Posts Tagged ‘financial district’
Wednesday, May 29th, 2013
[UPDATE: Kevin Montgomery of Uptown Almanac reacts.]
[UPDATE II: The Twitter-stream of one @kylekirchhoff just went private. C'mon, Bro! You gotta engage with the peeps. Today is your big day. It's not that incrimernating, is it? Bro discusses how much he doesn't like Twitter, McAfee Antivirus Inc, and how many people got shot on a MUNI #14 last year. You know, all the usual stuff. But I'll tell you, withdrawing from Web 2.0 is what criminales do, right? You're just a bro with a bus. Nothing wrong with that.]
[UPDATE III: Aaron Sankin of Huffington Post San Francisco weighs in.]
[UPDATE IV: And now Ellen Huet of the San Francisco Chronicle:
John Avalos, a supervisor who has fought against private companies use of Muni stops, called Kirchhoff’s comments “very disingenuous.”
“What a crock of s—,” Avalos said. “How does blocking a Muni stop make the city more efficient? You’re trying to make money, and you’re creating a two-tiered transportation system in San Francisco.”]
I’ll tell you, I’ve been waiting years for a MUNI alternative to pop up and look, it’s here.
Now I’m not talking about the corporate buses (like Google, Apple, FaceBook and so on) that have been around for a decade or so, and I’m not talking about Uber, Lyft, Sidecar and the like and I’m not even talking about the private version of the taxpayer-subsidized Twitter Express, the 83X.
No no. I’m talking about Leap Transit duplicating the unpopular MUNI Marina Express 30x with a private shuttle bus that costs $6 one-way.
It looks like this, as seen just yesterday:

Via Gregg Meyer
Here’s what the site looks like:

See that? The bus comes with WiFi and leather seats, but they cost three times as much as MUNI. And I’m supposing you and your wheelchair would be better off on MUNI, just a guess. And, oh yes, you pretty much need an Apple iPhone (or as close an iOS device as possible) to climb aboard.
Now you’d think the MSM would be all over this new company, but no. So far, Leap has escaped notice, except from this bloke called Stilgherrian from Down Under. (Uh, he’s _not_ a fan. I haven’t seen a booting like this since Bart vs. Australia)
“This little blue bus symbolises everything that is wrong with the current bubble and boom of internet startup culture. It’s in San Francisco. It belongs to Leap Transit. And, on May 13, this “better bus” — OMFG, it has leather seats and wi-fi! — began operating as part of what’s billed as a “shuttle service for San Francisco commuters.”
Bonus bon mot:
“This socialized [x] is slow and unprofitable. Let’s start a [x] for rich people that pays its employees less.”
Leave there be no doubt, Leap Transit is a wannabe MUNI disrupter. See?

So far, reaction around town has been mixed.
To wit:
“connie hwong @crh17h This has come to my attention: a $6 shuttle from the Marina to SOMA, with leather seats & wifi. Seriously, SF?”
Check it:

I don’t know, if the 30X just passed you by ’cause it’s raining and you see a Leap bus coming at you and you have an iPhone and you’re already signed up, well then Leap just might be worth the six bucks.
A 28-year-old white man wants you to ride his technicolor submarine.
Will you?
All the deets:
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Every time you ride with leap, your credit card will be charged $6.00 automatically upon entering the bus. You…
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Our shuttles flow downtown in the morning, and uptown in the evening. You can get on at any of the stops desig…
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We’d love to. We’re expanding as rapidly as possible. If you’d like us to add service to your area, please sug…
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Leap runs on weekdays during commuter hours. That’s from 7:00 AM to 10:00 AM and from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM.
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We currently only support iPhone, but we will be supporting other platforms very soon.
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We do not currently have a way to have your employer cover the tab. But it is something we’re working on.
Tags: 6, 83x, Aaron Sankin, accidents, apple, bay area, blocking, Blue, bus, california, chestnut, chronicle, common carrier, commuters, Connie Galambos Malloy, cops, corporate, CPUC, crock of shit, crock of s___, device, DPT, driver, ellen huet, facebook, faq, fare, financial district, founder, google, huffington post, insurance, ios, ipad, iphone, iPod, john avalos, Kirchhoff, Kyle, Kyle Kirchhoff, leap, leap transit, marina, marina express, Muni, one way, police, private, privatise, privatize, PUC, San Francisco, San Francisco Chronicle, selfish disruptor, SFMTA, SFPD, SFPUC, shuttle, Stilgherrian, stops, Supervisor, therefore I am, twitter, union, Writer
Posted in transit | 1 Comment »
Friday, January 18th, 2013
Twelve feet tall they are:

Click to expand
Tags: 2012, 555, 580, 580 California, 94104, arms, art, bank of america, bay area, california, california street, corporate, Corporate Goddesses, financh, financial district, Financial District Nazgul, ghots, goddesses, hooded, hoodies, insurance, jumper, jum[, Kearny, Montgomery, Muriel Castanis, Nazgul, San Francisco, State Farm, statue, statues, top, twelve, twelve statues, twenty-third floor, white, wOMAN, wraiths
Posted in art | 3 Comments »
Friday, January 4th, 2013
See?

Petroleum powers cars and ships – I suppose that’s The Message from the Builders of 225 Bush.
Contrast that with the message from the current owners of 225 Bush found on this Wiki entry, which reads like an advertisement for potential tenants.
Or in other words, “This article’s tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia.”
Indeed.
Tags: 2012, 225 Bush, bay area, building, california, chevron, derrick, emblem, financial district, global warming, il, propeller, San Francisco, sansome, ship, smoke cloud, Standard Oil, Standard Oil Building, street, Wheel, wikipedia
Posted in bidness, buildings | No Comments »
Friday, January 4th, 2013
Here are two ads for Equinox Fitness on Pine Street what are about three yards high:

Click to expand
I think things were a lot more wholesome at the Pacific Stock Exchange Building when it was the Pacific Stock Exchange. You know, back when Kevin Bacon filmed that Quicksilver bike messenger movie in 1986 before you were born. It went a little like this, with KB acting as a besuited yuppie stock broker at the PSE at Pine and Sansome.
You see, back then, everybody wore clothes and open outcry was the order of the day.
See?

Good times.
Suntory times
Tags: 2012, ads, bay area, broker, california, equinox, Equinox Fitness, exercise, financial district, fitness, gym, kevin bacon, lead, Montgomery, naked, Pacific Exchange, Pacific Stock Exchange, personal, pine, push, pushing, quicksilver, San Francisco, sansome, sexy, stock, trainer, weights, work out
Posted in health | No Comments »
Tuesday, December 11th, 2012
I wish I could rent a tiny electric car by the minute(!) - don’t you wish so as well?

Click to expand
Sometimes I just don’t know.
Tags: 1 series, 2012, bay area, bev, bmw, california, car, Car sharing, drive now, DriveNow, electric, financial district, Premium Electric Car Sharing, San Francisco, vehiocle
Posted in cars | No Comments »
Friday, October 26th, 2012
See?
We’ve come a long way, baby.

Click to expand
The modern-day warriors at Spirit Courier dominate the dojo that is the Financh, the Nine-Four-Triple-One
Check their cv’s.
Just saying.
A modern-day warrior
Mean mean stride,
Today’s Tom Sawyer
Mean mean pride.
Though his mind is not for rent,
Don’t put him down as arrogant.
His reserve, a quiet defense,
Riding out the day’s events.
The river
Tags: 2012, bay area, bicyckes, bicycle, bike, bikes, bullitt, california, Cargo, Cargo Bike, courier, cyclist, financial district, lock, milk plus, milkplus, Nine-Four-Triple-One, San Francisco, spirit courier, unstealable
Posted in bikes | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 24th, 2012
Apparently.
I’ll bet his name is Bruno, something like that:

Click to expand
Now, is Equinox Fitness supposed to be tearing up the sidewalks of 301 Pine Street with their lead sled contraptions?
No, not at all.
Oh well.
First sidewalk bowling and now this.
Sic transit gloria mundi
Tags: 2012, bay area, california, equinox, Equinox Fitness, exercise, financial district, fitness, gym, lead, Montgomery, Pacific Exchange, Pacific Stock Exchange, personal, pine, push, pushing, San Francisco, sansome, trainer, weights, work out
Posted in health | No Comments »
Tuesday, September 18th, 2012
As seen on Sansome:

Click to expand
Take off the heels and you’d be hobbling around just like a deer…
Tags: 2012, bay area, california, Cruel Shoes, deer, financial district, Financial District Flower Shop, Flower Shop, flowers, heels, High, jeans, Listing to Starboard, Pursuit of Beauty, Relentless, San Francisco, shoes
Posted in fashion | No Comments »
Thursday, September 13th, 2012
Back in the day down there betwixt San Francisco’s Financial District and the Golden Gateway Apartments, tourists would come along and just hold their hands out, with astonishing results.
Wild parrots looking for a handout – via Gwen in a great capture from 2007, before The Law:

Click to expand
Ah mem’ries;
First it was all like this (Yes, this is the view you’ll get of the 415′s famous wild parrots from our Filbert Steps.)

The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill
But now it’s all like this. (Gee, should I get a Chinese character inked on my Europid skin and be a laughingstock for the rest of my life or should I get something cool like this instead? Mmmm, decisions, decisions…)

Wow! That’s a good one, Deanna Wardin of Tattoo Boogaloo.
That’s the best tattoo I’ve seen in the 415.
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill were made famous a few years back by the movie with the same name. Get the new Special Two-Disc Collector’s Edition today, why don’t you?
A friendly pair in the Presidio. Click to expand:

They love to fly…

and eat flowers.

Look to the Skies for Signs and Wonders…
Tags: Animals, Arinae, bittner, blossom, board, boogaloo, boogaloo tattoo, cherry, Cherry-headed, conure, Conures, deanna waedin, fedding, feed, feeding, financial district, flock, flowering, flying, green, hill, illegal, law, legal, mark, mating, north beach, parakeet, park, parrot, plum, red, red masked, San Francisco, scared, supervisors, tattoo, tattoo boogaloo, telegraph, tree, waterfront, wild, wild parrots, wOMAN
Posted in Animals | No Comments »
Thursday, August 23rd, 2012
Note the monogram on the door, and the driving gloves.
As seen at California and Battery:

Click to expand
This lady rocks.
Tags: 2012, AMC, bay area, california, door, financial district, gloves, Grand Wagoneer, jeep, Jeep Grand Wagoneer Woody, MJG, monogram, San Francisco, v8, wOMAN, woody
Posted in cars | 1 Comment »