Visiting San Francisco 2010

All photos by K. Smokey Cormier who holds the copyright thereof ... or some such thing

Howdy, folks.

If you're visiting San Francisco in the summer and fall of 2010, here are some suggestions. Don't be afraid to explore. It's a great city to explore!

Note: Dress in layers. Bring a warm sweatshirt or jacket with you every day… unless the San Francisco Bay Area is having a heat wave, then you don't have to. The weather can change dramatically during the day. It can get quite cold there … especially around 5:30 pm when the fog rolls in during the summer. The fog is preceded by cold winds. And don't think I'm nuts. We have a totally different weather zone here in the Bay Area. Actually we have many weather zones. Because some places in the East Bay are very hot.

Here are some fun things to do when you come here ...

Take the ferry to Alcatraz or Angel Island.

Visit:
· Ferry Plaza Farmer’s Market (on Tues, Th, and Sat – check their website before you go)

· Pier 39

· Embarcadero Center -- shops


Walk across the Golden Gate Bridge. If you’re not into walking, you can drive and stop at the rest stop/outlook area – and view breathtaking views (if there’s no fog). DRESS WARMLY … even if it’s sunny. Because it’s very windy there.

This is a view of the Golden Gate Bridge from the Sausilito side (north).

Academy of Science building – new building; supposed to be the best in the world right now.

Visit Chinatown. Very interesting. Then you can have Dim Sum for brunch at City View restaurant – one of the best dim sum restaurants in S.F.



If you go to SFMOMA (San Francisco Museum of Modern Art), walk around Yerba Buena Center – beautiful landscaped grounds, there are shops, restaurants, a tea shop, nice places to sit outside, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, butterfly garden, fountain and waterfall. Also in the Yerba Buena center – METREON. Metreon is the first-of-its-kind entertainment center in the heart of downtown San Francisco. This 350,000 square-foot complex features an eclectic mix of restaurants, shopping venues, theatres, and entertainment destinations, including the West Coast's largest IMAX theatre.


Have you been too busy? Have you been doing too many urban things? Want to see something stimulating and also relaxing? Go to the San Francisco Botanical Gardens.



If you have kids ... San Francisco Zoo



****** Art in the summer 2010 ******


25 Years at Pixar – till Jan 9, 2011 Oakland Museum

[see my previous post about the re-opening of this wonderful museum]

this is a great museum – near a BART station.

From the museum's website:
The Oakland Museum's newest exhibition celebrates 25 years of Pixar animation, displaying the East Bay studio's unique visual style and extraordinarily vivid digital animation that brought the world Toy Story, WALL-E, and Finding Nemo. Written on the front wall of the exhibit is a quote by the Emeryville animation company's chief creative officer, John Lasseter: "Computers didn't create computer animation any more than a pencil creates pencil animation. What creates computer animation are artists."

Pixar Animation Studios, which is now owned by The Walt Disney Company, is famous for its innovative take on the artistry behind its animation. Rather than bubbly cartoons, Pixar uses a semi-photorealistic style. Instead of stories based on pre-existing fairy tales, Pixar comes up with tales set in the modern age that feature unusual characters such as garbage-cleaning robots, cooking rats and grumpy old men with houses that float away by balloon. Among its films are Toy Story, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille, WALL-E, and Up, all of which have won Academy Awards.

After a five-year, 14-stop worldwide tour that kicked off at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 2005, the exhibition that covers Pixar's entire lifespan is coming home.

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Shanghai - Asian Art Museum, till Sept. 5


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Calder to Warhol Introducing the Fisher Collection - SFMOMA, until Sept. 19

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Contemporary Jewish Museum StoryCorps StoryBooth October 12, 2008 - November 7, 2010

The Contemporary Jewish Museum is the first museum in the country to host a StoryCorps StoryBooth. StoryCorps is a New York-based oral history project.

>>>> also check their web site for the latest exhibitions

reflecting pool in front of the Contemporary Jewish Museum

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de Young museum The Birth of Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Musee D'Orsay, until Sept 6.


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And remember:


Dress in layers.

Dress in layers.

Dress in layers.

Dress in layers.

Dress in layers.