Great moves, great camera work. And, yes, even the shoes are rather hot. (This is a commercial.)
Month: November 2009
Statistical Fibs Will Not Make Pedestrians Safer
Is it true that pedestrians die in San Francisco at a 70% higher rate than the national average?
I saw this claim come across my Twitter feed today from Walk San Francisco, the local pedestrian advocacy organization, and it immediately got my attention. It didn’t smell quite right to me. More after the jump…
Continue reading Statistical Fibs Will Not Make Pedestrians Safer
Penguin at SF Zoo Unimpressed With Staff Twitter Effort
Hey, clueless Twitter guy who works at the zoo, not only are you a big doofus, but that “third eyelid”? When the penguin winks it, that means he knows you stole the idea from him. Watch your back at feeding time. Payback’s a bitch.
Name That Spot
Taken Sunday, November 8th. Make your guess in the comments.
UPDATE: Named by Sonia – Wicked Grounds.
I Hate It, I Love It, I’m Never Leaving
Local writer and long-time resident Mat Honan has written an immensely quote-worthy piece about why he moved here and never left. Here’s a snip:
I hate this place. It stinks and it’s dirty and there’s piss everywhere and needles and garbage and yesterday when I went for a run in the park I had to traverse a trail that had been completely covered in used toilet paper. I’ve been robbed at gunpoint here, just down the street from my apartment. San Francisco is expensive, and I’ll never be able to afford to buy a home. The city government is corrupt, there’s nowhere to park, the people are all fucking crazy, and don’t even get me started about MUNI.
I’m never leaving, motherfuckers.
Read the whole thing here. Visit Mat’s website, and follow him on Twitter.
Nice Color Scan of San Francisco Map circa 1907 Showing Fire Line and Cemeteries
This map (courtesy, Prelinger Library) is a good way to visualize how much of the city burned after the earthquake/fire of 1906. It of course led to the building of refugee camps around the city, including in Mission (now “Dolores”) Park.
Here’s a blow-up of the cemetery locations:
Aerial Video Footage of San Francisco Taken from an RC Helicopter
Aerial video – San Francisco from Jason Lam on Vimeo.
With the ability to fly super close to the ground and surrounding objects, this really does provide a unique feel, like a free-floating crane or steady-cam. Pretty hot.
Jason Lam makes these videos for a company called SkyShutter, using “a camera equipped with ‘gyro-stabilized remote-controlled gimbals,’ along with a live streaming video connection.”
I just wish they’d put a camera on this guy’s helicopter!
Simply Hilarious (and Infuriating): BART Imaginings, 1957
That’s right, the original plans recommended “first stage” service past Palo Alto to the south, and across the Bay to San Rafael to the north! I wonder how many stages ago that was?
Maybe they should have drafted up some counterfeit money with which to pay for this pipe dream. (Even a tiny fraction of this fantastical scheme is itself worth much higher fares year after year, it seems.)
(via)
Death & Sodomy in San Francisco
I can’t even recall how I Googled my way onto this book review – by a psychiatrist, of a pathologist’s published work
Many original contributions to forensic medicine were made by physicians associated with the Coroner’s Office and UCSF, including the “most unique” discovery that death by air embolism could occur with cunnilingus when air was blown into the vagina.
Was that an important move back in the day? Yikes.
Needless to say, I’m trying to get my twisted little hands on this gem of a book as I type. If anyone has seen it, please hit the comments.
It looks like Amazon only has links to used copies of the book: San Francisco Coroner’s Office: A History, 1850-1980
Rick Prelinger’s Lost Landscapes of San Francisco 4
“Guerrilla archivist” Rick Prelinger is once again joining forces with the Long Now Foundation for the 4th in his series of screenings titled, “Lost Landscapes of San Francisco.” More after the jump…
Continue reading Rick Prelinger’s Lost Landscapes of San Francisco 4
This Must Be the Place
The New Beauty Bar
Some say Beauty Bar is super-douchey and should be shunned. I live equidistant between it and Bender’s, and I have to say that the nights I’ve chosen Beauty have never been disappointing – rowdy, cheesy, caveman fun. I look forward to seeing how the remodeling turns out.
Film of Steam Locomotives on the Embarcadero, San Francisco, circa 1920s-30s
Came across this file randomly while browsing the Prelinger Archive, which I haven’t done in a while. The footage of longshoremen jockeying cargo on and off ships is a swift check on romanticism and a concrete reminder that, even long ago, industry on a mass scale was what drove almost all of our activity.
I logged a few of the bits that really stood out to me:
- 3:00 – Steam locomotives
navigating Market Street, andcruising along the Embarcardero. - 5:00 – Cool aerial footage; Ferry Building with street cars on a circular track in front and a heavy rail locomotive waiting (loading?) on the left; Golden Gate Ferries.
- 6:50 – I believe this is a quick shot of Dolores Street.
- 7:40 – Funky, animated relief maps of the area and trade routes, points of interest.
- 8:55 – Aerial footage of downtown, City Hall and Golden Gate Park.
- 10:45 – Aerial of the western side of the city; Golden Gate Park, including the bandshell area.
Related book: Historic Photos of San Francisco
From Amazon
From Powell’s
