Twins 10, A’s 5

Last time I brought my camera to a Twins game, Johan Santana struck out 17 at the Metrodome in a 1-0 win over the Rangers. This time the Twins crushed the A’s 10-5 in Oakland, and I was right behind the dugout to take it in. That camera must be good luck.

Justin Morneau stretching during pre-game warmups. Morneau went 4-5 with 2 RBI.

Delmon Young and his empty .235 average join the team. Good game though (2-4, 3 RBI).

First-inning single for Joe Mauer. Sweetest swing in baseball.

Scott Baker. 8 IP, 3 ER, 8 K.

Morneau rounding third after his solo shot in the 6th. 2-0 Twins.

Brett Anderson gets the hook six batters and three runs later.

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Sideburns.

Mauer and Morneau greet Jason Kubel after his 3-run bomb in the 7th puts the Twins up 8-0.

Blowout.

Scott Baker gave up 2 hits through 8 innings before running out of gas in the 9th and leaving with a 10-0 lead and the bases loaded.

The remaining crowd of about 5,000 finally got into the game as the Twins bullpen imploded in typical fashion. The A’s cut the deficit to 10-5 before Joe Nathan struck out the final two batters with the bases loaded. A disconcerting end to a great game.

polaroid paparazzi

Found in Taber Place Alley, South of Market.

de young

Some abstracts from my latest visit to the De Young Museum:

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washington cannery

The derelict Washington Packing Corporation tuna cannery near Islais Creek Channel is an absolute gem of an abandoned building. I first came here in 2006 and returned recently with my tripod to give it a thorough exploration. Getting inside proved to be difficult, but a little determination goes a long way.

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Closed since 1963 follwing a botulism scare, the cannery has surprisingly been left in a wonderful derelict state. Work crews are stripping the building of scrap metal, but some larger machines remain and it doesn’t appear to be in any immediate danger of demolition.

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The cannery is home to some of the finest graffiti in San Francisco, a cathedral of pieces, burners, and tags. It’s known as the TIE building to local artists. Every accessible surface is plastered with graffiti.

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Things got more interesting the deeper I explored.

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Naturally, Girafa and Musk made appearances:

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Plantrees, too:

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Aerosol cans everywhere:

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What a beautiful place. Hope it sticks around for a while. Full set here.

thai street art

Didn’t expect to find street art in Thailand when I visited last year, so I was pleasantly surprised when I came across these specimens in Chiang Mai and Bangkok:

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It’s no SF or even Minneapolis, but still pretty cool.

sasquatch!

Made the annual pilgrimage up to the Gorge for 3 days of great music.

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14 hour drive? Relentless sun? Dehydration? No sleep? Good times.

sunk

Final resting place for a motorboat in Islais Creek Channel, San Francisco.

dichotomy

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fire!

There was some drama in downtown Menlo Park yesterday morning. It was probably the most action the downtown’s seen in decades:

At 8am I got a call from the Almanac that there was a four-alarm fire in the Peet’s Coffee building on Santa Cruz and University. Cops were diverting traffic and most of the area was cordoned off, but I cut through Fremont Park and hung out in the Drager’s parking lot, shooting away.

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11 fire engines and nearly 50 firefighters from all over southern San Mateo county responded to the alarm. The fire was out by the time I arrived, and the rescue crews were resting after the blaze. No one was hurt except for a firefighter who separated his shoulder.

Firefighter Wilbur Womble (great name) has a laugh after the fire is extinguished

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Salvaging stuff from the Calla Boutique

The gummy bears made it through unscathed

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Rinsing off equipment & firefighters

Some of the tools used to tear down walls and find the source of the fire

Menlo Park Fire District Chief Harold Schapelhouman was very cooperative with the press and gave me a tour of the building.

According to Schapelhouman, the fire started early in the morning in a second-story electrical closet and slowly spread through the walls and floors. They had trouble pinpointing the source of the fire because of the smoke and had to tear apart rooms and offices to find it.

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It was pretty enlightening to learn how a particular fire starts and spreads, and how firefighters respond to a particular type of fire. In this case it was a smaller fire, but stubborn because of the way it crept through the walls and floor undetected.

More photos from the fire here.

cacti

It’s like another world up close:

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