Postcard from Cupertino

If you read my tech blog, you know I mention Apple products on a regular basis. I am not an Apple fan boy, but their products are good and do make the news quite often.

In case you have never seen it, this photo is of the main entrance to Apple Headquarters in Cupertino, CA. It was here that the late Steve Jobs worked his magic to create the iPhone, the iPad, the iMacs and more.  Now, the company is run by Tim Cook.

The official address of this building is One Infinite Loop. And of course there is much more to the Apple Campus than just this building. It stretches for quite a ways.

I took this photo on a weekend when there were few employees around. But there were several Apple fans there photographing the place…just like me. Actually I was all over Silicon Valley that day seeing the sights. I started out visiting my old University, San Jose State. It is now in the heart of Silicon Valley, which of course did not exist as such way back then. The most advanced technological product I used in college was a typewriter.

Silicon Valley now begins in Oakland, then runs 50 miles south on the east side of the bay, to San Jose, then north 50 miles on the west side of the Bay to San Francisco. Of course it includes several peripheral areas along the way like Livermore in the East and Santa Cruz in the west. In other words, it is very big, even though it is just a place in the mind with no official boundaries or legal status. It is the heart and soul of the technology world. 

As for Apple, they are currently building a new headquarters, also in Cupertino, on 176 forested acres. It is nicknamed, “The Apple Spaceship” as it is perfectly round ring that will contain 2.8 million square feet. And it does look like a spaceship (click here to see the architect’s renderings.) I look forward to seeing it when its done.

Work has been underway for about a year now, but it won’t be completed until the end of 2016. Total cost: estimated to be around $5 billion. It should be one heck of an office building.

Postcard from Walla Walla

The Leaves on the Stream

Flow on, flow on, thou classic stream,
In quiet beauty to the sea,
While on thy brink I pause to think,
When crossing homeward o'er the lea.

Thy borders fringed with drooping flowers,
In tangled plumes of snowy white,
Hang o'er thy tide, where leaflets ride
In slow procession from the sight--

But once were seen, of tender green,
Unfolding on the forest tree;
And wild birds sang till Nature rang
And rocked the boughs with jubilee.

They all on their successive stage
Their work of life have nobly done,
Till Autumn's breath, as still as death,
Hath borne them here, and one by one

They follow on. None knoweth where
This little stream is seen to flow:
Some river deep, where vessels sweep,
May waft them where the corals grow,

To line some mermaid's mossy bed;
Or weave a sea-bird's downy nest;
Or some strange shore perchance explore,
And guide some foundering bark to rest.

And brighter grows the golden braid
Around ripe Autumn's blushing cheek;
With solemn sounds the air resounds--
Of death to man they solemn speak.

And he shall drop like these fair leaves,
Perhaps before his autumn day;
Upon Death's tide, all dark and wide,
Be borne from Life's bright scenes away.

Thus all who dwell upon the earth,
Like forest leaves shall disappear--
Like clouds that fly athwart the sky,
Take one brief gaze--lo! none are here.

by: Mrs. O. M. Livingston

(To see a larger version of this image, just click on it)

To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com…or visit my Flickr Page

Postcard from Levi Stadium

Yesterday, Peyton Manning broke the all-time record for number of touchdown passes thrown in a career. Sadly he did it against my favorite team, the San Francisco 49ers. I took this photo of him, the Bronco offense, and the 49er defense, at the pre-season game in Levi Stadium in August. A couple of plays after this photo, he threw a touchdown pass.

I’ve always admired Peyton Manning as a football player and a human being. He is one of the greatest players ever to play the game and is a quality human who takes the time to acknowledge people. You never see him exploded at reporters and is always willing to sign autographs. He is a true gentleman off the field and a competitive player on. 

I am delighted he broke Bret Favre’s record, but I wish he had done it against another team.

(To see a larger version of this image, just click on it)

To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com…or visit my Flickr Page.

Postcard from Sonoma

This photo was taken in the garage area at the Sonoma Raceway. I was there for the annual three day Indy Car event. As I mentioned in my blog of September 2, one can pay extra and wander around the garage area and meet the drivers, pit crews, and see the cars close-up. Not many sports allow you to get this close to the participants.

Here you see the cars lined up in their starting order. Shortly after this shot was taken, the cars were driven from here to the track and placed on the starting grid and the race got underway.

These cars are not the regular Indy cars, but rather the Pro Mazda series cars. There are actually four classes of Indy cars…first, of course, are the Indy cars themselves, followed by the Indy Light cars, then the Pro Mazda cars, and finally the USFS 2000 cars.

The cars become bigger and more powerful as you move up the ladder. Most drivers of the big Indy cars started in the smaller cars and worked their way up the ladder. Each class has their own races throughout the race year with the points winner at the end of the year automatically qualifying for the next level up. There are no hard and fast rules about drivers moving up the ladder. All it takes is a racing team willing to take a driver on.

Car sponsors are a huge deal. It takes millions of dollars to race these cars. There is the car itself, the driver, the pit crew, the equipment and more, even for the smaller cars. The sponsors have their names plastered all over the cars…quite normal for all kinds of auto racing, as you may have noticed.

All I know is that I had fun for two days at this race and went crazy with my camera. I loved this shot of the cars all lined up, ready to race. I also got lucky with a great mix of colors…especially the front car whose colors just jump out at you. More car photos in the future.  

(To see a larger version of this image, just click on it)

To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com…or visit my Flickr Page.

Postcard from San Francisco

Real estate in San Francisco is expensive…and limited. The city lies at the narrow end of a 50 mile long peninsula surround by the Pacific Ocean to the west and San Francisco Bay to the east. Therefore building a large horizontal suburban-style shopping mall is not feasible. So shopping centers here must be vertical. 

What you see here is part of the nine-story, 1.25 million square feet Westfield San Francisco Centre located on Market Street, right across from the Powell Street cable car turnaround…a perfect location. You might say Powell and Market is the very heart of San Francisco…easily reachable by public transportation (you don’t even have to leave the BART Station to enter the center). The anchor tenants here are Nordstrom's and Bloomingdale’s.

I took this photo with my iPhone, looking straight up from the 2nd floor. I have always advised you to look down as well as straight ahead when looking for photos. Now, you can add looking up to that list.

As a young boy, my grandmother used to take me shopping on this very spot. At the time, it was occupied by the Emporium. That store stood here since the 1860’s…it even survived the 1906 earthquake (but not the fire). It grew and expanded into a very large and elegant department store. Sometime, and I don’t know when, a dome was added (not the one you see here) and became a San Francisco landmark. I remember staring up at it when I was a little boy in the 1950’s.

Sadly, the emporium officially closed in 1996. To make a complex history short, the store was gutted and renovated and became part of the Westfield Centre, with only the front of the old Emporium and the dome saved. (Click here and you can see an amazing photo of how the dome was saved). I was glad to know that part of San Francisco’s legacy (and mine) was saved.

The Centre is one of the most beautiful and elegant shopping centers in the world. There are over 200 stores and services located about the 9 story complex. Several of the escalators in the store are curved, the first ever installed in the world. Its well worth a visit just so you can look up see this view.

Postcard from Glacier National Park

Chasing Waterfalls

We go through life
Seeking to save our souls.
Like rushing rivers
Over waterfalls.

Days like our waves
Go rolling by fast
Over rock and stone
To be free of the past.

And soon we reach the coast
As our wandering ends.
Swirling in our wake at most
Amid family and friends.

We return back to our home
From a simple rain of drops,
A mighty river rages on
Until reaching ocean it finally stops.

by Aztlanquill

Digital Painting by J.R. Corkrum

(To see a larger version of this image, just click on it)

To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com…or visit my Flickr Page.

Postcard from Santa Clara

A funny thing happened on my way to the 49er game. The bus dropped me off two blocks from the new 49er digs (AKA Levi Stadium). As I walked to the stadium, I passed the Santa Clara Convention Center and was immediately drawn to the site of these pyramids atop the structure.

Never one to pass interesting architectural elements…and having my really good camera with me, I stopped for a few minutes to see what I could compose for a good photo. This was my favorite shot...cropped and turned into black and white.

As you may have noticed over the years, I usually do architectural photography in black and white. Color distracts the eye from the interesting elements that make up the photos…i.e. lines, balance, and harmony, to name a couple. And, coincidentally, its those same elements that make for interesting architecture.

As I composed and shot the building from different angles, a whole lot of football fans passed me by as they walked to the stadium. They may have thought I was a bit of a loon. Whatever! But I soon joined them and all my eccentricity was forgiven as we headed for an afternoon of sun, fun and frivolity following our favorite team in their brand new stadium.

(To see a larger version of this image, just click on it)

To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com…or visit my Flickr Page.

Postcard from San Francisco

After last night’s thumping of the Pittsburgh Pirates (8-0) by the San Francisco Giants in a one-game playoff, it seems only appropriate that I publish this photo of AT&T Park and McCovey Cove.

For those of you unfamiliar with baseball, Willy McCovey was the most famous first baseman ever to play with the Giants. He is in the Baseball Hall of Fame and was one of the most prolific home run hitters in the history of the game. It was only proper that this small inlet behind the stadium would be named after him. It takes one heck of a blast to hit a home run out of the stadium and into the cove…and McCovey could drive a ball a long, long way. He is credited for hitting the longest home run ever at Candlestick Park in 1966.

On game day, when the Giants are in town, fans can rent kayaks to sit in the cove and wait for a home run ball. Although there were far more kayaks in the water when Barry Bonds was playing, people still do it in hopes of getting a ball and getting on TV.

The Giants keep track of “Splash” home runs on a special scoreboard in right field…although they only keep track of Giant home runs. Right now, the count is at 67. One week after I took this photo, I was at a White Sox/Giants game and saw Adam Dunn hit a home run into the cove. Of course, it didn’t go up on the splash scoreboard as he played for the White Sox.

I actually took this photo when the Giants were on the road. My friend Hardy Miller and I drove over to The City and took a tour of the Giant’s home ballpark, which is only offered when the Giants are not in town. I couldn’t help compare this tour in my mind with the tour I took of Wrigley Field a few years ago. 

While AT&T opened in the year 2000, the first game in Wrigley was played 100 years ago. While Wrigley celebrates all those years of history in both baseball and football, AT&T celebrates mostly the history of the Giants in San Francisco (they moved from New York and the Polo Grounds in 1958).

If one is a Giants fan (as I am since I lived in the Bay Area when the Giants moved here), there is a ton of memories to be seen here, the majority of which took place at Candlestick. Sadly, many of the great Giants memorabilia is in an area that most Giants fans at the ball park cannot see. 

Other things I saw on the tour was the press box, views from the upper deck, Tony Bennett’s box, and the visitor’s club house. I also saw stadium personnel set up the stadium for a music concert set for the next night. Interesting.

I enjoyed this day and was glad I was able to share it with my old friend Hardy Miller, another diehard Giants fan. PS: After the tour, we walked a block to have lunch at a sports bar appropriately named, “The Polo Grounds.”

(To see a larger version of this image, just click on it)

To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com…or visit my Flickr Page.