San Francisco Streetcars Rusting in Missouri
Photo by Scott Tiek
This is a twisted tale of sequential tragedies ending in this snow-bound cemetery for historic San Francisco light rail cars. Well, the cars supposedly originated in St. Louis back in 1946 before coming to SF in 1950s, so they've sort of come home to die (though the shot above was taken in St. Charles, MO).
Along the way, the streetcars did a stint in South Lake Tahoe.
I'll let the reader navigate the ins and outs of this story, but it involves lots of snow, streetcars as sushi bars, pre-recession business deals, and oxidized metals.
The one upside: the photography.
(Spotted @)
“Nuthin’ Eva Move But Da Money”
Street hustler "DaVinci" raps his lament about the degradation of his turf in Western Addition/Fillmore. Use headphones, there's naughty language (the video is SFW).
Before you dismiss the lifestyle when you hear, "Used to sell ice, weed, coke all night there / now they got cameras and the po-po right there" - learn a little about the history of West Addy. It won't kill you.
I moved from the Divis/Grove area of the neighborhood in 2005 and it was still one of the rare San Francisco spots where middle-class African-Americans owned homes alongside non-black yuppies. But even then, dopenomics and gang turf disputes generated gun deaths and regular high-speed police chases.
What's it like these days? Current residents speak up in the comments.
(Spotted @)
Dorothy Erskine Park Exists
If you've ever walked up Bosworth from the Glen Park BART station, you've probably glanced at the little cliffside pictured above. You see that strip of greenery on top? It marks the edge of one of the city's lesser-known parks, named after an early advocate of open urban spaces.
The number one reason to peel off on your way to Glen Canyon Park, or slip over from the Sunnyside Conservatory and visit this little perch is for the South-facing view at the top amidst the charming miniature forest.
Coming in a close second, is bragging rights. I guarantee less than one percent of your local friends have ever heard of it. (My friend Steve gave me his Erskine "virginity" there on Saturday, and he lives just a few streets over.)
Oh, and there's a tire swing:
Name That Spot
So, it's pretty obvious what the subject of this photo is. But can you guess where I shot it from? Do it in the comments. (Hi-res version)
UPDATE: This was maybe a bit unfair since it was taken from a spot that's not a landmark of any kind. The fence that frames it runs along the South side of Monterey and I was, of course, facing South.
View Spots Unknown Map in a larger map
So Long, Saucy Joe
I'm sorry I happened across Saucy Joe on Saturday in Glen Park. Not because he's anything other than friendly and knowledgeable, but because the day I'm publishing this is the last day you could've hired his roadside blade-sharpening services here in San Francisco.
And that's a shame.
Food carts are a dime-a-dozen, but a guy in the back of a truck who will give your cutting implements a professionally-sharpened edge, while you wait? That's worth carrying a jangly box of stainless steel outside on a sunny day.
Well, don't go yanking your cutlery drawer out of its grooves just yet, cuz Saucy Joe's leaving town, headed North towards Grass Valley. His plans were serenely vague as he answered my questions (such as the origins of the name - his kitchen language from his days as a chef), but it seems he will stay in the knife-sharpening biz in some way or another. Maybe.
Keep up with Joe on his website or his Twitter feed.
Oh, and as a final parting gift, Joe leaves you with some free sharpening tips:
Koko’s Kittens
Koko the gorilla was born in the San Francisco Zoo, and is famous for learning sign language. The other thing she's famous for is keeping pets - namely, kittens.
Below is video of Koko choosing a new pet kitten, donated by the San Francisco Humane Society, on March 10th. But while viewing this sweet scene, I noticed something that has me confused and a little bit concerned.
On YouTube alone, I see reference to at least 3 different kittens (All Ball, Moe, and Tigger), with zero videos of any adult cats.
Kittens are cuter than adult cats, I admit. But if Koko is ruthlessly going through these adorable little fuzzballs like so many living toys, I think that suggests something a lot of us might not be comfortable with.
Like, maybe kittens are as tasty as they are cute?
UPDATE: Eve at SF Appeal informs me of this:
Koko was very gentle with all of her cat friends.. She cared for her
kittens as she would her own tiny gorilla baby, cradling them gently
in her arms and carrying them on her back. She has never harmed them,
even when they scratch or bite, as kittens sometimes do.
Still, that quote reminds me of this:
The Week on Twitter, 2010-03-26
- i don't know where this is, but it's hilarious. http://yfrog.com/jlfihj #
- best music video shot on San Francisco mass transit, ever. http://bit.ly/aLCb13 #
“I Come From San Francisco”
In the name of lusting after music videos shot on San Francisco mass transit vehicles, I hereby make my contribution, with one of the best no-name hip-hop songs of all time.
"Yo, air-play, who tha fuck needs that? I just pump mad tracks on my por-ta-ble DAT!"
Janet Jackson Video Shot in Cartoon MUNI Station?
Jane at Uptown Almanac tries hard to make a San Francisco connection to this undeniably funky, adorable video. Alas, I cannot concur.
The stop they get off at is "Venice," and there are palm trees and a Hollywood sign...
The Week on Twitter, 2010-03-19
- [pic] i encountered an urban coyote while hiking San Francisco hilltops this weekend! http://bit.ly/au3ZyX #
- [vid] live taxidermy with dead birds from calacademy. http://bit.ly/aqcSvG #
- just created "hillapalooza" - a detailed urban hiking route in San Francisco. http://bit.ly/dAdNDT #
Hillapalooza – an Urban Hike
If you've got half a day some weekend or holiday, and you like a moderately challenging hike, this easily-accessed, 4.5-mile route with a 900 ft. elevation means you don't have to leave the city of San Francisco. Details after the jump...
Hot, Adults Only Taxidermy Action
So this happened while in line for the rain forest at the California Academy of Sciences a few weeks back. It was a Thursday "adults only" Night Life event. I guess they're "treating" a crow and some sort of falcon or small hawk. Video after the jump...
Spot the Urban Coyote
I don't usually have a need for a telephoto lens, but on Saturday while hiking across some of San Francisco's biggest hilltops, I spotted a coyote in a park. It made me think more seriously about moving beyond my digital point and shoot camera, to SLR, with at least one good telephoto lens.
So, with tax refund season upon us, I guess I'm in the market for a <$1k rig. I've been looking at the Canon T1i and the Nikon D5000. Anyone have opinions on one or both of these? Are there other competitors in this class I should be tracking? Let me have it in the comments.
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-03-13
- the Pony Express turns 150 this year. what don't you know about it? http://bit.ly/bGn2ET #
- some brand new pics of Albion Brewery & Castle's secret cavern springs. http://bit.ly/dsRCCn #
- [pic] it snowed on Mission Street just now. http://bit.ly/cwL8hS #
- [vid] best-ever use of San Francisco in a film? http://bit.ly/dCIkiE #
- [vid] San Francisco Soapbox Derby, 1975. http://bit.ly/dD0Utl @swissmiss #
- and the Oscar for Best Title Sequence goes to... http://bit.ly/bATbpD #
- [pic] Name That Spot. http://bit.ly/a5pQUi #
- [vid] tilt-shift flyover of San Francisco in Google Earth - very cool. http://bit.ly/cKtas4 #
An Odd Flight Over a “Miniature” San Francisco
The photography & video effect called tilt-shift makes full-sized scenes look like they're miniature.
Someone did a fly-over of San Francisco using this effect. The twist: it was done in Google Earth CG, so it uses satellite imagery mapped onto 3D computer renderings of SF buildings:
Name That Spot
Take your guess in the comments.
UPDATE: Guess this one was a little too easy. theCara, from the comments, got it and got it fast.
The Best Thing About ‘Up in the Air’ Was San Francisco in the Title Sequence
An effective title sequence can give a film a lot of good will in the mind of the viewer while the filmmaker tries to establish what's necessary to draw folks in. If there was an Oscar category for Best Title Sequence (it has been suggested, and was rejected in 1999), "Up in the Air" would have gotten a vote from me, were I a voting member.
And not just because it features San Francisco very prominently. (You may recall that there are a total of 3 shots of San Francisco from the air in this sequence - watch it here.) More after the jump...
Possibly the Best Use of San Francisco in a Film, Ever
Sure, we've got Bullitt, Dirty Harry, Streets of San Francisco, and Trauma. But hot damn, if this isn't the awesomest use of a San Francisco setting for a film sequence I've seen yet...
It's from the 1958 noir, The Lineup, and I challenge you to watch to the end of this 9-minute collection of clips. I promise you, if you haven't seen it before, the reward is tremendous.
Not only do you get to see the outside and inside of the Sutro Baths just 8 years before they burned down during demolition, but what's happening in these shots is downright fascinating. I won't spoil it except to say it involves one terribly sketchy Eli Wallach, a mysterious dude in a wheelchair, a cop, a blimp, and nuns.
Oh, and a climactic act of violence that has to be seen to be believed.
Part of me now wants to see the whole movie
Sutro Baths fire, 1966. Photo Copyright Brad Schram
(Video Spotted @)
Snow on Mission Street!
This stuff fell from the sky just a few minutes ago and I'm calling it snow.
You think I'm wrong, but try walking up the stairs from 16th/Mission BART while water is cascading back down, stepping carefully over a whitened sidewalk, and checking the wonder on kids' faces - and then pay heed to this "distinction":
Hail and snow are formed by different processes and thus look quite
different, although both are composed of ice.Snowflakes are composed of single or conglomerated ice
crystals, whereas hail is a ball of ice.Snowflakes form when an ice crystal grows in very cold air
at the expense of surrounding water vapor.
By the way, there are many other shapes of ice crystals
(platelets, columns, etc.) that can form in a similar way,
but under different atmospheric conditions.Hail usually starts as a frozen drop of water on a soil or
pollutant particle. The frozen drop is repeatedly carried aloft
and dropped by strong updrafts and down-drafts in a thunderstorm.
As the hailstone rises and falls, super-cooled water droplets
freeze to its surface, enlarging it.Both snowflakes and hail drop from the clouds where they formed
when they become too heavy for the upward atmospheric motions
in the clouds to support them.
Did I mentioned it snowed on Mission Street just now?
Albion Brewery & Castle
In 1870, an enterprising English immigrant to San Francisco built a castle home on top of a secret cavern spring and used its cold, pure water to brew beer.
Albion Porter & Ale Brewery lasted until 1919 when Prohibition forced it to close. It was resurrected in 1928 as Albion Water Company, selling bottled water, which it did until 1947.
It was almost destroyed to make room for a freeway in 1961, but survived. It stands today on its original spot in Hunter's Point. The caverns still exist as well, and the spring generates 10,000 gallons of fresh water every day, which empties into the Bay. (The castle once served as the office for Laughing Squid's web hosting tech support crew.)
It went up for sale in September 2009 as a private residence for $2.9 million. Does anyone know its current status?
Here are some brand new photos of the caverns, posted to the Oakland Museum of California's Facebook page.
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