San Francisco is My Home

26
Dec

Tiger attack

Author: kris, Category: News

A San Francisco Zoo tiger escaped its enclosure last night and attacked three people, killing one. You can read the full story here.

It’s a tragedy for these families, no question, but other news orgs are covering that. What I’m wondering is how this will affect the Zoo. Will people avoid it like the plague? Or will there be a constant crowd in front of the tiger pens? And I wonder about the city, too: will there be a public outcry because police shot and killed the tiger as it was attacking people? Will people point out that when this tiger attacked a zookeeper last December, another zookeeper convinced it to stop by beating it on the head with a squeegee, so bullets might not have been necessary this time? (For me, this is a no-brainer: you see a tiger attacking someone, you shoot the tiger. But I’m guessing not everyone is going to see it that way.)

Right now I’m seeing a lot of people clamoring for the city to close the Zoo. It’s closed today, but will probably re-open tomorrow. I’m tempted to go down there and see if it’s packed to the gills or emptied out. Stay tuned for details.

20
Dec

Family Link and a friar’s belt

Author: kris, Category: Charity, People, Seen

I saw the friar again today, still in his robe and baseball cap. He was coming out of a door on Castro Street that I’d never noticed before next to a sign that said Family Link.

A few minutes of internet research later, I learned that The Family Link is a non-profit that serves people with AIDS in an interesting way: by offering hospitality to their visiting friends and family members. It provides a space for people to come and have some coffee or a meal, talk to others going through a similar experience, and decompress a little in a nice atmosphere.  An admirable way to find a very real need and fill it, I say.

I’m fascinated by this friar, who I imagine works with Family Link in some capacity. As the newspapers flare up with stories about the Catholic Church denouncing the good-doing Sisters of Perpetual Mercy, and books like The End of Faith and The God Delusion become best sellers, it’s interesting to find the places where religion is still being a help and comfort like it’s supposed to.

I’m also fascinated by the friar’s belt, which looks like rope but I think is not actual rope, not the kind you’d use to tie something up on a ship or lead a mule to market. I’m sure the rope belt began as actual scraps of rope, because the friars had taken vows of poverty or whathaveyou and were just using whatever came to hand to tie their robes together. But I wonder if in the modern world you actually buy your rope belt from a manufacturer who makes you a nice smooth synthetic version or something.

None of this should be taken as any reflection on the friar, whose supportive presence at LGBT rallies and AIDS charities makes him one of our unsung local luminaries in my book. I’m just curious about the rope.

20
Dec

Wizard of Oz night at the Symphony

Author: kris, Category: Holiday, Music

This is the first post in a planned series. The working title of this series is “Stuff I would do if I didn’t already have plans to do other stuff.” Suggestions for a better series title are welcomed.

First up in the series is the San Francisco Symphony’s unique take on The Wizard of Oz. This is a weekend-long celebration starting tonight at the Wizard of Oz Party. Dress as your favorite character, join in the sing-along and drink drink drink. Plus, surprises!

Even if you can’t attend the party, there are two other performances to check out. The performance, by the way, is a showing of the film on a screen while the Symphony performs the music for you live. If you don’t think that sounds awesome then maybe you need awesome lessons. Our symphony rocks, and if you attend this event perhaps you, too, will become known as one who rocks.

20
Dec

Troubles are all the same: the new bar in town

Author: kris, Category: Bars and Clubs, News

Metro Bar, a longtime Castro institution, recently moved their premises to a smaller place further down Market Street.

The location they left is prime real estate: located at the corner of Market & 16th Street, it has an enormous balcony overlooking the intersection which was always thronged with people.

Now it’s been taken over by The Lookout, which, like Metro, is a bar and restaurant. So far the transition seems a little shaky. Some of Metro’s clientele simply followed them down the road, while others stayed on at The Lookout and still others presumably found a new hangout altogether. This is probably not great news for Metro or The Lookout, but it’s nice for me, since now there’s a bar in the neighborhood where I can pop in on a weeknight and get a seat with a view. Plus the bartenders are very friendly.

20
Dec

Garden with your neighbors

Author: kris, Category: Outdoors

Apartment hunting in this city is all about compromise. Sometimes you have to give up the dream of having a yard — even a shared yard — in favor of a building that’s on a reliable bus line.

For those of you who have decent public transportation but are still mourning your inability to grow your own hops, you might try this list of community gardens. Community gardening brightens a neighborhood, fosters communication and relationships between neighbors, and gives you somewhere to play in the dirt for a few hours. What better way to take part in your little patch of world than to help people grow stuff on it?

19
Dec

Kabuki Theater

Author: kris, Category: Movies

Wow, something wonderful is cooking in Pacific Heights and it’s called the Kabuki Theater.

I’ve always loved the Kabuki cineplex. They show awesome indie films, take part in film festivals, and have always been pleasing to the eye in general. But now they’ve remodeled, I think. Anyway, something excellent has happened, because they seem to have kicked the awesome up several notches. Now when you buy your ticket, the person you buy from is an adult (instead of a minimum wage zombie kid) who talks to you like a human, not in that fake bland customer service tone. You get to pick an assigned seat when you buy your ticket, just like in Europe, and your ticket seller will cheerfully tell you how he feels about the film.

Then you go upstairs, where in addition to having fancy-pants foods at the snackbar, they have a real bar and bistro. Plus a lobby kind of area with wonderful suede couches that I want to own.

Then you see the film, which, because it’s at the Kabuki, will be guaranteed to be 1) superb and 2) commercial-free. You still get previews, but in the part before the previews where most theaters show commercials, the Kabuki displays a weird silent video of cartoony cutouts sitting in a movie theater and fidgeting around.

As if all this weren’t enough, Juno is playing there right now, and it is fantastic. So go. Immediately. Get up from your chair right now and just go, man.

18
Dec

Sit & Spin

Author: kris, Category: Shopping

Ok, laundry is not the most glamorous thing ever. But if you have to use a laundromat, you might as well use one with some style. I like Sit & Spin at 4023 18th Street between Hartford and Noe. It offers internet access, plus it’s right next to a florist so everything smells like detergent and flowers. The employees are sweet and human and there are always a few people hanging out, people watching or chatting. It almost makes laundry fun.

18
Dec

Edward Gorey glory

Author: kris, Category: Events, Music

Start dying your clothes black now, because next month brings us the annual Edwardian Ball Weekend. Folks show up in multi-colored Edwardian costumes, of course, but since the event features the artwork of the peerless Edward Gorey, I feel black clothes and a mopey, skeletal demeanor are appropriate.

The Ball will be held at the Great American Music Hall from January 25 - 27. The website promises that “Eight musicians [will] blend violin, two cellos, bass, guitar, harp, vibraphone, trombone, drums & lush vocal harmonies in a strangely beautiful mix of classical, jazz, chamber, tango, klezmer, sultry lounge, theatrical cabaret, and cinematic dreams.”

Beat THAT.

Photo courtesy of the Ball website. 

18
Dec

Ike’s Place

Author: kris, Category: Food

I’ve lived in the Castro for five years, and I feel the neighborhood is almost perfect. The only thing it’s been missing is a really outstanding sandwich shop, and a few weeks ago we finally got one.

Ike’s Place is a new cafe on 16th Street near Market that offers top-notch hot sandwiches, freshly made ice cream and coffee. It’s small but there are a few tables inside and outside, and the food is perfect. I highly recommend checking them out.

18
Dec

Volunteer with Friends of the Elderly

Author: kris, Category: Charity, Holiday, Volunteering

If you’re still looking for some good you can do at this time of year, you might check out Little Brothers — Friends of the Elderly. Don’t let the name fool you: this organization welcomes all genders. Currently they’re looking for volunteers for their Christmas program. Those who sign up will spend a few hours on Christmas Day delivering a meal and hanging out with one of the many seniors the organization assists. I like these guys because their stated mission is to feed people’s spirits as well as their bodies. It’s not a religious thing; they just recognize that lonely people need companionship as well as a free lunch.

To sign up for this or one of their many other programs throughout the year, check out their website here.