Posts Tagged ‘rec’
Sunday, October 28th, 2012
You’re invited to come to Civic Center tonight to see Game Four of the World Series on a makeshift “Jumbotron.”
See you at 5:07 PM (or earlier, to get a good spot if you want to be able to actually see the action unobstructed.)
It’ll look like this, but probably with more Matt Cain than Timothy Leroy Lincecum on the screen:
Via RubyxCube - click to expand
The SFPD requests (more or less) that you transfer your alcohol to unmarked containers, thusly:
And, oh yes, speaking of the Rec and Park, Remember to Vote No on Proposition B (November 2012), the so-called “Clean and Safe Neighborhood Parks Bond”
Why?
Well, because Prop. B is too costly for San Francisco
And also because Reform is Needed at San Francisco’s Recreation and Parks Department.
Also because area lawyer Philip Alan Ginsburg would consider passage of Prop B (November 2012) an endorsement of how he’s running the RPD.
That’s why.
Now, let’s hear from San Francisco Mayor Ron Conway,* after the jump. (Spoiler: He wants you to go to Chipotle’s and spend your money before you blow town.)
PS: The after party will be in the Mission District – spread the word, bring fireworks.
*Poor Sony. It appears that any television-like contraption bigger than 100 inches now gets the generic term “jumbotron.”
Oh well.
“Displays similar to the Jumbotron include:
(more…)
Tags: (BART), 2010, 2012, 5, Aaron Peskin, alcohol, allowed, attorney, bars, baseball, bay area, big, bond, booze, california, cart, CEO, City Hall, civic center, Dave Bing, detroit, Drinks, Dry, ed lee, edwin lee, families, Family, five, food, four, fox, free, fulton, game, games, gavin newson, giants, grove, jumbotron, larkin, lawyer, Mayor, Mayor Ron Conway, mcallister, off the grid, parcel, park, parks, party, Phil Ginsburg, Philip Alan Ginsburg, Philip Ginsburg, plaza, prop b, Proposition B', Quentin Kopp, rangers, rec, Ron Conway, rpd, San Francisco, San Francisco Mayor Ron Conway, screen, series, SFPD, Station, tax, taxes, television, tenderloin, texas, tigers, truck, TV, watch, world
Posted in sports | No Comments »
Thursday, August 9th, 2012
Why is it that fees get waived for unpopular events like Larry Ellison’s boat race next year* and yet fees get increased for popular events like the formerly-annual Power to the Peaceful?
I don’t know.
Anyway, this is what it looked like. Well, this was a yoga heavy warm-up, but the actual event attracted huge crowds and people like Alanis Morissette would play for free:
Click to expand
And this is why it’s gone:
“Due to rising city fees which have ballooned our operating costs over the past years, we regrettably announce that The Power to the Peaceful Festival will not be staged in September of 2012.
In what would have been our 13th year of free festivals in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park the only way to have produce the festival this year would have been to turn it into a ticketed event. We wish to thank all of our supporters and volunteers and look forward to the next chapter of the Power To The Peaceful team working to promote peace and positivity in our community at future events.”
Oh well.
So why is Power to the Peaceful considered so bad and why is the America’s Cup considered so good?
Perhaps because Mayor Ed Lee mostly cares about the boat-loving billionaires and millionaires who give money and support to his campaigns?
*What are we paying for this thing? $10 million? $20 million? More?
Tags: 2012, Americas Cup, bay area, california, City, costs, ed lee, fees, Festival, free, golden gate park, Mayor, micahel franti, music, park, power to the peaceful, Power to the Peaceful Festival, rec, rpd, San Francisco, Spearhead, ticket, ticketed, yoga
Posted in music | 4 Comments »
Tuesday, June 12th, 2012
You see, my new moral compass app will crawl through the website of SPUR (San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association) to find out its election endorsements. Then it will advise you to vote the opposite.
So, in regards to the the recent Prop A, SPUR told you to vote against ending San Francisco’s archaic and wasteful garbage monopoly.
And on the recent Prop B. SPUR told you to vote for the RPD.
My moral compass app would have advised you to favor both props. See how that works?
D’Accord? D’Accord.
Hey SPUR! Maybe everything our City Family wants isn’t “good?”
Hey SPUR! Maybe you have nothing at all to do with promoting “Good Government.” Maybe you just like promoting the government we have.
How wrong you are, University of San Francisco bus ad:
Click to expand
All right, what aboot the next election coming up, mmmm. Hey SPUR? Why not let’s fix the mistake our City Family forefathers made with Hetch Hetchy? How does that grab you?
Oh, here’s the answer:
“Why We Need Hetch Hetchy More Than Ever“
Now, realize, SPUR, I’m not saying that it would be easy or cheap for San Francisco to change things at the Hetchy Hetch, I’m just saying, you know, maybe, at least as a goal for the far off future, maybe we could think about taking a look at what we did to the Yosemite area. Yes, we were able to bully other municipalities a century ago, but was that fair? You know, cause the New York Times and the Sacramento Bee and the LA Times and a bunch of others favor looking into changing things at Hetch Hetchy, right?
So don’t you want to think about this? You know, use your own in-built moral compass?
God damn, SPUR, you don’t have any moral compass at all.
Who the Hell put you in charge of Good Government in the 415?
Oh well.
In closing:
SPUR, you suck!
Anyway, here’s some more on Hetch Hetchy, Dear Reader. Leaving you with this:
Drain the Dam!
San Francisco Examiner
February 16, 2012
Will San Francisco Vote to Drain Hetch Hetchy?
Sacramento Bee
February 15, 2012
San Francisco Water Ethos Goes Only so Far
Sacramento Bee
January 25, 2012
Los Angeles Times – Editorial on Hetch Hetchy
Los Angeles Times
January 15,2012
Historical New York Times Articles:
Tags: 2012, app, Application, city family, coit tower, dam, department, dept., good government, hetch hetchy, moral compass, moral compass app, park, prop, prop a, prop b, rec, rpd, San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association, soma, spur, spur.org, voter, voter's guide, Water Sustainability and Environmental Restoration Planning Act, Water Sustainability and Environmental Restoration Planning Act of 2012
Posted in politics | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, December 14th, 2011
This is from before the time they put up the tollbooths. (I’ve stopped going there myself, a kind of boycott, I suppose.)
These days the place is a ghost town and all the docents are upset about the big change.
Oh well.
Attendance is “less than anticipated” but the people who did the anticipating knew they were lying so I don’t know how you score that one.
Oh well.
Tags: 2011, admission, arboretum, bay area, california, chile, dept., flower, golden gate park, park, purple, rec, residents, rpd, San Francisco, San Francisco Botanical Garden, strybing, yellow
Posted in flora | 2 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 »
Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011
Observe, that at first there was nothing desirable to be seen, for Mclaren Lodge Lawn was without form, and void; it was confusion, and emptiness.
And then, the Pikachu train came on the scene.
Click to expand
And it was Good.
But not good enough, for then, He arrived. See?
As seen a few years back:
This made national news. (Hey whatever happened to Zoe Stagg, anyway?)
Then it was all like this:
(Artist’s conception, but the window was painted over for a while.)
And then it was all like this*
And now, just before the Great Lighting Ceremony of 2011, there’s no train at all:
Poor Obama!
(I’ll check and see if the Obama train pops up before Christmas. It’s a mystery to me. Of course, this is in Golden Gate Park on public land, as is the Prayer Book Cross and other things. Sometimes, We, those of us way out West, lose track of that nettlesome Bill of Rights.)
*Fear the beard and all. You know, I don’t think certain people, people like MC Hammer, understand that they threw their weight behind the Republican choice** for Mayor, understand that they (blindly?) supported the first choice of just 7% of San Francisco. We’ll see if they do this again.
**Ed Lee was the only viable candidate on the San Francisco Republican’s Endorsements webpage.
Tags: 2010, 2011, aprk, barack, baseball, bay area, beard, california, christmas, el chope, fear, fear the beard, giantes, giants, golden gate park, holiday, holidays, kightingm, lighting, lodge, mcLaren, Nobama, obama, Obamanos, park, pikachu, rec, recreation, rpd, San Francisco, santa, train, tree, yes we can, Zoe Stagg
Posted in politics | 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 »
