On rotation

STOMP - Brothers Johnson

JPennant: better watch out for my page...
JPennant: Im about UNLOAD on it
McClint: ???
JPennant: not gonna hold back on this entry
JPennant: as far as pictures ;-)
McClint: oh boy. clearing my cache now to make room
JPennant: heheheh
JPennant: lets put it this way, been processing images since 6 this evening (pacific)
McClint: oh boy. dont ya think it might be a good idea to do it in phases or maybe a 2nd page?
JPennant: nah, cuz Im gonna get distracted by other things that come along
JPennant: nah, gonna get this out in one push
McClint: okie dokie
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Had to be in San Fran the past two days to take care of my business.

I havent been there because frankly I couldnt afford train fare to cross the Bay Bridge (you cannot walk or bicycle from the East Bay to San Francisco. They dont want you to.).

Plus, frankly - the place gets too damned cold and foggy for frequent loitering. Scary.

But, if Im gonna be there, its time for meaningful meandering with der lens.

Gotta admit, the place can be breathtakingly beautiful.
--
By the way, there are times - I have to remove the modesty and say..

GOTDAMN, Im good at this!!

and then follow it as I wear a grin shooting all in sight saying..

GOTDAMN this is fun!!!

Yes, gotdammit.

:-D
---------
Day 1

Crossing the Bay Bridge. I like it better than the Golden Gate actually.

It may not be as colorful or symmetrical as its far more famous cousin, but for my money the sweeping curve over bay and islands is breathtaking.






































As per my chica's orders - I even took asked someone to take a picture of me





(Notice the dress garbed.. err- person with the camera in the background.)



As per my habit, I take a picture of the sucker kind person who takes a picture of me..

Steve was cool, and gave me encouraging words.



Although he was a tad amazed that I was in the middle of the dot-com boom and I wasnt rich (eh), and Ive done this with almost no funds.

Eh. :-)













(the signs are a bruising political fight over the homeless folk on the streets)



















(one of the free public bathrooms, the Hyatt by Market and California)



And one of the not-free ones























Now, here is how it works. Its a bright, warm (by SF standards) day.

The temp is gonna drop 20 degrees in short order once the sun disappears.

Gah.













































(True to the SF sex-postive credo, that rubber-duckie is a vibrator. No lie.

Advertised on bus stops and supported by public corporate sponsers. Yup.)









Its a familiar thing now.

I take a picture, and a hungry denizen will shout "HEY! PAY ME FOR THAT PICTURE!!"

Usually, theyre not *even* if the fucking frame.

So, I shout back this idjit - "Do you OWN the pigeons??"

Ive gotten polite since Ive been here. I didnt preface it with "Yo asshole" or end it with "stupid".

See? The mellow Cali pace is rubbing off on me.



The TransBay bus is the cheapest way across the bay right now, as BART has started to get ridiculously expensive to ride.





And then a fast ride back across the Bay Bridge. a Beautiful ride, as long as you dont think of the people killed on it during the Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989...

The shot of the poor woman driving into oblivion and death is always in the back of your mind.







"The Rock". Alcatraz, on the bay, from the Bay Bridge.



And its famous cousin.



-------------
Day 2



This being the government, I had to scramble to get another ID picture taken

then rush back into ... The City.

First, my ID pics ...





Taken by this lovely woman ( a fellow citizen of the British Commonwealth)

Then back across the Bay Bridge







into .. Da' City!

(San Franciscans like when their city is spoken in dramatic, reverent phrases

[covert roll of eyes] )

But, the SFFD deserves a little attention, just because












But I'll come back to them in a second for I had things to do right around

the corner..





This is the only picture I took of the INS offices, cuz well - these guys..

no - dont wanna fuck with them.

But this is evidence of the fun awaiting us inside.

After only (!) an hour, I was back outside. I retrieved my camera from the

nice lady at the Italian cltural center across the street (Im going there to

learn Italian someday) and resumed my meandering on another nice day in...

Da' City! [roll eyes..]



and went back to the firestation across the street











Anton was pretty cool in fact, and we talked about how SF has changed over

the years with gentrification and whatnot...

He also let me take the picture of the tiki girl mascot in the cab of the

ladder truck







I tried not to think about the almost certainty that someone in that

firehouse will die at some point in the line of duty.

















Im not sure why the name 'Fugazi' is funny, but it is...





Boys and girls, SF always has sticky hands around you. Lots of them. Do not

put anything down out of sight for even a second in.. Da' City!

I had to demonstrate in ways hard and subtle, that I do indeed have eyes in

the back of my head.



























And sayings to live by...















So true...











"Delivering with a skateboard, eh? Cool."
"Ahh, well. Im supposed to be walking."
"Ah."

He'll go far.
















Yeah, even the DOG woke up when she walked up.







































Then I saw this poster.. and I kinda went nuts...

















I tried to distract myself with other things..









But I kept coming back to it



















THIS guy was interesting.

Personable, articulate, proud.

We had a great discussion all afternoon, he had just come in from Ft Worth Texas.

I never brought up the fact that I figured he had been recently released from jail, considering the prison gang tattoss I saw on his arms.

eh, nice guy.



















"Play for money?? Why, thats against the law!"











































Theyre activists, in great ways and small in this area







Then. I ran out of 'film'....