27 July 2014 ~ Golden Gate Park Statues

Listening to:  Oh, Rose ~ Prom

I wondered around a portion of Golden Gate Park and took several statue photos.

This statue of Robert Emmet was donated and dedicated in 1919. He was hanged and beheaded in Thomas Street, Dublin, and the last person to receive this barbaric sentence from a British court. Only 4 statues honoring him exist: San Francisco, Washington DC, Dublin, Ireland and Emmetsburg, Iowa.

A fountain in honor of philanthropist Phoebe Hearst.

This Francis Scott Key monument was built in 1888. The Star-Spangled Banner was not the national anthem of the United States, yet, as it did not achieve that distinction until 1931.

Before 1931, other songs served as the hymns of American officialdom. "Hail, Columbia" served this purpose at official functions for most of the 19th century. "My Country, 'Tis of Thee", whose melody is identical to "God Save the Queen", the British national anthem, also served as a de facto anthem.

The Goethe-Schiller Monument is replicated after the original from Wiemar, Germany, honoring perhaps the two most revered figures in German literature. Dedication of the monument in Golden Gate Park took place in August 1901.

The Beethoven statue was created by Henry Baerer and includes a heroic size head of the great German composer on top of a granite column, at the base of which is a life-size draped female figure who holds a lyre.

Giuseppe Verdi was an Italian composer primarily known for his operas.

19 July 2014 ~ Botanical Garden

Listening to: Buddy Guy & Eric Clapton ~ Crawlin' Kingsnake

When I went to see the Queen of the Andes at the Berkeley Botanical Garden a few weeks back, I took some other pictures as well.

This is an Echinopsis Terscheckii cacti from Argentina.

The hummingbird cooperated and sat on the branch long enough for me to catch this shot.

Beautiful red.

Sunshine through the petals of the Red Angel's Trumpet from Peru.

7 July 2014 ~ Queen

Listening to: Jose James ~ Simply Beautiful

I had to come to Las Vegas this week for a work conference.

I was so lucky to find out that the Queen + Adam Lambert concert was happening, so last night I went.

They played at the Hard Rock,

at the venue The Joint.

Here is the poster. It was possible to sing along.

I had really good seats in about row 17 on the floor. Here they are singing Another One Bites the Dust.

I have some short video clips as well. During a few songs they had Freddy Mercury singing parts on a video, and during one song they showed some historic clips. For Bohemian Rhapsody they showed the original video on the big screen, but the band and Adam were singing/playing.

4 July 2014 ~ Puya raimondii

Listening to:  Little Feat and Friends ~ This land is Your Land

Happy Independence Day!

Yesterday I went to the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden.

 

A rare South American Puya raimondii plant, known for taking up to 100 years to bloom, has started to pop in Berkeley after just 24, which may be a world record.

It will bloom for a month, and when it peaks, it will show tens of thousands of white flowers at the tips of each horn-shaped branch, like. The bloom is an event that happens just once in its lifetime.

A rare and endangered species, the Puya raimondii is called the Queen of the Andes



 It's really tall and I can't wait to go back to see the white flowers in bloom.