Same Sex Marriages at San Francisco City Hall, Plus LGBTQ Pride Saturday

Today my daughter and I went down to San Francisco's Civic Center. Ordinarily, I'm not there on a Saturday ... my couch and a good book usually beckons. But, what the hell, it's Pride weekend and I most likely will not make it in tomorrow -- I hate crowds. Guess what? It was crowded in SF at 11:30 already! But we walked around and I took photos. My main goal was to go to City Hall -- yep, they opened today to officiate for all those patiently waiting same-sex couples. San Francisco is very special. Thanks, officials! Gavin Newsom and his team led the way. Thanks all!!

(I purposely use "same-sex couples" instead of gay or lesbian couples because -- they could be bisexual.)

Here's my photo scrapbook ... some of them anyway. Enjoy.

And ...

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE HAPPY COUPLES AND THEIR FAMILIES ... SPECIAL SHOUT OUT TO THEIR KIDS!!

All photos (c) 2013 K. Smokey Cormier
If you want to enlarge a photo, double-click on it.


Outside of City Hall folks are already celebrating and the SF Pride committee is preparing for the onslaught of thousands and thousands of people tomorrow.

 Food stands are already in operation

The main stage is getting prepared. Sound system is being fine tuned.

Larkin Street Youth - a service for all queer youth

Pinkness

LGBTQ dogs want some attention too, ya know

Now ... inside City Hall ... it's a really beautiful building.

And couples are getting married all over the building. It's got some cool nooks to get married in.

Guests are shooting pictures and filming.

These brides are waiting -- they're next. (I'd be nervous!)

beautiful

Stairway down into the rotunda.

Under this dome -- lest we forget -- the bodies of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk were lain in state. They were assassinated by Supervisor Dan White.

There they are -- the brides -- post ceremony!

Lots of LGBQ clerics were the greeters throughout the building. Here are three arriving just as my daugher and I were leaving.

What a day! More to come.

Presidio of San Francisco Pet Cemetery

A visit in February, 2009 ...

all photos (c) K. Smokey Cormier

I love cemeteries. I often visit them. They're often quiet and very green. I love to look at the tombstones and other markers. I feel the pull of history too when I'm in a cemetery. My favorite human one is the one in St. Laurent, Manitoba. It's so quiet and is surrounded by the prairies and a swamp. Filled with history too. Lots of Metis people buried there. It's a cemetery from my childhood.

But here we have one for pets -- the Pet Cemetery at the Presidio. I'd never been to one before. And, what a view for these owners when (if?) they come to visit! The base of the Golden Gate Bridge right nearby.

There's a sign at the cemetery that says: Military personnel stationed at the Presidio once buried their deceased pets in this burial plot. Grave markers were provided by the pet owners. The cemetery is operated by the post veternarian and is maintained by private funds and local scouts.

However, this cemetery is threatened by the Doyle Drive Replacement Project. Will the pets be moved? Dunno.

(Update, 12 Dec 2009: The Pet Cemetery will be protected during the Doyle Drive Replacement Project. For details, see this article in the San Francisco Chronicle: "Presidio pet cemetery protected."

Can you read the small print on this one? It says, "He was no trouble"

As we were walking by this one, my friend Rob said: "Not too frisky anymore."

for Bun-Bun

A Visit to Fort Point, San Francisco in February 2009

View from Fort Point towards San Francisco
You can see the refinished roof of the rotunda of the Palace of Fine Arts

all photos (c) K. Smokey Cormier

Fort Point, from the inside

Here's what the web site says about Fort Point:

Fort Point has stood guard at the narrows of the Golden Gate for nearly 150 years. It has been called “the pride of the Pacific,” “the Gibraltar of the West Coast,” and “one of the most perfect models of masonry in America.” When construction began during the height of the California Gold Rush, Fort Point was planned as the most formidable deterrence America could offer to a naval attack on California. Although its guns never fired a shot in anger, the “Fort at Fort Point” as it was originally named has witnessed Civil War, obsolescence, earthquake, bridge construction, reuse for World War II, and preservation as a National Historic Site.

I was impressed with the masonry -- especially the spiral stairs going up to the towers.

There are several canons for you to look at

You can literally stand underneath a part of the Golden Gate Bridge.

And, even though it is often very cold there, you almost always see a surfer or two.

Mayor of Castro Street to be filmed: Update

As reported in today's Leah Garchick column in the San Francisco Chronicle:

Matt Damon, who was spoken about for the role of Dan White in the movie version of "Milk," is out, replaced by Josh Brolin. Sean Penn, as planned, is Harvey Milk, and Bob McDowell tells me that there are rumors that James Brolin, Josh's father, may play George Moscone. Activist Cleve Jones will be played by Emile Hirsch, who starred in "Into the Wild."

Sounds good to me. Josh Brolin was fabulous in No Country for Old Men. (Actually the entire cast was so good.) I hadn't seen him in many things ... that I recall ... and he just impressed the hell out of me in that Coen Brothers' movie. I really believed he was who he was playing in that movie.

Same goes for Emile Hirsch. He was brilliant in Into the Wild. And ... was it yesterday? Mr. Hirsch got a SAG award nomination for that role?

[Oh, my god! From the previous comments above ... I actually sound like I get out and about! These are two of the five adult movies I've seen all year. No, no ... I always make that mistake ... not "adult movies" ... I mean movies made for grownups. I usually go to children's or family movies with my kids. But not so many made for grownups.]

Want to read my previous post on this? Please click here.

Warming Hut Reopens!

Yesterday, a friend and I went out to the newly-reopened Warming Hut which is part of Crissy Field and the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy. The Conservancy includes places in the San Francisco bay area like Crissy Field, Point Bonita, Alcatraz, Baker Beach, Fort Funston, Fort Mason, Marin Headlands, Muir Woods, Point Reyes National Seashore, Tennessee Valley, Olema Valley, Mt. Tamapalais, Stinson Beach -- some of my most favorite places in the bay area.

To me, the Warming Hut is very special. The views are incredible. At the hut, you get a breathtaking view of the Golden Gate Bridge.



You can easily walk to the bridge's base on the San Francisco side. And, you can recreate that scene where Kim Novak jumps into the water (dangerous thing to do, not recommended) in Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo. You can see Alcatraz straight out in the Bay.



And, on a day like yesterday, the water and sky are beautiful and you’re likely to see lots of sailboats. Off to the right, is the city. The city by the bay per Herb Caen. Everything looked clean and vibrant yesterday. It was a glorious day to be out and about in San Francisco.


The Warming Hut had been closed because of a fire last January. The staff worked extra hard to get it back open. There’s a new kitchen, coffee and food prep area. We stayed and had brunch there. The food was scrumptious! Kudos to the chef. I indulged with a cup of café mocha. Yum!




The Warming Hut also has a wonderful gift shop ... lots of interesting and unique gifts. I got a seashore bird mobile, a couple of children’s books, and some uniquely packaged chocolate from Charles Chocolates.

I thoroughly enjoyed going to the Warming Hut yesterday! It was like those old coffee commercials used to say: perks you up while it calms you down.

All photos (c) 2007 K Smokey Cormier.

Sidra Stitch and her art-site travel books

Just read an article in the Oct. 13, 2007 issue of the San Francisco Chronicle about a woman who writes books that are part art book, part travel guide. The art-site books "identify and evaluate contemporary art, architecture and design."

Sidra Stitch will visit a region and then write about interesting art to see in that region.

Here's an excerpt in the article about the San Francisco edition of her book:

For example, she wonders, just how many of us have admired the sailboats moored at San Francisco's St. Francis Yacht Club in the Marina district and missed conceptual artist Peter Richards' installation "The Wave Organ" at the end of the jetty that extends from Yacht Road? "This wave-activated acoustic sculpture is a superb example of site-specific environmental art. It is one of the best-kept secrets in the city and ought not to be missed," Stitch writes as part of a longer description in the 2007 edition of her "art-SITES San Francisco" guide.

So far she's written books about the following regions:

• London
  
• Northern Italy
  
• San Francisco
  
• Paris
  
• Britain and Ireland
  
• Spain
  
• France
  

To read the entire article which also talks about her background and how she got going on these projects, click here.

To go to Sidra Stitch's web site, click here.

Note: I have no association with Sidra Stitch, her publisher ... but I do have a passionate relationship with the city of San Francisco.