Happy Friday! Have a look at what we're reading, viewing, and gawking at on the internet.
A girl's first trip to San Francisco as seen through an online storybook. (Tapestry)
Forget the winners, the best part of the Golden Globes was Tina and Amy. Here's the show -- minus everyone else. (Flavorwire)
According to a report on the science behind selfies, we tend to think we look more attractive and younger than we actually are. (BBC)
Okay, forget about the terror of stepping into a car and wondering if the person is going to murder you, and think about how much it costs to hitchhike across the U.S. (Digg/fanzine)
(Pictured: Ludwig II.)
Easily the best German language film festival west of the Rhine, Berlin & Beyond is back in town this week and back in its rightful midwinter slot on the crowded Bay Area cinematic calendar. Being collectively a portrait of modern European culture, these recent films from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland tend to work best when grappling with heavy histories, be they national, personal, or both. Many of this year's festival highlights look like they've been powered by intense reflection.
There are lots of cyclists on San Francisco streets, but this time they're not the helmeted business commuters or the bobbing-and-weaving messengers -- nor are they tattooed and bearded fixie hipsters. No, these are bike parkour daredevils who've declared they've conquered San Francisco.
What do tourists and sea lions have in common? They arrive in droves to claim Pier 39 as their own.
Just when you thought a group of 850-pound 6-foot-long slippery mammals couldn't get any bigger, (the sea lions, not the tourists...) Aquarium of the Bay and Pier 39 announced that today marks the grand opening of the Sea Lion Center, a kick-off event for the 24th anniversary of the sea lions arrival to Pier 39.
The Sea Lion Center overlooks Pier 39's K-Dock, where the sea lions have called dibs and declared home since 1990, shortly after the Loma Prieta Earthquake.
And so it was that on the second episode of the 29th season of The Real World, it became crystal clear what was happening: This was supposed to be The Jersey Shore: Bay Area Edition. Everyone is already hooking up with everyone else, testosterone is already exploding into fights, and drunken bimbos get mouthy and smear their eye makeup.
But first let's talk about the fights, because if there was on tenet of the Ye Olde Reale Worlde, it was that you were not to lay your hands on one another unless it was to achieve orgasm. That's all out the bay window now because Ashley threw a skillet's worth of hot fat on Arielle, and Cory shoved a dude in the street and then knocked Arielle down when she tried to keep him from "beating his ass."
