Cafecito chronicles: Brown Owl Coffee in the Parkside district

Last year while visiting this cute cafecito spot in the Parkside, Brown Owl Coffee, for the first time I ran into a high school friend. 1990s flashback! I had been wanting to go back since, so last week I had to get some coffee after stopping by at Action Camera, also on Taraval.




In addition to coffee, there are pastries +plenty of teas to chose from, books, no WI-FI, newspapers, a community board +many owls around. During my brief visit, I had a pleasant chat with Ariana +asked her if I could snap a few pictures :)












Their coffee beans are roasted locally +their own, known as Heart Coffee Roasters:

"Born and raised in San Francisco, this city is truly our hearth and home. [...] At Hearth, we have a dedication to our product and craft that we believe is unparalleled. Keeping it small, specialized and hand-crafted is our goal. You won’t find us in every café." /about hearthcoffeeroasters.com

As of this morning (today, Thursday Nov.29th), they announced they are closing this Saturday :((
Have you been to it? Make sure you stop by before then.

Brown Owl coffee is located on 1131 Taraval Street San Francisco, CA 94116 in the Parkside district.
You can find them on FB // Twitter // brownowlcoffee.com

Here is a quick map of their location for reference:


'Til next time brown owls, it was nice to meet you  ♥
xxom

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happy bday: Bill Nye the science guy

Bill Nye
Born William Sanford "Bill" Nye on November 27, 1955 (age 57)
Washington, D.C.
Popularly known as Bill Nye the Science Guy, is an American science educator, comedian, television host, actor, mechanical engineer, writer, and scientist. /wiki




/Bill_Nye_Bicycle by amckimmey

/Untitled by Revenge of the Electric Car

"I claim the quality of my life is higher than most people’s. Nothing gives me greater joy than riding my bike." He travels with his bike "I’ll have to travel light enough to fit my luggage on the bike," his guilty pleasure are Martinis +pays about $7 on his electrical bill: Greener Pastures by Edward Lewine /NYTimes

/Planetfest 2012 by NASA HQ

Lori G & Bill- Dr Jim Bell in backgrnd. twitter.com/TheScienceGuy/…
— Bill Nye (@TheScienceGuy) August 4, 2012

Here he is earlier this month, during this past election:

Ed B & I voted this morning. Hope you do too twitter.com/TheScienceGuy/…
— Bill Nye (@TheScienceGuy) November 6, 2012

---
In the early 90s I was convinced I was the next Hakeem Olajuwon. After convincing my mom to get some kind of basic cable, I could finally watch Sportcenter +Daria.

Then I discovered Bill Nye's show. I loved it!

That year in my middle school's science contest, with the aluminum paper microwave I had seen in the show. It worked! I didn't get any prize or mention, but the DIY cardboard/foil paper box did turn a banana into puree. I think I got a good grade.

A couple of years later in high school, I was part of my Ecology Club in high school (3 of us!) and did a ton of landfill talks to elementary kids. My mentor was awesome, most of the students were indifferent as she had ALL THIS STUFF in her classroom –you know– paper bags, plants, dirt + endless supply of re-re-repurposed ziploc bags. She had a huge influence in the way I live+love this planet through her science +sustainability teachings.

Sounds very hippie for a teenager in the mid-90s, but it is true. During my sophomore year the club built the first compost garden located in the back corner of the parking lot :)

→ PS. Bill Nye +Sheldon Cooper. Needs to happen already!

Thanks Ms. A. Thank you Bill Nye.


*best comment: "Poor bill bikeing all the way out there for pluto its not even a planet anymore :("

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Meli was here: Derby of San Francisco

via theweejun.com

This past week got to visit the Derby Store on Haight, two days after its opening day on Friday, November 23rd.

The Derby jackets are known and remembered fondly to local San Franciscans, it is a clothing staple in linear style aesthetics to the Bay Area clothing pioneer Ben Davis is, which was established also in San Francisco in 1935. Derby went off production for some years (...decades) and now it is back to production and in the hands of CEO Victor Suarez.

Derby SF started selling jackets earlier this year online only and as of today they are currently sold out/out of stock via the website. To get on their newsletter for updates +check out the fine ranfla on that page: join the list


This is Jeff +Brian, they both nice fellas and agreed to pose for a foto op. Gracias, dudes.

I asked Jeff what's the story with the wallpaper (which is the same pattern as the jacket's liner), he told me that it was a specific style made exclusively for local Victorian houses +it has been around for more many, many years. Crazy cool.


Last week they teased on their fb page with their Warriors-inspired hat. That was my first question upon entering the store, but they don't yet have it. "It will be posted on the FB page, so be on the lookout" Jeff said. The local-inspired Bay Area sport hats are pretty rad.




While I was taking some fotos +trying not to spill my coffee, there was plenty of talk between the guys reminiscing wearing the jackets as kids more than a few decades ago, Riordan, the excelsior, candlestick and Bay Area sports.

/train cars full of jackets

The San Francisco cable cars inside their retail store used as counter top furniture pieces are original city trains. Once used extensively by Knotts Berry Farm in Southern California (Buena Park/Orange County), these trolley cars have made their way back home to the Bay Area +into the Derby store,
polished and shiny as new.

 
/label and wall paper details

Below is their promotional video directed by Dylan Maddux.


Shop local, and thanks Derby for the eye candy in the promos.

Derby Of San Francisco 
Find them here: 1472 Haight St. San Francisco, Califas
and here: derbysf.com

---
All the photos above were shot with my Lumix LX5.
/As my entire blog, this post is unfiltered y not-sponsored.
xxom

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cyberchisme

Buenos días, for those of us not cyber Mondaying, here some chisme:

+ This past Saturday at around noon, was so incredible to eat our sandwiches sitting at the table across from Carlos Santana +his wife. What a couple, I mean this legendary man has RADIANT skin. Something is glowing with those two.
This happened 40 miles north of the city in Point Reyes, he has lived in Marin for a long time and past encounters have been a few years ago at the Warriors game during a Latino night culture/special event. Another time him +friends happened to be crossing the streets in front of us in North Beach's Washington square.
I could be extremely shy to say hello to celebrities so maybe the 4x time would be the charm for me to ask for a foto...

/photo by © Melodic Rock Concerts

+ Speaking of celebrities, about a week ago Adam Savage [MythBusters] tweeted a photo of his missing +emotional valuable bag from a car break-in. Met him back in 2009 on Mission and named that post 'Do not try this at home'. I'm sure I had no idea back then that @donttrythis is his actual twitter handle... :)
If you are a fan of the show +live in San Francisco, is pretty likely you'll run into him or the hottie Kari Byron at some point.

+ Infographics estilo 1969: An Illustrated Vintage Bicycle Safety Manual circa 1969

+ Chuey fundraisers continue, the latest by soil saloon. photos +video are now up via platyjo: soil saloon fundraisin' for chuey

+ Good things do start with the M in Mondays: mezcal Mondays by Gilbert Marquez [Mercado on 4th] ← Any readers from Santa Monica?


/"Gimondi_1" by © eye magazine

+ Design+bicycles, a quick look by EYE magazine into what makes this machine+design a great combination: two wheels good

+ If you are flexible +looking for a waiter gig, look no further [west portal]

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sports basement now in downtown

Sports Basement has 5 locations now, 3 of them right here in San Francisco.
The newest recently opened in the heart of downtown located at the corner of 5th +Market street. It took us by surprise a few weeks ago while taking a post-coffee short walk from the Mint plaza, the main entrance is on 5th street side. This is a temporary pop-up style store, it will shut down shortly after the 2012 Holiday/End of year season.

They have a blog for each location with plenty of product/activities information as well as community events [basement buzz]. There's also bike repair services, with mechanic in/out update displayed on the window.

The window picture below is taken from the Market street side, the train did some perfect timing there :)

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Alice in targetland

I bought December's Glamour issue because Selena Gomez is on the cover. About time she split from that Bieber kid. Now, date a Dave Navarro-type please! :)

Anyways, I noticed this bike with a Boo-internet-sensation-look-alike on the basket.
I'm all for mainstream media of bicycles, always have been. $500 dollars for single speed seems a little high, but that is the maturing adult in me talking.

Sure it's cute but there are plenty of bikes like Globe, Gary Fisher Simple Simple City or Public Etc. around the same price range. I just don't approve that people should be spending that much for a single/cruiser style bike, specially if they aren't very familiar with better parts or what a bike can be worth in the long run. Anyways..

Snapped a couple of quick shots with my phone of the bike which is available later in December, in Target+Neiman Marcus.

What do you think of the wallpaperesque-style frame, I do think is bubblegum-cute, but is it worth the price?
On similar wallpaper decoration note, this is hairy frame quite interesting. Looks like this bike frame has hit puberty: Sebastian Koseda | World naked bike ride.

I've known of Stacey Bendet +her line Alice+Olivia from reading about fashion +following what women designers do around the clothing, trending world. Earlier this month a retail store opened on Fillmore store but have not been in the store as it is outside my budget, but I do enjoy seeing their displays from time to time on my way to the Clay theatre [next door].


The first Target in San Francisco opened at the Metreon downtown recently +it seems to be a hit, people seem to love it.
The city is flooded with ads +many of them display bikes. It could be very possible that the quality of bikes sold remains parallel to the rather mediocre quality of bicycles sold at big-box stores, which is unfortunate for most people that are fresh to the idea and/or a 1st-time bike buyer.

/"Target is coming to the Metreon" taken from Market st.

While visiting stores, I tend to ask the staff directly whether or not they provide bicycle parking spaces, doesn't make much sense to cater to people who ride bikes but when does marketing make any sense?
Is there bike parking available in the Metreon area perhaps? I'm not sure about that.

If Target has ads that strongly display bikes, what does that mean to people that identify themselves with them?

[x] That they sell bikes?
[x] They cater to cyclists, people on bikes?
[x] Provide safe bike parking in their location? ← which would be very great.
[x] Bikes are the next boobs. They sell.

I do get a mixed message from an ad from Target with a bike +I tend to ignore ads, but I'm very visual. Red is just pretty hard to ignore. 90% of me thinks there is valet/indoor bike parking available, but that's my optimist wishful thinking. Curious I reported from the Westfield mall about their indoor basement parking [Greetings from the mall, 2010] but it turned out that it is only available for the mall staff, which at the time that was not specified to me. So that leaves very little safe bike parking options.

I find the safe parking concerns rather frustrating +a repeated issue with shoppers on bikes headed downtown.
Have you had similar feelings about the parking issue?
What/How do you come up with a solution or alternative, do your shopping elsewhere? Take Muni or train instead?

Last time I reported bike parking issues [ignored shoppers, 2009] as an open letter to the Mission's Best Buy –well, I sure hope somehow that was connected– resulted in new shiny red bike racks as reported by long-time reader Peter :) he even sent in some fotos [el big brother, 2010].

Recently Adrienne commented on Facebook about the lack of bike racks in a newly opened Whole Foods +things started rolling, asides doesn't hurt to know who to complain/formally contact here in town. Rock-star parketinas Calitexican +MaryKay always put the word out on which events/venues will have the SF Bike Coalition valet parking.


/Yeah, come all. But park where?

Old Navy is apparently doing a similar take on their advertising. I doubt they sell bikes or utilitarian accessories, I mean other than fleece items, scarves or hats which are nice to have. As far as I know there isn't public parking for either cars or bikes at their store, please do correct me if I'm wrong.
Again, that would be ideal/awesome for consumers.


/Photo by Richard Masoner | cyclelicio.us
The Gap located in the old Woolworth building at Powell+Market, did a collaboration with Public bikes or if they still do that from time to time but the bikes were available for purchase. Their headquarters are here in the city +they seem to do plenty of pop-ins/pop up stores throughout town.

And this just started with a Glamour magazine impulsive purchase from a long line at the grocery store, raising plenty of questions within my observer +a rather apathetic consumer eye.

/As my entire blog, this post is certainly not sponsored.
xxom

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mucha música Monday

Savages
Huge fan of brit musicians, +just found out about this band from London. 
Savages are a British all-female post-punk rock band, formed in 2011.
Love at first sight.


Tamaryn /Dawning
Tamaryn is from New Zealand, based in San Francisco. I'm pretty into it.


Azealia Banks /Atlantis 
Became a fan of Azealia as of earlier this year. Her latest +greatest video was directed by French artist Fafi. 


Francisca Valenzuela /Buen Soldado
Chones, strippers y thongs...
This is not so safe for work, but the song is catchy I suppose.

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Writings on the wall

7th street

Post street

South park

You know how I love typos. On Broadway (closed for cleaning)
Also on Broadway:




Divisadero


Divisadero and Oak

Arizmendi's bakery in the Inner Sunset

At a bus stop.

// San Francisco, Calif.

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