The San Francisco Citizen

San Francisco’s Festival of Sail started yesterday - read all about it.

Movie star The Bounty in front of Alcatraz, as seen from the Crissy Field Overlook in the Presidio. Click to expand:

The Coast Guard’s Eagle, just after passing under the Golden Gate Bridge. Lot’s of great photos here, from Telstar Logistics. Can you spot the baggywrinkle?

A different view of the Eagle, next to the Alpha Tower of the Bay Bridge as witnessed by Petty Officer Sherri Eng:

Lots of people came out to see the SS Jeremiah O’Brien slowly chug along:

See you at the Festival of Sail!

Despite what you might have heard, the summer of 2008 starts today, June 20, at 4:59 PM. This is the our favourite season’s earliest start since 1896. Could global warming be responsible?

Courage.

Well, as promised, park officials over at the Presidio led a tour on Sunday describing new proposals for the area around the Main Post.

Yesterday, a good turnout of about 75 people went on a 1.5 hour tour of El Presidio and the Main Post. Tour participants inside the Presdio Officer’s Club, click to expand:

It’s your Presdio, of course, so feel free to attend other walking tours scheduled for this summer:

Come see for yourself what proposals for the Presidio are all about. On this easy-to-moderate 90-minute guided walk, Presidio Trust staff will describe the birthplace of San Francisco at the heart of the Presidio – the historic Main Post – and discuss ideas for revitalizing it as the heart of an urban national park. Learn about proposals for a heritage center, an archaeology lab, public uses in the iconic brick barracks, a park lodge, reuse of the historic theatre, and a museum of contemporary art. Get answers to your questions and find out how you can make your opinions heard in this public process.

July 14th will be the next big event in the process of Bringing Back the Heart of the Presidio, as they say.

See you there!

Well, just kidding about the San Francisco Chronicle Urban Design Writer John King wanting to move La Pyramide du Louvre, but wouldn’t that big old museum in Paris be so much nicer if this modern glass pyramid were moved, say, just 150 yards to the south?

If you agree (or even if you don’t), head on over to Curbed SF and get your vote on about the siting of the soon-to-be fabulous Contemporary Art Museum of the Presidio.

Juxtaposition! Sacrebleu! Quelle horreur! Caio Basillio via Flickr 

And while you’re at it, you might as well mark your calenders for the walking tour of the Main Post of the Presidio scheduled for 2:00 PM on Sunday, June 15th: 

Come see for yourself what proposals for the Presidio are all about. On this easy-to-moderate 90-minute guided walk, Presidio Trust staff will describe the birthplace of San Francisco at the heart of the Presidio – the historic Main Post – and discuss ideas for revitalizing it as the heart of an urban national park. Learn about proposals for a heritage center, an archaeology lab, public uses in the iconic brick barracks, a park lodge, reuse of the historic theatre, and a museum of contemporary art. Get answers to your questions and find out how you can make your opinions heard in this public process. Layered clothing and comfortable shoes are recommended.

Of course, comfortable shoes are always recommended. See you there, mon frère!

Plans for fixing up the Presidio are afoot. You like modern art, right? Well then brace yourself for the Contemporary Art Museum of the Presidio (CAMP) (or “Contemporary Art Museum Presidio” as the Chron refers to it).  

Will northern San Francisco be flooded with people like this on a daily basis? Well sure, but it’s only going to be a thousand or so extra folks per day, if you average it out.

Still afraid of the future? Then check out some of the stuff that will be finally be open to public access via a well-made video of Art Critic Kenneth Baker and famous GAP-per Don Fisher. Or take a look at related documents and see the schedule for the upcoming walking tours.

Oh, that’s right, you don’t mind art, but it’s that crazy new building that’s the issue? Here’s a photo of a photo illustration (which probably shouldn’t be labeled a “photo” but oh well) that shows one possible layout. Or check out this view below. That’s not so scary, is it?

Of course not. See? You were worried over nothing. Let’s take a few more views. Here’s Christmas present (click to expand):

And here is Christmas future (note the cut-and-cover tunnel where wobbly Doyle Drive used to be and an assortment of birds with 50-foot wingspans):

But before anything gets started, the people in charge of the Presidio will make sure that all voices are heard so everything is nice and legal. To wit, here’s the Presidio Trust Executive Director (and UC Santa Barbara alum) Craig Middleton accepting input from local residents just last week:

Plans for improving the Presidio have been brewing for a while and now things are approaching a full boil. Now’s your chance to get involved, if you want. Your choice.

Here was Senator Carole Migden over the weekend, braving the cold along with about 150 folks who are dead set against the planned spraying against the Light Brown Apple Moth and the people of the bay area.

Read all about it.

This toddler on the side of a MUNI bus on San Francisco’s Market Street is shown all by her lonesome finding inner peace via yoga in the shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge. (Thank goodness all the trash was removed by that “Save the Bay” shooting crew.)

Perhaps the San Francisco Health Plan is something for you? Available en Espanol.

This is what the Meditative Peace Walk Across the Golden Gate Bridge in support of the monks in Burma looked like yesterday. Some video from ABC 7 is here.

A higher rez shot from CitizenShip One, after the jump.  

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Read all about today’s protest at KPIX / CBS 5 (along with Eye on Blogs from Brittney Gilbert). Are there really two women in this photo, as alleged here? [Update: No, just one, that makes more sense.] See the mise-en-scene from a good angle here.

Local updates as they happen on the -ist network’s San Francisco website. Up-and-coming San Francisco Supervisor Chris Daly has a few thoughts about these Olympics. And sexy train rider Elaine Santore writes in her CrackBerry Chronicles that she is bracing for Wednesday, when the Olympic Torch makes it only visit to North America. It looks like it’s going to be a humdinger of a day.

Beijing, Are You Ready for this? It’s hard to say. Word on the street today is that the planned route for the relay is now history. 

Finally,  check out hard working Frederic Larson as he once again provides great photos to the San Francisco Chronicle.

The protest people look down as some bridge workers come up:

This dude’s on his cell phone:

Things looked a little shaky at first, before the banners and flags were unfurled:

Helmet-cam? Sure, why not.

See higher resolution photos after the jump!

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On another pleasant day…