Ai Wei Wei at Alcatraz

this valentine's day we took a trip to Alcatraz to see @Large, an Ai Wei Wei exhibit. Ai Wei Wei is a chinese artist and activist who focuses on freedom of expression and human rights. if you're unfamiliar with his work i'll bet you can recognize one of his contributions. he was a designer and consultant for the Beijing National Stadium for the 2008 Summer Olympics. you know, the giant birds nest. yeah, that's him. i've never seen Alcatraz used as an arena to showcase art, so when this came up i knew i had to see it. @Large consists of seven different art installations be it visual, sound or mixed media, displayed all over Alcatraz in many of the areas not usually open to the public. you can read the descriptions on the For-Site Foundation page. 

With Wind

the dragon represents personal freedom and other kites around the room represent nations that restrict their citizen's human rights. 

Trace 

made up of Lego pieces, these are the faces of activists who've been imprisoned or exiled for their beliefs.

Refraction

made to resemble the wing of a bird, this represents freedom in confinement. 

Yours Truly

an opportunity to write to activist prisoners

Blossom

porcelain flowers fill the bathtub, sink and toilets of the hospital portion of Alcatraz, offering "comfort" to prisoners. 

Stay Tuned

poems, songs and spoken word from a variety of activists all over the world are heard while sitting in a solitary cell. 

Illumination

(not pictured)

Tibetan chants are heard in an area of the hospital meant for observing the mentally ill. 

shorts and fun socks party

it's been a while since our rad. crew got together for all the laughs and all the fun. we decided to have a verrrry late holiday party just for the sake of ease in scheduling. last years theme was ugly sweaters and this year's theme was shorts and fun socks. we did a secret santa exchange but along with that was lots of drinking, enough food to feed an army, forced heavy lifting to get my area rug in place before i allowed festivities to begin, clown faces, photo shoots, two positives and one negative, all of the wrapping paper launched at me with instructions to "aim between the eyes," calling a white dog a 'black' name but really it's a Game of Thrones name, drunken tears shed after the most deserving person announced a pregnancy, and endless giggles. if i don't say it enough, i have the greatest coworker-friends ever!!

funnnn!!

tell me why this sassy bitch looks a little like a pedophile peeking up over those glasses.

this was an awesome dual pair of socks!!  his actual legs are just as hairy as the socks he's used to cover them up.

grub time! the only person to spill on my new area rug was....ME. whoops!

while everybody posed for this pic i was in my own little world. hello there, creepy eye...

 if "turnt up" were in my vocabulary, this would be the threshold moment for when things were about to get "turnt up" aka when Tracy, my version of Beyonce's Sasha Fierce, came out. except Tracy is less fierce and more ghetto. i mean i grew up in the Bay so that's my excuse.

we had a little visitor who was probably upset that with all the people around, she didn't get a morsel of food. meet, Khaleesi, whom i wish to be mine.

SF radiology has a good lookin' crew! hawt!

oh, i mean the women in radiology are hawt...haha!! we made the boys do the same pose...twas a riot!

making good use of those stairs

i'm not really sure what's happening here (which is funny considering i'm right there with her...) but i'm hoping that she was dropping it low. 

getting our lighting right

gift exchange time!!! to be quite honest, i don't remember most of this. good thing i took a ton of pictures to piece it all together eventually. 

lindsay got her work hubby, adrian! 

ron hates clowns so naturally, when he opened his gift and this clown mask was the first thing he saw, it was fun for everybody else. 

ron got his faaaavvvvvorite tech, Donna.

glasses cleaner? i have no idea.

the cutest wrap job!

i got nattypants! like my gift wrapping skills? 

she asked for a hair teasing brush, eye liner and gloves for working out so i put them all together on one awesome version of her. i also got her a rose gold flat plate necklace that says "love" because she loves anything that says love. i know, i know..... i kick ass at gift presentation, huh?

love that pic in the book. nick looks so annoyed

maple got a scratcher for her cats that looked like a dj scratch deck 

one of my favorites! 

happy birthday Natty!!

a blast as always!