Uncanny Valley

Yes, that picture was take at night, and a misty one. It looks much better in the day.

This odd contraption is a national historic building, number 01000522. It is something of a gussied up pinhole camera, which offers a rotating view of the beach, the Seal Rocks, and even a bit of the Sutro Baths. It located right behind the Cliff House.

People often ask the owners of this place, why should someone pay to go inside and see the view that anyone can see for free outside. Then many of these people put money in those tourist telescope things. Well, I for one took the plunge and was glad for it. The picture is like you can almost touch it. It really puts a new perspective on things. This was also just after taking long looks at the ocean from outside, so I think this is well worth it.

There also are a few holograms here. They are nice, but I rather would spend time looking at the camera image than the holograms.

This place bills itself as “San Francisco’s Newest Attraction,” which may be so as I hadn’t really known about it until happening to stop by. I don’t spend a lot of time in the wharf, as it is a bit of a tourist trap. I also likewise ignored the old Boudin store, as it was mainly geared towards tourists as well. Don’t get me wrong, I love their bread, but there’s just something about seeing it used as a soup bowl that deters me.

So, this has a large bread bakery and gift shop as one may expect. They also have a restaurant with pizza and stuff. Still not amazing, despite having the bread on aerial conveyor baskets from the bakery to the counter. They also have a big window on the street that allows you to see the bakers at work, and they have headphones that you can ask them bread-related questions. I’m not sure what questions you may have about bread, but there you go. What I liked though was the museum, which goes above the bakery part and allows a better view than the window. They also have tasting, which is always a plus. I also liked the display of SF food inventions, like the fortune cookie, martini, and of course sourdough.

Even if you don’t go on the museum tour, the place is worth a stop by now. Even with all the additions, I feel like they are less of a tourist trap now and more of a real destination.

After the 1989 Loma-Prieta earthquake, a pod of California Sea Lions (Zalophus californianus) decided to move to K-dock, right next to the tour trap that is Pier 39. After several attempts to encourage the pod to move on failed, they were allowed to stay and became something of a tourist attraction. In the decade and a half since, the population has grown, feeding off the herring and other animals in the Bay. Occasionally, related species like harbor seals (Phoca vitulina)and Steller Sea Lions (Eumetopias jubatus) can be seen on the floating docks as well.

The animals coexist well at the busy pier. Since they have been given K-dock as their own space, humans have relatively undisturbed access off the rest of the nearby docks. The sea lions are also nonplussed by the noisy crowds of tourists a few meters away on the main pier. Course if I weighed up to 450 kilograms and could deliver a nasty bite if need be, I wouldn’t be too bothered by the humans either.

A bit of care is given from the Marine Mammal Center (MMC), which has an education office on the pier. They take care of any sick or injured Sea Lions (or other related mammals) and hose down the docks every week to keep the smell down.

Here’s a sound clip of the Sea Lions. If you need more you can check out the webcam.

A bit of quirky San Francisco. Or rather, a quirky San Franciscan named David Johnson. He can usually be found in the Wharf, behind a poorly-constructed ‘bush.’ When a muggle walks by, he will appear and shout, startling the muggle. This despite an inevitably large crowd gathered to watch people get scared. Which I think is even more funny. Even funnier is that some people get scared repeatedly, despite the Bushman always being in pretty much the same place.

Apparently some people think that someone shouting “ooga booga” is criminal and the Bushman has been given hundreds of tickets and been in court a number of times. I think this is retarded, in that sort of way that mentally-handicapped people would call retarded. Apparently I’m not the only one who thinks the Bushman is not a criminal, and many of the citations have been dismissed and he is still there performing almost every day, after about 25 years. Apparently though the Bushman employs a bodyguard in case there is an altercation. He should be the only one on that side of the street (most voyeurs are across the street to not interfere with the show).

I also hear rumours of an ‘anti-Bushman’ who is an imitator who stole the real Bushman’s bit. I don’t have any substantiation for this though.

Here is a sound clip of a typical encounter.

I live in San Francisco, so while I know there has been much hubbub about the documentary film The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill in the city, I am not sure how much of this has percolated to the ‘verse outside the Bay Area. The story is about this homeless guy who befriends a company of wild Cherry-Headed Conures (Aratinga erythrogenys) in San Francisco. Company is the term for a flock of parrots in the same way as it would be a bevy of beauties or smack of jellyfish.

I haven’t seen this film, but I know a lot of people are surprised that parrots can live in the temperate parts of the U.S., especially ones that originated as pets. In fact, there was a species of parrot native to the Northeastern U.S. that went extinct, the Carolina Parakeet (Conuropsis carolinensis). The niche is now filled by the non-native Quaker Parrot (Myiopsitta monachus) in much of the region from Chicago to Manhattan. The Quaker Parrot is so common now out East that power companies are capturing and killing them because of the nests being built on power lines.

Ok, so back from that tangent. This is one of two companies of parrots in San Francisco, but the one with the most information on them (and the most famous). This particular company ranges over the Northeastern portion of the city, from the Presidio to Ferry Plaza to the Western Addition, waxing and waning with the seasons and the food supplies. The birds can be found pretty reliably at dusk as they roost for the night in Ferry Park. I found them in a eucalyptus tree in the corner of the park near a bridge over Davis street. They aren’t always roosting in this tree, but typically are somewhere nearby. The information in the table below is from where I found them roosting.

The animals are pretty raucous. The bells from the Ferry Building seemed to make them more so. Here is a clip.

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.

This is something like the stars in the sidewalk in Hollywood, only for video games, video game designers, and video game characters. Starting in 2005, they have inducted two humans and four games/characters each year. 2005 inductees are Shigeru Miyamoto, Nolan Bushnell, Link, Halo, Mario, and Sonic the Hedgehog. Inductees for 2006 are Sid Meier, John Carmack, Starcraft, Lara Croft, Final Fantasy, and EverQuest.

The Walk of Game is in the Metreon building, which is like a weird techno-mall with a multiplex. It’s on a catwalk on the second floor with a good view of the Yerba Buena gardens. Other than that it’s a bunch of stars on the ground with maybe a few pictures. A decidedly low-tech approach to a high-tech medium.

I love garlic. I could have it in almost anything. Except for peanut butter cups, those are some of the most horrendous things…

Anyways, if you’re like me, a garlic-lover, then this place is for you. Everything on the menu is made with the bulb, and usually an abundance thereof. There are one or two things on the menu that are lacking garlic, and are appropriately marked with a little vampire symbol. But seriously, why are you here if you’re a vampire? That’s like a vegan going to a steakhouse (macaroni and cheese is not a vegetable, people!).

Personally, I think they could have kicked it up a notch, but then again I have a high threshold. The vegan selections are a little limited, but seeing how the green garlic spread they put on the table for the rolls is vegan and simply divine. I think every time I have like two jars of that and then barely have room for the primavera. Unfortunately they don’t sell that in the gift shop, but you can get a recipe.

Oh yea, there is a gift shop. Small, but a good place to go for that cook or garlic-lover in your life. Other than that, the decor is retro and eclectic and fun. Each room is slightly different. Some of the tables are small, and the place is right on the main drag, so reservations are recommended. It can also get a bit noisy, so if that’s an issue,try to get a booth, as many have high walls that muffle the sound.

If you’ve read my previous posts on labyrinths you will know I only grudgingly accept the modern terminology. A labyrinth differs from a maze because the former has only one path, and the latter forks. Well this labyrinth has a branch, as seen in my photo above. Sure, it’s only a dead-end path that goes for about 25 cm. Though the nice people at the church have described it as a “rest stop.”

I had been getting a little tired of the same old circle-shaped labyrinths, so I was happy that this one was in a half-oval shape. The church is very pretty as well, without being ornate (it is Protestant, after all). Overall, a very nice place.

The labyrinth is on the second floor, and is open as long as there isn’t any other event going on there.

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.