City Weekend

This weekend we took a trip into San Francisco for a stop at SFMOMA, dinner at Foreign Cinema, and a baseball game at Oracle Park. We made it an overnight trip and stayed at the Marquis on Mission. I used to stay at this hotel back in the early 90s when I was in town for Macworld.

First stop was the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. I enjoy art immensely and envy seeing works that I feel I could never produce. Meanwhile there’s some modern art that is just complete bullshit, and is solely about maintaining the appearance that you get it. The only thing more interesting than some of the pieces at SFMOMA, are the people trying desperately to look enthralled by a 2 x 6 leaning against a wall (something I literally saw at the Tate in London). Modern art can be like poetry, people are afraid to call any of it bad until they know who produced it.

After the museum, it was up to the 39th floor of the Marquis for a cocktail in the Sky View lounge where we took in an awesome view of the Bay. There was a time I wouldn’t have been so comfortable sitting next to a window at the top of a skyscraper in San Francisco. As I’ve become numb or at least pragmatic about earthquakes, I decided to look up when the hotel was built. Coincidentally, its opening day was October 13, 1989, the day of the Loma Prieta earthquake. Supposedly, the only damage it suffered was one broken window.

For dinner we had reservations at Foreign Cinema on Mission. Our son had given us a gift card for Christmas after hearing how much we enjoyed it. Coincidentally, the last time we spent the night in the city was to go to Foreign Cinema with some friends. That night, they showed “There’s Something About Mary” and this weekend, it was “Gentleman Prefer Blondes.”

On Sunday we were up and out the door for our usual stroll along the Embarcadero to Ghirardelli Square. This time we wanted minimal climbing so we shot down Columbus through North Beach to get back to the hotel.

We met our friends at the Oracle Park to see the Giants crush the Cubs 13-3. Two of the biggest highlights of the game. Joc Pedersen hit the 101st homer into the Bay on his first at bat. The Giants’ pitchers have been plagued by injuries so they let their shortstop Brandon Crawford pitch the last inning. The crowd started yelling “Let’s go Brandon” and quickly switched to “Let’s go Crawford.”

I used to be a diehard Cub fan, but found it hard not to cheer for the Giants at this game. I would much rather see a high scoring game with homers than a one-hitter like the night before. However, it’s hard to cheer for either team because they’re both owned by assholes. I’m generally disinterested in baseball anymore. Some of it’s due to my general disdain for the MLB after the 1994 strike as well as the sport’s redneck vibes.

It was great to be back in the city, and yes, parts of it look like shit (literally and figuratively). The empty storefronts and junkies laying around can be depressing, but I’m optimistic things will eventually improve. Anyone who remembers what a shit hole NYC was in the 70s and 80s knows things can change quickly, for better or worse. No one ever made money betting against California.

One should seriously consider moving to cheaper midwest or southern cities where the violent crime rates are way higher.