Sunday, May 1, 2016
Slept in. Rode Lyft Line to the Presidio. Ate lunch at an Off the Grid food truck called Slightly Skewed. Order wait time in line was 10 minutes. Pickup wait time was about another 10 minutes. I got one chicken skewer, one bulgogi beef skewer, grilled asparagus, and steamed white rice. I drank water from my Contigo water bottle. The wait was totally worth it; all was very delicious. Music by DJ HeyLove was terrific. Afterwards I visited the Walt Disney Family Museum for the first time. I remember when it opened in October 2009 the adult admission was $25, which I thought was too high, so I never went. Now the price is $20, and I also used a $3 UCSF discount. $17 is a good price for this musuem. I was blown away by the quantity and quality of the exhibits. The museum consists of 17 galleries which provide a comprehensive, step-by-step history of Walt Disney's life along with tons of interesting memorabilia and Disneyana to examine. Today there was also a special exhibit called Mel Shaw: An Animator on Horseback. I also watched part of Pinocchio in the downstairs theatre. This museum is a must-see for any collector of Disneyana or anyone interested in animation arts. It's not geared specifically for children or for adults. There are lots of interesting things for both kids and adults to enjoy. What struck me most was the finesse and grace with which the museum integrates technology. Almost all of us have been to at least several museums, so we're familiar with how it works. At the room entrance you read an introduction, then each item in the exhibit has some text that gives you explanation, detail, clarification. In this museum, it's the same, but Disney has a style and panache all its own, and it comes through in spades in the design of this experience. I recommend a minimum of 1.5 hours just for the main galleries. You may want to plan for more time, especially if a film is showing in the theatre. (Check the website for the film calendar. As an example, Pinocchio is about 90 minutes.) I could easily have spent 4 or 5 hours, but today I had time for only 2 hours. Afterwards I browsed in the gift shop, almost buying a $65 blanket. (It was beautiful, but I don't need another blanket.) I also stopped at the cafe to purchase some Tout Sweet meringues. While I was there I was offered and I accepted a free shot of espresso due to someone else's ordering error. Nice, but the espresso didn't taste that great to me. I drank it anyway. Before leaving Main Post I stopped at Girl Friday Zeppole and bought two zeppole for $1, both sweet. (I didn't want more since I was going to be in transit momentarily.) They were terrific. I need to catch them again another time. Rode Lyft Line to SoMa for the 2016 premiere of Sunsation Sundays, a rooftop dance party at Oasis. Except there was no dancing outdoors—only indoors. I learned from the Sneaky's BBQ guy that they now serve BBQ at Oasis Wednesday through Sunday. Emery met me there and introduced me to Kam, Jay, Ranjeev, Jason, Duncan, and many others whose names I cannot recall. (I didn't take notes this time.) The roof has very little sun after 4:00 pm; after that it gets chilly quickly. Emery and I went to his place so that we both could change into warmer clothes. We walked to Market Street and rode Muni to the Castro. After visiting 440 for a bit, he took off, and I chatted with several others including Kevin, with whom I shared a slice of pizza at Marcello's. Rode Lyft Line home.