![[IMG_6272.jpeg]] I spent a week in SF (Jan 5-12, 2025). Below are some observations. * I visited The Walt Disney Family Museum. It's very cool to see original cel drawings from Disney classics, but it's even cooler to see the origins of Disney as a creator. You can follow the development of characters like Mickey Mouse and techniques like the Multi-Plane Camera, which created the "vibe" of animated 2D films as we know them. * The museum includes several recorded interviews of Walt Disney. He mentions that, when he was starting out in the 1920s, he was confident he was too late to animation: that others have it all figured out. There were several successful animated franchises at the time, usually shown as shorts before feature-length live-action films. Disney believed there was little he could innovate or contribute. Disney! Late to animation! Who'd have thought. This is a phenomenon that's often experienced, I feel, by people who are innovators/trailblazers in their fields. You're so familiar with the alternatives and the existing solutions in your space that it feels more crowded than it really is. * The museum is located in the Presidio, which is absolutely gorgeous and shows remarkable foresight by city planners - the entire area used to be a U.S. army base which was decommissioned, with many of its original buildings conserved. What could have easily turned into a gray, dull suburb is instead a green oasis with some beautiful architecture. * Unfortunately, planners must have lost initiative at some point - it's unfathomable how unkempt much of the city is. 50 meters away from the Ritz hotel, in a corner of the street, I came across a bunch of used needles, discarded condoms and human excrement. In some parts of the city, you can't use the sidewalks at all - they're so crowded with homeless people, prostitutes, druggies, etc. * I saw an elderly store owner talking to two police officers, asking them to remove a homeless person who was sleeping in a cardboard box right at the entrance to her store. I followed the policemen as they were waking the person up. One offered him a can of coke; the other whispered to him, "time to move down the block". I was really surprised by their ineptitude or lack of tools to take care of the problem. * This is the first time I've ever encountered homeless in such numbers or in such a sorry state. Where I grew up, in Jerusalem's city center, we used to have a handful of homeless people in the city center as well. We knew them by names, and would often pass by and offer to buy them a cup of coffee. They weren't druggies - or it didn't feel like they were - and there weren't many. I remember one being taken away to a care center. It was an eventful day for us as children - by that point, he was a fixture of our neighborhood! We were sad to see him go. * I thought the reason there are so many homeless in SF might be that housing is inaccessible due to gentrification. But that doesn't seem to be the case. The average home in Jerusalem is much less affordable than the average home in SF: ![[Comparison of Home Price Affordability.png]] * SF really has everything a city needs to be a world-class metropolis: a vibrant economy, beautiful architecture, gorgeous nature, comfortable weather. It just needs to figure out the homeless problem. * On Saturday, the day before I left SF, I took a nice stroll around Chinatown. It was fascinating! I encountered several types of stores I wasn't familiar with before visiting. For instance, I saw stores selling salted fish - unrefrigerated and uncanned! They have bins full of salted fish just out in the open air. The smell was actually pretty good - reminded me of the herring we used to have on Shabbat afternoon in our shul in Jerusalem. * Another example: acupuncturists were everywhere. I was surprised by the transactional nature of those businesses. Walk in (no appointment needed), get a quick treatment, walk out. I wonder if personal care physicians could also operate as small community-oriented businesses that you just pop into to get some help and advice. It's unfortunate that they don't. * On Saturday, I happened to walk by a small square where many elderly Chinese men were sitting around smoking and playing cards. It was a very interesting sight. They sit around small tables on low stools or upturned buckets. Each player has a bucket full of cash right in front of them. Whenever they win a round, they just swoop all the money on the table into their bucket. I saw a lot of money changing hands. * However, I couldn't figure out what game they were playing, and no one seemed to speak enough English to explain it to me. Later, I asked ChatGPT about it. Here's what it said: * *The elderly Chinese men in San Francisco’s Chinatown often play **Pai Gow** or **Chinese Poker** in the square on Saturdays. Here’s a simple overview of how **Pai Gow** works: * **Pai Gow** * **Deck**: Played with a set of 32 Chinese domino tiles or cards with similar markings. * **Goal**: Players try to create the strongest possible two hands: a “high hand” and a “low hand.” * **How to Play**: * Each player is dealt four tiles. * They divide their tiles into two hands of two tiles each. * The high hand is compared to the dealer’s high hand, and the low hand is compared to the dealer’s low hand. * You win if both of your hands beat the dealer’s hands. * **Key Rules**: There’s a specific hierarchy of tile combinations, like pairs, 9-high, and “Gong.” * The most impressive aspect, to me, was how communal it was. Regardless of what game you're playing, being able to go to the square on a Saturday and, serendipitously, get together with a group of people to play with, is something our modern Western culture sorely lacks. Over all, I really enjoyed this week in SF. Looking forward to going back soon and exploring some more of the Bay Area!