Building Upward
Colin Blake
December 2, 2015
By Colin Blake San Francisco is getting taller. In fact, if the city's 15-tallest buildings were laid end-to-end, they would be over 300-feet taller than the Golden Gate Bridge is long. This growth spurt isn't slowing down, but accelerating. San Francisco is in its fifth-straight year of economic a...
Answers, Not Questions by Colin Blake: Wood Pallet Beer Pong Table
Colin Blake
November 13, 2015
Photo by Martin Bustamante By Colin Blake https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHuWLgzAIVw
Goodbye Guns: San Francisco’s Last Gun Store Rides Off into the Sunset
Colin Blake
November 2, 2015
Steve Alcairo, general manager at High Bridge Arms checks the sights of his personal rifle during downtime. Photo by Ryan McNulty By Colin Blake [dropcap size="50px"]I[/dropcap]n 1971, Harry Callahan, played by Clint Eastwood, was the ice-cold San Francisco police inspector tasked with catching th...
Proposition E
Colin Blake
October 29, 2015
By Colin Blake Come Nov. 3 San Francisco voters will have the option to approve Proposition E, which aims to bring more participation to the political process by live streaming all public government meetings, allowing for digital and pre-recorded comment so constituents can engage in the politica...
Technology Hits the Pavement: Electric Skateboards Gain Traction in the Bay Area
Colin Blake
October 20, 2015
Boosted boards are modeled on the floor of Black Diamond Sports in Palo Alto. (Colin Blake/ Xpress) By Colin Blake A skateboard is a very analog form of mobility in that the rider is responsible for the propulsion. However, several cities, San Francisco included, have skateboarders whose...
Answers, Not Questions by Colin Blake: Altoids Tin Flashlight
Colin Blake
September 21, 2015
By Colin Blake When the last Altoid is consumed, the container is often tossed as soon as possible. However, even though the tin material is not resilient like steel, or as rigid as aluminum, it can be turned into a vessel for a great many things, one such project is convertin...
Nepal Quake: Architecture’s Role
Colin Blake
April 26, 2015
Featured Image: USGS Following a 7.9 magnitude earthquake on Saturday, Nepal's infrastructure, once erect to serve its people, now lay atop those very people, ultimately killing thousands. The capital, Kathmandu, was hit hardest. Since the initial seismic event, the U.S. Geological Servey reporte...
California Drought: There Isn’t Much Left
Colin Blake
April 5, 2015
Featured Image: NASA comparison between California in 2013 (left) and 2014 (right). There are 38.8 million people in the state of California. Collectively, they use four trillion gallons of water for domestic and municipal purposes annually. However, that amount accounts for only 20 percent of ...
The Buildable AR-15
Colin Blake
March 19, 2015
Photos by David Henry A gun is fired once the trigger is pulled, causing the hammer to hit the firing pin, which strikes the primer that ignites the smokeless powder, thus twisting the bullet down the barrel's rifled interior, and onto its intended target. But in this instance, the gun, a...
Fresh Renaissance Art at San Francisco’s de Young
Colin Blake
March 8, 2015
Featured Image: National Galleries of Scotland's Sandro Botticelli: Virgin Adoring the Sleeping Christ Child (ca. 1490) A collection of rare renaissance art, on loan from the National Galleries of Scotland, is on display at the de Young museum for nearly three months. From March 7 until May 31, the 55...
SpaceX launches DSCOVR Satellite
Colin Blake
February 14, 2015
Falcon 9 carrying DSCOVR, Courtesy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration After two delays caused by weather, SpaceX launched the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite yesterday to beam back information about potentially harmful solar ejections heading toward earth. Wit...
Historic, Mussolini-linked Alfa Romeo fetches $3 million
Colin Blake
February 7, 2015
Photo courtesy of RMAuctions An exceedingly rare 1939 Alfa Romeo 6c2500, a gift from Benito Mussolini to his mistress Clara Petacci, just sold for $3 million at an RM Auctions event in Paris. The first 6c2500 sold at auction in years, and given the role it played in the couple's failed attempt to flee an imploding...