Sunday, June 03, 2007
San Fran Musings
Posting today from the City By the Bay and on the clock so this may be a short one. It's been in the fifties since I got here on Thursday, and no warmer weather is in the forecast, recalling Mark Twain's line about the coldest winter he ever spent being a summer in San Francisco. There are supposedly many beautiful areas in this city, notably by the Wharf, but I never see them since I'm working downtown and don't seem to have much free time for touring. The downtown is not so good. An awful lot of retail space is vacant here, and the beggars, social deviants, and mentally disturbed seem to be more in evidence than even in NY. One thing not in evidence at all is police presence. After almost three full days here, the next cop I see will be the first!
So people more or less get along, though there is no discouragement to the anti-social behavior of those who don't know any better. I guess they prefer it that way here. I find that the more time I spend in other US cities, the more I appreciate the job they are doing in New York, where the challenges are so awesome and yet things are actually running fairly well.
The jazz scene in San Fran is a little better than some, but I would say it is not where Chicago and certainly New York are. You can count on a decent trio or quartet nightly at the Jazz Bistro, and there is no cover charge which is nice, the bands depending largely on tip jars! Tonight, I expect to see the House Legend, Bill "Doc" Webster, who I saw a couple of years ago out here.
Food here has a great reputation, and sometimes it seems that it is deserved. Last night, we ate at Foreign Cinema, which I would recommend if you can stand the pretentious and eclectic selection of entrees. You pretty much can't go wrong in Chinatown here as well, and the meal I had at the aforementioned Jazz Bistro was more down to earth and bracing.
The bar scene is OK, but everything shuts down at 2 AM and I mean everything.
In sum, I would say that if you must come to SF, try not to make it a business trip, since the fun things are apparently out-of-town - the vineyards, and the coastal sights. It would have helped if the Giants had been in town, but they're away of course. And the weather is what it is, which is to say, like November in New York.
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Got to get to another meeting (yes we're working all day Sunday too), and I'll catch up on the stock transactions in my next post. A quick check on last week's markets seemed to indicate that all is well on that front.
So people more or less get along, though there is no discouragement to the anti-social behavior of those who don't know any better. I guess they prefer it that way here. I find that the more time I spend in other US cities, the more I appreciate the job they are doing in New York, where the challenges are so awesome and yet things are actually running fairly well.
The jazz scene in San Fran is a little better than some, but I would say it is not where Chicago and certainly New York are. You can count on a decent trio or quartet nightly at the Jazz Bistro, and there is no cover charge which is nice, the bands depending largely on tip jars! Tonight, I expect to see the House Legend, Bill "Doc" Webster, who I saw a couple of years ago out here.
Food here has a great reputation, and sometimes it seems that it is deserved. Last night, we ate at Foreign Cinema, which I would recommend if you can stand the pretentious and eclectic selection of entrees. You pretty much can't go wrong in Chinatown here as well, and the meal I had at the aforementioned Jazz Bistro was more down to earth and bracing.
The bar scene is OK, but everything shuts down at 2 AM and I mean everything.
In sum, I would say that if you must come to SF, try not to make it a business trip, since the fun things are apparently out-of-town - the vineyards, and the coastal sights. It would have helped if the Giants had been in town, but they're away of course. And the weather is what it is, which is to say, like November in New York.
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Got to get to another meeting (yes we're working all day Sunday too), and I'll catch up on the stock transactions in my next post. A quick check on last week's markets seemed to indicate that all is well on that front.
