SF Shopping

The good news (I guess) is that after today the conference will start, which will mean an end to sight seeing and a great reduction in the picture count. However, until then....

Having got this wide angle lens thingy I though I'd have a play with it. So we set off downtown in search of shiny things to buy and photo opportunities.

What happens when you don't use the fisheye correctly

What happens when you do...

Yummy

We found this shop which sells amazing tellies for amazing prices. If I could get one to work in the UK I'd bring one home on Saturday. There were flat screens built into all kinds of really detailed models. Curse you NTSC...

Stylish TVs are us

Love the colours

If we ain't got it, it means you don't need it..

I've bought mine, comrade..

I love these models, I really wanted a Jane Austen action figure for number one wife, but they don't seem to do that one

More wideangle misuse

..and again

Some captions write themselves

Whenever we go back to the hotel, it is always uphill.....

SF Sightseeing

Authors Note: this is another graphics heavy post. Sorry about that.  But there are some nice pictures (and I've put even more on Flickr)

Some things you just have to do. If you go to San Francisco you have to go see the bridge. So we did. Boarded a boat trip at 10:00 in the morning (which was very quiet, we had the run of the top deck) and away we went.

Tour Boats

Setting Sail

Bridge and Boat

Flying without flapping

Bridge and Bigger Boat

Where's Purdy?

Not as big as ours, but quite impressive non the less

Contre Jour

Heading Back

I bought a sensible hat. Or did I?

Look at those two gulls taking aim.....

Gulls and Bridge and Flag

Sailing

"The Rock"

Jon "I'd have cracked out of there in week" Purdy

So there...

Jolly boating weather

Pier 39

Fancy a pedal? We got the boat in the end

Tulips

Boats

Basking case

Yep. It's a real one

Lumpy lanscape

At this point the memory card in the camera was full, and so you are all spared the bucket of frogs that Jon wanted me to take a picture of. However, there is always tomorrow....

Chinese New Year in San Francisco

So we were walking down the street, and wondering if it was normal in San Francisco for people to stand at the side of the road and watch the traffic go past. I mean, they've had cars in America for quite a while, right? And the novelty must have worn off by now you would have thought. We asked someone what was going on and they told us that New Year Parade was just about to go past. I'm pretty sure it wasn't laid on just for us, but it felt like it.

Waiting for the parade

Here they come...

All together now: "Y M C A".....

Horse Power

"Did you vote for me? Did you?"

Cool Outfits

Coolest Car

Flying the flag

Insert "tender behind" joke here

Of course, we were all really waiting for some dragons

We were not disappointed

Does he have a dentist?

I hope these say nice things.

And so into the sunset

Colourfull news

Back to the hotel

A nice shot to end on

Chinatown, where it all goes down

Author's note 1: I'm fiddling with the time and dates of posts to make things seem in sequence. And this post is very graphics heavy.

I think I may have used up all my luck for the rest of the year. We arrived and found that the hotel is right on the edge of Chinatown. So there are loads of wonderful shops and stalls to look at, just around the corner. And then we got to see the Chinese New Year parade. And I had my new camera to play with....

Wonderful.

Author's note 2: Most of my pictures also feature some part of Jon Purdy, perhaps a bit of a shiny head or patch of tasteful shirt. See if you can spot him in these shots. There are even more on Flickr for you to refine your Purdy spotting skills.

Calibration shot for "Where's Purdy" competition. I didn't ask him to smile, which is probably just as well...

On the way to the hotel (that is not Jon in the foreground)

Hotel Lobby roof

Down California Road

Chinatown

My kinda store. I'm taking orders......

Balcony

Nice brickwork

Soul Men Sounding Good

"Win one for me daddy..."

More stalls

All set for the Crazy Taxi racing

Just make sure you use it for the forces of good...

Open Wide

For some time I've been after a wide angle view for my photographs. I found a shop which had a whole bunch of these. Having negotiated a really good price (no - really) I bought this thing to whack on the front of the camera which gives it an almost-fisheye effect (hence the round edges). This was the test shot in the shop. You might see this used to some effect in later snaps.

If you are going to make a bronze statue, why would  you make it doing that?

More later.

Travel in Hope and Pain

I've managed to wangle a trip to the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco California. Not quite sure how I did it, but very pleased to be going. Anyhoo, we made trip today. We started in Humberside airport at 5:00 am and thence (posh prose) we moved  on to Amsterdam.

Starting from Schipol

"The Dammed" assemble

The plane was full. And I mean full.  And since it was the "nerd express" to the conference everybody had used their internet skills to bag all the best seats by booking online. This meant that there was not a tall seat for Rob. The cabin staff were very sorry. I was even sorrier.

Legoom, KLM style

There should be a rule requiring airlines to hold the legroom seats for tall blokes like me who really need it. Perhaps I should start an e-petition... Mind you, winging about slightly uncomfortable seats on a free trip to California sounds a bit rich to me, so perhaps I'll keep quiet.

The girl in the window seat took a picture for me

Anyhoo, we got there OK and on time, and had a smooth taxi ride to the hotel.

First view of SF

We are going to freshen up (whatever that means) and then go for a wander round town. For the first time ever, I'm staying in a city with a proper middle (as opposed to a bunch of malls) and so it should be fun.