Leaving your heart in San Francisco - part 1 - 2011 · Tuesday August 30, 2011 by colin newell
San Francisco, California – established as a Spanish fort in 1776, experienced a gold rush in 1849, a devastating earthquake in 1906 – has become one of the most popular tourist destinations in North America and, arguably, the world.
Picture at left – Street Cars – they are historic and you should learn the basics of the San Francisco transit system if you are going to maximize your experience – click on photo for bigger view.
We had the great pleasure of visiting San Francisco for 7 days in August 2011. And as it turns out, many people that we know are either heading to San Francisco or planning on going there in the near future. Fact is, it is a readily accessible city – and it’s close… a mere 740 miles or 1200km – we flew via West Jet but there are other options like United and Air Canada.
What was important, leading up to the trip, was a bit of planning – based on our personal preferences.
Whether you are going for 1 day, 3 days, a week or a month… it is very important to get some books in your pocket, some online resources bookmarked and a few key things purchased (apart from air fare of course!)
The Ferry Building (photo left) – great food, water access, farmers market and Blue Bottle Coffee!
Here is the thing: Unless someone is driving you and yours around in a limo all day long you might want to get acquainted with the transportation infrastructure – and it’s a great and efficient one.
As cities go, San Francisco is eminently walkable – but mind bogglingly hilly. Nob Hill, where we stayed, is 402 feet above sea level – and only 1.3 km away from the water! If that sounds like “straight up”, it seems like it. Thank heavens for cable cars! More on those later.
Photo left – The Golden Gate. If you are going to San Francisco, get over it or go under it. Andrea and I did both! All photos on my Panasonic Lumix.
Hot Tip! Before we went we bought a couple of things online. And I will classify these as very important – must have items if you are staying more than 3 days.
Number 1 item! San Francisco City Pass – Do not leave home without it!
For starters, you are going to want to ride the cable cars. And you are going to want to ride the historic electric street cars along the “F” line that start at Fisherman’s Wharf and zip through the Embarcadero to the Ferry Building and onto the terminus in the Castro district.
Photo left – Ritual Coffee! We went to this place, Sight Glass, Blue Bottle, 4-Barrel and the Tartine Bakery… All amazing!
And if, like us, you are staying at any hotel on Nob or Russian Hill, you are going to need a cable car pass – because individual rides are $5 (according to the website – I think they may be $6 a ride now – which is amazing even to the cable-car grips.) With the city pass, you have “all access” – so you do not need to carry change or dollar bills. You can buy the MUNI-Cable Car pass separately, but this represents great value (more on that subject later too!)
The City Pass, in addition to giving you hop on / hop off access to the cable cars, and the MUNI and the classic electric rail in the city, you get a 1 hour water tour into San Francisco Bay (under the Bay bridge and around Alcatraz Island) – called the Blue & Gold Fleet Bay Cruise It is a fun filled and informative guided tour of some of San Francisco’s colorful history. The boats are big, safe, fast and equipped with a bar and food items… Yes, a booze cruise. It’s San Francisco after all!
With the City Pass, we also took in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) – yea, not everyone is an art fan – but while we were there, there was a comprehensive Picasso exhibit and some great photo galleries + plus a lot of contemporary American art. Check the gallery schedule of course.
Consider the city pass – for $69 for adults and $39 for children (San Francisco is a very child friendly and pet friendly place)
Hot Tip #2 – Buy a couple of travel books on this city a minimum of 30 days in advance to absorb some of the things you might want to do.
Farmers Bakers Market at the Ferry Building three days a week!
We got Frommers San Francisco A very good read with good sections and apparently some fairly honest and bias free reporting. The Frommers San Francisco Day by day was also a very useful resource – especially for carrying around.
Jump to chapter two – The planning phase!
Victoria Spring 2011 - Good bye to the Salmon Kings · Wednesday April 6, 2011 by colin newell
Here is how my post read six months ago…
But through a strange twist of hockey club management, my favorite Captain… Wes Goldie, has been replaced with, by the looks of it, a guy who spends more time in the penalty box – than on the ice or on the bench…
Say hello to the new captain of the Victoria Salmon Kings – Pete Vandermeer – third on the all-time American Hockey League penalty minutes list.
“Our barn, Save-on-Foods Memorial will not be a place other teams will want to return to,” threatened Vandermeer…
“Even if the other guys leave with a win, it’s important they leave missing some blood and teeth when limping out of here.”
OK. The Salmon Kings management started to screw up at the beginning of the 2010-2011 Season with the hire of this Vandermeer thug – who only lasted about a half season before he vanished. We gave up Wes Goldie who turned out to be the high scorer for the entire season… for the Alaska Aces.
And now the Kings may leave Victoria – or be dissolved.., and their place taken by a Junior team – of teenagers… the former Chilliwack Bruins… to become the Victoria Bruins… how imaginative.
So get this. People are unhappy in Chilliwack, B.C. and we are unhappy in Victoria B.C. – The owners of the Kings have totally misread their audience and are marching blithely into yet another screw up with these changes.
Yes, it is a business.
But I am a customer. And I am not buying it.
2011 Media report chapter 1 - the increasingly silent radio dial · Sunday March 6, 2011 by colin newell
Victoria, British Columbia’s place on the coastal ring of fire almost guarantees that one day we are going to be struck with an Earth moving earthquake.
There will be challenges. We will need to survive on our own devices for upwards of a week before help arrives – but what will be absent are some of the reliable radio voices that we have depending on for news… for years.
Camosun colleges CKMO Radio Society station on 900khz has decided to change from classic AM radio broadcasts to a more “sustainable, future-oriented digital platform to deliver the popular campus radio programming.” Their words…
“We live in a world with so many new media channels and technology options,” says Andrew Bryce, Chair of Camosun’s Applied Communication program (ACP). “Traditional broadcasters are scrambling to find new ways to connect with their customers and communities in the digital world. Camosun’s radio station will be ahead of the game, and still deliver great programming.”
My problem with this – CKMO will opt to be carried on the internet – the first thing that will fail in the event of a natural disaster. There are few things more technologically vulnerable than an all-internet hosted medium. Eggs in one basket if you know what I mean. A stand alone AM radio station can kick in a diesel generator and be on the air in minutes helping with an emergency. On the internet, no such contingency.
Brad Edwards, CKMO Station Supervisor says, “The AM transmitter we now use is expensive and power-hungry. The station can save a lot of electricity by moving to online streaming, a great green option.”
Calling this green is an illusion. Radio stations around the World are using this fib.
Picture this: Turn off a 10kw transmitter that they are probably paying dollars an hour to run and off-load the “energy cycle” of this process to each user who is, in turn, using 50 to 300 Watts of power to flash their computer to hear the broadcast – And the end user is paying 25 to 50$ a month for the privilege of the internet connection.
“ Moving to online streaming will also enable savings to be redirected into areas that will more directly benefit the students and the station, including long-overdue updates to critical equipment like microphones, broadcast boards and hardware and software necessary in establishing a stronger online presence within Victoria and around the world.”
Not sure about the microphones they use but the ones I buy are a once in a lifetime investment. They do not wear out.
“CKMO radio listeners will still be able to access the station they have come to love and, as further investment is made into streaming technology and a state-of-the-art production facility, the quality of the signal will also improve considerably.”
Signal? Quality of the signal? There is no signal if you switch off the transmitter.
Listen to Village 900 while you can. The old fashioned way. On good old radio. And while you are at it (after sunset) tune your old radio dial around for stations located in Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and beyond… for free.
And reliable as gravity. Earthquake or not…
Colin Newell is a Victoria resident, writer and federally certified Electronics Technologist.
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Fall fun food and follies in B.C. 2010 chapter 1 · Saturday September 25, 2010 by colin newell
Life in British Columbia guarantees an endless procession of political intrigue, scandals, government screw-ups and boondoggles.
It gets on my nerves and amuses me – but not always in equal measure.
The last few months it has been the police, particularly the RCMP who have been getting under my skin – like Fall drunk wasps who get in my face the moment I head outside.
The RCMP – a once respected National police force that used to be trusted, reliable as gravity and, for all intents and purposes… inscrutable…
(And)Now you wouldn’t trust them to handle a simple drunk and disorderly call or a jet lagged tourist without someone getting a bullet in the back of their head…
…or worse.
Now they want more power on the roads.
The B.C. Attorney generals office has radically reshaped speeding and drunk driving laws in such as way as to grant extraordinary powers to the cops on the tarmac beat.
And don’t get me wrong – I am all for getting people to slow the heck down. Speed kills. And so does excessive drink. That is why we have reasonable limits of alcohol consumption.
But, in my opinion, it is not the food enthusiasts and lovers of life – who enjoy a glass of wine with dinner, that are the problem. It is the hardened repeat offenders that are too stupid to not drive blitzed, putting themselves and every animate and inanimate object in their paths in danger.
The new DUI laws put everyone in the cross hairs of Joe Police Constable. Due process has been eliminated and the roadside cop is now judge, jury and executioner. As I currently interpret the new laws, you can be pulled over, have your license pulled, your car towed and be fined thousands of dollars never even having had the pleasure of one sip of liquor… or the pleasant company of a wise old B.C. judge.
Doubt me? You shouldn’t. It all comes down to the discretion of the attending officer. You may have just had a 12 hour shift at the mill or the office. You are tired. And are weaving a bit. And whether or not you “blow” .05 is irrelevant. There is a new “definition” of impaired out there folks.
And listen up. Roadside breath tests do not test for alcohol. They test for chemical compounds in your breath that indicate the presence of alcohol (and other substances) in your bloodstream. It is not an infallible test and every test is open to subjective analysis and criticism.
Oh, I mean in most places other than B.C.
Results. The hardened drinkers are still going to drink and drive.
The rest of us are going to stop eating out or enjoying a glass of wine or beer at a restaurant or social – in addition to living in a society that is tipping towards a nanny state at an ever frightening rate.
So. The cops have more power.
Guess what? They want MORE power still.
The Association of Police Chiefs of B.C. want the ability to execute random roadside breath tests.
Huh? What ever happened to innocent til proven guilty?
Here is a little truth: Surgeons like to cut things, carpenters like to build things and cops like to have power – and it’s human nature to want more than you have or do more than your doing.
What I can see happening shortly is a clash of lawyers in B.C. with the A.G.‘s office. Class action suits. Charter rights challenges. Etc.
Scandals, boondoggles and more scandals. Welcome to B.C. folks.
Too much power, but now police chiefs are calling for even more.
“The randomness of catching people who are drinking and driving is pretty key to lowering the death rate and sending a very clear message to people that break the law,” mused Victoria Police Chief Jamie Graham.
We cannot trust our current crop of cops with guns or tazers.
So how can we trust them with overarching quantities of police powers?
Just say no folks.
Which is exactly what I am going to say to Corporal Kowalsky when I get asked to blow without cause.
You first officer. You first.
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