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July 7, 2016
Day 4 - Wednesday(7/6) - The Haight and the Mission - Is Nothing Sacred?
So, today I ended up shooting a lot of Haight Street (Lower and Upper). A homeless guy fell out of his wheel-chair, which was upsetting to everyone around.
I really haven't shot the Haight in ages. It's changed a lot, of course. One of the most troubling things I discovered was the changes at Lower Haight and Laguna Street. It wasn't just murals that are gone...they demolished the entire block and rebuilt it, erasing the bunny statue that had been there.
Here's a story where they confirm what I'd suspected...they destroyed the rabbit and countless murals when they demolished the block and rebuilt it form the ground up.
http://hoodline.com/2016/02/bronzed-silly-pink-bunny-replica-making-return-to-haight-and-laguna
Much of the rest of the Haight is pretty much as I recall it, but the loss of Jeremy Fish's pink bunny, along with countless murals, is an unforgivable crime, IMHO.
After shooting the Haight, I headed to Ceasar Chavez, looking for a bunch of murals I'd originally discovered when working for Genentech back in the day.
On the way there, I was driving south on Guerrero Street, I passed a guy that had been in a bad motorcycle accident. I'm pretty sure he didn't live.
Eventually, I stumbled onto them.
In the Mission, there are countless alleys off of 24th, all smothered in murals. Aside from the fairly well known Balmy Alley, there are also countless other alleys in the area. So, I slowly moved through most of the murals on 24th.
I tried to talk to a hispanic guy in Spanish and he was like, "Dude...I don't speak Spanish."
After I shot the Mission, I wandered back to North Beach, collected my things from Mark and Lara's place, and said goodbye. Then, I went to dinner in Pete's (formerly Amante's, owned my Whiz). After dinner, I went and met David and his wife for a second dinner.
Now, I really don't know what to do with myself. I really can't see putting off leaving the city for another day. I think that I really will have to start down the Pacific Coast Highway tomorrow. If I don't then I won't make it to Riverside by Sunday.
I should point out here that there are some issues with the bike. I'm not clear why, but it's hard to shift it into first, and it tends to die when I let out the clutch in first gear. I'm not clear what's going on. Also, the front wheel seems to have a wobble that is somewhat disconcerting. A more practical man might take it to Scuderia West to have it inspected. I, on the other hand, plan on driving it down the Pacific Coast highway tomorrow, as is, from SF to Cambria.
Cambria is the cool little town that I discovered last time when my Honda XR broke down on the Pacific Coast Highway.
I honestly don't think I've been down the Pacific Coast highway since then. In any event, I show it's about 5 hours / 230 miles down there. So, it shouldn't be a problem, I think. Tomorrow, it looks like a low of 54F, high of 63F in Monterey.
Cambria is about the same. I don't see any rain for tomorrow, so that's a plus.
Posted by Rob Kiser on July 7, 2016 at 1:02 AM
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