politically correct?

while slurping a vanilla malt with christien on a summeresque day at johnny rockets in the marina, i noticed this huge, framed poster above our table.

politically correct? at first glance, yes. you've got an all-american baseball team, the tigers, about to share a chocolate shake. the kids are all smiles and good-looking. caucasian, asian, african-american, and hispanic are all represented. they're sharing in the good times. but take another look...

all kids' ethnic features have been toned down to an all-american look. if you painted their hair over with blonde they'd all look white. the female, although tom boyish, is portrayed with distinctly feminine hair and features. and what the heck is with the white dominant male pouring the shake to be rationed down to his minority friends?!

ok, i'm not really that pro-affirmative action or political, but this poster paints an oxymoron. blame it on my art history background. other than that, i found it hilarious.

one rincon hill

look at this picture and tell me what sticks out.

if you guessed the ugly building sticking out like a sore thumb or a middle finger in the air on the right side of the picture, you guessed it.

while i'm a huge fan of architecture and design, and a proponent of development and economy, the rising of one rincon hill heeds no attention to san francisco's beautiful skyline. it soars above anything around it and is so far removed from the rest of the skyline. glass treatment has been designed to emphasize a false perspective, making the building look smaller (read less floors) than it actually is (55 stories at 741 feet). but you compare it to the rest of the skyline and it looks a little ridiculous and, well, a sore thumb. the transamerica pyramid is actually taller than one rincon hill by 112 feet but is more "at home" with its fellow high-rise brethern in the financial district.

i realize a second tower will rise next to it by 2009 and that the whole south beach, rincon hill area will slowly become high-rise central - a second downtown - but i think this could've been done better with a respect to historical architecture and skyline. yes, i like modernization, but one rincon hill just doesn't do it for me.

this site has a good summary of the new development. any guesses as to how much a junior 1-bed condo will cost in this monster?

veo's birthday!

you know you're having a good time when you get home from a party and realize you've taken over 220 pictures with your digital camera.

welcome to butter.

a "white trash" bar located in soma on 11th between folsom and harrison.

and the infamous site of veo's 30-somethin' birthday.


imagine a long island iced tea with strawberry soda instead of coke...

$4 spaghetti-o's...

oh, and jello shots.

yeah, you get the picture...

there was dancing...

laughter...

and prom pics...


there was singing and paper-wrapped 40's...

smooching and posing...

and good times all around...


there were big grins...

myspace photo opps...

and ameet holding off the paparazzi...


there were also smooshes...

squooshes...

and group hugs...


after soaking up the ghetto drinks with jalapeno poppers and chili cheese tater tots...

veo's good friends all bid her happy birthday.

hope you had a fantastic nite veo! i know we all sure did.

happy birthday sweetie!

happy sf pride 2007!

this year i missed most of the pride parade. last year there were more exciting floats rolling by. not that there weren't good floats this year, it's just that we didn't have the patience.

so we decided to head straight to the civic center instead for the festivities...

where christien joined in on the festivities.

and veo and tony met us, beers in hand to behold the sights to see.

some people wore things all too wrong...

while others wore not enough...

but the overall atmosphere was happy and gay.

and towards the end of the hot afternoon we were all sportin' the spirit.

the evening brought packed, sweaty dancing at badlands.

and at&t cowboy gogo dancers...

and here. and here.

happy pride people. it was fun. don't discriminate.

unexpected...

altoids.

they come in may shapes, sizes...

and flavors.


how do you protect and carry your digital camera?

haight ashbury

an eclectic blur of...

food... vegetarian fat slice $2.75...

art... graffiti over what used to be the gap store...

and people... yes virginia, candy kid ravers do still exist...


i need to visit the haight more often.

kiehl's

people have mentioned i have good complexion and smooth facial skin. the one and only time i've had a facial, the beautician remarked i probably didn't need to be in there, except to extract junk from my nose, which has much larger pores. thanks lady. anyway, while some of it may be due to good genes, i believe in keeping what i have as intact as possible.

for the past 8 years i've used the same facial products introduced to me by the one and only danna. kiehl's. below is my kiehl's regimen. what do you use to keep your face baby smooth and clear?

foaming non-detergent washable cleanser for combination or oily skin. daily.

multi-purpose facial formula for men with refreshing eucalyptus extract. daily.

abyssine eye cream with survival molecules and vitamin e. daily.

pineapple papaya facial scrub with real fruit. weekly.

rare earth facial cleansing mask. monthly.

soothing gel masque. monthly.

i'm not sure how well it does these days with all the competition, but kiehl's seems to be held in high regard for its face and body lines. heck, it works for me. my only slight gripe is that it's inconvenient to purchase on the fly, since products are only sold in company-owned storefronts and select merchants like neiman marcus. fortunately kiehl's has an excellent website with detailed descriptions and easy purchasing. oh, and a kiehl's store will be opening this fall in the westfield nordstrom center downtown right next to AE on the first floor. woo hoo!

happy birthday melissa!

the bamboo hut in north beach. tiki kitsch. or tongue-in-cheek. whichever you prefer.

the flaming volcano aka a half bottle of rum blended with ice and more alcohol. (my flash washed out the alcohol-lit blue flame in the volcano, sorry)

melissa gettin' down.

happy birthday melissa!! hope it was a great 3-0!

harlot

harlot is a new hot spot that recently opened in the soma-financial district area on natoma between 1st and 2nd street.

danna and i attended an event at harlot last month hosted by french tuesdays, a guest list only private party that has LA pretentiousness written all over it. strict dress code, very european, and you can smell money in the air (or monopoly money perhaps).

harlot's interior is quite interesting: dark and gothic with a taboo twist. excellent attention to detail i must say. the bar is well stocked and carries a lot of top shelf bottles, ones that you don't see in your typical sf dive bar. the bartenders, in keeping with the theme, all wear corsets. nice touch.

the 2nd floor boasts a small lounge and secondary bar swathed in glowing white fabrics and plastics, a breathtaking break from the dark, cavernous dancefloor visible from its gleaming balcony rails. as hokey as it sounds, it reminded me of a heaven and hell play on design. unfortunately i didn't get a picture here. perhaps this helped inspired french tuesday's theme for the nite, black and white.

guests were encouraged to wear all black, white, or both.

yes we obliged.

while i can't say this was the best time i've had at a bar -- people were rude, traffic flow was poor, and they stopped serving the laurent perrier champagne at midnite -- i did feel somewhat exclusive having gained vip access to harlot before it was open to the public. i think we all like feeling "above the know" sometimes, don't we?