Liz in San Francisco

Sea Lions of Fisherman's Wharf Celebrate 20th Anniversary and Welcome Home Party!

2010-05-21T20:40:00.000-07:00

The most popular question the public ask about the sea lions is, 'what do you feed them?' said Ann Bower at the Welcome Home and 20th Anniversary party at Pier 39 today.

Of course, the answer is that the sea lions feed themselves! she said. Ann is Director of Education at the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, and has been working with Pier 39 ever since the sea lions arrived.
(pic left, with Kathy Paver, Marketing Senior Vice-President with Pier 39)

Another often-asked question is, what caused the sea lions to pick this particular spot, and what causes them to stay?

'No-one's asked them, they haven't told us!' said Ann, but she would offer three answers: the dock is comfortable with floats laid down, sheltered by a harbour wall, and they don't have to swim far for their food.

She was there this morning with other members of the center including Executive Director Jeff Boehm, members of Pier 39, Harbourmaster Sheila Chandor, and staff of Aquarium of the Bay. All were there to share the celebrations of the return of the sea lions and their 20th anniversary with several hundred members of the public.

Alongside, about 200 sea lions paticipated noisily as free hats, Coca Cola and Crystal Geyser Alpine Spring Water were handed out, along with pieces of a lavish party cake and chocolate cup cakes.

Why are the sea lions so endearingly popular? she was asked by Jan, a freelance radio journalist. 'Because people see something of themselves in them,' she said, adding that she thinks people 'just like big mammals,' evidenced also by the popularity of whales and elephants.

How would she describe sea lions? 'Gregarious, boisterous, enjoying being next to each other...fat and sassy!'

When it comes to being next to each other, anyone who has stood on the pier and watched is struck by not just by 'next to each other' but 'on top of each other!' Yesterday, there were empty rafts galore because of the mass exodus last fall, so the sea lions could each have commanded their own territory, but there they were, stashed and heaped as ever on a few rafts.

'Sack of potatoes,' said Ann. The secret lies in the word 'thigmotactic' - 'you've got to have a lot of letters to get it in scrabble!' The first part, 'thigmo' stems from Greek and means 'to touch'. The second part means 'movement' or 'arranging in order.'

Sea lions are not happy bunnies?!!! unless they touch each other as they flip flop and snoooze, bask and play.

Mostly! It was noticeable that when the band struck up their equally boisterous tunes, trumpeting and oompahing and drumming out songs like 'Popeye the Sailor Man!' from the top of the pier, that the sea lions responded.

Was it imagination, or did the sea lions really sway, and they did seem particularly lively. Were they catching an air of excitement and responding?

They were not used to the music, said Ann, and were making some response to an unfamiliar sound, but generally more excited? This made her chuckle. There was another reason! Breeding season is approaching, the time when every full-blooded, testosterone-packed male readies himself. Soon, they will migrate south to the Channel Islands, off the south coast of California, and conquer - leaving only 'young juveniles or old boys too tired to care!' Kathy Paver added in her interview. (previous blog)

Which comes back to the touching. Stolid, and proud and alone sat a bruiser of a black sea lion who had elicited squeals of delight from a group of schoolchildren as another sea lion attempted to scramble onto his empty float, and was knocked back into the sea. Some 800 lbs of solid sea lion practising marking out his territory in readiness for a summer of love.

Also there in the colony were small sea lions, but they were not pups, said Ann, rather one-year-olds and maybe some two-year-olds.

And there is always a question about the difference between sea lions and seals: sea lions have little brown ear-flaps and long, front flippers.

Sea lions are migratory creatures, but the extent of last year's ebb and flow took even the Marine Mammal Center and Pier 39 staff by surprise, said Jeff Boehm, Executive Director of the center. The animals are 'opportunistic feeders' he said, and 'clearly something changed' but they could not be sure of the whole picture.

Jeff has been quoted in the media as saying that anchovies and sardines attracted a record-sized herd of 1,701 to haul out in K-Dock last October, and that low herring supplies caused an equally dramatic exodus after Thanksgiving. But yesterday, he said while these were factors, it was not necessarily the whole answer.

Many of the sea lions swum north to the Sea Lion Caves in Oregon. Could their return here be linked to overcrowding there? It was possible, he said. Sea lions are dynamic and will simply find food.

After cutting the anniversary cake, Jeff was thrilled with the party and seeing, he said, the excitement that people had being around wild animals. Pier 39 was a 'significant urban center' and also offered a 'significant opportunity' to encourage people to care about animals and the environment, he also said.

Visiting the city for a few days from Tampa, Florida, were friends Richard and Jan. 'We just came to look at the sea lions. We had no clue about party cake!' said Jan. This was her first trip to the city, and Richard's, the first for 20 years.

'I think they're great!' said Jan, of the sea lions.

Sitting on the pier was Shari with her five-year-old son, Miles.

'I've been keeping up with them. I grew up in San Francisco, and it's good to see them back,' she said.

Shari remembers their arrival, three months after the Loma Prieta earthquake in October, 1989. She also remembers the day of the quake. She was on her way upstairs when the house shook, and her aunt had crossed the Bay Bridge from Oakland just minutes before a section of it collapsed.

Miles, too, was excited with the sea lions and their party.

Had he known there was a party? 'Yes!'

Did he like the sea lions? 'Yes!'

Did he like the cake? 'Yes!'

It was a positive day all round!

Entertainment continued on the pier with traditonal fun with Scott, one of their street performers, and Salty. New to the scene with a digital twist was Prasant Mohapatra, Co-Founder of Mapiz, a free 'app' with a 'Save the Sea Lions' game.

Players save the sea lions from dangers ranging from environmental to killer whales and sharks, and each day at 9 pm a winner is awarded two free tickets for rides on the Rocket Boat in the bay.

The start-up company provides location-based gaming, and Pier 39 are only their third customer. Mapiz.com also sends out 'near casts' - info to people in close range letting them know, for example, that a party is happening on Pier 39!

Pier 39 Celebrates Return of Missing Sea Lions and 20th Anniversary of Their Arrival

2010-05-21T18:29:00.000-07:00

It was a party to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the sea lions' arrival at Pier 39 - and this time the guests of honour did show up!

Around 200 sea lions put in a lively, boisterous appearance as a band struck up on the pier and fellow guests donned party hats, munched birthday cake and cup cakes, and partied.

The centre party piece was a cake artistically decorated with a seal on top. Cutting the cake marked the start of celebrations at 11 am, the honour falling to Kathy Paver, Marketing Senior Vice-President of Pier 39, and Jeff Boehm, Executive Director of the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, with a little help from Salty.

Kathy said she was 'absolutely thrilled' at the party. 'We had to postpone because we had none of our friends here!' she said.

The party had been due to be held in January, marking the month in 1990 when the sea lions began to cluster in K-dock, but after reaching record numbers last fall, the animals suddenly disappeared leaving only a handful of stalwarts.

Pier 39 were waiting for between 100 and 200 to return before they held the party. Slowly, over the last few weeks there has been a stable increase in numbers and so today also became a Welcome Home party.

The 'favourite of tourists and residents alike' are back. 'Everybody's happy!' said Kathy.

No-one knows the history of the sea lions better than her for she has been there from the beginning when they put in their first unexpected appearance in K-Dock. And it wasn't easy! Kathy was a shopping center developer, in post at the pier for less than two years. Suddenly she was carer for a small colony of barking, boisterous sea lions, a role that hadn't been included in her job description!

'There was a whole group of us that didn't know what to do!' she said.

At first, the number of sea lions was small. 'We had a few, then a few more,' she said. Soon, numbers rose to between three-and-four hundred, the sea lions having swum around the curve of the coastline and into the bay. They were relocating from Seal Rocks, below Cliff House at the north end of Ocean Beach.

She rang the Marine Mammal Center across the bay in Sausalito, and credits Ann Bower, Director of Education, with a lot of the success of the sea lions' residency. Also Sheila Chandor, Harbourmaster, both of whom were guests at the party today.

Kathy discovered that the sea lions were a protected species and, next, that their arrival attracted a lot of media attention. K-Dock at that time had both local boats moored there and a guest docking area, and the boats were having trouble navigating around the new arrivals.

'We really just decided, "Well okay! You win!"'' she said. They found moorings for the boats elsewhere and created a protective environment within a far more unusual urban setting.

'I remember walking in high heels down the dock and thinking "I'm out of my mind!"'

Gradually, with experience, other safety issues were added. Entry to the dock was closed to the public and journalists no longer interviewed on the dock. Part of the success story is that over the 20 years there have been no accidents to either the sea lions or people, she said.

pics also by Simon

Pier 39 Sea Lions' Welcome Home and 20th Anniversary Party

2010-05-20T21:29:00.000-07:00

Commemorative party hats, free cup cakes, coca cola and alpine spring water are being given out at Pier 39 tomorrow as part of the sea lions' party.

The guests of honour won't be participating in the party food or wearing the hats, but hundreds of people will be eating, drinking and celebrating in their honour.

The Pier 39 party is both a postponed celebration of the 20th anniversary since the sea lions took up residence at the pier, and a welcome home party!

The party had been planned for January, on the anniversary of the sea lions' arrival at the pier in the aftermath of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. But after reaching record numbers of 1,701 in October last year, they mysteriously disappeared, to be discovered in Oregon.

However, over the last month, to the delight of Pier 39 staff and tourists, up to 300 have returned.

And so the party is on!

Naturalists from The Marine Mammal Center and Aquarium of the Bay will be there to talk about the sea lions. Drinks are being given by Coca Cola and Crystal Geyser, and all party gifts are available while supplies last.

The party begins at 11 am and continues until 2 pm.

San Francisco's Emergency Services Train for Water-based Terrorist Attack

2010-05-18T18:51:00.000-07:00

San Francisco's emergency services held a major training exercise this morning to help protect the city against a water-based terrorist attack.

The exercise involved two sea lions and a dolphin from the US Navy Marine Mammal Program who are trained to detect underwater mines and intruder divers.

Their venue, McCovey Cove behind the Giants' AT & T baseball park, where 42,940 fans had packed into the stadium on the opening day of the season.

Any large gathering place in the US, especially a sports stadium, is a potential target, said an informed bystander who wished to remain anonymous.

It has taken about a year to prepare for the exercise, which is held once every five years and is part of a wider state drill, including at the port of Oakland across the bay.

The planning itself has proved crucial as it has given the emergency services opportunity to think of new ways in how the city might be attacked.

'There are over 50 specific things we identified to be lacking, so that alone makes this a success,' continued the bystander.

Training for today was based around the question, 'What would you do if.........? We have been thinking "outside of the box",' he said.

'We know there are all sorts of places we don't want to think about. It's important to look at everything we can.'

The emergency services are not complacent, however. The result of the year-long process and today's practice 'may not be an A-plus but a passing grade,' he said, but without the exercise there is 'maybe something we wouldn't have done.'

Sea Lions of Pier 39 Are Back and Postponed 20th Anniversary Party to be Held in Their Honour

2010-05-14T21:10:00.000-07:00

They're back! The missing sea lions of Pier 39 have been returning to their floats over the last four weeks, and in their honour a postponed 20th anniversary party is to be held next Friday.

From pups to the big and bulbous, somnabulent, and the comical 'don't mind me!' clumsy clamberers, the beloved barking residents of K-dock are back delighting the public.

'We're so happy, it's great to have our sea lions back. We always knew they'd come back!' said Sue Muzzin, Director of Public Relations & Advertising.

The sea lions have been returning in higher numbers over the last four weeks. 'We've probably seen about 150 to 300,' Sue said today. Details of the planned party are to be released soon.

The famous California sea lions are a major tourist attraction and have been bringing prosperity to Pier 39 for 20 years.

Their numbers had risen to record highs of 1,585 in September, and 1,701 in October. And then, just as suddenly, they vanished almost overnight, their numbers dwindling to a handful.

Their migration was thought to be due to food supplies, their increase because of anchovies and their disappearance a result of a low herring supply in the bay this winter. Many of the sea lions swum north to the Sea Lion Caves in Oregon.

Their return is thought also to be linked to food sources.

A party in January to mark the 20th anniversary of their arrival was mostly postponed. Instead of the planned celebration, a much smaller event was held. Docents from the Marine Mammal Center met with the public at the pier to talk about the sea lions.

The animals started to congregate there in January 1990, just weeks after the October, 1989, Loma Prieta earthquake. There were between 10 - 50 at first, but by March of that year numbers had risen to over 300.

Kaiwo Maru Leaves San Francisco After Commemoration of 150th Anniversary of First Japanese Vessel to Visit City and First Japanese Embassy to Visit America

2010-05-09T21:28:00.000-07:00

Carrying over 400 goodwill messages from children in San Francisco to children in Japan, the captain and crew of the Kaiwo Maru sailed out of the bay this afternoon.

Several hundred people gathered on Pier 27 for a closing ceremony that marked the end of a commemorative visit celebrating the 150th anniversary of the first Japanese vessel to sail to the city, and the first visit of a Japanese embassy to America.

A member of the Japanese parliament, Mr
Taro Kono, flew into the city this morning to attend the ceremony, and a symposium on the anniversary that is taking place tomorrow.

He described the anniversary as 'a very good bridge between Japan and the US' and said he hoped the Japanese community in California would continue to be a bridge between the two countries.
(pic of Mr Kono in blue cap with Mr Steve Matsuura, Co-Chair of the anniversary committee, as they watch the ship depart)

Over 2,000 people toured the ship yesterday and saw a poster exhibition, Captain Makoto Inui said. On behalf of his crew and cadets, he said, 'We will

never forget such a warm-hearted hospitality....I don't say "goodbye", I say, "See you!"'

San Francisco's Consul General of Japan, Yasumasa Nagamine, said, 'This has been an extraordinary, magnificent five days.' Stretched before him on the pier wall was art work from schoolchildren in the city, and Japanese drummers, Maikaze Daiko, had earlier fascinated the crowd with an energetic performance.

Without the visit of the Kanrin Maru in 1860 and the accompanying delegation of Japanese ambassadors, San Francisco's Japantown 'would probably not have existed,' it was said during the ceremony. Part of the purpose of the commemoration was to deepen the friendship between the two countries.

Cultural events have been held, the city welcomed the arrival of the Kaiwo Maru on Friday with a presentation of a plaque and photo, and receptions have been held on board the ship and in the Consulate of Japan. Hundreds of schoolchildren have also been involved and had entered an art competition, which focussed on the anniversary, and friendship between Japan and the US.

The Kaiwo Maru is a four-masted, 361 ft training ship. Her visit commemorated the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the Kanrin Maru on March 17, 1860, and travelling as a passenger on board was a descendant of the orignal crew.

Acting as escort for three Japanese ambassadors on board the USS Powhatan in 1860, the battered ship arrived three days ahead of the US Navy ship that had had to stop for repairs in Hawaii.

The ambassadors travelled on to Washington and ratified the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce, and Navigation with President James Buchanan.

The visit of the Kaiwo Maru, said the Consul General, would be remembered for many years and had been 'one of the best highlights of this commemorative year.' The crew, he added, had had fun in the city playing basketball and dancing. (pic of the Consul General presenting an art award)

Co-Chair of the anniversary committee, Mr Allen Okamoto, told Captain Inui, 'Your ship is absolutely special, your crew is a delight, and you have an open invitation to return to San Francisco anytime.'

The art competition involved drawings, paintings and posters depicting the Kanrin Maru, the Kaiwo Maru and the ocean. Winners of the Consul General Award and the Captain's Award were presented with certificates.

A winner of both awards, for a delicate pencil sketch of the Kaiwo Maru with the Bay Bridge in the background, was 15-year-old Fumi.

'I think it's a really good thing that the US and Japan are really good friends and not having a war. We were having a war but now we're friends,' said Fumi, who will be taking an art class next year.

The ship sailed about 4 pm, her crew skimming up the ropes to stand on the rigging for a final goodbye as two American Navy tugs pulled her gently from the dockside. Then, with red and white flag streaming from behind, and the crew scrambling back onto the deck, she was escorted out of the bay by the tugs and a Coast Guard boat.

150th Anniversary of First Japanese Vessel to Visit San Francisco and First Japanese Embassy to America

2010-05-05T22:13:00.000-07:00

A tall-masted Japanese sailing ship, the Kaiwo Maru, came into the bay today to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the visit of both the first official Japanese vessel to San Francisco and the first Japanese embassy to America. (pic by Chris)

In 1860, the Kanrin Maru escorted three ambassadors, who were aboard a US naval ship, arriving battered from severe storms on March 17.

It was the beginning of a historic visit that sealed a new friendship and trade treaty between the two countries.

And it also gave the captain his first taste of ice-cream!

San Francisco today is home to a thriving Japanese culture and has the largest and oldest Japantown in the USA.

This morning the Kaiwo Maru docked at Pier 27 and will be here until Sunday, with an open-day and exhibition for the public on Saturday.

'This is most important for us,' said Captain Makoto Inui, early this evening as he welcomed people on board for a reception.

Later, during a brief reception speech, he said that he hoped the visit would 'promote more and more friendship' between the USA and Japan.

And he was delighted, he said, pointing upwards, to be in San Francisco and to hold a party under such a 'sunny, beautiful blue sky!'

When the Kaiwo Maru docked this morning, the Captain and crew were officially welcomed on the dockside at 10 am by a city representative and leaders of the Japanese community. A commemorative plaque and photo of the city were presented on behalf of Mayor Gavin Newsom, and the Cherry Blossom Queen gave a bouquet.

This evening among the guests were the Consul General of Japan, Yasumasa Nagamine, the Executive Committee of the 150th Anniversary of the First Japanese Vessel to San Francisco, and members of local Japanese associations.

Among the 171 people sailing with the ship are direct descendants of the original crew in 1860, including Mr Yoshiharu Masai who is sailing as a passenger.

Mr Masai said that he was very happy to be standing where his family had once stood.

A member of The Society of the Kanrin-Maru Crew Descendants, he said that they had found 400 families with historical connections to the 96 crew members, although only 12 had joined the society.

Tracing people through family trees had been difficult, he said, speaking mostly through Masashi Sugawara, Junior Third Officer, who acted as interpreter - pictured

During his stay he will be meeting some families in San Francisco.

The visit of the Kaiwo Maru has been something of a coup for the Japanese community, and marks the first of about 40 commemorative events being held around the Bay Area this year.

Mr Isao 'Steve' Matsuura, Co-Chair of the anniversary committee, said the ship had originally been due to end her voyage in Hawaii. The Consul General and others had negotiated to extend the voyage, which has been paid for from San Francisco.

'But we are successful. It is here today, it has met our goals. We are very happy!' he said.

The four-masted Kaiwo Maru is four times bigger than her historical counterpart, he said. The Kanrin Maru was 'wrecked' when she arrived in the city after her non-stop five-week voyage and spent two months in a shipyard for repairs.

She arrived three days ahead of the ambassadors in the USS Powhatan as that ship had to put in for repairs in Hawaii.

However, it gave the crew a chance to spend two months walking around the city. Captain Katsu Rintaro had made an entry in his diary that he had seen ice-cream for the first time - and he liked it very much! said Steve Matsuura.

On that visit, the ship had been formally welcomed with an opening ceremony and the presentation of a plaque on Pier 9.

A closing ceremony for the Kaiwo Maru will be held on Sunday at Pier 27, beginning with cultural events for an hour at 1.30 pm, before the ceremony takes place. Then the Kaiwo Maru, a training ship of the Institute of Maritime Training in Japan, will sail again out of the bay. However, the ship sailed in under engine power and will also depart that way, leaving her sails furled.

Among the other events this year are a joint Tea Ceremony of the three Japanese schools in the Bay Area, to be held in the Asian Art Museum on May 15; a three-day international visit of 200 Japanese people who will live in American homes, part of a grassroots celebration between August 24 - 30; and a Grand Finale of 1,000 world-renowned, Japanese drummers, though mostly from the Bay Area, and led by Kitaro who is writing new music for the occasion.

Fior d'Italia Celebrates 125th Anniversary Year in Authentic Italian Style

2010-04-30T22:08:00.000-07:00

'We're just thrilled to be going into our 125th year,' said Bob Larive, owner of the Fior d'Italia.

Bob and his wife, Jinx, have owned the Fior for 20 years and as such are the newest keepers of over a century of history and tradition.

A tradition and record not only within San Francisco but for the whole of America as The Fior carries the flag for being the oldest continuously operating Italian restaurant in the country.

'I'm proud that we've been able to do that,' said Bob. Over the 125 years, only three groups of people have owned the restaurant. His days are steeped in history, with photos of his forebears and historic photos of the restaurant hanging all around the walls. And he's looking forward to the next 125 years, joking that he wouldn't be around for that celebration.

The Fior, he said, represents the 'veteran' San Franciscan restaurant, holding onto tradition with 'real Italian food, like grandma used to make.' Every so often, a customer will comment that the food reminds them of their grandmother's cooking. 'Nothing makes my chef prouder,' said Bob.

Upholding authentic Italian cuisine in a competing market of what Bob describes as 'yuppie' restaurants, is obviously a challenge. Yuppie restaurants do 'funny things with the food', are popular for a year or two and then move on, he said. In the interim, they are affecting the city's traditional restaurants, some of whom have had to close. 'That's a shame,' he said.

The Fior also offers 'real service' with staff that 'stay with us forever,' he said. 'JC', and he pointed, had been working there for 32 years. There is not the same professionalism in restaurants that use college kids in training, he said.

The enduring style of The Fior, said Bob, may be semi-formal with the waiters wearing tuxedos, but it is also 'a lot of fun.'

'It's casual in its own way,' he said.

Fun today it certainly was, with the restaurant crowded with people enjoying their Victorian celebration for as little as 5 cents or as much as 30 cents.

Chef Gianni Audieri couldn't agree more. Is he going to produce a signature dish for the anniversary?

Horror sweeps across his brow. 'I don't believe in signature dishes,' he said. Chef Gianni has been there for 25 years and his great love is for authentic Italian food.
pic with Bill Del Monte, the 104-year-old son of the founder of The Fior

Neither does he, when asked, recommend a favourite dish out of the 70 dishes on the menu. Always his reply is, 'You decide! It's your taste!'

Has this 72-year-old chef created any of the dishes on the menu, given them a personal twist?

'No, I try to stay traditional,' he said, abhorring modern experimentation like 'putting bananas in pasta!' His search and goal to stay true to the cooking of old Italy.

Of course, the menu has changed from its earliest days. The original menu featured frogs legs, but that was not on offer today. A lot of dishes, sweetbread - pancreas - liver, kidneys have faded from the menu as 'most people do not accept it,' he said.

There is also much more meat as people can afford it now.

The Fior's cuisine is based on the traditional cooking of Genoa and Tuscany, northern regions of Italy that in the old days were wealthier than the south.

'North of Florence' , he explained, and you have the slightly richer egg pastas of cannelloni, lasagne, tagliatelle, ravioli and tortellini.

'South of Rome' and you have the pastas that are made with only flour and water, like spaghetti, linguini, macaroni. With one complication that confuses people, 'tagliatelle' is a northern name, and 'fettucini' is the same pasta with a southern name.

With the richer northern region, rice also became a starch staple, he added.

And authenticity means lightness of sauce: one ounce of pasta with one ounce of sauce, said Chef Gianni, not the American and British way of smothering pasta in sauce! If 150 calories becomes 1,500 calories, who's fault is that?! he said.

The Fior gradually over the years became one of San Francisco's top restaurants, but in the beginning it catered mostly for hungry, working men. Platters of salad and pasta would sit in the middle of the tables, the food plentiful when cents were not. They fed men toiling 12 hours a day, six days a week for $6, so that five cents for a meal was a lot of money, said Chef Gianni.

Chef Gianni has had a rich and varied culinary experience, cooking around the world. He began in kitchens when he was only 16-years-old, and his talent was spotted. He was sent to culinary school and afterwards went to Lausanne to both cook and learn French. He has worked in Germany, Italy, England - including the Regency Hotel in Piccadilly - and on a cruise ship, emigrating to New York at the end of 1960.

After nine years in New York, he went to the Carribean, Miami, South America, including Venezuela, and LA, where for a while he owned his own restaurant with a partner. When his restaurant went through difficult times, he had an offer to work at The Fior.

'I said, "what the hell is the Fior d'Italia!' he recounted. But once he saw the restaurant and the beauty of San Francisco, he was hooked. Love blossomed not only in the kitchens and the city. He met and married his wife, Trudy, who was the restaurant's office manager, and today they have two boys, 'who are not cooking!' said Chef Gianni with a smile.

With Bob and Jinx and Chef Gianni, history and tradition will continue to be celebrated and upheld for future generations.

Fior d'Italia Celebrates 125th Anniversary Year with 104-year-old Bill Del Monte

2010-04-30T20:11:00.000-07:00

Seated in a vintage Surrey pulled by groomed horses this morning was 104-year-old Bill Del Monte, survivor of the 1906 Great Earthquake and Fire, and youngest son of the founder of the Fior d'Italia that today launched its 125th anniversary year celebrations.

Back on his head, his trademark tan tam o'shanter with its red and blue stripes instead of the commemorative fireman's helmet with which he was presented only two weeks ago at the annual earthquake commemoration. He didn't wear the helmet today as 'it looked too heavy!' he said.

Bill was guest of honour at today's party, riding through the North Beach streets with family members and Senator Mark Leno, and escorted by the Sheriff's Mounted Posse.

Inside the restaurant he sat in a private area with friends and family, while customers filled the front part to enjoy their Victorian-priced lunch entrees. Behind him, a historic mural, thought to be of scenes of Tuscany and Umbria with the church of St Francis of Assisi, the painter unknown.

Throughout the restaurant are historic photos of his family, staff, the different buildings that have housed The Fior, and reflections of old San Francisco. Today, the Fior is inside the San Remo Hotel on Mason Street.
pic of publicist Lee Houskeeper of San Francisco Stories, Bill, and neices Barbara Del Monte and Janette Barroca

Bill was born in January 1906, three months before the earthquake, in an apartment behind the restaurant. The paradox of it being a family restaurant was that it origins began in what was nicknamed the Barbary Coast, an area around North Beach infamous for saloons, opium and gambling dens, and brothels that served local San Franciscans, sailors, and farm-hands and miners of the gold rush.

Bill's father came to California for the gold rush but turned to food instead. Settling in North Beach with many other Italian immigrants, he helped establish the area that became known as 'Little Italy.'

photo of Bill's brothers and sister and parents: Attilio, Eva, Angelo and Assunta, Eugene, Guido, and Bill in front beside his mother.

As a young man, Bill helped in the restaurant. 'I was a hat-check boy', he said. As family do, he worked without a salary but enjoyed the tips until the service was franchised out, and Bill's services were no longer wanted. They hired two good-looking girls instead, he said with a grin. And that was the end, for he never worked in the kitchens or waited at tables.

However, he did enjoy the food! His favourite dish was veal made by one particular cook. He described the oval plate with the veal surrounded by sliced potatoes. 'I have never tasted it like that since, I don't know what he did....the herbs he used,' he said. In those days, he added, they had very young veal as the calves were slaughtered earlier than they are today.

He was looking forward to a veal lunch again.

Like Bill, The Fior, has travelled through a century and beyond, somehow managing to survive through a formidable array of events of natural disasters of earthquakes and fire, the politics of Prohibition, the Great Wall Street crash and Depression, two World Wars and recessions.

However, Bill has no memories of his father, Angelo, talking about any particular difficulty. And it seems that when the restaurant was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake, his father just got on with the business of rebuilding the business.
pic of owner Bob Larive and the private party area for family and friends

'He enjoyed meeting people,' is what Bill remembers about him. There was a table reserved at lunchtimes for members of the upper society, like Amadeo Giannin, founder of the Bank of Italy before it became Bank of America. 'A lot of business was transacted at that table,' said Bill.

Asked again what his secret was of not just living to 104 years but of being so active - could it be all that veal and pasta? - he said, 'I don't know. I've been lucky, I've lived through the most eventful century in history.'

Never before or since have so many things been invented, he said. Automobiles, just two years before he was born, radios, electricity, TV and internet, were a few of what he listed.

He is continuing to make history, escorted through the streets in vintage vehicles. When will be his next celebrity appearance? He laughed, he's not expecting any more, but as the living embodiment of over a century of San Francisco's history, this is probably not the last occasion.

How does he feel being such a rich part of San Franciscan history?

'I love that, it's nice,' he said.

Fior d'Italia Launches 125th Anniversary Year with Original Victorian Menu at Original Prices

2010-04-30T15:57:00.000-07:00

Inside the Fior d'Italia restaurant today, it is May 1, 1886. And with veal, chicken, beef and pasta on the menu for no more than 30 cents, diners were wrapped around the side of the building by late morning like spaghetti around a fork!

The Fior is celebrating the launch of its 125th anniversary year by throwing open its doors to customers with a sample menu of its original dishes at the same Victorian prices.

Star diner was 104-year-old Bill Del Monte, youngest son of Angelo Del Monte, founder of The Fior. Bill was paraded down the street in a vintage Surrey accompanied by the Sheriff's Mounted Posse at 11 am. Accompanying him were family members and State Senator Mark Leno.

Alighting from the carriage, Senator Leno presented commemorative diplomas on behalf of the Senate to Bill and current owners, Bob and Jinx Larive. Bill's diploma was a delayed honour in appreciation of him being the sole attending survivor at the 1906 Great Earthquake and Fire ceremony two weeks ago.

Senator Leno said he had been unable to attend the ceremony at Lotta's Fountain due to being at a party conference.

He then congratulated them on the anniversary and the achievement of the Fior being the oldest continuously operating Italian restaurant in the USA.

With the prices on the menu today, he quipped, 'I would love to be able to roll back the State deficit to 1886!'

Paying tribute, he said, 'This is San Francisco and North Beach history,' and the various owners were 'modern-day pioneers' who had endured many hardships including fires, earthquakes, depressions and recessions.

At the doors of the Fior, were the earliest arrivals who had wanted to make sure of their celebratory lunch.

First to arrive had been Michael at 8.45 am followed at around 9 am by Lin, Marianne and their friend, Michael, joined later by Richard.

What had brought Michael so enthusiastically to the door? 'The prices!' he said, waving a print-out of the menu. His choice was the veal.

Lin said she was there 'Just for the festivities. It's going to be a fun day,' and Marianne had made it because her neighbour had slipped an article about the party under her door. They were opting for the Veal Saute or the Eggplant Parmigiana, and Michael, the Tortellini with Meat Sauce.

Richard, who was after the Roast Sirloin, appreciated the reputation of the Fior. 'I've always known this restaurant, it's been here for years.' he said. But at the forefront of all their minds was 'It's the prices!'

Pic: Richard, Michael, Lin, Marianne and, first to arrive, Michael.

Fior d'Italia Celebrates 125th Anniversary Year with Original Menu and 104-year-old Bill Del Monte

2010-04-28T12:50:00.000-07:00

America's oldest Italian restaurant, the Fior d'Italia, celebrates its 125th anniversary year on Friday - serving lunch dishes from their earliest menu at the original Victorian prices, and with guest of honour 104-year-old Bill del Monte, San Francisco's most active 1906 earthquake and fire survivor, whose father founded the restaurant.

The day will be one of historical pageantry and the reliving of memories handed down the generations. Bill, who now lives across the Bay, will ride to the restaurant in a vintage Surrey, escorted by the Sheriff's Mounted Posse. He is due to arrive at 11 am at the restaurant in the San Remo Hotel on Mason Street.

Also at the heart of the celebrations will be the Fior's owners, Bob and Jinx Larive, Chef Gianni Audieri and State Senator Mark Leno.

Bill's father, Angelo Del Monte, founded the restaurant that opened on May 1, 1886, and this event marks the launch of the 125th anniversary year. Bill was born in the back of the restaurant in January 1906, just three months before the restaurant was destroyed in the Great Earthquake and Fire

Among the offerings, to which the public are invited, are veal sauté for 5 cents, chicken parmigiana for 10 cents, eggplant parmigiana for 20 cents and, if you really want to splash out, roast sirloin for 30 cents.

But diners only have between 11 pm and 4 pm to enjoy this celebration and it will be on a 'first come first served' basis!

The Fior held similar revelries on their 100th and 110th anniversaries.

'In the past the public celebrated these anniversary events with much gusto -- which is why we are expecting the same enthusiastic throngs this 125th year,' said owner Bob Larive, in a press release from Lee Houskeeper of San Francisco Stories.

Despite the contraction of the hospitality industry during the present recession, the storied Fior d'Italia remains a perennial draw featuring the fine Northern Italian offerings that made San Francisco's Italian cuisine famous.

'We have survived fires, earthquakes, Prohibition, a depression and several recessions, two World Wars and are still here and looking forward to our next 125 years,' said Bob.

'We're very proud of our authentic Northern Italian cuisine and our culinary tradition,' said Chef Gianni Audieri, 'And through it all we've remained true to our Northern Italian cuisine using the best of seasonal quality ingredients.'

Popular dishes, said Chef Gianni, are the Calamari, Gnocchi, Osso Bucco, Veal entrée's, and Caesar Salad, which customers rate as “The City's best."

When the Fior d' Italia first opened its doors, great sailing ships packed San Francisco's harbor, goats roamed Telegraph Hill and the Barbary Coast was a rough and tumble district, writes Lee Houskeeper.

“The Fior” catered to the growing Italian community and achieved universal recognition as San Francisco's most elegant dining spot. After the great earthquake and fire of 1906 destroyed the Fior, it was soon back in business in a tent and then in a new building. This location and the next were the site of numerous banquets sponsored by Italian social and fraternal organizations and many family and social events for locals and visitors to the city.

In 1953, the Fior located directly across from Washington Square Park. However, on Valentine's Day 2005, a fire forced a move to the historic San Remo Hotel at 2237 Mason Street.

The colourful history of the Fior d'Italia, from its founding families, the history of Italian immigrants and San Francisco, including the 1906 Great Earthquake and Fire, to its food and recipes by Chef Gianni Audieri, can be read online. The book, 'The fabulous Fior', with many historic photos, has been written by San Franciscan journalist Francine Brevetti, the granddaughter of Alberto Puccetti, a waiter and part-owner of the Fior over 100 years ago. Alberto's starring role in the history was to be outside the restaurant as it was closing in the early hours of the morning of April 18, 1906, having earlier that night served tenor Enrico Caruso, when the Great Earthquake struck.
www.fior.com/information/fior_book.pdf

Bouquets to Art Attracts Hundreds at the de Young Museum on Opening Day

2010-04-22T14:13:00.000-07:00

Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but so,
too, is interpretation!

Amidst the artistry and inspiration of the Bouquets to Art exhibition at the de Young Museum this week, there was plenty of fun, creativity, and a little division among the visitors!

Peggy from Napa was not the only one to pose with a new hat.

'I love the colours and the way they use a succulent for the elevated part...it captures it almost completely,' she said.

She was with her sister, Joy, from Sacramento, who had brought Peggy for her first visit to the exhibition. But this was only Joy's second visit. 'I lived in San Francisco for years and years and years and never came here. I had to move to Sacramento to see it!' she said.

The hat was a Victorian recreation by Ron Morgan of Berkeley, and accompanied Louise Beatrice de Fonblanque's 'Portrait of a Woman.'

'Isn't this a great idea for a room divider!' said Jeanne of Burlingame, admiring the finite detail crafted in natural materials, strands of ivy and flowers flowing down the sides.

The titled 'Metamorphosis - Life - Repetition - Reflexion - Art' bore a philosophical resemblance but not a pictorial one with Victorian artist, Eadweard Muybridge. The artist, famed for his part-scientific studies on animal and human movement, was shown in strips of miniature Freeze Frame photos going through the motions of sitting and standing second by second.

Jeanne's eye saw an altogether other purpose: a graceful addition to her home. No doubt Svenja Brotz of Chestnut and Vine Floral Design would be happy to engage in repetition and reflexion of his own!

One of the largest pieces in the exhibition was itself a symbol of division.

It stretched for several feet in front of Irving Norman's interpretation of 'War and Peace' - 'the ruthlessness of capitalism and the alienation of urban America', giving its audience plenty to muse over as they peered all around it.

The work was by a group of Sausalito artists,
R.Space, Shannon Patillo, Trisha Olson and Eric Olson.

Romantic entwinement, however, filled the minds of Stephanie and Hannah from Modesto as they gazed at Natalie Bowen's vibrant floral arms.

They envisioned the red flora curled into monograms of a bride and groom, and displayed as a dramatic centre-piece at a wedding celebration.

Mirroring the distinctive red swirls, Natalie, of Natalie Bowen Designs, had produced 'An interpretation of the artist's palette and form', matching an etching with scraping and burnishing of William T. Wiley's 'Now Who's Got the Blueprints.'

Her creation was quite an inspiration, producing this interactive display from Joy, sister of Peggy in the green hat above! - pic by Peggy

Miguel Covarrubias' wall-sized painting depicting the fauna and flora of the Pacific Ocean provided a naturally beautiful backdrop. Before it, a bowl overflowing with richly coloured, exotic flowers.

As one observer read out loud the floral designer's aim, 'to interpret a lush and colourful diversity of the Pacific Rim and Pacific Ocean, with a wide range of colours, shape, texture,' another exclaimed in appreciation, 'Well he did that, that's for sure!'

The display was created by Catherine Matsuyo Tompkison-Graham of the Tompkison Group, San Jose.

'Oh that's fabulous, in conjunction with the picture!' cried a lady in a yellow jacket springing into action with her camera.

Her eyes had fallen on a display that was receiving a lot of popular acclaim. In the painting were two young girls in old-style bathing suits - Two Bathers - by David Park, a pioneer in the San Francisco Abstract Expressionist Movement.
On a stand, a floral repetition that perfectly captured the colours and freedom of movement within the painting.

'Taking a "painteely" approach celebrating the figure, color, the artist and painting,' said Phyllis A. Brady and Joe Brady of the Twigs and Ivy Floral Studio in San Ramon, creative in vocabulary also.

This vision in pink drew admiring glances instantly. 'This is very pretty!' commented one lady.

However, while the appreciation was unanimous, there was
a light-hearted discussion among some over which portrait was the focus: the elegant lady on the left, who wore ivory floral decorations on her dress and in her hair that matched some of the flowers, or the younger girl in pink.

The answer was in the pink! It was Frederick Childe Hassam's Easter Morning (Portrait at a New York Window), and not John Singer Sargeant's painting, recreated by Judy Cochran Ward of Novato.

Bouquets to Arts opened on Monday with a gala event for members and invited guests, and threw open its doors to the public on Tuesday. Friday is Hat Day, a hat competition, and throughout the week are floral lectures and demonstrations. The last day is Saturday.

'Now in its 26th year, Bouquets to Art has attracted nearly 550,000 visitors and raised over $4.52 million in net proceeds, which have been used to fund an impressive roster of special exhibitions, art acquisitions, educational programs, and special projects at the Legion of Honor and the de Young Museum,' said the museum's press release.

Bouquets to Art Opens at de Young Museum

2010-04-21T22:43:00.000-07:00

Floral artistry at its best is once again on display at the de Young Museum in the annual exhibition of Bouquets to Art.

About 150 top floral designers from around the region have created original designs to match artwork in the museum in the Golden Gate Park.

The displays are visually breathtaking, an exuberance of colour, life and art that uplift people's spirits as they stand and admire, and photograph the exhibits.

Cameras as well as blooms were in abundance on Tuesday at the 26th annual exhibition. Hundreds of people had poured in soon after the doors opened at 9.30 am.

'This is one of the best in the entire show!' opined Ann, from the Bay Area, joining a cluster of viewers around a large stand surrounded top and sides with vibrant flowers mixed with twists of wood and iron.

It was reflecting a colourful abstract of fused glass by Klaus Moje, 'Untitled' (#7) - pictured far left

Ann's appreciation was for 'the overall use of the materials including the arrangement, which is highly creative. It's a formidable, artistic creation,' she said, listing both soft and exotic flowers, iron and wood.

Equally complimentary was Sue, living north of San Francisco. 'Every inch of that has flowers on it and it must have taken forever to put it together. It's so compacted and (there are) so many designs in it. It has a 360-degree view, which is different from every angle,' she said.

Another lady walking past simply exclaimed out loud, 'Mmm, THAT is something!

Designers Bloomster's of San Jose had achieved success!

The artwork that the designers illustrated reflected a wide range of styles from abstract to classical, the Old Masters taking deeper colours, and also including themes of life and history.

The jazz of Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Louis Armstrong were behind this 'trumpet blast of gold to celebrate this uniquely American Music.'

The music itself an inspiration from a 'Jazz' punch bowl, circa 1931, the work of Viktor Schreckengost, pioneer of American industrial design.

Floral designers were Constance Shrecengost of Sunshine Flowers of the Bay Area, and co-exhibitor Jennifer Capra of Martinez.

Jacob Lawrence's 1947 painting, 'Migration', depicted African Americans with their suticases leaving the south, and heading northwards with hope towards a changed America.

For floral artists Savage Rose and Marian Lebrun, their piece was 'foreshadowing the bright change these individuals are about to gain in their lives....'

'The flowers bursting from confined objects, such as a suitcase and hat, expresses the surge of energy and perseverance these individuals had while travelling towards their goal of freedom,' they wrote.

In the modern art gallery, sculptor Nick Cave's spangled Soundsuit found it had a glittery counterpart, both of which attracted much attention.

Cave, who is also a trained dancer, named the Soundsuits for the noises they make when worn for performances. So Constance Oakson of the Empire of Flora, Los Altos Hills, made a replica of a suit for Cave.

The entrance to many of the galleries is through Wilsey Court, a large open space which each year a designer is invited to fill with an extravagantly-sized display.

This year it hosts a purple extravaganza of trailing silk ribbons with flowers at the ends. Close up, the effect is beautiful, light catching the different shades, the creation of acclaimed Bay Area floral designer, Orna Maymon of Ornamento.

Around the exhibition, many people reflected a love of colour and artistry in their clothing. None more so than craft artists Tarra, her mother, Virginia, and father, Mort, who posed for photos several times.

'We love dressing up for Bouquets to Art because it's all about the colouring and bringing joy to life,' said Tarra.

The exhibition shows that 'we can all be colourful and unique and alive, and that it's such a joy to create and express. It's kind of like the inner child that is free,' she said.

'May we all blossom this spring in the rainbow of life!'

Gold Fire Hydrant Ceremonially Resprayed for 104th Anniversary of Great Earthquake and Fire

2010-04-18T19:54:00.000-07:00

A lone fire hydrant in San Francisco was ceremonially resprayed gold today, each burst of paint representing a memory of someone who fought to save the Mission District from a raging inferno or who died in the 1906 earthquake and fire.

The golden hydrant is honoured each year for being the only hydrant to supply water on the perilous night of Friday, April 20, two days after the earthquake struck.

Some 3,000 volunteers fought through the night and saved the Mission District west of 20th Street, along with the historic adobe Mission church that had been completed in 1791.

Only because the hydrant at the top of Dolores Park allowed water to flow from it.

*pics show the rescued Mission church which was only slightly damaged with the brick church beside it. The brick church was rebuilt and became a basilica.

The gold paint-spraying is part of the 104th anniversary commemoration of the 1906 Great Earthquake and Fire. It takes place immediately after the wreath-laying ceremony at Lotta's Fountain on Market Street. By just after 5.30 am about 200 people had assembled.

The cavalcade bearing guest of honour, 104-year-old survivor Bill Del Monte and members of his family arrived and a piper in Scottish kilt played, as the piper had done at the fountain. Bill was escorted to the hydrant where he opened the spraying ceremony.

After him was John Greenberg, accompanied by his son, whose family foundry, M. Greensberg's Sons, had made the doughty hydrant.

Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White sprayed on behalf of Fire Chief Dennis Sullivan, who was injured in the earthquake and died a few days later. 'There would have been a different outcome had he remained as the Chief,' she said.
She highlighted the need of massive State finance to upgrade the city's water supplies, the subject of Prop B on this year's election ballot, and paid tribute to members of NERT (Neighbourhood Emergency Response Team), volunteers who are training residents to prepare for the next great quake - pic of Edie Schaffer, Coordinator Chair of the NERT Advisory Board (lt) with colleagues and ten-year-old Jade

And then came the turn of Bill's family members including a number of young great-neices and nephews. Six-year-old Nina was hoisted high, but when the moment came for her to name who she was spraying for, she couldn't remember and needed a little help!

Perhaps it was the number of 'greats'....Great Great Uncle Bill!

Bill's niece, Janette Barroca sprayed on behalf of Bill's parents for rescuing the family from the fire. 'I give them a lot of credit that Bill is here today.'

There were others: Assistant Police Chief Kevin Cashman, on behalf of a family member who was a firefighter at the time. Born in 1899, Vincent Cashmere went straight from the traumas of World War l into the fire department, and found himself facing the worst national disaster ever to hit America.

James Dalessandro, author of the novel '1906' that was turned into a film and was being screened later that morning at the Westin St Francis - a story of political intrigue with the earthquake and fire as the backdrop - said of the scale of the disaster, 'It didn't have to happen.'

Ironically, he went on, Fire Chief Dennis Sullivan had been due to attend a meeting to campaign for upgraded water supplies at the time of the earthquake, just as San Francisco today faces the same issue. James praised Chief Joanne Hayes-White 'who really gets it' when it comes to the needs of the city. And sprayed on behalf of the brave firefighters in 1906 who went 'without food, without rest, without water.'

Children, too, joined in, on behalf of the 'brave firefighters.' Six-year-old Rory has 'done this every year since he was one,' said his mother, Megan.

As the painting continued with members of the community, the sun sprayed morning light over everyone, and Bill Del Monte and the cavalcade made ready to depart.

Bill sat in the passenger seat, still wearing his commemorative 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire Survivor Award fire helmet, and declared he was 'fine.'

Had he enjoyed the ceremonies?

'Yes, thank you,' he said, with a smile and a wave as the vintage car pulled away to take him to a well-deserved Bloody Mary breakfast at Lefty O'Douls.
(breakfast pic by Liane Corrales)

see more photos by Chris on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisflowersmd/sets/72157623757165237/

*Historic pics are part of a private collection of Ron Ross, founder and president of the San Francisco History Association. Ron first published his photos in a souvenir edition for the 75th anniversary, and again for the 100th anniversary

104th Anniversary of 1906 Great Earthquake and Fire Commemorated at Lotta's Fountain

2010-04-18T11:37:00.000-07:00

Those who died in the 1906 Great Earthquake and Fire, and those who survived and lived to rebuild San Francisco from the ashes, were honoured at 5.12 am this morning.

About 300 people gathered at Lotta's Fountain to applaud guest of honour and survivor, 104-year-old Bill Del Monte, and to participate in a wreath laying ceremony and moment of silence.

Bill and members of his family travelled in the back of an open-topped vintage car from the Westin St Francis in Union Square, flanked in a small cavalcade by modern and vintage fire trucks and with police outriders. (Photo by Bob David)

As they arrived at Lotta's Fountain in the dark at about 5 am, the San Francisco German Association Band struck up. They were greeted with applause from the crowd, many in costume, recreating the atmosphere of the early 1900s and during the ceremony Bill was formally welcomed and thanked for his appearance.

As Bill sat tucked in the passenger seat, gone from his head was his familiar tan tam o'shanter. Instead, he wore a commemorative fireman's helmet with a badge inscribed '1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire Survivor Award.'

It is the first such award ever given, and Bill received it last night at the Survivors' Dinner.

San Francisco Chronicle writer, Carl Nolte, conjured up an image of the devastation of the quake and fire in which four square miles of the city burnt to ashes and 3,000 people died. San Franciscans used to say that if they stood in town long enough, they would see everyone they knew, he said.

He was thankful that no-one left but chose to remain, and said, 'if you want to seek their monument....look around you.'

The event was supported by the police and fire departments and those involved in emergency management who are urging the city to prepare for the next big disaster. Police Captain Al Casciato said people must 'never forget' the lessons learned from the disaster, and 'never lose sight of' the lessons learned from every national disaster.

Before the official moment of silence and wreath laying, event organizer Lee Houskeeper asked for a special moment of silence for Taren Sapienza who died last year and who for over 25 years had worked to keep the commemoration alive. Taren had taken on the mantle from her father, Leo Sapienza, the last president of the South of Market Boys who began to hold an annual remembrance at Lotta's Fountain in 1919.

After the silence, Lee reminded the crowd that water was now flowing from the fountain once again, due to former Mayor, Willie Brown, and his first campaign promise to restore it. 'He didn't know how bad a shape it was in, but he did it. He kept his promise,' said Lee.

Then 5.12 am approached - 'not 5.11, not 5.13, and not 6.12!' said Lee in reference to the debate over the precise time of the quake and the issue of daylight saving time. Leading the observance of a minute's silence, he said it was for 'these wonderful San Franciscans who rebuilt our city from the ashes.'

The silence ended, a city siren sent an eerie wail out into the darkness, a bell clanged from a vintage fire truck, the sirens of modern fire trucks blared and, next, a lone piper played Amazing Grace while Captain Casciato layed the wreath at the foot of Lotta's Fountain.

With the solemnities over, the band struck up a rousing 'San Francisco' with which the crowd joined in. Cherie Oliver, who has been attending the ceremony for 25 years, voluntarily took over the mic.

Now living in Redwood City, she said, 'I fell in love with San Francisco when I came here in 1972.' She now views through 'new eyes' the courage of the 1906 survivors, she said, having experienced the 1989 quake that caused great damage to parts of the city.

'If it had been me, I would have got out,' she said. Her imagination took her to 1906 and nightmarish scenes of the fire chasing people down the street with everyone rushing to get on boats and sail across the bay.

It was the courage of parents to bring their children back to a burnt out city that impressed her the most.

Deborah, who also lives outside of San Francisco, has been attending for 23 years 'to honour the people that died here, and to remember fondly the people that came back to the city again.' What impressed her was that within nine years, the city was able to host a world fair.

In elegant costume, Krista Slanker was there with another purpose. As a member of the Department of Emergency Management, she said, 'It's just a great opportunity to commemorate a very important event for San Francisco,' and which serves as a reminder 'of being prepared for the next emergency,' she said.

There was one dissenting voice to the occasion. A member of the public complained that the organizers had not got their watches set properly and that the moment of silence had occurred a couple of minutes too early!

Whatever the accuracy to a minute, time was pressing for Bill Del Monte and his cavalcade, the official attendees and others wishing to attend the paint spraying ceremony of the heroic, gold fire hydrant at the top of Dolores Park.

In the darkness, they were soon heading for the Mission District.

for more photos, flickr stream by Chris: http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisflowersmd/sets/72157623757165237/

104-Year-Old Bill Del Monte Honoured with First-Ever 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire Survivor Award

2010-04-17T20:13:00.000-07:00

Bill Del Monte, at 104-years-old, was honoured this afternoon with the first-ever 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire Survivor Award.

An alert centenarian, Bill was guest of honour and sole attending survivor at the annual Survivors' Dinner, the start of commemoration events this weekend of the terrible disaster that befell the city.

Much to his surprise, he was presented with his award, a commemorative fireman's helmet with a specially inscribed badge, by the Battalion Chief of Battalion 3, Gerry Scullion.

'To Bill,' said Chief Scullion, 'who has persevered this long and is someone to look up to, we honour you tonight.'

Announcing the award, event organizer Lee Houskeeper, said Bill was 'probably the most famous guy in San Francisco today.'

Slightly overwhelmed with the attention, Bill, who donned the helmet, said humbly, 'It's a little too much for me!'

About 20 people had gathered for the occasion in the historic John's Grill near Market Street. Guests included Police Captain Al Casciato, and representatives of the Emergency Management and NERT (Neighbourhood Emergency Response Team).

Bill was chauffered by his niece, Janette Barroca and met by Lee and Chief Scullion. Emerging from the car in front of a vintage fire truck, he walked into the restaurant with just a little steadying help.

On his head then was his trademark tan tam o'shanter with red and blue stripes. 'Even coming here today I got three compliments. I think I have had about 3,000 since I was given this hat about 30 years ago,' he said, once he was seated inside.

Bill has catapulted to survivor fame since he made his first appearance at last year's anniversary.

What does he think of the commemoration?

'It's something unusual. Naturally, it will soon be coming to an end,' he said, referring to occasions when survivors are present.

This may be only Bill's second appearance at the San Francisco ceremony at Lotta's Fountain which is held at the time that the 7.8 earthquake struck at 5.12 am on April 18, but he has joined in with other aspects of earlier commemorations. He has been on a boat tour around the Bay, that used to be held for survivors, and been to luncheons at John's Grill about four or five times.

Of the formal ceremonial events that take place at 5.12 am, he said, 'I was living in Marin. I figured it was too much, I never bothered to come.' He added, 'This will be my last.'

Definitely?

'Yes!' he said.

Bill was only three-months old when he was bundled by his grandmother onto the back of his father's buckboard, and the family were driven down to the Ferry Building through blazing streets.

Today, his hearing is slightly diminished but even in a noisy restaurant you could converse with him, and his mind is clear.

So clear that he still engages in a little day-trading. The stock market was Bill's second disaster in life. At the age of 25 years he lost $1 million - about $24 million in today's values - in the Wall Street crash of 1929.

How did his parents feel about that? I asked, his father, Angelo, being the founder of America's oldest Italian restaurant, the Fior d'Italia. 'They were worth more than I was, the whole family, we all made big money on the stock market at the time,' he replied calmly.

As Bill was the youngest of five children (though sadly his sister, Angiolina, died as a toddler), the figures sound astounding. So what did the family do?

'We kept trying bit by bit to get it back,' he said.

With bated breath I asked if he had faced another financial disaster with the recent stock market crash?

'Hardly at all. I was lucky, a couple of years ago I got out,' he said.

Bill and his late wife, Vera, did not have any children, and Vera died 18 years ago. 'I was lucky. I had a wonderful wife,' he said.

Tomorrow, Bill will be up at dawn and ready for his ride in a vintage car to the commemoration on Market Street.

Asked afterwards what he thought of Bill, Chief Scullion said he was 'pretty amazing! We could all do with what he's got to survive that long.'

During the award ceremony, Lee Houskeeper also paid tribute to Taren Sapienza who for many years had organized the events and who sadly died last year. She was represented by two of her sisters, Diane and Donna.

'She really focussed on the survivors,' said Diane, organizing their hospitality and making sure they had blankets and baskets of goodies.

Their father, Leo, was the last president of the South of Market Boys, who were the originators of the annual commemoration at Lotta's Fountain.

According to Lee, there will be the 'biggest and best and loudest parade' at 5 am. The cavalcade will proceed from the Westin St Francis and there will be a band from the SF German Music Association, who will be joined by members of other bands.

pics by Chris
flickr photostream:

104th Anniversary Events of 1906 Great Earthquake and Fire

2010-04-16T20:14:00.000-07:00

At 5.12 am eaxctly on Sunday, April 18, several hundred people will gather, some in period costumes, for a solemn pageant to reflect on the great devastation of San Francisco's 1906 earthquake and fire.

They will stand in the dark around Lotta's Fountain in the heart of the city on Market Street. A vintage fire truck and street car, and a band will be there along with representatives of the city and emergency services. As the clock reaches 5.12 am, the city sirens will wail and there will be bell clanging from the vintage vehicles.

Surrounded by emergency services, the fire, the police and members of the Emergency Preparedness team, 'it's the safest place to be,' said Lee Houskeeper, press agent for San Francisco Stories and organizer of the 104th commemoration. The city are using the anniversary to prepare San Francisco for the next great quake that has been forecast to occur before 2038.

The wreath laying ceremony is held at Lotta's Fountain because it was one of the few remaining structures in the street and became a focal point for stunned people to gather and post messages as they searched for loved ones.

The ceremony is a legacy of the South of Market Boys who began gathering there every April 18 from 1919, although there was one commemoration event two years after the quake, said Lee. Some of the people who will be there remember being there as children and are now taking their children.

The exact time of the 1906 Great Earthquake is uncertain. The main debate is between 5.11 am and 5.12 am, and some people put it at 5.13 am, he said.

The USGS call it 5.12 am, but even they had to get their information from San Francisco. 'They have estimated several times what the time should be. They can only use best estimates,' he said. They and the city appear to have settled it at 5.12 am in deference to Gloria Hansen, the city's historian and former Head Librarian.

About 3,000 people died, a quarter of a million were left homeless and about $8 billion of damage in today's equivalent was caused.

'To be specific, 522 city blocks, four square miles of the city, 2,593 acres, 28,188 buildings -- all destroyed. For 99 years, until Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, the San Francisco earthquake and fire stood as the largest natural disaster in U.S. history,' wrote Carl Nolte in the San Francisco Chronicle in a series of features at the time of the 100th anniversary.

The crowd will then travel on to a gold fire hydrant in the Mission District for a ceremonial spray painting. This hydrant, at 20th and Church Streets, is credited with the miraculous saving of the area with its historic churches. It was the only hydrant that had a water supply.

Firefighters and residents had to pull the heavy steam engines up the hill and fight the raging inferno throughout the night.

'The titanic battle lasted seven hours,' wrote Bill Cereske - http://www.naalarm.com/bill/golden.htm

'Hoses were used. Mops and buckets were used. Behind the fireline, homeowners were on their roofs beating out sparks and small fires with blankets, mops, casks of wine - anything that could be used. Doors from the demolished houses were used as heat shields until they too began to smolder. Exhausted firefighters would drop in their tracks, as volunteers took to their lines. Nurses moved through, administering stimulants. Through the night, the fight raged.'

So on Sunday, between 5.40 am and 6 am, residents will spray paint the hydrant in

memory of their loved ones.

The anniversary events also include two historic San Franciscan restaurants.

A Bloody Mary breakfast will be held at Lefty O'Doul's, near Union Square, from 5.30 - 11 am, where the traditional Sunday breakfasts have been held for about six years.

Manager John Fair will be there from 4 am getting everything ready.

'When you wake up in the morning and see the costumes and the fire-trucks, it really brings you back to those times,' he said. He recalled one diner, too young at 80 years to be a survivor, reflecting on how times were so different from when he was a kid.

The restaurant reflects the history of baseball. It was founded in 1958 by San Franciscan Francis 'Lefty' O'Doul, a New York Giants personality who became coach and manager of the San Francisco Seals.

Tomorrow afternoon, on Saturday at 4 pm, the survivor dinner will take place at John's Grill near Market Street. John's is one of the remaining period pieces of the city, a three-storied, wooden panelled restaurant with period furnishings. It was one of the film settings for The Maltese Falcon, and its walls are adorned with film memorabilia and photos of old San Francisco and well known patrons.

Owner John Konstin has been hosting anniversary dinners there for about 25 years.

'We used to fill up the whole place, of course the numbers have dwindled,' he said. The longevity of the survivors impresses him. 'When you least expect to see someone back the next year, you keep seeing them.'

He remembers Jeanette Scarpa Trapani who died last year at the age of 107. She lived in the city and was a patron there for 80 years.

'I asked her how she was able to live such a long and healthy life,' he said. 'She said it was the martinis!'

The survivor reunions have had great value for the survivors. 'A lot of people knew each other. This would be the place where they saw each other once a year. They would stay at the St Francis...and have dinner here,' he said.

Manager Neil Hayes won't be there today, but he was in the city for the 100th commemoration. 'My wife and I couldn't get near John's that day! Unfortunately, there was no getting our foot in the door,' he said.

By the 101st anniversary, Neil was working at John's and recalls there being two survivors present, surrounded by flash bulbs and the media.

'I think it's fantastic. A sure way of keeping the memory,' he said.

The earthquake is one of the great tragedies of America and he said it was important to show how the city has been raised up from the ashes.

A point Lee Houskeeper agrees with. The significance of San Francisco's achievement is another important reason for keeping the commemoration alive, he said. People all over the world who have been devastated by earthquakes look to San Francisco as the supreme example of a city restored from rubble.

Only One Survivor of 1906 Great Earthquake and Fire to Attend 104th Anniversary

2010-04-16T19:40:00.000-07:00

pictured, Bill Del Monte and Rose Cliver at 2009 anniversary

At 104-years-old, Bill Del Monte is both one of the greatest survivors and greatest losers along the West Coast.

He survived San Francisco's 1906 Great Earthquake and Fire, and as a young man lost the equivalent in today's money of about $24 million in the 1929 Wall Street crash.

This weekend, he will be feted in the city as the lone earthquake survivor who is able to attend the 104th anniversary events - and he is still day-trading!

'He was one of the biggest losers in the West Coast,' said Lee Houskeeper, press agent of San Francisco Stories who is the organizer of the anniversary commemoration. As a young man, Bill didn't go to college but began to dabble in stocks and shares, said Lee.

It was fortunate dabbling, for by his early twenties Bill had amassed a fortune of $1 million. He lost everything in the 1929 Wall Street crash and, to boot, had to spend the next few years paying taxes on non-existent earnings because he had invested in what is called 'selling short and buying futures,' Lee said.

Bill is undoubtedly an icon of disasters and survival, with the Wall Street crash still considered the greatest stock market disaster because of its far-reaching effects, the Great Quake, which remained the biggest natural disaster in America until Hurricane Katrina, and the fact that he is one of probably no more than 10 centenarians from the quake to still be alive.

And the only one that can cope with getting up at the crack of dawn to travel in the back of an open-topped vintage car for a ceremony at 5.12 am, the approximate time that the quake struck.

Lee has spent the last year scanning the nation and obituary columns to find out about survivors. He has been in direct contact with about six or seven, and said there are about ten in total whom he knows of. Given that the oldest person in America, a woman, died recently at the age of 114 years, he wouldn't be surprised if there were a few more that are simply not coming forward.

Last year, Bill was making his debut appearance at the San Franciscan ceremonies, although he had attended others in the Bay Area, together with survivor Rose Cliver, then 106-years-old. Rose, who will be 108 years in October, is still alive and living in Santa Rosa with her son and his wife. Last year, her niece, Gloria, described how Rose loved to gamble on slot machines, and despite hearing difficulties, had a mind ' as sharp as a tack.'

After the quake, Rose, her parents and 11 brothers and sisters took refuge in the hills at Bernal Heights and then lived in a tent in their backyard.

Bill was born in January 1904 in the back of the Fior D'Italia restaurant founded by his father, Angelo Del Monte. Today, the Fior D'Italia is America's oldest Italian restaurant. At three-months old and the youngest of six children - one sister sadly died as a toddler - Bill couldn't possibly remember the quake and fire. But his older brothers did. Bill was bundled by his grandmother onto the back of a buckboard with the rest of his family, and his brothers could recall it being driven down to the Ferry Building through streets alight on both sides.

Once at the Ferry Building, they escaped to a house they owned across the Bay and stayed there until they could return.

To read more of Bill & Rose's stories: http://lizinsanfrancisco.blogspot.com/2009/04/1906-san-francisco-earthquake_18.html

Among other Bay Area survivors that Lee has been able to catch up with is Nancy Stoner Sage*, who was 105-years-old in February. Nancy's family lost everything. Her mother died soon after the quake and her impoverished, jobless father gave up Nancy and her older sister, Margaret, for adoption by their grandparents.

In those days, said Lee, it was not uncommon for orphaned children to be given up for adoption. Financial straits were so dire, babies born in hospital were kept there by the hospital until medical fees had been paid.

Nancy ended up living in a miners' camp in Idaho and became a librarian until she retired in the late '70s. Lee discovered her living in Littleleton, Colorado, still as bright as a button.

'She plays cribbage every Sunday with her son, Darrell, and beats him!' he said.

Another survivor is 108-year-old Ruth Newman, living in Pebble Beach, 120 miles south of San Francisco. She was raised on a ranch on a fault line in Healdsburg, Santa Cruz. She's 'sharp as a tack, they say,' said Lee. 'She remembers the earthquake and living on a ranch on a hill at a dry creek road.'

Jeanette Scarpa Trapani died in the New Year at the age of 107 years. Herbert Heimie Hamrol, who for many years was thought to be the last known survivor, died at the age of 106 in February last year. Herbert was a local personality, attending every anniversary gathering and continuing to work in Andronico's Market in the Inner Sunset until shortly before his death.

The wreath laying and commemoration ceremony is at Lotta's Fountain on Market Street at 5.12 am on Sunday, followed by repainting of a gold fire hydrant in the Mission District, a Bloody Mary breakfast at Lefty O'Douls on Geary near Union Square for a $20 donation, and a showing of the film '1906' at the Westin St. Francis Hotel.

There is also a free tour of the city's water supplies on Saturday and, for a $60 donation, a survivor dinner at 4 pm at John's Grill on Ellis Street, just off Market Street. All of which are open to the public.

This year's anniversary may turn out to be both poignant and historic. 'It maybe the last we can have with a survivor that's willing to get up that early,' said Lee.

'We have been planning for some time for what we will do when there are no survivors because there are a huge group of people who want this to continue and because, in the end, San Francisco is the survivor,' he said.

In the meantime, he intends to make the most of the opportunity of honouring the survivors.

'These are the people we know who rebuilt the city from ashes.'

*Nancy Stoner Sage died yesterday

San Francisco Prepares to Commemorate 104th Anniversary of 1906 Great Earthquake and Fire

2010-04-16T09:46:00.000-07:00

pic of Lotta's Fountain on Market Street

As San Francisco is preparing to commemorate the 104th anniversary of the 1906 Great Earthquake and Fire, the Mayor and emergency services are focussing on readying the city for the next big quake.

A programme of commemorative events has been rolled out along with city plans for seismic retrofitting, with an emphasis on the need for every San Franciscan to be able to cope personally with a major emergency.

At the heart of the weekend events will be a wreath-laying ceremony at Lotta's Fountain on Market Street at 5.12 am on Sunday morning. There will also be an annual repainting in gold of a fire hydrant in the Mission District that helped save the Mission from fire, a survivor dinner and breakfast, a film-showing of the disaster, and a tour of the city's emergency water supplies.

The 7.8 quake struck with devastating force at 5.12 am on April 18, killing 3,000 people, leaving at least a quarter of a million homeless and causing, in today's currency, $8 billion in damage.

'Recent earthquakes in Haiti, Chile and Southern California are all too clear reminders that we must continue to prepare for the next major earthquake in our region,' said Mayor Gavin Newsom. 'We’ve made great progress in recent years, but we can never let up on our work to seismically reinforce our key facilities and infrastructure to withstand a major earthquake.'

In April 2008, scientists and engineers from various earthquake agencies including the USGS released a new report warning of a 99.7 per cent chance of a 6.7-plus quake in the next 30 years in the Greater Bay Area.

One of the top priorities is the upgrading of a high pressurize fire fighting water supply system, also known as the Auxiliary Water Supply System, which was built after the 1906 quake.

More than 40 repair and improvement projects are underway, part of plans that are expected to create 190,000 new construction-related jobs, said the Mayor and the President of the Board of Supervisors, David Chiu, in a press release. These include health centers and hospitals, libraries, culture centers, museums, including the new Academy of Sciences in the Golden Gate Park, terminals at San Francisco airport, and the drinking water system from the Hetch Hetchy reservoir in Yosemite.

In the past 20 years, 180 seismic projects have also been completed.

'We need to look ahead and ensure that our aging infrastructure, the backbone of our great City, is protected for our future generations,' said Supervisor Chiu. Despite the work that has already been done, 'we still have a long way to go in terms of seismic improvements and repair. Being able to respond quickly after an earthquake is critical to our survival and recovery as a city,' he said.

The Mayor and Supervisor Chiu had gathered earlier this week with Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White, Police Chief George Gascon, Executive Director of the Department of Emergency Management Vicki Hennessy and others to highlight emergency preparation.

'Emergency preparedness and planning should be a part of our everyday lives,' said Vicki Hennessy. 'This can be as easy as buying a few extra canned goods and batteries the next time you’re at the market or making a family emergency plan over dinner.'

They are asking people to check out the website www.72hours.org to learn more about individual preparation.

The programme of events, which they hope will attract many members of the public, are as follows:

Public Tour of Auxiliary Water Supply System
April 17
Twin Peaks Reservoir@ Marview Way at Farview Ct FROM 9-11 am
Pump Station #2 @ Van Ness and McDowell Road from 1-3 pm

John’s Grill Annual Survivor Dinner
April 17, 2010 @ 4 pm John’s Grill
63 Ellis St.
Reservations suggested; call (415) 986-0069 for more information

104th Annual Wreath Laying and Commemoration
April 18, 2010 @ 5:11 am
Lotta’s Fountain, Market St. at the intersection of Kearny, Third and Geary

Golden Fire Hydrant Painting Ceremony
April 18, 2010 @ 5:40 – 6:00 am
20th and Church Streets

Lefty O’Douls Annual Survivor Breakfast
April 18, 2010 @ 6:00 am
333 Geary St. (at Powell)

Screening of the film “1906”
April 18, 2010 @ 10 am
Westin St. Francis Hotel
335 Powell St.
RSVP Required; call (333) 377-4453 for more information

Steak Restaurants versus San Francisco's 'Monday Vegetarian Day'

2010-04-13T19:13:00.000-07:00

'I think what people eat is none of the business of the Board of Supervisors, whether it's potato chips or raw carrots,' said Al Petri, owner of Alfred's Steakhouse, the city's oldest, traditional steak restaurant.

'First of all, I and a lot of other businessmen in the city are not happy with a lot of decisions that have come out of city hall, and I think trying to legislate our lifestyle is none of their business,' said Al. Their role is to 'efficiently and competently manage the business of the city,' he added.

He strongly opposes the city's decision last week to name every Monday 'Vegetarian Day' in a bid to encourage people to eat more vegetables and less meat. The resolution, brought to city hall by Supervisor Sophie Maxwell, was prepared by members of the organizations In Defense of Animals, and the San Francisco Vegetarian Society.

Another steak restaurant manager, though, said, 'I'm encouraged that politicians are becoming more concerned about the dietary decisions their constituents make.'

Pete Osborne is manager of his family business, Momo's, with its trademark sunflower-yellow umbrellas opposite the San Francisco Giants' ballpark. During baseball season, he feeds thousands of fans.

Diet, he said, has become a national issue with the Obama administration and Michelle Obama's vegetable garden.

Moderation in meat-eating, however, is something both restaurateurs agreed on.

Like other restaurateurs, Al had known nothing beforehand about the resolution until his wife had called him that day and told him, "you want to see what there is in the news."'

However, if a Vegetarian Day had to go ahead, it would have made more sense to put it on a Friday, thought Al. 'If they made it on a Friday it could kick in with the Catholics....and have a larger base,' he said, referring to a tradition of not eating meat on Fridays, an association with Good Friday.

Although Al is a purveyor of fine cuts of aged beef from cattle fed only on grass and corn, he hasn't always been sinking his teeth into juicy steaks. He has lived on the other side of the dietary fence, and from his experience questions the benefits of a vegetarian lifestyle.

'I don't know if vegetarianism is much more healthy,' he said. 'I was a vegan for about one-and-a-half years, 25 years ago, and I don't think I was any healthier than I am now. I think a lot of it is psychological.'

'And I think individually our responsibility is to control our own excesses. A glass of wine is good, maybe a bottle of wine is bad.'

Behind part of the vegetarian philosophy, he said, is a belief system akin to Eastern beliefs where, he cited examples, one is 'not supposed to walk on flowers or swat flies.'

He considers meat-eating to be in our nature. 'If I want to be a vegetarian, a Protestant, an Islamist, I don't think that's in our DNA. But we have a need to eat meat, it's a protein source that goes back a long time to the hunter-tribal gatherers.

'I'm not advocating you slaughter your pet cat and make some sort of cat fricassee...' he said quickly, which led onto the issue of what meats are acceptable psychologically and in different cultures. 'A lot of people have this ethical thing about what animals you can kill. It's alright to kill a chicken but it's not okay to kill a steer. I think that's what this whole game is about,' he said.

He questions, too, the accuracy of scientific 'experts' in their claims over not only dietary benefits but the impact of animal husbandry on the environment. As an example, Hope Bohanec, Grassroots Campaigns Director of IDA, told city Supervisors that if San Franciscans dropped meat from their diets one day a week, that would equate to removing 123,000 cars from city streets.

'Is it proven or guess science?' Al asked. 'I don't think it's a position of the government to try and make these decisions for us without scientific fact.'

Alfred's maybe a steak restaurant, but it does cater for the non-carnivore. 'We get a number of vegetarians in here, and that has different variations, some will eat fish, some are vegans, and we accommodate them as a restaurant, whatever their needs are,' he said, adding, 'This doesn't necessarily mean we have a vegetarian emphasis on our menu.'

Thinking of the thousands of hotdog-loving Giants fans, I asked Pete Osborne, in reality what effect would the resolution have?

'From a business perspective, I'm not sure how it's going to affect us. We're known for doing a steak dinner,' he said. 'We do sell more hamburgers on a day of a ballgame than we would on a day of comparable business.'

Typically, he said, of 300 lunches on a game day, there would be 100 burgers, but on a non-baseball day, no more than 50. 'It has less to do with the clientele and more with the traditional eating habits associated with the ballpark,' he said.

So what does he think of an Orange and Black Culinary Attack, of nicely steamed carrots and black beans tucked inside hotdog and burger rolls?

'I'm not sure! But it's funny to think about it!!' he laughed, and suddenly remembered, 'We do sweet potato fries. They're orange! That would go!'

Pete has been to culinary school and is well researched and read about dietary issues, but has been working in the family business for 12 years, ever since he was 14-years-old. 'My training is from here, for sure!' he said.

How does he view Hope Bohanec's statement that eating meat is as harmful as smoking cigarettes?

'I think that refers specifically to the American diet because we have a tendency to eat too much meat. So I think it heightens awareness. It's a step in the right direction,' he said.

And as much as he enjoys meat, 'meat and only meat is a bad thing,' he asserted. ' It leads to heart disease and other illnesses. There needs to be a balanced diet.'

'Everything in moderation - and it couldn't be truer when it comes to the diet,' he said.

Ten Per Cent Reduction Offer on Vegan Pizzas on San Francisco's Monday Vegetarian Day

2010-04-12T19:20:00.000-07:00

A San Francisco pizza restaurant is offering customers a ten per cent reduction on vegan pizzas on Mondays.

Amici's pizza chain, which has two restaurants in the city, is putting their offer on the table following the passing of a resolution by the city's Board of Supervisors last week that from now on every Monday is to be known as Vegetarian Day.

While the manager of one of the busiest restaurants in the city, The Cheesecake Factory, says that they have many vegetarian items on their menu and can easily accommodate customers should there be a rush for vegetarian food.

Of the resolution passed last week, Richard Allum, Director of Marketing for Amici's East Coast Pizzeria, said, 'I think San Francisco is the perfect city for something like that. People in San Francisco tend to be very progressive and forward-thinking.'

First reaction of Alex Ross, manager of the Cheesecake Factory - pictured at back of the terrace overlooking Union Square - was, 'That's news to me. I wasn't aware of it, but this is great.'

However, he went on, 'We definitely have vegetarian items on the menu, eggplant sandwiches, pasta and many of our salads,' he said, listing just a few.

The Cheesecake Factory caters for many dietary restrictions and options, including seasonal religious festivals like Passover and Lent, he said, and showed an extensive menu with over 200 items spread over 21 pages. There were another 12 items on the 'specials.'

'So what's one more day, one day a week, 52 times a year. It wouldn't be too difficult to pull it off,' he said.

Amici's had been researching vegan cheeses. 'I'm not a vegetarian myself,' Richard Allum said, but had often found himself annoyed at the token offerings of vegetarian and vegan food on different restaurant menus. About 18 months ago they found a new product called Daiya.

'It's proven to be very popular,' he said, and so when the resolution came along, 'we thought it would be a great opportunity to showcase it - the Daiya.' Other vegan cheeses, he said, have either not melted or been oily, but this was of a perfect stretch and melt consistency, and bubbled on top of the pizza.

Not made of soy, but from the South American plant, cassava, Daiya seems to have set the vegan community alight with its cheese-like properties - judging from vegan reviews online. I sampled it from their restaurant opposite the Giants' ballpark and, presented with a good sprinkling of pepper and vegetables, couldn't tell the difference.

Last month Amici's entered their Asanté pizza into a competition at the annual Pizza Expo in Las Vegas. It was the first-ever vegan entry. 'It didn't win but it got some good recognition from that,' Richard said.

What he thought was important about the city's resolution was that it made clear that vegetarianism and vegan life-styles were equally valid.

The concept of choice was also what attracted Alex to the resolution. 'I think it's a very interesting idea. As a non-vegetarian, I think it would be difficult for me, but it's important for people to have choice.'

Hopefully, he said magnanimously, it will increase sales for restaurants that are vegetarian or vegan. But many restaurants like the Cheesecake Factory offer vegetarian options, he said, adding a plea to his regulars 'so please don't forget us!'

The Cheesecake Factory in San Francisco is the busiest in the chain on the continent of America, beaten only by Honolulu - 'we don't count them!' said Alex.

It is crowded throughout the day and evening, and doesn't take table reservations. It's location is a boon. Eight floors up on top of Macy's, it overlooks Union Square and has an outside terrace. And tourism in the city is booming.

Top Vegetarian Chef Concerned about San Francisco's 'Monday Vegetarian Days'

2010-04-12T14:30:00.000-07:00

One of the city's top vegetarian and vegan chefs has expressed concern about the political approach of enshrining a Vegetarian Day in an official resolution.

For today is the first-ever Vegetarian Day in San Francisco. No longer Monday but renamed last week by the Board of Supervisors. Their goal, to encourage San Franciscans to have one meatless day per week and eat more vegetables.

'It's kind of odd. I'm not opposed to it, not at all, in that it calls attention to people's diets,' said Chris Tucker, Executive Chef of the city's fine-dining vegan restaurant, Millenium.

But he has qualms about the effect the resolution will have on people and what it will do for the image of the city. He thinks people will see it as ''just more of that nanny government as before. And,' he said, 'just another thing that people will look at San Francisco and say "Oh, that's San Francisco! An island of craziness!"'

He went on in lampooning vein, 'I hear the naysayers. Monday is Vegetarian Day, Tuesday should be Foie Gras Day, Wednesday.....!!!' ...'San Francisco is a bunch of crunchy sprout-eating people...it's just funny!' he said. He had taken time out of his working day for the interview and was sitting in the empty restaurant inside the Hotel California on Geary, a few blocks from Union Square.

The resolution, passed unanimously last Tuesday, is designed to encourage restaurants and schools to serve vegetarian food on Mondays, for grocery stores to promote the sale of vegetables, and for the population to eat vegetables in a bid to improve people's health and have an environmental impact on the planet.

How, he queried, was it going to be enacted? Were they going to send round the vegetarian police?! Or spend city money promoting it?

'To me, politically, I think the Board of Supervisors spending time on this is a little strange,' he said, concerned also about the financial health of the city and its predicted budget shortfall of $483 million.

'To be quite honest, I hope they don't spend a dime on this. If you want to go down half a block away, I'll show you what they should be focussing on.' He pointed towards the Tenderloin area, noted for its jobless and homeless community.

San Francisco was elitist, he said, and also made it very difficult for small businesses and restaurants to survive, being one of the most expensive cities in America to work in.

The resolution would be a good thing if it changed people's eating habits and made them aware of where food came from, he said. But, 'Monday, Vegetarian Day. Great!' Just a name would achieve nothing. He wanted to see the 'trickle down' effect.

'There should be some curriculum in schools about diet, and the impact foods have on yourself and the environment, and that's where we should be targeting things, on education.'

Surprisingly, perhaps, while he and his staff obviously have a lot of positive things to say about vegetables, they are occasional meat-eaters.

'A lot of people in this restaurant are not vegetarians or vegan, we just like this food and eat it most of the time,' he said. 'I'm not vegetarian.' He eats 'sea food once in a while and a little bit of meat, but I eat this way most of the time because I like it.'

As a restaurateur, Chris loves working with local farmers. He grew up in farm country in New Jersey at a time when 'there was a real disconnect' with what farmers grew and restaurants served. But the 'local cuisine' movement has changed all of that.

How will the resolution affect restaurants?

It might attract new clients to vegetarian restaurants, he said, but although most chefs in San Francisco produce meat-based cuisine, there were so many talented chefs and many already producing regional Italian cuisine which is fairly vegetable-based, he said, that he thought it wouldn't make much difference.

'Everyone in this town can cook great vegetables.'

Millenium, who provided the food for the private party in Supervisor Sophie Maxwell's office after the resolution was passed, combine a sophisticated, fine-dining cuisine with a casual atmosphere.

'The depth and scope of what we can do with vegetable-based products is endless,' Chris said. 'When I step away from it, I hope it will be the best-ever in the history of restaurants because of what we have done.'

When he opened up, people didn't give him one year to survive. He is thriving after 16 years.

Tim Lincecum Two Time Winner of Cy Young Award Presented with Trophy at AT & T Park

2010-04-10T21:14:00.000-07:00

Tonight was Tim Lincecum's night.

The San Francisco Giants pitcher, one of the top pitchers in baseball, was presented with the Cy Young Award for the second consecutive year before tonight's game against the Atlanta Braves at the AT & T Park.

Tim had had a 'spectacular season' said Mike Krukow, veteran Giants broadcaster and MC for the occasion. Holding the Cy Young trophy in his hands, Tim appeared overcome with emotion.

'Ummmm!' he said, and hesitated, flanked by the Giants and his proud father, Chris. A nearly-full stadium of fans erupted in cheers and applause.

However, Tim found his voice after a minute and it was to his fans that he first gave credit. First of all, he said, he wanted to thank his fans 'who have given me so much support.'

'Also my team mates. Bengie's the biggest part of that,' he said, of catcher Bengie Molina.

Winning the NL Cy Young Award back-to-back gives Tim an illustrious list of achievements: one of only four baseball players ever to win it back-to-back; the first player to win it twice in his first two full seasons in Major League Baseball; and the only Giant to win it twice.

Only one other Giant has ever won the award, and that was Mike McCormick in 1967. Tim, from Washington State, will be 26-years-old in June, and was the youngest-ever winner of the award when he first won it in 2008.

In February, a new contract was signed giving him $23 million over two years.

Before the presentation, a video of Tim receiving the award formally in New York in January was shown on the jumbotron.

Afterwards there were messages from Greg Maddux, Cy Young Award winner for four consecutive years in '92-'95; ex-Giants who won the award with other teams, Vida Blue in '71, and Gaylord Perry in '72 and '78 and, at 40 years, the oldest player to receive it; and Ken Griffey Jr. a record achiever of home runs and player from Tim's home team, the Seattle Mariners.

Pics shows Tim with his father and below Greg Maddux

The game then opened, the second of the series against the Atlanta Braves, whom the Giants beat in a historical home opener yesterday. After the game there will be fireworks with a musical tribute to Tim.

Tim is scheduled to play tomorrow on the day that
will see celebrations of the 10th anniversary of the first game played at the AT &T Park, originally called Pacific Bell Park, with a reunion with the 2000 team including Barry Bonds, Ellis Burks and Jeff Kent.

SF Giants Fans Celebrate Opening Day 2010 in Style!

2010-04-10T13:41:00.000-07:00

The SF Giants fans know how to celebrate their Opening Day in style. And with a breathtaking win over the Atlanta Braves, giving them an unbroken run so far, there was plenty to celebrate.....see previous blogs

Six-month-old Arielly, though, in baby-pink Giants' outfit, was not concerned with numbers as she

dangled happily in front of her father, Julio. She was making her debut appearance.

'She's happy to be here for her first game. She has five more games to go this year,' said Julio. Julio, there also with his brother-in-law, Marcos, has been a fan 'since I was her age.'

His favourite memory?

Will Clark's base hit in the play-offs against the Chicago Cubs in 1989.

In more exuberant manner, Bob, Jim and Billy from the Bay Area were having a blast! 'I just bought this shirt today,' said Jim. All three are confident that the Giants' will get to the play-offs.

And Stephen brightened up the Arcade area with his Pablo 'Panda' Sandoval costume. Does he often go out dressed like that?

'Yeah!' he said. With the Giants trailing 4-2 at the time and the end of the ninth inning approaching, he shrugged off the game as 'been okay!' Just before Benjie Molina gave a good hit and made a run to first base that put the fans hearts in mouths and raised the tension.

Behind the Arcade was McCovey Cove where boaters celebrated in their own style on the water.

But it wasn't just fireworks, streamers, fighter jets and excitement in the air at the ballpark that afternoon. It was good old-fashioned love! Three guys proposed to their girlfriends via jumbotron messages.

As 42,940 fans poured exultantly out of the ballpark,
they savoured a 5-4 victory over the Atlanta Braves in a record-breaking near four-and-a-quarter-hour Opening Day game.

It is the longest home opener in San Francisco history, the Giants later announced on their website.

'The thing we like,' said Ted, speaking on behalf of his friend and himself, 'is that there's no clock in baseball.'

Unless, of course, he added, it got to midnight and then someone might call it a night!

'Everything in America is fast, fast, fast. But this game is 160 years old,' he said, and so not designed around clocks.

His tee-shirt summed up the feelings of the fans.

Had he played hooky to watch the game, and how many people did he think had?

'I'm self-employed,' he replied, 'and many around here are.' But out of the crowd in the ballpark, 'probably a third to a half,' he reckoned.

Tonight pitcher Tim Lincecum will be presented with the Cy Young Award trophy, his second consecutive year of winning it. The presentation takes place at 6.30 pm followed by the second game against the Atlantia Braves. At the end of which, there will be fireworks at McCovey Cove featuring a musical tribute to Lincecum

SF Giants 2010 Opening Day!

2010-04-10T08:38:00.000-07:00

The Opening Day for the Giants in San Francisco is as much about fashion and food as baseball. In orange and black outfits, and panda costumes aka Pablo 'Panda' Sandoval, it's a day for fans to dress as sporting glitterati.

And while the city have just named every Monday 'Vegetarian Day,' they might just as well call this 'Giants' Sick Day!' Alongside the ballpark, with just under two hours to go to the Opening Pitch, fans crowded onto outside tables at the newly-opened Mejita restaurant. There, the first request for a pic set the scene, being met with concerned and hasty denial.

'No! 'I'm playing hooky and I don't want anyone to see me!' said a lady, as she tucked into a plate of Mexican food with three friends.

Around the corner, people were streaming onto the Willie Mays Plaza, and staff were doing a great job in ushering what would be almost 43,000 fans through the massive, dark-green gates, including carrying out bag searches. Free calendars were being handed out, too, at the entrances.

Inside the teeming ballpark, Sara, though, had no such qualms of 'sick day!' as she sported a panda hat and number 48 shirt of Pablo Sandoval.

'I'm partial to his number. We sit just past third base so we get to see him close up,' she said. But she's also a huge fan of him apart from his number. 'He's a great guy! We've spoken to him and he's signed autographs for us,' she said.

A born and bred San Franciscan, she's a third generation Giants' fan.

On John's head was a shiny history of the Giants encapsulated in the badges pinned to his cap. Covering the years from 1988, they are mostly of opening days, but two specials are Barry Bonds' 500th home run and the 2002 World Series.

'I love it, this is my 24th consecutive opening day,' he said. A fan since 1951, and living 70 miles south of the city, he has high hopes.

'I think we may see a play-off for this year,' he said.

Such was Michelle's enthusiasm to be there, she had flown in overnight from Indiana, leaving at 3.30 am ET and half-an-hour past midnight, San Francisco time.

'I had heard about the 10th Anniversary and I'm going to all three games in the series,' she said.

Strings of orange beads matched her carefully-teamed outfit. 'I'm a huge fan, ever since this ballpark opened up,' she said.

Ken has been a fan for much longer, with memories going back to Candlestick Park from where the Giants moved ten years ago.

'I remember when I was younger and in school and summer school, and we would go on trips to the ballpark,' he said.

The difference between the AT & T Park and Candlestick?

'Less windy!' he said.

The official celebrations for the 10th Anniversary of the opening of the AT & T Park take place on Sunday with a reunion with some of the 2000 National League West Division Championship team, including Barry Bonds - pic of team displayed on jumbotron

Bobby, from San Francisco, was orange and black from head to toe. On his seventh Opening Day extravaganza, he had brought his four-year-old son with him for his first!

Confident about the Giants making the play-offs, he was hopeful of a place in the World Series and his favourite player is Tim Lincecum.

Will he be buying a newly-designed Lincecum wig with its trademark long black hair?

He will. His orange and black wig is soon to be consigned to history.
'This one is three years old and I'm going to update it!' he said.

SF Giants Opening Home Game Ceremony 2010

2010-04-09T21:24:00.000-07:00

The Giants' Opening Day ceremony befitted their beautiful stadium before a capacity crowd of 42,940 fans this afternoon.

The ceremonial Opening Pitch was thrown and caught by two 49er Hall of Famers, Jerry Rice and Steve Young.

Before that, as the national anthem was sung by singer-song writer Matt Nathanson- Come On Get Higher - a pitch-sized Amercan flag was unfurled, two fighter jets flew overhead and streamers and fireworks cascaded into the air.

'That was sweet man!' exclaimed one fan.

The sparkling green pitch with its smoothed and sculptured soil areas invited play. But also not before all the players had been introduced to excited applause.

The 2010 season was truly underway!

Colours were presented by four members of the Police Mounted Unit. There was also a minute's silence for Giants' members who have died during the past year. Remembered were Rick Fragulia, an usher for 50 years, former pitcher Billy Hoeft, Ted Rosenberg, one of the original investors in the Giants, and Sue Burns, their largest shareholder and 'team mom.'
The Giants, said the announcer in a special tribute, said they would never forget their 'beloved Sue Burns and we will miss her every day.'

SF Giants Opening Day in San Francisco!

2010-04-09T20:20:00.000-07:00

It's been the sickest - discreet cough! - and one of the happiest days in San Francisco. 'High fives' were finally raised in jubilation as the Giants won their opening home game against the Atlanta Braves after an epic 13 innings in a record-breaking near four-and-a-quarter hours.

It was a tier-hanger of a game in front of a sell-out 42,940 crowd, with the winning score achieved by Aaron Rowand's batting and a sprawling dive-for-life onto first base, and a home-run by Juan Uribe. It gave the Giants a 5-4 victory, played out in glorious sunshine and temperatures in the 70s.

The ceremonial opening pitch, a well-kept secret, was thrown by 49er and Hall of Famer Jerry Rice to his former team mate and fellow Hall of Famer, Steve Young.

But the game hung perilously in the balance several times over. With the clock ticking to 4.45 pm, the Braves had the bases loaded. On their feet, Giants fans noisily willed on their pitchers, first Brian Wilson - 'shut this guy down Wilson!' - and then Sergio Romo. The danger passed with John Bowker catching out a Braves player.

Then it was the Giants' turn to be so near yet so far! Pablo Sandoval made it to third base but not beyond.

At 5.25 pm the Braves manager Bobby Cox, came out onto the pitch to argue with an umpire. 'Get him out!' booed the fans as the manager was ejected. Again the Braves made it to to third base, but pitcher Jeremy Affeldt saved the day.

Good pitching from Affeldt?

'Of course! No runs, it's beautiful!' said fan, Troy.

By mid-afternoon the Giants had been trailing 4-0. At around 3.30 pm, Jason - pic left - commented of their play, 'I'm a little disappointed for the home team but there's still plenty of time for us to win. Hope springs eternal on Opening Day!'

His words couldn't have been truer. Minutes later Rowand and Edgar Renteria made the first home runs of the 2010 season at the AT & T ballpark.

In the ninth inning, Renteria made a home-run and Velez also scored which caused the stadium to erupt and opened up opportunity with extra innings. The time was 4.20 pm.

For David - on right - Man of the Match was 'the whole team of the Giants,' while Troy singled out Rowand.

Sitting next to me was Sharon - she didn't want her pic taken - whose favourite player is Rowand. He hadn't let her down, catching a player out as well as his home-run.

'He was great!' she said. Sitting high up in the Arcade with our backs to McCovey Cove, we had bought the very last two tickets for the entire stadium late yesterday afternoon - not counting ticket 'scalpers'.

She works in LA - 'I've a co-worker who's a huge Braves fan!' - and was in town visiting family. Once a year she sees the the Giants, and this is her first opening game. She'd picked the ideal game.

Giants Ready for Opening Home Game After Weeks of Banner Displays and Ground Preparation!

2010-04-09T09:20:00.000-07:00

Fever is mounting as the Giants are due to play their opening home game against the Atlanta Braves in a few hours time before a sell-out crowd.

The Opening Pitcher is still being kept as a 'mystery man'.

But for weeks now, around the streets of San Francisco there has been no doubt that the Giants are coming back, and with a vengeance, as bright orange banners of their top pitchers have filled the air. Especially along the Embarcadero forming an orange avenue just up from the ballpark and towards the Bay Bridge.

While two-time Cy Young Award winner, Tim Lincecum, has had special MUNI honour. His poster has been placed on the side of MUNI trains so Tim has been seen in action gliding around the city!

'There's Magic Inside' is the theme.

'Panda' is Pablo Sandoval. 'There's Nasty Inside' is Brian Wilson, 'Fire' is Matt Cain, and 'Hook' is Barry Zito.

By yesterday afternoon the ballpark was taped up and ready. Inside, the grass was glistening green, the pitch levelled and smooth and impeccably prepared after weeks of hard work by Head Groundsman Greg Elliott and his team.

The game starts at 1.35 pm. After three days of playing the Atlanta Braves, the Giants immediately move on to challenge the Pittsburgh Pirates, also at home. Earlier this week they beat the Houston Astros 10-4 in their opening games of the season.

Tomorrow is the Cy Young Award night when Tim Lincecum will be presented with his award at 6.30 pm before the game. At the end of the game will be fireworks, one of the Giants' popular extravaganzas that light up the Bay and McCovey Cove.

SF Giants Sell-out for Opening Home Game Against Atlanta Braves

2010-04-08T21:02:00.000-07:00

The Giants' opening home game tomorrow against the Atlanta Braves is a sell out!

The very last ticket went at 4.42 this afternoon - and I purchased it! Waving it afterwards beneath the imposing statue of Willie Mays outside the entrance to the AT & T ballpark, it felt more like Willie Wonka and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory revisited.

Unluckiest person of the afternoon was Monty, the first person to be told all the tickets had gone. It was a double whammy for the Giants fan visiting from New York.
Minutes earlier he had been at the front of the small late afternoon queue and been offered a ticket. But he went to confer with a friend waiting for him in a car at the sidewalk about the seating detail, as his friend had already purchased a ticket.

And when he returned, he discovered too late that it been almost the last ticket and there were no more to be had.

'I'm very disappointed,' he said.

A minute after Monty had left the ticket window, the sales lady had announced, 'There's only one ticket left!' The girls in the queue in front of me - pic below - didn't want only one, so that left me.

It cost $70 and is in the Arcade. The ballpark has a seating capacity of over 41,000.

Next to face disappointment were a group of university graduates from London enjoying a two-week tour of California.

Nick, Sarah, Finbarr, Liz and Alex had been to Vegas and LA, and were now in the city and had multiple reasons for wanting to see the game.

Sports lovers, they knew it was the opening home game of the season and had been looking forward both to the game and to seeing the ballpark in its stunning location. It would also have been a great experience for them as well as an opportunity for a slice of American culture.

Already they had spent some of their holiday watching baseball on TV, and some of them had been to hockey and basketball games. Had there been a football game nearby, they would have gone to that too.

'We'll probably visit a vineyard tomorrow instead,' said Liz, keeping their spirits up with thoughts of another aspect of California culture.

A wise decision in all probability. Only 30 tickets had been on sale today and, asked if tickets would become available tomorrow through 'returns', the ticket lady said with confidence, 'Unlikely!'

The game starts at 1.35 pm with the Giants on a high. They won their opening away games against the Houston Astros 10-4.

San Francisco Declares Mondays 'Vegetarian Day'

2010-04-06T18:10:00.000-07:00

San Francisco has taken a leap into the world of vegetarianism today with the Board of Supervisors voting this afternoon to declare every Monday 'Vegetarian Day.'

It is the first city in the country to dedicate one day a week to vegetarianism, a move that will protect the planet and improve people's health, said Supervisor Sophie Maxwell, who brought the resolution before the Board.

'It feels good. It feels right and it feels important that you're giving people an alternative that used to be on the fringe but is now mainstream. You can go anywhere and have a vegetarian meal and people don't look at you as if you're crazy,' she said.

The resolution means that the city will encourage restaurants and schools to serve vegetables instead of meat for dinner on Mondays, and encourage grocery stores to promote the sale of vegetables.

Supervisor Maxwell has been a vegetarian for over 35 years, ever since she found herself gazing into the eyes of the cows at the Cow Palace. 'I thought, "I don't need to eat you to survive."'

She was strolling to her office after the victory this afternoon. 'Look at elephants. They're the biggest animals on the planet and they're vegetarian. They do okay!' she said.

Behind the resolution were Hope Bohanec, Grassroots Campaigns Director of In Defense of Animals (IDA), and Dixie Mahy, President of the San Francisco Vegetarian Society. Together they spent the last four months writing it to present it to Supervisor Maxwell.

During the public comment time at the Board meeting, Hope told the Supervisors that the latest 2009 report from environmental advisors to the World Bank had found that animals and their by-products were responsible for 32.6 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year, or 51 per cent of the world's total.

Her organization, she said, had discovered that if San Franciscans cut meat out of their diet for one day a week, it would save over 378 million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions, the equivalent of taking 123,000 cars off the city streets.

Speaking afterwards at the - vegetarian, of course! - party in her office, Supervisor Maxwell said there had been a great amount of media interest in the resolution, much of it asking critical questions about the possible negative economic effect a vegetarian move would have on restaurant businesses.

'I don't think it will have any negative impact. We are just asking for options. It may bring more clients in who are asking for plant-based food,' she said.

'It was my idea to do this,' said Hope Bohanec, whose view on meat is that 'any amount is a risk factor, like smoking.'

Meat, she claims, with its saturated fat, cholesterol, zero fibre and dearth of vitamins causes chronic degenerative diseases, heart disease, strokes and cancer. Whereas plants are high in fibre, anti-oxidants and vitamins and are free of saturated fat.

'I'm not saying if you eat chicken once a week you are going to keel over and die,' she added. But she does see meat as a risk factor to health.

Her opinion of diet advice given by medical associations like the American Diabetes Association and the American Cancer Society is that they are almost vegetarian.

'They just don't come right out and say "eat vegetarian", but that's the way they're going,' she said.

What about the benefits of iron in red meat?

Her answer is that it is also supplied in green, leafy vegetables, and that one needs to look at the balance of benefits.

'If you look at plant foods, there's just nothing but benefits,' she said.

The first title for the resolution, said Dixie, was 'Meat-Out Monday' but Supervisor Maxwell felt that that would have been too radical and would not have been accepted by the Board.

'No meat sounds too harsh,' agreed Dixie. She has been a vegetarian for 52 years, 32 years of those as a vegan, and is a slim, sprightly 76-year-old. 'I don't have any medical problems,' she said.

She and her vegetarian colleagues don't intend to stop at Vegetarian Mondays.

'This is the beginning. We are just getting our toe in the door. We'll embellish it when it feels right,' she said.

'Feeling right' might be in 2012 when the city hosts the annual conference of the International Vegetarian Union.

Will Supervisor Maxwell be promoting further vegetarian options on the political table?

'I believe in consensus and collective leadership,' she said, so will not be campaigning herself. But she would like to see it coming from a grassroots movement among the people.

A second resolution she proposed and was accepted was for the city to commend businesses that use only cage-free eggs, and to encourage others to join them. The resolution was the result of a proposition voted on across the state of California that produced a 63% support, with 71 per cent support in San Francisco, she said.

pic shows supporters of the resolution, many of whom spoke during the public comment time, with Dixie in red and Hope, left of Supervisor Maxwell (center)

SF Giants Opening Game of 2010 Season Celebrated at AT & T Park

2010-04-05T19:46:00.000-07:00

The San Francisco Giants might have been thousands of miles away in Houston for their opening game of the 2010 season today, but the hearts of their fans were with them, hundreds cheering them on in their baseball park in the city.

A free event given by the Giants and Comcast SportsNet had fans celebrating at home...see previous blog.

Inside the ballpark, former players Vida Blue and Jeffrey 'HacMan' Leonard were thrilling fans by signing autographs.

'I'm just glad to meet them because I've seen them play a couple of years ago on television,' said 18-year-old Nicholas from the Bay Area...pic with Jeffrey Leonard.

And seven-year-old Nathan now has a bat with a difference! Both players signed it for him...pic withVida Blue

'I don't know all the players but I know a lot of them from TV,' he said, giving a demonstration swing.

Does he play?

'I probably will next season because I signed up too late this year,' he said.

In the stands, as the game was progessing, was someone who must be a contender for one of the youngest-ever Giants fans.

Eight-month-old Isabella was there with mum, Jovan, and dad, Kenneth. And beautifully dressed for the occasion. Her headband

was handmade from a website Jovan had found online, and her jersey was from the Giants' store.

Is she going to be a Giants' fan was somewhat of a superfluous question.

'Yes she will be!' said Jovan and Kenneth in synch! 'Yes, she already is!' clarified Jovan. 'Last year I was pregnant with her and she came to a lot of games.'

Jovan has only been a Giants fan herself for about three years, through her husband, but Kenneth has followed the team for about 12 or 13 years.

His predictions for this season?

'I think Tim Lincecum is going to win a third Cy Young Award. If he wins a third one, I don't think the Giants can afford it. I hate to say it,' he said.

With just under an hour into the game, the Giants were winning 3-0.

'Can they hold it?'

'Yes, they will!' said Jovan and Kenneth.

And they were right....the game closed with a satisfying 5-2 victory to the Giants over the Astros. The next game is tomorrow afternoon.

SF Giants Opener Against Houston Astros - Free Viewing at AT & T Park

2010-04-05T19:07:00.000-07:00

It didn't need the sun, although it shone beautifully, to bring out the smiles on the faces of thousands of Giants' fans as they celebrated the opening of the 2010 season at the AT & T baseball park this afternoon.

The Giants were playing their opening game in Houston against the Astros and a free event with hotdogs, giveaways and autograph signings of former players were part of a jumobotron viewing party.

The gates at the Willie Mays Plaza opened at 3 pm and three thousand hotdogs were given away. Christin and Garron were about to tuck in. 'I love that!' Christin said of the hotdog offer. 'That's what got us walking in!'

'Fantastic!' agreed Garron. The couple work opposite the ballpark. However, Christin really does have more of an interest in the Giants than food! A San Franciscan, she is a lifelong, diehard fan who has endured many a weather-beating at the Giants' former home at Candlestick Park.

'We used to laugh at the tourists who came in their tee-shirts and shorts. We don't have to do that here, it's so warm and sunny,' she said.

Today, with the opening of the season, the Giants are celebrating the 10th Anniversary of their move from Candlestick to the AT & T Park.

Garron describes himself as a 'recent transplant' to the city. His loyalties are with the Atlanta Brewers but he had plenty of compliments for the Giants. 'I've always liked the Giants. They weren't one of my hated teams,' he said.

The game started just after 4 pm with Cy Young Award winning pitcher Tim Lincecum on the mound in Houston.

But not before a presidential Opening Pitch had been thrown by George H.W. Bush.

It wasn't long before the fans in the ballpark in San Francisco were cheering for the home runs. When John Bowker got an RBI - Run batted in, Mark, (lt), and Sean were jubilant!

With the Giants already in the lead by 3-0, there was much to celebrate!

cont in next blog

SF Giants Celebrate 10th Anniversary of Move to AT & T Park from Candlestick Park - One Lifelong Fan's Nostalgia

2010-04-05T14:46:00.000-07:00

When the San Francisco Giants play their opening game of the season in Houston this afternoon, it will mark the tenth anniversary of their move to their home at the AT & T Park, south of the centre of the city.

David is a lifelong Giants fan who has nostalgic memories of the old Candlestick Park, the good and the bad, and their move in 2000.

'I have four brothers and my dad used to take us out to Candlestick Park, take us out to the bleachers, and back then they were bleachers, wooden benches all the way across!' he recalled.

It was probably 1968, he thought, when his dad first took him along. 'We still had Willie Mays out there, Willie McCovey, the Alou brothers, Matty, Felipe, Jesus, all three of them played the field for us, left, center, right,' he said.

'We had Juan Marichal,' he said, adding to the list. 'He completed half of the games he started, which is unheard of now.'

His memories of Candlestick Park are chilly and windy. 'I remember any time we went out there, it was time to get out your heavy coats and your blankets.' The stadium, now the home of the 49ers football team, is on the bay south of the city.

The wind not only affected temperatures but play. 'My dad said if it wasn't for that wind blowing, Willie Mays would have broken the Home Run record.' A view that was shared by many people, added David.

And then the amazing stadium, with its address of 24 Willie Mays Plaza, south of the centre of the city opened up. David was there on Opening Day. 'It was so different compared to Candlestick. It was an event just to walk around the shops and the food stalls. At Candlestick, the vendors came to you!' he said. 'There was great excitement. Everybody was happy, it was a hopeful feeling,' he recalled.

He remembers boats sailing up the creek - pictured behind him - to sit in McCovey Cove and wait for the 'splash downs,' and also remembers there being one in the very first game that was held there!

The players that stand out in David's mind during the move to the AT & T Park were Barry Bonds, one of the greatest-ever baseball players, Jeff Kent and Kevin Mitchell, both winners of the National League's Most Valuable Player award, and 'Matt the Bat' Matt Williams.

The stadium - only named AT & T Park in 2006 and originally called Pacific Bell Park, then SBC Park - arguably has the most stunning views of a baseball stadium. On a sunny day, it's an experience just to sit high up in the stands and gaze out across San Francisco Bay.

Not surprisingly, with such a smart stadium, new fans were attracted to the game. 'There were much more family, much more novice kind of fans,' said David.

Candlestick Park was for hardcore fans, much more so when the seasons were lean and the team was on hard times. David and his family were among them. 'We were out there at least 20 times a season,' he said.

However, Candlestick Park days might have been bleak weather-wise, but David looks back to a warmth of camaraderie with the players. 'It seemed the players were much more in touch with their fans at Candlestick. After the games the players would be out in the carpark signing autographs. Now you have to pay for their autographs or its only on special days,' he said.

David"s Best Player?

'It would have to be Willie Mays. He was just an all-round player. There was never a dull moment with him.'

Best Season?

'I would have to say the World Series with the Angels. That was a beautiful season. (The Anaheim Angels defeated the Giants by four games to three in 2002)

'And the playoff against the Pittsburgh Pirates. That was incredible to see Roberto Clemente and Willie Mays, they were the two titans of the time.'

Was he at Candlestick Park when the huge 1989 Loma Prieta quake struck as the World Series, a Bay Area battle between the Giants and Oakland Athletics, was about to start?

'No, but I remember that day I was working in Brisbane (opposite). It was exactly 5.04 pm and we were watching the game on TV. I remember the announcer saying the stadium was shaking...and just after they said it, we felt it.'

The quake was so severe, David and his colleagues were sent home, and, stopping off at a gas station on the way, he bumped into Oakland Athletics player Jose Cansenco. 'I said "hello" and he signed a couple of autographs and then he said he had to go. Probably because we were all Giants fans!' laughed David.

Hopes for this year?

'There's a good feeling for this year. It's rare when you get that good feeling without there being named players. I'm looking to see Andres Torres and Travis Ishikawa come alive.'

And what of the girls' heartthrob, two-time Cy Young Award winner, Tim Lincecum?

'He brings the game a sense of "regular-guy", he's not a prima donna.'

David's family tradition with the Giants is continuing. His son, Joseph, is a fan, and his six-year-old grandson, Julian, playing in his first year in the Little League, will be going along with his grandpa.

Unfortunately, David is working today and so won't be at the free jumbotron viewing in the ballpark that will be showing the Giants opening game being played away against the Houston Astros.

The game is at 4.05 pm but the ballpark gates open at 3 pm with free hotdogs for the first 5,000 fans. Sponsored by the Giants, and Comcast SportsNet who also have giveaways for the first 2,000 fans, there will be a chance to visit the field and dugouts, and have autograph signings from Giants alumni.

Said David, 'But I'll be there in spirit and hear all the cheering as I pass by!'

WonderCon 2010 Celebrates Comics, Sci Fi and Fantasy

2010-04-03T20:28:00.000-07:00

WonderCon 2010 is a conference celebrating the world of comics, sci fi and fantasy...see previous blog

Some, however, like Badger, Thalisha, Douglas and Shellee were not, apparently, despite appearances, in costume!

'It's pretty much us!' said Badger. The friends, it seems, spend much of their lives as Victorian

sci-fi characters, a genre known as Steam Punk.

'This is my first time here,' said Douglas, who said he had enjoyed everything about the event from the people he had met, to seeing 'everyone else dressed in amazing costumes,' and the fictional displays of adult and children's cartoons.

Also the actors. Around the center, Douglas had spotted actors from 'movies I have enjoyed from when I was five all the way up to the videos I watched last night!'

Other people were there there for the fun and with a professional interest. Like Lilleah, a brilliantly coloured unicorn from the video game Robot Unicorn Attack. She runs the business, www.BeastCub.com, that provides artistic animal costumes.

But if actors charging fees for autographs presented problems for some conference goers, there were no such problems for fans of cartoon writer and illustrator, Darwyn Cooke. He was generously signing his book, 'The Hunter', an adaptation of Richard Stark's book, for free. Also there for fans was a $2 preview of his next offering, The Outfit, which fans could buy and which was freely autographed.

'It goes on and on!' said Darwyn of his autographs. He'd been an hour at the table where I met him, but had other tables around the conference. 'It stops looking like a name at a certain point!'

But his fans were not disappointed. Michael, of Foster City, who said he goes to the conference every year, was delighted with his signed book.

What took Darwyn into the world of comic illustrating?

'Love of it - ie comics - as a child and a love of drawing. They come together very easily when you're young. And it just never left me.'

It took Darwyn six months to complete The Hunter. He expects to finish The Outfit by the end of May, and for it to be on sale in October.

Tonight the Masquerade costume competition will be held, where costumes have to be both original and handmade.

WonderCon 2010 Hits San Francisco!

2010-04-03T19:52:00.000-07:00

The streets of San Francisco have taken a comic turn this weekend as thousands of people, many in fancy dress, have arrived for a conference celebrating comics, sci-fi and fantasy.

WonderCon 2010 is taking place at the Moscone Center, a gathering of the superstars of writers, illustrators and actors from the world of comics and films, together with publishers, dealers and fans. Tomorrow, actors Nicolas Cage and Zachary Levi - 'Chuck' in the TV show - are due to appear.

Outside the Moscone Center, Mette, Bryan, Elena and Chris were just leaving.

'I'm just here in general to dress up in the conference and to see which people have shown up,' said Elena, meaning the vendors, actors and artists. She and Chris were characters from Watchman, the comic and film. Before the weekend was over she was hoping to find James Marsters, of Torchwood and Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame.

Brian was Resident Evil, a film and video game, while Mette described herself as a rif of the evil Time Lord of Dr Who. She pointed to the punk element of trainers, a trademark of the last and one of the most popular-ever Dr Whos, actor David Tennant.

For Chris, Wondercon is about two things, to dress in costume and to take photos. He enjoys the camaraderie. 'A lot of the time I'm chatting to people in between taking photos,' he said.

Inside the center, the floor was decorated with stalls plying comics and memorabilia. Actors, writers and illustrators met their fans and signed autographs, there were talks on aspects of comics, movies and TV shows, and people in imaginative character costumes provided entertainment and photo opportunities.

It was easy to tell who Gabriel and Garrett were, as Batman and the Joker. This was Garrett's first Wondercon.

'It's a lot of fun, everyone's really nice,' he said. But he hadn't been prepared for his popularity! 'I didn't expect everyone would want to take my picture!'

With them was Erin as Anarchy from DC Comics. 'It's just so much fun,' said Erin, who had met Jeff Johns, writer of the newest version of Teen Titans.

However, there was a downside she thought to the plethora of actors offering autographs. 'It's sad. All the big actors charge for their autographs,' she said. James Marsters, who has appeared in a string of popular TV shows, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Smallville, Torchwood, and films P.S. I Love You and Dragonball Evolution, and is currently in the TV show, Caprica, was charging $45, while last year, Mark Hamill, actor of Luke Skywalker and voice of the Joker in the animated version of Batman, charged $100.

According to the WonderCon website, the guest list included comics legends Murphy Anderson, Sergio Aragonés, and Joe Kubert along with some of the superstars of today's most popular comics, science fiction/fantasy authors Peter S. Beagle and Tim Powers, WonderCon moderator supreme and also comics historian and writer, Mark Evanier, and pop culture icon Stan Freberg and his wife, Hunter.
Actor/producer/writer Michael Chiklis was also making his first appearance and introducing his new comic book series.

Superstar artist and DC co-publisher Jim Lee also joined DC co-publisher Dan Didio and chief creative officer Geoff Johns on the DC Nation panel.

Last year, Wondercon attracted record numbers of 34,000 people.

Apple iPad Launch in San Francisco!

2010-04-03T12:09:00.000-07:00

Hundreds of people were outside the Apple Store by 9 am this morning ready to collect their pre-ordered iPads that were launched across the US today...see previous blog

Many of the avid iPad collectors were professional users and developers.

Michael and Wei, who had only queued for two hours, are developers of dishfinders.com, a food app launched in February on the iPhone and now adapted for the iPad.

Michael excitedly turned up the app, and suddenly tantalising dishes were floating across the screen.
His app is designed to encourage restaurants to send in pics of food on their menus, and also to have customers interacting, uploading live pics as the food is served, with reviews.

The app is new and Michael and Wei, who live in San Francisco, are hoping to get many users. But today, they were simply excited to see their product on the iPad.

San Franciscan blogger Justine...http//ijustine.com...emerged from the store with a whoop and a celebratory dance!

'It's beautiful!' she said. More than that, her expectations are that it will make journalistic life a lot easier.

'It's smaller and more portable,' she said, comparing it to her current laptop, the MacBookPro, but bigger and easier to use than her iPhone. Up to today, Justine said, she was waking up in bed first thing in the morning and working on her iPhone but the size of the iPad will make things much easier.

She had also tried the MacBookAir, Apple's lightest laptop, but found that was not good for editing pics. Although she won't be editing pics on the iPad, she expects to have a much more user-friendly computer to travel around with.

The size was also one of the attractive features for Greg, from San Francisco, and one of the first people to exit the Apple Store with an iPad bagged in white plastic. A frequent air traveller, Greg was looking forward to easier use on aircraft.

'What I think I like about it is the ease of the (use of) email and also being on the internet, and just the size,' he said.

How much did he know about it before trying it out?

'I've read pretty much everything they've released. I'm a big Apple fan,' he said.

pics from Chris: http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisflowersmd/sets/72157623637515295/ flickr photostream of iPad launchflickr photostream iPad Launch

US Launch of Apple iPad Greeted with Great Excitement in San Francisco!

2010-04-03T11:20:00.000-07:00

'This is beautiful! It's awesome!' said app developer Andreas Schobeo, almost moved to tears outside the Apple Store this morning as he held two iPads gently in his hands.

Andreas was seeing both the iPad and his app in action for the first time as the iPad was launched across the US today. By 9 am crowds who had pre-ordered the iPad or were walk-ins were queuing around the block from the Apple Store.

Andreas had been one of three people to start queuing from about 11 pm last night. He spent the night- hours outside the store just above Market Street with about 12 others until 4 am when the crowds slowly began arriving.

But Andreas' emotional reaction was tangible. The first thing, he said, he was going to do with it was play Planet of the Zombies, which he'd already uploaded.

'What else, other than making out, are you going to do with it?!!' asked Brian Tong of c.net.com in a fun, quirky interview but capturing the emotion.

'Cuddle it!' he said, bantering back. But no, he wouldn't do it for the cameras, that was for a private moment!!!

Andreas' app is '3banana'. It is like a notepad that collects texts, photos and location and is described on his site as: “If you’re looking for a simple way to take, store, and share notes in the cloud, 3banana makes organizing your notes easy with notes based on in-text hashtags.” - Lifehacker

Andreas, who is aged 30 years and from Zurich, Switzerland, living in San Fran, gave a demonstration of his app.

Awestruck, he said of the iPad, 'I'm touching the future.'

pics from Chris: http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisflowersmd/sets/72157623637515295/ flickr photostream of iPad launch

SF Giants' Pitch Ready for Opening Home Exhibition Game Against Oakland 'A's!

2010-04-01T15:29:00.000-07:00

It may be April Fools Day, but preparing the Giants' pitch at the AT &T Park has been no joke.

Tonight sees the Giants testing it out for the first time in an exhibition game against the Oakland Athletics.

And for award-winning Head Groundskeeper, Greg Elliott, it marks the culmination of six weeks of intensive labour and innovative changes...see previous blogs

In fact, the pitch has been almost ready for the last two weeks. In mid-March, Greg surveyed his handiwork and said, 'We could play baseball now. We are fine tuning.'

'We are 85 per cent ready for opening day. That doesn't mean we couldn't play. We could play a game out here tomorrow but it wouldn't be to our standards,' he said. 'Our standards' meaning nothing less than perfection, of course.

One of the new features is a different mix of grass, chosen for ability to withstand wear and tear, recuperate quickly and, not least, colour.

Underfoot, it needs to be spongy and springy, said Greg testing it out. To his delight the grass had grown in well and the colours were 'coming along.'

What greeted his eye at that moment was the ryegrass, the new incumbent being a Bermuda that is still dormant.

He dropped to the ground enthusiastically and peered into a strategic gap in the grass. There, poking through the sandy-coloured soil, were tiny shoots of Bermuda Tifway 11, displaying small spreading sprouts.

'We are starting to get positive growth, it's very exciting! It's loving the sun!' he said.

The tricky part to build is the pitcher's mound. This mound is in only it's second season of being built with six specially-engineered circular steel pallets that hold compacted soil for firmness. Their faint outline could be seen below the topsoil.

That day, Greg wanted more moisture in the mound. 'Moisture is the key to everything we do,' he said, a fine balancing act between too much and too little. Helping this is a totally new feature of moisture sensors. Three have been placed in the grass to measure moisture levels, ground temperature, salinity and acidity.

'It's a really cool project, technically speaking,' said Greg, adding 'Who knows, we could do it in the soil in the future.'

An accurate record of water levels also means less water being used, saving both on the environment and the bills. Being green is 'really big for us,' he said of the Giants' organization. 'There is no reason to have any excess out there and many reasons to take care especially of our resources.'

There was good news about the infield. It was 95 per cent ready in Greg's estimation. The test, and he knelt down to demonstrate, is to put a small, sharp-ended key into the clay and twist. If the key turns smoothly, all is well, but if it turns up chunks of soil, then more work is needed.

Underfoot, the infield must give a 'cork-like feeling, springy and firm.' His infield responds just the way he likes it! He is going to continue giving it a little more conditioner, and remove a few tiny 'rocks'.

Rocks?

'People misunderstand and panic when I say 'rocks'! he said hastily. 'It's gravel, really.' He caught sight of a 'rock', bent down, picked it up and held it out in the palm of his hand.

Reassuringly, the 'rocks' that instill fear of a ball veering off course are bits of gravel smaller than one-quarter of an inch, part of the normal make-up of soil. Fine tuning indeed!

Home plate was more of a problem. 'We weren't happy with home plate, so we turned it over to dry it a bit more. Today was a good day. We have got the weather for us to do that,' he commented.

His instinct had served him well. It was hot in the empty stadium at 1 pm, and by the end of the day television weather reports were showing a high of 71 degrees, the highest temperature so far this year.

What was the problem with home plate? The 'tarp' had been down for a long time and with the El Nino spring producing well-fulls of water, it was 'dry on top and squishy beneath.' The field would have suffered too, but for Greg's care of the mix of soil and sand, and tilling to greater depth.

With innovations that Greg, the Giants and fans alike hope will make it one of the best baseball pitches in the country, he paid tribute to the enormous support given to him by the Giants' organization and particularly his boss, Jorge Costa, Senior Vice President, Ballpark Operations.

Now the day of testing is here.

'We call it Ground Hog Day when the team's in town!' he said, by which he meant that there are little variations to the daily maintenance 'but the end result is the same.'

In a few hours, the Giants will be playing against the Oakland 'A's. They play their opening game of the season away to the Houston Astros on Monday, which leaves Greg a few more days for final tweaking. Then the Orange and Black onslaught of the 2010 season begins at home next Friday against the Atlanta Braves and the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Greg and his pitch will be ready!

Opening of Fourth Street at UCSF Mission Bay Campus

2010-03-17T14:50:00.000-07:00

A long-awaited opening of the end of Fourth Street to run through the UCSF - University of California San Francisco - Mission Bay campus is to take place on Friday.

The street runs from Market Street, at the centre of the city, to 16th Street at Mission Bay.

What was once an abandoned industrial and railyard area, is being transformed into 303 acres of a $4 billion-plus thriving residential community with a state-of-the-art hospital, research labs, commercial offices and parks.

The end of Fourth Street has been blocked off while part of the ambitious redevelopment has been underway, although it reopened to pedestrians last year - pic shows the blocked part of 4th Street from top end.

Electricians from the Traffic Signals Department of the SFMTA - San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency - were busy today. They were fixing traffic lights to ensure a coordinated flow of traffic along the street.

Half-way down the blocked off section, Ben was working at a control box. 'We are coordinating the 'stop' and 'go' signals,' he said, pointing out two sets of traffic lights, 'as they are so close together.' While the amber lights are being set to react in sequence, seconds apart, a term known in traffic planning as 'cascading.'

The site where Ben was working marks the heart of two one-way intersections that cut into Fourth Street from the main Third Street, that runs near the bay and down which the Muni trains travel - pic looking back up 4th Street. Department of Parking and Traffic engineer, Al Hershey, is Project Manager for the Mission Bay development and is overseeing all of the traffic planning.

pics show intersections where traffic will flow in a one-way loop from Third Street to Fourth, and vice versa; and far end of Fourth which has been open for some time with a carpark and the UCSF shuttle stop.

The UCSF campus covers 57 acres for which ground was broken in 1999. Plans include a 289-bed hospital for children, women and cancer patients. The first phase of the UCSF Medical Center is due for completion in 2014.

Included in the 878,000-gross-square-foot hospital complex will be:

* A 183-bed children’s hospital with urgent, emergency and pediatric primary care and specialty outpatient facilities;
    * A 70-bed adult hospital for cancer patients;
    * A women’s hospital for cancer care, specialty surgery and select outpatient services, and a 36-bed birth center; and
    * An energy center, helipad, parking and support services.

Also included in the plans are research buildings, a community center, housing complex, child care center, plaza with public art and eateries, parking garages and a campus green.

Other aspects of Mission Bay are also springing up. By last September, 3,126 housing units including 674 affordable units had been built, with another 319 units underway. More than 1.5 million square feet of commercial office and biotechnology lab space had been built, with another 187,000 square feet under construction.

Discussions are also taking place within The San Francisco Unified School District Board over the possibility of a school on 2.2 acres. With a $30 million bond, the Board need to decide on what type of school to build and to consider that there is a large number of very young children in the area with no school.

In a blog summing up the educational issues, Board Member and journalist, Rachel Norton, wrote, 'So the possibilities are very intriguing – we have a prime plot of land in the middle of a world-class research facility and a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood with a lot of young families; and a plot that is not far from some of the least-served (education-wise)neighborhoods in San Francisco - ie Bay View - .'

The Board have until 2027 to make a decision, after which the land reverts to the developer.

According to the City and County Redevelopment Agency, the huge Mission Bay redevelopment project is expected to take another 20 to 30 years to complete. It is hoped that it will create over 30,000 permanent jobs as well as hundreds of ongoing construction jobs.

Further info:

ucsftoday: http://today.ucsf.edu/stories/ucsf-prepares-for-opening-fourth-street-to-traffic-at-mission-bay/

UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay: http://missionbayhospitals.ucsf.edu

City and County of San Francisco, Redevelopment Agency website: www.sfredevelopment.org

UCSF Campus Planning: http://campusplanning.ucsf.edu

Blog Post by Rachel Norton, SFUSD School Board Member:

http://rachelnorton.com/2009/11/19/mapping-out-the-future-in-mission-bay

Engineering Feat for Giant Cranes to Pass Under Golden Gate and Bay Bridges

2010-03-16T14:19:00.000-07:00

Transporting three $10 million, 1,500 ton cranes from Asia to Oakland to pass under the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges has been a major engineering feat involving months of planning.

The cranes arrived in San Francisco Bay this morning aboard a special barge - see previous blog.

'It's a lot of work. It takes a whole team to be able to move these cranes from Asia,' said Robert Bernado, Manager of Media and Public Relations for the Port of Oakland.

With an emphasis on safety, 'God forbid it actually touches the bridges - what would happen to the morning commute....!'

With expert engineering, however, the cranes passed under the Golden Gate Bridge with a clearance of 14 ft and under the Bay Bridge with a gap of 9 ft.

The difference reflects the variables that the engineers have had to factor in, and tides are one of them. The barge sailed on a low tide, but the bridges themselves are another variable as they contract or expand by a few feet depending on weather conditions, explained Robert Bernado.

One of the Port of Oakland's engineers spent the weekend at Point Reyes, Marin County, working with engineers from the shipping company, Evergreen Marine Corporation. 'They were clearly monitoring tide tables,' he said.

The cranes fold down at the apex and the barge itself can lower or raise its height by taking in or off-loading water in a technique called de-ballasting.

This cargo is called Super-Post Panamax cranes, one of the newest generation of cranes, but already their predecessors, the Post Panamax cranes, could load and unload containers from a ship too wide for the Panama Canal. These 'Supers' have a 120 ton load capacity and can lift up to four 20 ft or two 40 ft long containers, confirmed Robert Bernado.

As the Zhen Hua 15 sailed under the Bay Bridge, it turned at right angles to head for the port. Watching the giant cranes unload is fascinating, said Robert. The barge lightens its weight to rise to the level of the dock and the cranes, each on four wheels, roll off.

'Without naming names, there have been ports where the cranes have rolled onto the terminal and right into the water!' he said.

The three cranes now bring the total of Super-Post Panamax cranes at the port to 22. The port is the third busiest in California and the fifth busiest in the US handling, with fluctuations, around two million 20 ft containers per year.

pics by Chris

Giant Cranes Enter San Francisco Bay Under Golden Gate and Bay Bridges

2010-03-16T12:23:00.000-07:00

As the clock on the Ferry Building in San Francisco struck 9 am today, the red bow of a barge transporting three giant folded 253 ft cranes slowly glided into view heading towards the Bay Bridge.

A small crowd had gathered on the end of Pier 30/32 to watch the auspicious arrival of the three mega container cranes that had travelled from Shanghai, China, on a barge specially designed to be able to lower itself in water to pass under structures.

Like the Golden Gate Bridge under which it passed at 8.30 am.

'To me, it's amazing!' said Arthur, there with his wife, Beamer. 'I was just thinking about how they were able to build that crane and put it on a ship and have it come halfway around the world.

'For me to witness this is amazing. I can say I saw it come under the Bay Bridge!'

Arthur is no stranger to shipping events. A former Vietnam vet, he worked on rescue helicopters that flew around naval aircraft carriers as pilots were taking off and landing, ready to rescue any who unfortunately landed in the sea.

'I'm looking at a lot of jobs for people,' he said, gazing in admiration as the Zhen Hua 15 slipped past making the passage under the Bay Bridge look effortless, but at the same time eliciting a breathless 'This is going to be close!' from one of the onlookers.

Around the barge was a flotilla of tugs and the US Coast Guard and in the air hovered three helicopters. Traffic on the bridge was halted.

The cranes, said Arthur, will make the loading and unloading of cargoes in the major Port of Oakland that much easier and quicker. Cargoes that include travel between the San Francisco Bay and the Far East, Australia, Canada, Alaska and other parts of California.

'I wouldn't mind being one of the operators on those cranes!' he added 'You're talking BIG money.'

How big?

'I would estimate at least $75 dollars an hour, and that's not counting overtime!'

For how the feat of transporting the cranes was accomplished, and facts and figures see next blog.

pics of cranes by Chris

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisflowersmd/sets/72157623508891299/

Preparing the SF Giants Pitch for the 2010 Season - Part 2

2010-03-13T19:51:00.000-08:00

Greg Elliott is the Giant's Unseen Pitcher, a man charged with producing a perfect pitch before the baseball season has even begun and without ever throwing a ball...see previous blog

For the Head Groundskeeper of the San Francisco Giants baseball team, the most complex part of pitch construction is the pitcher's mound.

A carefully calibrated centre-piece that can hinder or enhance a pitcher, this season the Giants' mound will bear the imprint of the likes of Cy Young Award twice-winner Tim Lincecum, whose skills have catapulted him into a two-year, $23 million contract, Barry Zito, Jonathan Sanchez, Matt Cain and Madison Bumgarner.

Aware of the need to achieve both a firm foundation and softer topping, last season Greg instituted a new design. This involves six specially-engineered circular steel pallets - similar to those pictured above. The pallets, like giant trays, hold about a four-inch depth of solid, undisturbed soil.

The pallets were lifted out of the ground at the end of last season and stored under the bleachers until ready for use again. Then, like a circular jigsaw, they are slotted together and laid over the cement pad that forms the base of the mound.

'They should create a more consistent pitching surface for the pitchers - it's all about consistency,' said Greg, using the 'C' word that is one of his twin themes, playability being the other.

His next task is to shape the mound using infield clay for a lighter topping, and allowing air and water into the surface soil.

He literally inches his way over and round the precious mound, making sure it is 18 ft in diameter, rises to a plateau measuring 5 ft by 3ft and 10 inches above home plate, slopes gently down at one inch per foot, and has the centre edge of the players' rubber exactly 60 ft 6 in from the rear point of home plate.

'Building a pitcher's mound is as much an art as it is a science,' says Baseball Almanac on www.baseball-almanac.com.

'We've been able to embrace both aspects, the artistic and scientific parts,' said Greg. Describing the artistic part as 'how you interpret it, check the shape and compaction,' he added, ''I think we've taken the technological aspect as far as we can and so the artistic part is up to us.

'It's more artistic than anything. You have to have a feel for it. There's no books on it, there's nothing really out there.'

Another job is to install the infield clay, also stored under the bleachers - pic left -and base lines at home plate, and level them.

Then there are the bull pens to build, both for the Giants and the visiting teams. Greg uses rectangular steel pallets of heavily compacted soil - pic above - for the Giants, and steel frames built with pieces each weighing one ton.

pics show Greg constructing the visitors' bullpen last week after the grass has been laid

Two of his final remaining tasks are to nourish the field with 'earthworm castings', the waste of earthworms broken down - 'It helps to root the field in better,' he said, meaning that it helps with water flow as well as nutrient levels - and root out bugs.

'Then we're pretty much ready to go! We start hosting baseball games. That's when we get into our general maintenance,' he said.

With hardly time to draw breath, once the games start, Greg moves into high-gear care and repair.

When there is a game, he mows every day, irrigates lightly and daily as opposed to the alternative groundkeeping philosophy of 'deep and infrequent', fertilizes before each 'home stand', deals with pests, aerifys and top dresses, and manages the clay surfaces.

Has he ever been thrown a curve ball?

'Oh yes!' he said, throwing his head back in bemusement. 'There's always curve balls!!!'

Last season a rock jammed part of the irrigation system overnight. A puddle of unwelcome water greeted him in the morning in the left field, though fortunately it was during preparation time just after the soil had been laid. 'We just had to be patient and let it dry out,' he said.

During the season, the Giants' grounds are also open for community events including concerts. After one particular concert, he found he suddenly had to replace 18,000 square feet of sod, when he was hoping that only 6,000 square feet would be needed.

Concerts, especially combined with weather, are unpredictable. 'With concerts you don't know what you're going to get,' he said. Come what may, his role is to make sure that the players are unaware that anything has happened!

Then there is surface damage that Greg always has to be on his toes about, though 'that shouldn't be a problem if you're doing things right with your maintenance and if you have good grass,' he said. Basically, 'we can resod it and move on.'

The front of the mound and around home plate are treated as individual areas, and rain, especially during games, is always a concern. A polyvinyl field tarp of 170 square feet is pulled over the field for protection.

Over one inch of rain makes Greg nervous, though 'one-quarter of an inch in ten minutes could be just as devastating as one inch over a day,' he said. However, rain in San Francisco is 'not as large a concern here because of the weather patterns, but we are expecting a rainy spring with El Nino.'

Greg is entering his third season as Head Groundskeeper for the Giants. In all, he has been a Head Groundskeeper in baseball for 12 seasons. Before the Giants, he was in Minor League Baseball with the Lake County Captains in Eastlake, Ohio, where he also ran a consulting company to help local schools with sports fields for soccer, football, baseball and soft ball.

'That's why I know a lot about this,' he said. Before that, he was with the Cedar Rapids Kernels in Iowa, and in assistant roles in Indianapolis and Arizona.

He trained as an elementary school teacher at Bowling Green State University, Ohio. 'My mum was a teacher, so I thought that was the way to go, but in the long term it wasn't what I wanted to do,' he said.

Immediately after teaching, he became Director of Stadium Operations with the Toledo Mud Hens in Ohio, after which he went back to school to train in groundskeeping. And not just any school. Rather, Michigan State University where one of his professors was 'Yard Doctor' John 'Trey' Rogers, professor of turfgrass science, who helped Beijing in their preparation of the Olympic stadium.

A training that no doubt contributed to his outstanding achievements of being a four-time winner of the South Atlantic League Groundskeeper of the Year Award and twice Sports Turf Manager of the Year for Class A Minor League Baseball. Modestly reticent to talk about his achievements, he pays tribute to the Minor League teams that 'allowed me to grow as a professional.'

So what drew him to this career?

'Love of sport,' he said. 'My dad coached Little League Baseball for 25 years so I was always around a ballpark. And my first job was working for that Little League as a groundskeeper.'

Strange, how things come around, he mused.

His predictions for the Giants for this season?

'I'm not in the prediction business. I do know the expectations are high for the Giants, and they would like to get to the play-offs. They want a shot at that.

'Their expectations are high, which means my expectations are high.'

Preparing the SF Giants' Pitch for 2010 Season

2010-03-11T13:02:00.000-08:00

Greg Elliott is the Unseen Pitcher for the San Francisco Giants. A man charged with producing a perfect pitch before the baseball season has even begun and without ever throwing a ball.

The skills and ambitions of players and the hopes of thousands of fans depend on his pitching skills, though his name will never appear on the jumbotron scoreboard.

For Greg is the Head Groundskeeper. A few weeks ago, he stood in time at the end of the winter season with its roller coaster of other sporting and community events that have ravaged the pitch, and the heraldic call of spring and the 2010 baseball season.

He has until April 1 to produce that perfect pitch for the first of the home Spring Training games, and just a few more days beyond that, while the Giants pit their skills in their opening game of the season away to the Houston Astros, to tweak it. Then on April 9, the gates of the AT&T ballpark will be flung open wide for the fans and the team will parade out for six days of home games, first against the Atlanta Braves and next, the Pittsburgh Pirates.

But in February, Greg gazed at bare soil and sand, a freshly-minted sprawling green lawn, and unblemished, skilfully constructed pitcher's mound, homeplate and infield yet a vision in his mind's eye.

A former elementary school teacher who retrained with a degree in Sports and Commercial Turfgrass Management, he is an award-winning groundskeeper and soil scientist looking for the best and utilizing the latest technologies. There are changes underfoot.

By mid-morning that day, with a tractor tilling the soil and skid steers flattening it, he was confidently proclaiming they were 'ahead of schedule.'

'There's a tight deadline to get the field in, but we have enough time to appropriately grow it,' he said. 'A 'tight deadline' - to be ready for a game - would be "we have a game next week!"' he said, as he supervised the team of workers in the stadium.

With or without baseball, Greg is a pitcher for all seasons. His winter season begins in October with disassembling part of the old pitch.

'At the end of the baseball season we remove the infield material - a clay loam soil -and remove the portable mounds and store these in the 'players' lot' under the Coke sign,' he said. The Coca-Cola sign being an iconic 80-foot wooden bottle high up on the far end of the stadium with viewing platforms and four slides, and which flashes with celebratory lights on a home run.

Then the stadium is prepared for community use and football games. This winter they hosted two games of the California Redwoods plus the college football Emerald Bowl. A massive 350 tons of sand was spread over the pitch. Not just any sand but a USGA (US Golf Association) 'spec' sand, and grass was rolled on top of it.

By the end of January, the pitch was gone in readiness for a stadium-shaking event when Greg and his team truly felt the earth move under their feet. Approximately 6,000 cubic yards of it.

The annual Supercross event, a stadium version of motocross, is a mud-fest. Plastic sheeting goes down over the entire field and for two days soil is trucked in to form a six-inch 'road base'.

Supercross chose the original soil ten years ago and it is stored in nearby Mission Bay every year and reused - pics of soil at Terry Francois Boulevard, Mission Bay

The set involves jumps and a different track design each time, and takes Supercross over a week to build.

Once the last vestiges of one of the most popular events on the social calendar have finally gone, the old sod layer of last season's pitch is removed and recycled. A company truck it away, put it through a grinder and sell it as premium top soil. Fans wishing to grow their flowers or seed a lawn with a souvenir bag of dirt trodden on by their heroes, need only buy!

Which leaves Greg to face a bare field and the prospect of FanFest, a pre-season opportunity for fans to roam freely around their beloved stadium, go where usually only the elite go, and collect player autographs.

A light covering of sand remains, and Greg stands in a stadium that resembles more of a military practice ground for Iraq and Afghanistan, and watches as thousands of pairs of fans' feet trample joyously over his denuded pitch.

Now winter has passed, the fun is over and it is time for the soil scientist to apply his knowledge with seriousness to help the team do what they and everyone wants them to do - win games.

'Playability and consistency' are his twin themes.

Firstly he replaces the field, bringing in fresh soil and mixing it with the sand after FanFest. The soil needs to be tilled, and this year Greg is using 'farm discs', two rows of rotating metal discs that till down to a new depth of ten inches.

'That's why we're trying to go deeper with the tilling. Playability and consistency, that's what we want,' he said. He has to balance two aspects: compaction of the soil that will give a firm, stable foundation, and enough space within the soil for the roots of the grass to flourish.

'It's one thing that makes my job hard,' he said, referring to compaction. 'I need to relieve it. When you compact, air and water space is limited. You need a free-flowing soil, you need to let oxygen in.'

Once the field has been tilled, then laser technology is employed to level it to a degree of NASA-like accuracy. A rotating laser pole is held aloft that communicates to a receiver that in turn sends down information to a box plate. The box controls a blade that pushes and pulls the soil, and by the time it is finished the field is level to a staggering 0.2 inches per 100 ft.

Next, irrigation heads are replaced on the sprinklers - there are over 60 in the outfield and about 20 in the infield, and finding them is not always easy! - and then ground levelling is fine-tuned to an even more staggering accuracy of 0.1 inches for every 100 ft.

Now the field sits waiting for a spring coat of over 107,000 square feet of freshly-growing grass. And it's out with the old style, and in with the new. Abandoned, is a mix of Kentucky Blue Grass and Perennial Ryegrass.

'This season we're changing to an overseeded Bermuda Grass Tifway II with Perennial Ryegrass. This will handle wear a lot better. We hope it will make a large difference for us,' said Greg. The Bermuda will form a protective mesh over the ryegrass, which is a tough grass popular for sports fields in southern states, and should recuperate more quickly. And when the Bermuda goes dormant in cold temperatures, the ryegrass will complement it by remaining green all year.

Greg is hoping the Giants will flourish along with the grass!

With the field attended to, he will turn his attention to the pivotal points of a baseball pitch, the pitcher's mound, infield and bases, and the bullpens. For the next stage in the preparation of the Giants' pitch, see next blog.

Green Light for Mavericks 2009-2010 Surf Contest is On! Called for Valentine's Weekend

2010-02-11T13:05:00.000-08:00

And it's a Yes! The moment Mavericks big-wave surfers have been waiting for since November is sending waves of excitement around the surfing community and fans. The contest is ON for Saturday at the famed break at Half Moon Bay.

It's going to be a Valentine's Weekend of chocolates, flowers, cards - and big-wave surf!

Their tweet posted at 12.58 pm says:

Mother Nature is smiling once again on #MAVS. The 24 have voted, we are a GO for Saturday! Check www.maverickssurf.com for details. 21 seconds ago reply

The first of the four first-round heats will begin at 8.00 am, with semi-finals at 11.30 am, and finals at 1.30 pm. The Awards Ceremony will take place on the beach at 3.00 pm.

Mavericks are asking fans to watch the contest via a free live webcast or at the live viewing party at the San Francisco Giants' ballpark, in order to limit the crowd impact on the small Half Moon Bay and protect coastal eco-systems.

'Both options provide a much better viewing experience than the view from the beach,' they say in their press release.

Viewing options:
www.maverickssurf.com. www.facebook.com/mavericks
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/the-2009-2010-mavericks-surf-contest-presented-by-sony-ericsson
www.flotv.com.

Tickets for the AT&T Park can be purchased for $20 in advance, or $25 at AT&T Park or online at maverickssurf.com. For fans in East Bay, there is also a live free viewing event at Miss Pearl’s Jam House in Oakland, www.misspearlsjamhouse.com.

There are also boat tours piloted by seasoned local captains.

The illustrious 24 surfers include four previous champions, Greg Long, reigning champion, Darryl 'Flea' Virostko, Anthony Tashnick and Grant 'Twiggy' Baker, and also Matt Ambrose, Ben Andrews, Ion Banner, Chris Bertish, Carlos Burle, Kenny Collins, Shane Desmond, Nathan Fletcher, Brock Little, Josh Loya, Peter Mel, Shawn Rhodes, Ryan Seelbach, Evan Slater, Tyler Smith, Jamie Sterling, Grant Washburn, Dave Wassell, Tim West, and Zach Wormhoudt.

This year’s record-breaking $150,000 prize purse pays out $50,000 for first, $25,000 for second, $15,000 for third, $10,000 for fourth, $8,000 for fifth and $6,000 for sixth. In the democratic spirit of Mavericks, say the organizers, the remaining 18 competitors will each receive a $2,000 appearance fee. In addition, the prestigious Jay Moriarity Award will once again be presented to the surfer who most exemplifies Jay’s unique spirit.

If the contest had not been called, Mavericks surfers would only have had until March 31 for the Pacific Ocean and El Nino to produce a consistent day of waves that were at least 20 ft Hawaiian in height. They have been waiting since the opening of the contest season window on November 1, and hopes have been high with this being an El Nino winter.

But the perfect swell has been slow in reaching Half Moon Bay, less than an hour south of San Francisco, despite storms. The contest takes place about half-a-mile off-shore at Pillar Point.

Presenters of the event are Sony Ericsson and Barracuda Networks.

Mavericks 2009-2010 Big-Wave Surf Contest Voting Today on Valentine's Weekend contest

2010-02-11T11:48:00.000-08:00

Mavs update just before midday:

some encouraging final #MAVS storm model data just came in, the boys're combing through that now.... 6 minutes ago reply

Fans of the annual big-wave surf competition, Mavericks, at Half Moon Bay, are holding their breath. Will it or won't it be a Valentine's Weekend surfing love fest?

The chosen 24 surfers - some of the best in the world - who will enter the contest are at this moment voting on whether to make The Call, and so have surfers and thousands of fans rushing to Half Moon Bay this weekend, or to the Giants' AT &T ballpark in San Francisco, or to turn to their TVs and computers.

The voting result will be announced at 12 pm today with a countdown in place.

Messages are being posted on the maverickssurf.com website. This tweet posted at 11.09 am today:

:) RT @PurringEngine: @Mavericks_Surf 55...54...53 about 1 minute ago reply

And a second message:

Stormsurf predict a swell of 20 ft Hawaiian, which is what Mavericks' organizers are looking for, to arrive on the coast on Saturday.

Of the storm now crossing the Pacific, they say, 'The good thing on this one is that it is to be positioned fairly close to Northern CA, allowing all the energy the storm has to offer to reach the coast with minimal decay. The bad thing is that since it is so close, the resulting swell will be very raw upon arrival....Rough data suggests swell arrival in Northern CA on Saturday (2/13) at 20 ft Hawaiian from 280-285 degrees.' http://www.stormsurf.com/page2/forecast/forecast/current.shtml

Wavewatch on surfermag.com also predict 20 ft waves, but appear to show these arriving just after midnight on Saturday, ie in the very early hours of Sunday morning.

Their chart shows waves on Saturday afternoon building up from 15 ft, peaking at 20 ft, and then subsiding to 15 ft just after midday on Sunday.

http://www.surfermag.com/surf-reports-and-forecasts/forecasts/index.html?RegionID=4&rt=Norcal

Everyone is holding their breath, including Mavericks CEO, Keir J Beadling, Contest Co-director, Katherine Clark, and presenters Sony Ericsson, and Barracuda Networks who are providing the biggest-ever roll-over prize purse of $150,000.

Greg Long of San Clemente, California, is the reigning champion from when the contest was last called in 2008.

17th Annual KNBR 680 Giants FanFest - 3

2010-02-06T18:58:00.000-08:00

Thousands of San Francisco Giants fans filled the AT &T ballpark today for the 17th Annual KNBR 680 Giants FanFest - see previous blogs

One of the treats of the free event was to wander into areas normally reserved for the players and media. Like the players' clubhouse.

A long queue snaked slowly through with fans able to sit in the locker areas and have a quick photo taken. Luis of San Francisco was touring the clubhouse for the first time.

'It's a nice opportunity to be in the clubhouse,' he said.

And up in the press box, with it's expansive views over the stadium and beyond to the bay, was Steve, of Sacramento.

Steve has been a fan since 1968 and doesn't have a favourite player. His most vivid memory of the Giants is 'as a kid listening to Lon Simmons on the radio.'

His hopes for the team for 2010 are 'to be competitive.'

Out on the pitch, KNBR 680 were hosting a Question and Answer session, and around the stadium, memorabilia and Giants sportswear were on sale with hats being a popular try-on item.

By lunchtime, long queues were building up at the familiar food stalls.

But the Giants are not just past and present. They are also about the future. Two up-and-coming players tagged as 'hot prospects for San Francisco' are 22-year-old Clayton Tanner and 26-year-old Paul Oseguera. They were in the Giants' lobby signing autographs for fans as they arrived.

Both are hoping to make it into the Giants' team - 'Absolutely, that's the goal!' said Paul - and soon.

'Hopefully next year,' he said.

Both players have a distinctive characteristic, they are 'lefties'!

'It's one of the biggest advantages in baseball,' said Clayton. 'It's pretty much perfect. It means you will always find a job somewhere.'

When he was younger, he hadn't wanted to be a pitcher but had ambitions to play in a position like an outfielder. But all coaches test out left-handers with pitching, he said, and when his coach at high school followed the pre-ordained path....the rest became history.

Clayton, and likewise Paul, were netted for their pitching talents.

pic: Paul, fan Jocelyn who was delighted to meet them, Clayton

17th Annual KNBR 680 Giants FanFest - 2

2010-02-06T17:55:00.000-08:00

Fans of the San Francisco Giants today were celebrating the approach of the 2010 season at the 17th Annual KNBR 680 Giants FanFest - see previous blog

For infielder Pablo Sandoval as he sat in one of the autograph booths, he not only met a fan, but one who looks like him!

'I've been told left and right I look like Pablo,' said Adan of San Francisco as he waited in line. And sure enough, even as he neared the table, one of

the Giants' staff glanced at him and said, 'You look similar to Pablo!'

Adan seems to be making baseball look-alikes the story of his life. Before Pablo, it was catcher Bengie Molina. Perhaps he has simply grown to be like them as he has been a fan 'since I was a little tiny one.'

'I was a Barry Bonds fan for a long time,' he said.

pics also of Ryan Rohlinger & Manny Burriss

Esther, from the Bay Area, is also a 'Panda Bear' Sandoval fan, though she hadn't yet collected his autograph.
She's been a Giants fan since she was little. Her hopes for the season are 'A lot of wins. Just like they say, "Win, Baby!"'

Ashlee of San Jose and Taryn of the Bay Area were waiting in expectation at an empty autograph table, not knowing who was about to fill it.

Ashlee named Kevin Frandsen as her favourite player 'because he's from the Bay Area. He's a great player,' while Taryn plumped for 'Timmy'.

And $13 million? 'He's worth every penny!' they chorused.

Minutes later, they were excitedly collecting autographs from Dan Runzler, Alex Hinshaw and Buster Posey. (Taryn lt, Ashlee rt)

Tickets were also on sale today, with an offer of selected seats for as low as $5.

'Baseball is the best bargain you can get - for sports tickets!' said Rich from Marin County. He was up on the second tier, trying out the seats he, his brother Wayne, of San Francisco and friend, Mike, of Vallejo, had purchased.

A single ticket where he was sitting costs $34, but in front of him were seats on sale for $2,772 for the season.

Great value, considering there are over 160 games to a season, and compared to football at $100 a game, thought Rich.

Rich is originally from Baltimore and moved to San Francisco in 1974. But his roots with the Giants go back to the 1950s.

'I have always followed Willie Mays. Willie Mays made me a Giants fan,' he said.

His prediction for this season? '86 to 90 game wins. We won about 86 last year. I don't think there will be much difference from last year.' pic: top, Wayne, lt, Mike, rt, & Rich

cont in next blog

17th Annual KNBR 680 Giants FanFest

2010-02-06T16:18:00.000-08:00

For thousands of San Francisco Giants' fans, today was an orange and black sizzler of a Saturday!

It was the day to celebrate the 17th Annual KNBR 680 Giants FanFest, a free open-house at the ballpark that enabled them to collect autographs from some of their favourite players, walk the ground and sit where their heroes sit, raise money for charity and set their thoughts on the 2010 season.

And it was free.

The star of the team, two-times winner in succession of the Cy Young Award, Tim Lincecum, was there early in the morning.

Even if fans didn't get his autograph, there was plenty of support for his request to raise his salary from $650,000 to a cool $13 million. The Giants have offered $8 million and the matter is set to go to arbitration this month.

'I'm excited!' said Jessica from the Bay Area, relishing the atmosphere of the dugout for the first time and looking forward to the new season.

Asked if Tim Lincecum was worth $13 million...'Hell, yes!' she said, nearly jumping off the bench. And if he pulls off an incredible feat of winning the Cy Young Award for a third year in a row?

'I'm going to be ecstatic!" And then she would pay Tim $30 million. 'I think he should be paid what (Barry) Zito is getting paid, $120 million over six years, I believe that's what it is,' she said.

What are her expectations of this season? 'Hopefully, a winning season,' she said.

In line in one of the three autograph booths were Vida Blue, Roberto Kelly, Shawon Dunston and Mark Gardner. And queuing to see them were Megan, from San Francisco, and Lauren, from the Bay Area.

Their favourite players?

'Tim Lincecum,' said Megan. 'He's 'The Freak'!' she added simply, giving the reason for her choice. pic - Megan & Roberto Kelly

And worth $13 million?

'Definitely!'

Lauren picked pitcher Brian Wilson, 'because he's a darn good closer. He's not too bad looking, either!'

How do they think $13 million compares with other players?

The top-paid player in the US is Alex Rodriguez - A-Rod - of the New York Yankees at around $25 million, their friend, Robby, pitched in. And the average salary is $2 - $3 million a year, he said.

He wouldn't give Lincecum as much as $13 million. 'I think it's a bit much, but he does deserve at least the $8 million, maybe $10 million. He's a really good pitcher,' he reckoned.

Though if Lincecum gets a third Cy Young Award then he 'definitely' would be worth $13 million.

Robby's player of the season is Brian Wilson. 'His style is different to anyone else's, he's really nifty.'
pic - Robby & Shawon Dunston

cont in next blog

Abagnale the Pier 39 Sea Lion Returned to the Wild

2010-02-05T17:20:00.000-08:00

Abagnale, the Pier 39 sea lion entangled in a fishing line and who was rescued nearly 100 miles away, has recovered from his injuries and was released back into the wild today.

'There was a wonderful audience to see him go, with members of the public, school groups and the media,' said Marine Mammal Center spokesman, Jim Oswald this afternoon.

Abagnale was released at Rodeo Beach in the Marin Headlands, not far from the Center's Sausalito headquarters, at about 12.15 pm.

Yesterday, the Center put out a press release giving Abagnale a clean bill of health. 'Veterinarians gave Abagnale a second examination this week and it appears that there are no other medical complications. His wounds are showing signs of healing, he’s active, eating and is quite feisty!

'Veterinarians feel confident that he’ll thrive wonderfully back in the ocean.'

Are staff sorry to see him go?

'No! On the contrary!' They are very happy,' said Jim. 'This is a story of successful treatment and of an animal being able to return to the wild.'

Abagnale was dehydrated and malnourished when captured but today is returning to the ocean weighing a healthy 347 lbs, a gain of 46 lbs from when he was admitted into the center on January 24.

In the animal hospital he was kept in a private pen for his recovery due to the fact that he had been entangled for several weeks, and was also stressed from the many rescue attempts and being in a strange place.

But with rest and antibiotics he soon began to recover and found his appetite. He ate just over 100 lbs of herring during his 13-day stay!

The specialist rescue team logged just over 280 hours of rescue time, a major feat as this compares with about 900 hours over the whole of last year.

His rescue was 'not completely unique but it was traumatic,' said Jim. The rescue team of 14 trained volunteers, lead by Sue Pemberton - pic - are trained specifically with the benefit of the center's experience of 35 years and over 15,000 marine mammal rescues.

And safety both of the animals and the team is their concern. As Marjorie Boor, who scoured the seas in a rescue boat around Fisherman's Wharf and Alcatraz in the hunt for Abagnale said of sea lions, 'They are intelligent. You can look them in the eye and tell there's some connection there. But make no mistake, they'll bite your arm right off.'

Most of the animals needing to be rescued are entwined in marine debris such as plastics, netting, fishing line and crab-pot lines.

Abagnale's story illustrates the point. 'It represents the danger of marine debris and how it can affect marine mammals,' said Jim. He urged people to 'take a second look' at how their behaviour can cause marine debris.

And they are emphasising this point on the Center website.

Abagnale was first spotted late in the evening of New Year's Day at Fisherman's Wharf but a rescue attempt was postponed until daylight the following day for safety reasons. Soon after that, however, he swum nearly 100 miles to Moss Landing and was next seen five days later in Monterey Bay.

It also marks a 'first' in the way center staff were able to capture him. After three weeks and 20 rescue attempts the elusive Abagnale - he was named after Leonardo diCaprio's character in 'Catch Me If You Can' - had mild sedatives shot into him to slow him down while in the water.

Animals are not normally sedated in water in case they drown.

pics from the Marine Mammal Center photographer, Maria de Stafanis.

For more pics and info, and a video: www.marinemammalcenter.org

Ocean Beach 'Armoring' Given Go Ahead

2010-02-02T21:21:00.000-08:00

The severe problem of erosion at Ocean Beach is to be remedied by constructing a large rock barrier, the Board of Supervisors decided this afternoon.

The emergency work of 'armoring' is to start tomorrow and will cost $2.6 million. It will run across 900 ft of beach from Sloat Boulevard, and opposite the San Francisco zoo.

The decision, in favour of the Department of Public Works, ends a campaign by environmentalists and surfers who had hoped to persuade the Board to vote instead for a much more expensive sand barrier.

Although the sand barrier would mean that erosion would slowly continue, it would preserve the beach for surfing, swimming and recreational use, argued the Save the Waves Coalition and the San Francisco Chapter of Surfrider Foundation.

They also said that the use of rocks will accelerate erosion on either side of the barrier.

But the DPW were concerned about the Great Highway - California's coastal route - and the huge wastewater tunnel that lies beneath it. The Lake Merced Wastewater Tunnel is 14 ft in diameter with a 10 million gallon capacity.

The San Francisco Zoo also borders the road - pic below

Yesterday afternoon work was going on on the top of the bluff while surfers were out on the ocean.

Al surfs there a couple of times a week but admitted to not following the debate too closely.

'I always figure things are going to turn out for the best. I thought initially they were talking about the parking lot and the road. I don't really care about that, it might even cut down on the crowds!' he said.

But he was happy to pitch his vote in with the surfers.

'If they're against the rocks, then I'm against the rocks! If it does affect the surf, then I'll be outraged! This is a really nice spot,' he said.

San Francisco Giants Prepare Baseball Park for Monster Energy AMA Supercross FIM World Championship

2010-01-29T20:34:00.000-08:00

It's going to be a dirty but thrilling weekend down at the San Francisco Giants' baseball park.

The spruced green turf is covered with plastic sheeting and wood and has become a building site. All in preparation for one of the Giants' biggest events of the year, the Monster Energy AMA Supercross FIM World Championship.

Denny Hartwig, press spokesman for the event, is expecting a stadium of over 40,000 people.

Last year saw a large crowd attend, 'but we're attracting better than last year,' he said.

'Everywhere we go in San Francisco there are welcome arms and everyone here seems to have some kind of interest in motorcyles, either in the street or in sport. I think we have a built-in fan base,' he said.

Bringing the huge, annual event to San Francisco, the only Northern California location of the championship, has a distinctive feel.

'It's cool!' Denny said. He is from Chicago, and says the downtown feel of the AT & T Park is quite different. 'It's a big park...and this is a huge major city in the US, but it feels like a neighbourhood venue.'

The event, sponsored locally by Big O Tires, is only the fourth so far in the world championship series of 17 races. Outside the ballpark today, a mobile office for promoters, Feld Motor Sports, was in action, and the area around McCovey Cove is a gigantic truck fest.

A mobile medical center with rescue jeeps is parked immediately outside the gates on the cove side, and across the water the Giants' grounds have been transformed into the pits, with trucks gleaming with team and sponsorship logos.

At midday, the pits were quite quiet with only a few mechanics and team managers around.

Enjoying a casual lunch under their canopy were the Yamaha team of mechanics with Team Manager, Brad Hoffman.

Brad leads the Factory Yamaha 250 cc Team, which has two West Coast riders. His young charges are 19-year-old Broc Tickle and one of the youngest competitors, 16-year-old Max Anstie.

Brad has high hopes for them. 'These guys have been, speedwise, capable of winning, they've won qualifying races, but they have made some mistakes in the main races.'

Their highest placing has been fifth, but Brad is optimistic that a win is there for the taking on the track. Of tomorrow, he said, 'We hope to be on the podium - top 3. Our guys are all fast enough to do it. You have to have a (good) start, be fast and not make mistakes.'

So what makes a star rider?

'You have to have riding ability, kind of a natural talent,' said Brad, but after that boys 'train like a top athlete.' They cycle, go to gyms and focus on nutrition. 'Most of these kids have been riding since they were three-or -four-years-old,' he said, 'and that's because dad's rode or raced.'

At 16 years, Max, who's father was a professional rider in England, is at the youngest age possible for someone to enter the sport professionally. In the 250 cc range, the top age is around 25 years, whereas in the 450 cc class, riders continue into their 30s.

Brad has worked his way through the sport beginning as a rider - 'I went pretty far at amateur level' - then training as a mechanic before becoming a Team Manager. pic Dave, Ricky, Eric Brad, Karl

Under the Dunlop canopy, there was a small production line energetically fitting tyres onto wheels. The team kit out all 80 bikes in the competition.

Of the new tyres, Brady said, 'They're more intermediate whereas normally it's a hardpack.'

Both Brady - centre pic - and John - left - run their own businesses during the week, Brady an engine repair business in Michigan, and John, a motorcycle shop in Murrieta, Southern California.

Why do they work for supercross at weekends?

'I like it a lot!' said John with great enthusiasm.

'There's something different every week. I get to work with a good group of guys,' said Brady.

Safety is paramount and Risk and Safety Officer, Joe, who works for the promoters, was wandering around the ballpark late this afternoon.

How does he find the burden of responsibility?

'It's pretty laid back. It's all about common sense, there's not a book on it,' said the Ohio man who has been running the safety aspects of the races for 32 years. His number one priority is 'safety of people on the floor. There's no place where you are immune from being hit with a motor cycle.'

A safety upgrade is that every group of workers is colour-coded by their clothing, eg TV crews, of which there are only two, 'house' and CBS, flag stewards, promotors, medics. Instead of having to scrutinize identity tags, Joe can see at a glance where everyone is and, importantly, immediately pick out anyone who shouldn't be there.

Referring to the stands, he said, 'There are people up there - and he mimicked using binnoculars - and they're on the phone to me all the time. This is the greatest motor cycle spectacle in the world. This is very professional.'

And 40,000 people is no great shakes! There are 72,000 in Atlanta, Georgia, he tells me calmly.

Does he enjoy his job? 'I wouldn't be here if I didn't! I like meeting people, you meet people in all phases of life, that's an education,' he said.

Plus, there is one small bonus. For the 18 locations - 17 races and the US Open of Supercross - he sees home only on a Monday and Tuesday.

'Then I'm on vacation seven months of the year!' he said, with just a hint of a smile.

Someone who is ready to champion the riders is Scott, who had just purchased his ticket.

'It seems like they're really athletic, it's a real endurance race, and they don't get the recongnition they deserve for how hard and dangerous the sport is,' he said.

'And I feel they should get better TV time on prime time.'

All the $10 dollar tickets had gone, so Scott had a $25 dollar ticket, but paid $18 dollars with a coupon.

He's looking forward to tomorrow!

One-Week Urgent Campaign by Environmentalists to Save Ocean Beach

2010-01-28T21:38:00.000-08:00

A one-week urgent campaign against time and tide to save part of Ocean Beach has been launched by the Save the Waves Coalition and Surfrider Foundation.

They are calling on people to write to the city's Board of Supervisors opposing plans to place a barrier of large rocks, known as 'armoring', on the beach, and to sign an online petition and attend next Tuesday's Board meeting when the issue will be reconsidered.

The race is against time because the San Francisco Board of Supervisors have given residents and environmentalists just one extra week to oppose Department of Public Works plans to use the rocks to prevent erosion. The armoring will cost $2.6 million.

And against tide, because recent winter storms have eaten away 30 ft of coastline and caused erosion of up to 70 ft since 2007, creating the emergency situation. The Great Highway running from Sloat Boulevard past the San Francisco Zoo has two southbound lanes closed, and a major 10-million gallon sewage pipe, the Lake Merced Wastewater Tunnel, is endangered as the erosion has gone under the road.

The Save the Waves Coalition, the San Francisco Chapter of Surfrider Foundation, the Ocean Beach Vision Council and local residents presented their case at a Board of Supervisors' meeting on Tuesday night. On Monday night, Lara Trupelli, chair of the Ocean Beach Vision Council had convened a town hall meeting at the Park Chalet for the DPW to present their plans to the community.

'The declaration plans to dump 300 yards (3 football fields) of boulder sized concrete blocks onto the beach and coastline. This would not only erode the coastline at a faster rate but also destroy the beach and use of it,' say SF Surfrider in their press release.

Environmentalists and residents are calling on the city to accept a 'managed retreat' solution that was proposed in 2003, to use sand to help reduce the rate of erosion, and to move the road and the pipe inland, but essentially to accept the natural process of erosion and preserve the use of the beach.

Part of that alternative could include rerouting traffic around the zoo, they say.

They blame the city for the current state of the coastline. Save the Waves say the issue has 'been a sore point for city officials, residents and environmentalists for almost two decades,' but the findings of the original Ocean Beach Task Force 'have been largely ignored by the City for over seven years. This inaction is partly responsible for the severe erosion problems and infrastructure risks that the City now faces.'

The Board of Supervisors' meeting at City Hall will be held at 2 pm on Tuesday, February 2.

info and petitions:

http://action.surfrider.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=627

http://www.savethewaves.org/news/view/109

pics from Surfrider Foundation website

Queen Victoria Leaves San Franicisco After Maiden Visit

2010-01-27T20:41:00.000-08:00

With three blasts of her horn, the Queen Victoria edged cautiously away from her berth near Fisherman's Wharf at about 6.45 pm tonight after just a few hours in the city.

Surrounded by police boats she sailed close to the end of Pier 39 where a crowd of about 50 people had assembled to watch and take photos.

Then she sailed gracefully and slowly into the bay, taking half an hour before she went under the Golden Gate Bridge on her way to Hawaii.

The Queen Victoria entered the bay under the bridge at about 6.30 am today on her maiden visit to the city, as part of a round-the-world cruise. She docked at Pier 35 Cruise Terminal on the Embarcadero with about 800 passengers disembarking, either to leave the ship or spend a short time in San Francisco. About 200 new passengers also joined the cruise.

The Queen Victoria Makes Maiden Visit to San Fran - But Not All Passengers Are Happy

2010-01-27T16:50:00.000-08:00

The Queen Victoria luxury liner made a maiden visit to San Francisco today as part of a world cruise.

Although she is only in port until 6 pm tonight, her passengers did not disembark until about 11 am. And, contrary to the sumptuous presentation of the ship on Cunard's website, not everyone is happy with the cruise.

The enormous liner waited outside the bay in the dark this morning for a pilot boat, then sailed majestically under the Golden Gate Bridge at about 6.30 am to berth at Pier 35 near Fisherman's Wharf.

According to NBC11, a handful of people turned out on the Golden Gate Bridge to greet her.

As befitting a queen, the ship has 990 staterooms and can entertain 2,000 guests over 12 decks. Unlike our original queen, however, she weighs 90,000 tons, is 964.5 ft in length, 106 ft wide and 179 ft high.

Other people went to meet relatives or friends off the ship. And although they were expecting an early morning disembarkation, passengers were not streaming off the ship until about 11 am.

Andreina who lives in the Bay Area, stood on the pavement for three-and-a-half hours with daughter, Nicky, waiting to greet her 'good, good friends of 46 years.' They were Betty and Brian from Hampshire, England, whom she had not seen for 'many, many years.' They had joined the ship at the start of the world cruise on January 4 in Southampton.

'I was told the ship would dock at 6.30 am and passengers would be out at 8 am,' she said. 'Wishful thinking!' She had hurried across the Bay Bridge in traffic, telling her daughter, 'We're going to be late! We're going to be late!'

Instead, by late morning she was trying to keep her feet warm in the chill air, while behind her, a long queue of taxis also waited for hours.

Finally, Betty and Brian emerged onto the sidewalk at about 11.30 am.

What did they think of the Queen Victoria?

'Beautiful ship,' said Betty. 'But overall we were slightly disappointed,' said Brian. The interior of the ship, what Brian referred to as 'the fabric' wasn't at fault.

'Lovely people, lovely food,' said Betty, trying to be positive. 'Drinks are expensive,' added Brian.
pic: Brian, Andreina, Betty, Nicky

'It wasn't up to our expectations,' said Brian. 'I guess we were looking for something a little bit more top of the range.'

The couple are veteran cruisers, having done about seven or eight previous ones, but with the Norweigan company, Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines. This is their first Cunard cruise, and they won't be returning for another.

For three weeks on board, they had paid nearly £7,000 in total.

Judging from a website, cruisecritic.com, Brian and Betty were restrained in their comments. Yesterday, in Member Reviews, someone posted a comment with a litany of complaints over the food, entertainment, the attitude of some of the bar staff and room service.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=62328

According to a security guard at the pier entrance today, 800 people were to disembark, either to leave the ship or spend just a few hours in the city, and 200 new passengers were to board later.

One of the first couples to arrive, to hand over their luggage in advance of boarding, were Sandra and Jim from Sussex, England.

They had flown into San Francisco yesterday and were outside the pier at about 9 am. Veteran cruisers also, this will be their third voyage with the Queen Victoria - and the ship was only launched in December 2007!

What do they like about the ship?

'She's not too big - yes, Sandra really did say that! - and they look after you well,' were her comments, while Jim appreciated 'the activities during the day.'

The couple had flown to the city to join the ship here because they find that cruises taken from America are much cheaper. 'You get more for your dollar than your pound,' said Betty. As a couple, they have paid £8,000 for three weeks, and will be leaving the ship in Singapore to fly back to London.

But while they may be accustomed to the Queen Victoria, this is their first trip to San Francisco, and they were eager to enjoy a few hours here. Top of their sightseeing list was a trip to Alcatraz and a ride on the cable cars.

Also preparing to board was Helen, who will be one of the musicians on board. She rushed into the pier building to leave her luggage and a cello at the entrance, before dashing off to meet a friend.

On board, Helen, from London, will be playing a piano to accompany a flautist.

What had attracted her to the cruise?

'It's a very nice way to see and world, and it's work,' she said.

Tonight, Queen Victoria sails across the Pacific to Hawaii, the next stop on her 107-day cruise around the world.

Pier 39 Sea Lion, Abagnale, Recovering

2010-01-26T18:35:00.000-08:00

Abagnale, the elusive Pier 39 sea lion rescued on Sunday, is continuing to recover in his pool at the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito.

Now that staff have had time to assess him, they estimate his age to be about seven or eight years, and consider him to be about 100 lbs underweight. He is currently weighing about 250 - 300 lbs.

Today, he has eaten a little herring, and staff are optimistic about his recovery, center spokesman, Jim Oswald, said later this afternoon.

Abagnale is being given antibiotics for the swellings around his muzzle and neck caused by the fishing line, but apart from the malnourishment and dehydration suffered during his three weeks of evading capture, does not have any other health problems, say the veterinarians.

Nevertheless, he is 'a little agitated and very, very wary of humans, which is probably a good thing,' added Jim. Staff at the center hope to be able to return him to the wild and so retaining his instincts as a wild animal will help him adjust once again to his natural environment, he said.

pic shows Abagnale after his rescue - courtesy of the Marine Mammal Center website

www.marinemammalcenter.org