Tom Fowler

For years I'd admired two large pieces from Tom's "Backpacking with Ezra" series that my brother had purchased. Finally, I moved to new digs where I had some wall space for pictures. Here's one of Tom's pieces that I picked up from, of course, the "Backpacking with Ezra" series (it's large: 4' x 3')...


And here's a smaller painting (on the Chronicle) from Tom's "Coffee Cup" series...


In May, 2005, I was shocked to learn, via my brother (who was a friend of Tom's), that Tom had passed away suddenly. A genuinely nice guy, he was, in my opinion, another unnecessary victim of America's ridiculous health care system. More on Tom here -> Chonicle Obituary.

Mirang Wonne

I saw this painting in her studio and immediately fell in love with it. It's large! [4' x 5']


More at -> Mirang.

Veerakeat

I love the sense of motion!


For other paintings, visit Veerakeat.

Larry Schwarm -- Prairie Fires

Larry Schwarm, a mid-western photographer, has done an amazing series of photographs based upon prairie fires. Here's one of my favorites...


You can find more information on his work at his website.

Olcese Family

(Click on picture to enlarge)

Margaret (Margherita) Olcese (née Camiccione in Borgonovo, Italy, 1840) , with her grandchildren. I believe this photo was taken either at Thanksgiving or Christmas in 1904, at the ranch in San Leandro, California.

My grandmother is the baby, Marguerite (Stoakes). Her siblings in this photo are Frank, Lester, Ethel, and Billy (Milton).

Margherita Camiccione came to California in either 1856 or 1857 (at the age of 17 or so). More information regarding Margaret Olcese (and her six sisters) can be found in the book, The Seven Sisters, by Mary Grace Paquette.

Kohler and Chase

Established in 1850 by Andrew Kohler. First music store in San Francisco. A bit of history here.

(The "Chase" of "Kohler and Chase" was Quincy A. Chase. Andrew Kohler was his uncle. Quincy (born 1830 in Freeport, Maine) joined him in 1853 after a 6 month journey around the horn.)

The earthquake of 18 April 1906. Kohler and Chase is on the left corner. Still standing, but not for long...


Kohler and Chase Piano building, burning, but I'm not sure from which street. (I'm not even sure if it's the same building.)

(From the Earthquake Engineering Online Archive at U.C. Berkeley).

After the quake and fire!


The new building on O'Farrell, built after the quake:


Here's a shot of the O'Farrell entrance:


The same building, today. No, it's no longer in the family.

To Hell with the diet. These look tasty!

Dare I admit that some of these look great? After all, who could resist...

The Bacon Cheese Pizza Burger

Giant burger between two large meat pizzas, eggs, bacon, colby and pepper jack cheese. Could life get any better than this?

Sure it could! Check this out:

Meat Cake

(Meatloaf with a mashed potato & ketchup "icing")

And this next one is, in my opinion, absolutely brilliant!

The Pizza Cone!

Where can I buy one?