Month: November 2007

Friday Roundup

Notes from a week of travel in virtual NoCal. Five hot hotels in San Francisco No longer the fairy tale Esseph Bay Bridge bumber bits lost Native birds…

Historical map of San Francisco Creeks

This great map from the 1890s shows creeks in blue and marshes in green, with modern landfill in magenta. A larger version is at the Oakland Museum of…

Fall color

The San Francisco Bay Area doesn’t have such a bad climate for fall color. The image above is of a Japanese maple; below is a Fuyu persimmon (both…

An alternative to the Fisher Museum?

An alternative proposal to the Fisher Art Museum in the Presidio has been put forward by a group of historians and conservationists. The group supports a smaller museum…

Great Blue Heron at Lafayette Reservoir

The Lafayette Reservoir is a pretty little lake of 115 acres. It’s a tame spot, much used by joggers, families, and dog walkers. An easy 4.7-mile trail loops…

Laufer/KPFA recap

Several days ago I posted some information about Peter Laufer’s dismissal as replacement host of Larry Bensky’s Sunday morning show on KPFA. The comments to that post reflect…

Friday Roundup

Notes from a week of travel in virtual NoCal. Mission restaurant crafted by stone and steel artists Beaches reopening Museums supersized A history of local shipwrecks Double-decker buses…

America’s most literate cities

Dr. John W. Miller, president of Central Connecticut State University, is the author of a study that attempts to rank the nation’s most literate cities. According to the…

Warriors practice

The team looks loose for today’s game against the Knicks.

KPFA fires talk show host Peter Laufer

Frisco Vista received the following e-mail, reproduced here verbatim: LEGENDARY BERKELEY RADIO STATION FIRES LEGENDARY TALK SHOW HOST BACK STORY: Berkeley, California’s KPFA/Pacifica radio station, the only radio…

Friday Roundup

Notes from a week of travel in virtual NoCal. Throwing the book at a mountain biker Living cheaply in the Bay Area Colibri’s margaritas Mutanabbit Street posters at…

Bay Area Hiker

I’ve been reading Bay Area Hiker’s reports for a long time. They’re detailed without going overboard, and they give a really good sense of what to expect from…

Send in the tugs!

How can we prevent another catastrophic spill in the San Francisco Bay? Oil is bad enough but there are also vessels carrying chemical cargo that could potentially require…

Dim Sum

Gridskipper recommends the following Dim Sum restaurants in the city. What are they forgetting? Maybe as time goes by it will be possible to add to this list….

NOAA coast survey maps

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has a series of excellent bay maps on the web. Although the NOAA cautions that the maps are not to be used…

Friday Roundup

Notes from a week of travel in virtual NoCal. The controversial beauty of Albany Bulb The spill: Coast Guard asking for help Honeymoon in San Francisco Green Festival,…

Oil spills, volunteers, and the San Francisco Bay Area

Today beaches near the Golden Gate are closed as a noxious oil spill is washing up against the shore. A large South Korean-based Hanjin container ship struck one…

San Francisco Climate

The best summary seems to be via Golden Gate Weather Services.

KPIX hires blogger

KPIX, television Channel 5, has hired a full-time blogger named Brittney Gilbert. This is the first blogger hire by a local newsroom. Knowing how old-school journalism types think,…

Martinez beavers under seige

The struggling town of Martinez at last has a bona fide tourist attraction — the delightful beavers who have built a dam downtown on the Alhambra Creek. Some…

Friday Roundup

Notes from a week of travel in virtual NoCal Don’t miss these great photos of the 2007 Bernal Heights Soapbox Derby Can citywide broadband be saved? Getting lost…

Mount Diablo tarantula

Each fall the tarantulas come out on Mount Diablo to mate. We saw a couple this year and read about a couple of cyclists — Mt. Diablo is…