San Francisco is My Home

19
Mar

311

Author: kris, Category: Bars and Clubs, Music, Transportation

I went to Bottom of the Hill to see a friend’s band play last night. (The band is Truxton, and while I am of course a biased reviewer, I recommend checking them out. The rock is fierce, the performance energetic, and the music all harmonious and stuff.)

Afterwards, feeling independent and not yet aware how severely undressed I was for the external temperature, I turned down a ride home and elected to take the bus.

Twenty minutes later, concerned for my near-frostbitten fingers, I stood anxiously in the middle of the empty street, searching the horizon with yearning, runny eyes for a bus that still had not appeared. The nice thing was I was able to get some chat time in with the kind folks at 311.

In case you do not know, 311 is the number you call when you are stranded at a freezing bus stop in the middle of the evening and your bus isn’t coming. You tell them where you are and what line you’re waiting for and which direction you’re going (they can help you with the inbound/outbound thing if you’re not sure) and they can tell you where your bus is using advanced satellite technology, or possibly magic.

The i.m. Gavin Newsom, let me tell you, LOVES this service. I’ve heard him randomly mention it at more than one press conference. (And a digression: man, it has been WAY too long since I’ve been to one of his press conferences. No wonder he’s getting married, without me to gaze at him adoringly from the third row on a bi-weekly basis.)  He loves it with good reason. I don’t know why, but it’s a lot easier to wait that extra twenty minutes if you can get regular updates on where the hell your bus is.

So that is the message of today’s free-form Wednesday. 311: use the number. (But avoid the band.)

12
Mar

Show tonight

Author: kris, Category: Music

If you’re looking for something to do tonight, We Be The Echo is playing at Bottom of the Hill again. Remember: cave train, poor posture, great music. It’s all happening.

Click here for show info, and click here if you can’t remember what the heck I’m talking about.

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.

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.

19
Feb

Monday roundup, still on Tuesday

Author: kris, Category: Celebrities, Events, Movies, Music

Once again, I find myself red-faced on a Tuesday, writing the Monday Weekend Roundup. Can I help it if Monday was a holiday? Ah, well. At any rate, here are some weekend plans you might make:

Friday, February 22

You know how art is great, but really slow? Warhol famously had a problem with that, telling an interviewer that he wished he could make art on an assembly line basis, churning it out double-time. Warhol would have loved the Monster Drawing Rally, a five hour free-for-all where more than 130 artists pack into one room and create art as fast as they can. The art is immediately put up for auction. This only happens once a year, so don’t miss it. I myself would be there except I am planning to be sitting around with friends, watching a movie about Jane Austen. What a gripping life I do lead, eh?

Saturday, February 23

Speaking of staying in, local rockstars The John Francis Imposters will be performing on the radio on KALX Live at 9 pm. The show will be hosted by everybody’s (by which I mean my) favorite KALX Live DJ, Concrete Skyline and will be followed by an interview with the band. Grab some takeout food and curl up with your radio to enjoy the show. (Also note: you can listen online, if you don’t happen to live within signal range of the station. Just click “Listen now” at the top of the page.) Staying in on Saturday night: it’s not just for big nerds anymore.

Here, The John Francis proves he can grow a mountain man beard nearly as well as he can sing.

Sunday, February 24

The Castro Theatre is showing Brokeback Mountain as a memorial tribute to Heath Ledger. If you read the headlines and have half a brain, you’ll probably be feeling horrified by anything Ledger-related at this point, and thinking to yourself, come on, guys, give the kid a break already. However, the Castro tribute promises to be sincere and non-ghoulish, paying respects to an actor whose sensitive portrayal of a gay man helped bring gay issues into the mainstream. If you attend only one memorial tribute to Heath Ledger this year, let this be the memorial tribute to Heath Ledger that you attend.

And another thing…

As you have no doubt noticed, I’m listing just one event for each day. Obviously, there’s a lot more going on in this city. If know of an event, a performance, or just something fun to do, please feel free to share with the class in the comments.

29
Jan

Noise Pop 2008

Author: kris, Category: Events, Music, News

Set your watches for the countdown…Noise Pop approaches again.

Noise Pop, as if you didn’t know, is an annual festival of music, but not the kind with folk songs from around the world and hot dogs on a stick. No, this music is cool. It happens in the best local venues, and collects the most exciting indie artists around. Previous years’ performers have included harp-playing songstress Joanna Newsom, local favored Jeff Buckley sound-alike Devendra Banhart and throaty sister act Cocorosie. (They get other, bigger acts — Modest Mouse, The White Stripes — but these are the ones I liked, and who’s writing this post, anyway?)

A few of this year’s big names include The Magnetic Fields and Quasi. You can also catch The Mayfire, whom I got to review in my alternate life as a music critic. For the complete list of bands, click here.

Perhaps most interesting to me is the show of photographs of Elliott Smith, my most favorite of musicians, now tragically deceased. If this is your thing as well, click here for more info.

Noise Pop will occur in your eardrums from February 26 through March 2. Check the website for details on venues, times and tickets.

28
Jan

Benefit for Rocket Dog Rescue

Author: kris, Category: Bars and Clubs, Charity, Events, Groups, Music

Those of you who were struck by the sad destruction of Rocket Dog Rescue’s headquarters but didn’t know what to do about it are in luck. On Friday, February 1, you can attend a benefit for the non-profit dog rescue group at Slim’s, featuring a dazzling lineup of performers, plus some disco funtimes. Show starts at 8:30, and you can buy tickets here.

Flyer from Rocket Dog website.

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.

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. 

16
Nov

We Be at The Hemlock

Author: kris, Category: Events, Music, News

We Be The Echo, the band I wrote about that other time, are playing The Hemlock Tavern tonight, so if you’re curious about these geniuses of math rock, head on over. The show is 21+, $6 at the door, and starts at 9:30. Should be, as always, a cracking good time.