San Francisco is My Home

29
Feb

Girl Army

Author: kris, Category: Classes, Oakland

Speaking of worker owned and operated, here is a cool thing: Girl Army. These folks operate self-defense classes for women. They’re comprehensive, useful, and charged on a sliding scale. Got no money? Go for free. Curiously, the Girl Army collective doesn’t seem to think poor women should be defenseless any more than rich ones; no one is turned away for lack of funds.

They also have a truly kickass list of reading materials here, which covers everything from domestic abuse to rape to police brutality. (That last one includes instructions for what to do if police want to enter your home, or search your car, which I think is vital information for everyone to have. Know your rights!)

29
Feb

The Red Vic

Author: kris, Category: Haight, Music

I always knew the Red Vic Movie House was cool, but I did not know it was California’s only worker owned and operated movie theater. (As soon as we learn about Cesar Chavez, every Californian falls in love with the phrase “worker owned and operated.” Unions! Power to the laborers! This is an important rite of passage for young Californians, and gives our hippie parents something to feel superior about because their idealism was totally more idealistic than our idealism.)

Anyway, the Vic (as I call it, though I’m pretty sure no one else does) has the three items vital to being rated “awesome”: an esoteric, independent schedule of programming; couches from which you may view the e. i. s. of p.; and a snack bar that serves way more than your average Goobers. I highly recommend checking it out. Why not tonight? They’re showing that Bob Dylan movie.

29
Feb

Zeitgeist

Author: kris, Category: Bars and Clubs

It’s been one of those February weeks that only San Francisco (and points South) can pull off, full of fluttery spring breezes and buttery summer heat. For some reason we tend to get at least one heatwave at this time of year. It contributes to our sense of entitlement. Hey, we must be doing something right if the weather gods keep sending us this blissful little break, right? It’s probably all the tofu we eat.

When it’s sunny out, there’s really only one place to be, and that’s Zeitgeist, the city’s only beer garden. Alas, this is not one of those idyllic German-style gardens where whole families chill together in intergenerational harmony; instead, Zeitgeist is home to bikers (of the motorized variety) and hipsters.

The pleasure of drinking good beer outdoors is always greater than you expect it to be, and it’s tripled when you’re surrounded by some of the city’s hippest and hottest young folk. Add to this an inspired chef manning the barbecue pit and you’ve got yourself a little nirvana nestled just next to the freeway.

A warning: the Zeitgeist cooks will cheerfully hate you. That seems to be the baseline they operate from. I’ve been told that a generous tip, timed when the cook is looking your way, earns you a spit-free burger and maybe even a smile, but I can’t guarantee anything. Proceed at your own risk.

29
Feb

No loitering

Author: kris, Category: Bars and Clubs, News

On Tuesday, our Supes — call them Supervisors or Superstars, it all depends on whether they’re being idiots or geniuses on any given day — will discuss a proposed legislation banning anyone from loitering outside a nightclub for more than 180 seconds between 9 pm and 3 am.

I know what you’re thinking: what the hell is a nightclub? The closest thing we’ve got is Harry Denton’s Starlight Room. But assuming they just mean normal clubs, I still know what you’re thinking: what about smokers? Fear not, my magic dragons, for smokers will be exempt from this rule.

The legislation is an effort to cut down on violent crime. What it would essentially mean is that violent criminals would still be free to lurk and skulk where butterflies of the night gather, but they’d have to be holding a cigarette or risk being hassled. Is this a longterm death penalty from our uber-liberal Supes? Are we condemning these criminals to a life of addiction, gradually ending in horrible, cancerous deaths? And as an added side benefit, most of them would also develop fierce hacking coughs which would alert any potential victims to the skulker in the shadows.

Again, I pose the question: Supervisors? Or Superstars? I just never know.

29
Feb

Sometimes the best apples are at the bottom. Right?

Author: kris, Category: News, People, Politics

From out of the bowels of San Francisco, Nader has chosen Matt Gonzalez as his running mate. (Nader’s running again, did you know this? That sound you hear is the sound of thousands of conservative Democrats groaning in unison. They’re so cute, like little synchonized knee-jerkers.)

According to the Chron, Gonzalez, who has served on the SF Board of Supervisors and lost to Newsom in the 03 mayoral race, “is a hero to the Bay Area left.” The local anarchists I know mostly don’t like him much, but I’m guessing that’s not the left the Chron is talking about. All I know is that while playing for the Supes, he did enact legislation that forbad the SF Zoo from keeping elephants, for which he has earned my eternal love. And he used to hold wine and cheese parties in his office for any members of the public who were interested.

As a complete unknown to most of the country, even the three of them who still read the news, I don’t see how Gonzalez could possibly help Nader. And as Public Enemy Number 1 in the eyes of many Demos, I don’t see how Nader could possibly help Gonzalez. In fact, their race for the presidency will be way less interesting to watch than their race to see who can shoot the other one in the foot faster.

This image of Nader is from here.

28
Feb

Save the Palace!

Author: kris, Category: Landmarks, News, Politics

San Francisco has three important palaces. There’s the Palace of Fine Arts, and the Palace of the Legion of Honor. And then there is the Cow Palace.

The amusing name derives from its original function, which was to house large livestock at the Pan-Pacific International Expo. The idea came about in 1915, but wasn’t completed until 1941.

These days the Palace houses all kinds of stuff, from the annual Dickens Christmas Faire to political speakers to popular bands to Disney’s Princess on Ice show. But State Senator Yee is proposing to sell the Palace to Daly City, who will definitely knock it down and replace it with a supermarket and other stuff the neighborhood needs.

What kind of person tells a Daly City family they can’t have a grocery store because we want to keep our entertainment center there, right? And yet…

The thing that makes living in SF and environs good, the reason we pay such high prices for rent and food and transportation, the reason people flock here in droves, isn’t just the great weather. It’s because the Bay Area is one of those places that still has a strong personality, one that would shine through even if you removed all the kooky, lovable characters. Because we have things like the Castro Theatre and the Albany Bulb and, of course, the Cow Palace.

If you are unconvinced, consider that part of why the Daly City council wants the thing torn down is because it hosts “too many gun shows, erotic balls and rap concerts.” A strike for the Cow Palace is a strike against censorship!

If you’ve got something to say on this, whether for or against, I urge you to attend tonight’s first meeting to discuss the possible sale of the C.P.

Meeting times are:

Tonight, 7 o’clock: Bayshore Community Center, 450 Martin St., Daly City

March 8, 10 a.m.: Visitacion Valley Community Center, 66 Raymond Ave., San Francisco

March 8, 11 a.m.: Bayshore Community Center, 450 Martin St., Daly City

March 25, 7 p.m.: Saddleback Homeowners Clubhouse, 1800 Saddleback Drive, Daly City

This photo of The Beatles playing at the Cow Palace was taken by Bob Campbell.

27
Feb

SF loses a character

Author: kris, Category: Celebrities, Food, News, People

Famed restaurateur Tommy Toy died. He was known around town, and catered to several local celebrities including Coppola. His food was art (so I’ve heard), and the fact that his haberdasher described him as “outgoing” is way less telling than the fact that he had a haberdasher at all.

(If you are wondering, haberdasher = a retail dealer in men’s furnishings, as shirts, ties, gloves, socks, and hats.)

You can read the full article here, but I especially liked the ending:

“Mr. Toy is survived by his wife, Veronica, a son, Darrick, and a grandson, all of San Francisco.”

26
Feb

Last Comic Standing

Author: kris, Category: Comedy, Events

I found another thing you can do on Friday night: go be funny. NBC’s Last Comic Standing is hosting their San Francisco audition on Friday, February 29, at Cobb’s Comedy Club.  Do you think you have what it takes to make the judges laugh?

…Okay, I’ve never actually seen Last Comic Standing, but I’m pretty sure that’s what it’s all about.

You can make your cousin Stewart laugh…you can make French people laugh…but can you make French Stewart laugh? Well, can you?

25
Feb

Monday roundup

Author: kris, Category: Bars and Clubs, Events, Music, Weekend preview

It’s your weekend roundup, presented on a Monday for once.

Friday, February 29

Celebrate the most unusual day in February with a concert by a truly unusual band. The Magnetic Fields are playing at the Herbst Theatre for Noisepop, though at this point you’ll have to skulk around Craigslist to get a ticket. If paying double the price for a scalped admission doesn’t appeal, you could always embrace the true spirit of Noisepop by picking the venue closest to your house and seeing whoever’s on offer. You will almost certainly not be disappointed. Noisepop is the premiere event in town this weekend, so check the schedule for all the days and don’t miss out.

Saturday, March 1

If Noisepop is just too hep for you, maybe you want to do something much, much lamer. In that case, I recommend hosting a rousing celebration of St. David’s Day, the day sacred to the patron saint of Wales. A ten minute Google search proved that there isn’t a large, thriving community of Welsh immigrants in the Bay Area, but you can at least knock a few celebratory pints back at the Prince of Wales Pub in San Mateo. Or, again, you could check out Noisepop.

Sunday, March 2

Feeling nostalgic for those drama days of high school? Buy a ticket for the Bay One Acts, running February 21 through March 16 and hosted by the enjoyably named Three Wise Monkeys Theatre Company. (Doesn’t anyone spell it “theater” around here? Seriously.) I’ve never been to anything put on by this company, so I’m not necessarily endorsing it, but if it sucks, hey, it was only one act long.

Remember: Noisepop. It’s a good thing.

22
Feb

You put your bookstore in, you put your bookstore out

Author: kris, Category: News, Shopping

As Berkeley’s Cody’s Books moves house yet again, things continue to look dire for independent bookstores. This isn’t really news, of course. Indie bookstores have been failing for decades. Still, Cody’s was an institution for years and years, and on their new premises they’ll be seriously dialing down their selection.

“The days of big full-service bookstores are over,” said Hut Landon, director of the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association. “The smaller neighborhood model is what’s working.”

I wonder what this means for Green Apple Books, SF’s fabulous enormous used bookstore. They appear to be thriving — they’re always packed, no matter what time or day I go. And it doesn’t hurt that they’re a block from one of the city’s hottest restaurants, Burma Superstar, which often has a two-hour seating delay, giving diners nothing to do in the interim but browse through the bookstore while they wait for a table. Still, it seems unlikely that this one mega-indie store will escape the axe, just because it happens to be the one I love most.

This artwork is by Paul Madonna, another fabulous San Francisco institution.