Once again, it’s pledge time on PBS, when they bring out all their special shows, including reunions of soul and doo-wop singers from the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s. Which means that when I’m in my 60s, I’m looking forward to a pledge special of hip-hop and R&B. Picture it now: a PBS special featuring Ice T, Ludacris, Salt-N-Pepa, 50 Cent, Destiny’s Child (“for the first time in 30 years”), Snoop Dog, Missy Elliott, … After all, if the Smithsonian can exhibit hip-hop, surely PBS can.

After visiting SFMOMA, Norman brought me to a Thai restaurant called Osha on 2nd Street for lunch. The food was great, but we were so hungry we overate, so much so that neither of us ate dinner at all [photo].

The next day, Sophie, Mike and I went to Chef Woo in west San Jose for Chinese/Taiwanese-style breakfast: shao bing, you tiao, soy milk, and so on. Good thing Sophie can read Chinese… [photo]

Then last week, when I went on a business trip to the Boston area, Steve brought Clemens and me to Pizzeria Regina in Boston’s North End. It’s a true neighborhood joint, where the waitresses yell at you to close the door because it’s so cold outside. But the thin-crust pizza itself is excellent.

Later on in the trip, we went to a restaurant called Bamboo in Westford, MA. The tag line was “Fine Asian Cuisine,” which I predicted meant that it served Chinese and Japanese food. Bingo! The Chinese food was okay: Americanized and expensive. Well, at least the decor was nice…

A couple of weeks ago I went with Norman to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. It was the first time I’ve been to SFMOMA. I particularly enjoyed the exhibits on Architectural Abstractions, the 1906 Earthquake, and the self portraits of Chuck Close.

Next up, I plan to see After the Ruins, 1906 and 2006: Rephotographing the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire at the Legion of Honor, and International Arts and Crafts at the De Young Museum.

Later this year I’d like to see Suburban Escape: The Art Of California Sprawl at the San Jose Museum of Art. And admission is free…

Get this: a neighborhood where the streets are for cars and planes.

• One-plane garage with a view: Residential airparks make commuting a breeze for those with training, money • San Francisco Chronicle

Here’s an overhead view from Windows Live Local. Notice the extra-wide streets named Boeing Road, United Drive, and so on, next to the Cameron Airport. These streets are also taxiways.

I just found out that the School of Information Management and Systems at Berkeley is changing its name to simply the School of Information, or “iSchool.” It’s a better name — I don’t think anyone had a good grasp of what “information management and systems” meant, while its new name implies a more expansive charter, understanding the nature of information and how it shapes society. It also makes it more directly comparable with other information schools at Michigan, Washington, Texas, and so on.

More reactions:

• The State of the iSchool: A response from an unarmed alum by David Schlossberg
• What’s in a name? Berkeley becomes an iSchool by Andrew Dillon, dean of the iSchool at UT