– Carl Bidleman

April 30 is Doug’s birthday. We didn’t see him around the office here in Sausalito today because he’s shooting a new story for his other job, Bay Area Backroads. So we thought it a good idea to post the video of one of Doug’s favorite birthdays that we celebrated a few years back. (We’re not saying how many but the video is in color so it can’t be THAT long ago.) The Backroads crew and Doug’s family surprised him aboard the Otis Spunkmeyer for a fantastic and memorable flight above the Bay Area. Have a look. And happy birthday Doug from M’Gee, Stefan, Jim, Paul, Corey, Karen and me.

Doug is still going strong but sadly, Otis Spunkmeyer Air flies no more. Here’s a link to find out more.  And Robert Campbell, our good pal, pilot and legendary aerial photographer has a collection of photos of this historic DC-3.  Thanks Bob.

– Carl Bidleman

Our friend and highly-respected travel troubleshooter, Christopher Elliott has an enlightening post on elliott.org titled Greenwashed: How to spot the Travel Industry’s Eco-lies that’s worth a read for anyone trying to make sense of the trend toward promoting environmentally responsible travel. Reality or marketing ploy? Let us know what YOU think.

Tom Reeves / Plane owned and restored by Jerry Impellerazi

Alabama Hills Photo by jalphoto

Watch the Alabama Hills Movie History video.

Photo by Mike Disharoon

– Stefan Ruenzel

In 2004, Alder Yarrow typed the words “wine blog” into Google’s search engine and got zero results. A void to be filled, he thought. So Alder, wine lover, founded vinography.com and began to blog on the subject of wine. Red wine, white wine, cabernet, pinot, chardonnay, merlot, the perfect wine-to-dish match—all things wine have become an integral part of Alder’s life outside the box (where he is Founder and Principal of a design consulting firm).

Click to play

Fast-forward to 2008, type in “wine blog,” and you will find 941 thousand results. Vinography.com is first on what is now an interminable list. Call Alder the grandfather of wine blogging; he calls himself a “legitimate journalist” at the end of the day with a glass in hand and a laptop before him. Doug got the chance to catch up with Alder at Bin 38, a hopping wine bar in the Marina District of San Francisco, to discover his favorite places to wine out in the city.

Here’s a list of the places Alder mentioned:

Bin 38

CAV

Yield

Nectar Wine Lounge

California Wine Merchant

Vino Venue has closed its doors since we chatted with Alder.

– Carl Bidleman

We recently posted Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s City Lights, a favorite video story from my long ago days as executive producer at Bay Area Backroads. Producer Drew Burns idolized Lawrence Ferlinghetti and worked for a full year contacting and convincing him to do our television show. (Mr. Ferlinghetti admitted to having a TV but it’s covered by a rug in his apartment.) Drew wrote and produced the story which, as I recall, was his first full-length Backroads feature. He worked pretty hard on it as I made him labor over many drafts of the script and Doug changed it a bit more before he recorded the narration. But I think you’ll agree that it stands up pretty well.

We taped on a spectacularly warm February day and San Francisco’s legendary freedom fighter and poet laureat was welcoming and genuinely seemed to enjoy sharing his neighborhood with us. As you’ll see in the video, watching hundreds of bridesmaids run down the middle of Columbus Avenue straight into a Ferlinghetti poem was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. And San Francisco’s North Beach, City Lights Bookstore, and Ferlinghetti himself, are all one-of-a-kind too. Thanks for the memories.

Watch the Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s City Lights video.

– Doug McConnell

Our good friend, Jodie Chase, has brought to our attention an extraordinary new environmental art program headed for the San Francisco Bay Area. Get ready to see some amazing and massive works of art along our roadways, and if you’re between 12 and 18 years-of-age with a statement to make and a flair for the visual, start drawing. You can get involved right now.

ReVisions/SF is a project of the Eco-LogicalART Gallery in Los Angeles. Nine original works of art painted on recycled billboard vinyl will be displayed on billboards, 14′x48′ in size, where millions of us will see them as we motor by. Smaller works on vinyl will be on display at the Thoreau Center for Sustainability in the Presidio. It will all begin on Earth Day, April 22nd, and continue through May 21.

There’s also an open call to middle and high school students to send their works right away to “Gimme Shelter,” an Eco Art event. Submissions are sought for the heme: “The World as I See It/World as I Hope It Would Be.”

According to a press release Jodie passed along to us: “The project begins with an initial 11X17 inch vertical submission created in pencil, pastel, markers or paint, on paper or illustration board.” Please send or deliver your work along with all your contact information (name, address, email and phone number) to:

Thoreau Center (The Presidio)
Building 1014 (Lincoln Blvd and Torney Ave)
San Francisco, CA 94129
Attn: Bruce DeMartini
Gimme Shelter Art!

The public is invited to the opening of the gallery show at the Thoreau Center on April 22, 2008 from 5:00 to 8:00 PM.

Should be fun….and the results will be fascinating. But get moving. All submissions are due no later than this Friday at 5PM. Good luck, and I look forward to seeing the submissions and the perfect use of billboards to encourage us to pass a beautiful and sustainable world to coming generations.

Franco Folini

–M’Gee Johnston

Watching the video of San Francisco’s North Beach Food Tour makes me hungry.  There are so many good places to satisfy that hunger in North Beach too.  The focaccia bread at Liguria’s Bakery on Stockton St. is truly in a class of its own.  The only thing the Soracco family makes at the bakery is focaccia and when they sell out, they close for the day and go home.  I never tire of eating it ~ it’s delicious and hearty but not overwhelming.  On holidays, the line stretches around the block.  A few blocks away on Francisco and Stockton is Freddie’s Sandwiches, which has been there for as long as I can remember (a long time).  Get a sandwich and go sit in the sun to enjoy it while you hear the sea lions bark from Pier 39 and watch the parrots of Telegraph Hill flap overhead.  Another old favorite is Mario’s Bohemian Cigar Store on Columbus.  It feels like old time San Francisco when you walk in.  It’s comfortable and some say they make the best cappuccino in the neighborhood.