Took the day off from my job yesterday as my friend James was visiting, and we took in San Francisco, where he is looking for a place.
Being cheap bastards with bellies full of calorific pub grub from the Phoenix and a hankering for James to really see the neighborhoods he is considering for an abode, we walked EVERYWHERE. From the Mission through the Castro to the Haight, and then over to USF where we took a bus to a Chinatown and then walked through North Beach to the BART. In the rain. And it was grand!
Also stopped in for fun at the fancy-schmancy San Francisco headquarters for Scientology. Okay, it was really so James could use the facilities and we could escape the rain for a while -- and he owes me bigtime for fending off getting a stress or personality test and not succumbing to getting my thetan on while he took his sweet time.
My impressions while I dilly-dallied around the 30 foot long display of the life of L. Ron: nice looking place, decidedly not intimidating yet strangely posh, but most important, quite warm and not wet! I'm not one for organized religion anyway, and Scientology to me is really no different from a lot of other religious organizations and their houses of worship, but I must say I did get a wee bit of a creepy vibe in there. Must be the Cruise effect.
***
I have another amendment to my best of 2007 post: I wrote a bit about Einsturzende Neubauten's 2007 album, Alles Weider Offen in regard to their unconventional (and totally rad) way of putting out their album themselves -- therefore screwing the record companies while rewarding fans with a product they had a hand in creating (this last part is so crucial to me, especially after hearing the abysmal new album from Bauhaus).
Anyway, I totally forgot to include this album in my tops for 2007! Such a good listen, harkening back to classic Neubauten. I have such immense respect for Blixa Bargeld and his effortless weaving in and out of different genres of music and spoken word. True talent!
Being cheap bastards with bellies full of calorific pub grub from the Phoenix and a hankering for James to really see the neighborhoods he is considering for an abode, we walked EVERYWHERE. From the Mission through the Castro to the Haight, and then over to USF where we took a bus to a Chinatown and then walked through North Beach to the BART. In the rain. And it was grand!
Also stopped in for fun at the fancy-schmancy San Francisco headquarters for Scientology. Okay, it was really so James could use the facilities and we could escape the rain for a while -- and he owes me bigtime for fending off getting a stress or personality test and not succumbing to getting my thetan on while he took his sweet time.
My impressions while I dilly-dallied around the 30 foot long display of the life of L. Ron: nice looking place, decidedly not intimidating yet strangely posh, but most important, quite warm and not wet! I'm not one for organized religion anyway, and Scientology to me is really no different from a lot of other religious organizations and their houses of worship, but I must say I did get a wee bit of a creepy vibe in there. Must be the Cruise effect.
***
I have another amendment to my best of 2007 post: I wrote a bit about Einsturzende Neubauten's 2007 album, Alles Weider Offen in regard to their unconventional (and totally rad) way of putting out their album themselves -- therefore screwing the record companies while rewarding fans with a product they had a hand in creating (this last part is so crucial to me, especially after hearing the abysmal new album from Bauhaus).
Anyway, I totally forgot to include this album in my tops for 2007! Such a good listen, harkening back to classic Neubauten. I have such immense respect for Blixa Bargeld and his effortless weaving in and out of different genres of music and spoken word. True talent!
Labels: a post in which I traverse nearly all of San Francisco in an afternoon, Blixa Bargeld, Einstürzende Neubauten, music, that's top
posted by Ammie at 11:47 AM
4 Comments:
I walked by it with the wife on the honeymoon (the Scientology church.) A bird crowed overhead. Time slowed. Xenu sat silently in space, biding his time.
Later we had Italian.
Oooh, where'd you go? One of the best things about that neighborhood is Francis Ford Coppola's cafe, Zoetrope. Good food and great wines in a mellow atmosphere. That building it's in is so gorgeous.
I can't recall the name, it was very small, very expensive and and very good. It was somewhere right near the transamerica building or whatever the giant obelisk/-pyramid thing is called.
I wanted to go to Zoetrope, but alas we had to leave to go to napa the next day. I always wind up getting minimal time in SF and maximal time in surrounding areas.
If it was very expensive, I've probably never eaten there! If you remember the name though, please let me know. I really dislike the huge tourist traps (well, except for Buca di Beppo!), and it looks like there's a few nice little places in NB and a recommendation is always good.
Let's all go to Zoetrope next time you're here!
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