Ah, our fair city. I can’t say that it looks all that romantic in the trailer, but it does look like itself. The plot sounds way darker than I’d imagined as well. It drops this weekend, so hoping to catch it at Kabuki.
San Francisco
The Road to Taco Bell: My 7.84 Mile Drunken Hike to the Most Beautiful Taco Bell in the World
Friends who follow me on Instagram may have noticed a few pics from last weekend chronicling my treacherous hike on the Taco Bell Trail.
Hold on, let me explain myself.
About a month ago I was at a friend’s pool party reading the latest issue of Lucky Peach. The topic of the quarter was travel, and I was entranced by a great 4 page story about the author’s emotional attachment to Taco Bell. He was an artist, and loved Taco Bell so much that he created a Taco Bell drawing club. Yeah, it’s what it sounds like. The story ended with the author’s description of the best Taco Bell he’s ever been to. It’s in Pacifica, which is about 20 minutes from SF.
My ex-coworker and close friend* Cody loves Taco Bell as much as I do, and indeed moreso, so I sent him a snap of just the story headline. He thought it sounded awesome, and mentioned that he’s always wanted to write a similar story about the one in Pacifica… I knew then that a trip to this Taco Bell was in order.
(*This is a true statement, and I only mention it because you know, I’m not a weirdo that just texts everybody about Taco Bell.)
The timing was great because my friend Pravisti lives in Pacifica! I weaseled my way into her weekend with a few strategically placed texts, and then it was on.
Ryan and I hopped on the BART to Pacifica, and we spent the night doing Pacifica type things with our host, such as being cold and eating burgers while spotting important techie people at trendy family friendly restaurants. We drank some beers, and I bought some canned cocktails from the liquor store (“Manhattan” and “Long Island Iced Tea”) that… when push came to shove, I was honestly too terrified to drink. Then we watched Honey Boo Boo for about 4 hours. I’m not kidding.
The next day we went for a run in the morning (training for a 5k).
Then we hung out, watched some show about cat whisperers and had some more beer. Later in the afternoon it was game time for Taco Bell. That was when Pravi finally looked up the details and we saw that it was 3 and a half miles to Taco Bell. Walking there would take at least an hour. Getting back would take an hour. SHIT.
We thought about driving there, but you know, I had this dream in my mind of HIKING THE COAST to Taco Bell. After some conversation we said hell, let’s do it. Seven miles be damned.
We begin upon the road to Taco Bell with a dog that is 50 years old in dog years.
The hills kind of sucked.
But getting down was scarier. I am good at going up, but not going down. So I sat on my butt and slid down the other side of the hill. Ugh.
After several buttslides, and after passing several beaches where I just wanted to STOP and chillax, we still had to cross an annoying waterway. I was worried that our dog mascot might die while we tried to ford this little stream. He was very skittish. Also, there was a band filming a music video nearby on the beach, so things were complicated at this intersection.
Hey! Do you see the Taco Bell? No, me neither. But it’s there.
It is so beautiful! I’m so happy! Also, Taco Bell is hiring.
This Taco Bell is wonderful because it’s right on the beach. Right where surfers are surfing. When they are feeling tired of their surfer ways, they can sidle up to the walk up window and order without dragging sand across Taco Bell’s sacred floors. It is a beautiful thing.
Intense discussion about the Crunchwrap Supreme.
Victory. Eight variations on the same idea.
After 1000 calories, we hiked back. This time we took a longer and less rigorous route.
Success! 7.84 miles and 3 and a half hours later. This is living, people.
It goes without saying, but if you’re ever in Pacifica, check out this Taco Bell. Tell me how much you love it.
San Francisco Silent Film Festival 2013
Ah, it seems like only yesterday that I was volunteering at the mini silent film festival and starting my new job. The official SF Silent Film Festival felt forever from now.
Well, time flies. It’s been about five months, and it’s time for the festival! Thankfully my job is going well, so I’m excited to spend a bit extra on getting out into the SF arts scene. Opera, movies, theater… I’m blowing it all on inspiration.
The Silent Film Fest runs this Thursday-Sunday, and a full pass is 220$. Tempting, but still too much for me. If I’d volunteered, I would have gotten free access to the shows, but I forgot to sign up. I think I’ll probably see one or two during the weekend, at 15-20 bucks a pop.
Here are my picks from the lineup.
The Half Breed (1916)– Douglas Fairbanks as a half Indian outcast who lives in a hollow tree in the forest + finds looooooove. Also, this is my new screensaver.
Windsor McKay: His Life and Art (1911-1918)– A closer look at the creator of Little Nemo
The Golden Clown (Klovnen)Â (1926)- OMG SCARY LOOKING. Clown + Paris + Love triangle. Discuss.
 Legong: Dance of the Virgins (1935)– Shot on location in Bali!
Chipotle’s Cultivate Festival
Love food? Love music? Love massive burrito bombs from Chipotle?
Then come to the Chipotle sponsored BurritoFest Cultivate Festival in Golden Gate park on Saturday. It’s corporate sponsored, but I can’t snark. The lineup looks pretty good and …
Free is free!
- Free music (The Walkmen! Mayer Hawthorne! People I haven’t heard of!)!!
- Free cooking demos from Chef Celebrities such as Amanda Freitag and the Big Gay Ice Cream guys.
- A free burrito if you visit certain”Learning tents” across the festival
- There’s also a food hall with samples from local artisanal food vendors, and an educational section to learn about sourcing food sustainably.
It looks like it will be 82 in SF tomorrow, so probably a perfect day to laze in the park and eat things.
Goodbye SFMOMA: Closing Countdown Celebration
Last weekend the SF Museum of Modern Art had a multi-day blowout bash to celebrate the closing of its doors. The museum will be getting a massive facelift, but it’ll take 3 years. Admission was free during the celebration weekend, and on the last day the building stayed open all night long for drinking, celebrating, and art. YES. ALL NIGHT LONG.
I dropped by around dusk (knowing full well I was not going to make it to 4am, or any am). I was startled by a car cruising down the sidewalk! Damn ZipCar drivers!
One exhibit that I was very excited about was Christian Marclay’s The Clock, which I’d read about in NYMag ages ago. They were playing it from beginning to end during the last 24 hours before the museum closed. I wanted to see it badly, but not badly enough to wait several hours, or to come back at 4 in the morning. Oh well. It should be on YouTube somewhere, yes? Right? Right? :/
Bands, poets and artists of all types popped up on the rooftop stage to perform in 20 minute intervals.
There were food trucks outside- a must. I ended up getting some noodles from a Thai cart run by Argentinians. Those Argentinians know their pad thai! Who knew?
Here’s the view from the third floor stairwell down to the first floor bar.
For the last year or so my go-to bar drink has been a Moscow Mule. So I was pretty excited when I realized that the signature drink for the event was a “MOMA Mule.” It’s the little things that make me happy.
People hanging out on the rooftop while the band “Tits” plays inside.
According to the SFMOMA website, almost 50,000 people came out last weekend! Crazy. Now the museum’s exhibits are scattered across different partner museums and parks (including Crissy Field). It’s lovely, but I’ll miss being able to pop over on my lunch break whenever I’m feeling frazzled. Memories 🙂
