Posts Tagged ‘palaceoffinearts’

Commercialization in effigy of San Francisco landmark

July 13th, 2011

Until recently, Disney’s California Adventure wasn’t noteworthy. It was the theme park best known for the Graveroller, a ride where you could watch the animatronic corpse of Walt Disney rolling inside of a fiberglass model of his grave.

But now the park is changing. California Adventure recently unveiled a Little Mermaid themed ride — a ride which desecrates San Francisco with the commercialization (in effigy) of a glorious local landmark, the Palace of Fine Arts.

The Palace is best known for appearing on postcards and as a wedding photo backdrop.

Disney’s decision to commercialize a scale model of the Palace of Fine Arts must not be tolerated. This move is clearly a middle-finger to San Francisco, a city which is serious about protesting the commercialization of public property. But we do enjoy irony, which is why the Walt Disney Family Museum is located on public land.

I’m calling on all true San Franciscans to march to Disney’s California Adventure and stage a protest at the site of this effigy. Unfortunately it’s not free to enter the theme park. (Wise protesters will bring a coupon.)

Photo of Disney attraction from here

Palace of Fine Arts 2011 version

January 16th, 2011

The Palace of Fine Arts has been restored… again! Perhaps the third time’s the charm? Or is this the fourth? Hey who’s counting.

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The restoration took a mere seven years. Contrast this to the similarly historic Acropolis in Greece, which has been under a restoration project since the 70’s. Get back to work, Greeks.

Some notes on the 2011 version of the Palace:

  • No more sand! Instead they added a ground surface that looks like a granola bar.
  • The ugly black nets under the dome are gone, as the concrete fixtures are now firmly super-glued in place for your safety.
  • The “stairs” have been converted to planter boxes, much to the dismay of mild-mannered daredevils everywhere.
  • Lots more trees, plants, etc. But still plenty of mud.

Did you know? The current Palace of Fine Arts was not built in 1915 for the World’s Fair; it’s a concrete replica of the original built in the 60’s.