Cherry Blossom Festival 2008 San Francisco

Every year, San Francisco Japantown celebrates Cherry Blossom Festival. It usually takes place over 2 week-ends. They have events and stands in Japantown both week-end, but if you want to have more fun, plan on showing up the day of the Parade.


I did, and I wasn't alone. A lot of people showed up ...



to look ...



to participate ...











to look and participate ...



The parade started at Civic Center



Ah, shucks, I had my camera on the wrong settings!!(1) The kids were so lovely, though, I just have to post these shots anyway!





The parade went up Polk, left on Post and ended up in Japantown, at Fillmore.

(OK, I'll admit these guys looked slightly out-of-place)

The entire event was a lot of fun, very uplifting. There was a lot of giggling and happy sounds coming from the participants of all ages in the parade.



Why, even the Police looked pretty laid back.






By the way, here is a little movie I shot so you get a better idea. Sorry, no sound.



I didn't have my backpack that day, so I didn't fill up on Japanese snacks this time.



Oh, well, another time!

(1) (begin snark mode) Dear Camera Manufacturers, could you please make the buttons on the point-and-shoots a little smaller, because right now, we can still see them somewhat. (/end snark mode)


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Links and additional resources:


Official Link for Cherry Blossom Festival

Japantown official website.

Praying for gas prices? / Prier pour le prix de l'essence?

I did not know if I should laugh or cry when I saw this article in the front page of the Chronicle this morning:

Je savais pas si j'allais rire ou pleurer quand j'ai vu cet article en première page dans le journal ce matin:

"Twyman - a community organizer, church choir director and public relations consultant from the Washington, D.C., suburbs - staged a pray-in at a San Francisco Chevron station on Friday, asking God for cheaper gas. He did the same thing in the nation's Capitol on Wednesday, with volunteers from a soup kitchen joining in. Today he will lead members of an Oakland church in prayer.

Yes, it's come to that."

"Twyman ... a organisé une prière à une station d'essence Chevron à San Francisco, Vendredi, pour demander à Dieu que l'essence soit moins chère. Il a fait la même chose dans la capitale des Etats Unis Mercredi dernier, avec des volontaires. Aujourd'hui, il recommence à Oakland, California."

Eh oui, on en est réduit à ça."

Hmmm... OK. For those of you who don't feel like praying, check out instead sites like San Francisco Gas Prices, to see who has the cheapest gas in town.

Hmmm... mouais. Pour ceux d'entre vous qui n'ont pas envie de prier, allez plutot visiter des sites comme San Francisco Gas Prices pour voir qui affiche le meilleur prix dans le coin.


* * *

Resources: Pray-in at S.F. gas station asks God to lower prices


San Francisco Gas Prices lists prices of gas. Updated by users.

6 y old Connie Talbot / Connie Talbot, 6 ans!

Just when you thought there wasn't any beauty left in this world...
Juste quand on s'imaginait qu'il n'y avait plus rien de beau dans ce monde ...


(alone, without sound effect)
(toute seule, sans accompagnement)



(same, with sound effect)
(meme chose, avec accompagnement)





Last but *not* least (I think), a few months later:
Le meilleurs pour la fin (je crois), quelques mois plus tard:


"I will always love you, by Connie Talbot"



Thank you little girl, you absolutely made my day (not to mention you also made me cry like a baby)!
Merci petite, quel moment de bonheur tu viens de nous donner (j'ai même pleuré comme un bébé, en plus)!

To listen to extracts of Connie Talbot's album and see additional videos, check out her website.
Pour écouter des extraits de l'album Connie Talbot et voir d'autres videos, allez cliquer sur son site.


Have a good week everybody, and see you very soon!
Allez, bonne semain, et à bientot!

Olympic Torch Protest on the Golden Gate Bridge

Photographs: San Francisco Chronicle


So, we've heard that the Olympic Torch made it through Paris in one piece after all?

Alors, il parait que la Flamme Olympique a survécu sa visite à Paris?


The Torch is supposed to be in San Francisco this coming Wednesday, April 9, but today already, a couple of activits managed to climb the cables of the Golden Gate Bridge and put up a couple of "Free Tibet" banners as you can probably see on the photograph above.

La Flamme est supposée passer à San Francisco Mercredi 9 Avril, mais déjà ce matin, un groupe d'activistes a réussi à grimper sur les cables du Golden Gate Bridge comme vous pouvez le voir sur les photos ci-dessus.

Check out the links below for further information.

Je vous ai mis plein de liens ci-dessous mais c'est tout en Anglais car je n'ai pas le temps de chercher les liens correspondants en Français. Allez-y quand même car les photos n'ont pas besoin de légende, et les videos sont relativement facile à comprendre.

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Additional Resources

San Francisco Chronicle article.

San Francisco Torch WebPage put together by the SF Chronicle.

KPIX Video of Demonstrations in Paris, France

KPIX Video of GG Bridge protest

KPIX Slideshow of Golden Gate Bridge protest