Touch-A-Truck Day 05/16/2014

Last weekend, I spent a few hours being enthralled by a menagerie of awesome huge vehicles. Then I went to see a Mad Max movie. But never mind that - here's a roundup of exotic vehicles from the Star of the Sea School's 42nd Spring Festival, conveniently located just outside my front door.

The giant vacuum truck is officially known as a Combination Flushing Unit. My wife spent a lot of time quizzing the crew about how it's operated and what qualifications you need. They said the thrill wears off after a couple of days, but she doesn't believe that.

The fire crew claim that Engine 31 isn't their prettiest one, but I think it's very nice. At some point I'll have to go check out its predecessors at the SFFD Fire Museum.

Since the PG&E bucket truck also has a winch, it's officially classified as a Material Handler.

It would be totally worth writing parking tickets all day long if I got to drive one of these groovy three-wheelers. Of course, I'd have to learn how to drive first.

After you take your turn running the street sweeper, the crew will draw your attention to how hard it is to see the bicycle. So watch out, kids!

Superhero Costume Workshop 05/08/2015

And now, some sketches from the traditional end-of-the-semester workshop hosted by the AAU Comic Book Club...

Aaron as the TV version Daredevil, and Margo as a very kittenish Catwoman. This is clearly the role Aaron was born to play. He's so hardcore, he didn't take the mask off all evening!

 

And here's Margo getting ready to punish us in the name of the moon.

By the Power of Grayskull, it's Jonathan as He-Man! I may have action-figured him up a bit.

A time-lapse sequence of Jonathan fighting some Fin Fang Foom kinda dude.

Aaron versus Jonathan, wow! Since these were just five-minute poses, I doubled them up for maximum effect.

Oakland Zoo 05/07/2015

At last, I made my first ever field trip to the beautiful Oakland Zoo! All via public transit, no less.

At first it seems like they're just hanging out, but if you stick around a while, you'll see the fruit bats doing all kinds of fun stuff! Now I know they pee upside down, but poop right-side up.

The fossil recreations, and the mini-doors for the Reptile & Amphibian House, seem like great kid-pleasing features. But sometimes you just want to hang out and eat some strawberries.

I ducked into the Reptile & Amphibian House to wait out the rain. The gila monster eluded me, but here are some chuckwallas and what I believe is a Colorado River toad.

I think I've fallen in love with the Aldabra giant tortoise. And maybe it's just my fancy, but from the way he kept looking at me, I think it's mutual.

As I recall, using sustainable palm oil was one of Tony Barnosky's top ten tips for saving the world. The sun bear will thank you, and if you're very lucky, she might give you a flash of her amazing termite-catching tongue.

Last but never least, I spent the final hour hanging out with the elephants. These are really just preliminary studies - I'll have to go back soon and really observe these beauties! I've since identified the ones shown here as M'Dundamela (top left), Lisa (top right and bottom left), and Donna (bottom right).