Free Stuff

Visiting the sea lions at Pier 39.
Handball - there are courts in Golden Gate Park, opposite Seventh Avenue, south of Middle Drive East. Courts are available free, on a first-come, first-served basis

I thought they left too, but apparently they returned. I was there toward the end of June with some visitors and they were there as loud as can be!

I love Dolores Park Movie night. Haven't been in a while. Dolores Park in general as well--great for sun bathing. (Once or twice a year when the weather allows.)

A little outside of SF proper, watching the crazy kids on Telegraph Avenue and listening to the drummers down by campus.

The Vallejo(?) steps on Russian Hill.


Golden Gate Park--especially by Haight.

Telegraph goes from Berkeley to Oakland, but the spot FlowerGirl means is right where it hits the campus. You have about 10 great blocks of Berkeley stores. Although I personally have a hard time with it just because I don't like getting pan-handled constantly. I prefer east of Telegraph towards the hills--the houses are really beautiful there is the Pacific Film Archive which is a really interesting place where you can see really obscure movies.

There is also the Berkeley Museum of Modern Art--I'm not as much of fan of it--feels a bit small to me. No comparison to the SFMoMA. But neither of them is free though you can get a student discount if you have an old student ID. (I think Kroeber--the museum of Anthropology is free, but you sort of get what you pay for.)

I love the Berkeley Campus--there are a bunch of ugly heterogenous buildings--like Wurster Hall by Kroeber--but somehow they add up to a really lovely campus as a total. I love the area just by the Campanele (the big tower in Berkeley). On the other hand, I can't really be objective--the whole place is laced with nostalgia for me. I loved it there.

Tilden is great too. I notice you went there finally and reviewed it, Steph. Good review!

@NightOwInOrinda - I was just in Berkeley yesterday at a conference held on campus and I agree with you about Telegraph near the campus. Lots of pan handlers but it is a cool 10 blocks or so of neat stores and shops.The campus was also beautiful. I had been once before but it was years ago.

Thanks @Nightowl! Apparently I had been there before but did not know it by name, which happens frequently around here. I would like to spend more time in Berkeley - I've been to the climbing gym a few times and met a friend in Rockridge for dinner once (my other Crepevine experience), but haven't really been back since.

@Flowergirl: Yeah, I know I should just brush the panhandlers off, but I am totally out of practice. I used to live jsut a block off of Telegraph and had gotten in that mode where I could just ignore it but last time I went I just couldn't get comfortable with it.

@StephSF and Flowergirl: This discussion of geography and maps reminds me of that REM song, "Stand". That should be the theme song for this Website. Either that, or "Our House" by I don't remember who--Men without Hats?

Is it just me or do my comments seem particularly random tonight?

@NightOwl: I try to make at least every other comment I make completely random and in no way related to the topic at hand--like right now. I googled that song, the group was called Madness, they were a British ska/pop band according to Wikipedia and since I am the music girl tonight here is the video. My brother says this song was big back during the Big Gipper's administration--so here goes, enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shVdK2cbRuA&feature=av2n

(It's kinda related to the topic--YouTube still is free, so far, right?)

Hehe, yes, technically related. YouTube is free but is owned by Google.

Speaking of which, and getting us back on track, does Google offer free "Googleplex" campus tours? I've had several clients do site visits and would love to personally get there myself, but I don't want to get kicked off or blacklisted, either...

You mean you don't want to be classified as a "Google-house crasher" - LOL. I would imagine you could contact them directly and ask. I've been. I have a friend who works there. I got to eat lunch there and go down the slide. Such fun!

I heard that they have heated toilet seats and on-site masseuses. My clients who have visited referred to them as "marshmallow," which I thought was pretty funny.

@StephSF: Marshmallow because they are soft?

Ah Google, the Holy Grail of Silicon Valley companies--I happened to mention to my brother that I was doing an adwords project and my brother thought that I was doing it for someone at Google. He immediately started asking me if I could give the guy his resume. He was very disappointed to learn that it was just some marketing job for some company he had never heard of.

Speaking of which, if you know of anyone who needs a marketing analyst with ten years experience working for Sun Microsystems send him or her my way. My brother got canned at the beginning of this year and hasn't gotten any bites on his resume since then. (The job hunt is brutal out there right now.)

By the way, is it just me or does it seem like Google may need a new slogan soon? Up until recently I've had all positive associations with them but I am starting to worry that they are about to hit the tipping point where profits are going to overpower their better judgements?

Yes, marshmallow because it is a cushy place to work. My associations are all positive as well, although it is a bit daunting to think about how much absolute control they have over our ability to gather information.

I heard that Sun Microsystems is one of the tough ones that has been cutting costs. Facebook and Google seem to always be hiring for various positions as they continue to grow.

I don't work there but have visited and have friends that work there. They have a slide (I went down it - hehe), they have heated toilet seats and toilet trivia/brain teasers, it's true they have pajama day and they have an awesome cafeteria. You can only work for Google if you went to an elite top school and graduated with a GPA of 3.4 or 3.6 or higher (can't remember the specifics now). So although they are always hiring, they are not hiring people like me with 20 years experience who partied their butt off in college because.... it was the thing to do and I have no regrets. Besides, I don't want to work for a company who pre-judges me based on decisions I made when I was 18. Give me a break. And Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook is a tool and a thief. Just wait for the Social Network movie to come out. He paid $60M for stealing Facebook from his friends at college.

But don't get discouraged, there are start-ups popping up all over the place that have perks just like Google. Look at Zynga - (Farmville).

Ah and to get back on track - free stuff -
Film Night in the Park - http://www.filmnight.org/