Giants - Earth Day 2009

He may be the only snake in the world to have thrown an opening pitch. Balthazar, a red-tailed boa constrictor, took centre stage with the San Francisco Giants this afternoon in celebration of Earth Day.

Admittedly, Chris Andrews, Director of the Steinhart Aquarium at the California Academy of Sciences, threw the ball with his right hand, but wrapped around his left was Balthazar, opening the game between the Giants and the San Diego Padres.

The Giants were marking Earth Day this year in conjunction with the Academy at the Golden Gate Park, and PG & E, the Pacific Gas and Electricity company.

Inside the stadium, the Academy staff held an exhibition with small reptiles and tree frogs, and both the Academy and PG & E gave out information on the sustainability of the planet and on the effort that the Giants have made to turn their stadium green.

Outside, messages from the players about saving the planet were beamed in between play from the scoreboard.

The day was a sponsored Esurance Earth Day 2009, and the first 20,000 fans to arrive received a fabric grocery bag.

The Academy's Communications Specialist, Helen Taylor, said they had had 'a very positive response, people were interested to learn something new.' The team had engaged people's interest partly through asking trivia questions, she said.

A free gift of a smart black water bottle was given out and a leaflet, 'Sustainability Made Simple.' In it, the card has three categories of travel, food, including both purchase and eating in restaurants, and the home with tips on how to work towards saving the planet.

Samples of the examples: walk or cycle for short trips, and turn off your engine rather than idling; eat more chicken and seafood and less beef, and eat in local restaurants that offer local, seasonal and organic ingredients; turn off unnecessary lights and take shorter showers.

A carbon footprint calculator was also brought along by PG & E, which people were using with enthusiasm. The calculator allowed people to compare their footprint against the average Californian, the average American and the average person in the world.

It was certainly clear that the Giants players had more than baseball on their minds this afternoon. Filmed inside the Academy in the Golden Gate Park, the players urged their fans to save energy and recycle trash.

With brilliantly-coloured butterflies of the Academy's rainforest in the background, fans were even asked to write to their member of Congress to ask them to make saving the world's rainforests a priority.

The weather made it a particularly appropriate day to think about the environment. With a run of exceptionally high spring temperatures in the 80s continuing, the stands were scorching and views of the Bay breathtaking.

The Disneynature - Earth film being released today was advertized, and other gifts given away. One group received a poster, an evergreen seedling, wild-flower seeds and a plastic reusable shopping bag.

Brothers Jason and Justin from the Bay Area were part of the small group to receive the gifts. 'I think my wife, Carlyn, will be excited about the seedling and the seeds because we need plants for our patio. I'll give them to her when I get home,' said Justin.

As for the game against the Padres? 'We are all the way up in the ninth inning - there has not yet been a run scored this game,' said the commentator as the afternoon was winding down.

But it was not yet over. In the tenth inning, Bengie Molina, conserving energy and style to the end, scored a run and the stadium erupted as the Giants beat the San Diego Padres 1-0.

pics show: player messages filmed at the California Academy of Sciences; Aaron Pope, Manager of the Sustainability Programme at the CAS, and Helen Taylor, Communications Specialist giving information and free water bottles; brothers Jason and Justin; the winning moment!

SF Giants 2009 - Promotions & Community Activities

Plenty of free giveaways, fireworks, community activities that touch thousands of people across the Bay Area, and more of the Giants players are some of the hallmarks of the 2009 season of the San Francisco Giants.

Batting practice, described as 'one of the unknown jewels' of the Giants' sporting life by Tom McDonald, Senior Vice President of Consumer Marketing, is going to be open to the public.

At the AT & T ballpark in China Basin, the gates will open an extra hour early for fans to observe and learn from their heroes on Friday and Saturday nights.

And over a hundred years of dynamic pics from 1883 to today of Giants in action, pitching, batting, catching, hang on a new banner.

Fans will also have a special day to go on the pitch to capture personal photos of their players, and in the summer sleep on the turf at the annual Slumber Party.

Around the streets, scouts clutching free tickets will be on the look out to reward fans for wearing Giants gear.

Promotions start with the traditional Opening Day calendar for the first 40,000 fans to enter the gates on Tuesday, April 7. The next day, marking the presentation of the Cy Young award to Tim Lincecum - pictured above on the cover of the 2009 handbook - a commemorative pin will be offered and at the end of the game against the Milwaukee Brewers the starry skies near McCovey Cove will be lit by the first of the dazzling fireworks displays.

Dotted throughout the season will be the opportunity to collect three popular bobbleheads featuring Tim, Brian Wilson and veteran broadcaster Jon Miller, a Lincecum-style, grey knitted hat, a black cap, an orange tie, and for kids, a bat and ball set, a cuddly orange and black Giants Build-A-Bear, a backpack, and T-shirts for both kids and adults. Prizes will be given away, too, at the games.

In keeping with their green spirit, the Giants will be celebrating a sponsored Esurance Earth Day on April 22 with messages from the players encouraging care for the environment, the showing of a film from the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park, and the gift of a fabric grocery bag - pic above. Representatives of the CAS and PG & E will be there to meet people in the Giants Community Clubhouse and with an opportunity for a stainless steel water bottle.

Special ticket events and fundraisers include Filipino and Latino Heritage Nights, and an Autism Awareness Night with Will Clark. Will is a homegrown San Francisco Giants player from 1986 - 1993, who in January joined the Giants front office as special assistant.

Giving by the Giants is not only to fans. In turn they and their fans will be giving generously to the community. Associations to benefit this year will be the SF Food Bank, Project Open Hand, a city organization providing 'meals with love' to those with serious illness and seniors, Junior Giants who will receive gloves and donations, and Until There's A Cure for Aids.

The Junior Giants are just one of their community programs, an outreach venture that provides more than 15,000 children in underserved communities the chance of a free baseball league and opportunity for character development and literacy programs.

Young people engaged in charity will be honoured at the matches in partnership with Jefferson Awards, co-founded by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis to encourage voluntary work.

A day will also be devoted to sports organizations for girls and women that seek to promote health and sports opportunities for all. In the stadium for a question and answer session will be members of the Bay Area Women's Sports Initiative (BAWSI), founded in 2005 by World Cup soccer stars Brandi Chastain and Julie Foudy, and Team-Up for Youth.

Education is another priority. To encourage studies in math and science the Giants are partnering with the Exploratorium at the Palace of Fine Arts in programs where baseball is used to help explain these subjects. At the ballpark itself, 'Giants Geometry' is part of their educational interactive videoconference tours for schoolchildren using shapes in the ballpark building.

Hundreds of other community groups around the Bay Area will also benefit from some involvement by the Giants.

Commerical events using the ballpark as a venue will see the Kenny Chesney Sun City Carnival Tour on July 18, that with supporting acts will make it the largest country music show ever to be staged in Northern California, and two free SF Opera nights. The operas, Puccini's Tosca on June 5 and Verdi's 11 Trovatore on September 19 will feature live performances from the War Memorial Opera House in the city relayed onto the HD scoreboard.

And once again the Giants are promoting and ticket-selling for the AVP Crocs Tours, the beach volleyball tournament that features the world's top players and which last summer saw Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh exhibiting their skills on Piers 30/32.

This season's tour includes the men's Olympic gold medallists Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers, but Misty and Kerri's many fans will be disappointed to learn that neither of the girls, Olympic gold medallists in 2004 and 2008, are competing - www.avp.com

Misty ruptured an Achyilles tendon while practicing a routine for Dancing with the Stars in October and is now having therapy, although she has also been reported as saying she wanted to take time off this year - http://tvwatch.people.com/2008/10/06/misty-may-treanor-officially-quits-dwts/ - and Misty's own blog, http://www.mistymay.com/may/blogDetail/1473

Kerri is due to have her first baby mid-May.

'We believe we conceived (on) our last days in Beijing, so I think a day or two after we won the gold medal,' she is quoted as saying on the AVP website - http://www.avp.com/News/2008/12/Kerri-Pregnant.aspx

The tournament will take place on the end of the piers in a specially-built 3,000-seat venue, Bayside Court, on August 14 - 16.

***full details of all the Giants' activities and promotions are on their very informative website - sfgiants.com

Albino Alligator back in California Academy of Sciences

Claude, the rare albino alligator, is back in his swamp at the California Academy of Sciences after being in sick-bay since January - minus both a 'pinky' toe and companion, Bonnie, but sporting new skills under his scales!

Claude disappeared from the public view after Bonnie, a dark-coloured alligator who shares the swamp with him, bit him and caused infection to set in in his foot. Despite being dosed on antibiotics, the infection developed and the small toe on the end of his foot - the 'pinky' - was amputated.

But this week, having made a full recovery, he is not only back but can hold up his mighty head as 'the alligator who knows his name!'

Call out 'Claude' and he will respond, especially as he knows some tasty treat will be waiting for him.

As an albino, Claude's eyesight is limited which was the cause of the problem.

'He is prone to erratic movements,' said Andrew Ng, Communications

Specialist. In the throes of such a movement, he startled Bonnie.

'Bonnie, naturally, bit him,' he said.

Soon after, staff noticed a swelling on Claude's right, front foot and so on January 14 he was taken away to be nursed in sick-bay in the basement of the academy. Amputation followed, but after surgery he healed quickly, said Andrew.

Staff then turned their attention for the next few weeks to helping Claude, who is about 14-years-old, develop navigational skills both for his safety and their benefit.

'They have taught him to respond to when his own name is called. When he does respond, they give him a treat - something to eat,' said Andrew.

The purpose of this teaching is both to help him avoid any further clashes with the feisty 'no-one messes with me!' Bonnie, and to help staff move Claude into a corner when they want to clean his tank, for example.

Claude returned to his swamp on Wednesday after a ten-week absence, but on his lonesome. He has swapped places with Bonnie who has temporarily been put in the basement. This leaves him to sprawl in peace on his favourite spot, the heated basking rock.

'Bonnie has been taken out so he can reacquaint himself with the swamp without distractions from her. I imagine she will be back in four to six weeks,' said Andrew.

During his absence, though, some of Claude's many fans - 'Hoping for a quick recovery for the very handsome Claude. He is sorely missed!' said Vince - have been commenting on a news spot for Claude on the academy's website - http://www.calacademy.org/flyonthewall/?p=145

'So why is there only one heated rock for two gators? Why can’t they each have a rock so they don’t have to fight over them, and avoid future injuries?' asked AManess.

Whilst Kim asked, 'I noticed Bonnie hasn’t taken Claude’s usual spot on the rock. Do you think this is a territorial thing, or does Bonnie not have the same love for heated spot?'

Staff member Helen answered:

'Like all albino alligators, Claude has relatively poor eyesight. Therefore he prefers to spend most of his time on the Swamp exhibit’s heated rock, where he won’t bump into anything. Bonnie, however, has excellent eyesight, so she is happy to spend more time in the water.'

Claude's social skills with Bonnie were certainly not of the best when he first arrived at the academy from Florida, a point Helen also commented on.

'Before coming to the Academy, Claude had never lived with other alligators, so his social skills are still developing. In the long run, Claude’s experience in the exhibit will be much more enriching and stimulating if he shares the space with other animals - including other members of his species,' wrote Helen.

At the opening weekend last July, Peter, the docent, put it more bluntly:

'He tends to chuck her off the rock...so they're not an item!' - see previous blog: http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=8592174938996932415&postID=5828075324985522169

But while their relationship might not be perfect, things have greatly improved. 'I have watched them many times both sharing the rock, cuddling you might say!' said Andrew.

So are they an item?

'We haven't seen them getting amorous,' he replied tactfully. In the beginning, Andrew recalled, he did not see them sharing the rock but now, he said, they rest their heads on each others backs.

So even alligators have a heart?!

'They definitely have hearts!' said Andrew.

'When Bonnie comes back in four to six weeks we'll see how they interact. Hopefully all will go well.'

Thousands of visitors had already poured into the academy that morning. Among those excitedly craning their heads over the swamp were Jack, who has just celebrated his fifth birthday, and his grandmother, Susan, who are from the Bay Area.

Susan, as a member of the academy, had brought her grandchildren to the preview event last summer and Jack had remembered the alligators and wanted to see them again - 'he has a memory like an elephant,' she said, appropriate to where we were standing!

So what did Jack think of Claude today?

'I think he's very ferocious. And I see the turtles,' he added, looking at the alligator snapping turtles swimming around the swamp.

'I don't think Claude would eat the turtles because they would hurt his teeth,' he said.

But Susan and Jack had encountered gargantuan problems in getting to the academy. They had made their first attempt the previous day but after driving around in vain for an hour-and-a-half to find a parking space near enough for Jack to walk to the academy, they had had to return home.

'So that's why today we said we would be here early, but even by 10.15 - 10.20, there were no more than a dozen spaces left,' Susan said of the carpark.

Their difficulties were probably compounded, Susan acknowledged, by the weather and the fact that it is the school Spring Break. Temperatures in San Francisco have been in the 70s this week without any of the familiar fog, and with the academy being in the Golden Gate Park it is an attractive venue in school holidays.

Reading visitor comments on the academy website, however, these difficulties are far from uncommon. The popularity of the academy is its most frequent criticism and the advice is not only to get there early, but make sure you pick up free tickets to the planetarium and 3D Bugs shows as soon as you get there because spaces are limited.

You can read many reviews on Yelp.com but one of the most helpful is from Jenny H of San Francisco who posted last week:

'Finally!! I was able to get into the California Academy of Science!! Yeah for me!!

This place has been super crowded every weekend since it opened. I've gone here twice on a Saturday morning and was unable to make it in. Being this is the third time, I had a game plan set up...

1. Buy tickets online in advance - this will save you some time since there is a line to buy tickets then a separate line to get in.
2. Get there bright and early to line up! We got there at 8:30 AM and waited an hour before they opened the doors
3. Go get your planetarium and 3D movie tickets first. They run out fast so be sure to make that your first stop! '

http://www.yelp.com/biz/california-academy-of-sciences-san-francisco-3

California Academy of Sciences - First weekend

Between 16,000 and 20,000 people were expected to pour into the California Academy of Sciences on its opening day yesterday, but in the end the museum could only let 15,000 in.

So intrigued and captivated were the thousands of fortunate people who made it through the doors, that they lingered.

'The building capacity is only 4,000 at any time,' said Communications Specialist, Andrew Ng, today, 'and people need to leave the building before we can bring more people into the building.

'As a result our total yesterday was around 15,000,' he said.

Yesterday was a free day, courtesy of sponsorship from the lead corporate sponsors, the energy company PG & E.

Today was the first admission-charging day, and the Academy was crowded with people enjoying the exhibits.

For more pics: http://chrisflowers.shutterbugstorefront.com/g/california_academy_of_science

California Academy of Sciences - Congress

For the inspirational opening of the California Academy of Sciences yesterday - see previous blogs -House Speaker Nancy Pelosi presented Mayor Gavin Newsom beforehand with a Congressional Record. She was unable to be there herself as she had to be in Congress.

The Congressional Record is as follows:

'As Speaker of the House of Representatives I send the appreciation of the Congress to those who have given San Francisco, as well as the world, the magnificent gift of the new California Academy of Sciences as it opens on September 27 2008.

Generations of Bay Area residents have grown up with the Academy as a cultural treasure in Golden Gate Park visiting as schoolchildren and then bringing their own children to this center of exploration and natural sciences education. Worn by earthquakes, age and the love of so many children, its friends reimagined the best possible version of this beloved institution.

How fortunate are we all that the Academy's board and leadership secured the talent and vision of the brilliant Italian architect Renzo Piano who transformed this natural science museum into an architectural triumph and forward-looking example of energy-efficient design. The Academy also benefited greatly from the crusading spirit of former Executive Director Pat Kociolek whose enthusiasm for a 21 Century natural history center became infectious.

The California Academy of Sciences is home to the Steinhart Aquarium, the Kimball Natural History Museum, Morrison Planetarium and world-class research and education programs. The magnificent new site boasts a four-storey living rainforest and awe-inspiring corral reef eco system, a living roof of California native plants which is an engineering marvel of seven hills reflecting San Francisco's landscape. The Academy is committed to preserving natural habitats and protecting essential natural resources.

San Francisco prides itself on being a model for the nation, indeed the world, when it comes to preserving our beautiful planet for future generations. Therefore it is fitting that the California Academy of Sciences will be the greatest nature museum in the world and stands with the de Young Museum to make Golden Gate Park a destination of world class museums.

This extraordinary renovation of the Academy benefited greatly from large private philanthropy, due in great part to the tireless work of the Academy's board of trustees led by the task force of William Wilson, Martha Karpf, George Montgomery and Richard Bingham. The renovation also benefited from funding from the city and the state and I am pleased my colleagues in Congress join with me to obtain $8 million in federal investment for this innovative project.....'

For more pics: http://chrisflowers.shutterbugstorefront.com/g/california_academy_of_science

California Academy of Sciences - First Day

The first few moments after the official opening of the California Academy of Sciences saw hundreds of people step excitedly into the building.

The academy bears the distinction of the only institution in the world to house under one - living, world-class, stunning! - roof, an aquarium, planetarium, natural history museum, and leading research and education programmes.

A louche rare white alligator stares up, one of the first greeters of visitors!

With hardly the bat of an eyelid, he is already securing his place as one of the most popular exhibits, a role he is unlikely to relinquish without a snap of his jaws and a swipe of his mighty tail!

He hails from St Augustine, Florida, and so angered was he when transported to the museum, that even with a muzzle on, he knocked over two of the men trying to get him into his new pool,
said friendly docent, Peter, who was there to help welcome people and explain about the alligators in their pool.

Eventually, a group manoueuvred the angry, recalcitrant gator in!

Peter peered over the side, looking for the dark female. He spotted her under the water.

'He - the white alligator - tends to chuck her off the rock...so they're not an item!' he said.

Around the pool, said Peter, tracing the shape of the railings with his fingers, are the original railings and tiles from about 1924.

As a child, Peter remembers standing looking over the railings at alligators, and hoping he didn't fall in!

Around the corner, children especially though not exclusively! were trying to lure scurrying Madagascan bugs into pitfall traps, first by filling the traps with tempting morsels of apple, banana and oatmeal.

All as an interactive floor exhibit and just one of several activities.

Around a corner again and in African Hall another entrancing feature is the penguin pool.

Here you can stand nose to beak with a penguin and almost stroke its tummy as it slides gracefully up a pane of glass to the surface of the water.

The effect of the design of the pool where the water rises four feet above the floor, giving eye to eye contact with the birds and a bird's eye view into the pool is mesmerising.

Mind you, these sweet-appearing penguins are not so cute or, very cute, depending on perspective!

'They're like spoilt children!' said their docent to an avid cluster of watchers. 'Some will only eat certain fish, so they are fed individually,' she said.

And if a piece of their food happens to slip from their beaks to the bottom of the pool! My word!!!

'They won't eat it if they drop it!' said the docent, who is left with the task of clearing up the unwanted food with a scooper.

'It wouldn't be that way in the wild!' she added.

Indeed it wouldn't!

But then we'll forgive these princes and princesses of their penguin pool - there as part of the Species Survival Plan breeding programme - for being so lovable.

One of the great features, too, of the Academy is the trained docents who are friendly, approachable and knowledgable. They are there to help and will be a source of information and entertainment to the multiple thousands of visitors, young and older, who will pass through the Academy and leave enriched by the experience.

pics show the alligator and Peter at the alligator pool; stamping on Madagascan bugs!; a lovable penguin.

For more pics: http://chrisflowers.shutterbugstorefront.com/g/california_academy_of_science

For more info and a live web cam of the penguins - feeding times 10.30 am and 3.30 pm click here for the Academy's website.

This is just a taster of some of many fascinating aspects of a museum that will provide many more blogs in the months to come

Opening Ceremony of California Academy of Sciences

'When I came here, I said "Mamma Mia! I really need this job!" said Renzo Piano, one of the world's greatest architects.

He not only got his dream job, but today was standing outside of the California Academy of Sciences in the Golden Gate Park for the opening of what is being acclaimed as one of this year's finest new buildings in the world. And the greenest.

The project began nearly ten years ago.

'I spent a lot of time on this bench,' he said, indicating one, 'trying to feel out what (the) building should be.

'This picture came out of the blue.'

And what a picture.


Out of his imagination that absorbed the natural beauty of the park and surrounding hills, there arose a building of glass that connects to the park from within and without, and a living roof like no other: one that has green gently-curving knolls like the hills of San Francisco that are planted as habitat for wildlife.

Running through the centre of the building you can see the park from one end of a piazza to the other.

'Normally a science museum is dark and intimidating', Renzo said, 'but this is transparent, the opposite of opacity, enjoying the place, enjoying all this nature.'

Beside him on the platform were Mayor Gavin Newsom, Executive Director of the CAS, Dr Greg Farrington, Board Chair, Bill Patterson, and Nancy McFadden, Senior Vice President of Public Affairs, of the Pacific Gas and Electric Company, lead corporate sponsors who are also sponsoring the weekend's celebrations including free entry to the museum today.

The ceremony opened with the presentation of flags by the San Francisco Police Department followed by a performance of the national anthem by soprano Heidi Melton, Adler Fellow with the San Francisco Opera.

There was then a Native American blessing, at the end of which the audience were asked to give a traditional response of 'Oooh!' rather than applaud.

'Have a beautiful day,' said Martin Martinez as he ended the blessing.

Next, Dr Farrington introduced Renzo Piano as a Pritzker Prize-winning architect - the equivalent, he said to the amusement of the audience, of winning a Nobel prize or American Idol competition.

In the early days Renzo, he said, had climbed on the roof of the old museum and looked down, and stood on the nearby hills.

'He came to understand the soul of this institution,' he said, calling the museum a 'kingdom of light, a celebration of nature.'

The museum, he said referring to Renzo's original sketch, had evolved from 'that one little imaginative curve nearly ten years ago.'

Renzo, who is Genoan-born and celebrated his 71st birthday this month, responded to the compliments. 'I am very, very touched. At a certain age,' he went on, 'you become more romantic.

'What can I say? I should say, "I love San Francisco!"'

He turned to Gavin Newsom, 'Lord Mayor, you have the most beautiful city in the world to run,' he said, meaning also natural attributes of sun and sea.

And he said of the Golden Gate Park, 'This place is loved...I hope it's going to be loved more and more.'

The museum has been designed with enormous emphasis on the environment, a subject that motivates him deeply.

We have a great duty to care for the earth because it is fragile and it made sense, therefore, he said, for the institution to have an important role to 'tell the story' of how fragile the earth is and that it needs our help.

'I can see millions of young people coming here and seeing the need to know and to love nature.'

Concluding with lightheartedness, he said of the handover of the building to the city, 'This is a very important day. Up until yesterday, this building was mine!

The audience gave him a deserved, enthusiastic standing ovation and the Executive Director again thanked him.

'Renzo Piano has given our city and our world one of the greatest buildings anywhere, he said. And the city, he added, were fortunate that a small group of people had had the vision to push the project through.

Nancy McFadden spoke next. She said they were committed to 'stewarding our fragile earth' and would continue to support the museum with other free days.

She praised Mayor Newsom for his care of the environment and said that with the Academy he was setting standards higher than ever.

'Today the Academy is wowing the world,' she said of it's magnificence.

Mayor Newsom spoke with pride of the city's new museums, of the de Young facing him across the park, the Contemporary Jewish Museum, the Conservatory of Flowers and Arboretum, and the Japanese Tea Garden, also in the park.

'What an outstanding compilation,' he said.

He gave credit to Senator Dianne Feinstein and Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, for their support for the museum and to say that they were unable to be present due to their need to be in Washington over the current financial crisis.

Then he quoted from Plato, that 'if there is any hope for the future, those with lanterns will pass them on to others.'

He looked down from the dias at former mayor Willie Brown - sitting with Mayor Newsom's wife - and said that the institute 'would not have been possible without his faith and consistency.'

A few thousand people had already made their way into the park and were queuing to take advantage of the free open day. Overall, the museum capacity would be about 30,000, said Mayor Newsom, and he paid tribute to a mother with three children who had put herself and her family at the front of the queue by being there at 5.30 am!

Mindful of the $488 million cost that has meant the largest-ever cultural fundraising effort in the city, he said, 'I want to thank the taxpayers of San Francisco for their support of this institution as well.'

In a final tribute to Renzo Piano, he quoted first from an interview Renzo had given to Vanity Fair magazine, in which the architect had said he lifted up the Golden Gate Park, slid the building underneath and put the park back down on top of it!

'This is the greenest building of it's kind anywhere in the world. This is the best of the best!'

Dr Farrington then introduced Rock Kids, the museum's link with students. He held up black logo-ed teeshirts for sale and said that anyone wearing one would have free entry to the museum.

And then the Rock Kids performed the finale to the ceremony. Carrying boxes that contained butterflies - symbols of transformation and metamorphosis of the new Academy, said Dr Farrington - they stood at the front of the stage and released the butterflies into the park.

As butterflies flew up into the air the sun sparkled through their wings - although many, to the merriment of the audience at first perched overhead on the entrance to the museum, perhaps for shelter.

All that was left was for Dr Farrington 'to declare this Academy of Sciences open!'

And with that hundreds of excited people, press and members first, streamed in through the doors. Outside in the park, a programme of entertainment, which runs over today and tomorrow, was starting.

Pics show: Architect Renzo Piano; Dr Greg Farrington; Rock Kids releasing butterflies; Mayor Gavin Newsom with Renzo Piano

http://chrisflowers.shutterbugstorefront.com/g/california_academy_of_science