Limousines Show - Rickshaw Stop, SF

It has been sooooo long since I've written on here. I'd like to start getting back into it. What better way to start than to post a few fun videos from The Limos show this week. What a great show! Sold out to an energetic crowd who were not disappointed! Great performances throughout the set. Here are a couple fun snipits. You can feel the energy. You should experience a Limousines show for yourself if you haven't yet.

The Fatted Calf is coming to Hayes Valley

Meat lovers in Hayes Valley rejoice! A new French-style charcuterie is opening in our neighborhood!

Taylor Boetticher, who owns The Fatted Calf in Napa, has announced the opening of his newest shop at 320 Fell Street (between Gough and Octavia).

This new shop (which is directly behind me on the same block) will feature cured meats, bread, duck, chicken, salami, prosciutti, hot dogs, beer dogs, etc. Ready-to-eat items along with beer are also coming soon.

The shop, which I heard will keep it's wall-of-windows with delicious salamis and other meats on display, is slotted to open this Fall. Not soon enough!! Can't wait!!

Review: "In the Heights"

Tommy got us tickets for this show last week. I had no idea what it was about, where it was, whether it was a musical or play, nothing. Up to about ten minutes before, I still had no idea what it was or what to expect. All I knew at that point was that it was a musical since, while standing in line, I read the marquis "Tony Award winner - Best Musical" so I thought, eh...can't be that bad.

I was right. Not bad. Not bad at all. Very good actually. Great music, high energy, and talented performers. A great show!

It takes place in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York and follows the lives of the neighborhood families, who have grown over the years to become one large family.

I won't go into too many details but trust me, you will be entertained. It is playing at the Curran Theatre through June. Go see it!

Tickets can be purchased here

I give it 4 Rebas.

Giants Brewfest next weekend

Do you like beer? Do you love the Giants? Actually, if you like the Giants and love beer, check out:

(click on the picture for the link)

New Hayes Valley Art Installation

Every six months or so, Patricia's Green park, which is in the heart of Hayes Valley, installs a new art display in the center of the park. I look forward to it as I live down the street. The last art piece came out about a week ago and us locals waited eagerly to see what would fill the empty quad in the center of the park.

And here it is! I'm getting some mixed reactions from the people I know. Personally, I really like it. It's by far the grandest art installation we've ever had in Hayes Valley. It's unique, quirky, and fun. Just like Hayes Valley :) What do you think?

I'm baaaaaaaaack!!!

Well, I've been away from blogging for too long. The last 90 days or so have been quite hectic with work, vacation, holidays, etc. Life is good, no complaints but I've held back my opinions for far too long. It's time to come back and give all of you (and by all of you, I mean my mom and the 4 other people who occasionally read this) my long overdue opinion. I feel like I've missed out on so much. So many things to discuss...

- Sarah Palin's new book (which I'm currently reading, review to follow)
- The Fort Hood tragedy
- The White House party crashers (someone put them and the Gosselin's on an island with no TV cameras PLEASE)
- Joy Behar's new show on HLN
- Holloween
- ....and the best show on TV, Modern Family

I won't try and catch up on all these topics, just move ahead as there are bound to be plenty more topics and train wrecks to discuss as we close out 2009.

I also changed the blog header pic. Used to be a black-and-white I took of the Golden Gate Bridge. I took this new one of our beautiful city skyline from Dolores Park at dusk. Please visit soon for more updates. In the meantime, here's one thing I've been up to:

Went to see the Christmas Tree lighting in Union Square on Friday. Mayor Newsom did the countdown. They have a lot in common, him and the tree. Both tall and majestic. Fortunately, I think this time only the tree was lit.

This is why I don't ride MUNI...

I have seen too many accidents, rude drivers, and now fights to use MUNI as my preferred form of transportation. I will take it on occasion, but only when absolutely necessary. Otherwise I will drive, cab it, or most preferably, scoot. Just my luck one of these crazy women will cut me off as I scoot down Market. Here's hoping they are permanent MUNI riders and not drivers!

Not gonna lie, quite entertaining to watch:

Gavin Newsom welcomes baby daughter!!

Congratulations to Mayor (soon-to-be Governor) Gavin Newsom and his wife Jennifer Siebel-Newsom! They welcomed their first child, daughter Montana Tessa Newsom (we'll talk about the name later) to the world today, September 18, 2009 at 12:39pm.

Mayor Newsom tweeted about his exciting day to keep us all updated:

Arrived at hospital

Ok... I'm nervous--

Baby girl.. :)

Jen doing great.. Not sure she is happy I am on twitter

The newest Democrat in the Newsom household weighed in at 7lbs 12oz and 20.5" long.

Now, the name. Montana? I don't know what to say about this. She is no doubt going to be beautiful with those two parents. Not to mention smart and driven. The only thing not in her favor is that name. I love Gavin Newsom, like super love Gavin Newsom but Mr. Mayor, you didn't just adopt an Alaskan Husky, this is YOUR DAUGHTER!! Tessa Montana maybe? Even that is better. Oh well. I'll shut up about the name. Congrats Newsoms! A very happy day :)

PARK(ing) Day - Cute, but annoying

Living in San Francisco, I have learned to appreciate the precious 5'X15' real estate known as a parking space. I usually do not have too much trouble finding parking when I get home from work but should I come home a little early, or a little too late, I could drive around for a half hour trying to find a spot.

The group Rebar, a San Francisco art collective has started a program called PARK(ing) Day where these precious parking spaces are "leased" (about $300 in quarters dumped in over the course of the day) and used as small parks. This started in 2005 when it was discovered that 70% of downtown outdoor space is dedicated to vehicles and only a fraction of that to the public in the forms of such things as parks and open space.

So, tomorrow, Friday September 18th, you will have an even more difficult time parking in SF as these park people start rolling out sod on your much needed parking space. Don't get me wrong, I think it's noble to try and turn our downtown concrete jungle into a green eutopia but after circling the Moscone Center for an hour, my car just might end up as part of the 5'X15' art display.

Lombard Street turns into Candyland for sick kids

No, that's not a photoshopped picture to the left, that is an actual arial shot of the crookedest stre...er...game in the world.

Hasbro, Inc. turned the famous crooked street, Lombard into a larger-than-life candyland board today to celebrate the board game's 60th anniversary.

Patients from UCSF's Children's Hospital dressed up as colored game pieces and played on the "board game" which was roughly 30,000 times the size of the regular game.

Lombard was closed for the day today, but the residence didn't seem to mind as they watched on from their front porches. One of those random, fun, only-in-San-Francisco events.

Farmer's Market Cocktail night!

Join some of the city's most talented bartenders and mixologists tonight at the Summer Farmer's Market Cocktail night. The Center for Urban Education and Sustainable Agriculture will host the event which will feature hand crafted botanical inspired cocktails. For $30, you will receive two full sized cocktails made with Square One Botanical.

Your drinks will be made by some of the best in SF, including my good friend Alicia Walton from Elixir! So, come down to the Dacor Kitchen in the North Arcade, in front of the Ferry Building tonight at 5:30!

(I say come down, like I'll be there. I have spin class but will be there in "spirit"...get it?)

You can purchase tickets here

No surfing at Stinson...unless you want to be lunch

Two separate people have sited sharks circling in the waters at Stinson Beach. The water has been closed until at least Friday. So, if you want tan arms and legs, you can still lie out on the beach. If you want to keep them, stay out of the water.

Restaurant review: SPQR

Tommy and I had dinner at the small Italian restaurant SPQR. This Roman inspired osteria in the Fillmore district was recommended by friends. We arrived at about 8pm and the place was bustling. There are maybe 20 tables with just enough room to squeeze by in between to make your way to one of the two counters. One counter overlooks the kitchen, which is the more desirable and busier counter. The other overlooks the wine cabinets, which is where we sat. (It looked like a 20 minute wait or so had we wanted a table) Our waitress Emily greeted us within two minutes and asked about our beverage selection. Tommy ordered wine, I ordered diet soda. Emily brought me a "Cricket Cola", which is a green tea natural cola. It was quite tasty but I would have liked to have been warned that I wasn't getting a Coke or Pepsi. Anyway, it worked out. I'm now a fan of Cricket Cola.

We ended up ordering their three antipasti deal and splitting one entree. We ordered fresh ricotta, summer squash, toasted pinenuts, and crostini bread. Followed by pork sausage, then corn fritters with pancetta. All delicious. Each were small portions but they were so rich they were just enough. This was followed by our main course, Rigatoni Carbonara with pork and pecorino. Delicious! A rather small portion to split, but again so rich that we couldn't eat another bite.

Emily was awesome, she knew everything there was to know about Tommy's wine selection. Even the details of the winery and the region in Italy where it comes from! Great service, a busy, but comfortable atmosphere, and rich flavorful food.

I've decided to come up with a rating system for movies, restaurants, etc. Since I am a HUGE Reba fan, I'm going to make my rating Rebas. So, here goes my first rating. I give SPQR.....
3 1/2 Rebas (out of 5)

SUV becomes the meat in a MUNI sandwich

Last night I was on my way to the grocery store when I saw a bit of "commotion" coming from Market street. I parked at Safeway and walked up Market street about three blocks to find yet another MUNI accident. This one was quite interesting. A Nissan Pathfinder SUV was sandwiched between two MUNI F-line trains. I snapped these pictures at about 7pm.

The accident happened near the corner of Market and Noe. According to riders of the F, the driver was distracted while talking to a passenger. Luckily, no one was seriously injured.

This is the second major MUNI accident in less than a month! I'm so glad I don't ride the MUNI to work! (Cause driving 120 miles a day at 80mph is so much safer)

The downside to city living

Last week, my car was broken into. Nothing stolen, just some punk kids or a homeless person decided to bash in my passenger window. This morning, my best friend Kim's car was broken into. They broke the window, stole her car stereo, ipod, GPS, and over $300 in makeup.

I talk a lot about how great it is to live in SF. The culture, the divirsity, the nightlife, the weather, the restaurants...but there is a downside. I don't know who broke into Kim's car or mine, but you have to be pretty desparate to resort to that. The amount of homeless and people living below the poverty line in SF is ridic. Whenever you have that, you have stupid crimes like these. And no, I don't live in a bad neighborhood. I live in a quite good neighborhood but no neighborhood in SF is immune to this happening. You could walk through Pac Heights and see shattered window glass on the sidewalk.

The moral of the story is, if you have valuables in your car, hide them. Even if you don't see them as valuable, someone else might. Keep your seats and floor clean of any visible items. Don't give them an excuse to break in.

Sorry, Kim. A lousy couple of days.

NoH8 photo shoot a success!

Tommy and I attended the NoH8 photo shoot today at the W Hotel. It was so great to be part of this campaign. I can't wait to see how our photos turned out. We were able to take not only individual shots but shots together. As soon as they send them to us, I will post them.

There are no further photo shoots planned but I will update you should they add more dates.

No H8!!

NOH8 Campaign hits SF!!

Today, from 11am-6pm the NOH8 campaign will be in San Francisco at the W Hotel to do their Northern California photo shoot. This is a grassroots movement to maintain focus on the injustice of Prop 8 which stripped gays and lesbians of their right to marry in California. There will most likely be a proposition on the 2010 ballot and NOH8 is seeking celebrity endorsers to continue champion their (our) cause.

If you happen to be in or around San Francisco this afternoon, stop into the W Hotel and be part of a just and worthwhile cause.

W Hotel - 181 3rd St SF. Corner of 3rd and Howard Map

Check out the pictures below of some of the celebs that have already lent their support. Thank you!!

Follow NOH8 on Twitter

NOH8 Website

San Francisco has gone to the birds

Ok, so that's a STUPID headline but I couldn't think of anything. I haven't had a chance to experience this for myself yet but if I can get down there this week, I'd like to see it first hand. There is a blackbird near California and Sacramento streets here in the city that is swooping down and attacking pedestrians walking by. It has drawn national media attention. Check out the CNN video below.

Earthquake details

Below are the official results of the earthquake felt this afternoon:

Best place to watch a movie in SF

I always thought that the only place I could sit in a comfy chair, have a beer and watch a movie was my living room. Last night I discovered, not so! We went to see "The Watchmen" at the Kabuki Theater in Japantown, SF. This theater is part of the Sundance chain run by Robert Redford. What a great theater. Comfy seats with plenty of room to stretch out and a bar upstairs. Grab a beer or two to bring to your seat before the movie! Oh, and you might want to grab a few more if you're going to see "The Watchmen" to help you get through it. It's almost three hours and weird.