You’re probably thinking this is a little self-indulgent but I really don’t think there’s a neighborhood in the city that I would choose to live in over my Duboce Triangle. Although technically I’m not actually in the triangle I’m one-half block off and it’s easier to say I am than to say Upper Duboce Triangle/Lower Corona Heights (which I do use on people from time to time to push buttons).

The thing I like most about my ‘hood is the diversity. Sorry, I don’t mean population as it seems we’re mostly white and young. (47 is still young, RIGHT?) I like that we have everything we need, right here. We have one of the city’s largest supermarkets (which I try to NEVER visit), churches (repeat), boutiques, cafes, clubs, a fire station, medical labs, B&B’s, a motel AND a check cashing place (keepin’ it real). You can’t get a better transit situation without living downtown. We’re served by the K,L,M,N and F lines plus the 37, 22 and 24 lines. (I think one of those metro lines has been retired but when I relied on the metro we had all those.) But the thing I like most are the trees. Every street in the triangle is lined, at least in portions, by mature trees. It’s really quite lovely to just walk the streets here. (But you do have to watch out for dog doo since Duboce park is dog doo park and evidently the little beasts don’t always make it all the way to the park and evidently our lovely neighbors don’t always have their bags with them.) One of my most dramatic experiences ever in S.F. was walking home from a party on Noe at Market during a wild winter late-night storm. The trees were being lashed, leaves and small branches were flying around and I couldn’t decide if I should rush home or just enjoy the show. I used to be able to get dates while walking around my neighborhood but I guess 47 is clearly not a date getter. I prefer to think I rely on my motorcycle too much and I’m just not as ‘connected’ with my neighbors any more.

The other major thing I like about my neighborhood is that all the real party stuff in the area is ACROSS Market St. meaning that except for Halloween and Pink Saturday this is a really quite neighborhood. As many could tell you, my biggest noise complaint is about a bird that for some reason (which I’m sure is a harbinger of our apocalyptic future) sings ALL NIGHT LONG. I have the luxury of living on a dead-end street and next to a street that’s goes nowhere so between 11pm and 8am it’s SO quiet I can hear my downstairs neighbor snore.

If I had 2 million dollars I would consider buying something around here. Until then I’m down with rent control. Anyway, I was thrilled to find that we actually have a wikipedia entry and THANKS to the neighborhood association for the map. (Although I don’t think I would include those lower Haight blocks if I were in charge. Can’t they get their own damn neighborhood association???) The triangle is Market, Castro, Duboce which you can clearly see from the map.

Posted by Robert Allen on Thursday, July 24th, 2008

Posted by René Garcia, Jr. on Thursday, July 24th, 2008

OK, actually I only love his accent. OK, actually maybe I’m only fascinated with his accent.

In season one of Shear Genius I could barely make it through 2 episodes and I was so horrified by the contestants and Jaclyn Smith I barely noticed Rene Fris. This season, somehow, I’ve managed to see some or all of 3 episodes and I’m addicted to Fris’s accent. I rewind to listen to certain words trying to decide if he has an accent or a lisp or a speech impediment or ALL THREE!!!!

He’s pretty cute so it’s not hard to watch him. Except when you get a profile shot with mouth open and you see what horse teeth he has (which may explain the accent). Anyway, I encourage you to join me in my somewhat pathetic infatuation.

Please forgive me if this post doesn’t quite live up to the positive vibe of this site.

*addendum*
After writing this earlier I was watching tonight’s episode and Rene had an earpiece in one of his ears. I ASSUME this is NOT a hearing aide and thus I’ve not crossed a line.

Posted by Robert Allen on Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008

From wikipedia:

Fishing with John is a 1991 cult TV series directed by and starring actor and musician John Lurie. On the surface, the series resembles a standard travel or fishing show: In each episode, Lurie takes a famous guest on a fishing expedition. Since Lurie has no expert knowledge of fishing, the interest is in the conversations between Lurie and the guests, all of whom are friends of Lurie. Nothing particularly unusual actually happens, but the show is edited and narrated in a way to suggest that Lurie and his guest are involved in dramatic and even supernatural adventures. The deadpan, laconic style of the show is heavily influenced by the films of director Jim Jarmusch, who appears as the guest in the first episode.

Besides Jarmusch, the guests featured are actor Matt Dillon, musician Tom Waits, actor Willem Dafoe and actor-director Dennis Hopper. The series ran for 6 episodes, each featuring a different guest and locale, except for episodes 5 and 6 which both feature Hopper in Thailand. Each episode has voice-over narration by Robb Webb, which is sometimes bizarre and off-topic. The soundtrack is by Lurie.

The complete series is on DVD and available from Netflix.

Posted by René Garcia, Jr. on Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008

Around 1982, it seemed like every do it yourself ceramic shop had an E.T. mold. The best molds made lamps. I’m sure there was an official E.T. ceramic mold issued, but more often ceramic artists were moved to create their own, which led to countless variations of turn on your heart light E.T. lamps. There was no shortage of these things.

I couldn’t resist this bright green E.T. lamp that I found on eBay. I know you’re jealous.

Posted by René Garcia, Jr. on Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008

Artee.jp is a cool site for Japanese designer T-shirts. I think my wife will appreciate their Like Like line of costume T’s. I’ve never tried to order something from them, so I can’t vouch for their international delivery system, if they even have one. But it’s fun looking.

Posted by René Garcia, Jr. on Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008

The Museum of Bad Art (MOBA) is “the world’s only museum dedicated to the collection, preservation, exhibition and celebration of bad art in all its forms.”

MOBA was started in the basement of a private home in Boston.

As the only museum dedicated to bringing the worst of art to the widest of audiences we felt morally compelled to explore new, more creative ways of bringing this priceless collection of quality bad art to a global audience.   Another Boston-area cultural institution, Dedham Community Theatre, generously allowed MOBA the use of their basement.  Our permanent gallery is now conveniently located just outside the men’s room in a 1927 movie theatre.

They recently published their first book The Museum of Bad Art: Masterworks, and are touring the country in search of new acquisitions. Continue Reading »

Posted by René Garcia, Jr. on Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008

In retaliation against bootleggers, Banksy created a high-res image gallery of some of his iconic works that you can download for free and turn into your own Banksy products.

Everything in the shop is free, simply download the file and process the artwork. Please note:
This shop is for personal amusement only. Please don’t use it to start a business. Thanks. 

Posted by René Garcia, Jr. on Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008

René’s Zoop-the-Loop post and subsequent request to find the patent piqued my interest as to what else William Getgey has patented.

After Zoop-the-Loop, this is his second coolest patented invention - a plush animated toy.

Basically, a cam is attached to the inside of the head, other side of the cam is attached to a wheel. As the toy is pushed along a surface, the head, eyes and nose bulge out in an effort to create the impression “of a living, breathing animal” - quoted from the abstract. It can also be used in conjunction with a toy car.

That’s right, there are animals out there who can bulge out their eyes and nose simultaneously. Also when driving a car.

Talented patent application writers are also often good bullshitters.

Anyway, Mr. Getgey invented this in the mid-1980s and it is described in U.S. Patent No. 4,662,856. I am sure a photo of an actual implementation would show it is cute.

It’s kind of hard, at least for me, to determine an actual product name based solely on the patent. Product names typically are not included in patent applications for reasons I won’t bore you with.

Mr. Metgey also has one other potentially interesting patent on a design that I need to figure out what it is before I post on that.

Since then, it seems he has gone into the exciting world of motorized dental flossers. I won’t be posting on that.

Posted by JPK on Monday, July 21st, 2008

Photo by Bonnie Burton.

This is brilliant. I wish I had made this.

Posted by René Garcia, Jr. on Monday, July 21st, 2008