R-rated mannequins?

Oh this is too much but then considering where this happened it is not surprising I guess.
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"Police in northeastern Iran are launching a new morality drive by confiscating alluring mannequins from boutiques and clothes stalls in the bazaar, authorities in the city of Bojnourd said Monday. A spokesman for the city's judiciary, who asked not be named, explained the drive would tackle problems of "public chastity." He said 65 mannequins have been impounded so far.
He explained the crack-down on tailors' dummies was part of a larger offensive against anti-social behavior such as vandalism and biker gangs. Bojnourd owes its traditional religious climate to the nearby shrine city of Mashhad, a focal point of pilgrimage for the world's Shi'ite Muslims.
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All of which goes to remind me of what someone I know said a few years ago when his love life was not going well, "Even the mannequins in the windows at the The Gap are looking good to me now."

Hmm.....
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Then there is the problem of earthquakes, tsunamis, and surfers in southern California...
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An exclusive California beach enclave has raised eyebrows by passing out tsunami safety brochures that warn residents, in capital letters, that they should never try to surf one.
The pamphlets, part of an emergency preparedness campaign, inform residents of Malibu that tsunamis often follow large earthquakes and advise: "NEVER GO TO THE BEACH TO WATCH FOR, OR SURF, A TSUNAMI WAVE!"

"I'm speechless," Malibu surfer Candace Brown told the Los Angeles Times. "I think the last thing people will think about when they feel an earthquake is surfing." Malibu's emergency preparedness director said he thought it would be prudent to address all possibilities.
"Some people may feel that we are stating the obvious and some people may not," Brad Davis said. "We want to encourage people to move away from the coast rather than toward it."
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And with that I am outa here for now...

Not to worry

Sometimes when I worry about the youth of today and what it means for the future of this country, I read letters in the newspaper like the one that appears below and it gives me hope that not all is lost in this country.
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Life is random -- and full of anti-social types

Editor -- I'm a junior at Santa Cruz High School. After I read Steven Winn's article, "Turn on, tune in, drop out -- today's motto" (Oct. 20), I was inspired enough to respond.

I absolutely agree. I do not own a cell phone or an iPod, and am regularly asked by my peers how I live. I don't know how many times I have tried to initiate a conversation with a schoolmate who has a hood up, only to find that he or she hasn't heard a word I've said because he or she was listening to an iPod. The simplicity of completely tuning out frightens me, because I think that it magnifies a social pandemic in our country.

NICOLE LOEFFLER-GLADSTONE

Santa Cruz

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A million thank-yous to Nicole for this letter.

What's up San Francisco?

I had thought of titling this “City in Decline” but then “Tale of Two Cities” jumped out at me also. In either case, the good and the bad have been much on my mind recently especially after visiting other cities in this country and around the world. One thing I keep bugging at least one friend with is the fact that San Francisco has absolutely the worst streets of any city that I have visited in Europe and Southeast Asia. The bone jarring washboards that we have would not be tolerated in a civilized society, or shouldn’t be, so what is the problem here?

Then the homeless problem remains and tourists and locals alike are deluged with the panhandling of the vagrants who have taken over our streets. They dump all sorts of garbage on them and use them for their toilets. This situation would not be tolerated in a civilized society, or shouldn’t be, so what is the problem here?

Other cities have interesting modern architecture but the moment anyone here proposes something new and original, people scream their bloody heads off about it. Even the proposed redress of a small dowdy building on Grant Street by Prada got shot down because the design didn’t fit in with the rest of the buildings in the area. Most modern cities build interesting and exciting new buildings so what is the problem here?

Then there is the problem with our dowdy, dumpy, and uncomfortable War Memorial Opera House. After having visiting the Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center in New York City and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C., I must say that we, if we are to be a world class city, need something better. Personally, I propose tearing down the Opera House and the Veteran’s Building and erecting a Kennedy type center with multiple venues within its walls to house opera, ballet, and various other theatrical events. (It need not include a symphony hall as Davies will do for that for now.)

This city has done some things correctly since I moved here thirty years ago. The Yerba Buena Gardens is one such project that succeeded. The new Asian Art Museum and the new deYoung Museum are both successful. The new main library is less so in part because it is too small.

One big failure is the Ferry Building Plaza which got separated by three lanes of vehicular traffic on each side, thus stranding the plaza and making is unusable except as a passageway to get from Justin Herman Plaza to the Ferry Building. It also provides room for the Muni’s F-line stop. Otherwise, this vast space remains empty and unusable because it is not connected to the Ferry Building nor to Justin Herman Plaza. The Ferry Building refurbishing is great but it is a shame that there is no Ferry Building Plaza to go with it.

Public transportation could stand to be a little more reliable but traffic in the city almost makes that impossible in the downtown area. Consider that many streets, while one-way, have three lanes and during business hours it is not uncommon to find at least two lanes blocked by double-parked trucks. Thus cars and buses must squeeze through these constricted areas and this slows everything and everyone down. These days, too, it seems like there are just too many vehicles of all types on the streets downtown resulting in grid lock as many cannot get across an intersection before the light changes. We also need more traffic cops on Market Street especially at Stockton/Market/Fourth Streets. There are traffic cops in the financial district during rush hours but they are wimps compared to NYC and other cities. They need to be more forceful in their actions.

Ah, what the heck, sometimes I think we need another 1906 type earthquake and then perhaps we could start all over and get it right the next time.

For instance, the Muni’s planned cross-town subway is a starter but it should go all the way to Fisherman’s Wharf. There should also be a subway under Van Ness Avenue from Aquatic Park to Market Street and beyond. Maybe we need one under Mission Street as well to relieve the pressure on the Market Street subway. The biggest mistake of all in recent years occurred before I moved here and that was the failure to build a Geary corridor subway. In fact, the Muni has been criticized in recent months for pushing the plans for a subway under Stockton Street instead of opting for a much more needed one under Geary.

Ah, problems, problems, problems. Why am I raising these issues? Good question but then in my travels I see how other cities are doing things and I wonder what is wrong here. Sometimes I wonder if this city will ever be able to manage its traffic and its finances, neither of which are in very good shape and errect some bold and imaginative buildings without the luddites and others screaming their fool heads off.

Home again

Back at home now after a whirlwind tour of the nation's capitol as well as northern Virginia. I had not been there since being a teenager, sometime in the previous century, so I wanted to see some things again as well as what had changed, which of course, were a number of things. Their excellent Metro subway system being one of them. (It didn't exist when I was a teenager.) My friend and I stayed at a Holiday Inn which was convenient to the Capitol Mall but not to restaurants. The Metro L'Enfant Plaza Station was nearby so each evening we took the train up to the DuPont Circle Station and ate at restaurants on Connecticut Avenue. I like that neighborhood as well as the area from the Washington National Cathedral on down Wisconsin Avenue to the Georgetown section and then eastward towards DuPont Circle. The area around George Washington University seems nice too but since we only skimmed the surface due to time constraints, we did not get to see that much. At least we got passes from Senator Feinstein's office for the Senate and House chambers. We also visited various parts of the Smithsonian. Other stops included the aforementioned cathedral which included an organ demonstation/mini recital and a tour of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. That is a great place and I wish we had something like that here in San Francisco. Our old Opera House, is handsome (?) but old (1930s) and really out of date. It is very uncomfortable and outdated so we need something new. Alas, there is probably no money for it and certainly there is no space available in this city for such a large complex as the Kennedy Center. Anyway, we enjoyed our time in DC and then had a nice drive into northern Virginia which included a side trip to Monticello and a visit to Thomas Jefferson's home. We took the tour of the house but not the gardens. The surrounding area is very beautiful and I can see why he chose that location for a home.

Now it is back to the usual routine until my next journey to Thailand in January.

My next opera at SFO is Bellini's Norma which received a mixed review at the San Francisco Classical Voice Newsletter. The bad part, as usual with Pamela Rosenberg being general director, is that it is a stark modern production which has nothing to do with what Bellini wrote. Oh well, she will be gone by the end of the year to be replaced by David Gockley from the Houston Grand Opera.

Casualties of the Bush Administration

If you do not support the Bush administration, you should read this. If you are a supporter of the Bush administration you should read it anyway. I am hoping that somewhere, sometime, the people responsible for this mess will admit their mistakes and change their ways but I am sure not going to hold my breath waiting for that to happen.

Uneven distribution

Are you one of those people collecting the 50 State quarters? I am and I have a map in which to place them. For the longest time I could not find the California coin issued in 2005 but a friend had more than one so I bought one from him. From 2004 I am still missing Wisconsin and I check all my quarters for the new designs. Why is Wisconsin missing? For 2005 I received Kansas (3 of them) and Minnesota (2 of them) in change at Macy's yesterday. That is fine by where is Wisconsin? Anyway, this leaves only West Virginia to be issued this year.

Is anything important happening? Yes, but time does not permit to write about those things. Also they are very depressing. The state of this world especially this country are nauseating at times. Even such simple things as treating people with respect seems to be difficult these days. In fact, KPIX, channel 5, carried a disturbing report this week about how rude Americans are becoming towards each other.

Then there is "brain dead" in the White House and no, I do not hate Bush. Unfortunately the neo-cons of this country are so blinded by their "if you are not with us they you are against us" mentality. Then you have the new kids, literally, on the block who apparently failed U.S. History and/or U.S. Government 101, if they even went to high school, who know nothing about previous presidents. The attitude that George W. Bush is the greatest president ever is sickening and an insult to most of his predecessors. It is enough to make me scream "let me out of here" and move to another country. American politics is at its lowest point of my life and it extends to local and state politics as well. Consider "The Terminator" in Sacramento. So sad!

Bush to appoint someone to be in charge of the country

It's about time!

Where are we headed?

I wish we were headed for nice clear and warm weather as was in evidence when this photo of Coit Tower was taken. Our weather seems to be very uncertain of itself sometimes lately. Yesterday it was sunny and warm whereas today it was very foggy and chilly during the morning and then partly sunny and somewhat windy in the afternoon.

Anyway, where are we headed. Natural catastrophes seem to be on the increase recently so some people are wondering if there is a message in all this. Who knows...only time will tell. I have read some strange things on the Internet about the so-called "end of days" and the "bible codes". If they are to be believed then 2006 might be the beginning of the end of life as we have known it for all our lives.

There is the looming threat of Avian flu as well and this could bring death to millions of people around the world. There appears to be no way to prepare for it as scientists are not sure what the makeup of the virus will be when it spreads so there is no way to prepare a vaccine for it.

To add to the mix of events, there are now three volcanoes in Alaska which are showing signs of life.

Down in Guatamala they have experienced some serious flooding which makes me wonder if the floods have effected the Survivor-Guatamala cast and crew any or was it taped far enough in advance so that they were able to get out of the area before disaster struck?

Now the people in Afghanistan and Pakistan are having to deal with a huge earthquake that apparently has killed over 30,000 people. Could that happen here? Well, we certainly could have a major quake here in the San Francisco region but while loss of life would not be quite as high, the damage to the infrastructure would bring the whole region to a grinding halt resulting in catastrophic economic disruption. It would probably take years for the economy to recover.

It is depressing to think of the future these days. Even my White Zinfandel is not helping tonight. Ha!

Oh well, I feel good after my workouts at the gym. Those get my blood to pumping and I feel very refreshed and invigorated afterwards. Also, I changed gyms this week, cancelling membership at 24 Hour Fitness for a less costly membership at Gold's Gym (9th & Brannan). The facility is nicer too and the people are very friendly there. Although a trainer once told me that I should get a days rest between workouts, I sometimes feel like I should go in everyday. I guess it would not hurt to add other days at least for using the treadmill and burning some extra calories and then relaxing in the steam room afterwards.

I hope I can get a good nights sleep tonight. I have been bothered by dreams waking me up early in the morning and once I am awake it is very difficult to get back to sleep. I have had too many of these nights recently and I am wondering how I can overcome this.

Well, I guess I am headed for a few snoozes now as I am ready to turn in and call it a day, or night, of whatever.

New buildings in San Francisco

John King has written an excellent article in today's Chronicle Magazine section entitled Into the Modern Age which is about the two newest buildings in San Francisco, the new deYoung Museum in Golden Gate Park opening this coming week (the 15th & 16th) and the new Federal office building at 7th & Misison which will open next year. Both are controversial but based on my preview tour a few weeks ago, I think the deYoung is a good structure (except for the pigeons).

In recent years I have felt that this city has grown rather conservative and it apparently has always been that way with regard to architecture as the skylines of other cities around the world are more interesting. John King makes a very important statement in this article which says: "Here's a city that prides itself on bending genders, pushing political hot buttons and changing the way that Americans eat. Check your inhibitions at the door, right? Yet new buildings are expected to bow down low and mind their manners. Don't make waves. Play if safe." So true, John, so true. Too many buildings are DOA - dull on arrival as he says.

San Francisco (among other things)

No, I have not been anywhere recently. I shot this photo in the Financial District of San Francisco but isolating this building from the rest of the familiar skyline makes it look like a building in any other city in the country. Strangely, at ground level this is not one of my favorite buildings but looking up at it the other morning while waiting for a bus, its appearance in a cloudless sky and with good lighting, made it look better.

Oh, the silly and stupid fools who will piggyback pranks (green bubling substances at Grand Central Station plus the bomb hoax at the Washington Monument), make me sick. I think THEY should spend some time at Guantanamo. This country has enough problems without pranks and hoaxes to take up the valuable time of the police and other security forces.

Today I started the process of changing gyms. I have been going to 24 Hour Fitness but have grown tired of the people and the facility at Post and Van Ness so today I went over to Gold's Gym at Ninth and Harrison to see what it is like there. I liked what I saw so I signed up and it will cost me $11 less per month than what I am paying now.

Ah, the Blue Angels are in the midst of their air show as I write this. The sound of them buzzing Nob Hill is enough to wake the dead.

Alien Invasion?

Uh-oh, here we go again, but this UFO story out of Lima, Peru makes for interesting reading.

From there to here

There was last week I guess. Here is now but what am I doing with it? Not much so far.

On Sunday I went to the final game of the Giants 2005 season. It was fan appreciation day and over 40,000 showed up to show their appreciation of the Giants even though they were out of contention.

Yesterday it was my birthday (don't ask) so I went to Happy Hour for a few G&Ts. That was enjoyable as usual but today my blood pressure has been running higher than average. It was 138/75 when I got up around seven o'clock which in itself was higher than usual but then by 12 noon it had shot up to 152/81, the highest reading in months. What is going on? They say that high blood pressure is a silent killer and I certainly do not feel any different today than I did yesterday. If it weren't for using a blood pressure monitor on a daily basis due to some problems earlier in the year, I would not know about this. I thought that things had stabilized with an average reading of 125/72 but the readings of yesterday and today have been surprising.

Now a friend wants to know how to split his roommates DSL line so that he can connect his computer to the same line or service. I don't think that is possible. That is, two different IP addresses on the same line but I will have to investigate.

And with that I am out of here for now.

Dark Side of Faith

Here is some food for thought regarding the value of religion in one's life. You can read the story printed today's in the L.A. Times by clicking here.