Posts Tagged ‘boats’
Tuesday, May 28th, 2013
IMO, this recent statement from Larry Ellison Person Stephan Barclay* is a misstep, but you make the call.
Check it:
“For example, following the death of Ayrton Senna in 1994, a number of measures were introduced, such as better cockpit protection for the drivers. Grooved tires were introduced in 1998 instead of racing slick tires to reduce cornering speed. Safety measures continued to be introduced into the 21st century, with a number of circuits having their configuration changed to improve driver safety.”
All right, I can understand why the Larry Ellison PR people want to compare America’s Cup 2013 to a popular sport like F1 car racing. Right? Because broadcasters actually pay money for the rights to broadcast F1, you dig. (Compare this with Larry Ellison’s America’s Cup, which needed mucho begging of NBC to agree to broadcast some of the matches for free.)
But mentioning Ayrton Senna is not a good move IMO because, from the beginning, it was investigated as a manslaughter case and, in the end, was determined to be a case of manslaughter.
Read all about it.
And, you know, people said the same things about Senna’s sport and Simpson’s sport, about how they are inherently dangerous and whatnot. But that didn’t stop a manslaughter investigation in Senna’s case, now did it?
So where’s our manslaughter investigation?
Oh, just a “review” and let’s carry on? OK fine…
*Or, as CW Nevius spells it, repeatedly, in the pages of the San Francisco Chronicle, Stephen “Barkley.” Hey Neve! How’s that new paywall doing for you? Oh, that badly, huh? Miss all those commenters already? Sure you do!
Tags: 2013, ac34, ac72, Americas Cup, andrew simpson, Ayrton Senna, bay area, boats, c w nevius, california, car, ccwnevius, chronicle, chuck, cops, f1, f12, investigation, larry ellison, manslaughter, Nevius, newspaper, police, pr, Racing, review, safety, sailing, San Francisco, San Francisco Chronicle, SFPD, stephen Barclay
Posted in sports | No Comments »
Monday, October 1st, 2012
How would you like to volunteer as a docent helping out with the new-school / old-school E-line on October 6-7, 2012?
First, some background about how busy the 415 will be this weekend:
“Looking at what’s scheduled for that weekend, there might not be room in the city for many more people, much less cars. First, there’s the free Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in Golden Gate Park, a three-day event that drew about 800,000 people last year. That Sunday afternoon, the 49ers play the Buffalo Bills at Candlestick Park, while the Giants are hoping for weekend playoff games at AT&T Park, all guaranteed sellouts. About 60,000 people typically attend the Castro Street Fair, scheduled for that Sunday, while thousands more will jam North Beach for the annual Italian Heritage Parade at 12:30 on the same day. A different crowd will probably be at the Burning Man Decompression street fair, also that Sunday afternoon. To add to the fun, two mega cruise ships are expected to dock at Pier 35 over the weekend, disgorging thousands more tourists. Then, of course, there’s Fleet Week, which brings thousands of sailors and as many as a million visitors to the waterfront for the weekend.”
So you’ll be needed to help out all the visitors moving around on the Twin Torpedos, streetcars 1006 and 1008:
“We need several more docents to work the stops along the E-line on October 6 and 7, helping riders find the right platform and providing information about the service. We have docent books prepared by Paul Lucas, so it’s easy to learn what to do. If you’re interested, send us an email and we’ll get back to you.”
Click to expand
Act now.
Tags: 1006, 1008, 49ers, airplanes, Americas Cup, at&t park, baseball, boats, Buffalo Bills, burning man, Burning Man Decompression, candlestick park, car, cars, Castro Street, Castro Street Fair, Conductor, cream, cruise, cruise ships, Decompression, docent, DPT, driver, drivers, Embacadero, fair, Festival, fleet week, football, free, giants, golden gate park, green, hardly strictly bluegrass, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, help, Italian Heritage Parade, jet, jets, marin, market, mta, Muni, navy, north beach, paint, painted, Paul Lucas, pier 35, playoff, playoffs, railway, regatta, ride, SFMTA, ships, street, streetcar, top, train, trolley, Twin Torpedos, volunteer, volunteers, white, world series
Posted in transit | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 9th, 2012
I haven’t heard word one about the long-promised lawsuit what was going to overturn SFGov and re-install the old tenant as the operator.
“The civil lawsuit begins March 2012 and will expose the truth about all the many laws that Rec & Park broke in order to bring in an out-of-state chain, with no boating experience to take over this historic boating recreation site.”
Oh well.
Just saying.
Ah, Stow Lake:
Click to expand
Oh, and the early reviews are in. And they’re pretty good, those reviews.
Leave us close this chapter of wealthy, white, real-estate-obsessed, dingbat, millionaire homeowner Preservationists vs. the Boathouse at Stow.
Tags: 19th, 2010, 740, accessible, am, armand, armand ortega, august, bathroom, bay area, blue skies, boat, boat house, boathouse, boats, Bruce McLellan, budget, building, cafe, california, chronicle, chuck, coalition, community, County Fair Building, department, dept., district, enterprises, Family, fm, frank klein, free, golden gate park, Hall of Flowers, historic, hoist, indoor, inner sunset, January 26, January 26th, kcbs, lake, lead, meet, meeting, Nevius, new mexico, Nick Kinsey, ortega, ortega family enterprises, paint, park and rec, park and recreation, parks, picnic, pink, popcorn, rachel gordon, radio, recreation and parks, restaurant, rfq, row, rowboat, San Francisco, Sandy Weil, save, save stow lake, Save the Stow Lake Boat house, Save the Stow Lake Boathouse, Save the Stow Lake Boathouse Coalition, seating, shane ortega, stow, Stow lake, Stow Lake Boathouse, STSLBC, sunset, Suzanne Dumont, Suzanne R. Dumont, swan
Posted in parks | 2 Comments »
Monday, January 30th, 2012
I don’t know, when you have like just one member of the public show up at a meeting hosted by Rec and Park, would you call that a successful joint?
This was the scene for last Thursday night’s big PowerPoint presentation. You had people there from the new tenant and the new tenant’s Marin operation and RPD and etc.
Is this low turnout due to the fact that grand battle has already been won by the new tenant, or is it due to the fact that there was zero publicity for this particular meeting,* or maybe a combination of both reasons?
Click to expand
Anyway, the latest developments at Stow are detailed here by Rachel Gordon.
And oh, the lawsuit against the City from the old tenant should have some activity soon, maybe something is scheduled for Superior Court in March 2012.
And the latest from the absurdly-named Save Stow Lake Coalition has to do with paint with lead in it, which, Gentle Reader, I’m sitting two yards from right now. And, this is true for you too, G.R. You know, ’cause paint with some amount of lead in it is everywhere. Simply everywhere. (If it turns out that this coalition is some long-running anti-NIMBY performance art project, I won’t be surprised…)
Not with a bang, but with a whimper.
Enjoy your upcoming rain-free, vernal paddle-boating season, everybody…
*I don’t know, was this meeting posted on the internet anywhere at all? NTMK.
Tags: 19th, 2010, 740, accessible, am, armand, armand ortega, august, bathroom, bay area, blue skies, boat, boat house, boathouse, boats, Bruce McLellan, budget, building, cafe, california, chronicle, chuck, coalition, community, County Fair Building, department, dept., district, enterprises, Family, fm, frank klein, free, golden gate park, Hall of Flowers, historic, hoist, indoor, inner sunset, January 26, January 26th, kcbs, lake, lead, meet, meeting, Nevius, new mexico, Nick Kinsey, ortega, ortega family enterprises, paint, park and rec, park and recreation, parks, picnic, pink, popcorn, rachel gordon, radio, recreation and parks, restaurant, rfq, row, rowboat, San Francisco, Sandy Weil, save, save stow lake, Save the Stow Lake Boat house, Save the Stow Lake Boathouse, Save the Stow Lake Boathouse Coalition, seating, shane ortega, stow, Stow lake, Stow Lake Boathouse, STSLBC, sunset, Suzanne Dumont, Suzanne R. Dumont, swan
Posted in paranormal, parks | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 24th, 2012
Here’s the word on the street:
“The Recreation and Park Department and Ortega Family Enterprises are hosting a community meeting to discuss the upcoming renovations of the Stow Lake Boathouse. The work will include creating an indoor seating area so that the building is open to the public for the first time, adding an accessible bathroom, upgrading the building systems as well as upgrading the general condition of the building.
Date: January 26, 2012
Time: 7PM
Location: Hall of Flowers (County Fair Building)”
But, am I getting punk’d here? ‘Cause I can’t find any evidence of this meeting online.
Now, I can find the Save Stow Lake insanity* webpage, right here.
And, I can find the Official Twitter for Stow Lake Boathouse LLC, right here.
But, to review, I can’t find any evidence of this meeting online.
Oh hey, look, it’s Ortega Family Enterprises’ Armand Ortega hisself, at the last big Boathouse meeting (the last one that I know of, anyway) at the Hall of Flowers.**
Click to expand
Oh well.
*Uh, Ortega Family Enterprises has “boating experience” now, doesn’t it? You might want to change that. And do you want the City and County poking about buildings in your real estate empire looking for paint with lead in it? I’d bet they’d find some. Oh no! And shrillness-wise, you’re giving us a 9. How about giving us a 3 instead? All right, take two, roll film, action.
**Yes, that’s the actual color of the interior of the Hall of Flowers. I call it indescribable green.
Tags: 19th, 2010, 740, accessible, am, armand, armand ortega, august, bathroom, bay area, blue skies, boat, boat house, boathouse, boats, Bruce McLellan, budget, building, cafe, california, chuck, coalition, community, County Fair Building, department, dept., district, enterprises, Family, fm, frank klein, free, golden gate park, Hall of Flowers, historic, hoist, indoor, inner sunset, January 26, January 26th, kcbs, lake, meet, meeting, Nevius, new mexico, Nick Kinsey, ortega, ortega family enterprises, park and rec, park and recreation, parks, picnic, pink, popcorn, radio, recreation and parks, restaurant, rfq, row, rowboat, San Francisco, Sandy Weil, save, save stow lake, Save the Stow Lake Boat house, Save the Stow Lake Boathouse, Save the Stow Lake Boathouse Coalition, seating, shane ortega, stow, Stow lake, Stow Lake Boathouse, STSLBC, sunset, Suzanne Dumont, Suzanne R. Dumont, swan
Posted in food and drink, parks | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, November 30th, 2011
[UPDATE: Bagdad by the Bay just looked into things.]
Well, everything’s going great at your new and improved yet-pretty-much-the-same-except-for-the-food Stow Lake Boathouse in Golden Gate Park.
Here’s what it looks like these days:
Click to expand
Just check the Yelp for early reviews. They’re almost all highly positive.*
But what’s this? Some “brother” from Oakland, “Les. L,” is not happy, not one bit! He’s the only Yelper giving a less than positive review.
I’ll allege that Les is not some youngish dude from Oakland, but rather a wealthy, white, preservationist-minded, NIMBY-mentalitied, real-estate-obsessed, highly-opinionated woman of a certain age who lives in the West Bay.
Let’s check it out her one-star report:
“What happened to the cool local people that worked there?”
Um, this is an improbable start to a Yelp review. Gee, maybe they busy themselves with sock puppetry on Yelp these days, just like you, “Les L?”
“Everyone we saw was white, which is weird for SF. We drove over from the East Bay to rent boats with my 2 kids and my mom.”
Oh what’s that, Les? There’s not enough flava for you over here in the West Bay? That’s funny? Did you know that all the people behind the old boat house and the Save the Boat House Coalition are white, or pretty much? What were you expecting?
“The kids couldn’t reach the pedals in the boat we rented. How’s that? It’s for kids, right?”
The old boats, the ones sold off for $500, maybe they were inappropriate for adults? Maybe the kids can just come along for the ride? A paddleboat is a paddleboat, pretty much.
“After a unhappy boatride, my mom tripped on the crappy stairs in front of the boathouse. She was bleeding, the kids were crying, and no one bothered to help us.”
What were you unhappy about, Les? That Bruce lost his lease? It happens. Or you were unhappy because there were too many Whities about?
“An old man sitting on a bench helped us and said the boathouse was just taken over by a New Mexico chain. We won’t be back.”
More improbability. Oh well.
Oddly, Les L., straight outta Oak-Town, also has a big beef with Chicago Title Co. in lily-white Campbell, CA, the wealthiest(?) part of the South Bay.
And, oddly, “his” dentist, with whom “he” also has a big beef, is clear all the way in the burbs of the West Bay.
On It Goes…
*Perhaps too positive. “Ashley c.” is a another one of those Yelp fraudsters, it would appear.
Tags: 1946, 2011, asphalt, august, Bagdad by the Bay, bay area, bicycles, bikes, blog, boat, boat house, boathouse, Boathouse Dog, boats, booats, Bruce McLellan, cafe, cal tilden, california, chuck, Cloudless Skies, coalition, com, community, department, dept., district, electric, enterprises, facebook, Fair Trade, Family, frank klein, free, golden gate park, historic, hoist, hot dog, hot dogs, inner sunset, interim, Jeff Fones, lake, Let's Be Frank, levy, mclellan familty, meeting, menu, music concourse, Nevius, new mexico, october, org, ortega, ortega family enterprises, paddle, park, park and rec, park and recreation, parks, parkwide, picnic, pink, popcorn, radio, rec, recreation and parks, rent, rental, Reopen, reopening, restaurant, Restoration Time, rfq, row, rowboat, rpd, San Francisco, Sandy Weil, save, save stow lake, Save the Stow Lake Boat house, Save the Stow Lake Boathouse, Save the Stow Lake Boathouse Coalition, savestowlake, SaveStowLake.org, sock puppet, sock puppetry, stow, Stow lake, Stow Lake Boathouse and Café, STSLBC, sunset, Sustainable, swan, twitter, yelp, Yelp fraud
Posted in food and drink, parks | 4 Comments »
Monday, November 14th, 2011
Typical San Francisco infrastructure, by David Yu:
Click to expand
Look for this area to be filled with football-field length yachts soon, you know, for the America’s Cup boat race…
Tags: 14, 14 Minions, 2011, 2012, 2013, ac13, alpha, alpha tower, Americas Cup, Bay, bay area, bay bridge, boats, bridge, california, Cosco busan, David Yu, infrastructure, Minions, motor, Oakland, phot, Photograph, piers, pilings, sail, San Francisco, tower, yacht, yachts
Posted in photography | No Comments »
Friday, October 14th, 2011
Well, lots of things are pretty much the same these days at the Stow Lake Boathouse, which was reopened by the new tenant on Wednesday, October 12th, 2011.
See?
Click to expand
Check the new photo gallery – it’s quite complete.
But, here’s something new. It’s a sign in honor of boathouse founder Mr. Cal Tilden & the McLellan* Family, 1946-2011:
(Quite civil to post this sign, if you ask me.)
Get more deets via Aaron Sankin - here’s Huffington Post San Francisco going long-form on this issue: Stow Lake Boathouse Fight: A Battle For the Soul Of Golden Gate Park. Or there’s this here, if you want to click through the lengthy history over the prior months and years…
Le mise-en-scene:
If anything, the pace of life is even slower than that of the era of the prior tenant. Nobody’s hurried at all. And there’s more room, more benches for “old people” to lollygag about.
And here’s your new Boathouse Dog, which is from a better supplier and which is being sold at a cheaper price:
Yes, pink popcorn from Wright’s:
All the players:
And what’s this, new paint, finally, after all these years? These guys started working on Wednesday:
So there you have it.
*Yes, that’s a rapping raven, a confabulating corvid at the end of the first video, calling for a boycott of the boathouse.
Tags: 1946, 2011, asphalt, august, bay area, bicycles, bikes, blog, boat, boat house, boathouse, Boathouse Dog, boats, booats, Bruce McLellan, cafe, cal tilden, california, chuck, Cloudless Skies, coalition, com, community, department, dept., district, electric, enterprises, facebook, Fair Trade, Family, frank klein, free, golden gate park, historic, hoist, hot dog, hot dogs, inner sunset, interim, Jeff Fones, lake, Let's Be Frank, levy, mclellan familty, meeting, menu, music concourse, Nevius, new mexico, october, org, ortega, ortega family enterprises, paddle, park, park and rec, park and recreation, parks, parkwide, picnic, pink, popcorn, radio, rec, recreation and parks, rent, rental, Reopen, reopening, restaurant, Restoration Time, rfq, row, rowboat, rpd, San Francisco, Sandy Weil, save, save stow lake, Save the Stow Lake Boat house, Save the Stow Lake Boathouse, Save the Stow Lake Boathouse Coalition, savestowlake, SaveStowLake.org, stow, Stow lake, Stow Lake Boathouse and Café, STSLBC, sunset, Sustainable, swan, twitter
Posted in parks | 7 Comments »
Wednesday, October 12th, 2011
At long last, it’s here. It’s the interim menu for our Stow Lake Boathouse & Cafe.
Is this menu too foo-foo yuppie for you? Is $3.25* too much for a “Let’s Be Frank“ grass-fed beef** hot dog?
As always, You Make The Call:
Click to expand
*Well, I’ll tell you, that’s cheaper than what the former tenant was charging. Here’s some more from the clinically-absurd SaveStowLake.org crowd:
“Seniors will no longer be able to gather freely at the boathouse. Prices will be more than doubled on all food items. Middle class and low-income families will be driven out of this spot that is designed to be for all…not just the wealthy.”
I’ll tell you, everything that the Save Stow Lake people have predicted has turned out to be shrill, alarmist bullcrap. JMO.
** “These snappy dogs are loaded with flavor, not junk! Using premium cuts from cattle raised on pasture in California (naturally high in healthy Omega 3 fatty acids!) and organic spices, we’ve crafted a delicious dog that’s lower in fat, calories and sodium than conventional franks. No nitrites, nitrates, hormones, or antibiotics, ever.”
Tags: 2010, 2011, 6, asphalt, august, bay area, bicycles, bikes, blog, boat, boat house, boathouse, boats, booats, Bruce McLellan, cafe, california, chuck, Cloudless Skies, coalition, com, community, department, dept., district, electric, enterprises, facebook, Fair Trade, Family, frank klein, free, golden gate park, historic, hoist, hot dog, hot dogs, inner sunset, interim, Jeff Fones, lake, Let's Be Frank, levy, meeting, menu, music concourse, Nevius, new mexico, october, org, ortega, ortega family enterprises, paddle, park, park and rec, park and recreation, parks, parkwide, picnic, pink, popcorn, radio, rec, recreation and parks, rent, rental, Reopen, reopening, restaurant, Restoration Time, rfq, row, rowboat, rpd, San Francisco, Sandy Weil, save, save stow lake, Save the Stow Lake Boat house, Save the Stow Lake Boathouse, Save the Stow Lake Boathouse Coalition, savestowlake, SaveStowLake.org, stow, Stow lake, Stow Lake Boathouse and Café, STSLBC, sunset, Sustainable, swan, twitter
Posted in food and drink | 4 Comments »
Monday, October 10th, 2011
[UPDATE: Rachel Gordon has the deets of Opening Day right here.]
I don’t know, if I had an expired lease with the City and County of San Francisco and they asked me to leave by a certain date, I think I’d leave by that date. But the former tenant at the Stow Lake Boathouse doesn’t roll that way, so he kept on running the place, overstaying his lease, defending an eviction action through the drier $pring and $ummery tourism months. The result is that the new tenant is taking over in Autumn, in the rain. O.K., did that help San Francisco? No.
Also, the old tenant charged $25 per hour for paddleboats and $20 for rowboats until he got caught, even though the contracted rate was for $20 and $15 per hour. O.K., did that help San Francisco? No.
Oh, and the workers for the former tenants left little surprises for the new tenants haha. O.K., did that help San Francisco? No.
Oh, and the trial pitting the former tenant against all of us is skedded for March 2012.
Moving on…
Your new Stow Lake Boathouse & Cafe will open on Wednesday, October 12th, 2011, rain or shine, boats and food. It’s official ‘n stuff.
Meet your new fleet:
1. Electric boat – lead-acid type batteries, like from Your Father’s Oldsmobile;
2. Paddleboat – Captain and First Officer/Stoker facing forward with two passengers facing rearward;
3. Rowboat
Click to expand
And actually, the forecast is for Cloudless Skies on Wednesday, so you’ll be richly rewarded if you skip out of work to see the soft opening.
See you there!
Tags: 2010, 2011, 6, asphalt, august, bay area, bicycles, bikes, blog, boat, boat house, boathouse, boats, booats, Bruce McLellan, cafe, california, chuck, Cloudless Skies, coalition, com, community, department, dept., district, electric, enterprises, facebook, Family, frank klein, free, golden gate park, historic, hoist, inner sunset, Jeff Fones, lake, levy, meeting, music concourse, Nevius, new mexico, october, org, ortega, ortega family enterprises, paddle, park, park and rec, park and recreation, parks, parkwide, picnic, pink, popcorn, radio, rec, recreation and parks, rent, rental, Reopen, reopening, restaurant, rfq, row, rowboat, rpd, San Francisco, Sandy Weil, save, save stow lake, Save the Stow Lake Boat house, Save the Stow Lake Boathouse, Save the Stow Lake Boathouse Coalition, savestowlake, stow, Stow lake, Stow Lake Boathouse and Café, STSLBC, sunset, swan, twitter
Posted in parks | 2 Comments »
