The San Francisco Citizen

This is what our small version of the the Marine Corps War Memorial looks like from Interstate 80 in Tormey, Contra Costa County.

“Vince Ramos of Crockett guesses he has captured the essence of what someone gazing at Mount Suribachi on the Pacific island of Iwo Jima on Feb. 23, 1945, would have seen. The tall hill in Tormey, west of Interstate 80 and just north of the Cummings Skyway, is home to Ramos’ replica of the celebrated flag-raising. The statue is a tribute to his late brother, Fernando, a U.S. Marine who served on Iwo Jima, the site of one of World War II’s bloodiest battles.”

You might notice it if you look up from the freeway near the Carquinez Bridge.

This is your chance to own beautiful Red Rock Island, now listed for just $22 million by Santa Rosa’s Steven Higbee. Imagine owning your own private Alcatraz! Per the shill:

…the ONLY privately held island in the San Francisco Bay….out of the fog belt just south of the San Rafael/ Richmond Bridge…six acres, 175 feet high…views spectacular…just eight miles to Fisherman’s Wharf…

If you lived here, you’d be home by now 

You want. Make an offer why not? You’d only have to sell 38,000 shares at current valuations. Then you’d be a part of history and NPR would want to put you on the FM radio too.

What’s in it for you? Well, you could try to develop it.  Might be a bit of a hassle dealing with three different counties but think of all the manganese you’d be able to sell after you’re done leveling the island with dynamite or something. You’d make big bucks.

Plus, they’ll probably even throw in the island’s home page to sweeten the deal. The website has all the photos you’d want of your new home. 

Perché no? 

This is no mere ribbon cutting ceremony to open a new $429 million section of freeway approaching the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge. Oh no.

The last step to opening this short but vital stretch of superslab involved Governor Schwarzenegger, cowboy boots, sunglasses and a big blow torch.

[Update: or welding torch, or cutting torch (based upon the O2 trigger) - Arnie's tool is an oxy-fuel welder of some kind, as commenter Doc helpfully points out. Arnie's sunglasses actually are sunglasses, but you could say that they were being used as goggles. The light coming from chain didn't seem all that bright compared to arc welding or whatever. FYI]

Enjoy your new freeway, San Francisco!

Higher rez version after the jump.

(more…)

After last night’s Earth Hour of partial darkness from 8:00-9:00 PM, the lights on the “architectural necklace” of the western span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge came back to life on the north side first. (Unfortunately, didn’t get a look at the troubled eastern span last night - it was probably darkened also.) 

You can get the idea of the effect of Earth Hour 2008 in San Francisco by looking at these before and after shots of the Ferry Building taken by talented local photographer Mona Brooks.  

The lights on the suspension cables of the western span of one of the busiest bridges in the world are just for decoration, not for navigation safety or whatever. Pretty. They sure make a big difference to the look of San Francisco at night when they are turned off.

Question: Turning off these decorative lights for an hour saves enough electricity to power Al Gore’s house (his actual house, not his San Francisco condo in SOMA that’s visible on the right) for how many minutes?

Answer: About 13 minutes. Let’s work on that math, after the jump.

(more…)