The SMOMA & the Drewple

Another day in San Fran, and everything starts blurring together. Thursday was supposed to be the day that I went to the SMOMA (San Fran Museum of Modern Art) as well as the Computer History museum, but sadly, those did not come to fruition. Instead, I spent the majority of the day chilling out and scoping out Andrew's living quarters. I've got a few pics to post, and so you can check those out at your leisure. He lives in a very nice place, and it's all open concept. I love the open concept architecture! The beige stone look is totally in in San Fran, and the whole place beams with radiant Spanish/Mexican glory. It was pretty overcast, but you can see some of the beauty of the water and the mountainous areas around. Makes Guelph look a little flat, and a wee bit boring.

Friday, yee haw! Now today was awesome! First thing we did was drive into Andrew's work, and while he was working all morning, I spent my time in a local Starbucks, watching the first season of Arrested Development, which by the way, is probably the best TV show made in the last 4 years. SO AWESOME! And after that, I had the chance to visit the Google Campus! Now, I have to tell you, everything that you heard about Google as being the coolest company to work for, is all true. When we pulled up, we were greeted by two nice security guards (it's high security there) and then ushered into the naturally lit parking garage. Since it was packed full, we had a Valet (yes, they have valets) take the keys, park the vehicle for us, and then we were off to the sites of the campus. Everything has the prismatic Google colours motif, and the campus is adorned in natural flora and fauna, completed only by multicoloured scooters everywhere. You can use them at your leisure!

After seeing Andrew's office and meeting one of his co-workers Chris, we were off to see some of the nicer parts of the buildings. We saw lap pools that are current driven, and adjustable, so that they're only about 3 metres long, as well as beach volley ball courts, work out rooms, huge parks, and 11 cafeterias. (I don't have to tell you that for four buildings, that's a ridiculous amount of food.) We ate a HUGE lunch, prepared by masterful servers, and you wouldn't believe the selection, or the price. The cafeteria was about twice the size of the University of Guelph UC servery, with all gourmet foods, including fresh seafood still in shell, various ethnicities, and lots of deserts. It was of course all free. Free even to me! Guests eat free as well. Anywho, after a long haul, I had to bid Google goodbye, and make my way to the Caltrain so that Andrew could get back to work. It seriously looks like Google is the best company to work for, and I'm very happy Andrew gets to work there. (Sorry for no pics, but it was high security, and I didn't want to offend anyone.)




On the Caltrain, I saw some crazy things, from weird parks, and strange sculptures, to weird buildings of all sorts. I had a guy ask me how to use the ticket dispencer thing, and I had to confess that it was my first time as well... luckily some woman came by to help him out. I snapped a pic of them anyway, just for kicks.

When I got off the Caltrain, I made my way down to the SMOMA, and saw a small exibit that was being filmed outside on new energy efficient cars. I had to take a couple pics, because if you know me, you know that I love environmentally friendly cars, as well as Hybrids in general. Anywho, they had a fuel cell car, as well as another car that could get 100 miles per gallon. Minis get 35miles/gallon and that's considered crazy good mileage!





The SMOMA was really cool, and I spent a good three hours checking out all five floors! From Freida, to Henri, I saw some pretty classic pieces of art, as well as some weird ones. One pic is of a urinal from early 1900s France. Apparently that's art... go figure. I think that if I were to decide on one thing, it is that anything that you find beauty in can be an art, and that's essentially my definition of art. Art is something you can find beauty in. SMOMA helped me come to that conclusion... oh, and I have to elaborate on that last picture. The guy singing in that picture is from an exhibit that was by Phil Collins, where he went to Turkey to get random people to sing the Smiths songs Karaoke style in order to create a counter-culture rebuttal to the Western perceptions that Turkey is a backwards country. Sound crazy? Well not as crazy as these videos. Hilarious.

Oh, and so after that, I took the MUNI (municipal transport) to California and 23rd, to a place called Pizzetta 211. It's essentially a cool and very intimate little pizza place with an atmosphere similar to that of Guelph's bookshelf. I had one of their cool beers (okay two of them) and Andrew and I ate a couple pizzas. I was quite impressed. Also, the bathroom was really cool, which if you know me, the you'll know that I normally judge a restaurant on its food, price, and bathrooms. Not necessarily in that order either.





Okay, well that was the majority of my day, but I have to say, I'm having a great time here in San Fran! Oh, and I also took a couple pics of the Golden Gate Bridge tonight, though they didn't all turn out so well... it was really overcast and dark, so the focus was a bit of a problem. Tomorrow Andrew and I are hitting up a Hippy Diner for breakkie, followed by an illustrious trip to 'The Rock' Alcatraz, and finally we'll try and do something krazy for dins. More posts to come.

-bentron out.