of, was allowed to cross Market St. due to the large volume of people and as I walked the parade route I noticed people got out of their cars and walked up to the crosswalks to see what was going on. As the floats went down Market St. I was surprised to see big rigs pulling trailers filled with people and huge speakers. There were a couple nifty buses that were outfitted for a party which I thought added a little more character to the parade than the big rigs. Overall, the parade was a great hit amongst people of all ages and I can say is almost like the Bay to Breakers with people dressing up in costumes or skimpy clothing and even with some people that were bare naked.

At the festival the line to get in the Civic Center Plaza was insane. People waited over 30 minutes just to get inside. Once inside it was a mecca of dance music all around. Parade floats were somewhat evenly spaced out throughout the whole area with one fixed stage right in front of City Hall. Directly in the center of the Civic Center Plaza food and drink vendors lined the strip with a few memorabilia vendors scattered throughout. People were a little more rowdy inside as I can imagine as more alcohol and music surrounding was available. It got a little intense inside with a few getting alcohol poisoning, a few riled up enough to destroy public property, and a few having partied so much that they had to sit out for awhile.

In the end, I can only imagine how many showed up to the parade and festival and if I were to put a number on how many guests attended either the parade or the festival I would have to say that number would have to be around 200,000. LovEvolution turned out to be a huge success with a large following. The vision for LovEvoluion is for dance to promote peace, love, unity and respect.

Pictures of LovEvolution can be seen by clicking on the picture link above. Feel free to leave comments below for the pictures and the posting.

On Sunday, Radio Alice 97.3FM put on a concert open to the public for free. This is the very first time that Alice hosted a free Now and Zen Concert. The Alice Summerthing Concert earlier in the summer is normally free, but having another free concert brought to you by Alice is just simply amazing. Featured music artists were Train, Colbie Caillat, Howie Day, and Dashboard Confessional.

People in record numbers crowded Sharon Meadows with thousands of people on the field as well as hundreds of people sitting on the grassy knoll in the back. Sharon Meadows is located toward the eastern end of Golden Gate Park and just right before the Panhandle Park. Various food and merchandise booths lined the entrance way before people proceeded to the main concourse.

This year I was able to attend just the performance by Train and a performance it was. Lead singer Patrick Monahan riled up the crowd with his charm and some pretty amazing songs. He energized the crowd by singing his number one hits as well as grabbing cameras from the audience to take pictures of himself and the audience. He even came down to audience level to just sing to the crowd and to be embraced by his fans.

His song set consisted of 16 songs. They were “You Already Know”, “Meet Virginia”, “Get To Me”, “She’s On Fire”, “Ordinary”, “Ramble On”, “San Fran”, “I Got You”, “Calling All Angels”, “Cab”, “Save The Day”, “Hey, Soul Sister”, “Free”, “Drops of Jupiter”, and “Dream On”.

Alice has yet again impressed me with an amazing line up and I hope that it doesn’t stop there. I can’t wait for another year of great music, fun in the sun, and the possibility in meeting new people.

Pictures of the Now and Zen Concert can be seen by clicking on the picture link above. Feel free to leave comments below for the pictures and the posting.

Every year teams from all over come to San Francisco Bay to compete in the Dragon Boat races located at Treasure Island. This year good weather brings about good competition and lots of festival goers. At first glance, the festival seems to be a little more organized this year with organized parking lots, more seating for the entertainment stage, a larger kid’s zone, and a section for the finish line officials that is not obstructed by people because it was elevated.

Treasure Island has been the location for these races for quite some time now and it’s been great to be able to travel not so far from San Francisco to part take in some beautiful weather and with great views of San Francisco’s skyline. The festival took place on September 26th and 27th from 8-5pm. I enjoyed the festival on Sunday with beautiful sunny skies. Most of the day were races for the high school divisions, but I believe later in the day the finals for other groups took place along with an awards ceremony to follow.

This year I spent most of my time enjoying the live entertainment taking place on the large stage built near the entrance to the festival. There I was able to enjoy different various martial arts, some singing, and my favorite lion dancing.

Festival goers could take part in many activities this year on location which included Dragon Land (arts and crafts for the youth), a variety of international food vendors, shopping (gifts and other various memorabilia), a health and fitness tent, a couple informational booths, live entertainment, and of course the dragon boat races.

Sunday at the festival was Family Day and families with children were encouraged to come while mascots and other festival characters were there to greet. I personally got to see some stilt walkers around the grounds, Nickelodeon’s Kai-lan, a red and green dragon, a balloon artist, and some volunteers who helped put on temporary tattoos.

Each year the entertainment and the booths become more interesting and as the years press on I’m looking forward to a much larger audience with an ever increasing number of exciting and new vendors. If you haven’t seen dragon boat races before well mark your calenders next year as the competition is fierce for the 300m and 500m races. Parking is free and there are shuttles on and off the island. Passage to and from the island from San Francisco is free, but visitors coming from the East Bay will still have to pay a bridge toll to access the island.

Pictures of the SF International Dragon Boat Festival can be seen by clicking on the picture link above. Feel free to leave comments below for the pictures and the posting.

San Mateo was host to the 75th Annual San Mateo County Fair. This year’s theme was “The Peninsula’s Festival”. Located at the San Mateo Fairgrounds, the fair hosted a carnival, arts and crafts exhibits, livestock competitions, pig races, foods galore, stage performances and acts, and premium artists concerts.

Artists that attended this year’s fair include names such as Arrested Development, Shane Dwight, War, Tower of Power, Boyz II Men, The Guess Who, Dia de la Feria Preciosa, and a Pink Floyd Laser Show Spectacular.

I attended the fair on Wednesday and it’s been about a year since I’ve gone back to a county fair. I really enjoyed my time there because I was entertained nonstop. There were about four or so small stages throughout the fairgrounds and each stage had something going on. Most of the stages had guest music bands who performed for us all, playing anything from Country to Rock and Roll.

Several things that I got to see were the pig races, a Chinese acrobatic group, musical performances by local bands, a crazy mascot running all around the fairgrounds, a swine judging competition, amazing artwork, a hypnotist show, and the main stage performance.

Wednesday night’s feature concert on the main stage was Tower of Power. Tower of Power is a lively upbeat funk jazz group that rocks my socks. This band has been around for over 40 years and is still going on strong, yes some of the members are switched out, but who cares? They still pump out great beats and they sure do get the audience riled up.

One thing that I learned through this fair was that the swine judging contest is bittersweet. Children from various ranches tend to pigs, cattle, and other livestock. What I did not know is that these kids help raise these animals from youth till they are full grown. The thing that is bittersweet about the whole situation is that the livestock is judge 1st Place, 2nd Place, 3rd Place and so on and after the kids win their awards the livestock is then sold off at auction to meet their inevitable fate. Having known this I asked someone if it’s sad to the kids that raise them and I was told that no they are not saddened. They go into raising them knowing that they will inevitably sold off and used for consumption. For myself, I was a little held back at that, but then again we all do need to eat. For some they see this as animal cruelty, but now knowing how things are it’s just a way of life for some people.

Overall the fair was amazing and I spent hours upon hours enjoying every minute of the fair. A few things that I do regret is walking and standing pretty much the whole day. The other disappointment was that the Tower of Power Concert was filled to capacity, everyone was waiting to get in, but couldn’t. Some people left the concert to do something outside of the building, but although were given a wristband they had no use, admission was still denied. I think in the future the main stage should be built in the parking lot so that more people can attend and enjoy the concerts because that is one of the main reasons to come to the fair and why people purchase tickets. If you still get the chance the California State Fair is still going on till Labor Day so if you want to check out some cool fun take a trip on up to Sacramento.

Click on the picture link above to view pictures of the San Mateo County Fair.

The Stern Grove Festival has been held in San Francisco for 72 consecutive years. The concerts at Stern Grove are always free, but not cost free. The festival is funded by corporate sponsors as well as sponsors like you. The festival costs an estimated $2 million. Stern Grove can be found on the corner of Sloat Blvd. and 19th Ave. and concerts are on Sundays at 2pm.

This past Sunday I had the opportunity to check out the San Francisco Ballet. Of the ten performances at Stern Grove the concert of choice would have been the San Francisco Symphony. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the Symphony, but I am glad to have attended the ballet. It was something different and something out of my comfort zone that I was able to enjoy. Although ballet is not on my top ten things to see I’m glad that I experienced a little taste of it. If you ask me to give it another try, I think I would. It might be something

The ballet was divided into three parts with two intermissions. The first selection was On a Theme of Paganini. The second piece was Swan Lake, Act II. The third piece was Stravinsky Violin Concerto. Martin West conducted all pieces.

The last performance in the festival will be this coming Sunday. The San Francisco Opera will be performing and will begin promptly at 2pm. I advise that you get there really early if you wish to see the performance. Seating is limited in the grove, but there is additional seating behind the pavilion. If you wish to see the performance and get there late bring a towel or blanket to sit on as you will have to sit on the dirt on the hill. Visibility is limited in the hills due to the tree branches. Most importantly, bring something to drink and a hat and sun screen is optional, but advisable. Have fun and enjoy.

Martin West conducts the orchestra

On a Theme of Paganini

Swan Lake, Act II

Stravinsky Violin Concerto

Conductor Martin West and Violinist Franklyn D'Antonio

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On Friday night CAAM (Center for Asian American Media) and the Japantown Merchants Association hosted a free screening of Kamikaze Girls a film by Tetsuya Nakashima in Japantown’s Peace Plaza to welcome the store New People to San Francisco. The film was to kick off the beginning of the 2009 J-Pop Summit Festival.

The free screening was set up outdoors with limited white folding chair seating. Overflow guests were still allowed to come, but they would have to stand and/or sit on the floor or other permanent fixtures in the plaza.

Prior to the screening there were five contestants who dressed up in Lolita styled clothing. Basically Lolita fashion is a Japanese styled wardrobe focused around the Rococo and Victorian era. More information on Lolita fashion can be found here.

Kamikaze Girls is a comedy surrounding two girls who come from different backgrounds, one who loved buying fancy Lolita styled clothing and the other a wannabe biker chick who rides a scooter. Throughout the movie their bond proves to show that friendship knows no bounds and they become the best of friends. In the movie, the main character Momoko Ryugasaki even gets the opportunity to embroider a Lolita dress.

The night was cold and the fingers numb, but a subtitled Asian film in the middle of Japantown’s Peace Plaza outdoors was priceless.

Five Contestants Compete for Best Dressed

People bundle up on a cold night to watch Kamikaze Girls

The film is featured in Japantown's Peace Plaza underneath the Peace Plaza Pagoda.

Wicked is probably one of the best musicals that I have ever seen. It is full of color and emotion. Wicked was so good that it’s worth seeing over and over again. I wonder if theatrical musicals ever sell on DVD because if so I’d love to get my hands on a copy. Wicked is based on the novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the west by Gregory Maguire. The musical itself was created in three parts (music, lyrics, and book/unsung words). The music and lyrics were developed by Stephen Schwartz and the book was created by Winnie Holzman.

Wicked was great in so many ways. What i loved about the musical was that is made me laugh and almost cry. Actually, I don’t cry. I bawl and snivel. Just kidding, I just get a little choked up. Watching Wicked kept me at full attention because a lot of the songs hit home for me. Based on a different view of the witches that we don’t see in the story The Wonderful Wizard of Oz we get a little glimpse of what life was like for these two witches in Oz.

See, life is all about perspective and how you look at your life or another’s life is often seen one sided. Wicked allows us to see that other side of the story that is often unseen. What one person experiences might be interpreted differently from one person to that of another person. That’s what makes this story so interesting and captivating. This story helps fill in the gaps from what was not seen in the original story.

The story of Wicked is developed around two women, Elphaba and Glinda. Elphaba will later become the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda to be the Good Witch of the North. The story of Wicked brings us back to the earlier moments of their life when Elphaba and Glinda were roommates in school. During their time in school Glinda tries to teach Elphaba how to become more of a popular woman because Elphaba is seen by everyone in Munchkinland as an odd scary green being. Elphaba in turn tries to indirectly inform others that she’s not different and that she wants all animals to have their freedom, basically she’s pro-animal rights. Throughout their time at the university they experience laughter, love, envy, distaste, and friendship. By the musical’s end, I got a better understanding on perspective about the Wicked Witch of the West and came to the conclusion that she wasn’t that bad after all. She was actually a really caring person, but no one ever gave her the opportunity to share her feelings or hear her words except for a few willing ears.

(If you don’t want any possible spoilers don’t read the content below)

Some things new about the musical that I did not know before in the original story was that the Wicked Witch of the East was Elphaba’s sister, Nessarose. I also learned that the scarecrow’s name was Fiyero who later ran away with Elphaba. I did not know that the melting of Elphaba was just a scheme to fool the citizens of Oz. I did not know the Tinman was Boq, who secretly loved Glinda, but was going out with Nessarose. Lastly, I didn’t know that Madame Morrible had control over the weather and caused Dorthy’s house to fall on top of Nessarose.

Several moments got me laughing in the musical that I thought were cleverly scripted. There was a moment when the two girls had to room with each other and they wrote letters back to their parents. Glinda called Elphaba a girl that was “unusually and exceedingly peculiar and all together impossible to describe” and Elphaba described Glinda as “blond”. There was a time in class when Elphaba was heated and Glinda poked fun of her saying that the artichoke is steamed. I laughed pretty hard because this was a moment early on when all the kids were making fun of the way Elphaba looked. Another time was when Doctor Dillamond a professor had a conversation with his students that he was seen as the token goat around, well that was because he was the only goat. Another moment was when Glinda was showing Elphaba how to toss her hair into the air (”Toss, Toss, hehehehehe”). There were many more moments, but they’d have to be seen to really enjoy the humor and subtle humor through gestures.

The songs in the musical were very meaningful and I thought had a lot of emotion behind them. In most musicals that I’ve seen, I have never come to understand the meanings of the lyrics since sometimes the lyrics get lost in the music and rhythm. However, with Wicked the lyrics of the songs were well enunciated. Since the lyrics became so understandable I was able to relate more with the story. A few songs that I’ve come to know because of advertisements and such were “Popular” and “Defying Gravity”. Those two songs were great and catchy, but no other song in the musical had much more meaning than near the end of the musical and that song is called “For Good”. This song was probably so heart wrenching that I got choked up. It was a moment when both witches had to go and part their separate ways and to say goodbye. The basic lyrics that kept repeating itself within the song was “I do believe I have been changed for the better because I knew you, I have been changed for good.” If you hear this song and truly listen to lyrics, this can probably apply to any one’s life. It hit home for me and that’s why I will never forget this song. Truly a blessing to hear it and I hope you get a chance to listen to it.

Overall, this musical in terms of story and song was probably one of the best that I’ve seen if not the best I’ve seen. I highly recommend watching it if you haven’t already, but if you have seen it already perhaps watch it a second time to truly absorb the subtle meanings of the story and relive some of the hilarious moments. This musical gives “Jersey Boys” a run for it’s money. That is probably another best musical in my favorites list.

Following Wicked, I got to meet the following and get autographs from: Teal Wicks (Elphaba), Natalie Daradich (standby for Glinda), DeeDee Magno Hall (Nessarose), Patty Duke ( Madame Morrible), and Nicolas Dromard (Fiyero).

Last night a group of my friends decided to go crabbing. It was a cold night, but it was a very beauitful night. The moon was full and shining bright.

To begin our adventure we had to bait some nets and snare traps. We used some squid, shrimp, and fish heads for bait. We  then had to put the traps in the water. Some traps were casted in by fishing rods and some traps were lowered in by hand at the side of the dock. No sooner than when we set the traps, the sealions came. They circled the waters like sharks eager and looking for prey. However, in our case the prey had already been killed and all they had to do was just break into the traps and grab the bait out. We were successful in keeping some bait free from being eaten, but in total we had two fish head casualties.

Throughout the night as we waited for the biggest catch, we all gathered around an old Coleman camping stove cooking up hot dogs and cheddar dogs. In addition to the hot dogs, we had some blueberries, grapes, cheese and crackers. As we were eating we checked the nets and fishing lines every 10mins or so. We managed to capture many small crabs, but they were too small to keep.

Overall, the night was long and cold, but in the end we were able to keep one crab. I think the true reward from all of this was not the one crab being caught, but it was the friendship and bonds that we had built up that night. This crab adventure will hopefully not end here, but will continue for years to come.