The Tenderloin

So, I've mentioned a couple times I'm in SanFran.
Lovely city, so I'm told...
Sadly I'm in the Tenderloin. Not the best spot in the downtown area.

What/where is the Tenderloin?


If you'd like to be depressed, Google images - "SF Tenderloin" for a look at what it's like to walk around here... As a rule- by 9:30 I'm back in the hotel and dialed into Netflix.

I was on walkabout the first night I was here when there was a shooting about a block away- an innocuous 'pop' and and shouting from the corner of O'Farrell and Hyde. About 10 minutes later there were 4 or 5 police cars on the scene. This is at 10pm-
Really crazy shit starts about 11:30 or 12.

Yesterday the guy who runs my favorite taquería (Los Colores) was telling me about a stabbing on Wednesday evening; One of the local traffic shouters (a street person whose primary pastime is to lurch about in the street and incoherently shout at the cars going by) was stabbed in chest by another homeless person.
Not for any good reason- but because "she had bumped into her"...

I initially blew it off- until I was checking out the news-

Suspect in Tenderloin Flees After Stabbing Woman in Chest

At about 10 p.m. Wednesday, a 40-year-old woman was walking near the intersection of Leavenworth and Eddy streets when another woman bumped into her. The woman who bumped into her engaged in an argument and then stabbed her in the chest with a sharp object before fleeing, according to San Francisco police spokesman Officer Albie Esparza.

Police responded and found the victim suffering from a puncture wound to the chest. She was transported to San Francisco General Hospital with injuries that are not considered life-threatening, Esparza said.

Wow.

There was also a wrong-way-one-way police chase on Monday morning-
At 6am I was in one of the local diners having breakfast and the all-night counterman was watching the police work a traffic accident involving a parked car (where someone was sleeping)- he said a BMW was going the wrong way up Mason Street and hit the car...
Looking at the news a day later...

Stolen BMW’s wild ride across San Francisco

San Francisco police have detained a 37-year-old suspect who allegedly stole a car early this morning from a South of Market BMW dealership by driving it through the showroom window and onto city streets, a police spokesman said.
...
Upon arrival at the dealership, officers found a large floor to ceiling window of the dealership smashed and discovered cars had been moved around, according to Esparza.
....
It appears that once the suspect had gained access to the vehicle, he drove it through the window of the dealership and onto the street, according to police.

At 5:23 a.m., police responded to a call of an injury hit-and-run crash at Mason and Post streets near Union Square involving a new BMW, Esparza said.

The suspect in that crash fled the scene on foot after crashing a BMW into a parked vehicle where an occupant was sleeping. Police said the occupant of that vehicle was not seriously injured.

If you add wall-to-wall blue-staters, granola-munching hippies of all description, hipsters trying to gentrify the seedier areas of town, water shortages, wildfires, earthquakes, mudslides, general crime, insane taxes and sky-high prices... well... You see why I'm generally not a fan of this place.

Ok- Now you should be thoroughly horrified about visiting San Francisco in general.

If, however, fate decides to bend you over the back of the sofa and you find yourself staying for an interminable period at the Hilton off Union Square, here are a few places for food and drink that are approved by The Big Guy...

First- as referenced earlier-
Lunchtime:
Los Colores (link up top)- Tacos & such- Inexpensive & tasty. Try the carne asada.
Also for lunch-
David's Delicatessen - the Chopped Chicken Liver- to die for!
Kucina ni Tess - Fliipino place behind the Hilton. Kawali Lechon (pork belly) and Bistik (beef w/ lemon, onions & soy).


Dinner-
Coco Bang - Korean hole-in-the-wall on Taylor St. Amazing fried chicken.
For drinks (Or early dinner)
Redford - (But go early - at 9 hipsters hit this place hard!)
If you go before 7:00 for dinner, get the Antipasto plate and a Moscow Mule at happy hour prices. The bourbon deviled eggs are great.

Breakfast-
Pinecrest Diner - Good basic diner food. -OR-
Olympic Flame Cafe - really basic, better prices than Pinecrest, but really old.

Other places of note:
Hyde Away Blues BBQ & Gumbo cafe. I keep trying to get here, but I keep getting sidetracked or they are closed because they've run out of food.
Brenda's French Soul Food -This place is supposed to be amaze-balls - it's a little bit of a hike, but I'm going there tomorrow for breakfast... Will let you know how it goes.

Pretty much everything I've done is by foot...
If I can swing it, there is a rum bar I want to visit...
Smuggler's Cove - Supposedly one of the top 50 bars in the US...
Any place that boasts over 400 rums on hand definitely has my attention.
Again, film at 11.

If I make it.


TBG - - ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

I Don't Blend In

If you look carefully at 1:14:20, 1:27:21 and 1:36:45 you will see why I am considered to be a "hulking menace in the background" as opposed to the "unobtrusive but watchful presence"...

See the video here.
(No, at the 1:36:45 mark I was NOT texting... I was making notes on our exit strategy, thankewverymuch.)

TBG - - ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

All The Gear - All The Time - Oz Bike Ruminations

Really missing my bike right now...
Especially sitting in the traffic while the local bikers filter through the traffic here.

I kinda liked being able to do that when I rode here last year, and would love to see the practice legalized in the 'States.
(Filtering - Motorcycle lane filtering is when a motorcycle rider moves alongside vehicles that have either stopped or are moving slowly, less than 30km/h. Lane filtering laws now apply in NSW. It's somewhat legal in Kalifornia too, but there is quite a bit of controversy regarding the subject.)
Of course, lane filtering, even if legalized in the US (especially the South), would be looked upon as blatantly unfair and presumably oppressive to four-wheelers, and become a challenge to right-thinking drivers everywhere and Steps Would Be Taken to end such a heinous practice. (Think lane-squeezing and car-door opening.)

It would become a case that would (I think) encourage wearing All The Gear, All The Time.
Now I know that some Really Conscientious Riders (Weekend Warriors, Rolex Riders, Etc) do it, but some of us (yes, guilty as charged) for whom riding is our main form of transport don't go full kit every time we ride.
Really- boots, iron-cloth riding pants, chaps, armored jacket, rhino-hide gloves, full-face helmet, etc etc ad naseum are a little much in 95-degree heat to go two residential blocks to the grocery. Proponents will argue accidents will happen anywhere, do you have a fire-extinguisher, and you do carry your pistol everywhere just-in-case, right- then go right or don't leave the driveway.

Granted - I don't go full kit each-and-every-time, but I also don't go Squid-mode - shorts, flipflops, tank top, 110mph with my head afire like some sportbikers...)

I really should go ATGATT but I don't, and that's my mistake...
I'm sure my man Borepatch would chastise me using very personal experience as a cautionary tale, but I'm in recovery (after all, isn't acceptance of the situation part of recovery?)

Another aspect is for a rider to know his/her limitations and expectations. (a/k/a pull stupid stunts, win stupid prizes)
Like this:

Yeah- that's gonna hurt.


Moving on- I think I've mentioned it before- before heading off on a long bike ride, I like to go to YouTube and watch some Russian dash-cam motorcycle videos...
They are the best incentive to go ATGATT.



She's gonna have a problem hitting that shifter with those shoes...

TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

This Pretty Much Sums Up Oz...

(Lifted from Imgur)



I'm never leaving the office again.


TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

Global Warmenings -STFU

I did it again-
Over lunch I was eavesdropping overheard the two idjits next to me at the bar discussing the ZOMG Global Warming, Anthropological Climate Change, Radiative forcing, Greenhouse effects, and /or Global dimming (no shit), and listening to their precautionary plans ("After all, we live in Florida; We'll be first and hardest hit!")
I finally couldn't take it any more...
(discussion recreated from memory)

Yours Truly: "Hey. Knock it off.... The science ISN'T settled. And even it all the worst case scenarios were true, it's not going to be a Hollywood epic water rise like 'The Day After Tomorrow'... The change will be so creeping you'll never notice it."

Clueless Pabst Blue Ribbon Drinker: "But there are plenty of places going under now, Smart Guy."

YT:"For instance?"

CPBRD: "Venice Italy."

YT:"Good example. Ever been there?"

CPBRD: "No."

YT: "Didn't think so... I have. The water isn't rising anymore than normal. The city is sinking by erosion and compression of underlying strata. Go there and see. Lots of public data on display.
2 or 3mm per year, documented a hell of a blot better than the 'predicted' 2 cm over 100+ years according to the IPCC and Algore."

CPBRD: "What about all the islands in the Pacific?"

YT: "You mean most of those islands that are just glorified sandbars to begin with? They are always in a state of near-disaster anyway; Historically there are always spring floods, tidal waves, tsunamis (completely different than tidal waves regardless of what movies/stories/Algore might tell you), and storm surges that overrun those islands. Always has been, always will be.
I would tell them, just as I would tell you- as a resident of a low-lying location: If you're worried about it, move."
CPBRD: "But they..."
YT: "Quite worrying about 'They'. That's the big problem with you Social Justice Warriors - you don't have a dog in the fight, but you want to be involved anyway.
Knock it off.
Mind your own business. If you think Florida is going under- Move. Now.
I'll give you $.06 on the dollar for your house right now so you can GTFO."
CPBRD: "But we all have to..."
YT: "No, we don't. Look- if you want to go to war about a cause, pick one that has actual victims and a solution. Malaria; Teen-aged drunk driving. Toddlers drowning in 5-gallon buckets. But don't spend my money (via Government proxy) on bullshit-but-oh-so-sexy causes like Climate Change that has no bonafides or provable end-games."

By now the restaurant manager and the barmaid are giving reproving glances to me and I guess I have overstayed my welcome...

Fucking morons.


I'm going to start wearing earplugs when out in public so the siren song of Progressive Hysteria will just pass me by. Because I'm just getting wayyy too get-off-my-lawn-angry at the stupidity around me.

TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

Um, Yeah, I Guess...

From our "Don't spend too much time thinking about it" Department:



TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

The Scene of the Crime

On several cross-country trips with the Perfect Chile and The Woman, the PC has always been reluctant to stay at the old-school roadside motels due to an overwhelming fear of being the victim of some kind of 'Friday the 13th'-style massacre.

I've stayed in plenty of them over the years- and though I understand her fear, I've never suffered from any (more than normal) paranoia over this kind of accommodations.

Until I saw this place:

Yeah... That's 2 acres of NOPE.

That marquee might as well say 'Stay here and die'.


TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

From The Spam Folder

This was a good one from my spam folder...
Nestled down among the scam mailings for Russian brides, Nigerian banks, hardware enlargements, credit score report alerts, Linked-In requests from porn actresses and phishing schemes from people pretending to be Fed-Ex, AmEx, CitiBank, Chase and (my favorite) Diners Club, I found a goodie today...

It has come to our attention that someone recently ran a background check on you.

You can find out more by visiting the link below.

Go Here Now: http://xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.us

Thank You

Really?
I'm pretty sure that at least once a week someone plugs some subset of my historical data into a query that shows up in the Gummint's Big Ironmongery and discovers that I'm listed in one or another "people you probably shouldn't fuck around with." database.

But, seriously, does this work on ANYONE?

Well... Truth be told, I know quite a few people that would click on that link, but most of them have an on-call son-in-law/nephew/neice/kid-next-door that has spent untold hours removing malware and rogue toolbars.


This guy would probably click on that link...


I'd probably do it... From YOUR computer.

Heh.

TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

Letters To People Unlikely to Resond - More Sochi

Dear Alarmist Media
(you know who you are...)
Will you knock off the "ZOMG Sochi are teh Worst Olympics Evar - Everyonez gonna die!" crap?

 When Chicago Tribune reporter Stacy St. Clair, who is covering the Winter Olympics for the newspaper, arrived at her hotel, she was informed that there was a problem with the water and it had been shut off.
Then hotel staff delivered an ominous warning: “Do not use on your face because it contains something very dangerous.”

 Yeah-
There are problems with plumbing in new buildings.
Happens in the US too.

And guess what happens when you try to talk to people (under pressure) trying to do a good job and English isn't their native language?
Messages get lost in translation. Duh.

Hey Stacy- I'll bet you dimes to doughnuts that I can find 10 hotels in Chicago that have shittier water than the water in my hotel...


I know, "If it bleeds, it leads", but for crying out loud- it's not like we (people working here) were expecting it to be perfect. It's a farking work in progress.
Give them a chance.

My nephew-in-law sent me a link to an article on Deadspin.com about the horrors in Sochi.  Staying In Sochi Is A Hilarious Adventure (article on Dogs, Water, new hotel issues and toilet paper flushing.)

He asked: "Has this been your experience?" 

I couldn't give a one-word answer...
(Hell, I can never give one-word answers.)

Well...
    There is quite a bit of stuff in that article...
    Here's a few things from my experience:

    1. Dogs. Lots of feral dogs everywhere, including inside the Olympic sites. They are friendly and hungry. Being feral dogs, they go where they want, and they fight, get hit by cars, etc. Lots of them limp or are otherwise injured.

    2. My hotel room is good. Clean water, AC/Heat, WiFi, etc.

    3. Other people in my hotel complex (other buildings) are not so lucky. Sketchy water, no hot water on some mornings, non-existent wifi, etc.

    4. My only concern (and it has me more worried than possible terrorist attack) is that hotel security locks (deadbolt, keyed) the exit door of the emergency stairwell at 10pm, and unlock it at 6am.
So... if there is a fire the security guy will have to run and open the doors.
Guess how likely THAT is...
My plan in case of fire: Out to balcony, over railing. I'm on the 2nd floor- no problem.

    5. Plumbing. Same issues occurred in Torino, Athens, and now Sochi...
The plumbing and sewer systems in many Euro countries are not able to handle the amount of TP that Americans typically flush. The paper blocks the system and then there is a backup.
    In Athens in 2004, this happened in Compound 4 outside swimming and diving- a literal Shitcano erupted right outside the NBC dining tent. On this past Saturday, the exact same thing happened at the SkiJump venue- the sewer system overflowed INTO the dining tent in the broadcast compound.
    Rule of thumb in Euro countries- if there is a trashcan INSIDE the stall/near the toilet, do not flush the bog paper.

    Photo from SpongeMark:

I really like this one. The Engrish level is awesome.
'Hope for understanding', indeed!

    6. Open manholes.
    Yes. Watch your step. (I already covered this)
    Carry a flashlight if you're out after dark.
    Be alert when driving.

For Chrisssakes, step it back to DefCon3, will ya?
You're scaring our friends and families back home.

TY&FY

TBG

TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

Sochi - Food Issues

Or more accurately- Food processing issues.

I have been fortunate in not having to use the bathroom facilities in the venues...

I have received this photo from several sources- asking if this is normal for the all the bathrooms in Sochi.

As far as I know- no. This is supposedly a pic in one bathroom at the Biathlon Center...
Otherwise the bathrooms are supposed to be pretty normal.

Normal is a bit of a stretch however-
I had the unpleasant experience of needing to relieve myself of several liters (it seemed) of Starbuck's Finest this afternoon...
I hit the (only) bathroom in the NBC offices in the IBC...
It's a monstrous 12-stall, 15-urinal white tiled echo chamber, and at about 3:00-3:30 in the afternoon it becomes quite the scatological soundfest.

The IBC food is, apparently- wreaking havoc on the alimentary systems of many an NBC staffer. A walk down the line to a vacant urinal was accompanied by a veritable symphony of flatulence and messy bodily noises.
Most of the stalls were occupied- easily discerned because of the exceptionally short space between the throne and the door of the stall.
Quite literally, when you are in the seated position, your shoes extend out from under the stall door.
This situation will not work for me... I need some legroom in this area just as much as I need it on an airplane. I looked at the facilities on my first day and said - "Nope. Not gonna happen."

Anyway- it seems that due to a steady diet of industrial starches, chemically-treated veggies and irradiated pastas & super-glutens, our digestive systems are producing greenhouse gases at a tremendous rate, Kyoto Protocols be damned.
And based on the chemical &  molecular topology of the "Food" (and I only call it food because it is served on a plate) - the rather thick air in the men's room would choke a billy goat.

Pro-Tip:
Avoid the mens room in the IBC from 2:30 - 4:00pm. Longer if possible.

Enough said.

TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

Found On Road Dead

It's not a Ford, but it definitely fits...

Based on the detritus around the vehicle, it seems like it's been here a while.


(Click for mo' bettah detail)

However-
This IS Russia- and with a model name like this:
- Vibromax -
I have to wonder if this is not merely a misplaced road-paving vehicle, but perhaps something of a more "personal comfort" nature.

TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

Try it. I dare you. I double dare you, mate.

Active security system...

A well-fed active security system.

TBG 

Girls Are Assholes...

...At the bar. (Sometimes they're worse than guys...)

I've met the girl on the left...
Don't try to buy her a drink.

TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

Nightmare Fodder

By far, the most frightening and disturbing images from London 2012:
The faces at Synch Swimming.


Image by MICHAEL DALDER / Reuters


Image by MICHAEL DALDER / Reuters

Image by Al Bello / Getty Images
 
Image by Al Bello / Getty Images
 



Image by FABRICE COFFRINI / Getty Images


Image by TOBY MELVILLE / Reuters


Image by ALBERTO PIZZOLI / Getty Images




Image by ALBERTO PIZZOLI / Getty Images


Image by Clive Rose / Getty Images


Image by MARTIN BUREAU / Getty Images


Image by MICHAEL DALDER / Reuters


Image by ALBERTO PIZZOLI / Getty Images


Image by Clive Rose / Getty Images


Image by TOBY MELVILLE / Reuters


Image by MARTIN BUREAU / Getty Images


Image by MARTIN BUREAU / Getty Images


Image by Al Bello / Getty Images


Image by MICHAEL DALDER / Reuters


Image by Al Bello / Getty Images


Image by MARTIN BUREAU / Getty Images


Image by Clive Rose / Getty Images

Run. Run far and fast, if you value your sanity.
TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

Petulant Pup

Evil Pup is evil.



TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

This Is Why You Grind Your Own

Poster here

TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

The Spider of Damocles

TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

Stop Helping Me

With friends like these, who needs enemies?


Someone (Ed? Roach? Stick?) loaded the tripods for the Geos in the van,
setting them point-first on top of the cases, so they are directly behind the driver's (i.e Yours Truly) head.

Thus:

I got news for you- with a generous application of brakes those things would go through the driver barrier like tinfoil.

In some locations (Peru, Tibet, any US Airport) these things are
classified a deadly weapons...

You can see why.

First the carbon monoxide, now possible impalement.
Hmmm.
I wonder if someone is paying them?

Who could it be... ?

TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

Welcome Our New Android Overlords

Holy crap, that thing is realistic...



Story here



It just needs some micro-eyemovement...



Crap on a cracker!
It looks like it's breathing...
Man, the Devil is in the details.

TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

Headlines

Supply your own headline:


Gator Fan runs amok, needs better beer.

-or-

Drunk Floridian with unconcealed weapon snaps, attacks bystanders.
Legislators draft legislation to ban bats & beers in same venue.

-or-

You turn- post in comments.

(Original article here)

TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE