San Francisco, CA

San Francisco is a place that’s filled with creativity. As such, there are lots of artistic people here to adore. This is only a partial list but it introduces you to some of the artists I know of in the city who are doing some impressive things:

• Adrian Litman – After over twenty years of working as a commercial artist, Litman switched to doing more of his own stuff and he’s doing it well.
• Clint Imboden – Combining photographer with found object mixed media art, Clint creates works that are worth taking a second look at.
• Ginny Mangrum – Ginny is a local photographer who does black-and-white photos that take public spaces and give you a new perspective on them.
• Jessica Stafford – This mixed media artist with a feminist focus did a series of birth control collages that I found interesting.
• S.N. Jacobson – Jacobson’s photography could be considered risqué but I just see it as beautiful.
• Salma Aratsu – This India-born painter has made San Francisco her home and adds to its beauty with her own artwork.
• Scott Mickelson – Scott’s use of color in his paintings is what really drew me in although his interesting choice of subject matter is also worth noting.

San Francisco is an inspirational place so there are plenty of artists other than these to give your attention to but start here to begin exploring some of the art being created in the city today.

Fog. There were definitely some sun shining days in San Francisco this week but one of the things that I saw a lot of at the beginning of the week was fog. It’s a common thing here in San Francisco and it would be pointless to complain about it since it’s going to be a part of life as long as I’m living here. But I do have to say that it makes me miss the sun sometimes and makes me definitely appreciate it on the days that it’s out.

Another thing I saw was that clown that I’d mentioned in a previous post. You know, the one that was playing the trumpet down by the cable car turnaround. Well, this time I got a glimpse of his sign and I saw that it reads, “Clown is seriously depressed. Please don’t make him cry.” I can understand; it must be tough being a clown on the streets of San Francisco. The travelers at the turnaround seemed to enjoy his song, though.

I saw that there’s a new flavor of gelato at the gelato place near Washington Square Park in North Beach. It’s a gin and cucumber flavor that is tangy. Interesting, but not something that I would want an entire cup or cone of. I prefer the independent gelato place anyway (that one is the chain store) and I prefer spumoni to any other flavor that can be found.

I finally saw the inside of Panta Rei while I was over there. It’s the Italian restaurant that is located at the funny intersection of about five different streets in the area where Columbus hits Stockton. I’d never been inside before. It’s not much different from any of the other Italian restaurants that are over in that area, although it has a unique triangular design that lets you look out at both North Beach and Chinatown from one spot.

If your in San Francisco, and you don’t mind exploring the state of California a little bit, plan a visit a few hundred miles north on Highway 101, to see the famous California Redwoods.

Breath-taking views of over 300ft giant trees, with trunks that span large enough for cars to drive-thru, to build houses and campers out of.

A 31 mile stretch of road runs along side Highway 101, called “The Avenue of Giants” where you can drive-thru some of the thickest Redwood groves, drive-thru Redwoods in your car, and shop in tiny rustic towns. Great trip for motorcyclist, bikers, day-trippers, as well as even runners. I’m sure you could even boat in lakes, kayak the rivers, a definite camper and outdoors-mans’ paradise.

Along the drive up Highway 101, you will drive thru bustling suburbs, and eventually sleepy little mountain towns. You could even drive not to far off the beaten to the Pacific Ocean, it’s so close.

As we were driving from Washington State down into California, we happened to come across an attraction that left us all saying we gotta stop and look. It was another Giant we weren’t quite expecting, that we found along the way. Paul Bunyan and Babe, his Blue Ox. Paul standing tall with his axe, sporting his lumberjack flannel shirt and logging boots.
Nice little gift-shop on site with some history behind the area.
Somebody talking for Paul Bunyan on a PA system, greeting people and saying Hi, to all the little kids. Great stop for a family with kids.
I believe it even had a sky-ride that you could take an aerial view of a Redwood grove.

San Francisco has  a lot of places within a few hours drive that can definitely add to your experiences when in California. These giants of Northern California are one of nature’s finest beauties and more than worth the drive while in San Francisco, if you have some time.

August 6th, my family and I were in San Francisco to watch a Giants game at AT&T Park, where we were hoping to see Barry Bonds hit his 756 record breaking home-run, as the 6th was a predicted date by SI, as a good night for this to very well happen.

We’ll unfortunately we were a day too early, but the experience of a sell out crowd that night, with the anticipation of Bonds hitting the record, every bat at the plate, was pretty intense. 

The crowd rose to their feet every time Bonds went to bat, with chants of Barry, Barry, rising up and thundering across the stadium. The excitement was the kind of thrill you love and thrive for, as a sport fan.

The Giants won that night against the Nationals, even though no records were broken.

The experience itself was nice. Great garlic fries, and to my surprise, you could even order up some Jack Daniels.
I also have to applaud that the park still allows smokers a place to smoke inside the stadium, rather than throwing them out of the entire park.

Great food, nice people, and a good game, what could be better.
Yeah seeing that record breaking home run would have been better, but it was still a good time.
For the fanatic sportsperson, San Francisco has a great stadium and baseball franchise too offer those who live and visit this pretty exciting city.

 Fisherman’s Wharf is a “must-see” when visiting San Francisco, with quaint little shops of souvenir’s and interesting items that will leave you in awe.
Convenient stands with the aromas of good food, from waffle cone ice cream to barbecue and seafood on the grill. Fresh fruit at it’s best and some bigger than I’ve ever seen in my market back home.
Views of the skyline of downtown San Francisco to your left, and Alcatraz Island with the Golden Gate Bridge to the north. The Trans America tower does just that, it towers most of San Francisco other skyscrapers.

The famous trolley cars zipping around town, up and down, just adds to the experience of what you would expect from hearing about this place from it’s rich history. If your lucky enough to ride on one, which I didn’t get to, because of budget and time, I’m sure you won’t be disappointed. They looked fun to ride and I’m sure it’s a tour like no other.

Parking is a little expensive, if you plan to be on the wharf more than a couple of hours. We found a parking garage at $6 an hour nearby, with a minimum of $30, which seems reasonable, if you planned to stay over a half a day in downtown San Francisco.

All in all, I enjoyed downtown San Francisco for someone who has never been there before.
Coming in from the north on Highway 101 over the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco, was not a bad drive in, nor did it take but about 10 min to get to Fisherman’s Wharf. There were sign clearly posted in bright red or orange directing you to the Wharf.

If you go to San Francisco don’t miss Fisherman’s Wharf, it’s worth it if you like travelling and seeing different places. If you have more than a day in town, there is so much more to see like Chinatown and even Oakland which is across the bay as well.

If your planning on travelling to San Francisco, there are a few attractions your going to want to see.
The Golden Gate Bridge is probably one of the most famous landmarks we think of, when thinking about San Francisco.

Of course we’ve all seen the beautiful pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge, but you haven’t seen it until you’ve crossed over the bridge.
At first site it is an amazing view coming from the North on Highway 101. As you wind through the hills and approach San Francisco, it appears out of nowhere and is gigantic in scope.
The bridge in it’s all it’s reddish glory spans at least a mile, I would say.
For those like my wife who hate crossing bridges, they will be pleased with the 5 or 6 lane bridge and should feel very comfortable as they drive or walk across the bay.
Going into San Francisco you will pay a $5 toll, and if you drive out of town going north you’ll have smooth sailing, as the toll is only charged coming into San Francisco.

With views of Alcatraz and the city of San Francisco, from the Golden Gate it might be well worth the time to stop and walk the bridge or even bike it. We saw hundreds crossing the bridge on foot and pedal when we crossed over.

One thing I noticed while travelling in California, was there were alot of people who rode bikes, and it didn’t appear they just rode their bikes around the block, they were using them to travel afar.

The Golden Gate Bridge is a traveller’s “must-see” when going to San Francisco.

One of the cafes that I go to regularly is located on the corner of Lombard Street and Columbus Avenue, right near where a majority of tourist traffic is located. On the wall outside of this café, right there on Lombard Street, there are two paintings. On a regular basis, I see tourists stopping to eye these paintings, because one of them depicts nudity. No, you can’t really see anything. This isn’t porn, it’s just a painting. And yet, people stop in shock at the fact that this is on one of our city’s walls.

The other painting is the one that I really love. It’s a fairly simple painting, depicting two people in black and white set against a background of vivid color. It’s a gorgeous, magical painting. But it’s often overlooked because of the shock value of the other painting. What’s really funny is that you can probably see much more shocking things on the streets all around San Francisco. We’re not exactly a cover-up-and-be-shy kind of city. But the people who are walking up to the curvy part of Lombard Street must not know this yet.

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The first time that I got tickets to an audio tour (at Alcatraz), I was skeptical. I just didn’t think that listening to someone tell a tale to me through headphones while I walked around was something that sounded nearly as good as getting the inside info from a live tour guide with whom I could interact and ask questions. But then I took the Alcatraz tour and I found out that I loved it. I didn’t have to listen to the questions of others in the group; I could travel along the sites at my own pace, lingering on those that actually interested me and passing by those that didn’t. I could take bathroom breaks without missing anything.

For that reason, audio tours now have my heart, and I’m happy to say that it’s possible to take tours of almost everywhere in San Francisco. That’s because Stroll San Francisco offers 33 different audio tours for the city. Each one brings you the voices of the past and relays the research of historians and journalists so that you can learn all of the inside info on the places that you want to see in San Francisco. And it’s nice and easy – you can load the tours right on to your own iPod.

You can hear samples on the website (here). You can even hear the story of Emperor Norton, the eccentric man who fit in so well in eclectic San Francisco and was welcomed as the emperor of the city during his time. Other off-the-wall audio tours available through Stroll San Francisco include Janis Joplin’s House, The Golden Dragon Restaurant Massacre and the debauchery of Maiden Lane. Of course, if you just want to learn about the history of places like North Beach and Chinatown, those tours are available as well.

You can buy the tours right on the website and access them from your computer. It’s less than $20 for the full 33-tour set or a little bit less for about a third of the major sites. It’s not just for tourists either – these tales give locals a way to explore the history of their own beautiful backyard.

- Scarab. This quintet doesn’t limit their music to any particular genre which is what makes it such a San Francisco band. They play music for the sake of music, instead of for the purpose of fitting inside of some neat little box, much like the majority of people who live here in the city.

- Bag of Toys. This is my favorite San Francisco band that I just happened to stumble upon randomly in a bar one night. They play a kind of surf reggae rock that’s catchy and fun to dance along with.

- Dolorata. This is an all-female band and they rock out like only grrrls can do. It’s their constant energy and enthusiasm that makes me love their music.

- Project Greenfield. This is a jam band but they don’t sound like they just throw their stuff together. Their funk-infused rock feels polished, even when you can tell it’s coming out of the creative air around them.

- Chinatown Bakeries. This was one of the first San Francisco bands that I learned about and still one I like. They’ve got a changing cast of characters so there’s a fluidity in their music that kind of summarizes the fluidity of life in an urban, transient area.

- Spazmatics. This is my favorite band to see live in the city. They put on the most high-energy show I’ve ever seen. They’re motto is “nerds who rock” and they dress like it while playing hits from the ’80’s that are best experienced in condensed form in packed bars.

Most people know that there are plenty of activities going on in San Francisco all of the time, but they don’t know where to find out about them. Here are some of my favorite spots for learning about off-the-wall events (and major activities) happening in San Francisco on any given day.

• SF Station: San Francisco’s City Guide – SF Station is the spot that’s got the most listings for various events. It can be overwhelming but they have ways of narrowing down the search results, like letting you check what’s going on any particular day or letting you search by type of event. This is a good spot for finding out about city events like festivals.
• Craigslist calendar – There are all kinds of random things posted on the Craigslist calendar, some of which are worth checking out. You just go to the main page and then click on the date you want to search on the calendar that’s located on the left-hand column of the page. The results are divided into “events” and “classes” so scroll down if you think you might want to learn something on any given day. Really, they’ve got everything from erotic dance classes to learning business marketing techniques.
• Specific venue listings – Oftentimes, I’ll just check the calendar listings for my favorite venues. These include Red Devil Lounge, Café du Nord, and The Independent for music and Space Gallery, 111 Minna and Madrone Lounge for art and other events.
• The social networking calendar sites – There are a lot of people in the city who post events that they’re going to on the various sites so it’s a good way to find out what’s going on. Eventful, Zvents and Upcoming are the ones I use most often.

http://www.carltonartgallery.com/images/Warren%20Dennis%20Gallery/Clown%20with%20Trumpet.jpg
*This image is from the Carlton Art Gallery at Creekside.

This “what I saw in San Francisco” segment begins with last Sunday which was the last Sunday of July, otherwise known around here as the day for the annual Dore Alley Street Fair. What I saw there was a whole lot of leather, a whole lot of flesh and a whole lot of people who kept repeating “this is interesting” to each other. It was interesting. It wasn’t really shocking to a girl who spends her nights out on the town in San Francisco, but it was definitely different to see all that action out on the streets. Probably the most interesting thing I saw there was a man get Saran wrapped from head to toe. Tightly. So he couldn’t move. For fun.

Another thing that I saw on Sunday was the inside of The Cheesecake Factory, which I’d never been to before. Located about the Macy’s at Union Square, this restaurant seems to always have a multi-hour wait. It surprised me by having really, really good food. I didn’t actually get cheesecake but I did get stuffed chicken tortillas and they were impressively tasty, something I don’t say lightly about any chain restaurant. This place was totally over-stimulating, though, with people hovering over our table waiting for us to leave before we’d even gotten our checks.

Over in my neighborhood (North Beach / Fisherman’s Wharf area), I saw some other interesting things throughout the week. My favorite was when I was walking to the grocery store which is near the cable car turnaround. I heard a trumpet playing The Addams family tune and I looked over to see that it was coming from a clown who was playing for the tourists. A clown, a trumpet, the Addams family … sure, why not? I also saw a long line of people waiting to hop on those cable cars because it’s still summer here and there are tourists aplenty. (See my advice on how to ride the cable cars if you’re not quite sure how the locals do it.)

These are just a few of the things that I saw last week in San Francisco.

San Francisco is an expensive city, there’s no doubt about it. But you can do things for free around here if you bother to try. After all, it’s a city filled with people who find creative ways to make a life for themselves in a place that’s got the highest rents in the country. Here are eight free things to do in San Francisco on any given day:

1. People watch. It doesn’t matter where you go in the city, you’ll find people there that are interesting. You can sit anywhere, walk anywhere, wait in line anywhere and if you pay attention to the people around you for even a few minutes, you’ll find that your attention is captured. I’m convinced that nowhere has more unique people on a regular basis.

2. Museums. You can get into a number of the museums in this city for free on the first Tuesday or Wednesday of this month. This includes major museums like the SFMoMA and the DeYoung Museum as well as some spots that you’re less likely to think of as museums like The Exploratorium and The San Francisco Zoo.

3. Beach and bay. We don’t often think about hanging out by the beach in San Francisco because it’s not exactly beachy as far as California goes. After all, you’re not sunning in a place that’s often got fog, right? But there are beaches all around us, off of both the Pacific Coast and the Bay. Sure, you may have to wear a windbreaker but you can still spend lots of free hours doing beach activities.

4. Live music. Okay, so you have to pay for your drinks if you’re going out but San Francisco is really a city where it’s easy to find no-cover music. Grant and Green and Girodano Bros. are two North Beach examples of spots that have almost nightly music and no cover. But it’s happening in bars in basically every neighborhood.

5. Neighborhood exploration. That’s right, just walking around seeing what there is to see is totally free. And it’s fun in San Francisco because of the vast differences between all of the neighborhoods here. Every place has its own charm and its hidden secrets so check them out at no cost just to see what’s around you.

6. Libraries. Okay, so maybe you don’t usually go on vacation to kick it at the library. But have you seen the main library down by The Civic Center? It’s HUGE. Plus, there are always random free events at San Francisco’s libraries like lectures and readings.

7. Festivals. San Francisco loves its festivals. We have them for everything all year round. During the summer, there’s one going on basically every weekend. So, chances are, if you want to find one, you can. Check out the “city events” listings at the calendar at SF Station to see if there’s one coming up.

8. Window shop. It’s fun in San Francisco because it’s not a boring mall activity. Sure, there are all kinds of mall-like stores that you can window shop at, but you can do it in the open air down in the Union Square area. It feels very city to people who aren’t from here. And there are also all kinds of different boutiques in various neighborhoods (Grant Street has some good ones, Hayes Valley and Union Street are known for theirs). These places have unique designs and strange shops that you might not find in other cities so you get that San Francisco flavor just from checking them out.

San Francisco is filled with creative people and that means it’s a city that has got a lot of blogs coming out of it. Which ones are actually worth reading? Here are some of my recommendations (including self-promotion on one of mine – hey, you were warned!)

Do Not Ask Questions. We all know that San Francisco is widely associated with the gay scene. And I hope that we all know about the diversity of creativity that comes from a scene that’s got a wide labeled applied to a very varied group of people. This is a blog by a local guy who is out there dating and relating in the San Francisco gay scene. He is witty, he is insightful, he is filled with life … and he’s totally worth reading.

Tablehopper. If you have any interest at all in San Francisco’s restaurant scene, this is THE blog to check out. Marcia Gagliardi is a freelance food critic in the city so she’s always checking out different restaurants here. She gives you the latest news on openings and closings and other gossip along with her reviews and general SF restaurant news. And she’ll even touch on not-quite-food issues such as the recent case of a woman who was snatching purses in the city. Even if you don’t eat out much, you should live vicariously through her posts.

The SF Weekly Blogs. There’s All Shook Down and The Snitch, which I can only tell you a little bit about since I’ve only recently discovered them. But they give you all kinds of information about the city, primarily in newsy format with that lean towards the alternative.

San Francisco Party Party. Learn about all kinds of events in the city in a way that feels like you’re getting the info from a friend’s email, not from some informative site. It does have occasionally news stuff but in a very non-newsy way.

Design Nurd. Visual people with an interest in the SF art scene will like this one, as it’s image posts of a local artist’s work. He’s one of my favorite creative people in the city and he’s always got interesting stuff on there. It’s total eye candy and inspiration for your imagination.

And finally, there’s San Fran Voice. This is the self-promotion post for my local arts and music blog. But I wouldn’t put it up here if I didn’t think it was worth checking out (believe me, I have other work that I’ve done that I won’t be directing you to anytime soon). Why read it? It’s got interviews with local artists and musicians from all mediums and genres as well as reviews from the local music scene. It’s one of the few places that gives equal opportunity media attention to people who aren’t quite making it in the scene yet but who are playing out around the city.

San Francisco’s sports fanatics are winding up for Barry Bond’s milepost of 756 career home runs, and AT&T ballpark is the place where those Giants fans, hope the giant of baseball, will obtain the magic stat, by slugging “756″ into the stands.

Bond, who is often criticized for “juicing” or taking steroids to accomplish the feats he has, is on track to reach home-run “756″ at home on Monday, August 6 according to a Sport Illustrated article.
Reportedly, the lucky spectator who happens to retrieve the “756″ baseball, they will instantly have a treasure of over 500,000 dollars.
For those that don’t fly over six rows of fans, breaking limbs to get to it, they will have priceless memories of one of the MLB greats of our time, that they can tell their grandchildren about one day.

What a “San Franciscan Treat” it will be for the “City by the Bay” to experience and enjoy, if Bonds does belt the “big one” in San Francisco.

I’m sure there are many who could care less and that’s OK, but for the ones that live, eat, and breathe baseball, it will be a “once in a lifetime” special occasion.

My congratulations goes out to Mr. Bond, even with all the steroid criticism. I’m sure Ruth and Aaron received the same scruntiny when they broke previous records.

Staying in pro baseball, enough years to even come close to a record, is something to be commended for, regardless of perhaps taking performance enhancing drugs. Heck, our politicians tend to do worse, but we still treat them as if they were kings.
I know knocking a ball out of the little league fields around my city is quite a task, and 756 of them, forget it.

Barry, if you do happen to be reading this article, Monday the 6th would be a nice night for you to get that record. I’ll be there. 

Take a survey on Barry Bonds

I admit it, as a local who doesn’t have a car here, I am glad that parking is so difficult to find in San Francisco. I think it limits the amount of traffic that there is in the city and encourages people to walk. And I happen to love that San Francisco is a walking city, that you can be out and about among the people who live around you, interacting with your world as part of your daily activity.

But, at the same time, I admit that I like having access to a car when it’s convenient. I don’t exactly complain when friends pick me up to go out for the evening if we’re headed out of the city or to places across the city that aren’t as easy to get to on public transportation. And when we get back to my neighborhood, it’s never particularly fun looking for parking. Still, overall, I think the parking sacrifices are worth it to live in a walking-friendly city … but of course I can say that because I never do the parking.

Having often been in the car with people who do, I’ve picked up a few tips about parking in San Francisco:

1. Practice your parking. If you can’t parallel park, you can’t get good parking in San Francisco. And if you aren’t confident enough to parallel park in a small space on a hill filled with tourist traffic, you severely limit your parking options.

2. Look for free parking first. Many people go straight to the lots and garages where you have to pay, but if you’re not afraid to look around, you can often find free parking even in popular neighborhoods. Look on the side streets.

3. Be willing to drive around for awhile. Free spots open up but you have to be patient sometimes.

4. Notice the time limits. It’s two hour parking in most locations. If you think you’re going to be longer than that and don’t want to get ticketed (but are willing to take your chances for the free spot), park on a steep hill. While it’s certainly not guaranteed that you won’t get ticketed, the parking police seem to check the steepest hills the least often while flat places get picked on.

5. Look for the chalk marks. The meter maids mark your tire with chalk and then they check back when the time is up. If the chalk’s there, you haven’t moved your car and might get ticketed. So if you’re walking around the area in which you’ve parked, make a point to pass by your car and see if you need to move it.

6. Know when it makes sense to pay for parking. Sometimes, searching for free parking is in vain. If it’s a holiday, if there’s a festival in the neighborhood, or if it’s clearly a particularly busy weekend night, you’ll probably drive around for a long time trying to find the free parking. In that case, it might make more sense to just pay. (Or to plan ahead and take public transportation from a different neighborhood).

7. Don’t over-stay at parking meters. While you can often get away with parking for longer than two hours at the free spots, the parking meters get checked and ticketed regularly.

8. Choose lots instead of garages. They tend to let you pay by the day or half day and are cheaper as a result.

9. If you’re near several garages, find one that offers a few hours free. Usually this just requires going into a store and getting validation on your ticket.

10. Challenge your tickets. If you parked and then got a ticket, challenge it. It doesn’t always work, but it sometimes works, especially if you can come up with a valid argument as to why you shouldn’t have to pay. Or at least delays paying. And if you do have to pay, think of how many times you parked in SF and didn’t pay and see that it probably evens out. It’s a small price to pay, really, for living or visiting such a terrific city.