The San Francisco Citizen

Lane splitting - everybody’s doing it, even SuzukiGirl. But what does John Law think about that?

Q. Can motorcycle riders “split” lanes and ride between other vehicles? A. Lane splitting by motorcycles is permissible but must be done in a safe and prudent manner.

Does lane splitting irritate drivers? Perhaps, but who cares?

Go for it, dOoD. The University of California says lane splitting is good for you. Plus, these days you’ve got the Vatican-certified patron saint of motocycle riders, Columbanus of Bobbio, on your side.

Bonus.

“Filtering forward” through the long line of stalled cagers in front of the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge toll booths. Click to expand:

The 42nd Annual International Children’s Games finish up today, so this is your last chanceto see the basketball and soccer (aka football, futbol) finals up at the University of San Francisco.

The kids from Brantford, Ontario, Canada deflect a spike under the menacing eyes of evil soccer boy:

See you there!

The International Children’s Games are going on right now in San Francisco.

Click to expand. From Opening Day:

The San Francisco JROTC was there as color guard for all the colorful flags. Phasing them out wasn’t quite the breeze some anticipated.

The last flag you’ll see in this entry:

Oops, more flags. It looked like a Quidditch Invitational over by Kezar Stadium.

At USF: 

This soccer ball as your head thing is getting out of hand:

O.K, no more flags after this:

Participants are warming up now for the 42nd Annual International Children’s Games in our little burg.

The spirit of athletic competition that will sweep the world in August is coming to San Francisco in July. On Friday, July 11, the 42nd International Children’s Games kicks off with the Opening Ceremony at Kezar Stadium in Golden Gate Park. The International Children’s Games, this year held in San Francisco, brings together more than 1,200 youth athletes (between the ages of 12-15 years old) from 84 cities in 42 countries, and representing all six inhabitable continents.

Why don’t you buy yourself some tickets?

They aren’t all that expensive, and you’ll be able to see an international competition just like the Olympics but without all the drugs and the G-word issue that has Mia Farrow and the New York Times so upset these days. And who knows, maybe you’ll meet Brandi Chastain, winner* of the 1999 World Cup (thanks to a terrible noncall on keeper Brianna Scurry shown at 2:15 here).

Soccer practice at foggy, foggy University of San Francisco

Everything kicks off tomorrow. The Opening Ceremony at Kezar will feature Mayor Gavin Newsom and Assemblywoman Fiona Ma. 

Mobile phone users: Feel free to sign up to receive updates about schedules and match results by sending a text message to code 95294 with the keyword “KIDS” in the body of the text message.

Will you root for the team representing San Francisco, Oakland, or somewhere else?

See you there!

First,  let’s all agree that denial, (also called abnegation), is:

 ”is a defense mechanism‘ postulated by Sigmund Freud, in which a person is faced with a fact that is too uncomfortable to accept…”

Can a radio station be in denial? Well, how about the coverage KCBS AM 740  is giving to yesterday’s crash landing of a traffic-reporting Cessna 172. KCBS reports this incident thusly: “Plane Lands near I-80 Ramp” with an account about how “freeway traffic was not affected by the landing”.

Firstly, KCBS used this in the webpage URL: “Plane-Blocks-I-80-Off-Ramp” - so this was spurious information? Or maybe the plane blocked the off-ramp, but not the freeway? Secondly, other media sources correctly called this incident a “crash-landing,” as that’s what it was. Thirdly, KCBS reported last month’s other crash landing of a Cessna 172 in the bay area as a “crash landing.”

The dash of a Cessna 172 that didn’t crash land in the bay area last month, from the incredible Telstar Logistics Flickrstream

There’s lots of ways to report a story. KCBS certainly chose a drama-free approach. As must be obvious by now, you can put a Cessna 172 (that has a landing weight pretty close to a tiny 2-seat Smart Car) down in a very small piece of real estate, but yesterday’s crash landing could easily have been fatal.

So, better check yo self before you wreck yo self (again). Just saying,

Today’s headlines include news of the crash landing of a Flying Vikings, Inc. Cessna 172 in Oakland, California.

The San Jose Mercury News earlier reported that N61736 ”had a gas leak,” but now is going with ”mechanical problems” as the cause of this incident. KCBS, which labels this single engine plane the KCBS Radio Traffic Plane, is reporting the pilot claimed the oil pressure guage plummetted just before the engine conked out. This aircraft, built in 1974, suffered “substantial damage” during an incident in 1981.  

The following language, written before today’s accident, appears on the Flying Vikings website:

Since Flying Vikings also has a contract with local news gathering organizations, students are offered opportunities to build time that no other school can. Fly 3 to 6 hours a day and get paid.

A visual aid to help imagine yourself staring at a motionless propeller low over the Bay Area. Click to expand:

The dash of a Cessna 172 and a view of Candlestick Park, from the incredible Telstar Logistics Flickrstream

Here’s a photo of a different Flying Vikings aircraft, a Piper that suffered a fatal accident in 2006. Readers may find this link, relating to the Piper crash, of interest, however, it might lead you to unproven speculation about the cause of that tragedy.

The Federal Aviation Administration and Cal OSHA should be able to determine the cause of this forced landing fairly easily.

A relatively happy ending to a scary situation.

Actually, Golden Gate Park probably now has as many Canada Geese as it can handle. These birds have already created problems for the Oakland Raiders and now they’re coming after us in the West Bay.

If you let 30 adults stay on a grassy area for one day, you’ll have 30 pounds of bird poo to deal with the next day. Something to think about…

It’s on. Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream is having it’s 30th annual Free Cone Day on Tuesday, April 29, 2008. 

Founders Ben and Jerry were most recently in the local news for launching an Olympic protest during our recent torch relay. (You hear that Coke? You don’t need to sponsor every Olympiad that comes down the pike.) 

Anyway, there’ll be five places in San Francisco for you to get your cone on. Click onward to see the locations for the South, East and North Bays on the jump page or just go here to see all locations in northern North America. 

This udder will be equipped to dispense the four newest flavors: Coconut Seven Layer Bar, Imagine Whirled Peace™, ONE Cheesecake Brownie™, Cake Batter:

mkdougal via Flickr

See you there!

West Bay: 

Ben & Jerry’s Argonaut
475 Jeffersont Street
San Francisco, CA 94109
           
Ben & Jerry’s Jefferson Street
79 Jefferson Street
Rocket Shop
San Francisco, CA 94133
          
Ben & Jerry’s Fisherman’s Wharf
Pier 41
San Francisco, CA 94133
           
Ben & Jerry’s Macy’s
Macy’s Department Store
San Francisco, CA 94102
            
Ben & Jerry’s Haight Ashbury
1480 Haight Street
San Francisco, CA 94117  

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Google Transit has come to the Bay Area, finally. Watch the video here.

What about getting down over to San Hoser? You’ve been away so long, you may go wrong and lose your way. 

Check it out. Now, do you know the way to San Jose? 

Thank you India/ thank you providence/ thank you disillusionment/ thank you nothingness/ thank you clarity/ thank you GOOGLE!

Next Tuesday, April 22, 60 volunteers from TransFair USA will hand out vouchers for free Fair Trade and organic coffee from Tully’s at six busy BART stations.

So if you’re riding BART from 6:00 to 9:00 AM and you’re at any of the following stations - Montgomery Street, Embarcadero, Powell Street, Civic Center, Oakland City Center/12th Street or Downtown Berkeley - make sure you get your Tully’s swag.

Tuesday, Tuesday Tuesday! It’s on!

nakagawa-kun via Flickr

Full details after the jump
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