Just An Ongoing Protest . . .

I am enjoying this ongoing protest of a building in the financial district.

They are small crew of two but come bearing large props that help draw attention to their cause.

So far they have brought out the grim reaper and a giant "thumbs down."

I am hoping they bring the giant rat next week.

Just A Sandwich Sign . . .

Today's oxymoron is brought to you by the people at Togo's!

Because the "Mini" Classics are a new "Bigger" size.

It's signs like this that make me happy in life.

Just The Battle Of The Bay . . .

Friday I lucked out and won a trivia contest at work.  My prize was two tickets into the company's luxury box for game one of the Battle Of The Bay between the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland A's.

Even better was the fact that the tickets got me into a free wine tasting event on the suite level two hours before the game started.

My pick of the best wine...

A Sangiovese from Seghesio Family Vineyards.

Now, about baseball; when the series came to a close on Sunday the Giants had won two of the three games.

But what may be most surprising what when my friend Danilo, who also won tickets, showed up wearing an Oakland A's jersey!   Some of you Loyal Readers may remember last year when I told you that he was the biggest Giants fan I knew.

Well they haven't been playing very good the last two seasons so maybe his loyalty has drifted across the Bay.

Just An Eclipse . . .

On Sunday in San Francisco if you weren't drunk from the 101st Bay To Breakers race, at the third game in the Battle Of The Bay between the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland A's then you were probably trying to catch a glimpse of the annular solar eclipse.

An annular solar eclipse is when the moon passes in front of the sun leaving a golden ring around its edge.

And while I know you are not supposed to stare directly at the sun, I did try to point my camera in that general direction and capture the eclipse.

Shot after shot I was not getting what I was hoping for.

Then I pulled out my iPhone and snapped these three gems!

I am sure there is something with the refraction on the lens or reflections on the who knows what, but I was pleased with the results.

Just A Blog's 4th Birthday . . .

Happy 4th Birthday Just Jon!

Have a piece of cake and celebrate!

Just Hunters Point Shipyard Artists . . .

Another weekend another open art studios event.  This time the event was located in Hunters Point and put on by the Hunters Point Shipyard Artists.  The event was very well organized with street signage, parking guides, maps, and free food and drink!

Hunters Point is the nation's largest fine arts community and this weekend 300 artists opened up their studios to the public.

The event was so great and so big I went both days just to see it all.

Robin Denevan www.robindenevan.com

Kristine Mays www.kristinemays.com

Kristine Mays not only had breathtaking wire sculpture work she had the most charming personality.

Ed Handelman

Flowers captured on the walk between buildings

Dominique Caron www.dominiquecaron.com

I fell in love with this piece by Dominique Caron.  Maybe one day one of her pieces will be on my wall.

(If you are a Hunters Point Shipyard Artist who needs to be credited for your work in the above post please leave a comment.)

Just Poquito . . .

Last night I tried out Poquito in San Francisco's Dogpatch district.  Poquito specializes in Latin American Tapas and Cocktails.

Poquito has a nice size bar visible from the street and a loft dining area in the back of the restaurant.

When ordering off Poquito's menu it is recommended to order small plates style and share with your dinner companions.

My friend An and I opted to not follow the waiters recommendation and we ordered off the "Plates" portion of the menu and then through in a side order of Chorizo Sliders for good measure.

The Chorizo Sliders are chorizo and beef burgers on a sweet roll with gorgonzola cheese and caramelized onions.  The sliders were quite tasty but I think the sweet roll was a bit overpowering in  flavor and the whole sandwich would benefit from being served on a regular bun.

For my main course I chose the Churrasco.  Churrasco is grilled beef with a fried egg on a bed of rice, sweet plantains and spinach salad.  I really enjoyed the spinach salad and the egg and rice combination was a nice touch.  The beef was very tender and the portion was filling.

For dessert we ended up trying two different types of Empanadas because the first set brought to us was not the flavor we had ordered.  The first batch were Empanadas de Aire - a sugar crusted cheese empanada that is both salty and sweet.  The second batch were Empanadas de Aire con guayaba.  These sugar crusted empanadas had a guava filling.  I surprisingly liked the first batch better which is funny because that was not the one we ordered.

I also tried a specialty cocktail that was supposed to taste like pumpkin pie.  The cocktail was sweet which I like, but I tasted more of the spice than the pumpkin flavor that I was hoping to get.

Poquito was positive experience and I look forward to my next visit.