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A R C H I V E D...S U N D A Y...M O N T H L Y S
C A N Y O U B E L I E V E I T ?
This SUNDAY MONTHLY Marks Our
ONE - YEAR ANNIVERSARY
What better way to celebrate
than with an espresso martini?
In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, add 1 1/2 oz. vodka, 1 oz. coffee liqueur (e.g., Kahlua), 1 oz. espresso or cold brew, and 1/2 oz. simple syrup. Cover the shaker and shake vigorously until the metal is very cold to the touch, about 20 seconds. Pour through a strainer, into a martini glass and garnish.
Simple Syrup: Heat 1C water in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until hot but not boiling. Add 1C granulated sugar and stir until fully dissolved. Let the syrup cool to room temperature before using or storing. (Can store in a glass jar in the fridge up to three weeks.)
Garnish Options: Place 1 or 3 coffee beans directly on top OR Use a microblade to grate coffee beans OR Dust top wiith fine espresso grounds.
R E A D Y
F O R
W I N T E R
! ! ! F U N F A C T S ! ! !
I recently spent a few days in a city by the Bay. Not THEE City but A city. The 6:30 sunrise was breath-taking.
Mesmerized by the view from the bedroom balcony with the baritone foghorn, "Bertha", booming under the Golden Gate Bridge. The echo of seagulls lingering in the fresh air made it all the more spectacular.
The dense fogbank in Richardson Bay lifted by noon.
I lived in San Francisco for twenty years... fun times... but I want to focus on foghorns for now.
No matter my neighborhood - Presidio Heights, Laurel Heights or the Marina, the lull of foghorns had to be within earshot. A non-negiotable requirement.
Sadly, their numbers have diminished over the years.
Here's a little history:
In the beginning... there was
Mile Rocks Lighthouse.
Mile Rocks Lighthouse was completed in 1906 after facing many difficulties. It was originally painted red and white stripes (not one of its difficulties) and now solid white. And, as of 1966, the horn has been automated. The original tower has also been replaced by a helipad for the US Coast Guard.
Building of the Bridge in progress. Red arrow: My apartment on Chestnut Street with the Palace of Fine Arts just two blocks west.
The Lighthouse is located on a rock about one mile southwest of the Bridge, off Lands End. Before its time, however, there was a bell buoy - but because of the strong current, it drifted off never to be heard again.
Tragically, in 1901, the SS City of Rio de Janeiro, coming from Hong Kong, wrecked on the rocks on its inbound journey into the Bay. One hundred and twenty-eight perished - prompting the construction of the Lighthouse.
Sidenote: The contractor in charge of building the Lighthouse, James McMahon, hired sailors from San Francisco because his own crew refused to work in such dangerous water and wind conditions.
There are currently three foghorns under the Golden Gate Bridge roadway mid-span and two on the south tower pier so ships can steer between the borders just by sound. Throughout most of the year, they average about 2.5 hours of operation per day. During the thickest of summer glooms, though, the horns can be on for days at a time.
The Foghorn Timing Chart shows timing intervals at the south tower and at midspan. The south tower horn sounds a deep, loud note for two seconds, then repeats in 18 seconds. Another horn at midspan between the towers sounds a pair of high-pitched notes.
H I S T O R Y O F A R C H I T E C T U R E ~ P A R T 4
B Y Z A N T I U M C O N S T A N T I N O P L E I N S T A N B U L
Click here if you missed Parts 1 - 4. Part 1 starts in Issue 8.
We left off in Rome and we're now headed to a very exotic and intriguing part of the world.
After extolling the impressive architectural and innovative wonders achieved throughout the Roman Empire, I’m sorry to say that it eventually collapsed.
By 476 AD, the Empire had stretched over Europe, parts of the Middle East, Africa and Asia and was comprised of people of vastly different cultures, languages and beliefs. Predictably, given such diversity, it could not sustain itself as a whole.
Its weakened state opened the doors for nomadic tribes from the north, particularly the Visigoths, to invade.
Hagia Sofia, Istanbul
The eastern half of the Empire was able to survive another 1000 years, as the Byzantine Empire, centered in Constantinople (formerly the Greek colony, Byzantium, and today’s Istanbul.) Constantinople was a crucial city as it was ideally located to serve as a trade point between Europe and Asia Minor (Turkey).
In the 5th century, Constantinople had a university that contained numerous artistic and literary treasures including over 100,000 pieces of ancient remnants from the lost Library of Alexandria in Egypt. (Can you imagine how splendid it would be to hole up in this Library days on end?)
Because thousands of Greek and Roman craftsmen had fled to Constantinople during the Gothic invasions, their style would heavily influence Byzantine art and architecture - with added geometric complexity. Mosaics replaced carved decoration, domes became taller, thinner and interconnected, and windows filtered light through thin sheets of alabaster that softly illuminate interiors. These Byzantine signatures influenced the Middle East by way of tile design, geometric patterns, arches, domes, and colorful brick that characterize early Islamic and Moorish art and architecture.
The prime example of Byzantine architecture is Hagia Sophia (Latin for Holy Wisdom) commissioned by Emperor Justinian in 537. It was originally built as a Greek Orthodox Christian basilica in the 4th century by Constantine, the first Christian emperor and founder of the city. It later became a mosque and is now a museum. It contains two floors centered on a giant nave with a massive dome ceiling. It is 270 feet by 240 feet and the dome rises 180 feet above the pavement. This was a formidable scale for any structure not built of steel and was the largest for 1000 years until the completion of Seville Cathedra
Brilliant engineering enabled the dome to appear as if floating upon four great arches. All interior surfaces are sheathed with polychrome marble, green and white with purple porphyry (similar to granite) and gold mosaics. The exterior is simple stucco and during the Ottoman Empire, four 200-foot tall, slender, pencil-shaped minarets were added at each corner.
While the eastern half of the Roman/Byzantine Empire flourished, its western half moved into the cultural abyss of the Dark Middle Ages (aka the Early Middle Ages.)
It was comprised of the Celts, Franks, Saxons, Anglos, Goths, and Visigoths. Instead of their lands being ruled by one emperor, they were ruled by many kings. Because of the ongoing threat of invasions, people built with preservation and protection in mind and surrounded themselves with walls and moats.
French Romanesque British Romanesque German Romanesque Leaning Tower of Pisa
The two notable architectural styles of the Middle Ages were Romanesque and Gothic. The Romanesque style gets its name from looking very Roman with columns, arches, thick walls, sturdy pillars, large towers, vaults and decorative arcading. They were built in symmetrical plan with an overall simple exterior.
Romanesque architecture introduced the rose window - circular and divided into segments by stone mullions. A lost skill? It can mostly be found in southern France, northern Spain and rural Italy (the leaning Tower of Pisa). This is because these areas were not as prosperous as others where many Romanesque structures were later rebuilt in the Gothic style. The Romanesque style in Britain is referred to as Norman, associated with the Norman Conquest.
