Uncanny Valley

This is a museum showing the history of the study of the eye and of vision since ancient times.

The museum is not marked from the outside, other than a small plaque. It is between an art gallery and a restaurant. The first time I went the door was locked and the receptionist was gone. My expectations were not too high at this point, especially after seeing a few recent defunct places.

The next time the door was open and it seemed a new receptionist was there. I soon learned I should have made an appointment, as the museum is inside the offices of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. The receptionist called up to see if I could be penciled in, and the curator, Jennie (or perhaps Jenny) came down a few minute later.

Jennie is a very friendly person, with a lot of knowledge she is eager to share. The museum has a collection of tens of thousands of pieces, and only a few are on display here. Many are on other exhibits at places like the Exploratorium.

The museum here has three parts. The first part was in the office foyer and had the exhibit on the current focus of eye amulets and charms. There also was a display of eyecups, which if you have one you should try selling on ebay for a hefty profit.

The second part was back by the elevator, and had many old-style instruments like tensometers. I’m never too comfortable about things being poked in my eye, but there’s something compelling about antique medical equipment.

The last part was by some office cubicles in another room. This consisted of an array of other instruments, mainly opthalmoscopes. Even though these are not uncommon today, it still was an interesting evolution on display.

So yes, not huge, but very interesting. Even if it were not so close to so many other attractions, this place would be well worth the visit. I eagerly await returning in a month or so to see the 2006 exhibit.

I had only vague information on this place, but when I walked up to it I thought: “Good, it’s here.” However, it isn’t. There still is a tattoo studio here, but no more museum. So a tourist attraction this is not. Even the website is only a “virtual museum”as far as the subject line goes.

I was pretty sure this one would be a bust before I even started. But again, I feel the need to dispel rumours as well as spread knowledge.

Years ago, there was a factory tour or museum at 250 Valencia Street in San Francisco. Levi’s has since moved their headquarters uptown between the Embarcadero and Telegraph Hill. The old building still says “Levi Strauss &Co.” on it, but has a large green fence around it. The only information posted are signs stating no trespassing.

The new complex is now called Levi’s Plaza, strangely enough. The picture above is the inside of the foyer of the Levi’s building. There are a number of vivid displays, but the information is mostly ads. There is a brief history of the company on one kiosk though. The highlight of the area is the nice fountain in the plaza, with nice stepping-stone paths over the water.

So unless you are stalking Levi’s, I suggest you skip this place. Even the welcome sign in the lobby says to go to the flagship store in Union Square. Maybe if you go to Indonesia or wherever you can get a tour.

Add me to the long list of people disappointed that this isn’t a museum for doughnuts. Actually I’m more disappointed in the lack of vegan donuts. There is a bit of museum though, it’s just about WWII. Lou apparently was a vet who liked to tell people about the war. Ironically enough, Lou’s not living. Now his friends/fans the Chavira family have taken over the restaurant and museum.

I had been warned about the non-doughnutness of the museum beforehand, and so didn’t really spend that much time here. My grampa was in the Navy in the Pacific, so I know a bit of what he went through. When I got back and flipped though the brochure I got I realised that I somehow missed the part where there is an admission fee charged. The layout inside was a little confusing and I had thought that the pictures and memorabilia on one side of the shop was the museum. Oh well. Maybe next time I’ll see the rest.

Are people still scared of snakes? I remember back in the day people would be all anti-snake but nowadays I feel like most people think they are pretty cool. I always thought they were cool, but that’s perhaps not surprising.

So this place, with the largest number of species of live rattlers in the world, along with other snakes, lizards, and the occasional hissing cockroach, is pretty cool. Atleast if you’re not Indiana Jones. Though admission does include a certificate of bravery for you Indy, you wimp. In addition to the impressive collection of animals, there are displays of tchotchkes are required by New Mexico state law, including a collection of snake-related beer bottles. There is a video playing if you choose to watch.

The gift shop is of the standard Old Town type. The main attraction is the museum. All in all, a nice place though, but I didn’t get to spend much time here. The director seemed disappointed that I didn’t stay that long, so if you go stay an extra minute just for me.

Note that flash photography is forbidden. So is tapping on the glass. No animals like when you tap on the glass. Stop doing it.

From their strange start as a medical tool to being called personal massagers and so forth; noone can say that vibrators lack color in their history. This small but representative collection is in glass cases interspersed among the other wares in this safe and clean sex boutique. In case that’s not already obvious to you, this place is NOT FOR KIDS.

But this place is not sleazy or gross at all. This place is well-lit and clean, a place you can touch the shelves without fear of getting sticky. I personally am more impressed by the store itself than the ‘museum’ inside. I admit the wacky history of these things is highly amusing, and there just is no substitute to seeing steam powered vibrator, but going here the information seemed like the same stuff I already knew. Maybe I just don’t get the kick out of vibrators that others do. Either way, the store is a neat place to explore.

The bulk of the collection is at the main store on Polk, but there are smaller collections also in the store in the Mission and the one in Berkeley.

Despite being Czech and Polish, I know very little about polka, nor even how to do the polka. So I can not really describe the nuance involved in the different styles. Supposedly the SF style of polka is like the SF style of anything, more eclectic. And probably involving some inability to drive. Then when you realise that the official musical instrument of San Francisco is the accordion, it all fall into place. I guess.

All this would be fine and good if it existed. Now I thought it was a little odd that this was supposed to be in a pizza parlour, but all I saw on the walls were empty display cases. I would understand if they were rotating with displays for other polka halls of fame, but there was nothing there.

Now I have a few defunct attractions on my site, but they all existed when i wrote the initial entry. This was gone before I knew about it, and despite my desire not to put any more ephemera up, I feel I should make a page so that people will not go and get too disappointed. Sorry folks. You’ll just have to check out the appropriate attractions for Chicago-style or Cleveland-style polka.

A PEZ museum near the San Francisco airport. Looks like the only thing they don’t have is the MP3 player, but they have everything else ever made, including three PEZ guns. The museum is small, but how much space do you need for PEZ? There is a good gift shop, and the owner is very friendly and knowledgeable and tall.

If you want a taste, try the audio tour. Actually, its more than a taste, because the audio is almost 50 minutes and very thorough, but interesting.

A collection of antique arcade games and amusements that is always one of my favorite spots to bring visitors. It’s not really a geeky place, although geeks will like it, its kind of like a museum that’s just the fun parts. A lot of the games are still a nickel or a dime, and the punching robots are usually free by default because its so hard to win that one. Beside games, there are nickelodeons and little show things like ‘The Guillotine’ or Laughing Sal, which just laughs at you in a creepy way.

This used to be in the Cliff House, before that underwent its recently-completed remodeling. I think the Wharf is a little more accessible, though I think it would be neat to have had it next to the Sutro Baths. However seeing the updates they’ve made recently I think they’re doing A-OK right where they are.

UPDATE: It seems a bunch of the machines are now 25¢, as opposed to 10¢ or 5¢. This may seem a little annoying, but since there were no change machines that gave out nickels or dimes, this makes it more likely that one can use these machines. Plus, it’s only a quarter.

A pretty wide net cast on the topic of commodes. There are some choice exhibits in the small museum, but it is by no means complete, and it was only established in 1994. It is on the grounds of a sanitation company, Sulabh, and seems to be a consolidation of all the random things one would acquire in the industry. They have all sorts of commodes, from chairs with hidden chamberpots to jewel-encrusted ‘thrones.’ (Is ‘encrusted’ really an appropriate term in this case?).

However, don’t just visit the Sulabh campus for the museum. When I visited I was shown many interesting things with much of that Indian hospitality. There are display models of the composting outhouses the company makes, some that even produce usable methane bio-gas. There is a large public lavatory facing the street which provides gas power for the kitchen and some lighting. The loos also provide water and compost for a lush garden, which in a Delhi summer was pretty striking. I also saw the laboratory, public health clinic (wash your hands, people!), and library.

Our guide summed it up nicely: “If people adopted what is here, the water would be much cleaner.” With water becoming more and more scarce, this is something all people are going to have to think about more and more.

I am really impressed with the thoroughness of Indian industry. They look at all aspects of a product and its byproducts. Any wastes need to be accounted for, and if possible used as resources. Instead of just providing sanitation services, they provide cheap power, water, and fertilizer to villages. It shows that industry being green is hardly contradictory to profitabilty, and it almost seems that without such thoroughness a business is oly holding itself back.