Film of San Francisco in 1958

Filed Under SF Bay Area, Video | 2009-10-23, 15:58

One of my favorite songs (“Alone in Kyoto” by Air) and my favorite city, San Francisco. How can you go wrong? The pairing of the music with the video gives me goosebumps.

Jeff Altman restores and posts old videos from his grandfather on Vimeo. He recently discovered that this one, labeled “Alameda 1958″, included some great shots of San Francisco at the time. Can’t wait to see more!

via Spots Unknown

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Sights and Sounds of the Blue Angels

Filed Under Photography, SF Bay Area | 2009-10-09, 13:01

It’s Fleet Week again in San Francisco, and as usual the debate over whether the Blue Angels are awesome or that they just represent war rages on Twitter and elsewhere online. Everyone has their own opinion, but politics aside, I love the technical aspect of these incredibly powerful jets flying over our city with talented pilots. Having roof access I went up and snapped a few pics. Additionally I grabbed my audio recorder and was able to capture a fly-by. Wondering why people are complaining about the noise? Turn your speakers way up and check out this MP3 to find out.

Supreme Master TV Billboard

Filed Under Scam, SF Bay Area | 2009-07-15, 13:48

Photo by Scott Beale / Laughing Squid

Those readers that are recent visitors/residents of San Francisco may have noticed the above billboards popping up. They read “Be Veg! Go Green! Save the planet!” with a url beneath it. It’s not an uncommon sort of thing to hear these days, but the people behind this specific billboard are anything but common.

The person behind Supreme Master TV and the parent group of Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association is.. yes, you guessed it Supreme Master Ching Hai. According to Wikipedia, Supreme Master Ching Hai is “is the self titled founder and spiritual teacher of the Quan Yin Method.” In addition to founding and teaching this method to “sincere people longing to know the Truth”, Supreme Master Ching Hai stays busy by running Supreme Master TV, making art, designing high-end fashion, and running vegetarian restaurants. Many of her writings, art, clothes, and various items are sold for top dollar to her devotees. It’s easy to say, money is not an insignificant part of Supreme Master Ching Hai’s life. In fact she is so wealthy that she tried to build an artificial island off Florida before she was shut down for environmental concerns. I hope you see the irony in that.

My personal exposure to her organization was when I ate at Vegetarian House down in San Jose. Rather than rehash a description from memory, go read the Yelp reviews to get a feel for the place. The food and service were quite good as long as you ignored the shelves upon shelves of literature and the slightly creepy vibe.

Want some more interesting reading? Try out these articles:

* God Inc.: Inner peace isn’t the only thing Supreme Master Ching Hai is selling Bay Area disciples
* Sect Appeal
* Part Buddha, part Madonna, Supreme Master Ching Hai promises immediate enlightenment to San Jose’s Asian immigrants
* CultNews.com even has an archive for her
* There are accusations of marriage fraud to boot.

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Journey to the End of the Night

Filed Under Events, Personal, SF Bay Area | 2009-06-23, 10:00

Journey to the End of the Night is near and dear to me as it became one of the catalysts that convinced me to move to San Francisco when I played in the first game in 2006. I was living in Chicago at the time and realized that it was time for a change of scenery. I had always had this thought in my head that perhaps California was where I needed to be, and that San Francisco seemed like my kind of town. But I had never been to San Francisco, let alone California. So I booked a flight out to stay with a friend for a few days. Coincidentally the newly joined kind of weird but creative-inducing web game I had started playing (sf0.org) announced it would be holding a street game that weekend I was in town! The evening was an excellent introduction to San Francisco, and while I started off the day saying “I’m thinking about moving to San Francisco”, I found myself definitively saying “I’m moving to San Francisco” while sitting on the beach in the early hours of the morning.

This year Journey was held in Oakland, which I figured would be an interesting break from the now familiar city of San Francisco. I would be thrown into an environment I wasn’t familiar with and that would be exciting. The result of 6hours and 12+ miles walking? Tons of exercise, an exploration of new and different places, engaging conversations with friends, seeing old faces, and a new found appreciation for Oakland. While I failed to write up a full account from the first Journey, this time I documented in excess. GPS tracking (open in Google Earth), videos, and photos as well as the full text of our evening. You can check out my proof at sf0: Journey to the End of the Night: Oakland by Rabbit (and if you’re a player, toss me some votes!)

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Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus

Filed Under Funny, Movies and Music, SF Bay Area, Video | 2009-05-12, 16:42

Ever wondered what it would be like if a gigantic shark and a humongous octopus battled it out in the waters of the San Francisco Bay? Neither have I, but after seeing the trailer I couldn’t resist pre-ordering Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus, the straight-to-DVD-movie with Debbie Gibson. It’s a flick from The Asylum, a company with a large amount of movies with strangely familiar titles.

Wondering how big “Mega” is? Here’s a still from the movie of Mega Shark attacking the Golden Gate Bridge. Needless to say our favorite Bay Area shark is put to shame.

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DDI at How To Destroy The Universe Part 6

Filed Under Events, Fire, Fire Art, News, SF Bay Area, Video | 2009-04-27, 17:25

Dance Dance Immolation - Inches from fire

On Saturday, we pulled Dance Dance Immolation out of storage for the first time in almost two years, dusted it off and got it running again. The event was “How To Destroy the Universe Part 6″, an industrial party held at the new NIMBY location in Oakland. We ran one of the longest and most problem-free runs in the history of DDI. BoingBoingTV came and filmed and we had a chance to shoot the infamous sfslim with fire. We also got to shoot fire at several Noisebridge members, the newest blogger for Laughing Squid (Burstein), and a bunch of others. Many photos and videos were taken. My photos can be found in this Flickr set and this album on Vimeo.

If you’ve never seen Dance Dance Immolation, here’s what it looks like in action:

One of my personal favorite photos of the night was captured by Audrey while I was practicing my Fire Art DJ skills:

More photos and videos:

San Francisco Pillow Fight 2009 Photos

Filed Under Pranks, SF Bay Area | 2009-02-17, 02:21

I’ve finished going through the photos from the San Francisco Valentine’s Day Pillow Fight. There are some of the UNCCH before the pillow violence erupted as well as some photos deep within the carnage. The full set can be found on my Flickr.

Previously posted: San Francisco Pillow Fight 2009 and the UN

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An Absinthe Education

Filed Under Education, SF Bay Area, Video | 2009-02-16, 04:12

I’ve found myself drinking more and more absinthe over the past year or so. It’s a much more enjoyable drink than your typical beer or cocktail. We even had the pleasure of having the Absinthe Fairy Crusher visit the latest party at The Fishbowl.

However absinthe is a much misunderstood beverage. If you’re not familiar with absinthe, it’s production, and it’s effects, you might want to take a few minutes to sit and watch this great series of videos from Chow.com. Lance Winters from St. George Spirits, a local Alameda based distillery, talks about how to make absinthe, what to look for in a good absinthe, how he feels about absinthe, and his plans for future batches. Not only is it educational and entertaining, it’s also great cocktail party knowledge, especially if you’re planning on stopping by for our next gathering!

You’re Not Hallucinating: Forget all the myths and rumors about the green fairy

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San Francisco Pillow Fight 2009 and the UN

Filed Under Pranks, SF Bay Area, Video | 2009-02-16, 03:16

Every year in San Francisco on Valentine’s Day, thousands of people gather to confront each other with the softest weapons known to man. Many of my friends have joined in this battle, wielding pillows of all shapes and sizes. This year I decided that I would lay down my pillow and take a neutral stance as an embedded journalist. I went into Justin Herman Plaza alongside the The United Nations Commission on Costumes & Holidays (UNCCH), who were there to try to defuse the tense situation that seems to happen every year. The UNCCH inspected pillows to make sure they all conformed to international standards, while continuing to insist that they should seek other forms of conflict resolution.

UN Pillow Inspections from Ed Hunsinger on Vimeo.

The pillow militants surrounded us on all sides, and we all knew what was coming. There was no stopping a movement as strong as this one.

The Threat of Pillow Violence is Imminent from Ed Hunsinger on Vimeo.

The clock struck 6:00 and the feathers flew. The carnage was far and wide as an estimated 2,500 people swung pillows, battering others left and right. We stayed around the outskirts at first, but then decided that the story had to be told from the front lines. Along with my trusty cameraman, Steen, we braved feathery weapons to make our way through the battlefield. It wasn’t pretty, but then again Valentine’s Day isn’t always pretty either.

Embedded in the Pillow Carnage from Ed Hunsinger on Vimeo.

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San Francisco’s Western Addition: Then and Now

Filed Under SF Bay Area, Uncategorized | 2009-02-02, 01:31

Having only been in San Francisco a few years, I’m always intrigued with how it used to look. Heather came across some great Flickr photo sets dating back to the 70s and 80s, one specifically dedicated to our neighborhood, Western Addition. We went through the photos and attempted to track them down via Google Street View. Here are the results (links open in new windows):

Page and Fillmore (one building is under wraps but we still found them):
1969 / Google Street View

Stardust Lounge (now a boutique):
1970 / Google Street View

Steiner and Sacramento (building is gone):
1977 / Google Street View

Baker’s Market (Green Chile Kitchen now):
1978 / Google Street View

Wash Dry (we think it’s the same laundromat):
1979 / Google Street View

Fillmore St:
1979 / Google Street View

People’s Temple (now a US Post Office):
1979 / Google Street View

Webster and Hayes (the store is gone but the building is still there):
1979 / Google Street View

Oak and Buchanan (looks pretty much the same almost 30 years later):
1980 / Google Street View

Laguna and Post (beautiful building demolished for Japantown):
1980 / Google Street View

Golden Gate & Scott:
1980 / Google Street View

Hickory St (you can see the old freeway that no longer exists in the background):
1980 / Google Street View