RamblingDyna

I’ve worked in the video game and television production fields which continue to be male dominated although more women are slowly climbing (not jumping) on the bandwagon. So I didn’t know what to expect when I attended “Pixar’s Leading Women” on Monday. Pixar is the famed Disney animation studio that gave birth to Toy Story, the industry’s first full length CG movie. Pixar and Bay Area Women in Film and Media (BAWIFM) sponsored the event at Pixar’s Emeryville location. The faces of Art Directors, Editors and Photographers in the media have and continue to be predominately men with women usually delegated in an assistant or associate role. But the roles were reversed in every direction and turned upside down as eight successful women with solid and impressive backgrounds, averaging 13 years of Pixar tenure, shared the challenges and rewards of getting to where they are now. They joined Pixar when it was just starting out in the 1990’s, an unknown production house before the D...

Thanks to my friend for sending me this news article about the boat's status. Don't even recognize it with all the graffiti. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2009/01/26/BACS15G4VE.DTL The National Park Service hauled the boat away about two weeks ago but the article didn't explain in detail of how and why the boat was stranded there except that it was used in a Coast Guard operation. What's more outrageous is that the Los Altos owner refused to pay for for the $4,000 haulting and storage bill! Ocean Beach is not a free parking lot. Expired parking meters in San Francisco will cost you $50 and the meter maids are hawks. The park will bring the owner to court but if he stands his ground, I hope the court revokes his license, impose additional fines or some sort of penality to make him accountable for his actions. I was shocked to see the grafitti on the boat as my video was taken a few days before it was hauled off. Come to think of it, why don't t...

I took these cell phone videos about two weeks ago. My favorite boat more vandalized than the last time I laid my sympathetic eyes on it: beaten and stripped by elements of humans and weather. I returned yesterday, thinking it would welcome me as usual. But yesterday was different. I turned left on Noriega, crossed Great Highway and expected to see the 3655 foot boat in the horizon once my eyes reached past the top of the staircase column but to my surprise…nothing, nada, zip! The familiar white and bare boat that I had grown accustomed to as an Ocean Beach fixture was gone. I panned a 180 several times looking like a tennis fan standing on the bleachers watching a Wimbledon match. My eyes narrowed, my face tightened and my heart raced. Question marks raced out of my head. My eyes zig zagged and darted up and down the beach for any signs or remnants of the boat: rudder, wood planks, or an anchor. Zero. I jogged north towards Lincoln, a and made a U turn to Sloat Blvd but came up ...

Here's an update: I called the local coast guard about the beached boat and to my surprise the dispatch who answered is not aware of it. He gave me another coast guard number to call, which I left a message. HMMMMMM, still a big Mystery. Stay tuned. Will post the latest from the coast guard the minute I hear back from them.

I returned to the boat one week later and someone commented that it had been vandalized. I shot these images two days ago. It’s in the same spot. Besides the graffiti and broken window, it’s not in bad shape as I thought it would be. If it continues to deteriorate like this, it’s definitely going to be an eyesore. Sad and not good especially since this is a very p opular and touristy spot. The pictures and videos speak for themselves.

Now as I was writing…this lone sailboat was sitting on the beach as curious people poked touched and even climbed aboard. I don’t think it was there for more than two days since we had light showers the day before and the furnishings inside the cabin looked dry and undisturbed. Just like bargain shoppers attracted to a sight of busy hands clamoring into sales bins full of merchandise, people came to the boat in waves: the sea was calm when a few souls arrived which began to swell as the tide of onlookers increased, in and out, in and out like the flowing shoreline. There were about four people at the boat when I arrived. Three minutes later after I took these photos about 10 more appeared from all directions. Very happy and content with my photos but still wondered, "hmmmm", as I continued my jog along the path at Judah up to the famous Cliffhouse restaurant, my destination where I shot my videos. I hope the owner comes back to find it in good condition. I mo...

I’ve been stationed in a major San Francisco shopping mall for the past two weeks so I wanted to get as far away from the stores and crowd as much as possible. So I headed out to one of my favorite city places that still maintains it natural non- commercialized beauty - Ocean Beach. It’s not corrupted and inundated by Starbucks, major chain retail marketplaces and four star hotels. I’m proud to say it’s been immune to major retail development and influences. It’s not Malibu, Monterey Bay, Seaport Village (San Diego) or its half sister, Pier 39. Like the various districts (boroughs), Ocean Beach has its own vibe and subculture. The other reason I went to Ocean Beach is that it’s been awhile since I’ve jogged the trail that runs parallel to the main road Great Highway. I blame the cold snap that hit us in early December. 49 degrees was the highest temperature today. That's dam cold for us here but mild compared to the freezing temperatures that the east and the midwest have to endure...