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Monthly Archives: October 2009

A Site for Sore Eyes (and Sore Bicycle Rims) on Lakeshore Ave.

Some people’s thoughts bend toward the numinous when they see a crude outline of the Blessed Virgin Mary in a cloud, or in a piece of gum stuck to the sidewalk. Others of us worship differently, and feel the presence of grace when we come across a crude outline of a bicyclist indicating the imminent […]

A Dodged Bullet last November

John McCain on one of the Sunday shows: “I think that a fundamental difference we have is whether we think government does a good job at administering health care in America or providing health insurance for the American people,” he said. “I don’t think they do.” Sure, Mr. McCain, whatever you say—this is why Republicans […]

The Gentleman Doth Protest Too Much, Methinks

Phil Bronstein has a silly post on his SFGate.com blog in which he points out that the New York Times article on Oakland Police Chief Anthony Batts uses the same anecdote in the lede that a San Francisco Chronicle article used two months ago, about Batts initially declining to apply for the Oakland job, then […]

Goodnight Sun

Last night’s sunset over Lake Merritt was a doozy. I even got off my bike (well, out of the pedals, at least) to take some photos. I didn’t record any musical accompaniment, so you’ll have to imagine the convivial sounds floating across the water from Lake Chalet restaurant on the opposite shore (if you look […]

San Francisco Tropical

There’s been a bit of a blogging lull here in recent weeks, so here’s another placeholder post—some photos from the California Academy of Sciences a few days ago. I didn’t take too many pictures, but I wanted to see how photos from the dim exhibition halls or through glass and water in the aquarium would […]

The New York Times Places a Bet on the Bay Area

I cancelled my home delivery of the New York Times about 3 years ago, after they raised the subscription rate for the second time in a single calendar year. Having read a hard copy of the Times nearly every day for more than 15 years (not to mention having worked there for about 5), I […]

BART and the Repelatron Skyway

“Dad, I’ve just figured how to lick our whole problem. Instead of running a road through the jungle, we’ll build an aerial highway above the treetop level!” Both Mr. Swift and Mr. Newton were astonished. “I’m afraid that I don’t follow you, son.” Tom went on enthusiastically, “By running the highway above the trees, we […]