OMG! It’s the San Francisco Rocket Boat! Does it really go over 40 MPH on San Francisco Bay? Yes it does.
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Oh noes! Now it’s heading right towards the Delta Tower of the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge!
But, good thing there’s a bar pilot on board. What’s that? There’s not?
On second thought, maybe it’s a Good Thing there’s no half-million dollar a year pilot on board. Rocket Boat managed to clear the tower and proceed back to Fisherman’s Wharf.
Hurray!
As promised, our corporate overlords at T-Mobile put on a spectacle over Justin Herman Plaza yesterday afternoon. See some photos here and here.
The mise-en-scene:
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Ooh, doubles!
The San Francisco Bay Bridge:
In front of the Ferry Building. But why the codpiece?
A skillful landing…
…and a less skillful landing:
How will Radio Shack (aka “The Shack”) top this today? The Summer NetTogether starts today in Justin Herman, and New York, apparently. Let’s hope local ad firm Butler Shine and Stern doesn’t alienate people with their new campaign. (Remember the one they had before?)
Anyway, T Mobile promised a show and they delivered.
Birth, School, Work, Death – that’s what Life is about, can you dig, man. But our corporate overlords don’t want you to figure that out, so they’re always offering “free” fun events to distract you from the Truth, man. As today, when the T-Mobile phone company, the one with Catherine Zeta-Jones (once again) is providing a lunchtime spectacle over San Francisco that will keep you distracted and on the edge of your seat, so long as you are seated near Justin Herman Plaza, Marina Green Park, Pier 39, or the Moscone Recreation Center:
“Along with fly-by jets and skywriting, 100 skydivers dressed as “unique personalities” will parachute in synchronized formations over San Francisco as a promotion for T-Mobile. The 100 skydivers will land at four locations around The City.”
Here’s a look at preparations near the Ferry Building in Justin Herman Plaza. Everything’s going to be big big big:
Click to expand. But what looks like one giant monitor from the front is actually…
….a bunch of small monitors stacked on top of each other. What rip, man!
It’s the TR2010E TechnoRainbow indoor / outdoor monitor system from Toshiba. It’s mesmerizing. So clever, so tricksy.
Enjoy the show, starting at 11:15 AM, but really getting going just after noon.
And maybe you can get a free MyTouch 3G phone from them today, somehow. It will keep you distracted for months and years, or a lifetime, really.
See you there!
Been turned around till I’m upside down
Been all at sea until I’ve drowned
And I’ve felt torture, I’ve felt pain
Just like that film with Michael Caine
I’ve been abused and I’ve been confused
And I’ve kissed Margaret Thatcher’s shoes
And I been high and I been low
And I don’t know where to go
Birth, school, work, death
Birth, school, work, death
Tonight’s Fourth of July fireworks show had a fairly high fog ceiling, so it would have to rate as better than average. Better than last year anyway, but not as good as 2007.
Here’s an excellent eight-second exposure of the northern waterfront show from Lafayette Park in Specific Whites Pacific Heights. Click to expand:
And here’s a real-time shot of the same show from Twin Peaks:
Everything is done double – that’s the way they do it. Here’s a double double:
But this is what happens when the fireworks get too high – you can only see the bottom halves sometimes due to the fog:
Let’s look across the Bay over at Sausalito. That’s USF in the foreground:
Now here are some illegal explosions in San Francisco. This was an impressive burst above the northern Mission district:
And here’s Mission Bay / Dogpatch with Alameda / Oakland in the background – very nice:
The Mission and points south all had lots of illegal fireworks booming:
Oh noes, it’s a flare, shooting high above Twin Peaks…
…and then landing somewhere in the Castro District:
And there you have it.
It’s Tut! It’s dazzling! As you know by now, Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs has opened at the de Young Museum.
Now these days, you can’t travel without protection so what better Protector could you find than Anubis, the jackal-headed god associated with mummification and the afterlife in Egyptian mythology.
And here he is, from far away, it’s 25 foot tall metal Anubis being installed up in Yelp-rated Pier 39:
Now that’s better. Don’t lose your head, A-dog.
This whole installation was quite the circus with circling news choppers and the works.
Now, you gots to install giant Anubis in pieces, and not do it the way they did in Hotlanta, GA. This chart posted inside of the hollow statue spells it all out:
Is this jackal a naughty boy? Some seem to think so.
Here’s Tut’s actual Anubis, the main man who was at the ready for 3000 years in Egypt. There’s a lot to learn when you see the Tut show in Golden Gate Park. And, bonus, it’s even open tomorrow, the Fourth of July, last entry at 2:00 PM.
And check out Cultural Encounters tonight at the de Young. See you there!
When they tell you “Fog could shroud S.F. fireworks“ up in Fishermans Wharf at 9:30 PM on the Fourth of July 2009, what they really mean is Fog WILL shroud S.F. fireworks, barring some Act of God, or Gaia, or Whomever.
Sometimes the weather is good, sometimes not. This year, not.
Check it out from 2008. Click to expand:
This is by no means the worst case scenario. So when they talk about special low-level fireworks and let’s cross our fingers, they’re spinning. And spinning is just the polite term for lying. So, what do you do? Head on over to the Mission District, where they’ll have oodles of Yelp-rated, illegal, illicit, MUY PRO HI BI DA DO (now I say that in Spanish because that’s how exotic and not allowed it is) fireworks, fog-free, for free. Just check out this screen saver album from 2007.
Of course, you can always go with the flow and follow the madding crowd northward into la niebla, le brouillard. And who knows, maybe it will be clear the way it was in 2007. Thusly:
This is the view you had from Crissy Field on 7-4-2007 – those lights at the bottom have something to do with Fishermans Wharf.
But dude, don’t drive up there. Even if they didn’t block off the streets and you already had a parking space waiting for you, you’d still have to drive out of there in a traffic jam when the show’s over at 10:00 PM. Of course, you could always hang out at all the places that will be open up in the Wharf after the show, but maybe you’d be better off driving into the City with your bikes in tow and parking South of the 101 near the Giants’ AT&T Park. Then you could ride up the flat, flat Embarcadero (on the sidewalk – it’s legal) back and forth.
Can you dig the colors, man?
But if that doesn’t pan out, you could follow the cable cars on Hyde (that’s the one north-south street they don’t block off, in my experience) and drop off the brood. Whatever you do, stay off of Van Ness. Or you could BART it to the Embarcadero Station and then hoof it up to Pier 39. But forget about MUNI, ’cause walking would be faster.
And most likely it will be foggy anyway, you’ve been warned.
Dress warm. Panthers out.
Fourth of July Waterfront Celebration
Saturday, July 4, 2009
1:00 PM to 9:30 PM
“PIER 39 invites you to enjoy a fun-filled Independence Day celebration. Rock out with ‘Take 2′ from 1-4pm followed by San Francisco’s favorite 80’s cover band, ‘Tainted Love’ from 6-9:30pm. Immediately after the entertainment look to the sky as the City of San Francisco lights up the night with it’s Firework’s Spectacular, accompanied by a musical simulcast from KISS FM 98.1. PIER 39 has the best viewing area on the bay! In addition, 39 of PIER 39’s businesses will remain open after the fireworks so that guests can miss the traffic, enjoy the PIER, have a drink, get a bite to eat, and shop. Click here for the list of locations open after the fireworks. Sponsored by Crystal Geyser ALPINE SPRING WATER, DeLoach Vineyards, Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream, The San Francisco Examiner, Tawain Tourism and Asus.”
These fellows appear to be enjoying a quiet moment at the otherwise busy Fisherman’s Wharf area of San Francisco. Do some animals display a same-sex preference?
Anyway, look for these California sea lions yourself the next time you’re around Pier 39. You know, this is their season in San Francisco. Read up on their storied history here.
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This was the scene the other day at Pier 39 in San Francisco. Those darn sea lions have all left, save one.
Keep an eye out here. They’ll be back soon enough.
This was the scene at famous Pier 39 in San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf the other day. Barack Obama has a new T-shirt.
But what’s that, John McCain is left-handed as well? And Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton?
That means four out the last six U.S. presidents be lefties. And, as of next year, the stat will be five out the last seven presidents. That’s 71%, or a rate ten times higher than what you’d expect.
Why are so many of our Presidents Left-Handed?
Here’s what it will look like tonight at around 9:30 PM on the waterfront in San Francisco.
Assuming the weather holds out – it certainly doesn’t look like it will be the foggiest fourth in S.F. history, so that’s good.
How to Photograph Fireworks, if you care. Or follow this advice here.
Dress warm! Click to expand:
