This is a new shot – as close as I’ve gotten when it’s at its highest:
And here it is near the bottom floor:
I don’t think it ever gets level, so you’re standing on a sloping floor the whole time:
I haven’t seen it in action lately, but here’s a shot from aught-four:
And more recently:
Or you can take the stairs I guess…
Here it is:
I don’t think it ever gets level, so you’re standing on a sloping floor the whole time:
And then you go up up up to the highest horizontal point of Sutro Tower:
I haven’t seen it in action lately, but here’s a shot from aught-four:
And more recently:
Or you can take the stairs I guess…
Well here’s the news:
AMERICA’S CUP TEAMS VOTE TO DOWNSIZE BOATS
See how that works? Our local, corrupt, Larry Ellison cheerleaders of the pre-2013 era praised the new big boats – they were going to Change Everything.
But things turned out deadly, and poorly for San Francisco.
And now, even Chuck Nevius, who saw “no downside” to granting 99-year leases to Larry Ellison, is against the AC.
So that’s good, but there’s always the threat of the 2020 Cup or whatever coming back, right? So let’s check in on how things are going in Bermuda these days:
America’s Cup teams have voted to reduce the size of boats to be sailed in the 2017 regatta in Bermuda, a cost-cutting move that could lead to the two strongest challengers dropping out.
So Larry Ellison gets to have his fun and increase his already-high chances of winning (defenders win 90-something percent of the time, historically) a game where he sets the rules.
And while smaller boats would mean reduced costs and a smaller crew, they could also mean less excitement for spectators. The 48-foot (14.65 meter) catamarans will be the smallest boats in America’s Cup history and aren’t that much bigger than other one-design classes sailed in less-prestigious regattas.
Oh, OK. So what was the deadly accident in 2013* for then? Mmm…
And here’s the purpose:
If Italy and New Zealand drop out, Oracle Team USA would conceivably have an easier shot at retaining the Auld Mug trophy.
Oh, and speaking of Frisco’s 2013 America’s Cup:
cheating scandal
Yep. That was our local “Wind God’s” scandal. He wants praise for his management, but he doesn’t want any criticism for his mismanagement, oh well.
And this is what I mean when I say that the America’s Cup isn’t a sport:
America’s Cup czar Russell Coutts, a New Zealander who heads both Oracle Team USA and the America’s Cup Event Authority, has verbally sparred with both the Kiwis and Italians in recent years.
Of course, CWNevius had just moved to town back in aught-ten when he started heedlessly / needlessly waving his pom-poms for what he called a “gigantic, global sporting event.”
But it aint no sport, and it aint gigantic. It’s just a match race betwixt Gentlemen, with the rules made by Larry Ellison, for his amusement.
And then he’ll try to send the bill to us, if we let him.
Anyway, as even Chuck Nevius might admit, in hindsight, you know, after it was too late, the vaunted boats were too big, and the whole thing was too expensive, for us. Let’s hope we never see Lil’ Larry’s boat race ever again…
*I suppose there was an investigation, of sorts. But in other countries where AC teams come from, there would have been charges of omicidio colposo or homicide involontaire, non?
As seen a few days back – that square, that’s your elevator car. Haven’t seen it in a while:
And here’s the close-up color version, from all the way back in 2004:
(I remember thinking how the workers in the basket should have appeared clearer in this photo. I guess I was super-far away, oh well.)
In closing, take that, Great Pyramid. Pwned:
[UPDATE: Welcome Salesforcers! I’m just teasing you all, man. Mission Bay was supposed to be About Biotech and the synergy and whatnot. So it would have been nice to have had a Genentech going large in Mission Bay, but you all are welcome, of course….]
Wow, Salesforce.com must be bullish on San Francisco, based upon today’s big announcement.
“The purchase price for the eight parcels of land, including parking rights in an existing garage and other entitlements and improvements associated with the land, was approximately $278 million. No date for construction has yet been set on the land, which includes the undeveloped portions of Mission Bay lots 26 and 27 and all of Mission Bay lots 29 – 34.“
And, bonus, CEO Marc Benioff will be able to visit the Children’s Hospital that he’s building for UCSF right across the street.
Course it would be nicer to have a Genentech in there, but we’ll take what we can get. All the deets, below.
All the deets:
Salesforce.com Purchases Site for New San Francisco Global Headquarters
14 Acre Corporate Campus Planned Over The Next Decade; Provides for Almost 2 Million Square Feet of Space
SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 1 — Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM), the enterprise cloud computing company, today announced the purchase of approximately 14 acres of undeveloped land in the Mission Bay neighborhood of San Francisco from Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE: ARE). The company plans to build a facility that will become its new headquarters. The land, which is adjacent to the UCSF campus on one side and the San Francisco Bay on the other, is part of the San Francisco Mission Bay redevelopment area. It is located directly on the San Francisco Muni T line at the UCSF station, and is also directly accessible from the Mariposa Street exit off of 280.
“We are excited to start work on building a new San Francisco global headquarters,” said Marc Benioff, chairman and CEO of salesforce.com. “Our planned, nearly 2 million square-foot campus over 14 acres at Mission Bay will help us continue to attract and retain talented, world-class employees. This new home for salesforce.com will provide an innovative, dynamic environment for our future growth.”
The purchase price for the eight parcels of land, including parking rights in an existing garage and other entitlements and improvements associated with the land, was approximately $278 million. No date for construction has yet been set on the land, which includes the undeveloped portions of Mission Bay lots 26 and 27 and all of Mission Bay lots 29 – 34.
And, bonus, a statement from the Mayor’s office, after the jump.
California Attorney General Jerry Brown can’t abide gang wars in Steinbeck Country. So today he’s telling us about the people in his Gang Suppression Enforcement Program, along with a whole bunch of other California and federal peace officers, arresting 94 suspected Montery-area Norteños and Sureños.
And to keep things going, Jerry just announced a local, Salinas-area gang task force.
Anyway, there was a big press conference today – look at who all was there.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, U.S. Attorney Joseph P. Russoniello (Northern District of CA), Monterey County District Attorney Dean Flippo, Salinas Chief of Police Louis Fetherolf, Salinas Mayor Dennis Donohue and a host of others down in Salinas :
Check it:
“Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today discussed “Operation Knockout,” in which agents from Brown’s Gang Suppression Enforcement Program (GSEP) of the California Department of Justice’s Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement arrested gang members after an eight-month, wide-ranging investigation and sweep targeting the most powerful gang leaders in the Salinas area.”
All the deets:
SALINAS – Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. announced that more than 200 agents from his Gang Suppression Enforcement Program and other law enforcement agencies today arrested 37 members of two vicious gangs responsible for a rampage of violence — including more than three dozen murders and 200 shootings — that terrorized the citizens of Salinas and nearby areas.
Today’s mass arrests culminated an eight-month operation, code-named “Operation Knockout,” aimed at apprehending members of the Norteños and Sureños gangs that turned Salinas into a hub of murder, robbery and drug dealing.
The operation targeted the most dangerous gang leaders in the Salinas area. In addition to the arrests made today, agents seized 40 pounds of cocaine, 14 pounds of marijuana, nine ounces of methamphetamine, $34,000 in cash, and 12 guns. An additional 57 arrests were made before today’s sweep.
“Operation Knockout was designed to restore safety to the streets of Salinas,” said Brown. “Citizens in John Steinbeck’s hometown deserve better than having to endure a violent crime rate that’s three times the national average. We owed it to the people of Salinas to arrest these out-of-control gang members and ensure a heightened sense of personal security throughout the city.”
Ever more deets after the jump
Like these guys.
It would take forever to make it up the stairs to the top of controversial landmark Sutro Tower, so a swaying elevator car is the preferred method.
Click to expand to get a closer look at a sunnier, more colorful San Francisco:
Take the tour.
Not that you’d really be able to tell, though. Sutro Tower Inc. has just finished a project that had some of the digital TV broadcast antennas (not “antennae” – that plural term is only used for bugs in our silly English language) gaining a higher altitude.
Not much howver, maybe a seven-percent increase, max. Does that make a big difference? No, not for most people, but at least STI is trying.
Here’s the antenna of KPIX-TV (OMG, that’s the home of Eye on Blogs – big ups, Brittney Gilbert!) a way up top, like 1700 feet above sea level. Now Channel 5 is as high as possible:
Click to expand
The Future is Now, and what’s labeled “CURRENT” is history:
From this:
To this:
Well, they were still wrapping the KPIX, KRON, KTVU antenna assembly, but you get the idea.
So it looks like we’re all set with the Great Digital TV Conversion of 2009. As long as Sutro Tower doesn’t get hit by a shooting star….
…we’ll be all right.
San Francisco’s famous Sutro Tower (owned by Sutro Tower, Inc., the buyer-offer and $hutter-upperof San Francisco’s mid-town NIMBYs) has a new look for Fall.
Here’s Before (a way back in August 2009)…
…und jetzt After, the way it looks these days (when being buzzed by a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700 NG heading to El Lay, camera right, see it?)
Click to expand
Très chic! Non?
Now, she’s all set for the next meteor shower:
Courage.
Well here’s this scene this morning up on Mount Sutro (former home to the SF-89C Mount Sutro Nike Missile Control Station, don’t you know.) Can you see what’s missing?
Sutro Tower is losing antennas (that’s right, not antennae or antennea or anything else) and getting other updates all in the name of Our Digital Future. Get some deets here at the Burrito Justice.
The West Stack appears all nubbed out these days, no? Click to expand.
Make your necessary adjustments and your Wheel will come in just fine every evening, as per usual.
How can it be.
Believe me
