Tuesday, May 11, 2010

World Cup attendance in San Francisco

Although San Francisco may not have a reputation of being a soccer, ahem* football city. The many cultures that share their space in our fare city insure many way to appreciate the worlds most popular sporting event. Below is the first place to find out where you can catch the 7AM 2010 World Cup matches starting June 11th.
Sports Events : Drink in the action: World Cup Bar Guide
Also, it's worth noting that there are a plethora of free football fields to choose from to pick up a match with the locals. Stop by reception and we we've got a bag of equipment we don't mind loaning out to our early to rise, athletically inclined backpackers.

Monday, April 26, 2010

Disappointed Otters and Street Art

Sorry we've been quiet. I hope you're not as disappointed as this otter is. Anyway, for you art or subversion fans out there, legendary street artist Banksy recently hit two spots in SF in the past week. The bigger piece is located in the Mission on the left wall of Amnesia Bar, on Valencia between 19th and 20th. For reference, it's right above the bar and stationary store Little Otsu. Check out both places anyway, even if you don't like Banksy: During the day, Little Otsu is a great place to pick up a little notebook or even books from local and underground writers. At night, Amnesia hosts a variety of shows, including some Karaoke and Open Mic nights (and some comedy, too).

However, if you find yourself too lazy or disinterested in the Mission (to which the otter above us will simply be disappointed in you), there is the other spot that Banksy hit, which is conveniently located two blocks from this very hostel (which makes me suspect he stayed here...hmmmmmm), at the corner of Grant and Commercial. For the disoriented, here are simple directions: When you exit the hostel, take a right, and then take a right on Kearny, following traffic. The first street you see will be this one lane road (if you hit a stoplight, you've gone too far). Take a left on this street, walking uphill. The mural in question will be on your left at the end of the street. Feel free to pose with it in some post-modern manner. Fair warning though: If you do that, the otter will just be more disappointed in you.

Wednesday, April 07, 2010

Be a Spy. Be cool. Ride a Zip Line.™

San Francisco Hostel

Today, Justin Herman Plaza will be host to a Zip Line for 10 days. What's a zip line? It's basically a line you slide down on with your feet dangling below. Like the thing spies use in movies to get from building to building all sneaky style. The guys who built it are the same ones who built a zip line in Vancouver for the Winter Olympics a couple months ago.

Now, it's only an 80 foot height you zip from, but you fly down a distance of about 680 feet. That's approximately a city block. Incredible stuff.

Where is Justin Hermann Plaza? I know, I'm copying the directions below, but still: When you exit the hostel, turn left, and walk straight until you reach the end of Sacramento. Then, cross Davis (which is where Sacramento ends), walk through the pseudo-alleyway, and you pop right out at the Plaza. It's easy like pants.

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Get Stupid. Just not in the Diesel way...

Why not Diesel way? Because Diesel's ads conflate crazy awesome with middle-class stupidity. And you know what? That's not only not cool, but dumb.

Oh, wait, you mean why do it anyway. Right....

Tomorrow is April Fools Day. The First Church of the Last Laugh is holding their annual parade in honor of the venerable Saint Stupid. The parade starts at Noon at Justin Hermann Plaza. Given that this year's "subtext" (or rather, theme) is the religion of business (or business of religion, depending on how you look at things), bring the effigy of your favorite CEO, pink slips, TPS reports, and other business papery stuff. Noisemakers, like drums, whips on your favorite CEO, and blowhorns are also encouraged. Join the fun, and go stupid.

Where is Justin Hermann Plaza? When you exit the hostel, turn left, and walk straight until you reach the end of Sacramento. Then, cross Davis (which is where Sacramento ends), walk through the pseudo-alleyway, and you pop right out at the Plaza. It's easy like cake.
And no, I am not plotting against the staff for tomorrow...

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

BYOBW 2010

BYOBW • FUN • YES • !!! • 10th ANNUAL • LEAVE NO TRACE!! •�BRING YOUR OWN BIG WHEEL Sunday! Sunday! Sunday! Get out your box of costumes and prized childhood three wheelers then head towards Potrero Hill (Bus 10) to get a taste of San Francisco in all it's nonsensical glory. That's right, BYOBW stands for Bring Your Own Big Wheel and it's starts at the top of Lombard St.'s ugly Twin Vermont St. at 4 PM. I don't think I'll be competing this year, but I can tell you where to pick up all the equipment to participate. Check out the YouTube to get a better idea of the entertainment:

Friday, March 26, 2010

Finding the right concert...

Yeah, it's late. I'm scared to sleep, been having nightmares involving this. You have been warned (it is SFW, but you'll still need brain bleach for it).

One of the harder things about coming into a city such as this one, or even just living in it, is that there is never really a good site or publication that strictly offers information on concerts and other events. With most sites, the events calendar is designed in such a way that you only see stuff day of, and that's assuming the calendar is updated with what every venue is doing. With publications such as SF Weekly and the Bay Guardian, they do offer info, but it's often buried in ads, and they don't offer any info beyond what is happening the week of publication.

Only recently have I found some sites that provide good show lists, all on one page. This way, before you come into town, you know what's happening in the City. Here are the sites:
Their Older Shit Was Better: Named after a phrase that hipsters and music critics seem to utter quite frequently, this site is very simple in its layout: Covers important shows, both major and indie, all on one page. It is focused primarily on the City, though if the act is worth noting, they will mention shows in the East Bay or as far south as San Jose (like this week's Jay-Z concert at the Shark Tank). For most people, this is enough to cover you. Unfortunately, it doesn't offer links to acts if you are interested in them, but sometimes knowing the basic details is enough to go by.
TheList: Dedicated to funk, punk, thrash, and ska, you can find bands of all that nature on this list (with some weird offshoots, like the Indigo Girls). Also, given its preference to punk, shows are often given additional details in that regard, such as whether people under 21 have to pay more, if there's going to be a mosh pit, if the show is likely to sell out, etc. A nice touch is the use of search, if things get a bit hairy. A fair warning though: TheList not only covers shows in Bay Area, but much further out, to as far north as Sacramento and east as Reno.
The Transbay Creative Music Calendar: Free-Jazz. Musique Concréte. Design Composition. Pure noise. Avant-garde classical. Jandek. If any of these terms (or people) mean anything to you, then this calendar will be useful to you. This calendar covers shows of the artsy-fartsy experimental kind (and we do mean experimental). Covers the entire Bay Area.
Dar Dar Dar: This site is for the little guys. By little guys, I mean bands who are playing in small venues, truly up-and-coming artists of any kind, possibly house shows, and bands who have such a niche audience that they're unlikely to break through anytime soon. You name it, if it's small and weird, it's likely to be in this list. A nice touch to the site is the ability to discuss these shows, look for related shows, and even share them with your friends (or yourself, for personal records).

Finally, there's FecalFace's calendar for those who just want to see art. Performances, openings, panels, films, signings, auctions, the whole shebang. Some galleries (Femina Potens springs to mind) do not post here, however.

So, feel free to look at these sites, see if your favorite band (or artist) is coming to town when you are. Eventually, we'll have someone add these to the side for you look at without having to resort to this point (hint, hint, nudge, nudge, wink, wink...?)

That's all for now. Until next time, beware the singing ponies....

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Nerdgasam at Wondercon

For those of you who can't make it the world famous geekout known as the Comic Con this year, you are in luck because in just about 2 weeks, San Francisco hosts the little brother event called the Wondercon. It's the only place you can meet Lou Farigno a.k.a. the Hulk, take your picture next to Darth Vader and get into fisticuff over who made the better star fleet captain (It's Kirk, obviously) in one place. The event will be held over the course of 3 days starting April 2nd at the Moscone Center, a short skip and jump from the doors of Pacific Tradewinds. So pack your cosplay costume and rare comic books and come stay with us at the hostel to get close to the action. *Bonus to guests attending, if you make a face-booking on our website and show us your event registration at reception we'll grant you a $2 discount. Consider the hostel your personal "save" spot of San Francisco. Live long, and prosper. WonderCon 2010 :: What's New