Posts Tagged ‘music concourse’
Monday, January 9th, 2012
The 8th Annual Walk for Life West Coast will start at Civic Center this year.
Will organizers lie about attendance by simply adding 5000 people to the previous year’s estimate as is their custom? We’ll just have to wait and see. Somebody will document the crowd overestimating, but I don’t know if it will be me this year…

Click to expand
All the deets:
“Due to a scheduling conflict, the Walk for Life will be unable to follow its familiar route from Justin Herman Plaza and along San Francisco’s waterfront to Marina Green. Instead, we will be gathering at Civic Center Plaza at 11:00 am for the Info Fair to be followed by the rally at 12:30 pm. At 1:30 we will start walking down Market Street to Justin Herman Plaza. There will be no additional events at Justin Herman Plaza.
We are excited about this new opportunity and believe that this new venue will give us the chance to grow our numbers. More information to come so please sign up for our email blasts to keep informed of these important changes.
HOTEL UPDATE: We have sold out of the rooms at the San Francisco Marriott Fisherman’s Wharf Hotel. We were able to negotiate a discounted rate at the Kabuki Hotel in Japantown (very close to the Cathedral) for $139/night. For further options, gohere.
FLYERS: Color flyers are now availble for download. If you would like to receive copies of the flyers, please send us an email with your address and how many you would like. Help spread the word!
Confirmed speakers include: Lori Hoye, Dr. Vansen Wong, Rev. Clenard Childress and Jacquie Stalnaker.
Once again this year EWTN will be broadcasting the event live via satellite on TV andImmaculate Heart Radio will be broadcasting the event live on the radio.”
(more…)
Tags: 1111 Gough, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 24th, 5th, 7 tv, 8th Annual, abortion, annual, anti, baby, bacorr, barcadero, bus, catholic, Catholic Mass, choice, church, civic center, civic center plaza, Clenard Childress, crowd, Darren, doe, Dolores Meehan, dr., e, Embarcadero, estimate, fetus, fishermans wharf, indybay, Jacquie Stalnaker., january, January 21, justin herman, Justin Herman Plaza, Kathleen Eaton, kgo, life, Lori Hoye, march, march for life, march for life west coast, marina green, market, mass, music concourse, Norma McCorvey, plaza, police department, protest, protest shooter, protestshooter, Rev., roe, San Francisco, SFPD, Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, small, smaller, street, Vansen Wong, w4l, wade, walk for life, west coast, wfl, wflwc
Posted in protests | No Comments »
Wednesday, November 30th, 2011
[UPDATE: Bagdad by the Bay just looked into things.]
Well, everything’s going great at your new and improved yet-pretty-much-the-same-except-for-the-food Stow Lake Boathouse in Golden Gate Park.
Here’s what it looks like these days:

Click to expand
Just check the Yelp for early reviews. They’re almost all highly positive.*
But what’s this? Some “brother” from Oakland, “Les. L,” is not happy, not one bit! He’s the only Yelper giving a less than positive review.
I’ll allege that Les is not some youngish dude from Oakland, but rather a wealthy, white, preservationist-minded, NIMBY-mentalitied, real-estate-obsessed, highly-opinionated woman of a certain age who lives in the West Bay.
Let’s check it out her one-star report:
“What happened to the cool local people that worked there?”
Um, this is an improbable start to a Yelp review. Gee, maybe they busy themselves with sock puppetry on Yelp these days, just like you, “Les L?”
“Everyone we saw was white, which is weird for SF. We drove over from the East Bay to rent boats with my 2 kids and my mom.”
Oh what’s that, Les? There’s not enough flava for you over here in the West Bay? That’s funny? Did you know that all the people behind the old boat house and the Save the Boat House Coalition are white, or pretty much? What were you expecting?
“The kids couldn’t reach the pedals in the boat we rented. How’s that? It’s for kids, right?”
The old boats, the ones sold off for $500, maybe they were inappropriate for adults? Maybe the kids can just come along for the ride? A paddleboat is a paddleboat, pretty much.
“After a unhappy boatride, my mom tripped on the crappy stairs in front of the boathouse. She was bleeding, the kids were crying, and no one bothered to help us.”
What were you unhappy about, Les? That Bruce lost his lease? It happens. Or you were unhappy because there were too many Whities about?
“An old man sitting on a bench helped us and said the boathouse was just taken over by a New Mexico chain. We won’t be back.”
More improbability. Oh well.
Oddly, Les L., straight outta Oak-Town, also has a big beef with Chicago Title Co. in lily-white Campbell, CA, the wealthiest(?) part of the South Bay.
And, oddly, “his” dentist, with whom “he” also has a big beef, is clear all the way in the burbs of the West Bay.
On It Goes…
*Perhaps too positive. “Ashley c.” is a another one of those Yelp fraudsters, it would appear.
Tags: 1946, 2011, asphalt, august, Bagdad by the Bay, bay area, bicycles, bikes, blog, boat, boat house, boathouse, Boathouse Dog, boats, booats, Bruce McLellan, cafe, cal tilden, california, chuck, Cloudless Skies, coalition, com, community, department, dept., district, electric, enterprises, facebook, Fair Trade, Family, frank klein, free, golden gate park, historic, hoist, hot dog, hot dogs, inner sunset, interim, Jeff Fones, lake, Let's Be Frank, levy, mclellan familty, meeting, menu, music concourse, Nevius, new mexico, october, org, ortega, ortega family enterprises, paddle, park, park and rec, park and recreation, parks, parkwide, picnic, pink, popcorn, radio, rec, recreation and parks, rent, rental, Reopen, reopening, restaurant, Restoration Time, rfq, row, rowboat, rpd, San Francisco, Sandy Weil, save, save stow lake, Save the Stow Lake Boat house, Save the Stow Lake Boathouse, Save the Stow Lake Boathouse Coalition, savestowlake, SaveStowLake.org, sock puppet, sock puppetry, stow, Stow lake, Stow Lake Boathouse and Café, STSLBC, sunset, Sustainable, swan, twitter, yelp, Yelp fraud
Posted in food and drink, parks | 4 Comments »
Sunday, November 27th, 2011
Run Wild for a Child 2011 went off without a hitch today in Golden Gate Park.
It’s sort of like the Bay to Breakers annual civic event, except Run Wild isn’t owned by some hung-up, Burnsian, “Christian Billionaire” what lives in Colorado and uses your B2B entry fee to fight the concept of evolution. (How refreshing.)
Anyway, today’s 5K race was 3053 vs. 1729 leading most of the way through. One of these guys won, you’d think.

Is this Fell? I can’t really tell:

Here’s Oak, anyway:

As you can see, this race swings both ways, with 5K and 10K runners facing each other at times:

Monkey butts?

All right, see you next year!

10K • 5K featuring Run Wild For A Child Costume Contest
Sunday, November 27, 2011 • 8:30 AM START
27th Annual Thanksgiving Weekend Run
Golden Gate Park • San Francisco
KICK OFF THE HOLIDAY SEASON
Support San Francisco Firefighters Toy Program
Bring a new toy or two to donate to Bay Area Children in need
Run dressed as a toy in the “Run Wild Like A Child Costume Contest”
PRE-POST RACE EXPO
The entire event is staged from the Music Concourse in Golden Gate Park, which is the outdoor plaza in the center of:
California Academy of Sciences
De Young Museum
Japanese Tea Garden
Start Check-In is at Music Concourse — see below for Start details.
‘RUN WILD LIKE A CHILD 5K’ COSTUME CONTEST
Run or Walk the 5K dressed as a favorite childhood toy to be eligible for the costume contest judging. Prizes will be awarded to the Top Ten Costumes selected by the Judges. Click to see some past year’s costumes!
CUSTOM MEDAL WITH EVENT LOGO TO 1ST – 10TH PLACE COSTUME WINNERS
1st Place: Luxury Weekend for Two at Hotel Carlton (good through Nov. 2012) and $150 Gift Certificate to Sports Basement
2nd Place: $200.00 Sports Basement Gift Certificate & FRS healthy Energy Gift Pack
3rd Place: $100.00 Sports Basement Gift Certificate & FRS healthy Energy Gift Pack
4th Place: $50.00 Sports Basement Gift Certificate & FRS healthy Energy Gift Pack
5th –10 Place: A Sports Basement Gift Certificate good for a pair of Brooks shoes.
COSTUME JUDGING
All 5K Costume Contestants should report to the front of the starting line for initial judging from 8:00 AM – 8:20 AM.
Initial judging at the starting line from 8:15 – 8:30 AM
Semi-final judging – at the 5K finish line.
Final judging – at Bandshell Stage at 10:00 AM
POST RACE EXPO
After the race join us in the Music Concourse where you can ‘get down’ with live music provided by Pure Ecstasy while enjoying refreshments and the final costume judging on the main stage. Entrants can pick up their T-shirt and goodie bag, as well as visit sponsor booths for free samples and fitness information. The awards ceremony and Costume Parade & Judging will begin at approximately 10:00 AM at the Bandshell.
T-SHIRT PICK-UP
Pre-registered entrants may pick up their T-shirt with the full color logo in the Post-Race Expo area from 7:00 AM to 8:15 AM race morning or immediately following the race. Race Day entrants can pick up their shirt immediately following the race. The T-shirt Booth will be closed from 8:16 AM – 8:45 AM. T-shirt sizes cannot be guaranteed.
SUPPORTING
The San Francisco Firefighter’s Toy Program is the city’s largest and the nation’s oldest program of its kind. Distributing over 200,000 toys to more than 40,000 disadvantaged children. Besides helping individual families in need, the Toy Program serves many community organizations, including shelters for abused women and children, inner-city schools, neighborhood groups, children’s cancer wards, and pediatric AIDS units. SFFF Toy Program also responds on a year round basis to displaced children who become victims of fires, floods and other such disasters. The SFFF Toy Program is dependent solely on donations.
BRING A TOY and/or MAKE A DONATION
The San Francisco Firefighter’s Toy Program will be onsite race day accepting donations of new unwrapped toys. Entrants are encouraged to bring a toy or two on race day to donate and/or to make a cash donation when you register. Any donation above your entry fee will be given to the San Francisco Firefighters Toy Program and is a 100% tax deductible.
Tags: 10k, 27th, 5K, academy of sciences, annual, california, Christian Billionaire, contest, costume, de young museum, evolution, expo, far side, fell, firefighter, firefighters, golden gate park, Japanese tea garden, jog, Like A Child, marathon, music concourse, oak, panhandle, phillip anschutz, post, pre, program, race, run, run to the far side, run wild, RUN WILD LIKE A CHILD, Run Wild Like A Child Costume Contest, running, sffd, t-shirt, Thanksgiving Weekend, the far side, toy
Posted in sports | No Comments »
Friday, October 14th, 2011
Well, lots of things are pretty much the same these days at the Stow Lake Boathouse, which was reopened by the new tenant on Wednesday, October 12th, 2011.
See?

Click to expand
Check the new photo gallery – it’s quite complete.
But, here’s something new. It’s a sign in honor of boathouse founder Mr. Cal Tilden & the McLellan* Family, 1946-2011:

(Quite civil to post this sign, if you ask me.)
Get more deets via Aaron Sankin - here’s Huffington Post San Francisco going long-form on this issue: Stow Lake Boathouse Fight: A Battle For the Soul Of Golden Gate Park. Or there’s this here, if you want to click through the lengthy history over the prior months and years…
Le mise-en-scene:

If anything, the pace of life is even slower than that of the era of the prior tenant. Nobody’s hurried at all. And there’s more room, more benches for “old people” to lollygag about.
And here’s your new Boathouse Dog, which is from a better supplier and which is being sold at a cheaper price:

Yes, pink popcorn from Wright’s:

All the players:

And what’s this, new paint, finally, after all these years? These guys started working on Wednesday:

So there you have it.
*Yes, that’s a rapping raven, a confabulating corvid at the end of the first video, calling for a boycott of the boathouse.
Tags: 1946, 2011, asphalt, august, bay area, bicycles, bikes, blog, boat, boat house, boathouse, Boathouse Dog, boats, booats, Bruce McLellan, cafe, cal tilden, california, chuck, Cloudless Skies, coalition, com, community, department, dept., district, electric, enterprises, facebook, Fair Trade, Family, frank klein, free, golden gate park, historic, hoist, hot dog, hot dogs, inner sunset, interim, Jeff Fones, lake, Let's Be Frank, levy, mclellan familty, meeting, menu, music concourse, Nevius, new mexico, october, org, ortega, ortega family enterprises, paddle, park, park and rec, park and recreation, parks, parkwide, picnic, pink, popcorn, radio, rec, recreation and parks, rent, rental, Reopen, reopening, restaurant, Restoration Time, rfq, row, rowboat, rpd, San Francisco, Sandy Weil, save, save stow lake, Save the Stow Lake Boat house, Save the Stow Lake Boathouse, Save the Stow Lake Boathouse Coalition, savestowlake, SaveStowLake.org, stow, Stow lake, Stow Lake Boathouse and Café, STSLBC, sunset, Sustainable, swan, twitter
Posted in parks | 7 Comments »
Wednesday, October 12th, 2011
At long last, it’s here. It’s the interim menu for our Stow Lake Boathouse & Cafe.
Is this menu too foo-foo yuppie for you? Is $3.25* too much for a “Let’s Be Frank“ grass-fed beef** hot dog?
As always, You Make The Call:

Click to expand
*Well, I’ll tell you, that’s cheaper than what the former tenant was charging. Here’s some more from the clinically-absurd SaveStowLake.org crowd:
“Seniors will no longer be able to gather freely at the boathouse. Prices will be more than doubled on all food items. Middle class and low-income families will be driven out of this spot that is designed to be for all…not just the wealthy.”
I’ll tell you, everything that the Save Stow Lake people have predicted has turned out to be shrill, alarmist bullcrap. JMO.
** “These snappy dogs are loaded with flavor, not junk! Using premium cuts from cattle raised on pasture in California (naturally high in healthy Omega 3 fatty acids!) and organic spices, we’ve crafted a delicious dog that’s lower in fat, calories and sodium than conventional franks. No nitrites, nitrates, hormones, or antibiotics, ever.”
Tags: 2010, 2011, 6, asphalt, august, bay area, bicycles, bikes, blog, boat, boat house, boathouse, boats, booats, Bruce McLellan, cafe, california, chuck, Cloudless Skies, coalition, com, community, department, dept., district, electric, enterprises, facebook, Fair Trade, Family, frank klein, free, golden gate park, historic, hoist, hot dog, hot dogs, inner sunset, interim, Jeff Fones, lake, Let's Be Frank, levy, meeting, menu, music concourse, Nevius, new mexico, october, org, ortega, ortega family enterprises, paddle, park, park and rec, park and recreation, parks, parkwide, picnic, pink, popcorn, radio, rec, recreation and parks, rent, rental, Reopen, reopening, restaurant, Restoration Time, rfq, row, rowboat, rpd, San Francisco, Sandy Weil, save, save stow lake, Save the Stow Lake Boat house, Save the Stow Lake Boathouse, Save the Stow Lake Boathouse Coalition, savestowlake, SaveStowLake.org, stow, Stow lake, Stow Lake Boathouse and Café, STSLBC, sunset, Sustainable, swan, twitter
Posted in food and drink | 4 Comments »
Monday, October 10th, 2011
[UPDATE: Rachel Gordon has the deets of Opening Day right here.]
I don’t know, if I had an expired lease with the City and County of San Francisco and they asked me to leave by a certain date, I think I’d leave by that date. But the former tenant at the Stow Lake Boathouse doesn’t roll that way, so he kept on running the place, overstaying his lease, defending an eviction action through the drier $pring and $ummery tourism months. The result is that the new tenant is taking over in Autumn, in the rain. O.K., did that help San Francisco? No.
Also, the old tenant charged $25 per hour for paddleboats and $20 for rowboats until he got caught, even though the contracted rate was for $20 and $15 per hour. O.K., did that help San Francisco? No.
Oh, and the workers for the former tenants left little surprises for the new tenants haha. O.K., did that help San Francisco? No.
Oh, and the trial pitting the former tenant against all of us is skedded for March 2012.
Moving on…
Your new Stow Lake Boathouse & Cafe will open on Wednesday, October 12th, 2011, rain or shine, boats and food. It’s official ‘n stuff.
Meet your new fleet:
1. Electric boat – lead-acid type batteries, like from Your Father’s Oldsmobile;
2. Paddleboat – Captain and First Officer/Stoker facing forward with two passengers facing rearward;
3. Rowboat

Click to expand
And actually, the forecast is for Cloudless Skies on Wednesday, so you’ll be richly rewarded if you skip out of work to see the soft opening.
See you there!
Tags: 2010, 2011, 6, asphalt, august, bay area, bicycles, bikes, blog, boat, boat house, boathouse, boats, booats, Bruce McLellan, cafe, california, chuck, Cloudless Skies, coalition, com, community, department, dept., district, electric, enterprises, facebook, Family, frank klein, free, golden gate park, historic, hoist, inner sunset, Jeff Fones, lake, levy, meeting, music concourse, Nevius, new mexico, october, org, ortega, ortega family enterprises, paddle, park, park and rec, park and recreation, parks, parkwide, picnic, pink, popcorn, radio, rec, recreation and parks, rent, rental, Reopen, reopening, restaurant, rfq, row, rowboat, rpd, San Francisco, Sandy Weil, save, save stow lake, Save the Stow Lake Boat house, Save the Stow Lake Boathouse, Save the Stow Lake Boathouse Coalition, savestowlake, stow, Stow lake, Stow Lake Boathouse and Café, STSLBC, sunset, swan, twitter
Posted in parks | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, October 4th, 2011
Well, it seems that rain has delayed the planned quick fixes to our historic Stow Lake Boathouse, so don’t expect it to open by the promised October 6th deadline. The place is a ghost town right now.
Oh, and there were a few unanticipated electrical issues in the kitchen too.
Oh, and a little while back there was a hole in the Stow Lake levy that cropped up right near the boathouse during the long-planned repaving job for, among other places, the Stow Lake area and a good section of JFK.
Oh, and the swan boats, well, you’re going to have start a petition to get those any time soon. But they’ll have plenty of regular, non-avian-themed paddle boats.
In any event, work proceeds. Get all the deets on the new and official website.

Click to expand
And if you want to rent a bike in Golden Gate Park, you’ll need to go to the new vendor:
ParkWide Activities LLC
You’ll find them operating behind the bandshell in the Music Concourse betwixt our de Young Museum and California Academy of Sciences.
Their Grand Opening will be next week but they’re open for business now, even during these rainy days.
Bon courage, SLBH and ParkWide.
Tags: 2010, 2011, 6, asphalt, august, bay area, bicycles, bikes, blog, boat, boat house, boathouse, boats, booats, Bruce McLellan, cafe, california, chuck, Cloudless Skies, coalition, com, community, department, dept., district, enterprises, facebook, Family, frank klein, free, golden gate park, historic, hoist, inner sunset, Jeff Fones, lake, levy, meeting, music concourse, Nevius, new mexico, october, org, ortega, ortega family enterprises, paddle, park, park and rec, park and recreation, parks, parkwide, picnic, pink, popcorn, radio, rec, recreation and parks, rent, rental, Reopen, reopening, restaurant, rfq, row, rowboat, rpd, San Francisco, Sandy Weil, save, save stow lake, Save the Stow Lake Boat house, Save the Stow Lake Boathouse, Save the Stow Lake Boathouse Coalition, savestowlake, stow, Stow lake, Stow Lake Boathouse and Café, STSLBC, sunset, swan, twitter
Posted in parks | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 21st, 2011
But if you can pony up the dough, you can experience a 4 MPH thrill ride through Golden Gate Park some time.

Click to expand
If you want.
NB: The mandatory training course takes 45 minutes.
Tags: 2011, bay area, california, dept., electric tour company, eric mar, golden gate park, music concourse, rec and park, rpd, San Francisco, scooter, segway, sidewalks, Supervisor
Posted in paranormal, parks | No Comments »
Thursday, March 17th, 2011
(Or Caturday, if you prefer.)
It’s here at our de Young Museum and it’s bigger than ever for 2011.
Check it out.

See you there!
Tags: 2010, 2011, 26th, anniversary, april, art, bay area, bouquet, bouquets, Bouquets to Art, california, de Young, flowers, flowers to art, golden gate drive, golden gate park, museum, music concourse, San Francisco, tickets
Posted in art, flora | No Comments »
Saturday, January 22nd, 2011
Maybe someday the liars over at Walk For Life West Coast will explain how a march that was only two-thirds the length of last year’s (48 minutes (or so) long in 2010 and 31 minutes long in 2011*) could have 5000 more people.
It’s a miracle!?
It’s worth noting that nobody had a crowd estimate of less than 22K last year and nobody independent from the movement has a an estimate north of 20k this year. I put it at 16k and KGO 7 ABC TV is saying “about 20,000.” The organizers, under enormous pressure to claim ever growing attendance, claim 40,000+. Oh well.
Anyway, here are a few shots from this afternoon, starting with the counters.
The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence were on hand. I’d say 5000 souls saw this sister and a fellow sister today – they were the focus of the march, particularly on the right side of the river of people going by. Here’s your welcome to San Francisco:

The mise-en-scene:

Tax Church Property and INVESTMENTS! Sure, sounds good to me.

And here’s Frank Chu, in the middle, going on about the Galaxies, as per usual:

And here’s the main body, 16k or so marchers from all over California and beyond:

St. Patrick’s Teens, Sonora, in the hiz-ouse:

Some people from Fowler, CA? Sounds far away:

Yes We Can change:

Yeah BABIES:

“Flower” and “shears”:

A brace from Sacramento:

Save the human babies. Of course! Human babies, that changes everything!

And there you have it.
*We’re talking about at the start here, people. Ferry Plaza was a ghost town by 12:33 PM. If the same number of people showed up as last year, it would have taken until about 12:50 PM for everybody to get going. Obviously, the march will spread out over time and narrow due to the way the course is set up.
Tags: 2009, 2010, 2011, 24th, 5th, abortion, annual, anti, baby, bacorr, barcadero, choice, church, crowd, Darren, doe, Dolores Meehan, Embarcadero, estimate, fetus, fishermans wharf, indybay, january, justin herman, Kathleen Eaton, life, march, march for life, march for life west coast, music concourse, Norma McCorvey, photos, plaza, police department, protest, roe, San Francisco, SFPD, Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, small, smaller, wade, walk for life, west coast
Posted in protests | 18 Comments »