Posts Tagged ‘bay bridge’

If You Want to Walk Across the Bay Bridge on September 1st FOR FREE, Then You’ll Need to Sign Up Now

Tuesday, April 2nd, 2013

‘Cause by the time you hear about this opportunity from the MSM or a blog, it’ll be too late.

Now some people wanted to charge you for the chance to walk the bridge, but they ended up deciding to just require registration with no payment required.

C’mon, this thing is only two decades-plus late.

All the deets:

“We are excited to announce that registration for the Bay Bridge Walk will be FREE! Our next email will include more details on each event and registration dates.

Registration is required for all on-bridge activities and there will be limited capacity so sign up early!

Please tell your friends and family who wish to participate to visit baybridgecelebration.com and sign up for e-mail updates. You will be the first to hear when registration is open.

More details on the Bay Bridge Bike, Run & Walk coming soon!

-The Bay Bridge Celebration Team”

There’ll be plenty of space to roam:

See you there!

Cupid’s Span, That Big Sculpture on The Embarcadero, Has Become a Skateboard Park for Local Youth – Don Fisher’s Legacy

Tuesday, February 5th, 2013

Avert your gaze, “art” lovers.

Via Uptown Almanac and Fecal Face: “Dropping in Diptych – San Francisco, CA – My buddy Trevor dropping in on Cupids arrow on the way to Atnt park.”

Click to expand

Is this what Gap founder Don Fisher would have wanted?

Cupid’s Span

Rincon Park, San Francisco, California.

Stainless steel, structural carbon steel, fiber-reinforced plastic, cast epoxy, polyvinyl chloride foam; painted with polyester gelcoat
64 ft. x 143 ft. 9 in. x 17 ft. 3/8 in.

Commissioned by D&DF Foundation, San Francisco
Installed November 2002

Statement by the Artists:

Inspired by San Francisco’s reputation as the home port of Eros, we began our project for a small park on the Embarcadero along San Francisco Bay by trying out the subject of Cupid’s stereotypical bow and arrow. The first sketches were made of the subject with the bowstring drawn back, poised on the feathers of the arrow, which pointed up to the sky.

When Coosje van Bruggen found this position too stiff and literal, she suggested turning the image upside down: the arrow and the central part of the bow could be buried in the ground, and the tail feathers, usually downplayed, would be the focus of attention. That way the image became metamorphic, looking like both a ship and a tightened version of a suspension bridge, which seemed to us the perfect accompaniment to the site. In addition, the object functioned as a frame for the highly scenic situation, enclosing — depending on where one stood — either the massed buildings of the city’s downtown or the wide vista over the water and the Bay Bridge toward the distant mountains.

As a counterpoint to romantic nostalgia, we evoked the mythological account of Eros shooting his arrow into the earth to make it fertile. The sculpture was placed on a hill, where one could imagine the arrow being sunk under the surface of plants and prairie grasses. By slanting the bow’s position, Coosje added a sense of acceleration to the Cupid’s Span. Seen from its “stern,” the bow-as-boat seems to be tacking on its course toward the white tower of the city’s Ferry Building.”

From the peanut gallery:

“This thing is awful.  I do not understand putting up a piece of ‘art’ that looks like it should be at Disneyland’s California Adventure, smack-dab in the middle of an already amazing view.  Everytime I go by it it pisses me off.  Leave the Bay view alone to it’s own devices.”

“This Disneyland crap makes me want to barf. If only Chicken John had been elected mayor, he would have run his pickup truck into this eyesore and San Francisco would have looked like a real city again”

“Ugh. Really? It’s hideous and tacky. It belongs in Cleveland, not San Francisco.”

OMG, Remote Controlled Chopper Video of the Best San Francisco Car Driving Video Ever: Ken Block’s Gymkhana Five

Wednesday, September 12th, 2012

All right, 27 million YouTube Views later, it’s safe to say that Ken Block’s Gymkhana Five was the best thing to ever hit the 415. See below.

But now, via Spots Unknown, there’e this:

A short video of remote controlled helicopter shots of the making of G5.”

It’s like just 1:44 long. Click on it. Go for it, nobody’s looking. I’ll look out for your boss. You know, in HD.

There you go.

Ah, memories:

“Only 305 Views so far, but this one will end up with tens of millions of viewers, soon enough.

Ten minutes – full screen and 1080p please:

So that’s what was going on when the Bay Bridge was shut down that day.

I’m already looking forward to the director’s cut, you know, with outtakes and errors and broken stuff.

And just for the record, San Francisco Film Commission, the kids these days don’t want to see scripted drama crap like NBC’s Trauma, they want to see something interesting. So the sooner you stop subsidizing crap like NBC’s Trauma, the better off we’ll all be…

“DC and Ken Block present Gymkhana FIVE: Ultimate Urban Playground; San Francisco.

Shot on the actual streets of San Francisco, California, GYM5 features a focus on fast, raw and precise driving action. Filmed over four days, director Ben Conrad and his team are back to work on their second Gymkhana production and delivered the entire city of San Francisco as Ken Block’s personal gymkhana playground. DC Shoes also provided fellow DC athlete and longtime Ken Block friend, Travis Pastrana, to make a cameo appearance on his dirtbike, and S.F. resident Jake Phelps of Thrasher Magazine fame also makes a cameo as Block hoons S.F. in his most incredible Gymkhana yet. For more information check us out at http://www.dcshoes.com/auto

And here’s some context:

Jumping Taylor in a Fiesta. Wow:

And in the Financial, on California, near some fake cable cars:

More in Potrero Hill, on Bike to Work Day 2012:

And again in the Financial, being filmed by a radio-controlled chopper whilst being recorded by a Saturday-working, Financial District Dell Jockey:

And Matier and Ross say that there were donuts being done on the Bay Bridge – did anybody see that?

Teaser #1 – Impressive – Drifting on a Barge – Chopper Shot

Teaser #2 – All Talk, No Action – Dirt Bike injury? – Man, They Sure are Teasing Us

Teaser #3 – Oh Ma Gah – Drifting and Jumping at the Same Time – Is This Possible?

A Modest Proposal: “Sunday Streets Treasure Island” – Next Time the Bay Bridge Shuts Down – Just Walk to TI!

Tuesday, July 10th, 2012

So, if this is worth doing on the western span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge

Click to expand

…why not let’s have a Sunday Streets on the western span the next time Caltrans or whoever does work on the eastern span, you know, the next time they shut down the bridge over a three-day weekend.

Then people could walk or ride their bikes to islands Yerba Buena and Treasure, if only for one day.

So sure, leave a lane or two open on the western span for TI residents to escape the isles and for trucks to service the eastern span. And maybe Homeland Security could have a few snipers around in case a sleeper cell tried to attack the main suspension cables.

But that’s it, that’s all we’d need to do.

All right, make it so.  

OMG It’s Here! The Best San Francisco Car Driving Video Ever: Ken Block’s Gymkhana Five

Monday, July 9th, 2012

Only 305 Views so far, but this one will end up with tens of millions of viewers, soon enough.

Ten minutes – full screen and 1080p please:

So that’s what was going on when the Bay Bridge was shut down that day.

I’m already looking forward to the director’s cut, you know, with outtakes and errors and broken stuff.

And just for the record, San Francisco Film Commission, the kids these days don’t want to see scripted drama crap like NBC’s Trauma, they want to see something interesting. So the sooner you stop subsidizing crap like NBC’s Trauma, the better off we’ll all be…

“DC and Ken Block present Gymkhana FIVE: Ultimate Urban Playground; San Francisco.

Shot on the actual streets of San Francisco, California, GYM5 features a focus on fast, raw and precise driving action. Filmed over four days, director Ben Conrad and his team are back to work on their second Gymkhana production and delivered the entire city of San Francisco as Ken Block’s personal gymkhana playground. DC Shoes also provided fellow DC athlete and longtime Ken Block friend, Travis Pastrana, to make a cameo appearance on his dirtbike, and S.F. resident Jake Phelps of Thrasher Magazine fame also makes a cameo as Block hoons S.F. in his most incredible Gymkhana yet. For more information check us out at http://www.dcshoes.com/auto

And here’s some context:

Jumping Taylor in a Fiesta. Wow:

And in the Financial, on California, near some fake cable cars:

More in Potrero Hill, on Bike to Work Day 2012:

And again in the Financial, being filmed by a radio-controlled chopper whilst being recorded by a Saturday-working, Financial District Dell Jockey:

And Matier and Ross say that there were donuts being done on the Bay Bridge – did anybody see that?

Teaser #1 – Impressive – Drifting on a Barge – Chopper Shot

Teaser #2 – All Talk, No Action – Dirt Bike injury? – Man, They Sure are Teasing Us

Teaser #3 – Oh Ma Gah – Drifting and Jumping at the Same Time – Is This Possible?

 

The San Francisco “Gymkhana Five” (Gymkhana 5) Video is Coming from Ken Block – It’s Amazing!

Friday, July 6th, 2012

It’s coming on Monday, July 9th. Teaser videos below.

But first, here’s some of the action caught by amateurs in May.

As promised, Jumping Taylor in a Fiesta. Wow:

And in the Financial, on California, near some fake cable cars:

More in Potrero Hill, on Bike to Work Day 2012:

And again in the Financial, being filmed by a radio-controlled chopper:

And Matier and Ross say that there were donuts being done on the Bay Bridge – did anybody see that?

Now, here’s the new stuff:

Teaser #1 – Impressive – Drifting on a Barge – Chopper Shot

Teaser #2 – All Talk, No Action – Dirt Bike injury? – Man, They Sure are Teasing Us

Teaser #3 – Oh Ma Gah – Drifting and Jumping at the Same Time – Is This Possible?

Free up some time on Monday so you can focus on getting to a place where you can watch this in high def.

#Gym5 is going to be the best thing ever, you’ll see.

Huge Billboard: “THE BAY BRIDGE – 100% FOREIGN STEEL” – But Is It, Really?

Friday, June 29th, 2012

Nope!

Not at all.

Click to expand

Oh well.

Wow, the Best Photo of the Bay Bridge I’ve Ever Seen – Another One From Famous Photographer David Yu

Friday, June 22nd, 2012

This is from the western span, you know, the one with the functional towers:

From David Yu – click to expand

Of course, the eastern span, the one they’re still working on decades after the Big One of 1989, will have an ornamental tower. Oh well.

Anyway, this is a nice shot.

 

2012 San Francisco BART Fire Carpocolypse – Meet the Driver Who Just Honks and Honks Out of Frustration

Friday, June 15th, 2012

Yesterday’s BART fire created Carpocolypse 2012 for drivers attempting to commute from the Financial District to the East Bay last night.

See?

Battery Street, looking north from Market:

Click to expand

I’ll tell you, the people on Battery southbound didn’t have much of a chance to get closer to nearby freeway offramps because the SFMTA coned off their escape routes. So it would take drivers ten minutes to go one block.

But one dude fought back, by laying on his horn and honking away, New York City-style:

Anyway, if you were ever wondering who’s the person who just honks away, this is the dude.

I don’t know what the point of the honking is but if that’s your coping strategy, dude, then be my guest.

Now, transit planners, if you want people to want to get out of their cars, you’d cancel BART service EVERY DAY. Then drivers would say, “Oh no, I aint driving to the Financh, no way!”

Just saying.

Wow: Marin Headlands, Golden Gate Bridge, Conzelman, Bay Bridge, Financial District, Sutro Tower, Sunset District and Fog

Sunday, June 3rd, 2012

Fog, fog, fog.

Another great capture from Joe Azure:

Click to expand