I’ll tell you, the lighted Christmas snowflakes of Market Street used to stop just past Fifth Street, because, you know, who cares about Mid Market?
Well, these days, the lighted Christmas snowflakes of Market Street make it all the way to 7th Street, AFAICS.
See?
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Hurray!
Here we go, at the foot of Market Street, near the first of a long line of stalled MUNI streetcars and buses.
Oh, it’s time to burn Old Glory:
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Oh, what’s that? Focus? All right.
Dude was carrying an assortment of … devices?
There was a message written in blue on this particular flag, but I don’t know what it said. And there might have been a few skid marks on it as well.
Of course the SFPD was keeping an close eye on things, so they had some uniformed officers swoop in to recover the victim:
But only Gaia knows who brought this flag to CM and who set it afire.
I’ll note that most Critical Mass participants don’t burn American flags…
Here’s the reverse-angle, at night, from Market Street near the Union Square Apple Store.
It’s the giant neon sign for our long-closed Virgin Megastore:
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Now didn’t I talk about this just last month? So why is this sign still burning brightly 24-7? There’s no actual Megasto any mo, right? Has this store sign become an ad for the Virgin Empire? Does somebody turn the sign off on Christmas to honor the Baby Jesus ‘n stuff? Does the City and County of San Francisco pay for the juice to power it?
I know not.
You see, our world-class City (go ahead, Google the terms ”ed lee” “world class” right now) used to have a world-class Virgin Megastore at the world-class intersection of world-class Market Street and world-class Stockton Street.
But then our Virgin reka sto shut down, a while ago, actually.
But now the sign is still burning brightly, wasting the electricity that San Francisco stole from the rest of California fair and square back when Hetch Hetchy got built.
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Bon courage, Virgin Megastore sign.
May you shine forever.
Here’s how things looked last night on Market Street, with all the streetlights and giant snowflakes turned off for some reason.
Oh, baby, that’s dark:
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Could it have something to do with the jury-rigged, frat-house-style wiring our City Family uses?
I know not.
When, oh when, will our Path of Gold glitter once again?
Apparently the legality of burning a Quran is an open question these days.
Read below the details of a recent incident at the Islamic Society of San Francisco (ISSF) in the Tenderloin.
20 Jones Street near Market, just across the way from the Brokedown Palace of McAllister Street:
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All the deets:
CAIR: Burned Quran Found at San Francisco Mosque. Muslim civil rights group urges community members to report suspicious activity
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 18 — The San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-SFBA) today reported that a burned copy of the Quran, Islam’s holy text, was found earlier this week at the Islamic Society of San Francisco (ISSF).
CAIR-SFBA is reminding community members to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity in the area of local mosques.
ISSF officials reported to CAIR-SFBA that they found the burned copy of the Quran in a trash container placed outside for collection. The incident was reported to the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) and to the San Francisco office of the FBI.
“Regrettably, the recent wave of hate incidents targeting American Muslims has made its way to the Bay Area,” said CAIR-SFBA Programs and Outreach Director Zahra Billoo. “It is unfortunate that a minority community is being targeted by hate in this way, and we are appreciative of the support that has been expressed by local elected officials and interfaith leaders.”
She noted that Muslim communities nationwide have been similarly targeted in recent weeks.
Ever more deets, after the jump
That 40-foot-tall Raygun Gothic Rocketship down at Pier 14 is already having an effect on people. For example, it has David Chiu, District 2 rep and President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, pining for the Playa.
Per Steve Rhodes, “after seeing this he might go to Burning Man for the fist time.”
Bon voyage!
[UPDATE: Mayor Gavin Newsom was on the scene as well. Read an account, after the jump.]
From LiveSOMA comes the news that the Black Rock Arts Foundation is counting down to the Opening Reception / “Landing Party” for the 8-ton Raygun Gothic Rocketship installation at Pier 14 (at the foot of Mission Street) on Friday, August 6th, 2010 starting at 3:00 PM.
This is a fine replacement for the Bourgeois Spider (aka Bougie Spider aka Crouching Spider) from Louise Bourgeois, R.I.P.
Isn’t it awesome? OMG, it opens up!* Check out the insides via an awesome video from Wired.com:
But, as you know, getting anything done in the 415 ain’t cheap - San Francisco has a well-earned reputation of being America’s most expensive city in which to conduct business, west of Chicago anyway. So why not see what you can do to help?
Check it:
“The Black Rock Arts Foundation is proud to collaborate with artists Sean Orlando, Nathaniel Taylor, David Shulman, and their talented crew (FiveTonCrane.org) on the installation of the iconic, large-scale sculpture, The Raygun Gothic Rocketship at Pier 14 on San Francisco’s waterfront from August 2010 until September 2011. The 40-foot-tall art piece, The Raygun Gothic Rocketship, offers a retro-futuristic, highly-stylized vision of space travel circa 1930’s-1940’s science fiction and is the latest in a series of temporary public art exhibitions sponsored by BRAF with the aim of enlivening and activating public spaces.“
Is this the very same craft that you saw on The Playa last year? Hells yes, playa! (Leave us note NK Guy’s excellent photos of RGR from last year’s Burning Man.)
A nice poster non?
In closing, Raygun Gothic Rocketship! Raygun Gothic Rocketship! Raygun Gothic Rocketship!
(If we can manage to keep the vandals, the taggers (both corporate and non), away from this thing, we’ll be in good shape.)
“Dear Friend:
You are invited to join us in celebration of the Black Rock Arts Foundation’s latest Civic Arts Program project, the installation of the Raygun Gothic Rocketship at Pier 14 in San Francisco, California. Come hear more about this ambitious undertaking from the crew that made it happen. Enjoy entertainment, dj’s, light refreshments and surprises from the Rocketship crew! The Rocketship will remain on view, free to the public, until October 7, 2011!”
*Sadly, the ship’s hatch won’t be open to the public for various reasons, like the ADA and the chance of falls from 15 feet up etc…
A great shot from Nick Winterhalter:
Remember the past summer, when we had lighted Christmas holiday snowflake decorations on Market Street burning the midnight oil for weeks on end? Well, they’re back on, baby, or at least four of them anyway, confusing tourists once again. Thusly:
“Why do they have Christmas lights on in October?”
Good question. They’re still testing these thing? Well that’s a lot of testing:
And you know what, they’ve installed ’em exactly the way I would have and I’m not even an electrician or nothing. You know, extension cords and plastic handcuffs to tie everything down. Let’s hope these things handle the wind and rain better than our Bay Bridge:
But couldn’t our decorations be more overtly Christian? You know, like the giant Christmas Tree of Civic Center, the one with the Star of Bethleham on top, the way we had it in 2007…
…and 2008?
The World Wonders.
