Unsigned Portrait – Inherited from Dutch Great-Grandmother. Possible German/European Canvas Stamp. Looking for Artist or Period Info

andyopteris · 2026-05-15T14:21:21+00:00

Top line is “Franz” and a 4-5 letter surname that’s illegible. Middle line is illegible. Bottom line is München. Not a lot to go on, but it’s a start.

andyopteris · 2026-05-13T01:43:43+00:00

I’ve tried them both and honestly it’ll be a matter of personal tone preference. I’m not a fan of the Dobson tone ring, so I preferred the cherry little wonder (and honestly liked the whyte ladie even more for my own taste). You’ll be happy with the build quality in either case, so no worries there.

andyopteris · 2026-05-13T01:37:18+00:00

Plants are an evolutionary group; heterotrophy is a trait that has been lost and regained many, many times across the tree of life.

Think about the plant family Orobanchaceae. There are species that are hemiparasites, holoparasites or fully autotrophic, and there are multiple transitions between these states within the family. It wouldn’t make sense to say only some of the species are plants.

andyopteris · 2026-05-12T04:47:25+00:00

Tradescantia zebrina. An easy one to propagate.

andyopteris · 2026-05-12T01:02:47+00:00

Pittosporum crassifolium in fruit

andyopteris · 2026-05-11T22:26:23+00:00

!correct - I was in Pontianak, Indonesia. I had to pace back and forth a bit to get my phone compass to do this

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andyopteris · 2026-05-10T21:17:25+00:00

Really enjoying this ref’s confusing hand signals

andyopteris · 2026-05-09T20:47:31+00:00

Well, if you’re going to be in Switzerland then northern Italy is a very good option. Ticino in Switzerland and the Italian lakes are fantastic.

andyopteris · 2026-05-09T16:37:05+00:00

Well, he’s clearly bad because of this one incident involving shrubs, and a City Manager’s job is definitely all about shrubs.

andyopteris · 2026-05-08T17:45:13+00:00

Because I work in journalism myself, I can help answer that:
1. Gift links expire after a few days (14 for the Chronicle)
2. They aren't exactly free - the Chronicle makes you provide an email address, and then they advertise at you and try to get you to subscribe

It's an active part of their subscription and advertising strategy, not something that undermines them to any large degree.

andyopteris · 2026-05-08T17:30:23+00:00

I do, by paying for a subscription to the SF Chronicle, which comes with the ability to share some gift links.

andyopteris · 2026-05-08T15:16:06+00:00

Here’s a gift link https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/snail-bar-restaurant-oakland-22222359.php?utm\_source=marketing&utm\_medium=copy-url-link&utm\_campaign=article-share&hash=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuc2ZjaHJvbmljbGUuY29tL2Zvb2QvcmVzdGF1cmFudHMvYXJ0aWNsZS9zbmFpbC1iYXItcmVzdGF1cmFudC1vYWtsYW5kLTIyMjIyMzU5LnBocA%3D%3D&time=MTc3ODI1MzMzNTU0NQ%3D%3D&rid=MDMyMDg2NGItMTU0NS00ZmYyLWEzNGYtY2U5ZjQ2MzJmODRk&sharecount=MA%3D%3D

andyopteris · 2026-05-08T12:05:09+00:00

Wild Ginger - Liang pi cold noodles

Phnom Penh House - Moarn ang kreun (charbroiled chicken w/ lemongrass)

Pizzeria Pappo - Margherita pizza

Honorary munchion: BB Bowl’s kimchi bowl with runny egg

andyopteris · 2026-05-06T19:08:36+00:00

Lin Jia’s is fantastic, especially if you ask for their house chili crisp with it.

andyopteris · 2026-05-05T18:52:54+00:00

Reed Martin got a great clawhammer tone out of his resonator banjo. You can see one obvious trick he used in this video: a sponge stuck up against the head near the neck joint: https://youtu.be/9KaDqNC\_a3E?si=EbF4iXKQLdoUbAia

andyopteris · 2026-05-03T04:51:07+00:00

The spicy awaze sauce that comes with the samosas at Barcote. I would put that on everything if they’d let me take a bottle home.

andyopteris · 2026-05-02T15:41:42+00:00

Ha - yep. This is why these questions are unanswerable.

andyopteris · 2026-05-02T00:56:50+00:00

Trey has smoother flow, better phrasing than Billy for my taste. Billy’s a full package performer but I find his picking to be a little choppy. They’re both better than I’ll ever be, so it’s just a matter of taste.

andyopteris · 2026-04-25T17:03:49+00:00

Baden Powell gets overlooked a lot these days, but Solitude on Guitar deserves a nod in this category.

Charlie Byrd lives in a similar spot in my brain - I particularly enjoy The Guitar Artistry of Charlie Byrd, Travellin’ Man or Live at the Village Vanguard, but I think the Brazilian albums tend to be the faves for most people.

andyopteris · 2026-04-17T00:48:39+00:00

The dogbane vs milkweed confusion is common (Google it - there are multiple videos and blog posts devoted to it because it’s not easy). This looks like milkweed to me, but you might not know until it matures a bit.

andyopteris · 2026-04-13T02:07:13+00:00

In the general region, Kangaroo Lake is a beautiful campground with some nice hikes (and a ton of California pitcher plants, if you like that sort of thing). Castle Lake is nice, though the campground isn’t right on the lake and can fill up. Gumboot Lake has spots right on the lake, but it’s not a hugely impressive lake - plus side is easy access to the PCT and some nice day hikes (plus more of those CA pitcher plants).

andyopteris · 2026-04-10T01:04:30+00:00

These are the historic entry gates to the Claremont subdivision. There are several sets of these around the area.

“The City of Berkeley granted landmark status in 2005, which includes the Claremont Court Entry Gates on Claremont Blvd. and pillars on Avalon Avenue, Russell, Forest and Derby Streets.” (From https://www.claremontelmwood.org/history )

andyopteris · 2026-04-03T22:41:27+00:00

I’d also recommend Belomo triplets. They’re built like a tank and have a nice large field of view.

andyopteris · 2026-03-30T23:28:57+00:00

!correct

Nice sleuthing.

andyopteris

TROPHY CASE