I called several places to make sure that booking on Easter weekend wouldn’t be a problem. And this probably shows my Southern skewed viewpoint because in Georgia, several places are closed on Easter, a few others are actually closed on Good Friday. But in the Devil’s City, Easter isn’t observed, so visiting most attractions on Easter isn’t a problem.
The best news I learned today was that the movie tour has extended breaks at two locations but actually stops at eight places, including at the Painted Ladies mural, which I’m very happy about. The person I spoke to was really friendly and it made me more confident that taking this tour is a good idea. And it better be since it’s the most expensive thing on the docket and it also takes up the most time, a three hour block of time.
Also today, I checked bus and subway schedules to make sure I have enough time to get from place to place and while it’s close, it fits. Several places can be switched around if it comes to that and there is a certain amount of flexibility, though not as much as I’d like.
The current schedule of events:
Thursday: San Francisco Visitors Center to pick up the City Pass and ask a couple questions about the way it works (namely, does it cover buses, because it seems to but I’m not sure). Try to check into the hotel early if they’ll let me. Visit Yerba Buena Garden, Modern Art Museum and if there’s time, the Cartoon Museum. Then I’ll watch the Giants play the Brewers, still crossing my fingers that Randy Johnson will be the team’s third starter.
Friday: Heading out at 6:15AM, stopping by Twin Peaks, Buena Vista Park, Castro Street and Castro Theater. Walking along Haight-Asbury area. Visiting the Conservatory of Flowers, Academy of Sciences, Shakespeare Garden, Botanical Gardens, the Japanese Tea Garden and Stow Lake, which has a cool looking waterfall. Then I’ll go to the de Young museum and the giant Dutch windmill in the Tulip Garden. There are several options on what to do next but the goal is to see the Seal Rocks and make my first stop at the Golden Gate Bridge before getting back to the hotel by 8pm.
Saturday: I’ve made reservations for the first ferry out to Alcatraz that boards at 8:30am. That should end at 11:30 and I need to book it across town for the AT&T ballpark tour at 12:30, for which I also have reservations. Then I go back to the wharf (maybe stopping at Coit Tower first), and I’ll take a open top double decker bus tour. If I didn’t do it in the morning, I’ll stop by Lombard Street, ‘the crookedest street’ before going to the Cable Car museum and Grace Cathedral. Depending on how I’m feeling and what I did on Friday, I might visit a couple Victorian style houses and Alta Plaza (which supposedly has good views of the Golden Gate Bridge). Most likely, I’ll be back to the hotel by 8pm.
Sunday: I’ll stop by Lombard Street if I didn’t get a good picture of it the day before and then continue to the Aquarium before going on the movie tour at 10:30. I should be back in time for the Blue and Gold Cruise (which goes under the Golden Gate Bridge) and then I’ll visit the battleship the Jeremiah O’Brien (on which I’ll keep saying, ‘You sunk my battleship’ over and over again) and the submarine the USS Pampanito. Then I’ll go on to Coit Tower if I haven’t already. If I have, then I can do the double decker tour again if my pictures from Saturday didn’t come out good. If the pictures were good and I don’t have anything else left to do, I can watch a movie at a nearby theater or rest in the hotel.
Monday: There are a couple things I can do before I need to leave if I didn’t already do them, but I need to head to the airport by 10:40. I’ll land back in Atlanta around 8:45 and should be home by 9:45.
Again, it’s a packed weekend but it seems doable and hopefully there’s enough flexibility to fit everything in and move stuff around depending on the weather. There’s enough redundancy that if I don’t get a shot on one day, I should be able to get a comparable shot at another point.
After I make the reservations for the bus tour, I’ll start putting a packet together. It will include information on each event, every possible travel point to that location, alternate times and alternate timelines for each day in every conceivable way that the events can be changed and flipped around. That way, if something doesn’t work out, there’ll be a contingency plan in place.
While the heart of that can start now, I can’t get that completely done until I have access to the Easter weekend bus and train schedule. The current plans are based on this month’s schedule and while the schedules aren’t likely that different, I just want to make sure everything has been planned for.
His last name is Norris and his first name is Chuck
Chuck Norris is interested in being president…of Texas. Before you think Chuck is confusing president with being governor of a state, it’s worth noting that he envisions Texas seceding from the Union. That didn’t work out too well the first time but then again, Robert E. Lee didn’t have Master Chuck on his side. So what if he had a couple great generals serving under him? Could any of them roundhouse kick?
Chuck fears that state of the union is turning into the enemy of the state. And while I could argue with him, he would just punch me with his beard.
Want to see a funny Chuck Norris clip? Check this out:
One day, I think it’d be funny to post a series of funny Chuck Norris clips the way I did the funny ‘Price is Right’ clips.
Brave New World Update
I’ve never heard of the ‘Iron Chef’ before but apparently Cat Cora and her lesbian partner Jennifer Cora are both pregnant and will give birth three months apart. They already have two children and all four kids will have been created from the same sperm donor so all of them will be biologically related. Cat is carrying an embryo created using Jennifer’s egg and in Jennifer’s previous pregnancy, she carried an embryo that was created using Cat’s egg.
In perhaps related news that could be entirely unrelated…Aldous Huxley died on November 22, 1963. Just a thought that occurred to me when reading that article.
Showtime/TMC: Out
I have my Charter bill deducted each month, so I don’t look too closely at my bill. I’d received a letter saying that the cost of certain items would be going up, so when my bill increased this year, I didn’t think anything of it. But it turns out that Showtime and The Movie Channel are now $14 a month. Because of this, I cancelled both of them and added HBO and Cinemax which cost the same thing.
Showtime and TMC have no series worth watching and rarely do they have any quality movies. I used to have HBO and was happy with it back then. I’ve never had Cinemax but it can’t be worse than either Showtime or TMC.
Simpsons: Out
Alright, earlier this season, I stopped an episode of ‘The Simpsons’ before it was over. The week before last, I didn’t see the episode due to the NASCAR race that ran long. This past Sunday, I stopped an episode before the first commercial. Have I given up on the show? In a word…Yes.
I should’ve stopped watching this drivel years ago but I kept hoping it would get better. But not only is it not funny, which it’s not, but it’s unclear whether it’s even trying to be funny. It’s just, uh, boring. And I know boring (see above listed travel itinerary). I removed ‘The Simpsons’ from my series record list on my DVR.
Now some of you (read: one of you) might think I’ll relapse. Believe me, I won’t.
Birthdays
I’m not sure I understand having a birthday party for a one year old. Not only will the baby not remember anything but one year olds seem easily confused. The baby doesn’t know what it’s being given and it’s more for the mother anyway. It’s marking a year since she gave birth and now people are giving the baby stuff that she doesn’t have to get for the baby.
A party for a two year old makes a little more sense. They are speaking by then, right? But I doubt they’re saying anything all that interesting. I’m betting they’re doing a lot of pointing still and I don’t like people who point a lot, even if they are babies.
I think maybe birthdays should be celebrated every few years. Maybe just the milestone ones. Five, ten, 16, 21, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60 and 70. If you live past 70, you should be happy any time you’re still around. You shouldn’t need to have a cake to say, ‘I can’t believe you made it through another year.’
If each person only had ten birthdays a year, there’d probably be fewer wars, more travelling calls in the NBA and better television.
Final Thoughts
I had barbequed meatballs today. They were okay.
Actually, I’m still stuck thinking about Dr. Manhattan.
Final Thoughts: Take Two
Okay, since I’m still messed up with that whole Dr. Manhattan thing, I’m going to end this with a series of clips regarding the feud between Jon Stewart and Jim Cramer. That’s at least funny.
March 9, 2009:
March 10, 2009:
1 comment:
There's actually a Devil's City?
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