There's Giants In San Fran

[pictured above: panoramic shot of Embarcadero, the main waterfront street in San Francisco]

As my last week in the bay area begins, I feel like I’m trying to make the most of it. Like it’s some last ditch effort to hang out with everyone I want to hang out with and go do or see the things that I should have done while I was living here. But then I remember that I’m going to be coming back here only five days after I leave. Kendra and I have tickets to a concert to go watch one of our favorite bands, Mute Math. Even after that, we have camping trips planned throughout the summer and I plan on making it to the bay area at least every other weekend. Especially when we can find plane tickets for forty dollars from places like Allegiant Air.[pictured: Kendra & Jesse in front of AT&T Park, San Francisco]

Well, like I mentioned above, Kendra and I have been making the most of our time together here lately. Today we went AT&T Park and watched the Giants play the Atlanta Braves. As some of you may already know, I’m not a huge baseball fan. Honestly, I really couldn’t care less about it. But, I’ve come to the conclusion that whether it be a professional game or minor league, if I’m sitting in the bleachers with the right people I will definitely have fun.[pictured: panoramic shot from inside AT&T park]

Just so you know, baseball tickets are super cheap. Kendra and I got our tickets for only $10.00 off the the San Francisco Giants webpage. Which was a very good thing because Kendra insisted that she try feeding me some of the ballpark food that we’ve been hearing so much about. I got a hotdog out of pure ballpark tradition and Kendra got the most bomb ass amazing garlic fries. Aside from the food being the usual ridiculously high price that you might have come to expect at an event like this, everything tasted so damn good.[pictured: Jesse about to mow through a tasty dog]

One thing that I was really surprised about was the price of beer. I was honestly thinking that it might be around 5-6 dollars for a cup of beer. I was unpleasantly surprised when I saw a $8.75 price tag on a cup of beer. I’m sure at one of the other concession stands, that might have been dedicated to selling beer, there might have been a cheaper choice but still... $8.75 for a 12oz plastic cup of beer?!?!?! Yikes. I had to respectfully decline Kendra’s offer to buy me one even with the lofty price tag.

Nothing much more to update everyone with other than with the beautiful day it was for the game, my forehead got a little sun burnt. I suppose I could ask everyone about this photo I took while coming home from the game [below]. I couldn’t help but notice this woman, that seemed to be dressed like a mennonite or amish, holding a cellphone and capturing a picture of the streets in San Francisco. Is it only humorous to me or is there actually something a little quirky about this old fashioned woman with a cell phone?One more small update about everyone’s favorite San Franciscan, Super Twat. Kendra has been terribly worried that she would bump into her on her way to and from work and have some sort of “altercation”. Turns out that last week went on with out a hitch and when we were walking up our street back from the game, there stood Super Twat. Just chillin’ underneath a different building, with her rolling backpack.

Kendra and I muttered under breath as we noticed her, “Oh shit.” As if we should expect her to lash out and yell at us about the recent “Flash Flood” incident.

Fortunately for us, Super Twat is bat shit crazy and we think the only thing that she remembers about last week is to not stand on the corner of College Ave. and Alcatraz or she might get wet.

I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend and enjoyed the sun. I’ll be seeing most of you pretty soon.

Sunny Days In The City

Thanks to the sun and a good bit of driving, my left arm is now nearly burnt to a crisp and my right arm is still pasty white as ever. But you won't find me complaining any more than that, because any amount of vitamin D introduced to my life is more than welcomed.

Today we decided to head out and do our best to find an energy drink suggested to us by a Jean Aw of NOTCOT. The energy drink is called Rubyy. And yes, I know that there is an extra "y" at the end. We drove all around and finally found our prize at a really nice deli in the SOMA neighborhood of San Francisco. 

After driving more and enjoying our chilled beverages, we decided to navigate our way up to Coit Tower. We both haven't ever been and figured it was about time. The view was outstanding, but being the cheap bastard that I've become, I quickly vetoed the $5.00 admission to walk up the stairs to go to the top of the tower. The view from the small park the tower sits on was breath taking enough. At the bottom of this post is a quick little photomerge of the actual tower. 

Trying to take full advantage of the sunny day we found ourselves sipping on iced coffee and eating a delicious couple slices of pizza, while lying in the grass of Washington Square Park. Couldn't really ask for a much better day. 

Trying to keep up on my P90X workout and it's seriously kicking my ass. I'd like to consider myself someone that is relatively fit, but this program has shown me muscles that I didn't know really existed. Honestly though, I can't wait to have most of the DVD's somewhat memorized so I can turn the tv to mute so I don't have to listen to that tool of a host named Tony Horton.

Some Seriously Needed Friends & Family Time

Clearly I haven't been keeping up with this blog for the past couple weeks. In my defense, these last couple of weeks have been rather busy with friends and family. I had so much fun with everyone here and couldn't believe how fast it went. Also, I knew I needed to see everyone for my own sanity but I really don't think everyone stayed long enough cause I'm right back on that razors edge of teetering over to craziness. So if you don't mind, everyone, come back very very very soon.

I'm not going to be writing much about anything other than just describing the barrage of photos I'm going to be cramming into this post. So please enjoy and I hope to have videos up soon cause I definitely used my Flip Cam more than taking photos.

First things first. These two lovely ladies, Kellie and Alisa (left and right), took us out to a fantastic sake bar called Ace Wasabi, in the marina district. Not only did I drink my very first Sake

Bomb I was

 also sitting next to Tory Belleci, one of the newer guys from MythBusters on Discovery Channel. Pretty sweet... I guess if you're a nerd like me. I unfortunately didn't have the balls to ask for an autograph or even say hi. Not really my style I suppose. As for Sake, I was totally expecting something with more of a burn like a mix between wiskey and vodka and after about seven shots I decided to break out the iPhone and look up the average alcohol content of Sake. Yeah, right around the same as a bottle of wine. 

The next evening my mom, brother, and sister showed up. I couldn't have been more excited to see them. Not only was it great to get some well needed hugs from the family, they brought a real bed, a couch, my carpets, and all my camping gear that I had in storage up in Eugene. 

I tried to take my family to all the touristy places and show them what everyone should see while in San Francisco. We made it to the Golden Gate Bridge and chilled down at Pier 39 for a while. I personally don't have very many pics of my family because I forgot my camera and all of them had cameras. I suppose I should have been a little bit more proactive in asking for the photos via email or something before I wrote this. Damn. 

Either way, we had a blast. My mom tolerated her boys swearing like sailors, my big city driving, and everyone poking fun at everyone. It was like I never left. 

Then Monday rolled around and even more guests showed up. Ian (Kendra's younger brother), Cody (friend, old co-worker), and Jane a.k.a. Janice (friend and Ian's lovely girlfriend) rolled in and it was time to RAGE!

We strolled around the city, back to Pier 39, some of the really expensive designer stores, all over and around the San Francisco Zoo, back to the city for more strolling all with Ian hobbling around on a broken big toe. Let's just say, I wasn't kidding about the RAGE part. Our first night all together was fueled with alcohol, longboarding, and Ian deciding to go into a full out sprint and kicking a curb. Not to mention he just crashed on his longboard and acquired some amazing road rash, including on his ear. Silly Schmian.

[left: Ian and Kendra with matching scarfs.]

[right: Kendra and Jesse looking sexy in the city... duh]

[left: Cody & Ian riding a big furry tractor]

[right: Jesse double fisting the best thing to come out of mexico... Churros]

[left: Giraffes at the SF Zoo. My new favorite animal]

[right: Two pasty white kids smooching]

I had so much fun with everyone here and I can't wait for everyone to come back. I hope it's sooner rather than later but I think we'll have to make a trip up there to grab a breath of fresh Oregon air. 

[EDIT: I nearly forgot, and with a polite reminder, before anyone even showed up my friends Kolby and Allison showed up at my work disguised behind newspapers and visited for a brief moment. Unfortunately it was super busy and I could only get out and take this photo with Kolby with a quick round of hugs. Love ya guys.]

Pay Attention, This Is Gonna Be Quick

I feel as if I have been worn down. My patience has been tried in a few different ways. I have had to make the decision to not follow through with one of the main reasons I moved down to the bay area.

Making the decision to not go to school wasn’t really all that hard. Not hard at all in the fact that when you’re as “young” as I am (so say the loan companies based on my credit history) you almost get laughed at when you ask someone for $30,000.00 for school on a private loan.... twice. I think in the long run, if I keep making short films and start saving my money, when I have a chance to I can get the proper equipment and do the kind of things that I want to. All in all, I believe it’ll be much cheaper and more rewarding path. Plus, I keep meeting people that are into film and have some sort of skill in the craft. Which is good because I hear it’s all about connections and I’m thinking of investing in a little black book

I am going to attempt to update you on the happenings of my life in the bay area, so bare with me if I kind of jump around:

• The weather has been, shall we say, Oregon-ie. One minute it’s raining and the streets are flooded the next it’s a blue bird day and there isn’t a cloud in the sky. 
  

• Last weekend, my dear friend Michelle flew into Oakland International Airport and we rocked San Francisco and Berkeley like it was... 2009? We had loads of fun and Kendra and I tried our hardest to show her everything we could but honestly this city is freaking huge and we haven’t explored the whole thing ourselves. Not a very flattering picture of any of us but we were more into having fun than looking pretty.
  

• I still haven’t heard back from the people that interviewed me from On24. I’d be extremely happy if I got an email asking for another interview but I’d settle for an email or a call letting me know that they have decided to go with someone else. Just so I can at least have a little closure.
  

• Another thing about jobs, I recently met the the “On-Premise Manager” for the east bay area of Red Bull. A really nice guy, and I told him that I was looking for another job. I’m going to leave it there as to not jinx anything. Let’s just say that I’ve secretly wanted to work for Red Bull for ages and I’m willing to do almost anything. Childish... nah, just motivated.
  

• My taxes are done and e-filed. Needless to say, I’m pretty happy about that. Which, if you ever have done taxes and are happy at the end of them, that means that you are getting some sort of return or at least don’t have to pay.
  

• I’m currently in a contest trying to win some technological gadgetry and if you care to check it out by all means be my guest. The more votes, the merrier. I am currently in first place but there is still tons of time for other contestants to gain more votes, so if you are so inclined, vote daily. Here’s a direct link to the voting right HERE. 
  

There is more going on here but I currently have the attention span of a five year old. One more thing though, Kendra and I are trying to prep the apartment for more guests. Spring break is going to be... cozy to say the least. We love having visitors, so if you think you are going to be in our neck of the woods, by all means just let us know. 

Oh yeah, and if you are on Twitter, follow me. You can do so by clicking the "Follow me on Twitter" link to the right of this page.

War In San Francisco

Another quick update here. First and foremost, I’ve come to realize how quickly the start date for my school is coming up and that I still haven’t been really approved for any of the money to attend. In fact, I’ve been denied on two separate occasions. However, I have been approved for the “merit loan”, which the name alone sounds like something extraordinary and remarkable. Quite the contrary actually. This “merit loan” is, in essence, just like any other loan you would take out for a car or a house. Which means that you have to start paying it back immediately. Now don't think that I am, for one second, not grateful for being approved for the "merit loan". Apparently this particular loan is only awarded to one person each session. Quite the honor really.

Well, this is bad news to a student that would be using that loan money to attend school full time for a solid year. With being at school full time, it would prove to be rather difficult to work as many hours as he does already, barely make ends meet, and take on another loan payment....? Like any other loan, the “merit loan” requires a down payment. General rule of thumb for down payments is 10% of your total loan should be your down payment. If you do the math for that, 10% of $30,000.00 is $3,000.00.

If you are clutching at your throat right now, gasping for air at the thought of slamming down $3,000.00, then you and I are in the same boat. That, to me, is a lot of money.

The beauty of student loans is that you apply for the money to attend school, the loaners understand that you will be bettering yourself with an education and give you time to actually go to school. They don’t expect you to pay back the loan until you have graduated. Now that makes sense to me in so many more ways than the “merit loan” that expects payments immediately plus a hefty down payment.

I have high hopes. I also, thanks to my mother, have a good sense of reality and know when to stop mindlessly chasing your dreams. At least until your dreams are a little bit more attainable.

And speaking of dreams, pillows are usually where they take place. Which brings me to something a little lighter and not so depressing also the reason for the title of this post. Kendra over heard a couple of ladies talking about a huge pillow fight happening in downtown San Francisco. So naturally she Googled it and found out that it has been running for a few years now and is an annual thing every Valentines Day. Apparently thousands of people meet in the Justin Herman Plaza and when the big clock on the Ferry building stikes 6pm, the feathers begin to fly. I nabbed a video from YouTube (below) of previous years and ones in different cities, so you can get an idea of how big this thing really is.

If I can weasel my way out of work early I am going to pack my bag with my weapon and try to make it down there to, at the very least capture some video or photos. 

You can see more information for the craziness that is the Great San Francisco Pillow Fight right HERE

 

He's From Oklahoma

Today Kendra and I are flying out of Oakland to go back up north. Her big sister is getting married. I’m really excited to see the family but it’s going to be weird going from the climate here to back to the frigid temperatures of my northern homeland.

For the past 3 days it’s been in the mid 70’s. I’m not one to really complain about fantastic weather but it’s a little strange to think this is only January. Some of the random people I’ve talked to say that they are afraid of the summer and what it might bring as far as having to "use water rations again". They say that California is still in a drought but I’m not seeing any signs of that. Then again, I wasn’t here during the summer for the last few years.

Just to the east of our apartment is Grizzly Peak Boulevard which is up on a huge hill.... well, huge for around here. I drove up there by myself to kill some time and couldn't believe the view. (above picture. Left: Thug Passion, Right: Jesse Tobler) I would have posted a pic but it was too late in the day and my sweet iPhone camera, or any camera for that matter, was unabl to take a pic with how bright the sun was.

This is were I introduce the second installment of what I like to call, Logically Sound. Now I’m not going to promise you that this will be coming out with every blog. Although, with the amount of people that California has crammed into such a small place, such as San Francisco, there really shouldn’t be a shortage of top notch citizens for me to capture for your viewing pleasure.

I had a particularly hard time deciphering and translating what this gentleman was trying to say. Especially right around the 1:22 mark of the video. He mentioned something about a “peh-die-nikul” and both, Google and Wikipedia were unable to give me a definition.

Enjoy.

Butter On Toast

I want to start off and say that I had an amazing weekend. The weather had been outstanding so we made plans to go into the city on Saturday to the Haight Ashbury district. Haight Ashbury is basically a street, close to the Golden Gate Park, that’s full of trendy little hipster stores, tattoo and piercing shops, countless amounts of amazing cafes, restaurants, bars, and on just about every block are “medicinal marijuana” shops. It’s basically like 23rd Street or Hawthorne up in Portland, but bigger, with cooler shops, pseudo legalized weed, and more black people. 

However, we had a few unexpected detours. While down on Market Street, we decided to stop at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf to scoop up a couple of our favorite beverages. On our walk there, we noticed helicopters in the air and motorcycle cops everywhere blocking traffic. After grabbing our beverages we walked down to see what all the hubbub was about and found out that it was a protest march for “Free Palestine”. Not a very happy group of people... and by group, I mean about 5,000 strong, holding banners and picket signs. Pretty crazy actually.

After waiting for this business to pass we jumped across the street and hung out at the Muni station. After waiting for our bus for almost 30 minutes, we decided to call the number that was posted at the stop to find out what was up with the delay. Turns out that all of the bus routes that were in the path of the “Free Palestine” protest march were shut down. So, we began our walk to a station that was still up and running. After a while I turned on the Flip Cam and blamed Kendra for everything. Then we decided to walk all the way to the Haight Ashbury. Which really isn’t all that bad except that it’s uphill... and it was hot.

We had so much fun down there and can’t wait to go back when we have more time. On the way out, I couldn’t resist and had to let my “inner thug” out. There were way too many amazing stoops calling my name to have a quick sit down and enjoy an alcoholic beverage in a paper bag. “When in rome” right?

After that was all over we figured that we should make use of the Muni station across the street. After waiting for 4 full busses to pass we got on and so did this interesting fellow in the video below. I can’t tell you how entertaining this man was. I actually have close to 15 minutes of footage and think I am going to make this a recurring segment on the blog. He had so many amazingly profound things to say that I truly was tearing up with laughter. I kinda felt bad for the young guy and girl that he was talking to but they handled him very well.

Enjoy, and remember, he likes butter on his toast.

Thanksgiving of Lasagne

If you have never been to the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, I highly recommend it. Unfortunately for us, it is currently under construction or maintenance rather. And good thing there was a swarm of friendly shwing-shwongs (I love you Dunny Buns) there with us too otherwise we wouldn’t have had anyone to take our picture for us. But really, by the bus load I tell ya.

As everyone may know, and if you didn’t you should probably check your calendar cause yesterday was Thanksgiving in America. I really hope that the general population today doesn’t need a special holiday of slaving in the kitchen to realize what they should be thankful for. But I can say that I appreciate the copious amounts of delicious food.

However, this year was a little different. There was no extended family and really no friends. It was just Kendra and I and we had lots of fun actually. We came to the conclusion that cooking a turkey and all the trimmings wasn’t really a great idea for two people especially since she is a vegetarian. So we made a delicious lasagne and some salads.

Don’t worry, we had pumpkin pie too. I don’t care if there is a pumpkin famine and p. pies were $1000.00 each, I will have my p. pie son!!!

We really had fun and it was a new experience for the both of us. Aside from having absolutely nothing to do after our Thanksgiving dinner due to everything in the world being closed other than Wal-Mart, I think we did just fine. I really hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving and got to hang out with the fam and friends and we both can not wait for Christmas to be here so we can see everyone.

Great Weekend and Good Reasons

I suppose if your reading this, you just might want to know why the heck I moved down here to San Francisco from Eugene. Two big reasons are my girlfriend got a very good job working for a place.

The other reason that I moved here is that I applied and was accepted to the San Francisco School of Digital Filmmaking. This school is legit. I’m so pumped about going here, but it doesn’t start until March of 2009. Which really isn’t that bad, because it gives me a little time to get my feet on the ground and find a job. Apparently when you leave the state, you still have bills to pay... who would have guessed that?

The only problem is that the school wants $30,000 for the year and I don’t really have the ideal credit score that they are looking for to loan me that kind of money. Not a bad credit score, but more of a, “not enough credit history” credit score. I’m sure I’ll figure it out though. Thoughts and suggestions are always welcome.

On a different note, Saturday and Sunday, Kendra and I went for a walk down to the marina that's near by and had a good time. There is so much to do here and just as long as you have a sugar momma, you can totally do it all. :)

Good-bye Eugene. Hello San Francisco.

So I moved to San Francisco to live with my lovely girlfriend, Kendra and for those who don't know my car, I drive a 2001 Dodge Neon and it's purple-ish. So it was named Thug Passion after the drink of choice by only the classiest of "gangstas". Point being, it's not ideal for driving down the old interstate 500+ miles full to the roof with your personal belongings. Either way, I made it and it really wasn't that bad, especially now that gas prices are finally on the decline.

I hope life finds all my family and friends doing well and I will keep everyone posted on life down here as much as I can with pictures and video.

I love you all and feel free to come stay with us down here.