Now that I'm home and have had time to think about it, I put together a better collection of pictures from my trip. I've set them in my myspace picture gallery. The link is here if you are so inclined.

Josh

You guys in Cali are lucky - this stuff is AWESOME!



See you in six months, hopefully.

I finally had some sun to work with so I went back to Coit Tower specifically to take this picture -



Here is your humble adventurer getting his Muni on -



See you back in Buffalo soon guys -

Josh

Precursor, Animal Style w/a Chocolate Shake

I found myself being finished for the day before noon, which was totally unexpected but very pleasant. I had one of my favorite things in all of California - In-N-Out Burger! Before that though, I had to catch a lift so here was my ride. I've been a busy boy since I came here - I haven't sipped this city down, I've been gulping.



(e:ajay) and (e:twisted) - I don't know if you've ever bothered with these but I'd recommend it at least once to see some amazing views of downtownish area. You may know this already but with a monthly Muni pass rides on these are free! With my weekly pass it cost $1 and a little dignity when the operator scowled at me for trying to enter the open area through the door behind him. Anyway, I made it to home base.



Now it was time for the best fast food in America, and time to develop a plan to get rid of the calories. I brought my treasure back to the room with me, not realizing that after 6 hours gone my room would smell of onions. I'm not sure why that doesn't bother me, but in any case I had a chocolate shake, a double double with caramelized onions and a side serving of Bible verses... In-N-Out loves the Lord.








Coit Tower

Screw the Wharf - for a city oozing with character I agree with the locals - although even the locals might admit that having a Walgreen's nearby might be convenient here and there. I went to Coit Tower via the 39 bus route. 10 minutes and $4.50 later and I was at the top of the tower.

NOTE*** At this point the sun got obscured, which was upsetting, but we can't have it our way all the time.



Due west you can see Washington Square and a major landmark in this area of the city - Saints Peter and Paul Church.



West/northwest view of the Golden Gate Bridge, Marin County and what I believe is the Marina district.









Here you can see Lombard St. - the crazy curved street. However, its not the most steep road in SF. That honor is reserved for another road which you will see soon. Still though, what a neat feature in a city. Agree?



At the top of Coit Tower people leave momentos. I left a quarter in the hopes that one day I can move to a place like this. Then it dawned on me - if a quake went off I'd probably have a heart attack because of where I was. Isn't it odd that someone left a picture? I can't believe it has rested there for more than a day but who knows. What I do know, however, is that all of these windows were protected by padlocked glass windows so whoever did that was Houdini in disguise.





At ground level in the tower they have some beautiful murals. Most of it is Communist themed - in this picture a guy is pulling a copy of Marx's Das Kapital off the shelf.



This I thought was cool - it was a slanted windowsill, a little cobweb and a painted in copy of the SF Chronicle.




Filbert Steps

I had heard about these and couldn't find how to access them from below... but this is one of the things about San Francisco that will make me remember the trip for a long time. Just beautiful - plus it inspires jealousy. Take a look and I think you'll agree. This is a walkway that will lead you directly to Coit Tower from Filbert St., but it is STEEP. I saw some psycho local actually jogging up them for exercise.









The picture below is not part of the Filbert Steps, and the property owners make it clear with a sign basically telling you to get the fucking hint. Screw them - that brick is slippery when wet anyway.



I climbed halfway back up thinking I was going to catch the 39 back but I wasn't happy yet - I wanted to see more. So, why not walk down one of the steepest streets I've ever seen in my life and catch the 30 bus for a joyride into Chinatown?

I had to take a picture of this lady - she was so old yet she was going up these stairs slow as a snail. I thought her determination deserved to be immortalized so I took a picture.



Looking directly behind the lady you see this, which puts her chosen path in perspective. IMO this is just ludicrous - these cars are parked at a 17 degree angle on a street that is one of the steepest in all the western hemisphere. No really, it is - Wiki says so! (San_Francisco) Imagine trying to unload a full car...



After going down the hill, at the intersection if you'd look to your right you'd be facing due north with this view.



Chinatown, Kerouac Alley and Cafe Roma

I totally lost my head and only took one picture in Chinatown, but the stage was set by the bus ride. I felt like I was in a bus in Beijing - it was incredibly crowded. An older Chinese man had a tub of cooking oil (think Sysco) and some anonymous product wrapped up. He looked at me and smiled, then said "WOW, ITS CROWDED!" and proceeded to sit down next to me. He made me smile. It came to a point where I realized I should probably get off the bus, and I proceeded to head towards the Asian markets - the less English the better. If I'm wandering Chinatown I'm doing it right. I found some Vietnamese and Chinese green teas, along with some dried snacks that the Western palette would consider... unorthodox. I saw Chinese butchers, gift shops, a hundred restaurants and newstands selling Chinese papers. I slipped and only got one picture of the area.



I proceeded north until I ran into Broadway and Jack Kerouac Alley. I'm awestruck at such a thoughtful way to honor someone whose writing helped to immortalize the city and embodied its spirit. Not that I would hold back on my praise for a personal hero. I was here yesterday but was happy to be back - check this out.



On the alley are little plaques with quotes, and in the center (which I didn't include here) is a circular plaque.







Walk down the alley in the direction you see above, turn left and you have City Lights on your left. Walk up to the corner, turn around and you'll see this -



What a city.

At this point my legs were seriously hurting but I was a mile from my hotel. I decided to walk back up Columbus Ave. and hit Cafe Roma for a little treat before continuing home... and to take a picture of a little easter egg for my brother.



I wasn't sure if I'd be deeply sad to leave California like I always have felt when I gaze out of the plane window, but its safe to say that I'm leaving a little of my heart at this place when I leave.

I've had the best food I've ever ate in my life (I made it to Chow this morning (e:ajay)! also for dinner we went to House of Nanking, which was ludicrously good imo and let the chef/owner/dictator choose the menu), I've been smoking the best Cali has to offer, I've been taking in the great weather, visited City Lights, I've spent time in the Mission, the Castro, upper/lower Haight, Noe Valley, Cole Valley, the Presidio, North Beach, Chinatown, went to the top of Buena Vista Park, went on an 8-hour pub crawl - SF your drinks are fucking cheap for the rent you make people pay. I feel like I'm forgetting things but I've had the absolute best time I've ever had in a city I've traveled to for work. If it weren't for the seismic juju you'd be perfect. I can't really even summarize it effectively so I'll just say thank you SF for being good to me - I've never had a better and more positive introduction to a city. I can't wait to check out the Ferry Building and the cafes in North Beach. I'm not sure where I felt more at home, but I think I was most comfortable in the Haight. SF you have decent political discourse at night on KGO too!

I don't know what I'll do but the places I'm auditing this week are Chinese-owned garment makers. We had to hire a translator because none of the workers speak English, but the lady we hired seems really nice. I got my feet wet bumping around using Muni. I got my weekly pass and I'm good to go - the F line is a block away and will be my main way around until its time to go home. So, for now here is a handful of pictures... if things continue as they have I'm going to get a great picture of the Golden Gate Bridge and maybe maybe maybe I'll go to the top of Coit Tower or the bar in Sir Francis Drake Hotel for some pictures. I take all the credit for the great weather!



City Lights Bookstore - a bit of a pilgrimage for me... I draw a lot of inspiration from the Beats.



Cool and famous - me and the sign!



Haight Ashbury - the district and the corner. This is the view from my friends' front step.



710 Ashbury St. - the Grateful Dead house. I felt bad for the tourists who took pictures in front of 610 holding up peace signs.



Haight and Waller St. - and my buddy Jonas who had no idea he was going to make a cameo in my blog tonight.

I made some pretty savvy purchases as well. I went to Amoeba and got my dad a copy of a movie called "Amandla! A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony", which is a documentary about the freedom music of South Africa and how it sustained the soul of the black population during Apartheid - it won the 2002 Sundance Viewer's Choice Award and African music, which my dad loves, is at the center of the whole thing. I think it was better than getting him a blue-ray copy of The Aviator.

I also got three packs of different rolling papers, which I let my boy Jonas choose for me. I picked up a shoulder bag from the army navy surplus on Haight - the store in Buffalo is 10x the size and did not have what I wanted and this store did! I also bought three books at City Lights - a copy of a book by Simon Winchester (at the suggestion of my friend Anna's brother Andrew) called "A Crack In The Edge Of The World," which is an account of the quake and fire in 1906 and how it has impacted American history. The pictures make you realize how foolish it was for humans to have settled on this peninsula. City Lights also has its own publishing arm and I felt strongly about supporting their efforts, so I picked up a copy of The Yage Letters, which is constructed from letters between William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg describing to each other their experiences monkeying around with strange native American drugs. Also on the suggestion of Anna, since I told her I like short stories, I picked up a copy of "The Elephant Vanishes" by Haruki Murakami.

Whenever the people in the office are irritating you, remember that you saw this -



Yeehaw!

1953 - 2007



Seeing this sort of thing deeply saddens me. Despite her somewhat seedy and allegedly corrupt past she had the important things right, and for a country that needs an inspirational anchor I'm afraid that they've now lost their anchor. I'm also afraid of a catastrophic, violent, extremely bloody backlash occurring as a result of this assassination. We have a satellite office in Pakistan and I worry about the safety of our colleagues there. This is a terrible event.

SF peeps:

The auditing gods (and my boss) have smiled upon me - three audits popped up within San Fransisco to be completed and the company is going to send me, starting ideally on the 7th of January. Given that everything works in my favor, I'll likely be in San Fransisco starting the weekend after New Year's Day to sample the local flavors before I actually have to work.

If all audits are within San Fran city limits I am wondering if its wise at all to rent a car. I suppose I won't really know until I see the exact location of the facilities I will visit, but if its easier/less of a hassle to get around using public transport I'd really like to know where I could find a resource about the public transportation system. Gimme some pro's/con's. I'm told San Fran is only second to NYC in terms of population density, so I am assuming that taking a car around SF is a major hassle.

In either case I'm looking forward to visiting my friends there, since they just announced their engagement. How sweet of an opportunity is it to be able to congratulate them and take them out for a drink in person?

Canada has the fucking bomb candy. Before I get into that however, I have to mention something. I had to go to Brampton, aka Bramladesh, on Tuesday for a day trip and before I crossed back over I stopped into the duty free. Guys, if you didn't know, they now sell bottles of absinthe for 69 bucks a liter - I couldn't believe it! I had to know if this was legal so I asked an employee. Apparently this stuff may have less of the wormwood in it, but as always and to sneak in a weed analogy, you better smoke the schwag when you can't get your hands on the sticky shit. In any case, this is apparently a totally legal brand to bring over the border after visiting the duty free... if you are so inclined.

What shouldn't be legal, however, is the ridiculous assortment of alcoholic chocolate that they stock in there. I brought back a 100g Swiss Grand Marnier truffle bar. Its enough to make a grown man cry my friends. This stuff is like individual bits of chocolate glory. If glory could be made into candy, it would be like this. I also saw some Cuervo stuff, various Canadian maple candies, other truffle bars including Mumm, Jack Daniels and a thousand other things. I didn't see any Kinder bars, which was total bullshit. They had a candy bar called Mr. Big, which was literally the size of my forearm. I can't figure out why it is that Canadians don't have teeth rotting out of their mouths en masse. Then again, anybody that ate this stuff on a regular basis would be bowling ball shaped and rotten teeth would be the least of their problems.

The booze seemed a tad expensive, but they had a great set of Johnny Walker ultrapremium blends - 4 separate bottles in a case. $200. If I had $200 to utterly and completely waste I'd be a Johnny Walker Blue Label drinking mofaka! The flavored Smirnoffs were a good deal though - $14 a bottle. It seemed to me that the scotch bottles were $10 more expensive than they should have been, and it had nothing to do with the exchange rate, which incidentally is now slightly back in our favor. The beer selection was poor and too expensive. The only thing I was even remotely tempted to buy was Alexander Keith's - the rest of the selection is commonly available in Buffalo. I think you'd be better off trying one of their government-run beer stores if you wanted a better selection, but remember - the Canadians take it in the pooper and beer is generally more expensive to begin with. You better want that beer bad. Actually, now that I really consider it, screw the beer altogether.

They had a respectable variety of tobacco available. Last week I snuck back a Cuban and enjoyed the everliving hell out of it while watching the Bills crush Miami. Of course, there are no Cubans available at the duty free, but they had a decent variety of cigars at reasonable prices. Where Canada loses the plot are with its cigarettes - I've found that Canadians are proud of their smokes but they are like smoking sawdust wrapped in construction paper. They are horrible... I have no way to be polite about it. They make Indian cigs seem high quality in comparison. Feel free to look and be amused at not only their price but the Canadian penchant for graphic pictures of black lungs, etc. that they put on the labels.