The days are just packed
I had an exciting weekend here in San Francisco. I went to the Federal Reserve Bank, the Museum of Modern Art, shopping at Union Square, the Fillmore jazz festival, and "Pinot Days." Along the way I met up with Puja who is out here doing a swanky internship at Yahoo.
The FRB is an interesting place. It's a semi-government organization, it's non-profit, and it's a major force in the US economy. Aside from setting monetary policy, the Fed provides a number of services to banks, including check clearing and currency services. The FRB San Francisco has on display the most complete collection of US currency anywhere, including an original $100,000 treasury note, and bank notes signed by Ben Franklin and Paul Revere. They also have some US military (WWII) currency on display. I didn't know it, but we actually printed our own French, German, and Japanese currency for the allies to use.
At the MOMA I saw a great exhibition of photographer Martin Munkacsi's work. He had an outstanding talent for capturing candid shots of people, which is something I've always thought was very difficult to do.
The Fillmore Jazz Festival was, well, the Fillmore Jazz Festival. The name should speak for itself. If it doesn't, then me rambling on about the history behind Fillmore St. would be, well, just me rambling on, and I'm sure you all get enough of that anyway.
Pinot Days was probably the highlight of my weekend though. It's a whole festival dedicated to Pinot Noir, which is a way more complex wine than I had ever imagined. They filled a warehouse with literally hundreds of wineries offering samples of their latest and greatest vintages. Almost all these wineries were from California and the west coast, so it was really a chance to sample how many different ways you can make a Pinot. Don't worry, I'm in no danger of becoming a wine snob. I just think it's interesting how much soil conditions and processing differences can make hundreds of different vairants of the same grape juice.
I'm still eating well of course, and walking everywhere I can to try and make up for all the "eating well." I did give in and ride the cable car yesterday, which is always fun. They jacked up the price from $3 to $5 recently though, I imagine because they know that only tourists ride them.
The FRB is an interesting place. It's a semi-government organization, it's non-profit, and it's a major force in the US economy. Aside from setting monetary policy, the Fed provides a number of services to banks, including check clearing and currency services. The FRB San Francisco has on display the most complete collection of US currency anywhere, including an original $100,000 treasury note, and bank notes signed by Ben Franklin and Paul Revere. They also have some US military (WWII) currency on display. I didn't know it, but we actually printed our own French, German, and Japanese currency for the allies to use.
At the MOMA I saw a great exhibition of photographer Martin Munkacsi's work. He had an outstanding talent for capturing candid shots of people, which is something I've always thought was very difficult to do.
The Fillmore Jazz Festival was, well, the Fillmore Jazz Festival. The name should speak for itself. If it doesn't, then me rambling on about the history behind Fillmore St. would be, well, just me rambling on, and I'm sure you all get enough of that anyway.
Pinot Days was probably the highlight of my weekend though. It's a whole festival dedicated to Pinot Noir, which is a way more complex wine than I had ever imagined. They filled a warehouse with literally hundreds of wineries offering samples of their latest and greatest vintages. Almost all these wineries were from California and the west coast, so it was really a chance to sample how many different ways you can make a Pinot. Don't worry, I'm in no danger of becoming a wine snob. I just think it's interesting how much soil conditions and processing differences can make hundreds of different vairants of the same grape juice.
I'm still eating well of course, and walking everywhere I can to try and make up for all the "eating well." I did give in and ride the cable car yesterday, which is always fun. They jacked up the price from $3 to $5 recently though, I imagine because they know that only tourists ride them.
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