Seen at Clipper and Diamond in The Castro/Diamond Heights sector: the home of Roy G. Biv.

Do you know the dwellers of this house? Do you know the story behind its Technicolor paint job? If so, pls leave the details in the comments section.

I’m not sure if it’s happening more often, or if I’m just simply paying more attention…but the ad world is getting a bit out of hand with these interpretations of Baghdad-by-The-Bay.

“Get Your Island On”…?!? Ummm, we live on a peninsula. The palm tree looks transplanted from Florida. Three of the cars on the east side of the street are blocking driveways. Its a known fact that San Franciscans do not know how to drink in moderation. Lastly, I will pretend that I didn’t notice the tiki.

See more designers-gone-wild here and here and here.

The Mile High Club, courtesy of Southwest Airlines.

Random snappers from our trip to The Windy City…

Adverse as we are to traveling outside of our area code, we’re off to The Filthy Midwest for a few days of bratwursts, cheap beer, and mild weather.

We will address your comments/emails upon our return — Tuesday, May 27th.

In the meanwhile, pls take this time to check out some of our friends over there on the right…

Plug 1 & The Dissident Chef aka Russell Jackson

Recently, we found ourselves at a top-secret 7-course dinner in a top-secret location, prepared by a top-secret 4-star chef.

Rewind to 8 hours before the event when an email arrived containing this top-secret combination:

Date/Time/Cross-Streets/Pass phrase…

Sworn to secrecy, we agreed only to take pics of “The dinner of which we dare not speak.”

Enjoy!!

Terrine w/ Dijonase Mustard

Scallops two ways w/ Rissontonsko Pea Sauce

Chicken Vermouth w/ Mixed Greens

Roasted Yellow Tail w/ Roasted Artichokes

Duck w/ Cauliflower Puree

Pork Roast w/ Zuchinni

Ice Cream w/ Bread Pudding

Hungry? Well, you too can get a taste of The Chef’s kitchen masterpiece’s this winter, when he opens “Lafitte” at Pier 5.

“Chef Russell Jackson is local, edgy and exciting…but most of all he is real,” said Alicia Esterkamp, principal of San Francisco Waterfront Partners. “A long time supporter of the Farmer’s Market and local sustainable food sourcing, Jackson brings an innovative and fresh spin on California cuisine.”

If the menu is anything near as perfect as the above experience, we’d like to make a reso for two.

Press release here.
Flickr set here.

Look what showed up in our inbox yesterday morning…

Click for larger image

———————————————————————–

From: Brian Purchia
Date: Tue, May 20, 2008 9:48 am
To: plug1@whatimseeing.com

The Mayor received your letter and has checked out WHAT IM SEEING dot com. He is a big fan of what you are doing to document day-to-day life in San Francisco. Good luck with the new camera. You now have 10 loyal readers.

He could send out a link to your site on his Facebook page if you want.

Best,
Brian Purchia

Brian Purchia
Deputy Director of Communications
Office of Mayor Gavin Newsom
work: (415) ***-****
fax: (415) ***-****
brian.purchia@sfgov.org

———————————————————————–

Click for larger image

Here comes a bike messenger, peddling furiously against the traffic. I watch her run a light and do a skidding turn onto the sidewalk, where she almost hits a guy who shakes his fist and curses.

Some people hate bike messengers, but I love ‘em. They’re dangerous and they live dangerously, all in the service of capitalism or consumerism, or whatever you want to call it. The City’s bike messengers may be an endangered species in more than the obvious way. eMail and eFaxing can get a message from one place to another faster than even a suicidal messenger hunched over her pedals.

I dont know. But bike messengers just look right in the city of today. They go with all of it: the traffic stripes, the signal-shooters, the double-parkers, the feelthy pigeons, the dirty streets, the eternal jackhammers.

So the next time a messenger cuts you off in traffic or in the cross-walk, instead of raising your fist and cursing — hold out your hand and give ‘em a hi-five!!

Inspired by the Late, Great Herb Caen

It had to come to this…

The photogenic climate of The City just so happens to be rising slightly faster than the thermometer on our cameras.

So we broke shattered our budget by 700% and picked up a DSLR today.

We had to. There was no possible way we could continue to observe our “Magic City that’s a Sight to Behold” with simply a point-n-click attitude.

It was clearly — (or lack there-of) — time to step it up a level.

So what does this mean to you, our 9 loyal readers? Possibly nothing, unless we find ourselves mounted atop Mt. Davidson, Mt. Tam, or Mt. Diablo.

Regardless of our techno-upgrade — we will continue to bring you images such as pictured here, but with hopes that we can deliver you a resolution much higher.

Because here at WHAT IM SEEING, when we aim our cameras (big or small) — we aim to please…

Pour a glass of Woodbridge and raise it to the sky…

A transplant from The Filthy Midwest Minnesota, Robert Gerald Mondavi was born in 1913 to emigrant parents from Italy. He passed away on Friday at the age of 94.

The “Father of Napa” dominated California wine making for decades. In his early years, Mondavi believed that California could produce wines that would live in the company of the world’s finest, and set out to found the first major winery built in The Valley since the repeal of prohibition.

Truly committed to the industry, he began promoting wine as part of a healthy and gracious lifestyle. This led to his “Mission Tour” of the late 80s whereby he traveled the country, educating sommeliers, the media — and most of all consumers — on wine’s important role in culture, civilization, and bearable hangovers.

The legacy of Robert Mondavi set the standard for New World Wines, aggressively promoting the labeling of wines varietally rather than generically.

Napa Valley Flickr set here.

Here’s another odd-ball seen rolling down 3rd St.

Can you imagine Cable Cars climbing up the south side of Alamo Square while The Great Gate extends itself well into the Hayes Valley/Western Addition sectors?

A glorious sunset on the evening of May 14th…

7:46 pm

8:11 pm

8:38 pm

Complete round-up here.

“It’s not a party in San Francisco unless Harry Denton is in the room!!” — SF Chronicle

Born in Idaho, Harry Denton moved to The City in 1965. He began his service industry career as a waiter/bartender at restos like Moose’s on Washington Sq. In 1996, Denton opened The Starlight Room & Lounge a top The Sir Francis Drake on Union Sq.

Denton collaborated with designer Arthur Valdez, creating a fantasy-like room on the 21st floor.

“In terms of style,” says Valdez, “the room is part Maxim’s in Paris with a touch of Vienna opera house opulence. Every detail is perfected, nothing overlooked. And, of course, it showcases a fabulous 300 degree view of San Francisco.”

The Starlight Room is open daily at 6pm. On a good night, you might rub elbows with regulars such as Willie Brown, Mayor Newsom and The Nob Hill Twins.

Flickr set here.

Seen daily in front of The Drake on Powell Street.

Another in our series of The City’s Most Known Unknowns…

If you travel often to the lower end of Market Street, you’ve most likely seen Famous Wayne — The Shoe Shine King of the World.

He’s been there for 22 years and has served as boot black to your favorite banker, sports star, secret service agent (?!?), politician, cable car grip man, and maybe even that fellow that shares the cube next to you.

60-something Kenny Wayne Bowens travels daily to the EMB BART station from Oakland. He “Shines ‘Em Up” 5 days a week and serves a mostly male clientèle in his 5-chair booth. The City charges him “a reasonable monthly rent” for the space where his booth sits, located directly east of the Cable Car turnaround at Market and Davis.

The Details:
Name: Kenny Wayne Bowens
Age: 60s
Resident: Oakland/San Francisco
Cost Per Shine: $8-$10
Avg Shines Per Week: 75
Total Shoe Shines: 100,000+
Clientèle: 87% male
Regulars: 300+
Marital Status: Divorced
Current Status: 2-3 Girlfriends
Zoot Suits Owned: 32
Favorite SF Hangout: The Metreon

I asked The Most Famous One about the product he applies to the black and brown leather of his customers. “I dont mess with nothin’ but Meltonian,” he says.

Tip: Get the 25-Shine Card for $50, or pay $300 for a lifetime of shines.

So what keeps Famous Wayne going day-in and day-out?

“I’m not bragging, but I love ME!! I’m the Shoe Shine King of the World!!”

Flickr set here.

We’ve spent the better part of 90 minutes reaching out to our field correspondents via phone and fax text message…and sadly have nothing to report on the one named “ORFN.” Who is this malnourished manic depressive, haunting the streets of This Mean City for the better part of 10 years?

The explanation to this graffito’s mystery is blurry at best. We do know he is age 20-40, and might be good friends of a friend of one of our good friends, possibly.

Consider this:

If any 1 of our 8 loyal readers can help unravel this mystery wrapped in a riddle, pls leave your fact-based feedback in the comments section or hit us up directly on the tipline.

NOTE: We are not looking for a government name.

Flickr set here.

“Love makes this town go round, my loyal reader, love and hate, pot and booze, despair and buckets of black coffee, most of it stale. But when the wind is fresh off the sea and you’re walking in the sunshine with the foghorns already blowing way out there by The Gate, you know this is where you want to be, loving what you see, hating it only for not being what it could be.” - Herb Caen, 1976

Many of my Thursday nights were spent (literally) in this joint when I lived on Market St above the Parlor of Porn. It was the kind of pool hall you don’t see anymore, and you wont see anymore — because it has closed its doors for good.

It is said to have been one of the oldest pool halls in The City — opening its doors in the 50s — when Mid-Market was full of legitimate movie houses. It was at one time home to some of The Bay Area’s most infamous hustlers, con men, and general transient lurkers. Regulars included Mark the Snake, Philippine Jean, Sawdust Sam, Poker Paul, and Charlie Bucket.

Seedy, dark, old, and gone — Hollywood Billiards at 61 Golden Gate.

Seen on Kaplan Lane in the SOMA sector.

In 1848, Levi Strauss sailed from New York to San Francisco to join the rush to riches and make it big in the Little City.

The Gold Rush had created a population boom. Most were men that had made the trek in search of shiny yellow nuggets, yet a select few decided to capitalize on the needs of the growing population itself.

Strauss had originally launched a West Coast version of his brothers’ East Coast dry goods store. One of his bestselling items were bolts of thick canvas.

A Reno based customer named Jacob Davis was a tailor who had been frequently buying the bolts to make work pants for the miners. Davis had an idea to use copper rivets to reinforce the points of strain, however, did not have the $68 required to register the patent. In lieu of a loan from Strauss, Davis suggested that the two go into business together.

In 1877, a pair of overalls arrived at the Levi’s office. An illiterately penned letter was attached that read:

“The secratt of them Pents is the Rivets that I put in those Pockets and I found the demand so large that I cannot make them fast enough. My nabors are getting yealouse of these success and unless I secure it by Patent Papers it will soon become a general thing. Everybody will make them up and thare will be no money in it.”

Strauss agreed to the venture, and the business was an instant success. Davis soon moved to San Francisco to become head tailor while Strauss expanded into full-blown factory production. They sold over 21,000 pairs of the riveted work pants in the first year alone.

To ensure brand recognition, a special stitching was applied to the back pockets, forming a double crossed “V” in orange stitching.

Around the 1880s, a new branding label made of leather was created bearing the words, “The Two Horse Brand.” Strauss and Davis stood behind their mass produced craftsmanship and guaranteed a brand new pair to any customer that experienced premature wear or outright ripping in the denim.

In 1890, patent #139,121 had expired. Levi’s continued to produce high quality work pants, including expansion into the mail order business.

By his forties, Strauss had turned much of the business over to his nephews. A true work-a-holic, he was never married. He died in 1902 at the age of 73.

Flickr set here.

A wandering Long-Necker arrived in our inbox yesterday:

“Hey, I spotted this guy on the side of the 5 freeway this weekend. Painted on an old trailer just south of the Lassen Ave exit in Avenal.”

Nice catch! Thats just a hop, skip and a jump from Fresno!!

Seen a 4-legged Camel Leopard on the loose, be it rural or urban? Drop the cross-streets off in the comments section or hit us up on the Girafa Hunting tipline!

Our continuing love affair with the bastardized Eastern Waterfront…

The Hunters Point Shipyard is located in the southeastern BV-HP neighborhood, one of The City’s most historical and neglected.

From World War II until the mid-1970s, the 638-acre site was a major source of jobs for the community — at one time employing almost 8500 locals.

“HP”, or “The Point”, came to life around two dry docks built in the late-19th and early-20th century built by Union Iron Works, headquartered at Potrero Point.

Like much of the Eastern Waterfront, the shoreline had been extended by landfill dumped into The Bay shortly after the FireQuake of 1906. During WWII, the Navy purchased and used the docks as a halfway point between San Diego and Seattle.

The Navy recognized the importance of shipbuilding and repair in The Bay Area and began land-grabbing at a quick-fast rate, developing what was at one point The West Coasts largest shipyard. In 1974, the Navy sold the land to The City, neglecting to mention the ecological abandonment that had begun to damage the surrounding land and water. Like most industrial areas of the era, The Point was home to many facilities that left a wasteland of pollution — pumped daily into the air and soil.

After WWII and into the 1970s, the shipyard was the secretive Superfund site of the Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory, the US military’s largest factory of nuclear research and production, which left the majority of the shipyard radioactively contaminated to the point where fires were literally burning underneath The Earths surface…YIKES!

So what does the future hold for this massive, underdeveloped, toxic, abandoned, and forgotten cesspool of governmental experimentations and mistakes? And for the community around it?

Well, its up to the voters via Props F & G on June 3rd. See what the developers have in mind here and here.

Flickr set here.

Shortly before 5:30 this morning, a fire broke out under the 280 overpass at the Mariposa off-ramp in Potrero Hill’s North Slope.

The sirens were aplenty, the billowing flames — not so much.

A Center Hardware employee noted that several homeless sleep along the east side of the building and this most likely was a “campfire” gone awry.

SF’s Finest contained and quelled the blaze clouds of smoke in less than 30 minutes. No injuries were reported.

Flickr set here.

It takes a certain type of person to push a vehicle like this around town. So you can imagine how excited I was when I saw it, and conversely let down when the owner was no where to be found.

Any ideas or more info on this automotive oddity? Drop them off in the comment section!!

Seen on 3rd Street near the South Park sector.

Looking north on 280 @ 9:00 am/pm.

A reader once asked me if I hate pigeons, and the answer is no, even though I sometimes write disparagingly about their beastly habits. As the original dirty bird, they are roundly and even squarely disliked. They lead a hard life in The Cool, Grey City of Love. Just last week, I saw a pigeon hobbling around in front of Nordstrom on Mid-Market, and wondered “Why?”

Getting these filthy animals to go away is a major minor industry, and the famous architect, Timothy Pflueger, attempted to solve the problem long ago. He designed the I. Magnin building Macy’s at Geary and Stockton to be pigeonproof, and so it remains to this day, with no pigeon remains to be seen. There are absolutely no ledges for a squab to squat upon. Anyway, that’s why pigeons shop at Nordstrom.

Inspired by the Late, Great Herb Caen

6th & Jessie

Hell hath no fury like a signmaker scorned for public urination, nor a urinator scorned for public signage.

2nd & Minna