I usually find NYC vs. SF comparisons to be really boring, but for some reason people love to compare the two. Anyway, this one is very funny and actually pretty dead-on accurate.

My favorite line is an irate account of SF taxis: "When you call to have one pick you up, you need to know your address even if you’re at a restaurant, and intersections don’t count".

This is actually true, and totally baffels me. "waiter! what's the address here?" Chances are the waiter dosn't even know. Equally annoying is the fact that SF taxis pay no attention whatsoever to the light on their roof. Light on - means nothing. Light off - means nothing. Just hail anything and hope they stop.

SF tax dollars would be well spent if they opened up a showering facility for the city's homeless. The restroom and elevators at the otherwise beautiful SF Public Library smell so bad I opted to walk 4 flights of stairs and use the one hidden restroom in the back that no one knows about. There's also a guy sitting opposite me looking scruffy and thumbing through catalogs called "Knives 2005" and "Guns Digest". He's wearing a US Postal Service cap. I'm not making this up, I'd take a covert photo, but that's probably not a good idea.

There is free WiFI at the SF public library as well as ample workstation space to get things donw, I could make this a habit. Changing work environments from time to time is a catalyst for productivity. However, this being SF, there is a very high weirdo to normalcy ratio in here, people wandering around muttering to themselves and such.

Anyway, it's Bloggie time! Be sure to vote for the Gawker titles: Wonkette, Gawker, Defamer & Gizmodo. Yes, it's another obscure awards event, but there are some intersting titles in there. [vote]

I was pondering the other day the fact that San Francisco, more than any other city I can think of has "the" attached to the names of most of it's neighborhoods ... "the sunset, the castro, the haight, the mission, the marina"... most other cities have straightforward names - "Buckhead, SoHo, Lincoln Park, Adams Morgan, South Beach" etc... not exactly a scientific survey, but kinda interesting.

No one from San Francisco is unfamiliar with the mad genius known as Frank Chiu. We even let him use our bathroom once at the old office. As with all people with a cause, persistence pays off. This man's fame is slowly growing, his cause is being heard, and his fans are speaking. The revolution is well underway. Next time in town, the first place i'm going to check out is [12 Galaxies]

But does Frank even know it exists? Will the clientle be devoted followers of the cause, or blissfully unaware yuppies? Only time will tell. [more on Frank]

Clearly the only reason 11,000+ people voted for Gary Coleman was out of boredom and amusement. I think a huge percentage of Shwarzenegger supporters did so for the same reason. Maybe all of them. Is politics really that much of a joke these days?

Despite my general apprehension towards having a republican governor, I'm not personally annoyed by Arnold. I don't think he's a bad guy and I think he's a million times better than Bush for that matter, but I also don't think the man has the faintest clue what he's doing. I expect a few months of strangeness, then he'll get quiet and eventually slip away... we'll see. I don't usually talk about politics. Bah.

Oh man. I should have gone back and voted. The real question is, how did Gary Coleman get over 11,000 votes? Hell, I should have gone back and run!

Spent my last day in San Francisco BBQing on Baker Beach. That's quite an illiteration.

Anyway, we observed an unbelievable amount of activity passing by: At least one large sea-lion, a body-surfing dog, some WWII vintage aircraft including a Japanese 'zero' that played dogfighting games with the others and repeatedly charged the beach evoking an immenent strafing... a coast guard craft that kept hurling sailors overboard to practice life saving.... a coast guard helicopter that darted perilously close to the Golden Gate Bridge ... one outbound cruise ship and 6 enormous inbound container ships...

We were waiting for some sky-diving Elvis', but that never happened.

I'm pleased to see that Squat & Gobble is still turning out my favorite breakfast - the unbeatable #6 bagel on poppyseed. I think I might have to go back for seconds. Also unchanged is glorious Haight Street. The same wasted old bums staggering everywhere. I even witnessed a rare SF expression of violence the other day - when the bums fight they don't physically attack each other - rather, they knock over eachother's shopping carts sending bottles and cans everywhere. What a mess.

It is, however, a stunningly beautiful day here in San Francisco, and bumfights aside, you have to love the place. Time to get outside and enjoy it.

Population statistics are among my favorites. According to this article, what was formerly known as the San Francisco/San Jose/Oakland metropolitan statistical area, is now known as the San Jose/San Francisco/Oakland metropolitan statistical area. Catch that? San Jose is now listed first, reflecting it's larger population.

Fair enough. The bay area is clearly a single urban entity, even if it is stratified in many ways. The naming conventions for such entities in the
United States dictate that the largest incorporated city in the area gets listed first. For example, DC's area is referred to as the "Baltimore-Washington" area.

Although this is probably really boring to most people, you can't help but recognize the psychological significance of this. While flying into SFO, if the pilot welcomes you to the "San Jose" area, it will certainly change people's perceptions of the place, to San Francisco's loss.

Given that San Jose is still little more than a bunch of parking lots with some office parks here and there, this is quite disheartening to those of us who have more refined urban interests at heart, and it's unfair to San Francisco (which is clearly a vastly more important city in almost every area). But so it goes with statistics. They key is to be able to see through them.

Before I bore you to death, allow my hometown pride to tell you that Milwaukee is almost twice as big as Boston, Atlanta, Miami, St. Louis and a host of other more famous cities, but what counts in that case is the metropolitan population, which Milwaukee lacks. Point is, San Francisco dosn't really have that much to worry about.

Anyway, none of this really matters when you think about it. I just can't help obsessing over this stuff.

Sherry Koyama, a coworker and valued yahoo-literati partner of mine, is displaying some paintings online at the SF art bureau. Very cool stuff... (thx zegna)

Apparantly, Oakland got sacked last night. I'm not talking about the football team. And I thought Oakland was improving.

My favorite quote: "I ain't gonna lie -- if we had won, we would have done the same thing, but milder" - some rapper

Now that's civic pride!

I should think twice before entering the raging SF vs. NY debate that has suddenly cropped up all over the place, spurned on by Nick D's Gawker, and other refugees. Anyway, much truth to either side, but I remain a San Francisco defender, despite it's faults and the fact that I am an SF refugee myself.

The latest defense of SF is Mylerdudes top 16 reasons people in SF are of better mind than NYers, whatever that means. Here is the list, with my comments in italics:

- SFers don`t have to fight like an ant to get to where they need to be
(comparatively true)
- SFers can park in front of their favorite restaurants and not arrive smelling like a cab, or a cabbie for that matter.
(um, no you can't. Though I don't see this as a problem)
- SFers can get in the water anytime of the year to surf without having to ride a train in a wetsuit
(keyword: Wetsuit. In SF you need one year-round)
- SFers don`t really give a fuck about gossip
(very true)
- SFers can always go BACK to NY and still be just as anonymous as they were when they first left
(guess so)
- SFers get twice the room for the same money
(yep)
- SFers don`t have to worry about their Beemer`s parked on the street
(well, yes you do)
- NYers diet of sidewalk bagels and over-creamed coffee is a deathwish
(absolutely)
- NYers think `time at the gym` breathing in recycled air and cheap perfume is healthy
(he he)
- NYers have to spend 1/2 the weekend in escape mode in order to "get out of the city", in SF you`re out in 8 minutes
(absolutely)
- NYers who DON`T get out of the city are just lost in their own mind
(well, same goes for SF)
- SFers can get paid to work for NY companies while living in SF, harldy ever the other way around
(probably, but are any companies still based in SF?)
- Marin lifestyle beats Westchester
(hell yes)
- Stinson Beach Chill beats the Hamptons Fashion Show
(I would imagine so)
- The 101 beats the L.I.E.
(still aint no picnic)
- NY will always be a GREAT place to visit
(indeed)

Ken Layne, who hates San Francisco, but is otherwise quite amusing sums it up slightly more eloquently.

Anyway, by far the best retort comes from my former roommate Gaby who's reply is more worth reading that anything I could come up with on an already overworked afternoon.

The following two photos are views from a) my old back porch in San Francisco, and b) my living room window in London. Can you guess which is which?

On cue, to coincide with my departure from San Francisco, our team conquered the famed 'Mad Dog in the Fog' weekly trivia contest. We finally won! After 2 years of regular defeats the thorn in my side was finally removed. I almost cried. We missed only one question. Much thanks must be passed on to the legendary Frank Niebres who emerged as the clear MVP. I can now retire.

Oh yes, that was his name. (see below) Baby Gramps. I have seldom been entertained to the degree I was last Thursday night by this incredibly talented steel guitar master. I'm not a music review writer so I can hardly do justice to this man's brilliance, but I must give it a shot. His style is thetrical really, he jumps and bleats and barks and shakes while wacking the living hell out of his guitar all while completely in control of the indstrument. He dominates it like an expert dog handler shouts orders to a hyperactive yet totally submisive beagle. And he makes you laugh your ass off too, while you can't help but jump up and clap and sing along. Baby Gramps. Check him out.

I'm not much of a golfer. Even so, I decided to golf this morning with Thomas and I'm glad I did it. There was something beautifuly decadent about golfing before work and strolling in late tracking wet grass across the office. I actually performed much better than I thought I would, and walking around in the park at 7:30 in the morning, while the mist was still rolling around, with a golf club in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other is a fine way to start the day.

I had a really nice bike ride yesterday. I wound up in Tiburon watching a bunch of guys fish from this rock. It's called Elephant Rock apparently, though I don't know anything about it's history. I thought it was really cool the way the platform was built around it. It was so windy that whenever they cast a line, the bait came flying back almost skewering them.

So far, the Connecticut state quarter is by far the best, in my opinion. The texture of the 'charter oak' against your thumb makes this quarter a pleasure to handle, and the intricacy of the design, makes it just about perfect. Many other quarters are totally uninspired, namely Massachusetts, who's state map, and generic 'revolutionary guy' really don't do much for me. If I made the rules for quarter design, I'd eliminate state maps, and require symbolism to be a bit more subtle.

The Best so far: CT, RI, MD, NH, VA
The Worst: MA, PA, GA, SC

Click here for a list of all (Vermont Looks Promising!)

A succesful Bay-to-Breakers! As I sit kneeding my sore legs, I realized that to many people, a 5-mile run is a daily event. I guess I don't run enough. Here are some pictures. Documentation was a bit sparse this year, I appologize...

More Chaos on the streets! There is a gigantic inflatable rat floating above the corner at work, and a few hundred irate union members screaming at the top of their lungs and blasting blow-horns. It sound's like a riot out there, as I peacefully type away... a nice departure from the usual sound of traffic.

The neghborhood is particularily out of control this morning. There is a guy sound asleap in the middle of the sidewalk in front of my house, and local nut-case Frank Chiu is wandering around screaming at tourists. I've never seen him in the Haight before. I was going to say hello, but he is going ballistic down there so I decided to keep my distance. Apparantly some tourists took his photo without permision, so he's trying to get money out of them. Don't mess with Frank!