Posted on

Notes from the Road: Bicycling from Portland to San Francisco

To set off on this 800 mile bike trip from Portland to San Francisco you have to be a bit mad, maybe crazy, maybe escaping the toxic modern world, but probably you may just want to see the world on two wheels. It is an awesome adventure with a variety of geography and topography: coastal ranges, ocean views, beaches, redwoods, rivers, open fields and marshes. I did the trip June 3-19, 2026. With all told three rest days it took a little over two weeks. Riding Amtrak From San Francisco you can reserve a seat in coach, reserve a spot for you bike ($20) and take the Amtrak Coast Starlight to Portland. The train gets into Portland around 4pm so you can get a hotel for the first night and follow the route outlined on https://www.bestcoastbiking.com/portland-to-san-francisco. Some of the details of this route are getting out of date (there are no saunas in any of the campgrounds, there is water in all) but the pace of 60 miles per day was good for me. It was a great tool as it has mile markers and information about eateries and stores.

It does seem like at any given time during the summer months there are at least fifty other people riding along the coast. Most of these riders had the exact same idea as you and ride solo. Some are in groups of two or four. The riders are from all over the world with many Europeans. I met a fellow from New Zealand.  I ran into some very cool people along the way and made some new friends. Bicycling from Portland to San Francisco is a great way to see a beautiful part of the country.

Some people ride sixty miles a day, there were others that rode over a hundred. Some take their time and do twenty miles a day and explore the rural towns and sights. Some travel light and stay in hotels. I met people from 18 to 70 years of age. 

Fifteen miles before Crescent City along the road I rode by a run down house in the country. The front door was painted red, white and blue with a message “FU*K JOE BIDEN” and a pretty good mural of a hand giving you the middle finger.  Not sure what the guy had against Joe and was perhaps one of the few signs of this ilk I saw during this ride. I rode on.

At Crescent City – the half way point, I had a great meal at a local pub. That night I got a motel in Crescent City (Front Street Inn) and woke up the next day and did my laundry. You can take the local 3:00 pm bus to Klamath as suggested in my guide and bike to the lovely Elk Prairie Campground in the redwoods. I had the hike-bike spot campsite to myself. The bird songs were incredible and many.

Alder Glen Campground. One of my favorites on the trip. Quiet. Magical.
Alder Glen Campground. One of my favorites on the trip. Quiet. Magical.

Bicycling from Portland to San Francisco you can stay in these hike-bike spots in state and regional campgrounds. No need to make a reservation as these are overflow, drop-in spots. Often the spots are at the edge of campgrounds and so in many ways nice and private. Other times they are close to the gate and showers. In Oregon many had modern charging stations, lockers and bike tool stands. The price for the night varied from $5-10. In California they vary a lot –  make sure you have plenty of quarters for the showers. Always be aware of the raccoons and blue jays as they want your food. In one campground I spied at Blue Jay poking holes in a package of dehydrated chicken fettuccini. She obviously could read as the other option was beef stroganoff. Gualala Regional Park was full of racoons, blue jays and even barred owls.

Oregon Coast
Oregon Coast

Throughout the ride there is very little cell service. This was very refreshing and the only way to keep your phone functioning and battery not draining was to keep it in “airplane mode.”

Unlike the Midwest and East, along the West Coast there are few diners or breakfast spots and morning food options are limited. Most of the time I made oatmeal and coffee in camp. On the road the option was often a drive-through coffee spot with a greasy microwave breakfast sandwich.  These kiosks pop up even in rural areas. Evidently, on the West Coast people do not sit around diners and talk about the weather.

For lunch there are plenty of options. There are many amazing places that make delicious sandwiches and burgers, sometimes with homemade bread. Stewarts Point Store was amazing.  Pizza is often an excellent option. Of course there are Mexican and Chinese options along the way as well.

Eel River
Eel River

While I thought I would have tailwinds for this trip, due to the rain storms for many days the winds came moderately out the south. I did take a much needed rest day along the Eel River. It was eighty degrees and I had the place to myself. Delicious! The last day was a long ride from Bodega Dunes Park to San Francisco.  About eighty-five miles later I was back in the city by the bay.

San Francisco - Golden Gate Bridge
San Francisco – Golden Gate Bridge

If you are considering this trip, I would just say that it is an awesome adventure and I highly recommend it. The ACA maps are surely very good. Not for the those would cannot deal with adversity as you will be going over the coast range and that is always about  a 2000 vertical foot climb.  Also Highway 1 in Sonoma and Marin Counties can be a bit dicey with no shoulder and cars. Lincoln City in Oregon is a bit busy with cars and RVs. But the views are stupendous. The Nestucca River. Southern Oregon south of Port Orford is amazing. The redwoods and north section of Highway 1 are breathtaking. The cliffs around Jenner are sublime.

A big shout out to the “Fearless Four.” You know who you are. Until we meet again.

 

Posted on

Henry Miller Quote – The Colossus of Maroussi

“We move in clock time amidst the debris of vanished worlds, inventing the instruments of our own destruction, oblivious of fate and destiny, knowing never a moment of peace, possessing not an ounce of faith, a prey to the blackest superstitions, functioning neither in the body or spirit, active not as individuals but as microbes in the organism of the diseased.”
Henry Miller – The Colossus of Maroussi

Published in 1941, Miller thought that The Colossus of Maroussi was his best work. I tend to agree. It is a travelogue while carousing around Greece during the early days of Word War II. Some of the quotes seem as though they were written last week.

Posted on

A Waymo is Towed Out of the Alemany Farmers Market

What happens when a self-driving Waymo gets lost, drunk or simply confused beyond repair? A tow truck comes and picks it up and takes it to a garage… just like all those other cars. I have seen this a few times. There is always someone driving the tow truck which is reassuring for us humans. This time however, it does seem a bit funny.

“I like got totally confused! People jockeying for position. Some moving right. Some going left. Very confusing street signs. Some aiming for the eggplant stand others for the strawberries. I decided to call it quits, smoke a cigarette and call a tow truck. It’s the weekend people. These are just fruits and vegetables. Relax!”
Waymo post-towing comments and download

People can be so intense when shopping for organic vegetables!

Posted on

San Francisco Carnaval 2026 Photos

Rumberos Sunday

Sorry. I can’t talk right now. I’m working…
– rumbero talking overheard

San Francisco Carnaval 2026 took place on May 23 and 24, 2026. The tradition continues! It is a very local festival celebrating the cultures of Latin America, Mexico, the Caribbean, South America, Chicano culture, even Black culture from the southern United States. It may be the last place in San Francisco where there are no big tech or corporate sponsors. There are always a lot of local dance groups, school groups, amazing costumes and floats, way too loud local DJs and very good local bands.

This year there were a lot of groups in the parade from Colombia. The Mexican animales costumes (I know not where this tradition comes from) were off the charts. The parade is always on Sunday, starting at around 10am. It was a mild sunny day. Later in the afternoon the wind came up (as it does this time of year) out of the northwest – swirling around the Mission. Big kudos to Carlos Franco and his All-Star Band who pulled off a very challenging windy situation on the 17th and Harrison stage. Imagine a high pop fly in the gusty winds of summer at Candlestick – I’m not sure how they caught those things. Music was flying everywhere. Letter C everyone!!! Yes. The mambo!!! More clothes pins!

On Sunday near the end the Radio Havana Rumberos had the spot on Harrison by 21st. Amazing all-star cast of musicians and the drumming and dancing were off-the-hook. “Sorry. I can’t talk right now. I’m working…”

Posted on

The AI inevitability narrative

JoDX
As a teacher, I say again: AI has NEVER felt like something I ‘participate’ in — it has always felt like something ‘happening’ to me and my students and to schools everywhere. This lack of choice has been intentional from the get-go, supporting the AI inevitability narrative. Yet if any outside power had without warning eviscerated our educational systems in the way this tech has, it would rightly have been perceived as an enemy or terrorist attack of terrifyingly effective proportions. As Stiegler pointed out years ago, Silicon Valley regularly act as the terrorists in our midst — yet they are embraced and still unregulated, all these years later. It makes you wonder what we would act to protect if not our children’s minds.

From a comment on The Atantic website responding to the article
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/05/ai-inflection-point-trump-china/687202/

One can only wonder that this quote is the equivalent of the canary in a coal mine. Educators are always on the front lines of social changes and the impacts of learning and technology. JoDX: thank you for your insights.

Posted on

Latest Finding – Humans are Now Expendable, How to Cook Artichokes & Trump is Just Jealous

ACT 1: Humans are Now Expendable

STOP HIRING HUMANS
– Sign pulled by a plane flying over the San Francisco bay

These are strange times that we live in. The airplane was invented but a little over hundred years ago. At one point the only place airplanes landed in San Francisco was at Crissy Field, a small flat place on the bay by the Golden Gate Bridge. Not far from Chrissy Field, flying over the San Francisco Bay, on May 1, 2026 a small propeller-prop plane was observed pulling a sign that said “STOP HIRING HUMANS.”  In the background was Alcatraz. What can this mean? Universal income for all? Are we all going to just be able stay in bed all day, not go to work, roll over and hit the snooze button? It is very ironic that it was May 1st – International Workers Day. You definitely have to give credit to the gall of whomever paid for this advertisement, but the crucial question is: was there a person in the cockpit flying the plane? Does he have a parachute if things do not work out?

ACT 2: How to Cook an Artichoke

It’s that time of year again. You will see them in piles at the grocery store or better yet – at a farmers market. Maybe $2 each. Sometimes less. It is the artichoke.  What is this thing? Is it a vegetable? Maybe a plant from outer space? Actually it is but a flower. They love dancing in the fog. When they are fresh, they can be absolutely divine.

STEP ONE: Take a big pasta pot and fill it with water and set it to boil.

STEP TWO: Assess your artichoke. I prefer to take a clean scissors and cut off the leaf ends.  Trim off the often prickly ends. You will not eat this part anyway.

STEP THREE: Wash the artichoke under cool water. Open up the center and allow any bugs to come out of hiding. Use more water. Sometimes there are pincher bugs that like to move in. You are now the evil landlord evicting the tenants. Be gentle though, and take the creature to the window and toss her out of the house. You did her a favor. She will not be boiled alive.

STEP FOUR: Put the artichokes in the boiling pot. Add some salt. I try to get the salt into the middle of the artichokes. Boil for one hour. Yes. One hour. A good medium boil will do. Remember – Rome was not built in a day you know.

STEP FIVE:  After an hour, using tongs, take the artichokes out and put them in bowl. Poke them with a fork to make sure they are completely dead. If the stem is still hard, leave the artichokes in the hot water for more time, otherwise set aside.

STEP SIX: And here, ladies and gentlemen is my secret. Take a few tabs of butter and place them in the center of the flower, in the middle of the leaves. Squeeze a lemon on these same leaves. Add a little more salt. The heat of the artichoke will melt the butter. Wait about five minutes before serving.

Eat the meat in the leaves by pulling them off one at a time. Scrape the meat out with your teeth. Use an empty bowl and discard the remnants. When you make it to the heart, cut that out with a paring knife away from the hairy part (you’ll figure it out) and share with your friend. If you have no friends, sharing an artichoke heart will get you some.

That is my artichoke rant. Aren’t you glad you made it this far!

ACT 3: The Valencia Bike Lane Now Does Actually Work

While the San Francisco Chronicle rambles on about how great it is that humans are slowly being replaced by the tech bros in the taxi business, a story that goes unreported is that the Valencia bike lane now does work. Zig zagging your way down to Market Street was evidently the best way.  Humans. Sometimes they eventually get some things right.

ACT 4: Donald Trump is Just Jealous

It is an odd thing that no one has come to the realization that Donald Trump is simply jealous. When the U.S. sent in that stealth force into Caracas and kidnapped Nicolas Madura, what was really happening was that Trump was going after a leader who simply outdid him in the coup d’etat category. Maduro stayed in power by claiming he had won the election when it was quite apparent that he did not. Maduro outdid Trump by having a successful coup. Donald was perhaps pissed off that he had been outdone. Mob bosses hate to be one-upped. January 6th. If only that Pence guy had a spine!

By the way poor Nicolas seems to have fallen off the news radar. Reports about the prison food? What are the conditions like? How is the mattress holding up? We need details.

With Iran, it is a matter of simply being jealous of the Iranian style of government.  Iran is a Religious Theocracy, the exact type of government that the current batch of Republicans esteem to. Instead of Islam they of course prefer Christianity. Instead of Mohammed it is Jesus. In the end, it is simply jealousy. My God is better than your God. My misogyny is better than your misogyny.

While Trump is perhaps the most non-religious president in United States history, the reason he is in power is because of these religious fanatics, who  made a Faustian deal with the devil and who’s course he follows in his usual transactional style. Trump and his crazy entourage are all just fighting Iran because they have been outdone. Jesus, do save us.

Those are my rants. I have some artichokes to eat.

Posted on

The Death of Expertise: The Campaign against Established Knowledge and Why it Matters – A Review

I don’t know anything and have no perspective, but here is my comment… I feel better now.
Barnstorm in 2013 on the defunct website – Stoke Report

Introduction

The Death of Expertise: The Campaign against Established Knowledge and Why it Matters by Tom Nichols (first edition) from 2018 is a book about how experts no longer have the influence that they did in times past.

Americans have reached the point where  ignorance, especially of anything related to public policy is an actual virtue. To reject the advise of experts is to assert autonomy, a way for Americans  to insulate their increasingly fragile egos from ever being told they are wrong about anything.
The Death of Expertise – by Tom Nichols

I am not an expert or professional book reviewer but I cannot help writing these reviews. They are a way for me to ponder the meaning and ideas of a book. It is simply an exercise in critical thinking.

One thing that you realize from his long resume that besides being a university professor, Tom Nichols is a military expert. I got to know his writing through his many Atlantic articles where he is on staff. His take on the Trump administration and the Commander in Chief is always spot on. It is truly unfortunate that before the current U.S. wars no one consulted Tom Nichols. He surely would have given some sage advise.  He is a throwback Republican – a thinking, well-read Republican. I know not whether he is still registered as a Republican but these days thinking Republicans seem to be in short supply.

Overall the book is a quick-read and in many ways is but a vehicle for Nichols to cathartically gripe about the state of the world. Much of these gripes are things that have arisen since the advent of the internet. Chapter 3: Higher Education: The Customer Is Always Right – Examines how universities treat students as consumers, lowering educational standards definitely is full of antidotes (often funny, sometimes depressing) about how universities have changed. Learning and scholarly pursuits seem to have taken a back seat to coddling the young adults.

College as a client-centered experience caters to adolescents instead of escorting them away from adolescence. Rather than disabusing students of their intellectual solipsism, the modern university ends up reinforcing it.
The Death of Expertise – by Tom Nichols

Indeed, if you have ever seen a college brochure these days, you get the feeling that the prospective students are but customers and of course “the customer is always right.” Fancy dorms. Extra dining options. State-of-the-art gyms. Nichols has been teaching at the university level for decades and has an inside view of this phenomenon.

With these rants and others The Death of Expertise is but a topical book. It is a book that in fifty years will be but a time-capsule of the first part of the twenty-first century and nothing more.

What is not in the book or skimmed over

While Nichols does a great job of explaining many of the current trends such as “confirmation bias,” psychology terms like the Dunning-Kruger Effect and Sturgeon’s Law he does not dig very deeply into why there is a death of expertise. He does give some blame to the internet as often a few Wikipedia pages often makes people feel like they are experts.  For better or worse the internet does  allows just about anyone to express their latest opinions and findings, but the internet is really just one big popularity contest driven by “influencers” and tech companies looking to make a buck.  Being popular and well-liked does not make you and expert. He but lightly touches on this conundrum.

Another area where he treads lightly is in the demise of the journalism profession. Here Nichols does not venture to ask why. Obviously it has to do with the monopolization of the media business. Laws and deregulations that enable corporations to dominate an industry.  The death of small news organizations and reporters. The dismal state of online journalism. This is but briefly mentioned. So called mainstream online journalism will couple articles about pet food next to genocide, weight loss drugs next to serial killers, the latest makeup eyeliner trends next a war in Africa. We seem to have have become normalized to this “expert” editorial style. I find it simply strange and dystopian. These are the “expert” editors? Perhaps it is what Steve Bannon calls “flood the zone.” In actuality he said “flood the zone with shit” but that is a minor detail.

Capitalism and Politics

And what seems to perplex Nichols the most, and where he never ventures is a main reason experts are in decline is because of capitalism. Experts have been in decline for a long time. Fifty years ago oil companies had their very own scientists and experts assess the effect of fossil fuels on the climate. They were overwhelmingly in agreement that fossil fuels would warm the planet and be a problem for humanity. The oil companies ignored their very own experts’ and scientists’  advise.  Al Gore’s The Inconvenient Truth was truly inconvenient so it was ignored. Greed and the all-important dollar won out.

You see this sort of phenomenon whereby experts are ignored in many fields and industries. Recently, in Trump Contagion by Brandy X. Lee you learn that medical organizations such as the American Psychological Association (APA) along with the New York Times put the kabash on a large group of experts in the fields of psychiatry,  law and others.  In 2018 they determined that Donald Trump was seriously mentally ill, unfit to serve as president and an existential threat to humanity.  Even though her earlier book  The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President  was a best-seller the APA killed her next book Trump Contagion because the pharmaceutical industry, one of their main donors, did not want the book to gain momentum and be taken seriously. The last thing the APA wanted was to be in the crosshairs of Donald Trump so they stifled their experts. What this means is that you have professional organizations ignoring and at times killing the advise of their very own experts. Capitalism and our messed up, mendacious politics is one of the big reason for this death of expertise. As the Paul Simon song goes – “people believe what they want to believe and disregard the rest.”

That is my review and thoughts about The Death of Expertise: The Campaign against Established Knowledge and Why it Matters but as this piece began “I don’t know anything and have no perspective, but here is my comment… I feel better now.” I do know one thing. If I was thinking about starting a war in say Iran, I would definitely want Tom Nichols in the room. He is an expert.

Posted on

The 2025/26 Ski Season Retrospect

Photo: Elephants Back along the scenic 88, Kit Carson Highway.

What a strange snow year this was. We had an early storm in December that made for skiing during the winter holidays, then during January  we had no snow and a month of warm temperatures and mild weather. In San Francisco, it got so warm people were wearing shorts to the beach, bringing their kids to frolic in the sand. It seemed like an endless Indian summer and more like the weather we sometimes get in  late-September. This rarely happens in January or February.

Early February came and we were hit by a significant storm. This was the one when a backcountry ski group at Donner Summit got caught in a tragic avalanche. After that the warm weather came back and it got to sometimes 65 degrees at 10,000 feet. The sun was out and a lot of snow melted. In early April things changed once again with a few late season storms that added a few feet of snow to the meager snowpack.

As of April 20th, most ski resorts are closed. Many did close early this year. Generally the snowpack is very low. See: https://snow.water.ca.gov/.

I had the arduous assignment as the SF Journal travel correspondent,  confirming these weather totals, at one point waiting out a storm for a few hours in Colfax, California before barely making it over Donner Summit. Later in April, we were able to enjoy a few days at Kirkwood, a ski resort that stayed open the longest.

The 2025/26 Ski Season Sierra Photo Gallery

Posted on

San Francisco Road Repairs, Parking Tickets, Do Not Park Signs and Other Treacherous Endeavors

Sooner or later you figure out the plan. Starting at Geneva and Mission and heading north they are repaving the bus stops with concrete. It is about time.
News from SF – The Quarterly Report – May 2024

San Francisco Road Repairs

The edges of cities often are the places that get very little love from the local government. Parks often are forgotten about. Bus stops are not maintained. Roads become filled with potholes. However, in San Francisco a remarkable thing has happened. In the hinterlands, in a neighborhood on the south side of town, they have spent two years slowly redoing the main thoroughfare Mission Street otherwise know as El Camino Real starting at Geneva Ave and making their way to Silver Street. In the process they seem to have updated some sewers and waterlines. The bus stops are now all solid fresh concrete. I asked an Asian bus driver waiting for passengers behind the wheel of a Mission 14 bus heading north what he thought of the new El Camino Real. He said “Mo beddar, no bouncing,” and gave a chuckle. Indeed, the expense for tires and shocks on these buses, like the Mission 14, will be way less for the city. I do not have the exact numbers but the last time they repaved Mission Street in the Excelsior was at least thirty years ago. It looked like this in June of 2023.

Mission Street at Excelsior 6/2023
Mission Street at Excelsior 6/2023

No ribbon cutting ceremony. No mention in the local press. Life continues at its furious pace. And so it goes.

The Newly Paved Mission Street at Ocean Ave.

Parking Tickets, Do Not Park Signs and Other Treacherous Endeavors


San Francisco now has many areas that have two hour parking from 8AM to 9PM. This is such a draconian idea. How is anyone going to have a good time in this town? The Street Cleaning ticket is now $90. Overtime Meter Parking Outside Downtown Core is now $92. For a complete list see
San Francisco Parking Fines List.
It does make taking the bus or riding a bike a lot more attractive.

It is treacherous out there. Remember to plug your meters and read the signs. Be nice to people walking around in a daze looking at their cellphones, crossing the street without looking. Also, sometimes people do have to park on a busy street. This means that they have to parallel park and it may slow traffic down for a minute. Be kind.

Posted on

Three Films, The Oscars, Politics, Hollywood and Cultural Myopia

hashtags: #oscars, #brazil, #academy-awards, #movie-review, #dicaprio

In 2025 there were many foreign films that gained a world-wide audience. The Brazilian movie “The Secret Agent” and the Iranian “It Was Just and Accident” were actually nominated for Academy Awards next to the Hollywood blockbusters. In the end, a very flawed Hollywood movie “One Battle After Another,” with a budget of $130–175 million, walked away with all kinds of awards including Best Picture. This short essay examines these three films and reflects on how art has the ability to either illuminate universal truths about the human condition or obfuscate realities and history.

2015 Rio de Janeiro - Ipanema Beach
2015 Rio de Janeiro – Ipanema Beach

We live in a time of rising authoritarianism. In the United States, Donald Trump sees himself more as a king than a president. He thinks he can simply “disappear” his enemies, levy tariffs on a whim, do backdoor deals with oligarchs and CEOs, rape women and not be held accountable, declare wars without senate approval – the list is long. While Iran has been living with kings and ayatollahs for many years, Brazil has had its own history of authoritarianism with a military dictatorship (1964–1985) following a U.S.-backed coup.  The Brazilian movie “The Secret Agent” and the Iranian “It Was Just and Accident” are historical fiction pieces that examine this authoritarianism in their respective countries. The tensions in these movies  between the different sides are very real and the characters embody a complexity that elevates the works to great art.

Three Films, The Oscars, Politics, Hollywood and Cultural Myopia

On the other hand “One Battle After Another,”   is more of a Hollywood fantasy-thriller movie that embraces and perpetuates stereotypes that are  current mainstream media and republican party talking points.  The plot centers around a far-left revolutionary group, the French 75 that uses violence to attempt to forward their political agenda. They rob banks and create havoc in the streets. One cannot help but think that this French 75 is really a stand-in to republicans’ imaginary Antifa. Teyana Taylor plays a convincing Perfidia but her character is pure fantasy.  In the course of human history, a powerful sexy woman of color dominating a testosterone-heavy military goon (Steven J. Lockjaw as played by Sean Penn) is probably something that has literally never happened. More often it is exactly the other way around with men abusing women. The raping and abuse of women has gone on since the beginning of  wars.  The movie also normalizes the military being used against civilians without warrants. Like ICE agents in Minneapolis, we see FBI agents in military helicopters storming the “insurgents.” It is all a bit silly and cartoonish but in our current times has been normalized. Of course, the FBI agents are so incompetent that the person they are looking for in the woods (the cannabis-infused Leonardo DiCaprio) escapes through a tunnel. I mean, really? How stupid are these FBI guys? There are other things that make the film unbelievable (e.g. DiCaprio falling four stories off a building and not breaking a bone.) In the end, his daughter, Charlene escapes from the clutches of the racist white men’s club, takes up the mantel of the revolution and drives off to Oakland – a not too subtle reference to Black Panther party who bore arms and kept watch over the police. In doing so, the movie perpetuates a J. Edgar Hoover paranoid and racist notion that the Black Panthers were all about violence, when in reality they were mostly about uplifting marginalized communities through education and free breakfasts. Film often is a statement about the political atmosphere during their making and “One Battle After Another” is just that. Like a corporate-owned newspaper “One Battle After Another” touches on all the mainstream talking points. For such and expensive film, it actually says very little and what it does say, it does poorly.

Tehran Iran - 1972
Tehran Iran – 1972

In contrast,  the Iranian “It Was Just and Accident” says a lot with very little. The film was made illegally without a permit in Iran by Jafar Panahi and it opens with someone wanting to bury his torturer alive. No big sets and explosions needed – just one vengeful man digging a grave to bury his nemesis in a desert on the edge of town. Through many scenes, involving many people and situations the movie takes on the timeless themes of revenge, forgiveness, marriage, death and birth with the final message of sometimes people simply need a job to survive. People will do atrocious things for money as they have feed their families. In fifty years “It Was Just and Accident” will stand the test of time and will become a classic.

Mosque in Isfahan Iran - 1972
Mosque in Isfahan Iran – 1972

Likewise, “The Secret Agent” combines an amazing script with excellent acting. In the United States the military dictatorships in Brazil seem to be something forgotten but “The Secret Agent” brings this history to life. The amazing cast (this film should have won the Casting Oscar award) was full of both memorable and spot-on characters starting with the lead actor Wagner Moura. Every person seems suited for their characters, especially the hit men who are out to take out Moura’s Armando. From the boss Luciano Chirolli who hires Roney Villela to do the job, who then hires Kaiony Venâncio – it is surely more like how things work in the real world of organized crime. The chain of command is surreptitious with each person covering their asses, hiring an underling and in the process taking a large cut. In the end you get a desperate person to do the dirty deed for very little money. From the beginning scene, a dead person under a piece of cardboard outside a gas station, to the end, the film is a thriller that is entirely believable – save for the hairy leg theme.  No spoilers.

While “One Battle After Another” is about affirming dubious political notions, product placements, stereotypes, misconstrued history and Leonardo DiCaprio dropping the f-bomb over and over (this is quality scriptwriting?), “It Was Just and Accident” and “The Secret Agent” deal successfully with deeper more timeless themes. In the end “It Was Just and Accident” is about forgiveness. With “The Secret Agent” it is about memories, how they are shaped and how technology has such a huge impact on what we remember. The world is presently at war. Eventually, everyone will need to pick up the pieces. Forgiveness and how the history is told will be uppermost in our minds.

 

 

 

Posted on

The Quarterly Report – News from San Francisco – February 2026

The Quarterly Report: A brief synopsis of the news in San Francisco over the last three months. You are now reading “Slow News That Doesn’t Break” – the exotic internet.

Weather

After a few good storms in late December, January was a month of warm temperatures and sunny skies. The snow that fell in the Sierra began to melt. As of mid-February the snowpack is about 50% of normal. The month of January made for amazing beach days and weeks on end of clean head-high surf. The winds were out of the east and rarely very strong.

Ocean Beach San Francisco

As of late, there are a few storms brewing out at sea. In the coming week there is predicted a few new feet of snow in the Sierra. In earlier times people would know this as you start to see the storms out over the Pacific but also from birds moving around, seagulls flying inland – changes in flight patterns. Oddly, on my block a large cypress tree that for years has been home to crows has been taken over by a flock of robins. I have never seen flocks of robins, but mostly in pairs. Perhaps Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds was inspired but such phenomenon.

Learn more: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/is-it-unusual-to-see-american-robins-in-the-middle-of-winter/

THE MOUNTAINS

Kirkwood, CA. January, 2026
Kirkwood, CA. January, 2026
Lake Alpine, CA. February 7, 2026
Lake Alpine, CA. February 7, 2026
Carson-Glacier Wilderness, CA. February 7, 2026
Carson-Glacier Wilderness, CA. February 7, 2026
Lake Alpine, CA. February 7, 2026
Lake Alpine, CA. February 7, 2026

Local Politics

The SFUSD teachers went on strike demanding better wages and medical benefits. It went on for a week in February and eventually a deal was achieved.

If you want to keep track of San Francisco politics, probably the best place is https://missionlocal.org/. They actually have a few beat reporters and report on things like homelessness and the police.

The rents in San Francisco are still exorbitant, surely driven up by the AI companies and the venture capital backing it.

After a proposal to tax the billionaires a onetime 5% to help fund health care and education, Mark Zuckerberg looks to be moving to Florida. I say good riddance! In all my years here in The City I never saw the guy once though he had the nerve to get San Francisco General Hospital to rename itself Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center. Perhaps he could spend the millions of dollars it will take to take his name off of this public  institution and update the acronym. His business model is purely extractive in nature and toxic, especially for children. Entire families have been decimated. Countries have been torn apart (e.g. Myanmar). He is indeed part of billionaires class who live by a different set of laws and rules. Of course, such people have a way of paying less in terms of taxes (some none at all) than the rest of us poor folk. All I can say is “enjoy the hurricanes.”

Protests Against Fascism, Trump and ICE

In San Francisco there are regular protests on Saturday afternoon in front of Elon Musk’s Tesla dealership. One of the signs said just “SHAME” which I took to mean “For Shame” or “Shame on You!” or even “YOU HAVE NO SHAME!” In any event, people are at their wits-end. There are certainly more demonstrations in other cities nearby. Even the introverts are now getting out there and people often get dressed in costumes including a frog, a gingerbread man and the statue of liberty. San Francisco will probably never be criticized for it lack of creativity.

QUOTES FROM SIGNS

Van Ness protest signs. Saturday, February 14, 2026
Van Ness protest signs. Saturday, February 14, 2026

“No one is illegal on Stolen Land” “Together We Can Defeat Fascism” “I Love Democracy”
Sign held by person wearing a frog costume on Van Ness Ave., San Francisco

National Politics

On January 3, 2026, U.S. forces executed a military operation, termed “Operation Absolute Resolve,” that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, at their residence in Caracas.

It is hard to read and listen to what is going on in national politics.  Donald Trump and all his corrupt cronies become tiresome. It really isn’t funny anymore. When politics merged with entertainment and scandal became a virtue we lost our way. People often quote Steve Bannon as saying that as a political strategy it is good to “flood the zone” but what he really said was “flood the zone with shit.” In past articles I have called our current age the “Age of Delusion.” People in our current times simply make up stuff to back up their personal narratives and then “flood the zone with shit.” However, this may simply be part of the human condition.  Don Quixote, the knight errant in Cervantes classic novel embodies this quality, idealizing the valiant and courageous warrior at all costs. He mistakes windmills for monsters and dragons, people peacefully traveling as enemies he must conquer.  Today people in power often no longer idealize war and the warriors but still make events seem to always support their delusional narratives. We are currently lead by a  delusional commander in chief who has never served in the military and disdains any actions of virtue. Hopefully we will still have a country come November but things could easily become violent.

ICE is pulling out of Minneapolis. Where these thugs go to at this point should be our chief concern.

And then there is the United States Attorney General, Pam Bondi in her own delusional rants during a senate hearing on February 11. 2026.

“This is so ridiculous. They are trying to deflect from all the great things Donald Trump has done. There is no evidence that he’s committed a crime. Everyone knows that.’
Pam Bondi, senate hearing, February 11. 2026

‘You’re a washed-up loser lawyer… You’re not even a lawyer!’
Pam Bondi speaking to the distinguished law professor and Senator Jamie Raskin

‘Don’t you ever accuse me of committing a crime!’
Pam Bondi, senate hearing, February 11. 2026

Sporting News

The Seattle Seahawks won the Super Bowl over the New England Patriots 29 to 13. The running of Kenneth Walker III was fun to watch.

The San Francisco 49ers season was full of injuries but they did make it through a playoff game in Philadelphia defeating the former champs.  The play of the game was a trick play whereby a receiver, after a few hand-offs ended up throwing the ball to a diving Christian McCaffery. Brock Purdy handed off to Skyy Moore, who flipped it to Jauan Jennings, who then threw to a wide-open McCaffrey.

You can see it here:

49ers.com/video/jennings-trick-pass-sets-up-mccaffrey-touch-down-philadelphia-eagles-wild-card-playoffs

After that win, they played the next game against the Seahawks and got blown out. And so it goes.

That is The Quarterly Report – February 2026

Photo Gallery of SF

The Quarterly Report – February 2026

Posted on

The AI Billboard Craze and What Do These Things Mean?

Billboards often seem to say more about the rich and powerful in a city than the actual messages. In Los Angeles there are often large expenditures for billboards promoting new movies. It is a “movie town” and the powerful would be remiss if they did not see a large photo of their multimillion dollar project along the Interstate. In San Francisco for the last few years it has all been about Artificial Intelligence or AI. Instead of billboards advertising shampoo, beer or whiskey, travel destinations or even the latest iPhones, the landscape is littered with signs for AI. It seems that almost a hundred percent of the billboards in San Francisco are AI companies. This surely tells us something about the deep pockets of the venture capital in the Bay Area that they can outbid General Mills, Coca Cola, United Airlines and Ford Motor Company for this advertising space.

In the past, billboards would have some sort of meaning to the average person on the street. Look at this great phone. Those Doritos do look pretty tasty. I really do need to use Yahoo as my search engine. But now, most of these billboards have absolutely no meaning to the average person on the street. Perhaps most are meant to build a brand or name with the hopes of getting into the subconscious of the general populous. But often the language of these billboards is programming lingo and surely is a foreign language to most. Targeted advertising? Probably not for the tech workers looking at their phones, making their way to Menlo Park on the Google buses.

AI Billboard along Interstate 101 in San Francisco
AI Billboard along Interstate 101 in San Francisco

So what does Prompt it. Then push it. actually mean?

In source control like git, you have a repository of code. Here you can see the changes that have been made over time. It makes ir so you do not lose any work and when there are bugs you can figure out what went wrong and perhaps revert to a previous version.

A command-line prompt would be something like:

git commit -m “I did all this work on my new app. Soon I shall be a billionaire.”

The “commit -m” is the “prompt” where “-m” stands for “message.” There are all kinds of prompts. It is 2026 and even though there are IDE (Integrated Development Environments) software to make things easier, programmers still use command-line prompts, like the early years of COBAL and UNIX programming.

And then to make sure none of your code gets lost somewhere, you “push” it up to the repository, often called server, now “the cloud.”

git push origin main

What is funny about the billboard that says “Prompt it. Then push it” is that in a different decade someone who was priced-out of the neighborhood might have replied “No buddy, do not Prompt it. Then push it. How about just shove it… and you know where!”

“No buddy, do not Prompt it. Then push it. How about just shove it… and you know where!”

That’s the joke in this rant.

Agents. At your command.
Agents. At your command.

Often there are hands on a keyboard or sometimes even hands with religious connotations in the sky looking a bit like a Leonardo Da Vinci’s Creation of Adam painting.  Another word that is used all the time is Agents.  
Modern computer culture and an excess of hubris seem to be a constant theme. Trust us. We will solve all your woes.

Now there is a “TOKEN FACTORY.” I am not sure what that is but I hope they have a union. Maybe ask your nephew?

Not sure what these two mean but I suspect that the customer service jobs in the Philippines, India and Texas may be getting some layoffs in the near future. Unlike the movie The Graduate where Ben gets advised by Mr. Robinson about the one word, plastics, the new word seems to be agents.

All the images above are just some of the billboards that I documented along the 101 interstate highway in San Francisco. There surely are more. One billboard actually got tagged. Not sure what that means about their “backend” but that was very “frontend.” Some things do stay the same.