Posts Tagged ‘Motorcade’
Tuesday, August 28th, 2012
[UPDATE: According to somebody who ought to know, this is not what a Lt. Gov. motorcade looks like these days. So, my bad.]
I don’t know, why are the lights on on these CHP prowlers?
To make the people inside feel good?
Looks that way.
I mean, this is the entire motorcade, so it’s not like cross-traffic is being stopped or anything.
I mean, don’t you want to be kind of low profile? Oh, I see, you feel that not enough people pay attention to
you, so everybody stare at me while I ride to the Starbucks?
OK fine:
Click to expand
IMO, our California Highway Patrol shouldn’t always do what the Lt. Gov VIPs want.
IMO.
But here’s why it’s generally in the interest of the CHP to patronize electeds.
Oh well.
(Oh, and next time you roll through town, CHP, in addition to the flashing lights, you should honk your horns and activate your sirens, like every minute. Hurray!)
Tags: 2012, bay area, black, california, california highway patrol, cars, chp, gavin newsom, Governor, LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR, lights, lt., Motorcade, San Francisco, suv, suvs, van ness
Posted in politics | No Comments »
Thursday, June 7th, 2012
Click to expand
Tags: 2012, barack, bay area, cable car, cable cars, california, chinatown, district, financial, june 6, Motorcade, obama, Obama Motorcade, president, San Francisco, secret service, street
Posted in politics | 2 Comments »
Friday, February 17th, 2012
All the deets of yesterday’s drive-by:
“A specially designed and outfitted armored vehicle with DTS styling and a high-roof fitted to a GM four-wheel drive chassis was used in the second inauguration of U.S. President George W. Bush. While details of the modified vehicle, codenamed Stagecoach, remain classified, previous such vehicles indicate that it would have been upgraded with advanced armor and safety features in order to protect the president from various threats.
“Its successor entered service with President Barack Obama on January 20, 2009. According to GM, the manufacturer, the “2009 Cadillac Presidential Limousine” is the first not to carry a specific model name. The vehicle is a combination of a Cadillac limousine body on the chassis/platform of a GMC Topkick commercial truck and bears styling cues from the CTS and Escalade models as opposed to the DTS.”
Precious memories:
Click to expand
POTUS was worried that he’d get too excited about seeing San Francisco’s new and improved, almost-America’s-Cup-ready “World Class Waterfront,” so he decided to take a nap.
Best of all, it’s a Cadillac:
Good call, Mr. President.
Tags: 2009, 2009 Cadillac Presidential Limousine, 2012, Barack Obama, bay area, cadillac, california, codename, CTS, deville, dts, Embarcadero, escalade, ferry building, gmc, limousine, Monster Truck, Motorcade, Presidential, San Francisco, secret service, stagecoach, Topkick
Posted in cars | No Comments »
Monday, October 3rd, 2011
Remember happier times back in aught-eight, when “Pribot,” the famous autonomous Prius, was roving the Streets of San Francisco with a huge SFPD escort and teams of camerapeople in tow?
Well, those halcyon days are over, so now Pribot has been relegated to getting ticketed by DPT, just like regular nonrobotic cars.
See?
Click to expand
You can’t see the the damage from when Pribot scraped its left side exiting the Bay Bridge, but these days there’s evidence he/she/it has had more driving trouble.
See?
Did Pribot crash into something? Or maybe a careless San Francisco driver backed up too far? Or maybe a human master made a mistake?
(Of course, when you’re making an omelet, as Google is doing in full force in 2011, you’re going to break a few eggs. Anyway…)
Poor Pribot!
All I could do was put a spare Kraftwerk mixtape under one of its windshield wiper arms and then turn to walk away.
Pribot, you were the first, you are the ur-robotic Prius, you are the Jetfire of the autonomous car universe.
Bon courage, Pribot!
Tags: 2008, 3d, 510, 510 Systems, Anthony Levandowski, Anthony's Robots, Autonomous, bay bridge, Berkeley, Beyond Productions, bus, camera, Class 1, contest, DARPA, DARPA's, discovery, Discovery Channel, DPT, engineer, escort, Ghostrider, google, google's, GPS, grand challenge, guidance, hybrid, inertial, infrared, island, laser, lasers, map, Motorcade, mountain view, mta, Oakland, october 15, parking, Pier 7, police, Pribot, prius, Prototype This!, pulsed, pulsed laser, robot, robotic, RTK base station, SFMTA, silver, sponsor, TI, ticket, Topcon, toyota, treasure, treasure island, TV, UC, university of california, University of California at Berkeley, vehicle
Posted in cars, technology | No Comments »
Thursday, August 5th, 2010
Drivers getting too close to tonight’s noisy official SFPD motorcade were likely to get a Harley Davidson all up in their grill.
Representatives from the Motor Division were weaving all about in little pas de deux, sometimes pas de trois. About a dozen altogether, “corking” intersections just like they were the “leaders” of a Critical Mass bike parade:
Click to expand
Let’s hope the V.I.P. inside wasn’t troubled Larry King, is all I can say…
Tags: 2010, airport, august, bay area, california, department, dept., federal, feds, larry king, Motorcade, police, San Francisco, SFO, SFPD, vip
Posted in motorcycles, police | No Comments »
Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009
Remember back in the day, back when San Francisco Board of Supervisors President David Chiu was test-driving the new Trek electric bicycles along with a few other supes? Well, it looks like the test-ride is over and nowadays this is his regular ride.
cf. my bike (the red one) - it was about five times cheaper and it has better brakes, gears, pedals, tires, etc., but, sadly, it does not have electric assist. Click to expand:
Here’s a reverse angle of President Chiu’s ElecTrek:
This bike is all right (especially when compared to the horrible overweight, overpriced Ultra Motors A2B electric moped, the Worst Consumer Product of 2009).
You could totally haul Trek’s black beauty upstairs. The big issue is the $2000+ price, but oh well.
cf. Mayor Gavin Newsom‘s official ride, complete with a satellite TV antenna to see hisself on the CNN and an engine bigger than a bus and a saddled-up weight that’s so heavy it requires an official-bidness-only exemption to be legal in many parts of San Francisco (including a block of his own street). Srsly.
Oh well.
Tags: 7.3, a2b, assist, bicycle, bike, board of supervisors, David Chiu, electric, gavin newsom, market, Mayor, Motorcade, ride, street, Supervisor, trek, Ultra Motors
Posted in bikes, government | Comments Off
Friday, October 9th, 2009
Well this was the scene a few nights back at the Fairmont Hotel, which at the time contained former presidential horndog Bill Clinton, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tiger Woods, you know, people like that. (Who knows, maybe Barack Obama will be there soon.)
You had the TASER-equipped California Highway Patrol, the Secret Service, all kinds of security blocking pedestrain access to this part of California Street so the V.I.P.s could get to their waiting motorcades.
But what’s this? Biker dude just wanted to go home so he’s not caring about which sidewalk is verbotten. He powered up the block, dodging through all the scaffolding, the CHP, the startled security agents, nothing slowed him down. You might think he’d instead just use the roomy, traffic-free slow lane in the foreground…
Check it:
Click to expand
I used to think that this guy, Andy, was the bravest cyclist in San Francisco. But now the crown must pass to the new fellow. (In San Francisco, most sidewalks are off-limits to most cyclists, so it would have been a piece of cake to cite and release the biker.)
He probably also drives his ride as slow as he can in front of harried moms in the East Bay – just for kicks, you know?
(Also noteworthy is the name Tonga on the sign advertising our famous $13/drink tiki lounge, the troubled Tonga Room & Hurricane Bar. With a name like that, it deserves to be shut down, or some people might think. What’s next, Kung Fu Tacos on wheels appearing regularlyat Sansome and Jackson?)
Oh well.
Tags: Arnold, bar, bicycle, bike, biker, Bill Clinton, california, chp, code, cyclists, geisha, golf, Governor, illegal, Kung Fu Tacos, Motorcade, Oakland, police, San Francisco, Schwarzenegger, SFPD, sidewalk, tiger, Tonga room, vehicle, woods
Posted in bikes | Comments Off
Friday, April 25th, 2008
That’s right, Conan the Destroyer has a posse and they’re all rolling on dubs. Check out these 22-inch monsters being used in an official gubernatorial motorcade:
And check out those balancing weights – do you see how much it takes to keep these massive rims rolling true? These wheels are about twice as large as what Vanilla Ice’s Five point-oh Ford Mustang had way back in the 1990′s.
There’s no good reason to have wheels this large on your vehicle. Some think them dangerous. Others don’t like the way they ride. Of course, sometimes you might be like Senator Don Perata and end up with a set of duece dueces because they come with the car, but not usually.
If you want to show off your wheels, why not keep them a little smaller and then load up on some bling bling? Diamond and ruby studded wheels from Asanti only cost $2,000,000 per set – will this be the next trend in fashionable wheels?
Arnold Schwarzenegger might be your role model, but don’t try to copy him with his huge wheels.
Asta la vista, baby.
Tags: 110H, 20, 22, 22-Inch, 24, 26, 285, Arnold, asanti, Asta la vista, baby, cadillac, california, chrome, Conan, Dub, dubs, escalade, inch wheels, inches, Motorcade, p285, p285/45r22, rims, Safe, san franciso, Schwarzenegger, suv, Wheels
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
