A young woman prepares for take off at the 3rd annual Super Hero Street Fair on September 22nd, 2012 in San Francisco, California. The event was held at the Islais Creek Promenade and provides a platfrom to honor extraordinary people in the community for their contribution to culture, music and the arts.

If Captain America, Superman, Batman, and the X-men were to throw a party in San Francisco it would probably look a lot like the Super Hero Street Fair. Complete with climbing wall, multiple music stages, and a gladiator pit, this costume event is brought to us by the same folks who produce the How Weird Street Fair, except this time the party was held at the Islais Creek Promenade in the Dogpatch.

Yes, it was excuse for Silicon Valley dwellers to try out their latest Halloween costumes a month early, but on the serious side, the event also honored extraordinary people (real life super heroes) in the community for their contribution to culture, music and the arts.

Here are some photos of the Super Heros in action…

The Face Forward installation at Maker Faire 2012 held in San Mateo, California on May 19th, 2012.

In some way, shape or form we all like to make things. Here in Startup Land, people are constantly designing cutting edge technology and creating new businesses. But in other parts of the country people are making everything from tissue paper airplanes to fire breathing dragons. Once a year this growing culture of “makers” comes to Silicon Valley to showcase their projects at Maker Faire. The best way that I can describe Maker Faire is to think of a county fair, 75 years into a future, where life is one part “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome” and two parts “Weird Science“. This year’s Maker Faire had over 900 makers exhibiting some outrageous projects. Take a stroll through the photos below to see some of the wild things that people make.

The Grand Entry procession at the Stanford Powwow held on May 11th, 2012.

Every year the Native American community finds its way to the heart of Startup Land for a Pow-wow. No, I’m not talking about some big corporate meeting, I’m literally talking about a pow-wow where people gather to dance, sing, socialize and honor Native American Indian culture. This past weekend was the 41st Pow-wow held in the Eucalyptus grove on Stanford University’s Campus. The Pow-wow begins with a “Grand Entry” procession where ceremonial dancers march into an arena. Over the course of the evening, multiple rounds of traditional dancing will take place and the dancers will also be judged as part of a formal dance competition. Not only can attendees enjoy the elaborate Native American regalia, but also beautiful drum music and vendors selling traditional crafts, jewelry, food and art. And all of this underneath the stars and Eucalyptus trees.

How Weird Street festival held in San Francisco on May 13th, 2012.

Startup Land is sometimes described as a place where creative energy and entreprenurial ideas collide. After all, that’s why it’s home to thousands of startup companies trying to change the world in some way, shape or form. But have you ever wondered where all that creative energy goes when everyone is not getting down to business?

Well, this weekend I decided to find out by attending the How Weird Street Faire 2012 where thousands of people dress up in outlandish outfits, party like rock stars and dance the day away on the streets of downtown San Francisco. How weird is How Weird? The answer is: “pretty weird”, but also pretty cool at the same time.

The party occupies a full four blocks of downtown San Francisco (literally fenced off) and is filled with twelve music stages featuring live performances and DJ’s spinning dance beats for packed crowds. The music may have been great, but the main attraction were the avatars, outfits and personalities of the How Weird attendees themselves. Just click on the photos below to see what I mean.

Members of the unimotorcycle group Coastriders wait to race at Dream Machines in Half Moon Bay.

One of the things that makes Startup Land unique is its ability to continually create the latest new thing. In fact, you are bombarded with so many new things that it’s easy to forget about the old clunker that got you where you are today. That’s why this weekend I took in some mechanical history at the Dream Machines Festival in Half Moon Bay. The festival is filled with driving, flying and working machines dating back to the turn of the century. There was even a decommissioned Nike Missile from one of the many launch sites that surrounded most American cities up until the 1970′s.

After spending an hour or two at this festival you are guaranteed to feel the need… the need for speed.