“The caption must have been a joke. He has not attended any such events. The photo was taken at the Giants game last week.”
So that explains that, I suppose.
Anyway, that was the answer, here was the question:
“Is this photo (or its caption) newsworthy? I don’t know.
But certainly, the fact that Mayor Edwin Lee was present at a “re-elect Ed happy hour” before last week’s 6-5 victory over the San Diego Padres is news to me.
Lostres caballeros (Spanish for “bros”) y nuestro alcalde “provisional” Ed Lee:
Click to expand to see the caption. (I’d link to webpage from whence the photo came but it’s gone, long gone, down the memory hole.)
If you think, at this late date, that the prospects for Ed Lee’s re-election weren’t front and center in the conversation The Powers That Be had last January, then you are horribly, horribly naive.
[UPDATE: Director of Mayor Edwin M. Lee’s Communications Office Christine Falvey comments: “The caption must have been a joke. He has not attended any such events. The photo was taken at the Giants game last week.”]
Is this photo (or its caption) newsworthy? I don’t know.
But certainly, the fact that Mayor Edwin Lee was present at a “re-elect Ed happy hour” before last week’s 6-5 victory over the San Diego Padres is news to me.
Lostres caballeros (Spanish for “bros”) y nuestro alcalde “provisional” Ed Lee:
Click to expand to see the caption. (I’d link to webpage from whence the photo came but it’s gone, long gone, down the memory hole.)
If you think, at this late date, that the prospects for Ed Lee’s re-election weren’t front and center in the conversation The Powers That Be had last January, then you are horribly, horribly naive.
Now, last year, back in 2010, the rides were free, so people were lining up at 3:00 AM. But this year, the cost will be $29, so that will certainly cut down on the riff-raff, and therefore surely shorten the queue.
(And oh, our friends from up in the Great White North just told me that they will be highly disappointed if Edwin Lee, San Francisco’s once (and future?) Mayor chickens out, if he blows off his obligation. Other Mayors have done it and it all worked out fine. See below for one example…)
Hours: Open daily (7 days a week!) from 11:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.*
Price: $29 (all ages)
Age: 6 years+
Weight: 65lbs – 275lbs
First come, first serve
All guests are required to sign an Assumption of Risks and Release of Liability Agreement (coming soon) before zipping. Under 19 requires signature by a parent or guardian.
The ziplines are gravity fed, so guests do not have to worry about controlling their own speed. Guides are stationed at each tower to connect (launch platform) and disconnect (landing platform) each and every guest. Age restrictions apply and guests must weigh more than 65 pounds and no more than a maximum of 275 pounds.
When: Summer 2011 11:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. *
Where: Justin Herman Plaza at Embarcadero Square, San Francisco, California
* times may vary on certain days”
Will you have the guts to climb a temporary tower (80 feet tall!) just like this one from 2010 to earn the right to tell your friends you rode the Justin Herman Plaza Zip Line?
But first, you’ll need to wait in line next to the abysmal Vaillancourt Fountain, sign a waiver, and get harnessed up.
Le mise-en-scene.
You’ll ascend the 80 foot tower and encounter a friendly Canadian guide at the top. If you need a pep talk, you’ll get one:
You’ll soon be steadying your nerves by glancing at your jump buddy…
…and then you’ll be off, into the wild bleu.
Sisters doing it for themselves:
Can you see the nervous giggles? There’s your team bonding right there.
And this is what it felt like last year. Everything zooms by with a quickness, and there’s a loud buzzing above your noggin. Some people go upside-down even.
And they’ll totally let you bring a camera to make your own YouTube:
You owe it to yourself to try.
Don’t dissappoint lovely Ashleigh. She brought her Olympic Gold all the way down here last year just so you’d consider Vancouver as the starting point for your next vacation:
Now, personally, I’m through with the Facebook, srsly, but it seems that you all just can’t enough. Anyway, to celebrate the milestone of having 500,000,000 accounts, or sign-ups, or whatever, FB is launching Facebook Stories. Check it:
“Logging in, sharing content, and connecting with friends has become an integral part of more than half a billion people’s lives on Facebook. To celebrate this milestone Facebook is introducing Facebook Stories, a unique visualization that will enable users to tell the incredible stories of the moving and interesting ways they’ve used Facebook. Facebook Stories will help people share these inspirational stories with others. To share stories and view other people’s stories, visit Facebook Stories at: http://stories.facebook.com.”
That’s pretty simple, right? Here’s your interface:
Click on San Francisco and this is what you can see:
“Today, the 500 millionth person signed up for Facebook.
Logging in, sharing content, and connecting with friends has become an integral part of more than half a billion people’s lives on Facebook. To celebrate this milestone Facebook is introducing Facebook Stories, a unique visualization that will enable users to tell the incredible stories of the moving and interesting ways they’ve used Facebook. Facebook Stories will help people share these inspirational stories with others. To share stories and view other people’s stories, visit Facebook Stories at: http://stories.facebook.com.
Organized by geography and theme, Facebook Stories illustrates how people are finding what’s been lost (from old loves and pets to class rings), supporting others (whether through a wall post or a kidney donation to strangers), and even changing the world through social movements. Starting today, anyone on Facebook can enter their story to be included in the global visualization or simply browse what has already been published.
Anyway, the upshot is that quitting Facebook is easy-peasy, a lot easier than dealing with FB, certainly. The place is like a favor bank where you make deposits without any chance of withdrawal. Somebody’s telling me about some event they want the whole world to know about but I need to sign in again today? Why’s that? And Facebook always asks if I want to make FB my homepage – why on Earth would I do that?
Is there some way to stop getting queried by FB about making it my browser start page?
Yes there is. You just need to cancel your account, forever. Here’s the response you’ll get when you click on Settings/ Cancel:
Doesn’t that just tug at your heart-strings? Somehow, I think lovely Damion and Fiona will manage just fine without me. And actually, they probably won’t even notice I’m gone since nobody’s going to send a message to people saying how I don’t like them anymore or something.
Just didn’t know what I was getting into. I ended up getting messages from people I was only vaguely aware of. Maybe that’s my fault, as I would routinely accept friend requests. Well, except for one. That was from a state elected official, Betty Yee. I used to drive her around for free in a giant Lexus, but that wasn’t enough so then I started getting solicitations for campaign donations in the mail every couple of months. I think the fact that I threw a few bucks (not that much at all) to more charismatic pols irritated her. Oh well. Anyway, I thought that approving the friend request would send a mixed message, so I didn’t. (You’ll get a chance to vote for her next month, but it doesn’t really matter as she’ll win anyway due to the way the system is set up.) Otherwise, I just went with the flow with FB and I didn’t like where it took me.
Now I know a bunch of older people glommed on to FB tout de suite about a year ago – that probably raised FB’s average user age up, up, up. Do you think the age of the typical user will end up getting near what AOL’s average user age was in its prime? You might be too young to remember the era of You’ve Got Mail, but man, there are a lot of similarities betwixt AOL and FB, is all I’m saying. AOL eventually lost out to the regular Internet – when will FB lose out the regular Internet?
I’ll tell you, my grandmother is too busy for FB what with her going out and enjoying her new Hyundai (Yes, Hyundai!, – is this really America’s best warranty? No se), but what’s it going to be like when the average grandmother clocks in more FB time per day that the typical tween girl? That’s gonna be tough.
Now, here’s a bit from Geroge Orwell. “If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face— forever.” How wrong was that, right? Here’s the Future:
(A frat-boy style lexicon of love that might have been appropriate back in the day, back around aught-four, might need to be tweaked a bit, at some point, you think? Moving on…)
AOL’s downward spiral began just after that You’ve Got Mail Tom Hanks / Melanie Griffith joint came out in 1998. How long will FB last after The Social Network comes out in late 2010? Will the kids think you’re cool still after that, FB? You might not be The New Thang after that.
Oh well.
And oh yes, after boldly informing FB about how you really meant it when you clicked on Cancel, they’ll have you log in again and make you pass a CAPTCHA. And then this screen is your payday. But you have to tell them why you’re leaving. Thusly:
