Between the Ferry Building and the end of Market Street in San Francisco sit an unusual fountain. It is locally known as the “Vaillancourt Fountain” but the sculptor, Armand Vaillancourt, named it “Québec libre!” on the night before the inauguration day of the fountain in 1971. Armand Vaillancourt is a French sculptor, painter and performance artist born on September 3, 1929 in the city of Black Lake, Quebec, Canada. “Québec libre!” which is in French and when translated to English mean “Free Quebec!”. Armand gave the sculpture such a name to show his support for the Quebec sovereignty movement and more largely, the support for the freedom of all people in Quebec.

This huge cubic fountain is 200 feet long, 140 feet wide and 36 feet high. It was closed for years for repair but was fully restored few years ago. Over the years the Vaillancourt Fountain received a number of names that was given by the public. They called it everything from “a giant monument to sanitary plumbing” to “a complete waste of money” to “a misrepresentation of art” to “a public fraud”.

The fountain had its most notorious moment in 1987: During a free outdoor concert by the band U2, lead singer Bono spray-painted “Rock and roll stops the traffic” on the fountain. His act was condemned by then mayor Dianne Feinstein and resulted in a citation for malicious mischief. Bono responded, “We’re the Batman and Robin of rock ‘n’ roll… I am an artist, and that was not an act of vandalism.” At a later concert, Bono invited Mr. Vaillancourt to spray-paint “Stop the madness!” onstage. Freedom of artistic expression aside, the act discouraged live concerts at the Embaradero for years afterward. :-)

…continue reading the post Embarcadero Center: The Vaillancourt Fountain

Being a landlord and having tenants is a huge responsibility and sometimes can be tough. There are all kinds of tenants and you can never be sure to have the ‘perfect tenants’. It’s always 50/50 in any case until you know them better.  But what if you come across bad tenants that don’t pay the monthly rent and later learn that they didn’t clean the apartment for ages.. Surprise Surprise! :mrgreen:

That’s exactly what happened to one landlord. A female resident who had an outstanding balance for over a month and no one could get in touch with her. And so the bookeeper went inside after so many tries to leave a note and this is the surprising discovery…

…continue reading the post Sorry, My Apartment Is A Bit Messy!

For years, health experts have recommended everyone to “wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands.” and now with raw fruits and vegetables as the major cause of Salmonella outbreaks they are recommending that everyone to “wash your produce, wash your produce, wash your produce.” The contamination can come from a number of sources and at a variety of stages in the process from field to the market. Irrigation water in the fields may be contaminated with animal manure or human sewage or a field worker, food packer, or store employee handling the produce could be ill.

The adverting campaign below by Elter Drugs is very well executed with creative and vivid visual art to depict an important message. Well done Elter Drugs!

…continue reading the post Elter Drugs: An Unwashed Vegetable Can Become A Deadly Weapon

The Calgary International Film Festival in Calgary, Canada is the fourth largest film festival in Canada.  This year will mark the 8th year since the Calgary International Film Festival was first held in 2000.  Like all the other film festivals there will be works from all around the world with screens films in a wide variety of genres. The event is expected to have around 40, 000 in attendance.
Now let’s check out the quirky and unpleasant collection of 9 ads to promote the event. Are they running out of ideas or what? Such a poor idea to promote new international movies! Should it be ‘Expect the Unexpected’ rather than ‘ Unexpect the Expected’?

…continue reading the post Calgary International Film Festival: Unexpect The Expected

The Angel Oak is one of the most famous landmarks on Johns Island, South Carolina, US. What’s so impressive about this live oak tree is that it’s approximately 1,500 years old. The local people called it simply ‘The Tree’. I guess because it’s the only tree around that is so huge and ancient. The Tree has a diameter of spread reaching 160 feet, a circumference of nearly 25 feet and covers 17,100 square feet of ground. Normally a live oak tree don’t grow out and up but this special tree has had plenty of time to do both! They said that this tree has survived countless hurricanes, floods, earthquakes and human interference, so there’s a good chance it will still be there waiting for you.

The Charleston City Council has just approved a plan to put 600 homes and a shopping center on the property surrounding the Angel Oak.  It’s good news that the Angel Oak will not be cut down and will remain a natural Low Country treasure visited daily by schools, tourists and locals. An online petition have been opened to protest against the developers who are planning to cut down 55 other grand trees so they can squeeze in as many buildings as possible! Please help them out in the fight against this terrible plan by signing their petition. These days most business people will destroy our earth’s natural beauty just to make more money.

…continue reading the post Angel Oak: 1,500 Years Old Oak Tree