Uncanny Valley

I passed this house many many times before I found out more. You can’t exactly do a decent search with “blobby house on 280.” Thankfully I found Google Earth and a few decent KML files and I could figure out what this place is. I still am not 100% comfortable with the term ‘Flintstone House.’ Besides the fact that it uses a copyrighted word, but looking at the rough clunky house on the cartoon and the smooth bubbly form of this place, I just don’t see the connection. I called it the blobby house until I dug up the sparse info on it.

The house was designed in 1976 by William Nicholson. There are other houses like this around the country, but they are a dying breed and this one is in good repair and looks to stay that way.

So this is a private residence. You can see it from Interstate 280 North just fine as you cross the Doran Memorial Bridge over San Mateo Creek into Hillsborough. If you want a batter view, you can get off the highway and see it from the dead-end street it’s on. Be respectful and don’t trespass or do anything else retarded.

Before I got here, I assumed incorrectly that there would be some kind of wires that the wind would pass through and make to sing. But upon arrival, I found the whole thing is basically just steel girders. Definitely a bit sophisticated. Timing this for a windy day is the trick though. It helps that the sculpture is atop a hill, but mild zephyrs are no good, you need gusts.

An annoying bit is that there are some noisy compressors nearby: One at the base of the path up, and another at a rooftop nearer the Wind Harp. Definitely detracts from the auditory experience. Here’s my best attempt at recording. My microphone isn’t the best in the wind, though.

There is a sign at the entrance to the park with a picture of some irises that reads:

South San Francisco
HISTORIC SITE
On this site
CABOT CABOT & FORBES TOWER
1967
Aristides Demetries, one of America’s best known sculptors, created this steel sculpture as a symbol of Cabot Cabot & Forbes Industrial Park. Situated 243 feet above sea level, it rises to a height of 94 feet and can be seen from the Bay Bridge, the East Bay, and San Francisco International Airport. Called “the Wind Tower” locally. Places under the auspices of the South San Francisco
Historical Society and Historical Preservation Commission

And at the base of the tower is a plaque that reads:

WIND HARP
Artists: Lucia and Aristides Demetrios
Dedicated by Cabot, Cabot and Forbes March 28, 1967
Acquired by City of South San Francisco 1996
Re-Dedicated March 28, 1997
CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS 1992-1997
James Datzman Gus Nicolopulos
Jack Drago John Penna
Joseph Fernekes Roberta Teglia
Eugene Mullin Robert Yee
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Ted Bartell Victor Feudale
Jose de Larios Jake Jones
CULTURAL ARTS COMMISSION
Glenda Ali Shirley Nichols
Ronald Burgess Elizabeth Nisperos
Patricia Burke Margaret Pierson
Dennis Crossland Elsie Pollastrini
Barbara Dematter Anne Waters
Alicia Gonzales Joy Ann Wandler
Karyl Matsumote Susan Yau
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Genentech Inc.

Cabot Cabot & Forbes in the 1960s was a national real estate developer. It seems nowadays they are confined to New England and the surrounding area is almost completely ruled by Genentech. Also note that the plaque is the only evidence that Lucia Demetrios contributed to the project. She however is a metalworker, and now apparently goes by the surname of Eames

If you like alternate-energy powered sculptures that make sounds, be sure to check out the nearby Wave Organ and Earth Song Tuning Fork.

I’m not sure why I felt the need to visit here. Maybe it’s some sort of non-native San Francisco pride. I think it has more to do with seeing The Cat’s Meow and realising what a kook William Randolph Hearst, Sr. was. I figured (turns out correctly) that this would be a bit of trouble to track down.

I actually had to go here twice because the first time I wrote the directions down wrong and ended up going around and around the cemetery. There’s a road that is like a Celtic cross here, and it’s not as fun to drive in as you may think. The mausoleum is unmarked, and surprisingly not the most grandiloquent on the cemetery. It is in the corner of section H (as in Hearst), near sections D and E.

When I was lost, I went across the road to the office, and got a map and asked for the plot information. Usually this is no big deal, but the receptionist had no idea who Hearst was, and requested a year of death (I had to guess, but it’s 1951). Oh well. She’d needed someone else to get the data in any event. So the supervisor comes out, and kindly tells me that the location can’t be given out. Thankfully, the internet pulls through. And so to keep you from any excitement like that, I have revealed all in this article. So now you won’t go, even though you know how to get there, and Hearst wins again!

The Cypress Lawn cemetery straddles El Camino Real, and Hearst and his kin are in the part on the Northeast of the road. You’ll know you’re on the right side because you’ll go through a large stone arch by a duck pond. Say hi to the duckies for me.

Back in the day when a large public works project was undergone, people expected it to look nice afterwards. People still do in pockets like New Mexico, but in many places Bauhaus has taken over. Fortunately some places like this survive, and remind us how things don’t have to look good, but they should.

This is one of two water temples, the other one in Sunol rumoured to be the more beauteous of the two. This one has slightly less-restrictive hours of access, with just the parking lot and not the whole place being closed on weekends. Supposedly parking on the road is a no-no, but I wasn’t hassled and I wasn’t the only one. On certain Sundays, the road is closed to cars, so you’d have to walk 3.5 km extra then.

The red tape here is annoying. My theory is that it’s some misguided 911 paranoia. Especially since drinking water does not go through here anymore, since the plant was built across the road. Still, I suppose I should be grateful somewhat as the temple was entirely inaccessible to the public until 25 October 2004. Baby steps, I guess.

What else can I say about this place but that it’s pretty and peaceful? I did see a small herd of Mule deer outside the fence, a few of which motionlessly kept watch of my progress to the portable toilets.

Joseph Paul DiMaggio died in Florida, and played for New York. How is he in Northern California? Well, this is where is family plot is, and he was married (the first time) in San Francisco.

The memorial was not hard to find. From the road, it is off the second rotary, right in from of it’s own parking spot. You’ll have to drive almost all the way around the rotary to see it. It’s in Section I, Row 11, Area 6/7. There is a map posted on a sign near the entrance, but it only shows the main sections.

The inscription reads:
JOSEPH PAUL
DiMAGGIO
NOVEMBER 25, 1914
MARCH 8, 1999
GRACE, DIGNITY AND
ELEGANCE PERSONIFIED

I have no clue what this is. I always drove past it on U.S. 101, and could never figure it out. I thought maybe it’s some sort of vent for something underground like sewers or something. There isn’t anything else around here: its not along a walk to or from anywhere, though there is a sidewalk going North.

Then I finally stopped. This isn’t just some incidental structure. There is a metal gate with dolphins on it and a plaza with a large spiral pattern on it. If you zoom in on Google Maps you can see it. Clearly if this were only built to be seen by maintenance workers, they wouldn’t have included such details. There are signs saying parking on the road is not permitted, so I clearly am not the only one to stop.

On the pillar structure, there are two signs. On the door is a small one:

OPENING THIS DOOR
ACTIVATES THE ALARM

Note it says “the” alarm and not just ‘an’ alarm. Painted below the door stenciled in red on a white background is:

CONFINED SPACE
PERMIT REQUIRED

Where do I get a permit, I wonder? A search on the internet turns up a little from OSHA. On the wall across the plaza in a few locations another similar warning stenciled in black on yellow:

CONFINED
SPACE

I suppose there is some inside to this structure, but wouldn’t one know that a confined space is such when one tries to get in? The outside certainly isn’t confining: It’s pretty open with a good panorama of the Bay and the highway. I never see signs on a closet or by the entrances to normal maintenance shafts that have such warnings.

Leaving the plaza and walking North on the sidewalk you see some other strange things. The sidewalk is over what appears to be a storm drain, with dam-like controls to allow overflow into the Bay. There is a machine or metal box on the walk with a plastic tube going to the drain-thing. It has a strip of black an yellow caution tape on it and the following text stenciled in black on it:

303
BERM-FMS
274-0285

Nearby on the other side of the walk, on the grass between that and the road is a machine in a locked cage with a metal tag with blue writing on white:

COSYSCO
Walnut Creek, Co. 94596

The serial number and model number were hand written, and the former is hard to make out. Cosysco apparently makes pollution controls and only has a P.O. box. These two machines may have nothing to do with the plaza and the pillar, but I include them anyways because they may help.

Also nearby, on the walk on the ground is a survey marker in the center of a white X:

CALIF. DEPT. OF TRANSPORTATION
CA-HPGN-DENSIFICATION
STA 04 GF
1994

I found this information on the benchmark. The benchmark may be unrelated to the other structures.

So what is this place?

I probably wouldn’t have bothered going here, except that it was like 100 m from Wyatt Earp’s grave. I kinda think jeans are a trend that is on it’s way out, but like SUVs there will always be a non-trendy use for them. Plus for the time it was a great advance, so I can’t really disparage.

The building sticks out as a large dome so it is hard to miss. From the rotary, go up the main road and then take the fourth walkway on the left. The mausoleum is at the end of the second lot on your right. If you don’t trust my directions, get a map from the office. Through the mausoleum’s locked gate, I think I saw more than one name listed, but from the outside there is only Levi Strauss’ name. Not much to do here, but there you go.

Not that there’s a whole lot to do here, but many people like to visit. It is a new-looking monument and perhaps not the original. Earp’s cremains are in the same grave as those of his wife, Josephine. Around the grave are several from her family: Any Marcus stones are marking relatives. This is why Wyatt Earp is in a Jewish cemetery, so that he could be with his Jewish wife who could be with her family.

Earp is in plot D, section 2, lot 12, grave 2. If you walk up the main road from the office and past the rotary, it is down the sixth pathway on the right. When you see the mausoleum for C. Meyer this is the turn you take. Go down this path past the intersecting sidewalk. It will be on your left in this lot, in the third row back. It should be near a mausoleum for B.H. Levy. If you reverse course on this path and go across the main road into the Home of Peace cemetery, you will get to the Levi Strauss mausoleum. If you don’t trust my directions, get a map from the office.

I always wonder why I am one of those people who never seems to see any ghosts. I love watching the Ghost Hunters and reading about haunted places, but I just need to see for myself. That’s one reason I went to this place. Tales about the Blue Lady, the resident ghost, were even on Unsolved Mysteries. Though I heard all the ghostly happenings may not be caused just by ghosts, if you catch my drift. So I figured I’d see something.

But somehow I missed the real ghost(s) as well as the faked ones. The hoaxes include the lights above the bar shaking, strange knocking and piano-playing, a chair in the foyer that moves, and a shadow appearing on a stained-glass window. I clearly should have been more prepared.

Besides the hauntings, the views here are excellent. The windows are huge, and there is a patio with blankets and benches as well. You can also wander some of the paths around here, but the signs strongly advise against this. I advise saving up for any food purchases, because this place is pricey.

Getting here is easier than it may look on the map. From highway 1, look for the HUGE sign between Pacifica and Half Moon Bay. You will be guided through the maze by a few other smaller signs. Did I mention this place was used for alcohol-smuggling during Prohibition? Now you know why.

UPDATE: So went back, and got a drink at the bar. Saw the lights jiggle. The bartender make a smile at my reaction, but I don’t think he pressed a button. It’s probably on a timer. My EMF detector picked up no reading when the lights moved. The EMF detector didn’t get much, except for a light plate in the bathroom. My S.O. say the face in the mirror in the bathroom. A much better trip than last time, especially with the super nice barkeep.

There sure do seem to be a lot of labyrinths in the Bay area. It did take me a while to find out about them though, even living here, so maybe there are labyrinths everywhere. This one is on campus to the East of the Cunningham Memorial Chapel. There is a large map at the entrance with a bunch of smaller maps you can take with.

Again though, this is a labyrinth-style labyrinth and not a maze-style. As much as I disagree with the poor coinage of these as technical terms, I realise that we do indeed need more exact words to differentiate these wandering paths. So yea, this thing has no forks in the road, just one path to the center. Though the paint is fading and the asphalt is cracked. The outermost part especially is a little hard to figure out. It appears it may be a student art project, so they get kudos for that. I made out a few names written on the lines: Patricia Hollis, Kristen Andreatta, Vanessa Ahern, Doris Arrington. There are also stations along the outside with virtues written along them, though those were harder to piece together.

So not that exciting on the whole, nor that horrible, but then again it is Belmont so what else is going on? I must say though that despite my skepticism labyrinths are growing on me. I still need to find a good maze though.