Category: Local
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In defense of medium-term housing
Recently it was revealed that a new housing development at Church and Market in San Francisco isn’t going to be typical apartments, but will instead be offered as “hotel style” or medium term apartments — or what we would have called corporate housing before Airbnb came along. There has understandably been some hoopla about…
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SFO Harvey Milk Terminal 1 Community Day
Today I went to SFO not to catch a flight, but for the free “Community Day” to see the new Harvey Milk Terminal 1. No flights connect to it yet, the old Terminal 1 is still in service. Despite everything looking shiny and new, part of it felt like a throwback — there’s no airport…
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The Peanuts statues of Santa Rosa
All over Santa Rosa’s downtown I stumbled across statues in the likeness of Charles Schulz’s Peanuts characters (Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, etc.) They’re all about the same height, but made from different materials and from different artists. These were all commissioned after Schulz’s death in 2000, apparently because he didn’t like the idea of statues…
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Cyclisk
Easily the strangest thing I saw on this trip was the “Cyclisk,” an obelisk made of around 340 damaged bicycles. It was created by Mark Grieve and Ilana Spector as a public art project for Santa Rosa. Ironically the statue is next to a car dealer and a car wash, but Grieve says “The statement…
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Luther Burbank Home and Gardens
I arrived in Santa Rosa this afternoon and made a beeline for the Luther Burbank Home and Gardens. It’s the site of the home and a test garden of the wildly prolific horticulturist Luther Burbank. I bought a ticket for the hourly tour. Although not a household name, Burbank invented a number of common foods…
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Petaluma’s temperance fountain
I happened to walk by a stone drinking fountain in downtown Petaluma with a curious inscription on the side: ERECTED 1891 TOTAL ABSTINENCEIS THE WAY TO HANDLETHE ALCOHOL PROBLEM It seemed odd at first glance, I think mostly because the word “abstinence” is generally only used in modern American English by religious zealots peddling unscientific…
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Lagunitas Brewing Company tour
Today I took a tour of the Lagunitas Brewing operation in Petaluma. The facility was largely built before they sold themselves to Heineken, and still operates independently. Tickets for the tour are free and (if you’re over 21) include a free beer. The tour focuses very little on brewing and much more of the stories…
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Marin County Civic Center
Exterior of the building The more I’ve seen of Frank Lloyd Wright’s designs, the more I’m convinced he was an interior designer at heart who happened to get tasked with architecture. His interiors are always unique and playful, but the exteriors are almost offensively boring. It’s certainly true of the Marin County Civic Center. From…
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Museum of International Propaganda
My last stop in downtown San Rafael was a tiny museum with an unusual premise: the Museum of International Propaganda. Housed in a former shoe store, each section of the museum is devoted to a certain type of propaganda. Examples include leader worship, promoting the military, and demonizing a perceived enemy. It seemed to me…
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Louis Pasteur “420” statue
When I got off the bus from the Larkspur Ferry Terminal, I discovered I was a short walk from the origin of a well known slang term: 420, the not-so-secret code for marijuana. I had to go see it for myself. As Atlas Obscura explains this unusual statue of Louis Pasteur in front of San…
About Eric
Travel, movies, comedy, tech, and whatever I find on the streets of San Francisco.
Contact: mrericsir “at” gmail.com
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