Robot Monkeys

With the Bay Bridge, seemingly always in the news^*, the question is becoming, what to do with the old eastern span? (You remember the eastern span, don’t you?) Current plans are to simply demolish it, but architects Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello has proposed something different. They wants to convert it into a housing and a park.

He calls his proposal, “The Bay Line,” is a combination of the Florence’s Ponte Vecchio and New York’s High Line. The upper deck would be converted into a greenway, while the lower deck (originally designed for freight trains) would contain commercial and residential spaces. Since the deck can support much weight than a typical home, additional space can be hung directly underneath the bridge.

Rael’s graduate studio, have come up with other similar ideas, but they’re all essentially the same thing.

It’s an interesting idea, but I do have some concerns. First, there’s going to be another earthquake. There just will be. So why would you want to be suspended a couple of hundred feet above the water, in a box that has been bolted onto a structure that is over 70 years, that is literally falling apart. (Well at least it’s not as bad as the old Cape Girardeau bridge. Yet.) Rael points out most of the damage back in 1989 was on the approach, not the cantilevers, but I still have my doubts. My other concern is that it’s right next to new bridge. Which means, you’re living right next to a freeway, and that’s got to ruin your view.

But really, I’d just be happy if they name the eastern span the “Emperor Norton I Span”, but Oaklanders are such killjoys.

Ben Wiggins‘s time lapse from around the bay.

via Laughing Squid

I’ve posted about my morbid fascination before, but today the Chron wrote about the demographics of a jumper. (Well actually, it’s just a press release from The Bridge Rail Foundation dressed up as news, but it’s fascinating none the less.)

The report, examines 15 years of jumpers, and answers some of my long standing questions about jumpers.

How many people travel from outside the Bay Area simply to jump?

83% are from the bay area, with just under half (49%) coming from Marin, Napa, San Francisco, and Sonoma counties. 6% come from outside of California, and only 3 (less than 1%) came from outside the US.

Follow Up Question: How does the 6% outside of the state compare with other popular suicide sites? Is the bridge truly a “suicide magnet?”

What does the typical jumper look like?

White (80%), Male (74%), Never Married (56%), 40 year old student.

In case you’re wondering: I’m against the rail and the nets. I think it will just move them behind closed doors and away from the tourists. Plus, there’s something romantic, and yet simultaneously incredibly selfish, about doing it in public.

The previous post got me trudging through my big file of clippings, and where I found this video of Obscura Digital‘s demo of their software for coordinating 7 HD projectors down at Mint Plaza.

Sure, it’s essentially an ad, but it is pretty cool.

Annoying previewless video after the jump.
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Digeratti Xeni Jardin for BoingBoing Video and the Chron interview (albeit separately) collage artist Cassandra C. Jones.

Cassandra finds amateur photos of the same thing (e.g. the moon, lightning, a sunset, etc.) and then combines them in novel ways. Such as taking photos of lightning to make the shape of a rabbit, or animating the phases of the moon from a hundred separate snapshots.

Cassandra’s show, “Send Me a Link,” opens this Saturday (Reception 4 pm – 7 pm) and runs through September 5th, at Baer Ridgway Exhibitions, 172 Minna Street, SF (11 am – 6 pm, Tues-Sat)

The Chron highlights some of the murals of The Mission in San Francisco. Murals are pretty common in The Mission, but this list highlights some of the best.

Dorkbot SF is tonight at the Hat Factory (801 Minnesota St #08, SF)

SHDH 31 is this Saturday (March 14) at the Rainbow Mansion (21677 Rainbow Drive, Cupertino).

monochrom has announced their USA tour. SFBay dates include this Saturday (March 7) at Chez Poulet (3359 Cesar Chavez, SF) and this Wednesday (March 11) at the Fairmont Hotel (170 S Market) in San Jose.

via somewhere I’m quite sure I can’t recall

This Friday at the Opulent Temple (200 California Ave, Treasure Island, SF), the Flaming Lotus Girls are holding a fundraiser. ($20 pre-sale) Lasers, music, and the Serpent Mother.

Brian Goggin with Dorka Keehn created “The Language of Birds“, a series of self-illuminated books on permanent display at Columbus Avenue and Broadway in SF.

The Chronicle covered the unveiling