Please hold for San Francisco

Magnet #1291 - de Young Museum

Argle. San Francisco's calling me, too!

Here's yet another museum I haven't been to, the de Young Museum! A friend of mine brought this one back for me from her trip out there.

As I look around my apartment, I have to admit that I'm lucky to have been able to travel as much as I have - with repeat visits to multiple fun destinations. But I don't think I'll ever sit back and say, yeah, I'm done with travelling. There's just too much out there to see and do, than just sit at home in NYC.

Following on yesterday's post, I really did start my spreadsheet of future vacation destinations and activities. No real itineraries just yet obviously, but so far Russia and LA have the longest list of things for me to do.

And, because I rediscovered this magnet in my collection, I had to add San Francisco to my list, and specifically this museum. You can't tell in this from this shot (indeed, wait til I use one of the several other magnets in the set), but it's the coolest building ever!

It's designed by Herzog & de Meuron, the same folks that did the Bejing Olympic Stadium, and who re-purposed the Tate Modern in London, and the Allianz stadium in Munich.

Shoot. Germany. I have to go add that to my list!

Speed-dating San Francisco

Magnet #1016 - San Francisco

While at home last week, I stumbled over several pictures of my parents and me all over San Francisco. Of course, I was like six months old at the time, so I have absolutely no recollection of it.

Then several years ago, I spent less than 24 hours in San Francisco. I flew in, got in at like, 4 or 5 in the afternoon, had a sunset dinner by myself at Fisherman's Wharf, went into the office to help a friend get some urgent work done for a few hours, then late in the night, went back to my room at the W, to await my 8am flight. Truly a shame, since I didn't get to sleep but three hours on those 800 thread count sheets.

All that fuss, to drop off a banner stand and banner, for a pitch...that we didn't even win. Oh, Corporate America, will you ever cease to make me laugh.

Anyway, I think a friend of mine gave me this magnet, and clearly once again, it's been doctored from Joyce, to make my name. I mean, no offense, but seriously, when was the last time you even met a Joyce?

I'm just sayin'.

"The world's largest architectural folly"*

Magnet #705 - Transamerica Pyramid

It's my friend Annette's birthday today. Just shouting it out. :-) I haven't figured out a way to tied her in to the magnet, though.

By the way, this magnet? Totally came in my NY buildings mighty magnet set. And, it actually took me a couple of years to even realize that it was in the wrong set. Heh.

I've been to SFO twice - once when I was like six months old, and once about six years ago. For 12 hours. No lie. I literally got on a plane to deliver something for a new biz pitch.

That morning I flew, that night, I checked into the W with the 800 thread count sheets, had dinner, ran to the office, delivered my stuff, then stayed to help out the chick who gave me that bullfighter magnet below, and then didn't get into that bed with those wonderful sheets until 4. And then had to get up an hour after that for an 8am flight. Then? We didn't win the business. Wha?

Anyway, my point is that I've only seen this building twice, so I know next to nothing about it. But here's the nifty cool stuff I found out about it.

It's called the Transamerica Pyramid, even though Transamerica isn't HQ'd there now, and it's not a real pyramid. According to this fabulous SFGate article, Transamerica used to be a holding company that originally owned Bank of America, and then stuff like Universal Artists and Budget rental cars. But in the 60s, no one knew who they were, so they said in a time-honored tradition, dudes, let's build a building!

So they got this big futuristic-architecture focused architect, William Pereira to design it for them. He's the guy who did the burning of Atlanta. I kid you not. (You can find his work listed here, but I'm hard-pressed to find a favorite.) They finished the building in 1972, to the usual round of lovers and critics.

Love it or hate it, it's one of the best known buildings in San Francisco, if not the best known. You have to hand it to Pereira, that futuristic vision of his seems to hold up well, almost 40 years later. I'm sad that post-September 11th, they've closed the observation deck to the public - apparently, you can hang out in the first floor where they have virtual viewings? Plus, they have a cool website that gives you the latest sightings of the building in the media. But you know what I love? I love that they recently achieved their LEEDS certification. That's cool.

*Criticism from John Pastier, the LA Times architecture critic, 1971 (via @SFGate)

I (don't) know why the caged bird resigned...

Magnet #336 - San Francisco Joy

That little spec on the horizon under JOY, is Alcatraz, which I've talked about before. But, I'm using this magnet to get me to my The Prisoner marathon. It's a bit of a stretch, but really - how many prison magnets do you think I have?

Right. So The Prisoner. Somewhat obscure for my generation, given the show aired more than 40 years ago in 1967. But, because Patrick McGoohan passed away last week, and because I hate missing out on something so iconic, but mostly because AMC has the classic series streaming on their site to promote their Ian McKellen remake (which you know I'll totally watch), I've been marathoning the show.

I'm on the fifth episode (there are only 17) and I gotta be for serious here: I dunno about this show.

It's a pretty good premise: Guy resigns from his government spy job, wakes up, and finds he's been squirreled away on an island he can't escape from by people who have one goal - to find out why he resigned.

I can see how LOST takes some of its cues from this show - this island is a fully functional, actually kinda cool, self-governing, self-sufficient island - complete with oddball and ofttimes nefarious neighbors in funny uniforms with odd little badges, helicopters that don't actually let you escape, giant unidentified objects hovering and attacking, and supercute signs done in supercute fonts.

It's a pretty cool setting as well, quite amazing, in fact. What I had thought was a huge backlot at Pinewood Studios, was actually shot in North Wales, in a gorgeous private Italianate resort called Portmeirion.

It has the same fairly cool opener for every episode. It's interesting that the producers gave up like 3:17 in airtime for the opening, and we've now been reduced to the 10-sec logo build or swoosh and accompanying sound effect.

And it has a supercool lead. Mr. Googhan plays the ever-so-smooth prisoner Number 6, well-suited for the role. The guy spends every week alternatively beat down and stymied at every turn.

So don't get me wrong, overall, there's some good stuff here.

But, I think I'm having fundamental issues with it. Instead of a running MoW (Monster of the Week), it's more like an EToW, Escape (from the village) Tactic of the Week, or Extract (info) Tactic of the Week. Or even, IoW (Ingenue of the Week).

Can a show sustain itself if it's really all about how he's going to try and get off the island, or find out who these people are? Then again, with 17 episodes, maybe you don't have to. Then again, LOST's been doing it for more than 100.

Frankly, the MacGuffin of "why did you resign" is getting old. At some point, who cares? It feels like if, after all this, he won't tell his captors why he resigned - he's not going to sell whatever information is in his head, and it certainly won't be squeezed out of him involuntarily.

I'm also a little worried, because I saw somewhere that the show's ending was never truly resolved, and the mystery of his resignation solved. That will drive me batty. Like, forever.

Again, I'm only at the fifth episode. I'll keep watching, because really, even after all my brazen talk above, I'm way too far in to go back now.

Poor Number 6. I hope he makes it off the island. But maybe he can hook up with the Oceanic 6 if he does!

Welcome to THE ROCK

Magnet #110 - Alcatraz

I've been to San Francisco only twice - once when I was a baby, and then a few years ago for fly-in/fly-out hand-delivery for a new business pitch.

I've not been to Alcatraz. My sister brought this back for me on a trip out to SFO earlier this year, because she knows I have a thing for The Rock.

And, here's where I unapologetically admit something that boys can't understand, and girls just think I'm weird.

I loved The Rock - it's one of my favorite movies of all time. FFS, I own the Criterion Collection version of it!

Yes. The Michael Bay film. Yes. With Nic Cage. Yes. With Sean Connery. Yes. With Ed Harris.

Yes. The silly movie where Ed Harris leads a group of renegade special forces to take over Alcatraz and point rockets full of gas at San Fran, holding the city hostage to force the government to release the secret funds to help the families of lost black ops soliders, and the only people who can save them are desk-jockey FBI agent Nic Cage and disappeared former agent badass Sean Connery, the only man to successfully escape Alcatraz. Whew.

Why do I love it? First. It's Sean Connery AND Ed Harris. Second. I love Michael Bay popcorn flicks. Third. I loved the Hans Zimmer score...this was just before every action score sounded like a Hans Zimmer action score. Fourth. Hello. Boys. In Uniform. With Guns. Fifth. Don't ever watch with me, I can still recite the darn thing backwards and forwards.

This movie's so damn quotable, it's ridiculous.

My favorite? When the tour guide and his group get locked up in the cell, and the man yells through the bars, "What kinda F**KED UP TOUR is this?"

Gets me - every time.