The San Francisco Citizen

With the California state budget stalemate dragging on for two months, helped along by those who signed the “Taxpayer Protection Pledge” suicide pact, about 40 protesters showed up at the State Building in San Francisco’s Civic Center to object to any further cuts to education.

Rallies and protests regarding the budget are par for the course these days, but check out this sign from yesterday. Depicting Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger ripping babies in half might be going too far, but this poster is simply arresting so give it points for that.   

Click to enlarge:

Was the recent, successful Outside Lands music festival a transcendent musical experience, chaotic logistical nightmare, or a little bit of both?

Despite some discord, things went the way you would have expected. The kids that came up from Stanford University liked it and the solons of Sacramento thought the whole deal was worth the trip.  

Even though thousands of people snuck in, Parks and Rec made more money than anticipated. This paves the way for more concerts in Golden Gate Park. See you there!

These young lovers skated down to the festival. Will they be able to come back next year?  

This area near Golden Gate and Van Ness can’t really be called the Tenderloin, as you can see City Hall’s duomo is quite close by.

So, you have an abandoned lot that’s been unused for donkey’s years, an abandoned Trader Vic’s, an abandoned Quizno’s, an abandoned California State Building (sadly still windmill-free and dormant since being attacked in 1991), and an architectural McDonald’s with an abandoned second floor. There used to be bushes on this lot, but they’re all gone now.

Some California poppies are the only sign of life you can see here. Sort of a bleak area…

Clique pour la pleine horreur:

Right now it’s just blowing in the wind, but pretty soon this newly-installed windmill will earn its keep at San Francisco’s Slow Food Nation ‘08.

Finally, here it is!

“Welcome Pavilions – Jensen Architects
The entryway to Slow Food Nation, the Welcome Pavilions at Fort Mason and Civic Center Plaza will be visible from near and far. Serving as a beacon and a billboard, each Welcome Center will be housed in a re-claimed shipping container painted Slow Food Nation signature orange and topped by a full size, galvanized steel windmill.”

The Victory Garden is coming along nicely and even the skeptics might be getting on board.

See you there!

This was the scene last night when Bruce Wolfe began campaigning for Community College Board at a fundraiser on Divisidero Street.

Bruce Wolfe with supporter Frank Rizzo from the Sierra Club in the background:

Read some “Howls from the Wolfe” here on his official website.

It looks like he’s off to a good start.

News of the day: ”Gunfire erupted near UC Hastings College of the Law in the 200 block of McAllister Street at 5:40 p.m.” Interestingly, both accounts of this shooting place the 200 block of McAllister in the Tenderloin area.

Some might consider this block as part of the Civic Center as it’s right across the street from Civic Center Plaza. You can see these 49ers Gold Rush cheeleaders causing a stir on McAllister’s 200 block last year in the photo below.

Click to enlarge:

So is this block really in the Tenderloin?

Mmmm….

As of today, the countdown timer at the California Academy of Sciences website shows that there are just 32 days left until the Grand Opening in Golden Gate Park on September 27th.

As the cutaway view here shows, the Morrison Planetarium is on the left. Click to expand:

Check it. It’s all digital. They’re still working out all the bugs as they’re installing the new equipment. But, like the rest of the CAS, it’s going to be mega.

A family portrait of El Sol and Gaia, Mother Earth on the high-def screens of the new Morrison:

See you there on September 27th! (Listen to a few MP3s if you want, in the meantime.)

This sign, sighted near in the Civic Center near Opera Plaza in San Francisco, cites an actual provision of the Health Code but it doesn’t look like it was posted by the City or County. Seems like somebody has a personal campaign to get the word out. How civic minded!

SEC. 40.  DOG TO BE CONTROLLED SO AS NOT TO COMMIT NUISANCES.

(a)   It shall be unlawful for any person owning or having control or custody of any dog to permit the animal to defecate upon the public property of this City or upon the private property of another unless the person immediately remove the feces and properly dispose of it; provided, however, that nothing herein contained authorizes such person to enter upon the private property of another without permission.

 

 

This was the scene yesterday in the Western Addition, where hundreds of protesters blocked traffic in front of the Chinese Consulate. Drivers on the Geary Expressway, already wary of dangerous all-electric supercars, should experience a similar gauntlet today.

And then the action heads over to the East Bay.

This was yesterday’s schedule from Team Tibet SF:

In San Francisco
11:30-12:00 PRESS CONFERENCE
12:00-1:30 Peace Rally, Concert at Union Square
March to City hall
2:00-2:30 Rally at City Hall
March to Chinese Consulate
3:30-4:30 Protest at Chinese Consulate
4:30-5:15 Walk back to Union Sqaure
5:15-7:00pm Break. Food and Beverages provided by SF TEAM TIBET
7:00-9:00pm Candle Light Vigil w/ Cultural Show at Union Square

Here is today’s

August 24

12:00-3:00pm Protest at the Chinese Consulate

Evening event at Finnish Brotherhood Church in Berkeley on University Ave and cross
street at Chestnut Ave.

Program: 6:00-10:00pm Dinner, Annual Report, Film, Short Presentation

Hey look what was parked on JFK Drive in Golden Gate Park, soon to become a National Park, during Opening Night of the 2008 Outside Lands music festival. That’s right, it’s our old friend, the Do It Outdoors MGD Beer rolling billboard.

Except this time, it wasn’t rolling. It was parked in the same place for what seemed to be hours, emergency blinkers clickety-clicking away.

From Wisconsin with love:

Which is worse:

1. A rolling billboard driving around one block over and over again on the streets of San Francisco?

or

2. A rolling billboard parking in the same place for a long time in Golden Gate Park?

Does the Miller Brewing Company, maker of beer with “fruity, hoppy undertones” per its yuppified website, know how its product is being promoted over here?