Posts Tagged ‘Stow lake’
Monday, May 21st, 2012
Three Reasons Why You Were Foolish to Have Registered for the Bay to Breakers:
1. Your money goes to Philip Anschutz, the Christian Billionaire – see below.
2. You don’t get a refund even if the Philip Anschutz people decide to cancel the race – you agreed to that in the oppressive agreement you made on the Bay to Breakers website when you signed up: “…all Race entry fees are non-refundable, even if Race is cancelled…” See after the jump for details on that.
3. Most other participants don’t pay, so why should you? Take a look right here, this is early on during the first hour of the 2012 event - how many registrants can you spot?
Click to expand
I’ll tell you, I see just one soul with a “racing” bib. Do you think any of these people cared about getting a “racing” time that shows how long it took them to run the BtoB? Do you think any of them were arrested by the SFPD? Do you think any of them were ejected from the “race” course by “race” organizers? I don’t.
Those were just Three Reasons Why You Were Foolish to Have Registered for the Bay to Breakers.
Sucker!
Often identified as “Christian billionaire Phil Anschutz”,[26] he is a Republican donor who supported George W. Bush‘s administration. He has been an active patron of a number of religious and conservative causes:
- Helped fund Colorado‘s 1992 Amendment 2, a ballot initiative designed to overturn local and state laws that prohibit discrimination against individuals on the basis of sexual orientation but was invalidated by Romer v. Evans after it passed.[19]
- Contributed $70,000 in 2003 to the Discovery Institute, to specifically support the work of telecom guru George Gilder but not matters related to intelligent design. That fact was validated by Discovery President Bruce Chapman in a letter-to-the-editor to the Rocky Mounatain News, “Anschutz never gave that program a nickel,”[27]
The Discovery Institute is a think tank based in Seattle, Washington that also promotes intelligent design and criticizes evolution.[28]
Tags: (First Sequence), 101, 101st, 12k, 2, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 22, 250, 34:15, 38:07, 5 fulton, 7, 97th, 98.5, 98th, aftermath, aggies, alamo square neighborhood association, alcohol, alix rosenthal, altitude, amendment 2, annual, anschutz, ASNA, avatar, b2b, bacon, bad, Bay, bay to breakers, bay2breakers, beer, Blue, body, breakers, btob, Buena Vista Neighborhood Association, BVNA, c. w., caffeine, california, canister, cannister, Carol Norris, cars, carts, centipede, champagne, channel, Chepkurui, chp, chris fox, Christina Olague, Cigarettes, citizens, Citizens for the Preservation of Bay2Breakers, Clare Cooke, coffee, Cole Valley Improvement Association, colt 45, Conor Johnston, cops, corrals, CPBB, crawlsf, cups, CVIA, Dave Iverson, david perry, David Perry & Associates, david perry and associates, david scott, David William Scott, davis, department, dept., destroyed, direct, district, district 5, divisadero, Divisadero Merchants Association, divisidero, dj, DMA, dmv, dpa, dpw, drink, drive, drugs, Duck, dumpsters, EaPA, ecstacy, ed sharpless, edelman, Edward Sharpless, Elite, eventbrite, facebook, fell, First, floats, footrace, footstock, forum, foto, free, fundraiser, gabe, ganga, garbage, gavilanes, Gavin, glass, golden gate park, good, Gorilla, Greater Body Expo, HAIA, Haight Asbury Improvement Association, haight Ashbury, haight ashbury improvement association, hayes, Hayes street hill, Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association, highest point, highway patrol, hot dog, howard, Human Centipede, Human Centipede (First Sequence), HVNA, ing, Inner Sunset Park Neighbors, ISPN, Jarie Bolander, jfk, John, John Gray, Jon Dishotsky, kegs, Kelsey Nagie, kennedy, kgo, KGO-TV, killer b, Kipsang, Korir, kqed, lady foot locker, Lineth, Lineth Chepkurui, Linked In, linkedin, liquor, Liz Brusca, LoHaMNA, lot, Lower Haight Merchants and Neighborhood Association, malt liquor, Mamitu Daska, map, Matt Seliga, mdma ex, Men's, Michael Krasny, Mike Moscuzza, monster energy, Muni, na'vi, naked, nat ford, Nevius, Newsom, nicotine, nimby, nimbys, nitrous, nopna, north of panhandle neighborhood association, North Panhandle Neighborhood Association, nude, oxide, paint, panhandle, parking, permit, photographs, photos, pink, plastic, police, police department, pr, prayer book cross, preservation, president, profile, public relations, purple, race, recycling, red, release, results, richmond, roe, ross mirkarimi, route profile, run ed run, sam singer, Sammy Kitwara, San Francisco, SFPD, smell, smoove, spaceman, store, Stow lake, strawberry hill, street, sunset, Supervisor, thomas, tickets, tom, Tommy, Tommy the Pink Gorilla, towed, trash, trough, TV, uc davis, ugly, university, vehicles, whippets, Wilson Ling, wine, women's, won, zaq, zero tolerance
Posted in sports | 1 Comment »
Sunday, May 20th, 2012
There he is this morning, #21, on the right, already breaking away from the pack halfway through the Golden Gate Park Panhandle on Fell:
Click to expand
Get all the deets on the high-placing runners right here at Fog City Journal from Luke Thomas.
Now I’ll tell you, I didn’t register for the 101st running of the Bay to Breakers, so that means I haven’t signed away my right to ever in my life “attack, embarrass or disparage” San Francisco’s littlest TV news station, KRON-TV.* Therefore, I have the freedom to ask, “What the hell, KRON? You start broadcasting the race at 8:00 AM after all the winners have crossed the finish line?”
Is this the smallest BtoB in recent memory? Seems that way. The past week the Philip Anschutz people couldn’t even give away registrations. Oh well.
LinkedIn won, once again, in the Centipede category:
(The Philip Anschutz people used to call this category “Human Centipede,” with hilarious results.)
Back in the day, there were hundreds of thousands of people out there on Bay to Breakers Day, and no fences, and everything seemed to work out. But in this day, of uptight rich white NIMBYs living in the Western Addition and Hayes Valley and district elections affecting the behavior of San Francisco Supervisors, things are different. OK.
OK fine.
*It’s true. It’s in the waiver you assented to – you can’t ”attack, embarrass or disparage” any Sponsor and KRON’s a Sponsor so there you go.
Tags: (First Sequence), 101, 101st, 12k, 2, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 22, 250, 34:15, 38:07, 5 fulton, 7, 97th, 98.5, 98th, aftermath, aggies, alamo square neighborhood association, alcohol, alix rosenthal, altitude, amendment 2, annual, anschutz, ASNA, avatar, b2b, bacon, bad, Bay, bay to breakers, bay2breakers, beer, Blue, body, breakers, btob, Buena Vista Neighborhood Association, BVNA, c. w., caffeine, california, canister, cannister, Carol Norris, cars, carts, centipede, champagne, channel, Chepkurui, chp, chris fox, Christina Olague, Cigarettes, citizens, Citizens for the Preservation of Bay2Breakers, Clare Cooke, coffee, Cole Valley Improvement Association, colt 45, Conor Johnston, cops, corrals, CPBB, crawlsf, cups, CVIA, Dave Iverson, david perry, David Perry & Associates, david perry and associates, david scott, David William Scott, davis, department, dept., destroyed, direct, district, district 5, divisadero, Divisadero Merchants Association, divisidero, dj, DMA, dmv, dpa, dpw, drink, drive, drugs, Duck, dumpsters, EaPA, ecstacy, ed sharpless, edelman, Edward Sharpless, Elite, eventbrite, facebook, fell, First, floats, footrace, footstock, forum, foto, free, fundraiser, gabe, ganga, garbage, gavilanes, Gavin, glass, golden gate park, good, Gorilla, Greater Body Expo, HAIA, Haight Asbury Improvement Association, haight Ashbury, haight ashbury improvement association, hayes, Hayes street hill, Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association, highest point, highway patrol, hot dog, howard, Human Centipede, Human Centipede (First Sequence), HVNA, ing, Inner Sunset Park Neighbors, ISPN, Jarie Bolander, jfk, John, John Gray, Jon Dishotsky, kegs, Kelsey Nagie, kennedy, kgo, KGO-TV, killer b, Kipsang, Korir, kqed, lady foot locker, Lineth, Lineth Chepkurui, Linked In, linkedin, liquor, Liz Brusca, LoHaMNA, lot, Lower Haight Merchants and Neighborhood Association, malt liquor, Mamitu Daska, map, Matt Seliga, mdma ex, Men's, Michael Krasny, Mike Moscuzza, monster energy, Muni, na'vi, naked, nat ford, Nevius, Newsom, nicotine, nimby, nimbys, nitrous, nopna, north of panhandle neighborhood association, North Panhandle Neighborhood Association, nude, oxide, paint, panhandle, parking, permit, photographs, photos, pink, plastic, police, police department, pr, prayer book cross, preservation, president, profile, public relations, purple, race, recycling, red, release, results, richmond, roe, ross mirkarimi, route profile, run ed run, sam singer, Sammy Kitwara, San Francisco, SFPD, smell, smoove, spaceman, store, Stow lake, strawberry hill, street, sunset, Supervisor, thomas, tickets, tom, Tommy, Tommy the Pink Gorilla, towed, trash, trough, TV, uc davis, ugly, university, vehicles, whippets, Wilson Ling, wine, women's, won, zaq, zero tolerance
Posted in NIMBYs | No Comments »
Friday, May 18th, 2012
LEAVE US BEGIN:
“More than ever, City officials and race organizers are serious about keeping the race free from alcohol abuse and nuisance behavior.”
SO THIS IS THE STANDARD LINE FROM SFGOV-APPROVED MEDIA FLACK DAVID PERRY, WHO GETS PAID TENS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS TO ATTEMPT TO PROMOTE WHATEVER IT IS THAT SFGOV WANTS PROMOTED. LIKE, “THERE’S NO HALLOWEEN IN THE CASTRO, WE’RE SERIOUS.” FOR THE BAY TO BREAKERS IT’S BASICALLY, “NO ALCOHOL, WE”RE SERIOUS.” AND THEN DAVID PERRY PUTS UP A RECYCLED, HALF-ASSED WEBSITE. (ALL HIS SITES LOOK THE SAME, COMPLETE WITH THE SEAL OF SAN FRANCISCO FOR COLOR OF AUTHORITY.)
NOW, WHAT DOES DAVID PERRY BILL THE CITY FOR THIS SERVICE? $10,000? $40,000? I HAVE NO IDEA. WHAT’S IT WORTH? ABOUT ZERO, THAT’S WHAT IT’S WORTH. BUT FOR SOME REASON, THE CITY OF SAN FRANCISCO JUST LOVES GIVING MONEY TO DAVID PERRY – TO KEEP HIS BUSINESS GOING, I GUESS.
ANYWAY, HERE’S THE WEBSITE THAT DAVID PERRY GETS PAID FOR WHETHER ANYBODY LOOKS AT IT OR NOT. NOTE THAT DAVID PERRY STEALS PHOTOGRAPHS TO DECORATE HIS WEBSITES. FOR EXAMPLE, FIND THE SHOT THAT LOOKS PROFESSIONAL AND THAT’LL BE THE ONE THAT DAVID PERRY REPEATEDLY USES “COMMERCIALLY.” DO YOU HAVE A LICENSE, DAVID PERRY? NO YOU DO NOT. IS THAT HOW YOU ROLL, DAVID PERRY? YES IT IS. MOVING ON…
“Bay to Breakers has always been a blast for everyone,” said San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr.
A BLAST? WOW, YOU’RE THE COOLEST POLICE CHIEF EVER, GREG SUHR!
“Last year was no different, with the singular exception of no alcohol allowed. In some years past, because alcohol was allowed, there was a negative impact of our neighborhoods and we don’t want to see that repeated. That said, we hope that everyone will come and have a great time again, absent any alcohol.”
UM, ARE YOU SAYING ALCOHOL WAS OFFICIALLY “ALLOWED” AT THE BAY TO BREAKERS TWO YEARS AGO? NO IT WAS NOT. SO WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT GREG SUHR? YOU SEEM OUT OF TOUCH ON THIS ISSUE.
NOW, HERE’S WHAT THE SFPD WANTS YOU TO DO WITH YOUR ALCOHOL AT THE BAY TO BREAKERS. IT’S A DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL POLICY:
IT’S AS SIMPLE AS THAT. THE SFPD WANTS YOU TO DRINK YOUR ALCOHOL IN A NON-OBVIOUS WAY AT THE BAY TO BREAKERS. IF YOU WALK THE COURSE HOLDING A CAN OF BUD, THE SFPD MIGHT MAKE YOU POUR IT OUT, VERY POSSIBLY. BUT IF YOU TRANSFER YOUR STUFF TO ANOTHER CONTAINER AS THE SFPD WANTS YOU TO DO, THEN YOU’LL BE FINE.
THAT’S WHAT THEY MEAN WHEN THEY SAY, “NO ALCOHOL ALLOWED”
WHAT THE SFPD WANTS TO DO AT THE BAY TO BREAKERS, FUNDAMENTALLY, IS TO LOOK AT GIRLS, TALK TO GIRLS, AND OTHERWISE INTERACT WITH GIRLS:
ALL THE LIVE-LONG DAY
THUSLY:
BUT IF YOU CAUSE TROUBLE, BY GETTING IN A FIGHT OR SOMETHING, THEY’LL HAUL YOU OFF, SIMPLE AS THAT.
MOVING ON…
AH, HERE’S DAVID PERRY AGAIN, PROMOTING HIS USELESS WEBSITE. HELLO DAVID PERRY!
To emphasize the point, a special campaign website is active at www.baytobreakers100.com with public transit information, rules and regulations, video PSAs and links to social media sites stressing this year’s campaign.
WHAT WOULD THE WORLD DO WITHOUT YOUR USELESS EFFORTS?
NOW, THE CITY FAMILY IS DOING ITS BEST TO PROMOTE THE CANDIDACY OF “RUN ED RUN” PROMOTER CHRISTINA OLAGUE, WHO’S PROBABLY SAN FRANCISCO’S LEAST INTELLIGENT SUPERVISOR NOW THAT MICHELA ALIOTO-PIER IS GONE. CHRISTINA IS THE REPUBLICAN-APPROVED SAN FRANCISCO PROGRESSIVE, SO SHE’S ALLOWED TO MOUTH OFF ON HER PET ISSUES, BUT SHE CAN BE COUNTED ON TO SUPPORT REPUBLICAN-SUPPORTED MAYOR ED LEE WHEN HE WANTS HER TO SUPPORT HIM. YOU KNOW, WHEN IT COUNTS. ANYWAY, HERE SHE IS SAYING, “VOTE FOR ME, VOTE FOR ME,” IN SO MANY WORDS:
“This year, will be my first Bay to Breakers as Supervisor for District 5 and I couldn’t be more excited to be a part of it and share this great event with our community,” said District 5 Supervisor Christina Olague. “Coming off of the successes of last year, I am confident that this race will only continue to improve as it enters into its second century here in the Bay Area. Last year, we saw a very different Bay to Breakers than in year’s prior. The new rules implemented by race organizers clearly made a difference and the sold out race was said to be a success by city officials, neighborhoods, media, and the organizers themselves. We expect the same result of our participants this year.”
SO LAST YEAR’S RUNNING WAS A SUCCESS, OFFICIALLY? WELL THAT’S NEWS TO ME. CONSIDER LAST YEAR’S EVENT A BASELINE, IF YOU WANT. BUT LAST YEAR, IN FACT, EVERYBODY WAS DRINKING, THERE WERE HUGE HOUSE PARTIES ON FELL STREET, DPW’S STREET REOPENING SCHEDULE WAS A COMPLETE JOKE, MOST OF THE PARTICIPANTS DIDN’T REGISTER AND YADAYADAYADA. (AND I’LL NOTE THAT THIS YEAR’S RACE IS NOT A SELL-OUT, NOT EVEN CLOSE.)
ALL RIGHT, MAYBE THAT’S WHY PEOPLE DON’T TALK ABOUT THE BAY TO BREAKERS VERY MUCH ANYMORE, MAYBE PEOPLE THINK IT’S FINE THE WAY IT IS. OF COURSE TICKET SALES ARE WAY DOWN FROM LAST YEAR AND TICKET PRICES ARE UP AND THIS EVENT IS WAY SMALLER THAN IT WAS IN YEARS PAST, BUT THE CITY FAMILY IS COOL WITH THE B2B, APPARENTLY.
OK, WELL, IF OUR CITY FAMILY CAN DEAL WITH THE WAY THE BAY TO BREAKERS IS NOW, THEN SO CAN I.
ON WITH THE SHOW…
Tags: (First Sequence), 101, 101st, 12k, 2, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 22, 250, 34:15, 38:07, 5 fulton, 7, 97th, 98.5, 98th, aftermath, aggies, alamo square neighborhood association, alcohol, alix rosenthal, altitude, amendment 2, annual, anschutz, ASNA, avatar, b2b, bacon, bad, Bay, bay to breakers, bay2breakers, beer, Blue, body, breakers, btob, Buena Vista Neighborhood Association, BVNA, c. w., caffeine, california, canister, cannister, Carol Norris, cars, carts, centipede, champagne, channel, Chepkurui, chp, chris fox, Christina Olague, Cigarettes, citizens, Citizens for the Preservation of Bay2Breakers, Clare Cooke, coffee, Cole Valley Improvement Association, colt 45, Conor Johnston, cops, corrals, CPBB, crawlsf, cups, CVIA, Dave Iverson, david perry, David Perry & Associates, david perry and associates, david scott, David William Scott, davis, department, dept., destroyed, direct, district, district 5, divisadero, Divisadero Merchants Association, divisidero, dj, DMA, dmv, dpa, dpw, drink, drive, drugs, Duck, dumpsters, EaPA, ecstacy, ed sharpless, edelman, Edward Sharpless, Elite, eventbrite, facebook, fell, First, floats, footrace, footstock, forum, foto, free, fundraiser, gabe, ganga, garbage, gavilanes, Gavin, glass, golden gate park, good, Gorilla, Greater Body Expo, HAIA, Haight Asbury Improvement Association, haight Ashbury, haight ashbury improvement association, hayes, Hayes street hill, Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association, highest point, highway patrol, hot dog, howard, Human Centipede, Human Centipede (First Sequence), HVNA, ing, Inner Sunset Park Neighbors, ISPN, Jarie Bolander, jfk, John, John Gray, Jon Dishotsky, kegs, Kelsey Nagie, kennedy, kgo, KGO-TV, killer b, Kipsang, Korir, kqed, lady foot locker, Lineth, Lineth Chepkurui, Linked In, linkedin, liquor, Liz Brusca, LoHaMNA, lot, Lower Haight Merchants and Neighborhood Association, malt liquor, map, Matt Seliga, mdma ex, Men's, Michael Krasny, Mike Moscuzza, monster energy, Muni, na'vi, naked, nat ford, Nevius, Newsom, nicotine, nimby, nimbys, nitrous, nopna, north of panhandle neighborhood association, North Panhandle Neighborhood Association, nude, oxide, paint, panhandle, parking, permit, photographs, photos, pink, plastic, police, police department, pr, prayer book cross, preservation, president, profile, public relations, purple, race, recycling, red, release, results, richmond, roe, ross mirkarimi, route profile, run ed run, sam singer, Sammy Kitwara, San Francisco, SFPD, smell, smoove, spaceman, store, Stow lake, strawberry hill, street, sunset, Supervisor, thomas, tickets, tom, Tommy, Tommy the Pink Gorilla, towed, trash, trough, TV, uc davis, ugly, university, vehicles, whippets, Wilson Ling, wine, women's, won, zaq, zero tolerance
Posted in events | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, May 15th, 2012
Oh, it’s happening again this year. It’s the falsehood about the Hayes Street Hill being the highest point on the Bay to Breakers course.
Here’s your route profile, starting from the SoMA near the bay going all the way to the breakers of Ocean Beach. See that big incline just before mile marker three? That’s the vaunted Hayes Street Hill. (And actually, the highest part of Hayes Street on this part of the course is near Pierce, not “at Fillmore and Steiner“ and not ”between Fillmore and Sutter.”)
And actually, that part of Hayes peaks at around 260 feet, not 215:
Now, here’s your winner. It’s the 270-something foot high saddle on JFK Jr. Drive betwixt Prayer Book Cross and Stow Lake / Strawberry Hill, where ”Kennedy” is written:
Looks like somebody made a boo boo a while back and then it got repeated over and over. Oh well.
Hey B2B, why not just say that the Hayes Street Hill feels like the highest point?
And MSM, why not do your job the right way instead of just repeating what you’ve heard?
Just saying.
“Get Ready to Run on May 20, 2012
San Francisco, Calif. (January 12, 2012) – Today the Zazzle Bay to Breakers announced the opening of general registration for the 101st running of the World’s most famous footrace. Over the past century the iconic Zazzle Bay to Breakers race has evolved from a modest footrace to one of the largest and most unique running events in the world, setting records for the world’s fastest 12K, the largest footrace and other milestones. On May 20, 2012 the quintessentially San Francisco race, Zazzle Bay to Breakers, will begin its 101st journey from the San Francisco Bay to the Breakers of the Pacific Ocean.
“Last year’s centennial race was an incredible success with 55,000 registrants signing up to become part of history,” said Angela Fang, general manager of the race. “As the Race enters its second century, we are confident that this Bay Area icon will maintain its truly unique and exuberant spirit, uniting best-in-class athletes with vibrant fans, creating that electricity that can only come from a footrace in San Francisco.”
Once known as the Cross City Race, Zazzle Bay to Breakers was first held on January 1, 1912. While 186 runners kicked off the race at Embarcadero and Market streets, only 121 runners completed the race. Robert Jackson “Bobby” Vlught was the winner of the first race with a time of 44:10. Since then, Zazzle Bay to Breakers has grown to one of the largest footraces in the world with more than 50,000 participants and close to 100,000 spectators annually. Zazzle Bay to Breakers exemplifies the City’s irrepressible color and its affection for eclectic traditions.
BRING YOUR SHOES, NOT YOUR BOOZE
Last year the Zazzle Bay to Breakers celebrated its centennial with a smashingly successful race, sporting a sold out crowd and markedly more sober participants. Building on last year’s success, we will continue our zero tolerance stance on alcohol and floats.
Neighborhood associations, city officials, police, and race organizers have determined alcohol and floats create a threat to public safety. There will be multiple checkpoints on the race route to remove any floats and alcohol, so remember: Bring your shoes, not your booze. Only registered participants will be allowed on the course.
NEW CHARITY COMPONENT
The Zazzle Bay to Breakers is pleased to announce that they will be enhancing their charity program this year called Run & Give. Thanks to our community’s support of the 100th running of the Zazzle Bay to Breakers the race was a huge success. As a way to demonstrate our appreciation we are going to enhance our charity program in the 2012 race. The program allows participants to run on behalf of a charity or cause they support. The new program offers varying levels of charity partnership including Preferred Charity Partners and Official Charity Partners. This year we are thrilled to welcome back Breathe California and Daraja Academy who will both be participating as Preferred Partners. In addition we are happy to announce first time official participants Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF) and CancerCare as Official Partners.
RACECOURSE HIGHLIGHTS
On Sunday, May 20, 2012, 50,000 runners will be propelled into the 101st running of Zazzle Bay to Breakers. At the finish line, back by popular demand all registered runners will receive a commemorative medal.
Along the USA Track and Field certified 12K (7.46 miles) course, Zazzle Bay to Breakers will host entertainment offering a fun and lively atmosphere for participants and spectators alike. At 7 a.m. runners will start at the base of the San Francisco Bay, and progress to the City’s famous Hayes Street Hill. Around the 2.5-mile mark runners climb an 11.15 percent grade between Fillmore and Steiner streets, bringing them to the highest point in the race, approximately 215 feet above sea level. The remainder of the course gradually flows alongside the Panhandle and through Golden Gate Park and ends at the Pacific Ocean.
Zazzle Bay to Breakers will culminate in a festival called the Final Mile celebration located just past the finish line. Many of the festivities from last year’s Footstock festival in Speedway Meadows will now be available for participants to enjoy closer to the finish line. The Final Mile will feature merchandise, product sampling and exciting festivities as a celebration of Zazzle Bay to Breakers’ second century in the Bay Area.
Sponsors of this year’s race include: Zazzle, Adidas, Volkswagen, C2O Coconut Water, Big 5, SitOnIt Seating, and the Hyatt Regency Embarcadero.
Media partners for this year’s race include: KGO 810 – The Bay Area’s News and Information Station, KSFO 560 AM and KRON 4. For more information, visit www.zazzlebaytobreakers.com
Tags: 12k, 2, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 250, 5 fulton, 7, 97th, 98th, alcohol, alix rosenthal, altitude, annual, anschutz, b2b, bad, Bay, bay area, bay to breakers, bay2breakers, beer, body, breakers, california, cars, carts, channel, Chepkurui, chris fox, citizens, Conor Johnston, cops, corrals, CPBB, crawlsf, cups, david scott, David William Scott, department, dept., destroyed, direct, district, divisadero, divisidero, dj, dpw, drive, dumpsters, edelman, Edward Sharpless, Elite, eventbrite, facebook, fell, floats, footrace, footstock, foto, fundraiser, gabe, garbage, gavilanes, Gavin, glass, golden gate park, good, Greater Body Expo, haight Ashbury, hayes, Hayes street hill, highest point, howard, ing, jfk, John, John Gray, Jon Dishotsky, kegs, Kelsey Nagie, kennedy, kgo, KGO-TV, Kipsang, Korir, Lineth, liquor, Liz Brusca, map, Matt Seliga, Men's, Mike Moscuzza, Muni, naked, nat ford, Newsom, nimby, nimbys, nude, paint, panhandle, photographs, photos, plastic, police, police department, pr, prayer book cross, preservation, profile, public relations, purple, recycling, red, richmond, roe, ross mirkarimi, route profile, sam singer, Sammy Kitwara, San Francisco, SFPD, smoove, store, Stow lake, strawberry hill, street, sunset, tickets, towed, trash, TV, ugly, vehicles, Wilson Ling, women's, zaq, zero tolerance
Posted in paranormal | No Comments »
Friday, May 11th, 2012
[Get up-to-speed on years past right here.]
I still haven’t heard word one about the Bay to Breakers this year. It’s uncanny.
So let’s see, the BtoB people are freaking out now about all the unsold registrations they’re trying to unload. They just had a Cinco de Mayo sale (I’m seriously) and now they’re offering a Mother’s Day special for discount sub-$50 registration. But past participants aren’t biting because even at the high price of $48(!) YOU DON”T GET A T-SHIRT! That’s a new thing, I suppose, since those T’s were famous back in the day.
Anyway, if you want a runner’s bib you can buy one at a discount on craigslist (because these bibs aren’t worth all that much and they’re certainly not worth the $100 that some people have paid) or just make your own if you feel comfortable with that.
This mustard color should fit right in with the crowd:
Don’t click to expand and don’t print this out on your color inkjet printer, you know, in portrait mode.
But if you want to give money to Colorado “Christian Billionaire” Philip Anschutz, then go right ahead and register, I don’t care. He gives his money to support Prop 8 and fight the concept of evolution so if you want to help him with that, go right ahead and give him your money by registering for the B to B.
Anyway, it’s hard to believe that this historic race is coming up in nine days and yet nobody’s talking about it.
All right, let’s hear from former B2B fan Mike Scott and a bunch of other people.
Comments:
“$48 for a timed race and $2 medal: no t-shirt! $10 more for them mailing the bib to us? No transit included with the registration! Seriously, at $58 for 50,000 people, I need to whack someone so I can run this thing. I appreciate it’s a logistics challenge, but it ain’t rocket science.”
“don’t forget the $6 processing fee!”
“I’m officially retiring from B@B after 25 years. To expensive and no longer fun anymore”
“Charging for the t-shirt! This is REALLY sick. I’ve run this race 17 times, and any number of other races. Charging EXTRA for the t-shirt when that’s the real medal any runner wants (aside from a good time)? This race is obviously being run by a non-runner with a financial agenda in mind, NOT with the reverance the Breakers has to the history of this city and to the runners who love it. IF I register this year, it will be my last time as a swan song memory. You folks are giving this race a bad name.
“I hope you’re paying attention to all the comments on your web site, Facebook and elsewhere regarding the charges and changes you people are making. You’re killing a great race which USED to be the biggest block party in the country, along with TAC sanction. Veterans like me and many others are just not into what you’re doing. Please don’t tell me about all the charges and costs. Somebody’s making bucks on this and it’s very, very sad. After running it 17 times, this, my 18th time, will, without doubt, be my last. I will be coming up from L.A. for is as I have for the last 5 runs. Before that, I lived in the Bay Area and ran it 12 years in a row. What you’re calling a party at the end is a joke, and charging for t-shirts is obscene. By the way, I’m not running with a cane, and do hope to finish under 1 hour. I run for time and all the joy that USED to come with the party afterwards in the polo fields. Music, vendors, a place to chill and spread out afterwards. You probably haven’t been around long enough to realize that even having a place to find your friends in the bleachers by alphabet made this sooo special. Now, it’s just another race put on by some big corporate sponsor who really could give a crap about what is was to the people running, and to the city of San Francisco. Shame on you.
“I miss the days when the SF Examiner was the race sponsor. Ever since Zazzle took over this race, they’ve diminished it. The entry fees are now OUTRAGEOUS and what race sponsor does NOT include a t-shirt in their fees? That’s just BS! They no longer allow floats and they’ve moved the starting time up to 7:00am which is BRUTAL for those of us, like me, down in the south bay. This has always been my favorite race of the year and sadly, they are really ruining it. Shame on you Zazzle! Some things are about tradition….not money!
“Oh you can get a t-shirt but you have to register at the “Plus” level with is $72 or the “Premium” level which is $89.50!! That doesn’t even include the additional fees for Muni to get you to or from the starting/finish line or the added fees to have your packet mailed to you or the processing fees. I’ve never had to pay this much for a 12k race entry in my life. It used to be $35 and you got a t-shirt. Last year they changed the starting time to 7:00am so we had to leave SJ by 5:00am which was ridiculous. They never used to have a limit on entries and now it’s cutoff at 50,000 (years ago there were more than 80,000 entries) and they eliminated a lot of traditional things (like the floats). That’s part of what made it so whacky and fun! All they care about now is $$. They’re just ruining the tradition of this race and robbing people blind now.
“I think it’s really sad what they’re doing to this 101 year old iconic race. My husband, my friend, & I have been doing this event for almost 30 years together. Now they’ve taken all of the fun, camaraderie, family togetherness (ie: no running strollers so no young families, no dogs so no companions, not to mention no T-shirt with our registration).. out of it.(I don’t care about no alcohol) Next they’ll say no walking, so no old fogies, like our gang 
Booooooooooo!
“That’s it. Priced me right out of this one. Between hotel, meals, transportation and no t-shirt with basic registration and starting at 7am again this is not fun. $57 times 50000 is $2.85million. Really?”
“I’ve been running this since 1996. I can’t believe that costs have gone up and only by paying even more one gets a tshirt. I’m going to have think about this. I just ran the Oakland Running Festival today. Well organized, friendly, low corporate footprint, and depending on which race you ran you got a specific shirt. You guys are losing the spirit in more ways than one.”
Bay to Breakers was going fine for almost a century, so what went wrong?
Tags: (First Sequence), 101, 101st, 12k, 2, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 22, 250, 34:15, 38:07, 5 fulton, 7, 97th, 98.5, 98th, aftermath, aggies, alamo square neighborhood association, alcohol, alix rosenthal, altitude, amendment 2, annual, anschutz, ASNA, avatar, b2b, bacon, bad, Bay, bay to breakers, bay2breakers, beer, Blue, body, breakers, btob, Buena Vista Neighborhood Association, BVNA, c. w., caffeine, california, canister, cannister, Carol Norris, cars, carts, centipede, champagne, channel, Chepkurui, chp, chris fox, Cigarettes, citizens, Citizens for the Preservation of Bay2Breakers, Clare Cooke, coffee, Cole Valley Improvement Association, colt 45, Conor Johnston, cops, corrals, CPBB, crawlsf, cups, CVIA, Dave Iverson, david scott, David William Scott, davis, department, dept., destroyed, direct, district, divisadero, Divisadero Merchants Association, divisidero, dj, DMA, dmv, dpw, drink, drive, drugs, Duck, dumpsters, EaPA, ecstacy, ed sharpless, edelman, Edward Sharpless, Elite, eventbrite, facebook, fell, First, floats, footrace, footstock, forum, foto, free, fundraiser, gabe, ganga, garbage, gavilanes, Gavin, glass, golden gate park, good, Gorilla, Greater Body Expo, HAIA, Haight Asbury Improvement Association, haight Ashbury, haight ashbury improvement association, hayes, Hayes street hill, Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association, highest point, highway patrol, hot dog, howard, Human Centipede, Human Centipede (First Sequence), HVNA, ing, Inner Sunset Park Neighbors, ISPN, Jarie Bolander, jfk, John, John Gray, Jon Dishotsky, kegs, Kelsey Nagie, kennedy, kgo, KGO-TV, killer b, Kipsang, Korir, kqed, lady foot locker, Lineth, Lineth Chepkurui, Linked In, linkedin, liquor, Liz Brusca, LoHaMNA, lot, Lower Haight Merchants and Neighborhood Association, malt liquor, map, Matt Seliga, mdma ex, Men's, Michael Krasny, Mike Moscuzza, monster energy, Muni, na'vi, naked, nat ford, Nevius, Newsom, nicotine, nimby, nimbys, nitrous, nopna, north of panhandle neighborhood association, North Panhandle Neighborhood Association, nude, oxide, paint, panhandle, parking, permit, photographs, photos, pink, plastic, police, police department, pr, prayer book cross, preservation, president, profile, public relations, purple, race, recycling, red, results, richmond, roe, ross mirkarimi, route profile, sam singer, Sammy Kitwara, San Francisco, SFPD, smell, smoove, spaceman, store, Stow lake, strawberry hill, street, sunset, thomas, tickets, tom, Tommy, Tommy the Pink Gorilla, towed, trash, trough, TV, uc davis, ugly, university, vehicles, whippets, Wilson Ling, wine, women's, won, zaq, zero tolerance
Posted in events | 6 Comments »
Wednesday, May 9th, 2012
I haven’t heard word one about the long-promised lawsuit what was going to overturn SFGov and re-install the old tenant as the operator.
“The civil lawsuit begins March 2012 and will expose the truth about all the many laws that Rec & Park broke in order to bring in an out-of-state chain, with no boating experience to take over this historic boating recreation site.”
Oh well.
Just saying.
Ah, Stow Lake:
Click to expand
Oh, and the early reviews are in. And they’re pretty good, those reviews.
Leave us close this chapter of wealthy, white, real-estate-obsessed, dingbat, millionaire homeowner Preservationists vs. the Boathouse at Stow.
Tags: 19th, 2010, 740, accessible, am, armand, armand ortega, august, bathroom, bay area, blue skies, boat, boat house, boathouse, boats, Bruce McLellan, budget, building, cafe, california, chronicle, chuck, coalition, community, County Fair Building, department, dept., district, enterprises, Family, fm, frank klein, free, golden gate park, Hall of Flowers, historic, hoist, indoor, inner sunset, January 26, January 26th, kcbs, lake, lead, meet, meeting, Nevius, new mexico, Nick Kinsey, ortega, ortega family enterprises, paint, park and rec, park and recreation, parks, picnic, pink, popcorn, rachel gordon, radio, recreation and parks, restaurant, rfq, row, rowboat, 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, seating, shane ortega, stow, Stow lake, Stow Lake Boathouse, STSLBC, sunset, Suzanne Dumont, Suzanne R. Dumont, swan
Posted in parks | 2 Comments »
Monday, January 30th, 2012
I don’t know, when you have like just one member of the public show up at a meeting hosted by Rec and Park, would you call that a successful joint?
This was the scene for last Thursday night’s big PowerPoint presentation. You had people there from the new tenant and the new tenant’s Marin operation and RPD and etc.
Is this low turnout due to the fact that grand battle has already been won by the new tenant, or is it due to the fact that there was zero publicity for this particular meeting,* or maybe a combination of both reasons?
Click to expand
Anyway, the latest developments at Stow are detailed here by Rachel Gordon.
And oh, the lawsuit against the City from the old tenant should have some activity soon, maybe something is scheduled for Superior Court in March 2012.
And the latest from the absurdly-named Save Stow Lake Coalition has to do with paint with lead in it, which, Gentle Reader, I’m sitting two yards from right now. And, this is true for you too, G.R. You know, ’cause paint with some amount of lead in it is everywhere. Simply everywhere. (If it turns out that this coalition is some long-running anti-NIMBY performance art project, I won’t be surprised…)
Not with a bang, but with a whimper.
Enjoy your upcoming rain-free, vernal paddle-boating season, everybody…
*I don’t know, was this meeting posted on the internet anywhere at all? NTMK.
Tags: 19th, 2010, 740, accessible, am, armand, armand ortega, august, bathroom, bay area, blue skies, boat, boat house, boathouse, boats, Bruce McLellan, budget, building, cafe, california, chronicle, chuck, coalition, community, County Fair Building, department, dept., district, enterprises, Family, fm, frank klein, free, golden gate park, Hall of Flowers, historic, hoist, indoor, inner sunset, January 26, January 26th, kcbs, lake, lead, meet, meeting, Nevius, new mexico, Nick Kinsey, ortega, ortega family enterprises, paint, park and rec, park and recreation, parks, picnic, pink, popcorn, rachel gordon, radio, recreation and parks, restaurant, rfq, row, rowboat, 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, seating, shane ortega, stow, Stow lake, Stow Lake Boathouse, STSLBC, sunset, Suzanne Dumont, Suzanne R. Dumont, swan
Posted in paranormal, parks | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 24th, 2012
Here’s the word on the street:
“The Recreation and Park Department and Ortega Family Enterprises are hosting a community meeting to discuss the upcoming renovations of the Stow Lake Boathouse. The work will include creating an indoor seating area so that the building is open to the public for the first time, adding an accessible bathroom, upgrading the building systems as well as upgrading the general condition of the building.
Date: January 26, 2012
Time: 7PM
Location: Hall of Flowers (County Fair Building)”
But, am I getting punk’d here? ‘Cause I can’t find any evidence of this meeting online.
Now, I can find the Save Stow Lake insanity* webpage, right here.
And, I can find the Official Twitter for Stow Lake Boathouse LLC, right here.
But, to review, I can’t find any evidence of this meeting online.
Oh hey, look, it’s Ortega Family Enterprises’ Armand Ortega hisself, at the last big Boathouse meeting (the last one that I know of, anyway) at the Hall of Flowers.**
Click to expand
Oh well.
*Uh, Ortega Family Enterprises has “boating experience” now, doesn’t it? You might want to change that. And do you want the City and County poking about buildings in your real estate empire looking for paint with lead in it? I’d bet they’d find some. Oh no! And shrillness-wise, you’re giving us a 9. How about giving us a 3 instead? All right, take two, roll film, action.
**Yes, that’s the actual color of the interior of the Hall of Flowers. I call it indescribable green.
Tags: 19th, 2010, 740, accessible, am, armand, armand ortega, august, bathroom, bay area, blue skies, boat, boat house, boathouse, boats, Bruce McLellan, budget, building, cafe, california, chuck, coalition, community, County Fair Building, department, dept., district, enterprises, Family, fm, frank klein, free, golden gate park, Hall of Flowers, historic, hoist, indoor, inner sunset, January 26, January 26th, kcbs, lake, meet, meeting, Nevius, new mexico, Nick Kinsey, ortega, ortega family enterprises, park and rec, park and recreation, parks, picnic, pink, popcorn, radio, recreation and parks, restaurant, rfq, row, rowboat, 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, seating, shane ortega, stow, Stow lake, Stow Lake Boathouse, STSLBC, sunset, Suzanne Dumont, Suzanne R. Dumont, swan
Posted in food and drink, parks | 1 Comment »
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 »
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 »
