The Dynamic Duo!
"Holy Holidays, Batman!" While a spirited springtime jaunt to San Francisco was undeniably the main attraction of Agent Rob's recent sojourn Stateside, there was no denying that Reno itself had a few sneaky surprises in store....
Reno, er, "The Biggest Little City In The World", um....
"And the skies always had little fluffy clouds...."
Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na... Nah, really, honest!
Surprise number one had to be the National Automobile Museum which, completely unbeknownst to Rob beforehand, houses a startling collection of authentic fillum and TV cars. Top of this (far from scrap) heap has to be an immaculate 1960s Batmobile. "Holy Polish Job, Batman"....
In addition to this the museum also has an equally primo 1960s Jokermobile, Green Hornet's 'Black Beauty' (as actually driven by some guy called Bruce Lee, no less), Knight Rider's K.I.T.T. (for short, or Knight Industries Two Thousand for, er, long), 2005's Herbie Volkswagen Beetle and Back To The Future's DeLorean time machine. "Run for your life, Marty!"....
The Jokermobile
'Black Beauty'
K.I.T.T.
Herbie (and here Rob goes bananas)....
DMC DeLorean
A quick drive over from Reno to Lake Tahoe (which straddles the California and Nevada state border like a bow-legged hoss) and, Hi-Yo Silver! - wrong intellectual property, Rob knows! - it turns out you're in baked and boiling Bonanza (ranch) TV country....
Obligatory photo of generic sun beaten boulders....
BONUS TRACKS!
Grateful Dead (and company)....
Rewinding just a little, a truly Braw trip to SF wouldn't be complete without hitting the 60s hippie trail and venturing far out, er, in the direction of the Golden Gate Park, making sure to keep on truckin' through the Haight-Ashbury intersection and turning on, tuning in and dropping out at the Grateful Dead's old communal residence, gawping at the colossal collection of vinyl and cds in Amoeba Music, before finally swinging your sizeable pants by the Fillmore West concert venue...
710 Ashbury Street
Haight-Ashbury
It's (un)fair to say that Haight-Ashbury was something of a disappointment. No Dark Star drifting from first floor windows to soundtrack this psychedelic pilgrimage, no great clouds of dope smoke obscuring reality, no real sense of urgent political purpose or idealistic 'movement', just Agent Rob wearing (metaphorical) rose-tinted glasses and enduring the stark reality - the whiffs of patchouli oil/incense while eyeing the (white) bums going about their (permanently closed for) business - wondering just what exactly he was expecting to find (himself?) 60 years post-zenith. To completely compound the cliche Amoeba Music didn't even have a copy of American Beauty in stock....
Indeed the admittedly tasty VeganBurg lunch there was to reveal that they are a 'catering partner' of ultimate mainstream music pop supremo Taylor Swift , making Ben & Jerry's - who occupy the 'store' bang on the intersection - very own Cherry Garcia ice cream simply melt into the counter-cultural flotsam....
Fillmore (West)
"Uh, what's up, docs...?"
Amoeba Music
Madchester in the (hotel lobby) area!
The "Painted Ladies", Alamo Square
If you fancy a 'Full House' of SF TV sights then you could always visit the "Painted Ladies" as seen in the 80s-90s sitcom, er, Full House (as well as viewed in reality at Alamo Square)....
Dashiell "The Maltese Falcon" Hammett....
San "Charles Manson" Quentin....
Finally, driving over the Golden Gate Bridge and on through Marin County and what can one spy from the speeding window of a car but San Quentin (State Prison) which famously 'housed' Charles Manson on one occasion and 'hosted' Johnny Cash on two....
Peace (Over and) Out....
Johnny Cash - Folsom Prison Blues (Live at San Quentin State Prison, February 1969)
