Graffiti the Ghost

de Young and de Restless

I'm a little late in posting this, I realize, but Saturday was AWESOME. Parklife quickly degenerated into debauchery. Ding Dong's original assertion, "you know what I love about red wine? It doesn't really get you drunk..." was quicky proven dead wrong as we stumbled around like Brixton squirrels, assaulting everything that would sit still long enough and fully alienating anyone who happened to attempt a real conversation within our radius of stupidity. Lovely.

Afterwards I went on a full scale Golden Gate Park adventure with Tigga B.* (Wassup, my Tigga?) First we found a restaurant on Ocean Beach that will let you walk right out the back door with a full pint of their lovely red ale. Naturally, it didn't take us long to find out that this same restaurant was within stumbling distance of the windmill.

In case you were wondering, the windmill is impenetrable. Seriously, it's the Fort Knox of Dutch architecture. Don't even try it.

With our spirits bowed but not broken, we forged on. Our destination? The bamboo forest that Tigga swore was "around here somewhere." Well, we didn't find the "bamboo" forest, but we did find the "crackhead squatter" forest, complete with violent crackhead. Our original impression that the crackhead was just playing was wrong. I discovered this when my "Daniel Laruso's gonna fight" crane pose was met with a sapling in the face. Wait a minute, this is no 100 acre wood, and this Pooh DOES NOT want to share his honey. Lesson: even squirrels and rabbits are not welcome in the crackhead forest.


So, what is one to do when rejected by both a Dutch monument to alternative energy sources and a human reminder of the American will to destroy brain cells? Forge on, cuz the newly opened de Young is open all night!! Unfortunately most of San Francisco had the same idea, and the line to get in stretched around the block. We tried poking around the grounds for an open door (damn sprinklers!) but then remembered we had a truck full of sound equipment from the party earlier. Inspiration hit, and all it took was telling the guard at the back door that we were playing later and needed to unload. He put up mild resistance but succumbed to our charms eventually (would these faces lie to you??), and we and our stowaway beers were allowed safe passage inside. Luckily Tigga's record case is refrigerated.


A patron of the arts poses in front of the newly remodled museum.






If you haven't been yet, go to the de Young. In the words of Mayor Gavin Newsome, "Holy shit...I'm blown away" (link). There was no better time to approach this colossus than in the middle of the night. Even though it really does resemble something you might expect to find on Tatooine rather than in Golden Gate Park, the building is very cool, and lit up from the outside like that it felt like we were boarding the mothership.

From the little I remember of the inside, there are some amazing exhibits to check out. The series of articles in today's SF Gate, especially this one, can really break it down better for you than my hazy recollections, so check it out so you have some idea what to expect when you get there, cause this space can be a tad overwhelming.

All in all, even though I paid for it with my Sunday, when I couldn't get off the couch even to feed my sorry ass, Saturday was a raging success. I will never again take Golden Gate Park for granted. Where else can you rock out with your good friends and a sound system in a grassy meadow during the day and then visit Holland, Cracktown, and Tattoine all in one night? Thanks to the Wildlife Crew for a great party, and especially to Tigga for being my partner in crime. God I'm gonna miss this town...

* names have been changed to protect the guilty.

posted by Jess @ 2:34 PM