November 3, 2007

Hello from the West Coast.

I'm unwinding after my 6 hour flight, during which I: 1. tried not to think about what a fool I was to schedule trips for 3 weekends in a row, 2. managed to sleep a couple hours (while listening to "Musicophilia" on the iPod), and 3. enjoyed playing Trivia Challenge with passengers that I knew only by their first names and seat numbers. (I'd have scored a lot higher if a category called "Sport" didn't keep coming up asking me about cricket, rugby, and "football." And if the turbulence didn't screw up my aim at the touchscreen.)

Now, I'm checked into a hotel. I've got my view...

DSC06213.JPG

And my room service...

DSC06211.JPG

... my WiFi...

I'm just going to baby myself until Monday.

47 comments:

Unknown said...

When they serve your ice water in a blue glass, you can't see the chunks of shit floating in it.

Me. Me. Me. It is all about ME.

Maxine Weiss said...

Uh, there must be some mistake. That doesn't look like the Post Ranch Inn.

www.postranchinn.com

vnjagvet said...

Looks like the SF Ritz. A very nice hotel, indeed.

Maxine Weiss said...

Well, their China patterns are awful, but the flatware is beautiful.

Make sure you turn the dishes over to see if it's genuine bone China. Maybe it's Villeroy & Bach. The flatware should be Oneida.

Be sure to check the tags on the linens, and the least you could do is give us pictures of the bathroom fixtures and tub.

It's the least you can do for your readers.

Also, flip the mattress to see if it's a Serta, or Sealy. Hope nobody left anything underneath, there.

Love, Maxine

Maxine Weiss said...

"Italian marble bathrooms with double sinks, "

"separate water closet"
Bvlgari White Tea bath essentials

"400-thread-count 100% combed cotton Frette linens"

(I'm waiting for photos of the "Italian marble", and be sure to check the label on the bath towels.)

Maxine Weiss said...

http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/Properties/SanFrancisco/Rooms/RoomPhotos.htm?fd=629D6676-C0E0-441E-BCD3-7F2AD79920A8

Trooper York said...

Hotel hobbies padding dawns hollow corridors
Bell boys checking out the hookers in the bar
Slug-like fingers trace the star-spangled clouds of cocaine on the mirror
The short straw took its bow
The tell tale tocking of the last cigarette
Marking time in the packet as the whisky sweat
Lies like discarded armour on an unmade bed
And a familiar craving is crawling in her head

And the only sign of life is the ticking of the pen
Introducing characters to memories like old friends
Frantic as a cardiograph scratching out the lines
A fever of confession a catalogue of crime in happy hour

Do you cry in happy hour, do you hide in happy hour
The pilgrimage to happy hour

New shadows tugging at the corner of her eye
Jostling for attention as the sunlight flares
Through a curtains tear, shuffling its beams
As if in nervous anticipation of another day
(Dick/Kelly/Mosley/Rothery/Trewava,
Marillion)

Paddy O said...

UK?

Maxine Weiss said...

"Chinoiserie cabinets, European influenced bed chests and intricately detailed bedside tables and headboards "

"Kohler Performance “rain” showerheads "

(Who's paying for all this? There's nothing there for under $450.00 per night. Hard to believe a teachers' salary could afford such extravagance.)

(I may amend my email policy. I had no idea we were talking about the Ritz. )

blogging cockroach said...

ooh that lunch looks like it would make quite a few yummy crumbs
i wished somebody would eat more chips and flaky buns around this house
i hope that sandwich is on a sourdough roll
real sourdough from sf is the best
although i've never been to sf for obvious reasons
tommy's mom has lived there --tommy is the kid whose computer i use--
and occasionally a friend brings some real sourdough bread back from sf

anyway it's nice you're staying in the city
although they weren't kidding about hills were they
plus the weather looks a lot nicer than we're getting here
in cambridge mass where i live

now john
those are pretty nasty remarks
if you're one of those althouse haters why bother
putting up snarky comments on her blog...
say bad things about her on your own blog
of course her very own blog is about her a lot
why do you think people read it...
she is interesting and it's great to live vicariously
through someone who has a lot more freedom
than most of us and can take pictures and travel all over
and say things that would get me squashed like a bug
you have no idea what life is like in cambridge if you have opinions
even a little off from the prevailing correct views of everything

--splat--

my problem is that i'm not a tenured cockroach
i'm beginning to think that the only free speech in the usa
these days is for people with tenure and not even that much

so even if i disagree with althouse i say good for her
and i hope she pokes a few more people in the eye
and while she's doing it has some great lunches in hotels
which i hope someday will include the hotel here in cambridge
that's next door and where i occasionally hang out
please order the mexican salad because the tortilla bits
tend to scatter and i love guacamole

Maxine Weiss said...

"The Lobby Lounge serves specialty coffees, Afternoon Tea, cocktails and sushi in an atmosphere of sophisticated refinement. Guests enjoy live harp and jazz music amidst crystal chandeliers and original 18th and 19th century portraits, while the San Francisco skyline provides an elegantly dynamic backdrop."

"Sophisticated casual attire recommended."

nina said...

I conclude from this that maxine likes (to read about) nice hotels.

Ann, I'm pleased to note that you remembered to ask for a room with a view.

john said...

blog.cock. -

Take care, there's John and then there'e john. I'm drinking wine from a blue goblet now, a litte cork is all.

No shit.

blogging cockroach said...

sorry john
but you know with my shift problem and all
i can't make a difference between john and john

anyway that wine in a blue goblet sounds good
they've cracked a bottle of a '94 chateauneuf de pape here tonight
for some reason
and i hope they spill a little on the floor in a corner

john said...

I really like that wine, you can drink it with a knife and fork.

UnRuly25 said...

I live in SF, and I wouldn't have guessed the Ritz. I would have guessed the Crowne Plaza, which I believe, is more affordable on a law professor's salary =)

john said...

Ann,

Is it meet-the-west-coast-Althouse crowd tonite? Photos, please. If Lucky is there dont' ask him to remove the bag.

Regards,

jeff said...

Sounds just like my hotel last Friday night. Well, except for the view. Mine was over the parking lot 3 feet from my door. Was nice in being able to keep my eye on my bike. And room service. Although I heard Pizza Inn would deliver. I doubt if they did on china though. Probably paper napkins. No wifi, although they did have it at the campground I stayed at Sat and Sunday. My heat and AC was conveniently located in the wall next to the door. I'm guessing yours probably isn't. Oh, and the ice machine was on the other side of the wall the bed was on. Other than that, virtually identical.

former law student said...

at least she's not at the Hilton in the 'loin.

UnRuly25 said...

ha - if you're going to stay in the 'loin, you can do wayyy worse than the Hilton there. The unsuspecting tourists that end up in those places are always ridiculously disgusted with SF immediately. lol.

The Drill SGT said...

I have not been to SF in 11 years, but I grew up thiking of it as "The City"

The Ritz?

I always thought the Fairmont and the Mark were classier places.

Trooper York said...

Vincent Smith: Sometimes I wonder about the karmic implications of these actions.
(Motel Hell 1980)

The Drill SGT said...

looks like your view is from near Union Square, facing North.

The Drill SGT said...

BTW:

San Francisco
"The City"
"SF"

never

Frisco, or
San Fran

former law student said...

drill -- San Fran hasn't been "the city" since 1986. Now it's just the rec center for Silicon Valley. The bank moved to North Carolina, the phone company moved to Texas, the stock exchange shut down, the local department store shut down -- magically somehow tourism sustains it.

Trooper York said...

Rice-A-Roni
The San Francisco Treat!
Rice-A-Roni,
Its flavor can't be beat!
One pan, no boiling, cooking ease A flavor that is sure to please, Rice-A-Roni
The San Francisco Treat!
Ding! Ding!
(The Rice-a-Roni song, celebrating the culinary skills of San Francisco)

Maxine Weiss said...

You've got to be kidding. The Fairmont is a dump. Bedbugs and typhoid Mary hang out waiting for their ship to come in.

The Ritz is the only five star in town.

Not even the Four Seasons comes close, and the Ritz has better views.

Had I known, I might have shown up.

The Drill SGT said...

well that's the story of my life.

I grew up in Northen California, pretty much left in 75, though I spent 2 years in So Cal for grad school 78-79.

My California is fixed at 1969, 19 million folks or so. I went off to war.

Fairmont a dump? tell me it isn't so.

Ruth Anne Adams said...

Don't forget to set your clock back an hour tonight...so you can pamper youself for an extra 60 minutes, of course.

George M. Spencer said...

San Francisco guards 'The Secret'

rcocean said...

"It is hardly fair to blame America for the state of San Francisco, for its population is cosmopolitan and its seaport attracts the floating vice of the Pacific; but be the cause what it may, there is much room for spiritual betterment."

Maybe Althouse will improve the place.

rcocean said...

Michael: There's a man killed his wife in Frisco last week. She had gone to the icebox for a bit of supper. He thought she was a burglar, he said. He shot her five times in the head.
Elsa: He had a good lawyer.
Michael: I saw her picture in the newspaper. Faltfrouse or something.
Elsa: Althouse.
Michael: Yeah, Ann Althouse. It said she's the world's greatest criminal con law professor, in fact, the world's greatest criminal.
Elsa: Some people think she is. And some guys think she's pretty tough.
Michael: But what's a tough guy?...A guy with an edge...A gun or a knife, a nightstick, or a razor, somethin' the other guy ain't got. Yeah, a little extra reach on a punch, a set of brass knuckles, a stripe on the sleeve, a badge that says cop on it, a rock in your hand, or a bankroll in your pocket. That's an edge, brother. Without an edge, there ain't no tough guy or tough girl for that matter.

Ann Althouse said...

Yeah, I get the extra hour on a night when I just picked up 3 extra hours via time zone. Ridiculous!

And I bet "Maxine" is there when we do this thing. The trick will be figuring out which guy is her.

As for the Post Ranch Inn... there were no reservations available by the time I checked. I might have done it.

Yes, it's expensive, but it's only 2 days... and I'm weary... and spoiled!

Oh, the "UK" tag is about the Trivial Challenge... it was obviously made in Britain.

I need to add a California tag.

Trooper York said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Trooper York said...

Grusinskaya: Can you imagine a hundred girls in the law school, each thinking she would become the most famous lawyer in all the world? I was ambitious then. We were drilled like little soldiers. No rest, no stopping. I was little, slim, but hard as a diamond. Then I became famous and - But why am I telling you all this? Last night, I didn't know you at all. Who are you, really?
Baron Felix von Geigern: What?
Grusinskaya: I don't even know your name.
Baron Felix von Geigern: [laughs] I am Felix Benvenuto Freihern von Geigern. My mother called me "Flix".
Grusinskaya: [joyously] No! Flix! Oh, that's sweet. And how do you live? And what kind of a person are you?
Baron Felix von Geigern: I'm a prodigal son, the black sheep of a white flock. I shall die on the gallows. Perhaps when we are back in New York, you will leave that lesbian haunt of Park Slope and take the D train to the Bronx to meet me for coffee. I will ride my trike with my special Johnny Unitas football helmet. I will even wear my big boy pants because I know you dislike men in shorts.
Grusinskaya: Please I like to have conversations which each reply is ten sentences or less.
Baron Felix von Geigern: Such a pity your horizons are so limited.
Grusinskaya: No they are not. Here are six pictures I took from my balcony. Note the exquisite composition of the frame and the beautiful palate of my artistry.
Baron Felix von Geigern: Bah! Enough of this triviality take me to your room so I can examine your vortex through my monocle.
Grusinskaya: Perhaps another time, my dear Baron, perhaps another time.
(Grand Hotel, 1932)

TitusUK said...

Good evening my fellow republicans? How are my little crumpits?

So sorry I have been delinquent in writing.

I too have been traveling. My company launched a new product in Europe and I was in London, Amsterdam and Copenhagen.

FYI-the new hot city in Europe is Copenhagen, which replaced Berlin, which replaced Amsterdam, which replaced London. You heard it here first. Copenhagen-white hot!!

Also, we are expanding our sales force in the US so I will be in San Francisco November 28, San Diego December 4 and Seattle December 12. I hate those flights. They are hell.

As I have told you before San Francisco has painful memories for me. I lived there in the early 90's and it was an incredibly sad time. I walk by apartments where friends who died used to live and it is overwhelming. But I am not going to go there again.

So what is going on? How is everyone? How is everyone's weights? Any cute new little blouses purchased? How about music? What's going on in your music worlds? How about colors? What are you all thinking about for colors this fall? If I didn't have to tell you it is black....again.

Love you all. Now lets get this party started. I have a little drinky and the rare clumbers are on each side of me snoring...I missed them terribly but the doggy daycare they go to is "crate free" and they have a large gym (by NYC standards) that they play in all day with an outside swimming pool.

By that view I would say the queen is staying in the Ritz.

TitusUK said...

OK, if you ask. I did go to a bar called "Cockring"-I know subtle- in Amsterdam. I have been there before but things have changed. The mussies are taking over. Not that there is anything wrong with that because some of them are very hot, especially if they are gay and very religious and guilty-absolutely love that. I know the next thing everyone is going to say is they want to kill you...safe your breath...got it. The westernized gay muzzies not so hot, they remind me of the gay latinos, very queeny and that isn't my cup of tea.

A few of them were at the bar with sheets on-first time I ever saw something like that and I was all excited. It is so dangerous and exotic and foreign and I was on a mission and in heaven.

So I slung my pussy over there and flexed an arm and lifted my t to show my abs.....And scored with Faraz. The thing is that most mussies I have met are tops and it literally can become a fight for the top. You know what I am saying, right? Pushing heads down on each other laps turning each other over, putting fingers up butt etc. Well that is too much work. Eventually I just said this isn't going to work so we just wankied in front of each other.

Lawrence said...

Sounds like you took Virgin America - how was it? I will be taking it next week to JFK.

Moose said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Moose said...

Gosh...

Amazing how the mention of "San Francisco" brings out the cockroaches.

Pun intended...

MadisonMan said...

I agree with Maxine: dreadful china. I hope it didn't prevent your enjoyment of the sustenance, however.

Tim said...

"...looks like your view is from near Union Square, facing North."

North north east, approx. 2.5 klicks.

halojones-fan said...

You guys have Ann's hotel correct. I know, because I'm looking in her window right now. Through a long lens. She can't see me...it's dark where I am. It's always dark where I am, because, well, I'm sure you understand. It's just better if I'm in the dark, is all. Not her. She's in the light, even when the lights are out, it's like there's a spotlight right on her face and I'm the only one who can see it, and now she's taking off her shirt and I can see this little necklace thing she's got on and I want so badly to go over and ask her what it says but I know that the dark and light can never meet

Randy said...

Nina: I, too, took your advice and asked for a room with a view. I'll try to remember to take some pictures tomorrow.

Revenant said...

San Francisco is a very attractive city. Too many homeless people (and filth from the homeless people), though. I don't like being screamed at by crazy people while I stroll around a city. I get enough of that online. :)

rhhardin said...

Watch out for tainted beef.

Kirk Parker said...

Trooper, truly you outdo yourself! How do you do it? That last one was outstanding.