Patriotic Monday Music

And  my favorite two versions of the Star-Spangled Banner:

Some New Baseball Stuff

A's seat cushion

Decided to share some of the new baseball things I have got lately. We'll start with the books:

2014 Oakland A's Media Guide. Something I have been buying for like 30 years

"Up, Up & Away"-It is story of the Montreal Expos. A really good read.

"Battle of the Bay"-The best season in Bay Area baseball history happened 25 years ago and this book tells the story of it.

And now my favorite-the bobbleheads:

Josh Donaldson of the A's

Stretch- HOFerWillie McCovey of the Giants

Catfish Hunter of the A's. The best Father's Day present from the kiddos

And some odds and ends:

Asheville  Tourists fitted hat

A's rally towel

A's button

The season is only half-over. Hopefully, I can get some more things to add to my collection before the season ends.

A Visit to Pier 39

When my son and I walked around the waterfront in San Francisco, we arrived at tourist trap called Pier 39. Pier 39 is designed for tourists and it delivers. This was the first time I was down there and just went with the vibe of the place:

The front of Pier 39

People enjoying Pier 39

Dessert crepes being made

Bath salts anyone

They do have a carousel

And a stage for shows

And a little farmer's market

They also have great views of the Bay:

The Bay

"The Rock"

But my favorite favorite part of going there is seeing the "Sea Lebrities". A couple of months after the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake, sea lions started showing up in droves. During the winter, they can number about 900. They then migrate to the nearby Channel Islands for breeding season but in recent years a small group has stayed at Pier 39 year-around:

After this visit, I have decided that Pier 39 is about enjoying and having fun plus I liked listening to the this street sax player:

Some Old Cold Hard Cash

$20 schillings bill from 1773

Recently I visited the Wells Fargo Museum in Downtown San Francisco not long go. The museum was great (Yes, I took many pics) but they had a cool exhibit of old money that was used back in the day. Here the pics of the old school cash.

From 1863 to 1935- National banks in the United States issued notes with their names and charter numbers on them. These notes were backed by bonds deposited by the federal government. Here are three examples;

Wells Fargo-1905

Georgia National Bank in Athens, Ga

National Bank of  San Mateo at Redwood City-1929

Here are some more examples:

Bank of Claredon (N.C.)-1807

$5 Gold Coin-1870. Congress charted nine national gold banks in California where the note could be exchanged for gold

Here is an only in San Francisco piece:

San Franciscan Joshua Norton declared himself Emperor of the United States in 1859. He printed his only script and residents and merchants accepted his script at face value.

Finally, I saw this and had to share it on this. This the oldest known check drawn on an American Financial Institution. It was written by an Owen Biddle on May 18th, 1782 for $857 and 82/90 dollars:

I wonder what it would be worth today.

Some Monday Music

Going Somewhat Aussie to Dance to on this Monday:

Here are two from this popular 80's group:

And here are a couple of random songs to get Monday hoppin:

Looking Up from the Street

Twitter's Headaquarters

Going a different route, I guess you can a little artistic. Walking around, I see things and decided to shoot straight up at some of the tall buildings in San Francisco. Just wanted to try something different:

44 Montgomery

100 Montgomery

101 Montgomery

Bank of America Building

TransAmerica Pyramid

One Post

Hoped you enjoyed the different view

A Walk Along San Francisco's Embarcadero

The other day, my son asked me to walk from the Ferry Building in San Francisco to Pier 39. It is about a 30 minute walk and I am so glad he wanted to. What a great walk and sites that we saw:

The clock tower at the Ferry Building

The San Francisco Belle

The San Francisco hands-on museum The Exploratorium moved down there about a year or so ago and they have some nice exhibits outside:

And the Alcatraz ferry is there also. They have have some nice stuff to look at as you are waiting for the ferry there:

A scale of "The Rock"

A replica cannon from when it belonged to the Army

In all it was a great walk:

A great place to hang and get a bite to eat

The Bay

A street artist doing his thing

The sculpture "Skygate"

People walking along the Embarcadero