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Sign Of The Times?: Mr. Marina Contestant Is Homeless: SFist
via Sign Of The Times?: Mr. Marina Contestant Is Homeless: SFist
The 2017 contenders for the Mr. Marina title have made their names, faces, and brief bios known, and as is always the case with this ridiculous competition to be the bro-i-est bro, there are plenty of opportunities for laughs at their expense. But what’s this? For the first time ever, if I’m not mistaken, one of the contestants is in fact homeless.
Meet Ben Kiesewetter, who explains on his bio that he’s been in the Bay Area nine months, he’s an adventurer, and a beer drinker, and… he lives in his van.
“Throughout my time living in California my home has been a bright orange 1974 Volkswagen Westfalia,” Ben writes. “When I’m not raising money for a great cause or planning what color tights will best bring out my eyes, I’m seeking the next adventure. I’m exploring NorCal outdoors, working towards my skydiving license, and snowboarding and surfing whenever possible.”
Way to sell that homeless existence to the ladies, Ben.
Confidence, though, he has in spades. “I may be new to the Bay Area, but the city doesn’t know what’s about to hit [it?]” Ben says. “I’m starting my takeover with the Mr. Marina competition. There’s going to be dancing. There’s going to be drinking. But most importantly, there’s going to be a complete lack of shame and disregard for self-reputation.”
You go, boy.
Other contestants this year skew more toward garden-variety prepsters and Marina bros, like JP Carroll, who’s pictured standing in front of some boats and leaping about Marina Green, works at Apple, and says without shame that he “has been crushing brunch, running the park scene, and absolutely murdering the dance floor” ever since moving to San Francisco.
Or there’s Mason Mundell, who looks like he actually just stepped out of a Ralph Lauren catalogue shoot, or Tyler Lewtan who is just insanely good looking, played water polo in college, and therefore says he’s more than ready for the Speedo portion of the competition.
As always, the Mr. Marina competition is a fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and this year’s event happens on May 17.
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Explore SF Blog: Hidden Gems Of San Francisco
Neighborhood Holes in the Wall
Although it seems to be changing, one of the more prominent features in any just about any San Francisco neighborhood, was the human scale of the neighborhood itself. Buildings were rarely taller than 5 stories, usually 3, so the sky was where it should be, right above. The buildings would have main floor retail, usually one business, and a few residential flats above. One would walk to do their shopping, and might catch transit to run errands out of the neighborhood. Not only would you know your neighbors, but you’d know them well, thin walls have made their lives easy to be a part of.
But even in this type of neighborhood, every now and then you pass a small business that you have never noticed before. A small hole-in-the-wall, something so unique, and special that once you’ve found it, the neighborhood just seems that much more special from then on. And you think to your self, God I love San Francisco. Here is a list of a few holes in the wall to help you better appreciate our wonderful city.
Please submit your own favorites and I will post them in a couple weeks!
Colorbox Salon
J & M Sandwiches
Cordon Bleau
Le Mediteranean
Golden Natural Foods
Golden Natural Produce
These two stores are not really holes in the wall, unless you compare them to Safeway and now Whole Foods. Both of these corporate behemoths seem poised to suck the life out of neighborhood businesses and deliver the bodies to Scott Weiner’s front door.
These 2 fantastic stores are family owned and have been here for decades. They have the highest quality products at the lowest possible prices. And for the love of God, Whole Food just opened so if you value independent businesses, good food, neighborhood businesses, or all things San Francisco, SHOP HERE NOW BEFORE YOU CAN’T
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An Early Thanks
Thanksgiving is upon us
and we have had a great year…
Here are some things we are grateful for.
We are grateful that we get to live here and
blessed that we get to do this for a living.
We are grateful that we have such incredible customers.
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Thanks.
We couldn’t be more thankful that more and more people are finding out about us. We have gotten lots of good exposure the last couple months including our first in-flight magazine, Etihad Airway’s (Abu Dhabi), “Etihad InFlight”. An excerpt:
“…Mike, who’s incredibly laid-back, has lived in the Mission for decades, and hanging out with him on his “moving dinner party” is like catching up with an old friend. Tailoring each tour to his guests, he tries to include about five to seven outlets, while sharing everything he knows about his ’hood.
We’re exploring the Valencia Corridor – an area that spans a few blocks…”
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We were honored to have the chance to donate some tours for auction at the annual KRCB fundraiser. We were able to raise some money and support PBS.
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The Blogosphere continues to write about us. But it isn’t just the bloggers any more. In February, we will be featured on an episode of American Canvas which is shown on the Ovation Network, the footage was shot in the beginning of November. We also were filmed for a new video application called Squish, we will be a part of their advertising and marketing campaigns. And of course, our wonderful customers continue to give us rave reviews. Thank you. All of this has taken place in just the last couple months, so we have lots to be grateful for…
  
Some of our favorite blogs:
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 North Beach & Chinatown Food Tour |
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 Mission Food Tours |
An Appetizer From :
Enjoy!
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New tour focuses on the sweeter side of life.
SIgn up now for limited two for one special!
Book now through Thanksgiving and receive two for the price of one.
Help us celebrate our sweet new tour!
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EASY AND DELICIOUS HOLIDAY RECIPE
Chocolate Chili Spiced Pecans
Ingredients
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3 tablespoons brown sugar
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1 tablespoon pure maple syrup, preferably golden or amber
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2 teaspoon unsalted butter, melted
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2 cups pecans
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1 teaspoon cocoa powder
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1 teaspoon chili powder
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½ teaspoon chipotle powder
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½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
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Stir brown sugar, maple syrup and butter in a medium bowl. Add pecans, cocoa, chili, chipotle and salt and stir to coat. Spread the nuts out on the parchment lined baking sheet and bake until the cocoa mixture is bubbling, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir nuts and continue baking until the nuts are sticky and the maple mixture is coating them, 4 to 5 minutes longer. Let cool.
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YELP to be Yelped
(CBS SF) – For years, business owners have cried foul at the damage one bad Yelp review can do to their business. Now it appears that the balance of power is being restored in the form of patron “performance ” ratings.
ResDiary, the Australian restaurant reservation equivalent of OpenTable, is now allowing the eateries to get involved in the reviewing, taking notes on what you ordered, how long you stayed, how nice you were and how well you tipped, according to the Australian culinary website GoodFood. Diners can even be tagged with labels including – loud talker, quick eater, frequent no-show and wine connoisseur. Since the reservation system is shared by a network of restaurants, the information is available to other operators to tailor their service to that individual.
Of course any sort of information can be recorded and passed along…
Another outlet is in the works for wronged Yelp review victims. A new site called, Kelp (kracking Yelp) is in the works, and the site will be a venue for wronged businesses to review unfair Yelp reviewers. “The idea is to fight fire with fire”, said the developer, “For too long anonymous reviewers have had the power to travel around and destroy businesses randomly, like snipers picking people off from the top of a building.”Adding, “Well it is time that these ruthless people be exposed, we aim to expose who these folks are, and will reveal all of their legally obtained public information. Not to do them any harm, but to empower them to live with what they have done to others. We want them to know the pain and suffering they have inflicted on innocent victims. We want their families to see how they spend their free time.” He continued, “There have been more than one case of Yelp reviews causing a chain of events that ended in suicide, mental breakdowns, homelessness, and of course, countless business failures.”
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From Trip Advisor,
“A GREAT RESOURCE FOR ACTIVE EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING!”
We hired Deanna and her team to lead a group of 40+ on a walking / running tour of historic San Francisco, including Hayes Valley and the Haight. They did a fantastic job and we all learned a lot — even San Francisco natives! This is a GREAT way to explore a city and I would highly encourage anyone to try it, even if you already know San Francisco well!
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Hidden Gems Of San Francisco
As seen in print and online in the Westside Observer and the Castro Courier, a monthly column written by the team members of Explore SF and SF Scenic Running, “Hidden Gems of San Francisco”.
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We are grateful we survived another Alcatraz season. Explaining to non English speaking travelers why they are not going to get to Alcatraz as easily as they thought, is as much fun as it sounds.
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We are grateful that we survived another Halloween in the Castro. Watching Bridge and Tunnel people puke on the sidewalk is only fun the first couple times.
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We are grateful we survived another Day Of the Dead in the Mission. Insert Bridge and Tunnel people comment here…
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We survived another World Series win, and another night of Mission riots. It’s almost old hat at this point. But still, “Go Giants!”
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Bonus Video!
The Number One Thing We Are Thankful For This Week!
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Little Saigon Food Tour
From San Francisco Locals Guide by Donna Riley Explore SF – Little Saigon DONNA RILEY on August 1, 2014 at 6:08 pm Explore SF does the most varied tours of any San Francisco tour company that I’ve seen. When their Living Social special offer came up, I jumped at the opportunity to take their Explore Read the full article…
Food Delivery, Food Courts, The New Black
The Next Big Thing and an Unsuspecting yet Dubious Populace Regardless of what developers, realtors, or those that they have purchased on the Board Of Supervisors will tell you, what makes San Francisco such a great place is it’s historic resistance to change, particularly change for greed’s sake. People come from all over the Read the full article…
Alexander Alioto Opening Italian Restaurant on Valencia St
Another Monkey Becomes Another Alioto Italian Restaurant Michael Moran Into the gorgeous space that used to be Another Monkey, a new restaurant has opened: Plin, from none-other than Alexander Alioto. Alexander Alioto, who is of course the former chef and partner behind the Seven Hills on Russian Hill, home of the Raviolo Al Uovo- a giant pasta Read the full article…
1906 San Francisco is Smoldering
BYOB Summer Brunch Pop-Up
From Sosh: HAUTE BRUNCH POP-UP WITH CHEF ANTHONY YANG We know you love brunch (who doesn’t?), so we wanted to let you know about one of the coolest brunches in town: Ante Meridian, a pop-up brunch by star chef Anthony Yang (formerly of Per Se and Michael Mina). In a converted mansion called Read the full article…
1.4 Million Dollars for a 1906 Earthquake Shack in Bernal Heights
Earthquake Shacks in Demand in SF Housing Crisis Buyers looking to own a piece of San Francisco history need look no further: 331 Prentiss Street, a former earthquake shack in Bernal Heights, has recently come to market at $1.15 million. The two-bedroom, two bath house has undergone some major renovations, including a new foundation, new kitchen, Read the full article…
Ellis Acts
Board of Supervisors Makes Ellis Evictions More Costly for Landlords Scott Lucas | April 9, 2014 The bill, written by Supervisor Campos, will increase relocation payouts to existing residents by around a factor of ten. Whether or not the use of the Ellis Act, which allows landlords to evict tenants when taking buildings Read the full article…
