Day Three, Part One, in San Francisco

by Hubert

For day three of my trip, I only had plans to go to two attractions, the Cartoon Art Museum, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. I did this because unlike previous nights where I headed back to the hotel around 7 PM, I was having dinner with a friend and guessed that I would be out late. I also got to sleep in!

But before any museums was lunch! My first stop was Caffe Museo, the cafe attached to the SF MOMA, as my guidebook mentioned it opened an hour earlier than the museum itself.



Scarfy Blue was amused at my drink.



Here's the menu:



Yes, this is the kind of food you can get in San Francisco where you go to a counter to order.

Summer Pasta
Orecchiette Pasta
Mediterranean Quiche
Grilled Marinated Portobellow Panini
Toasted Niman Ranch Smoked Ham & Fontina Cheese Panini

and of course "The majority of our produce is organic"

I had the ham & cheese panini, it was good.

After lunch, I walked a short distance to the Cartoon Art Museum. Unfortunately, photography was not allowed inside the place, so I just have video from the outside.



Oh, thank goodness for Youtube. After playing the last video, it suggested a video that I saw playing inside the Cartoon Art Museum and had to share with all three of you who read this blog. Imagine four panels that are continually painted over to tell a story. It's hard to explain, so please enjoy!



Next San Francisco entry: The SF MOMA

Day Two, in San Francisco, with pictures!

by Hubert



Oh no, what did Scarfy Blue do to deserve this?



Gorgeous day, big skyline.



Lunchtime!



Scarfy Blue is a pig.



That's a lot of sea lions.



It's so tempting to violate that law.



Why can't one of these be closer to home?

Next San Francisco Entry: Day Three

Day Two, Part 4, in San Francisco!

by Hubert

I stumbled upon an museum one one on end of Fisherman's Wharf called Musee Mecanique. It's museum of entertainment machines that would eat your coins. But not just games, no no. Machines like the one shown below.



That's all the machine does.

Here's another one.



I can't believe what people found entertaining decades ago. And in 2040, people are going to say the same things about today's arcade machines, or what's left of them.

Then I was off to Hyde Street Pier, where you can go into real boats previously used for real things like...I forget.



And you can see parts of boats:



Why I was compelled to take video of this wheel, I do not know. As you can tell, I don't know why I do a lot of things.

All of this walking around made me hungry, despite having eaten only three hours below. So where did I eat an early dinner?



I have now been to In 'N Out Burger twice in my life. Why can't they be in New Jersey???

Next San Francisco entry: Pictures from Day 2

Day Two, Part 3, in San Francisco

Finally, lunchtime!

I went to Boudin Bakery at Fisherman's Wharf, a giant tourist trap. The Wharf, not the Bakery. The bakery is known for, well, look at the video below.



But Fisherman's Wharf is more than restaurants and trinket shops. For instance, a colony of sea lions make the Wharf their home year round.



I bet you're thinking "I want a closer look at these magnificent sea creatures". Look no further!



Too adorable. If you still are not satiated in your appetite for sea lions, you can dine at the place below:



One last look around the Wharf...



Next San Francisco entry: The rest of Day 2.

What is the Gay Chicken?

I had brunch in the city with my friend Brillo and three of his friends. I've had brunch in cities two weeks in a row! Will I make next week the third?

So we're all back at Brillo's place and someone mentioned the "Gay Chicken". I ask what that is, of course this is too good to pass up. I was given this definition, taken from Urban Dictionary:

A game played by two straight guys, where both slowly slide their hands up the inside of the other guy's legs until one player chickens out, and thereby loses. Gay players cheat.

It's always when guys do this that it is called Gay Chicken. I don't think women have a name for it. Also, women aren't dumb enough to do this.

Why would anyone do this? Unless you're trying to get two gay guys together?

So now that I'm home, I had to google this. Apparently Gay Chicken encompasses more games/dares, such as:

A game where two people of the same sex (and preferably straight) put their faces closer and closer until one of them chickens out. If none of them do, then they get closer until they kiss.

I'm laughing really hard. WHY? WHY DO PEOPLE DO THIS? DOES NOT COMPUTE!

Of course there are Youtube videos of guys playing Gay Chicken.

Guy 1: I love pussy, I love pussy, I love pussy.
Guy 2: Vaginas!
Guy 1: This is the straightest thing I've ever seen!

Then the winner plays third guy:

Guy 2: As soon as we get bodily fluid swappage, that's it, right?
Guy 3: It doesn't stop until someone back off.
Guy 2: I'm not looking at you in the eyes.

The winner gets to slap the loser in the face. That's the reward for "winning". Really.

In the near future, Col and I are going to post reviews of "The Invention of Lying" and "Zombieland", since we saw both movies when I was visiting her in Chicago. So watch for that!

Day Two, Part Two, in San Francisco

by Hubert

Even at Alcatraz, inmates were allowed visitors. Very few visitors.



I stepped outside jail for a bit. Near Alcatraz Island is Angel Island, currently a state park, unless California's budget crisis changes that.



Now back inside the jail. There are several "blocks" in the jail, named after letters, and D Block was the worst for inmates, with poor lighting and some special cells for particularly bad behaving inmates. See below:



I had been on the island for over three hours, with the 90 minute history tour and the 45 minute jailhouse audio tour. Time to get some lunch back in San Francisco! Scarfy Blue said his goodbyes.



And on the boat ride back to land, an old friend was hovering around the Golden Gate Bridge.



Next San Francisco entry: Lunch and more!

Day Two, Part One, in San Francisco

by Hubert

Finally, back to posting about San Francisco!

I bought ticket to go to Alcatraz Island the week before, because I read that the island sometimes gets sold out during the busy tourist season. Although I wasn't there during the busy season, I like being careful.

Ta da! Alcatraz Island! From the boat!



Ok, not the best angle. Oh well.

Got off the boat, took an hour-and-half tour about the history of the island before it was a federal penitentiary, saw where Nicolas Cage ran out of a doorway with green flares from the movie "The Rock", blah blah blah.

Eventually got to a part of Alcatraz Island with a good view of the city:



Then Scarfy Blue saw a bird and well...you know.



Eventually, I went into the jail, and wouldn't you know, it was just like the one in the movie Escape from Alcatraz, because they filmed on location. Ha. I found the cells important in the movie and of course in the jail, there is a giant poster which talks about the famous escape from Alcatraz.



You can even see what the guard saw when the escapees left behind dummy bodies.



Next entry: More Alcatraz!

As the bicennquattuordecimtennial, plus a score, (234th) anniversary of our nation's independence approaches...

by Colleen

I would like to point out that I heard yet another British accent today in the crowd of people waiting to cross the street with me. That's about the 5th one I've heard in the past 6 months. And no, these Brits are not dressed like tourists. How many British expats are living in our city right now? Why? And what are they up to? Fair citizens of Chicago, they are up to no good!

Well I have a message for them:
We kicked you out of this country in 1776 and we'll do it again!

Evidence of Tory Sleeper Cells in Chicago:

- Increase in Tea (and coffee) Tariffs
That's right, all soft drinks including coffee and tea went from a 1% to 6.25% tax rate effective this past Sept. 1st.  Brits arrive in our city and taxes go up. Coincidence? I think not. Is Daley just a Limey shill?

- Chicago loses 2016 Olympic bid, Britain hosts 2012 Olympics
In possibly the most understated, albeit classy, handing off of the Olympic flag yet, Beckham sat atop a red double-decker bus and some British dude slowly waved the Olympic flag as Bei-Jing handed the reins over to London. Stately London, who you know will manage to host a smashing Olympics on probably half the 2008 Olympics budget. Bah.
While the English get 2012, Chicagoans get - nothing! Alright Britain, you can have your scone and eat it too....this time.

- Did I mention I heard 5 people speaking the Queen's English in the past 6 months?
 That's a lot.

Possible updates later. In the meantime, remember: Tory Sleeper Cells - If you see something, say something. Thank you for your time.

Yikes:

THAT'S WHERE THE ******* TICKETS WERE?

by Hubert

Hello everyone.  Or at least all three of you readers out there.  I just spent the weekend hanging out with my illustrious co-author, and yet neither of us posted anything!  And we normally live 900 miles apart!

Just a quick post today.  I buy my movie tickets from Costco because I can buy AMC tickets for $8 a piece, when they cost $11-12 at the theater.  I'm cheap, and it's an excuse to go to Costco.  I don't have many reasons to go since I live alone and don't eat a battalion's worth of food in a week.

I thought I brought four ticket vouchers with me to Chicago when I left my apartment Thursday morning, but then when I arrived in Chicago, I couldn't find the tickets.  Oh well, we'd have to pay full price for movies.

I got back home less than two hours ago, start unpacking, and find there is a small pouch underneath the top flap of the duffel bag I brought to Chicago.   I also notice the movie ticket vouchers in that pocket.

OOOOHHHH, NOW you understand the title of this post.  I could have saved Col and I three dollars each!

And how did I miss this every time I looked in the bag for stuff in Chicago???????