Posts Tagged ‘boycott’
Monday, May 20th, 2013
1. THE TOP OF HAYES STREET HILL _ISN’T_ THE HIGHEST POINT OF THE BTOB FUN-RUN. JUST CHECK THE ROUTE PROFILE:
“Here’s your route profile, starting from the SoMA near the bay going all the way to the breakers of Ocean Beach. See that big incline just before mile marker three? That’s the vaunted Hayes Street Hill. (And actually, the highest part of Hayes Street on this part of the course is near Pierce, not “at Fillmore and Steiner“ and not ”between Fillmore and Sutter.”)
And actually, that part of Hayes peaks at around 260 feet, not 215:
Now, here’s your winner. It’s the 270-something foot high saddle on JFK Jr. Drive betwixt Prayer Book Cross and Stow Lake / Strawberry Hill, where ”Kennedy” is written:
2. THE BTOB FUN-RUN IS A 12K, AND YET IT’S NOT A 12K – THE CLAIMED “WORLD RECORDS” ARE NOT, IN FACT, WORLD RECORDS
“Race organizers and media have reported that the course records set by Sammy Kitwara in 2009 and Lineth Chepkurui in 2010 are also world records at the 12 km distance;[31] however, the International Association of Athletics Federations, the international governing body for the sport of athletics/track and field, does not recognize world records or world bests in either an indoor or outdoor 12 km.[32] The Association of Road Racing Statisticians, a non-regulatory group that collects road running data, does recognize world records in the outdoor 12 km provided that the race course meets certain criteria.[33][34] In order to rule-out the possibility of wind assistancein point-to-point courses, the ARRS stipulates that the course must have “not more than 30% of the race distance separation between that start and finish”, or 3.6 km for a 12 km race.[34] Given that the Bay to Breakers is run on a point-to-point course in which the start and finish of the event are approximately 10.5 linear kilometers apart, the ARRS recognizes two other marks as 12 km world records: Kenyan Simon Kigen‘s 33:46 in Portland, Oregon on May 19, 1985 and Chepkurui’s 38:10 at the 2010Lilac Bloomsday Run.[33][nb 2]
3. MOST PEOPLE _DON’T_ PAY THE ABSURDLY HIGH REGISTRATION FEE. MOST PEOPLE YOU SEE ARE “BANDITS”
HERE’S THE OFFICIAL ESTIMATE: “…more than in the hundreds but less than tens of thousands.” THE REAL NUMBER IS TENS OF THOUSANDS.
“The Bay to Breakers is known for the large number of unregistered runners, or “bandits”, who participate in the race. Ross Mirkarimi, a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, reported that over half of the 60,000 participants in the 2010 Bay to Breakers were unregistered.[19] San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom was among the runners in 2010 who did not pay the registration fee to obtain a race number.[19][22] Registered participation was 24,430 in 2010,[23] 43,954 in 2011,[24] 23,072 for 2012,[25], and approximately 20,000 for 2013.[26]“
Tags: $100, (First Sequence), 12k, 2, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 22, 250, 34:15, 38:07, 5 fulton, 7, 97th, 98th, aftermath, aggies, alcohol, alix rosenthal, altitude, annual, anschutz, avatar, b2b, bacon, bad, Bay, bay area, bay to breakers, bay2breakers, beer, Blue, body, boycott, breakers, bud light, c. w., caffeine, california, canister, cannister, Carol Norris, cars, carts, centipede, champagne, channel, Chepkurui, chp, chris fox, Cigarettes, citizens, Citizens for the Preservation of Bay2Breakers, Clare Cooke, coffee, colt 45, Conor Johnston, cops, corrals, CPBB, crawlsf, cups, david scott, David William Scott, davis, department, dept., destroyed, direct, district, divisadero, divisidero, dj, dmv, dpw, drink, drive, drugs, Duck, dumpsters, EaPA, ecstacy, edelman, Edward Sharpless, Elite, eventbrite, facebook, fell, First, floats, footrace, footstock, foto, free, fun and Buzzed, Fun and Buzzed Bay to Breakers, fundraiser, gabe, ganga, garbage, gavilanes, Gavin, glass, golden gate park, good, Gorilla, Greater Body Expo, haight Ashbury, hayes, Hayes street hill, highest point, highway patrol, howard, Human Centipede, Human Centipede (First Sequence), ing, jfk, John, John Gray, Jon Dishotsky, kegs, Kelsey Nagie, kennedy, kgo, KGO-TV, killer b, Kipsang, Korir, lady foot locker, Lineth, Lineth Chepkurui, Linked In, linkedin, liquor, Liz Brusca, lot, malt liquor, map, Matt Seliga, mdma ex, Men's, Mike Moscuzza, monster energy, Muni, na'vi, naked, nat ford, Nevius, Newsom, nicotine, nimby, nimbys, nitrous, nude, oxide, paint, panhandle, paper, parking, permit, photographs, photos, pink, plastic, police, police department, poster, pr, prayer book cross, preservation, profile, public relations, purple, race, recycling, red, results, richmond, roe, ross mirkarimi, route profile, sam singer, Sammy Kitwara, San Francisco, San Francisco Natives, San Francisco Natives for a Fun and Buzzed Bay to Breakers, SF, SFPD, sign, smell, smoove, spuds mckenzie, store, Stow lake, strawberry hill, street, sunset, thomas, tickets, tom, Tommy, Tommy the Pink Gorilla, towed, trash, TV, uc davis, ugly, university, vehicles, whippets, Wilson Ling, wine, women's, won, zaq, zero tolerance
Posted in events | No Comments »
Friday, May 17th, 2013
I’ll tell you, I’m not exactly sure when the tow away signs went up for this year’s historic Bay to Breakers street party – maybe it was today.
No matter, hundreds of cars are going to get towed this Saturday and Sunday.
It’s going to be epic.
Here are the streets to not park your car upon.
Sometimes they give you a week’s notice, but not this year I don’t think.
Click to expand
Let’s review.
Before we can have this…
…or this…
From hard-working Steve Nguyen
…we’re going to have to have this:
(I remember it as if it were just two years ago…)
“The Great Tow of 2011:
One car gets away in the nick of time, but three others aren’t so lucky:
Ted and Al’s had like ten yellow tow trucks ready to go late Saturday night, in the driving rain. (Note how Bank of America is protecting its windows – the IndyBay crowd got to them, smashy smashy, about a year or so back, unrelated to Bay to Breakers.)
Now, speaking of prêt-à-porters, this is the main body, this is the largest array for the Golden Gate Park Panhandle:
And here’s the second-biggest grouping, along Masonic:
And there are some on the other side of Fell, typically in groups of six on some of the blocks.
But that’s it.
Not sure where B2B is hiding their 1000+ portable toilets claimed for 2011, at this point, just hours before the Kenyans take off on their winning runs.
Oh well.
And there’s no sign of the fencing neither, except for what they have every year.
We’ll see.
The Great Fence of B2B100 is supposed to have upon it either images of Christ hand-selected by P. Anschutz or photos of people who ran the race before white NIMBYs moved into the Western Addition. (You’ll have to tell me about it…). Anyway, here’s the baby fencing they have on scene already along with, and isn’t this cute, a message from San Francisco Natives for a Fun and Buzzed Bay to Breakers. Apparently, the cops can’t arrest for an open container in San Francisco…
And doesn’t this just break your heart – this Vespa scooter has been forgotten on the slopes of the famed Hayes Street Hill, the second highest point on the “racecourse.” Will Auto-Return charge $700 for its return?
Remember, Transit First.
All right, have a great Bay to Breakers 100!
Tags: $100, (First Sequence), 12k, 2, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 22, 250, 34:15, 38:07, 5 fulton, 7, 97th, 98th, aftermath, aggies, alcohol, alix rosenthal, altitude, annual, anschutz, avatar, b2b, bacon, bad, Bay, bay area, bay to breakers, bay2breakers, beer, Blue, body, boycott, breakers, bud light, c. w., caffeine, california, canister, cannister, Carol Norris, cars, carts, centipede, champagne, channel, Chepkurui, chp, chris fox, Cigarettes, citizens, Citizens for the Preservation of Bay2Breakers, Clare Cooke, coffee, colt 45, Conor Johnston, cops, corrals, CPBB, crawlsf, cups, david scott, David William Scott, davis, department, dept., destroyed, direct, district, divisadero, divisidero, dj, dmv, dpw, drink, drive, drugs, Duck, dumpsters, EaPA, ecstacy, edelman, Edward Sharpless, Elite, eventbrite, facebook, fell, First, floats, footrace, footstock, foto, free, fun and Buzzed, Fun and Buzzed Bay to Breakers, fundraiser, gabe, ganga, garbage, gavilanes, Gavin, glass, golden gate park, good, Gorilla, Greater Body Expo, haight Ashbury, hayes, Hayes street hill, highest point, highway patrol, howard, Human Centipede, Human Centipede (First Sequence), ing, jfk, John, John Gray, Jon Dishotsky, kegs, Kelsey Nagie, kennedy, kgo, KGO-TV, killer b, Kipsang, Korir, lady foot locker, Lineth, Lineth Chepkurui, Linked In, linkedin, liquor, Liz Brusca, lot, malt liquor, map, Matt Seliga, mdma ex, Men's, Mike Moscuzza, monster energy, Muni, na'vi, naked, nat ford, Nevius, Newsom, nicotine, nimby, nimbys, nitrous, nude, oxide, paint, panhandle, paper, parking, permit, photographs, photos, pink, plastic, police, police department, poster, pr, prayer book cross, preservation, profile, public relations, purple, race, recycling, red, results, richmond, roe, ross mirkarimi, route profile, sam singer, Sammy Kitwara, San Francisco, San Francisco Natives, San Francisco Natives for a Fun and Buzzed Bay to Breakers, SF, SFPD, sign, smell, smoove, spuds mckenzie, store, Stow lake, strawberry hill, street, sunset, thomas, tickets, tom, Tommy, Tommy the Pink Gorilla, towed, trash, TV, uc davis, ugly, university, vehicles, whippets, Wilson Ling, wine, women's, won, zaq, zero tolerance
Posted in sports | No Comments »
Saturday, June 2nd, 2012
I’ll tell you, San Francisco doesn’t have too many Republicans but they manage to come out in force during Steve Restivo’s annual Union Street Eco Urban (or is it Urban Eco?) Street Festival.
I can just about assure that the Mitt Romney people will on the scene and out in force, with the ironing boards and whatnot – like this guy:
All right now here’s your Union Street Festival Decision Tree:
“1. Is it sunny outside?
2. Can you stand crowds of overgrown sorority girls and fraternity boys?
3. Can you stand crowded beer gardens filled with the aforementioned?
If you answered yes to the above, proceed to the Union Street Festival. “
Dude, harsh!
But here’s the retort, from a party-lover, here’s the other side of this perfect dramaturgical dyad:
“SORRY FOR:
(1) PARTYING AND HAVING FUN AT A FESTIVAL
(2) NOT BEING A GRANDMA, and
(3) LIVING LIFE A LITTLE.”
So there you go.
The alcohol drinking used to be totally wide open, and then things got toned down a bit, and now I think even the walled-off beer “gardens” are gone. But you can always join one of the annual beer-fueled house parties, why not?
All right, let’s travel back to years past – here are some shots from yesteryear:
“Now here’s what’s funny when the so-called neighbors who own houses near traditional San Francisco street parties, like the Bay to Breakers Fun Run and the Union Street Festival. Inevitably, some of the actual neighbors, the people what live on the street itself, throw open their doors for anything-goes, beer-fueled house parties.
Anyway, today Andrea Koskey has the news about how there will be no more beer gardens at the Union Street Festival 2011, prompting this response from Serg of the Uptown Almanac:
“Yeah because rock and fucking roll brings the “wilder element.” Yeah I bet it must be nuts when your heehaw ass festival gets raided by tall-can wielding dave matthews fans. Ain’t no dancing in this town bitches! We want to sell shitty ass freeway artwork and braclets made out of old rocks and trash to senior citizens and sweater knots. Fucking dumb asses chewing on shitty grilled meat on a stick can’t hang out in beer gardens or do whatever dumb fucking bullshit it is that they do on their lame ass stoops on Union st. Union street can suck my balls, that shit has been herbfest from the gate, amatuer hour trainwreck can stay gone.”
O.K. then.
All right, get your house partay tickets or invites now. (It’ll be a piece of cake if you are popular/cute enough.)
The perils of post-adolescent Union Street Fest shotgunning. The front of this house faces Union:
That entire residence was filled to the brim with partiers in 2008. Ah, memories.
All right, see you there, or not.
Now enjoy a trip down Union Street Festival Memory Lane:
This thing is biiiig – it will take you a long time to wander about Union:
You know who proved popular was Tom Rigney, “electric violinist, Cajun fiddler, composer, graphic artist, and leader of the American roots music band, Tom Rigney and Flambeau.”
Best in Show – Candy Wrapper Handbags, something like this, as seen on Oprah
Micro cupcakes continue their dominance over the cuisine of the late aughts
Your streetfest four basic food groups are poultry (including turkey legs, they’re not just for renaissance festivals anymore), corn on the cob, couscous (not pictured) and garlic fries (not pictured).
2.5 star-rated Left at Albuquerque [sadly closed now, I think] offered crowd-pleasing beer towers to sidewalk diners:
Now they’re renting out A2B electric scooters to tourists. Do people really ride these things on the Golden Gate Bridge sidewalks at 20 per back and forth to Sausalito? People do. Anyway, Blazing Saddles bike rentals was offering test drives.
Suds on the Roof, but much less than in years past. I think a man partying outdoors feels more like a man if he can have a red cup of suds.
“Eco-Urban” Union Street featured a hell of a lot of gas powered Honda generators, but this year, not so much. Originally, I thought this distribution amplifier was a box full of car batteries, but now I’m at a loss at figuring out how this band got its power. If they had a generator, they hid it well.
What’s this?
It’s an overhead extention cord leading from a Union Street business to one of the food vendors in the middle of the street. Is that an extension cord being used as internal wiring? Cough electrical code cough.
Oh, there it is! One of at least two Hondas in operation today.
But at least all the amplified music won’t disturb this slumbering. ear-protected pooch.
It’s big, in’nt?
And here’s the lateral view from our most-polarizing street fest yesterday, the day with “fewer hooligans” drinking beer according to at least one Sunday attendee:
I’ll tell you, myself, I didn’t see too many “drunken douchebags.” Myself. Anyway, it’s nice to see Union busy for a change.
Lots of swag from our corporate overlords at this street faire:
All right, here are a few of the Repubs. Yes on B and Fix MUNI Now were a few of their issues:
And here are some more. These people were promoting Dana Walsh (no, not the character on 24 and not this cutie, oh no – the Republican Dana Walsh).
As usual, the West End was strictly for kids:
And dogs, of course:
Fandango let people take two free spins on their unfairly-weighted (aka loaded, gaffed, cogged, weighted, crooked, or gag) swag roulette wheel – that was a mistake. Scored a bumper sticker the first try and then a precious $50 credit code the second. Bonus.
And of course, another Mini MUNI Meltdown, right on sked:
Tags: 1760 union, 2010, 2011, 2012, 6, 6th, 7, 7th, annual, banned, bay area, beer bong, beer garden, beergarden, bicycle, bike, bio-hybrid, boycott, california, cancelled, concept car, cow hollow, drinking, eco, eco-urban, electric, fair, faire, fest, Festival, fillmore, generators, gough, green, house, james lipton, june, LLC, mnarina, party, photos, rental, Restivo, saab, San Francisco, SF, shot gun, shot gunning, shotgun, shotgunning, steiner, stephen, Stephen Restivo, Steve, Steve Restivo, Steven, Steven Restivo, street, Tom Rigney, union, union street, union street festival, upscale, urban, yuppies
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Wednesday, October 5th, 2011
Well, after saying it was going to do so, the cell phone industry is actually suing us.
All the deets are below.
The friendly face of the Cellular Telephone Industries Association, aka CITA, The Wireless Association. This fellow has a big beef with our little town.
CITA Vice President of Public Affairs John Walls
“CTIA-The Wireless Association® Files Challenge to San Francisco’s “Cell Phone Right-to-Know” Ordinance
WASHINGTON, Oct. 4, 2011 – Today, CTIA-The Wireless Association® asked a federal court to block the enforcement of San Francisco’s “Cell Phone Right-to-Know” ordinance. CTIA’s challenge argues that the Ordinance is barred under the First Amendment and conflicts with federal law governing the safety of wireless devices.
As CTIA explains in its motion, the Ordinance requires retailers to distribute misleading statements and graphics that send the false message that cell phones approved by the FCC are not safe. In fact, the FCC limits radiofrequency emissions from cell phones to ensure that phones sold in the U.S. emit RF energy far below levels shown in scientific testing to have any adverse health effects. The FCC’s standard includes a wide margin of safety for all users. Last year the FDA categorically concluded that there is “No Evidence Linking Cell Phone Use to Risk of Brain Tumors,” and earlier this year the Chairman of the FCC, Julius Genachowski, said that he was “confident that [the FCC's] standards are protecting the health of people.”
CTIA-The Wireless Association Vice President of Public Affairs John Walls released the following statement:
“The materials the City would require be posted and handed out at retail stores are both alarmist and false. The FCC and FDA have repeatedly found that cell phone use does not pose a danger to human health. The Ordinance recommends such things as turning the phone off when not in use, a suggestion that would render critical emergency communications unavailable to San Francisco residents.”
More deets after the jump
(more…)
Tags: 2010, 2011, association, bay area, block, board, boycott, california, cell phone, Cell Phone Right-to-Know, Cellular Telephone Industries Association, Cellular Telephone Industries Association Enterprise and Applications, chief, Chief Deputy Communications Director, cita, city attorney, communications, county, dennis herrera, Deputy, director, ed lee, emissions, enforcement, fcc, federal, first amendment, fromer, gavin newsom, green, health, John Walls, Julius Genachowski, Mayor, ordinance, radiation, rf, San Francisco, skateboard, supervisors, Vice President of Public Affairs, vote, VP, wireless
Posted in law | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 6th, 2011
This is what you can see inside Strybing Arboretum this time of year:
Click to expand
And outside, what you’ll see are a bunch of tourists debating the merits of paying $28 or whatever to enter the gates. Usually, they walk off dejectedly.
Oh well.
Tags: 16, 2009, 2010, 2011, 21, admission, Ann Cameron, april, arboretum, Arden Bucklin-Sporer, arpil 21, battle, bay area, bechtel, beverage, Bill Gaede, Blue bamboo, board, board of supervisors, booth, booths, botanical, botanical garden, boycott, brent dennis, california, cashier, Chair, Chuck Davis, City Hall, civil war, commission, commissioner, Corporation, County Fair Building, Cynthia Anderson, Cynthia Jamplis, Denis Mosgofian, department, director, directors, district, Don Baldocchi, dr., Dr. James Kohn, eric mar, Eva Monroe, EX OFFICIO, facebook, Family, fee, fees, food, Frank Almeda, Garden, gavin newsom, golden gate park, great, Himalayacalamus, Himalayacalamus hookerianus, Himalayan Blue, Hookerianus, inner, Isa Mary Ziegler, jared blumenfeld, Jennifer Bowles, jim lazarus, Joseph Barbaccia, KALW, Kevin Leong, kiosk, kiosks, lawn, Margie Ellis, master plan, may 28, Mayor, meeting, Member at large, Michael McKechnie, Monica A. Martin, museum, non-residents, park, parks, Phil Schlein, Philip Schlein, public, radio, rec, rec and park, recreation, recreation and park, recreation parks, residents, richmond, Robert Leitstein, Rose Aguilar, ross mirkarimi, rpd, San Francisco, San Francisco Botanical Garden, save, secretary, Society, sponsorship, strbing arboretum, strybing, Strybing Arboretum, suggested, sunset, Supervisor, ticket, Tony Farrell, Treasurer, TRUSTEES, vendor, Vice Chair, Victoria johnson, vote, Wally Wertsch, Wendy Tonkin, William Gaede, workshop, zombies, “Honey” Johnson
Posted in flora, parks | No Comments »
Thursday, June 16th, 2011
Why does our Strybing Arboretum (aka San Francisco Botanical Garden) need to become “world-class?”
Nobody’s ever explained that one to me. But that’s the rationale for charging admission these days (after six decades of free admission.)
Now, why isn’t our Strybing Arboretum called Strybing Arboretum anymore?
So it can become “world-class.” (Apparently, naming an arboretum after the woman who gave the money to start things up is considered provincial Back East. Plus Founder Helene Strybing made the mistake of becoming old and dying so nobody gives a ROMEO ALPHA about her anymore.)
Anyway, they started charging admission so the place turned into a ghost town, a “museum of plants and trees.”
Click to expand
Oh well.
They said if things didn’t work out, they’d stop charging admission.
They said.
Tags: 16, 2009, 2010, 2011, 21, admission, Ann Cameron, april, arboretum, Arden Bucklin-Sporer, arpil 21, battle, bay area, bechtel, beverage, Bill Gaede, Blue bamboo, board, board of supervisors, booth, booths, botanical, botanical garden, boycott, brent dennis, california, cashier, Chair, Chuck Davis, City Hall, civil war, commission, commissioner, Corporation, County Fair Building, Cynthia Anderson, Cynthia Jamplis, Denis Mosgofian, department, director, directors, district, Don Baldocchi, dr., Dr. James Kohn, eric mar, Eva Monroe, EX OFFICIO, facebook, Family, fee, fees, food, Frank Almeda, Garden, gavin newsom, golden gate park, great, Himalayacalamus, Himalayacalamus hookerianus, Himalayan Blue, Hookerianus, inner, Isa Mary Ziegler, jared blumenfeld, Jennifer Bowles, jim lazarus, Joseph Barbaccia, KALW, Kevin Leong, kiosk, kiosks, lawn, Margie Ellis, master plan, may 28, Mayor, meeting, Member at large, Michael McKechnie, Monica A. Martin, museum, non-residents, park, parks, Phil Schlein, Philip Schlein, public, radio, rec, rec and park, recreation, recreation and park, recreation parks, residents, richmond, Robert Leitstein, Rose Aguilar, ross mirkarimi, rpd, San Francisco, San Francisco Botanical Garden, save, secretary, Society, sponsorship, strbing arboretum, strybing, Strybing Arboretum, suggested, sunset, Supervisor, ticket, Tony Farrell, Treasurer, TRUSTEES, vendor, Vice Chair, Victoria johnson, vote, Wally Wertsch, Wendy Tonkin, William Gaede, workshop, zombies, “Honey” Johnson
Posted in parks | No Comments »
Friday, June 10th, 2011
Here are your deets for the new ticket booths at the San Francisco Botanical Garden:
59K for kiosks
And here’s your bill:
And here’s what they look like. Yes, there’s a bathroom in there:
Click to expand
Myself, I haven’t been back into Strybing (except to poke my head in to see how few people are there) since they started charging admission.
Maybe I’ll visit again when they stop charging…
But these booths need hawkers, you know, just like the strip clubs in North Beach. Why don’t you sign up?
You’ll need sales skills of course. Check out the job posting below.
BTW, your pay as a “Garden Ambassador” will be $9.92 below minimum wage (aka nothing) and your commission will be zero (0) percent. (Can you imagine what hawkers would do on slow days if they got paid a commish of one dollar per entry ticket? OMG,
“Description
Greet visitors at the North Gate of the Botanical Garden and encourage them to visit this outstanding garden. Many visitors approach the admissions kiosk and don’t know about the amazing garden that lies just beyond the gates.
Skills
Requirements
Willingness to approach the public. Ability to communicate effectively and persuasively. Sincere desire to share basic knowledge about the Garden. Genuine love and appreciation for the SF Botanical Garden.”
Tags: 16, 2009, 2010, 2011, 21, admission, Ann Cameron, april, arboretum, Arden Bucklin-Sporer, arpil 21, battle, bay area, bechtel, beverage, Bill Gaede, Blue bamboo, board, board of supervisors, booth, booths, botanical, botanical garden, boycott, brent dennis, california, cashier, Chair, Chuck Davis, City Hall, civil war, commission, commissioner, Corporation, County Fair Building, Cynthia Anderson, Cynthia Jamplis, Denis Mosgofian, department, director, directors, district, Don Baldocchi, dr., Dr. James Kohn, eric mar, Eva Monroe, EX OFFICIO, facebook, Family, fee, fees, food, Frank Almeda, Garden, gavin newsom, golden gate park, great, Himalayacalamus, Himalayacalamus hookerianus, Himalayan Blue, Hookerianus, inner, Isa Mary Ziegler, jared blumenfeld, Jennifer Bowles, jim lazarus, Joseph Barbaccia, KALW, Kevin Leong, kiosk, kiosks, lawn, Margie Ellis, master plan, may 28, Mayor, meeting, Member at large, Michael McKechnie, Monica A. Martin, museum, non-residents, park, parks, Phil Schlein, Philip Schlein, public, radio, rec, rec and park, recreation, recreation and park, recreation parks, residents, richmond, Robert Leitstein, Rose Aguilar, ross mirkarimi, rpd, San Francisco, San Francisco Botanical Garden, save, secretary, Society, sponsorship, strbing arboretum, strybing, Strybing Arboretum, suggested, sunset, Supervisor, ticket, Tony Farrell, Treasurer, TRUSTEES, vendor, Vice Chair, Victoria johnson, vote, Wally Wertsch, Wendy Tonkin, William Gaede, workshop, zombies, “Honey” Johnson
Posted in parks | 3 Comments »
Friday, June 3rd, 2011
Just so you know.
Click here to get an idea on what to expect on Union Street in the Cow Hollow / Marina this weekend, June 4-5, 2011.
But keep in mind that you will be venturing onto the northern slopes of NIMBY Mountain, the Fortress of Reaction, you’ll be dealing with the Specific Whites of Pacific Heights Adjacent, so forget about walking around with an open container all obvious the way you can at other City-sanctioned bacchanalia.
You gotta be sly fox, like this gal. The SFPD is totally cool with this:
Click to expand
Great. Now you’re all set to party with the attractive denizens of the Marina, where even the fat slobs are appealing in a Jack Black / Judd Apatow kind of way.
I can’t believe this video documenting life on Fillmore Street was pulled from YouTube. (This screengrab still looks like a movie still to me.)
Oh well.
(Oh, and by the way Union Street Festival, you might be Urban, but you’re not Eco, not in the least, especially because everything’s Eco in 2011. Just so you know.)
And oh kids, stay out of the West End of Union, as that’s reserved for the little ones. Party People should stay on the other side of Fillmore.
Have fun…
Tags: 1760 union, 2010, 2011, 6, 6th, 7, 7th, annual, banned, bay area, beer bong, beer garden, beergarden, bicycle, bike, bio-hybrid, boycott, california, cancelled, concept car, cow hollow, drinking, eco, eco-urban, electric, fair, faire, fest, Festival, fillmore, generators, gough, green, house, june, LLC, mnarina, party, photos, rental, Restivo, San Francisco, SF, shot gun, shot gunning, shotgun, shotgunning, steiner, stephen, Stephen Restivo, Steve, Steve Restivo, Steven, Steven Restivo, street, Tom Rigney, union, union street, union street festival, upscale, urban, yuppies
Posted in art, events, food and drink | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 25th, 2011
Now here’s what’s funny when the so-called neighbors who own houses near traditional San Francisco street parties, like the Bay to Breakers Fun Run and the Union Street Festival, complain about traditional San Francisco street parties like the Bay to Breakers Fun Run and the Union Street Festival. Inevitably, some of the actual neighbors, the people what live on the street itself, throw open their doors for anything-goes, beer-fueled house parties.
Anyway, today Andrea Koskey has the news about how there will be no more beer gardens at the Union Street Festival 2011, prompting this response from Serg of the Uptown Almanac:
“Yeah because rock and fucking roll brings the “wilder element.” Yeah I bet it must be nuts when your heehaw ass festival gets raided by tall can weilding dave matthews fans. Ain’t know dancing in this town bitches! We want to sell shitty ass freeway artwork and braclets made out of old rocks and trash to senior citizens and sweater knots. Fucking dumb asses chewing on shitty grilled meat on a stick can’t hang out in beer gardens or do whatever dumb fucking bullshit it is that they do on their lame ass stoops on Union st. Union street can suck my balls, that shit has been herbfest from the gate, amatuer hour trainwreck can stay gone.”
O.K. then.
All right, get your house partay tickets or invites now. (It’ll be a piece of cake if you are popular/cute enough.)
The perils of post-adolescent Union Street Fest shotgunning. The front of this house faces Union:
That entire residence was filled to the brim with partiers in 2008. Ah, memories.
All right, see you there, or not.
Now enjoy a trip down Union Street Festival Memory Lane:
This thing is biiiig – it will take you a long time to wander about Union:
You know who proved popular was Tom Rigney, “electric violinist, Cajun fiddler, composer, graphic artist, and leader of the American roots music band, Tom Rigney and Flambeau.”
Best in Show – Candy Wrapper Handbags, something like this, as seen on Oprah
Micro cupcakes continue their dominance over the cuisine of the late aughts
Your streetfest four basic food groups are poultry (including turkey legs, they’re not just for renaissance festivals anymore), corn on the cob, couscous (not pictured) and garlic fries (not pictured).
2.5 star-rated Left at Albuquerque [sadly closed now, I think] offered crowd-pleasing beer towers to sidewalk diners:
Now they’re renting out A2B electric scooters to tourists. Do people really ride these things on the Golden Gate Bridge sidewalks at 20 per back and forth to Sausalito? People do. Anyway, Blazing Saddles bike rentals was offering test drives.
Suds on the Roof, but much less than in years past. I think a man partying outdoors feels more like a man if he can have a red cup of suds.
“Eco-Urban” Union Street featured a hell of a lot of gas powered Honda generators, but this year, not so much. Originally, I thought this distribution amplifier was a box full of car batteries, but now I’m at a loss at figuring out how this band got its power. If they had a generator, they hid it well.
What’s this?
It’s an overhead extention cord leading from a Union Street business to one of the food vendors in the middle of the street. Is that an extension cord being used as internal wiring? Cough electrical code cough.
Oh, there it is! One of at least two Hondas in operation today.
But at least all the amplified music won’t disturb this slumbering. ear-protected pooch.
It’s big, in’nt?
And here’s the lateral view from our most-polarizing street fest yesterday, the day with “fewer hooligans” drinking beer according to at least one Sunday attendee:
I’ll tell you, myself, I didn’t see too many “drunken douchebags.” Myself. Anyway, it’s nice to see Union busy for a change.
Lots of swag from our corporate overlords at this street faire:
All right, here are a few of the Repubs. Yes on B and Fix MUNI Now were a few of their issues:
And here are some more. These people were promoting Dana Walsh (no, not the character on 24 and not this cutie, oh no – the Republican Dana Walsh).
As usual, the West End was strictly for kids:
And dogs, of course:
Fandango let people take two free spins on their unfairly-weighted (aka loaded, gaffed, cogged, weighted, crooked, or gag) swag roulette wheel – that was a mistake. Scored a bumper sticker the first try and then a precious $50 credit code the second. Bonus.
And of course, another Mini MUNI Meltdown, right on sked:
Tags: 1760 union, 2010, 2011, 6, 6th, 7, 7th, annual, banned, bay area, beer bong, beer garden, beergarden, bicycle, bike, bio-hybrid, boycott, california, cancelled, concept car, cow hollow, drinking, eco, eco-urban, electric, fair, faire, fest, Festival, fillmore, generators, gough, green, house, june, LLC, mnarina, party, photos, rental, Restivo, San Francisco, SF, shot gun, shot gunning, shotgun, shotgunning, steiner, stephen, Stephen Restivo, Steve, Steve Restivo, Steven, Steven Restivo, street, Tom Rigney, union, union street, union street festival, upscale, urban, yuppies
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Sunday, May 15th, 2011
Now remember, personal headphones are legal at today’s Bay to Breakers 100, but nudity is not – or is that the other way round? No matter, as long as you spectators can make it to Hayes Street Hill and the Panhandle area in the Western Addition, you’ll be sure to catch the action.
Why do they call the somewhat corrupt company what tows away your car “Auto Return?” They ought to call themselves Auto Take-away, right?
One car gets away in the nick of time, but three others aren’t so lucky:
Ted and Al’s had like ten yellow tow trucks ready to go late Saturday night, in the driving rain. (Note how Bank of America is protecting its windows – the IndyBay crowd got to them, smashy smashy, about a year or so back, unrelated to Bay to Breakers.)
Now, speaking of prêt-à-porters, this is the main body, this is the largest array for the Golden Gate Park Panhandle:
And here’s the second-biggest grouping, along Masonic:
And there are some on the other side of Fell, typically in groups of six on some of the blocks.
But that’s it.
Not sure where B2B is hiding their 1000+ portable toilets claimed for 2011, at this point, just hours before the Kenyans take off on their winning runs.
Oh well.
And there’s no sign of the fencing neither, except for what they have every year.
We’ll see.
The Great Fence of B2B100 is supposed to have upon it either images of Christ hand-selected by P. Anschutz or photos of people who ran the race before white NIMBYs moved into the Western Addition. (You’ll have to tell me about it…). Anyway, here’s the baby fencing they have on scene already along with, and isn’t this cute, a message from San Francisco Natives for a Fun and Buzzed Bay to Breakers. Apparently, the cops can’t arrest for an open container in San Francisco…
And doesn’t this just break your heart – this Vespa scooter has been forgotten on the slopes of the famed Hayes Street Hill, the second highest point on the “racecourse.” Will Auto-Return charge $700 for its return?
Remember, Transit First.
All right, have a great Bay to Breakers 100!
Tags: $100, (First Sequence), 12k, 2, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 22, 250, 34:15, 38:07, 5 fulton, 7, 97th, 98th, aftermath, aggies, alcohol, alix rosenthal, altitude, annual, anschutz, avatar, b2b, bacon, bad, Bay, bay area, bay to breakers, bay2breakers, beer, Blue, body, boycott, breakers, bud light, c. w., caffeine, california, canister, cannister, Carol Norris, cars, carts, centipede, champagne, channel, Chepkurui, chp, chris fox, Cigarettes, citizens, Citizens for the Preservation of Bay2Breakers, Clare Cooke, coffee, colt 45, Conor Johnston, cops, corrals, CPBB, crawlsf, cups, david scott, David William Scott, davis, department, dept., destroyed, direct, district, divisadero, divisidero, dj, dmv, dpw, drink, drive, drugs, Duck, dumpsters, EaPA, ecstacy, edelman, Edward Sharpless, Elite, eventbrite, facebook, fell, First, floats, footrace, footstock, foto, free, fun and Buzzed, Fun and Buzzed Bay to Breakers, fundraiser, gabe, ganga, garbage, gavilanes, Gavin, glass, golden gate park, good, Gorilla, Greater Body Expo, haight Ashbury, hayes, Hayes street hill, highest point, highway patrol, howard, Human Centipede, Human Centipede (First Sequence), ing, jfk, John, John Gray, Jon Dishotsky, kegs, Kelsey Nagie, kennedy, kgo, KGO-TV, killer b, Kipsang, Korir, lady foot locker, Lineth, Lineth Chepkurui, Linked In, linkedin, liquor, Liz Brusca, lot, malt liquor, map, Matt Seliga, mdma ex, Men's, Mike Moscuzza, monster energy, Muni, na'vi, naked, nat ford, Nevius, Newsom, nicotine, nimby, nimbys, nitrous, nude, oxide, paint, panhandle, paper, parking, permit, photographs, photos, pink, plastic, police, police department, poster, pr, prayer book cross, preservation, profile, public relations, purple, race, recycling, red, results, richmond, roe, ross mirkarimi, route profile, sam singer, Sammy Kitwara, San Francisco, San Francisco Natives, San Francisco Natives for a Fun and Buzzed Bay to Breakers, SFPD, sign, smell, smoove, spuds mckenzie, store, Stow lake, strawberry hill, street, sunset, thomas, tickets, tom, Tommy, Tommy the Pink Gorilla, towed, trash, TV, uc davis, ugly, university, vehicles, whippets, Wilson Ling, wine, women's, won, zaq, zero tolerance
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