Category: Manny Kagan

How to Express Yourself

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How to Express Yourself

 “Being An Artist Is A Labor Of Love”

 

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Since prehistoric times, people have expressed their creativity by drawing on walls. Over the years, not only have artists’ skills and materials improved, but also, the number of walls have increased. During the Renaissance, it was common for famous artists to paint murals inside of churches and cathedrals. During the 1930s, the well-known Mexican muralist Diego Rivera was commissioned to paint huge murals on the walls of the Rockefeller Center in New York. In San Francisco, Rivera also completed two frescos. One is in the San Francisco Art Institute and the other is at the San Francisco Stock Exchange. There is also a Diego Rivera-inspired mural by Jane Berlandina, in the Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill. And a mural by Lucien Labaudt in the San Francisco Beach Chalet is located on the Great Highway by the Ocean.

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In our times, murals moved out on the streets. Many of them can be seen in the Mission District, which has become a virtual outdoor art gallery. Many artists painted the walls of Balmy Alley located between 24th and 25th Street.

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Some artists have been commissioned by the city or building owners to paint some permanent murals, and were lucky to be compensated for their artistic expressions. But there is another group of young graffiti artists, who like to express themselves just by drawing elaborative and beautiful graffiti with cans of paint without any compensation. On September 18-20 Mission Art 415 celebrated the 28th Anniversary of Spraycan Art, which took place in the Mission District. Owners of the buildings on the three blocks of Osaga, Lilee, and Cypress streets between 22nd Street and 24th Street, agreed to have their walls and fences to be used as canvases for mural artists. I spent a few hours on Sunday, just seeing how a dull wall or garage door was transformed into work of art before my eyes. The artists are not paid, and after their work is completed, another artist can come with his spray paint and cover up their previous work to create his own new canvas. It is a remarkable cooperation and mutual courtesy. One artist told me that he started doing graffiti art in 1996, as a very young man. He works as a sales person for a big corporation during the day, and, as he said, lives a double life. It seems that being a graffiti artist is really labor of love.

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P.S. It was difficult to choose only 4 images from so many I photographed on that hot day. Artists were really sweating while painting, while I stood in the shade to create my artistic expression. Enjoy and share with a friend.

 

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Cheers,

Manny<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> Signature

Golden Gate Park

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Golden Gate Park

 “Forgive Yourself and Others Before Asking for Forgiveness from God”

 

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This year Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, began at sundown on Tuesday September 22nd, and lasted through sundown Wednesday, September 23rd. The holiday follows a lunar calendar, so every year it falls on a different date and sometimes a different month. The celebration and the fast started the previous evening, following Torah’s story of creation. “And there was evening and there was morning, one day” (Genesis 1:5). I had my last meal and drink at about 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, and after spending about 10 hours praying, ate again at 8 p.m. on Wednesday. The purpose of this holiday, once a year, is to ask forgiveness for all of the kinds of misgivings, sins and transgressions, which one knowingly or not knowingly did in the previous year.

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The service, which started at 9:30am, continued non-stop until 3:30pm. Then it resumed at 5:30pm. During the two-hour break, I decided to take a walk in Golden Gate Park. The Congregation Chevra Thilim, the oldest synagogue in San Francisco, which started its services over 120 years ago, is located on 25th Avenue and Balboa. When we came to San Francisco in August 1980, we rented an apartment on 5th Avenue and Balboa and liked to go to the park for a walk almost daily with our kids. Golden Gate Park was founded in 1871 on the sand covering 1,017 acres of public ground. It is similar in shape, but 20 percent larger than Central Park in New York City. The main person who is responsible for the way it was developed was John McLaren, who served as the Superintendent of Golden Gate Park for 53 years.

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When I came to the park I thought about taking a nap, and I found a picnic table in the shade with a sign printed on top of it, “subject to the reservation” with a phone number. I did not have a reservation (but if you are planning to have a picnic here with a lot of friends, it could be a good idea). In front was a huge lawn with only one woman lying down on the grass with her green bag serving as a pillow. After awhile, she got up and we started a conversation. She is a native San Franciscan, and loves to come to the Park and just be here. We sat together and talked about chirping birds, people walking with their dogs, children playing, bicyclists, joggers or slow walkers and looked out at the tranquil view. I remembered the words of Rabbi Zarchi from the previous night’s sermon. He talked about how children live in the moment, while adults carry with them loads of resentment, anger and guilt. After the sermon, my friend’s daughter, who is 12 years old remarked, “I got it, it is better to be happy than angry.” If you feel tired or angry, go to the park. I’m confident you will be happier here.

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P.S. Golden Gate Park offers many attractions, such as the marvelous De Young Museum. Recently we enjoyed a visit to the California Academy of Science. Sometimes we go for a walk around Stow Lake, which offers its natural beauty; the birds, turtles, flowers and the waterfall, and of course people whom I photographed for your enjoyment.

 

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Cheers,

Manny<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> Signature

How to Protect Yourself

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How to Protect Yourself

 “By building walls, you separate yourself from the world”

 

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If you’ve been following the Presidential pre-election campaign, you have probably heard (or read) about Donald Trump’s immigration solution: to build a wall to separate Mexico from the United States. In his first town hall meeting, he mentioned that the famous Great Wall of China took 500 years to build. (There is evidence that it was actually built during the Ming dynasty over a period of around 200 years.) Now it only serves as a tourist attraction. Then there was the Berlin Wall, which was erected in 1961 and demolished 28 years later, whose purpose was to protect Socialism from Capitalism or the reverse. Hungary is trying to build a fence to protect itself and the rest of Western Europe from the insurgents from the Middle East and Africa. When Israel started to build a wall to protect itself from bombs and terrorists, many people from the Western World were opposed. Meanwhile, we do not hear about protests against the fence in Hungary. The question is: “How can we be protected?” I’m actually thinking about this while sitting at an educational seminar. In addition to needing a real estate license, which requires renewal every four years, mortgage professionals need to have NMLS (Nationwide Mortgage and Licensing System) endorsements, which need to be renewed every year. This year, the subject is the newly Integrated Disclosure called “TRID”, which is due to be implemented on Saturday, October 3rd. It is the brainchild of the CFPB (The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau).

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The purpose of the new disclosure is to offer consumers better protection. The question is from whom and if consumers need more protection than they already have? In my very humble opinion, they do not. For sure, as well as anyone involved in the mortgage industry, they definitely do not need more headaches trying to go through a confusing 50 page brochure, which tells them to shop for a loan, when there are only 21 days to the close of the purchase transaction. The CFPB was created as part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. At the beginning, the agency had an unlimited Federal Budget. Now they primarily exist from the millions of dollars they collect by suing banks for the violation of the CFPB set rules. More complex rules (like new disclosures) will lead to more violations, and more revenue for CFPB.

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During the last presidential election campaign, Mitt Romney was promising to get rid of the Dodd-Frank Act. This did not happen 3 years ago. Let’s see what will happen in 2016.

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I don’t know anything about why there would be a need for a wall to separate USA from Mexico, but I know something about mortgages and I care about everyone’s well being and protecting borrowers. Sooner or later, walls come down or become obsolete. How soon will the CFPB disappear? I do not know. For the benefits of my clients, I hope soon. Please read the article in the SF Chronicle – “New mortgage rules streamline paperwork but may cause snags in SF“

P.S. Walls can serve other purposes as well. When the Berlin Wall came down, one section of it, in the middle of the city, was preserved, and today it serves as a canvas for the graffiti artists to express themselves. We have enough of our own walls on which graffiti artists and muralists create their own masterpieces.

 

 Do Not Keep Me As A Secret!
Smile And Please SHARE It With A Friend!

Cheers,

Manny<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> Signature

What is 5776?

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What is 5776?

 “A New Year represents new hopes, dreams and aspirations. Make them a reality.”

 

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In 1915, Jews all over the world celebrated the beginning of the New Year 5776 – Rosh Hashanah, beginning Sunday evening, September 13th through the evening of Tuesday, September 15th. (In Israel Rosh Hashanah is traditionally celebrated for only one day). According to the story in the Torah the number 5776 is also the age of the first human, Adam. He was created on the sixth day. “And Hashem God formed the man of dust from the ground, and He blew into his nostrils the soul of life; and man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7). Those who consider the scientific calculation that our planet is 4.5 billion years old, have difficulty accepting the story of the creation of our world in 6 days. The Torah uses 6 days to demonstrate that the world was created in stages, where each day is considered lasting for many million years, and that we, humans, were part of the process and that we actually the last who were created. It also showed us that life has cycles, and after working hard for six days, “By the seventh day God completed his work which He had done, and he abstained on the seventh day from all his work which He had done” (Genesis 2:2). While writing this story on Sunday, I received a phone call from my friend Shlomo Zarchi, Rabbi of the Chevra Thilim synagogue, inquiring if he will see me that night for the evening prayer. Rabbi Zarchi told me that 5776 has yet another meaning. According to Gematria – Jewish Numerological System, where each letter has numerical value, it represents a word “teshua” which in English means “Redemption”. This year 5776 is going to be time of redemption. The question we are going to ask ourselves – “From what are we going to be redeemed?” and “What do we need to do for this to happen?” Ten days after Rosh Hashanah comes Yom Kippur – The Day of Atonement, during which those who attend services in synagogues pray and ask for forgiveness and beg God for good things in the new 5776 circle, in other words, for redemption.

 

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If you are not among those few, and you are not Jewish, I think there is at least one more solution. When God was creating the world at the end of each day “And God saw that it was good” (Genesis1:12).

 

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If you just see yourself and your world as good, I think you are well on the way to redemption.

 

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P.S. One of the food traditions for Rosh Hashanah is to dip apple slices into honey, with the wish to have “A Good Sweet Year”. From the ancient times apples were known to have healthy properties. But I think there is yet another reason for apples. They are round and symbolize the circle, which doesn’t have a beginning or end, unless we make a mark, where the beginning and the end become one. Apples also grow abundantly and appear in different sizes and colors, like those I was fortunate to photograph.

Happy and Sweet New Year!

 

 

 Do Not Keep Me As A Secret!
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Cheers,

Manny<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> Signature

The Practice of the Theory of Relativity

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The Practice of the Theory of Relativity

 “If everything is relative, so is the theory of relativity”

 

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In 1915, Albert Einstein formulated E=MC2 the Theory of relativity. It took the scientific community 6 years to recognize him for it, and he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1921.

 

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I read a fascinating account of his life in the biography written by Walter Isaacson, who also wrote the biography of Steve Jobs. We recently vacationed in Kauai where I had an opportunity to experience the theory of relativity for myself. My wife Elfa got timeshare through RCI to The Cliffs at Princeville. It is a nice condo-like resort located on the cliff, overlooking the ocean in the northern part of the island. The day after our arrival, we were invited to a customary orientation. The concierge introduced different vendors, who offered various local attractions for modest fees starting at $100.00. One of them presented a day-long trip, which included a water voyage, during which travelers could drink unlimited Mai-Tai cocktails. Another attraction was a boat tour to see a property from the water, which was recently purchased for $100 million (which I thought sounded like a significant amount of money) by Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook. The following day, a local friend told me that she visited the property before it was sold. It has 1,000 acres and a beautiful beachfront. In Hawaii, beaches are public, but you need to have access to them, which can be private.

 

 

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The next day we drove by a property with a For Sale sign. There was a box attached to the sale post with a flyer, describing the property as 2.5 acres of land with a view of the mountains (and no house or water access), listed for $3.5 million. When we went to the beach, located in the Hanalei Bay, there was a nice custom-built house next to the public parking, with a For Sale sign. Later on I saw the picture of this property on the cover of “Homes and Land Magazine”. The asking price of the 4BR/3.5BA residence, with living 3.125sf, and 15.224sf land, plus a 1BR/2BA 1.051sf guest-house, was offered for just $11 million. As Mr. Einstein pointed to us 100 years ago, everything is relative. To be fair, the magazine also listed lots of properties for less than $400,000. But “you get what you pay for”. The real estate market in Kauai is hot and pricey. The vendor at the Hanalei Shopping Village told me that the most popular occupation among locals is selling real estate or massage therapy. Sometimes they are combined.

 

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P.S. We had fantastic time here. We enjoyed the lush nature, beautiful beaches, and pleasant water. We were also showered by torrential rain and bitten by mosquitoes. We visited a Hindu temple, rested, read, wrote and of course photographed. Every morning I would go out to the cliff to greet the sunrise and see different birds come here for their breakfast. There is a reason why Kauai is called The Garden Island.

 

 

 Do Not Keep Me As A Secret!
Smile And Please SHARE It With A Friend!

Cheers,

Manny<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> Signature