SFBG Blogs

28 films in six days: Jesse Hawthorne Ficks at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival (part one!)

Sue Vaughan
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28 films in six days: Jesse Hawthorne Ficks at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival (part one!)

Check out parts two (here) and three (here).

1) Oslo, August 31st (Joachim Trier, Norway) This bleaker-than-bleak exploration of drug addiction hypnotically deconstructs the genre, exposing previous entries like 2000’s Requiem for a Dream as oddly glorified and even romanticized. As with his surprise hit Reprise (2008), the soundtrack for Trier’s film (Chromatics, White Birch) seals the colder-than-cold universe that lead character Øystein (played brilliantly by Anders Borchgrevink) inhabits. Not for folks who can’t handle needles dangling out of arms.

2) This Is Not a Film (Jafar Panahi, Iran) As immediate as a heart attack, this 75 minute documentary by prison-bound Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi (who is serving a six-year sentence with a 20-year ban on directing films or even talking to the media), truly is not a film. What is it actually? How about a terrifying cry for expression from one of the most daring and political filmmakers alive. While the world waits for his hopeful release, go watch The White Balloon (1995), The Mirror (1997), The Circle (2000), Crimson Gold (2003), and Offside (2006) as soon as possible.

3) Mausam (Pankaj Kapur, India) Withdrawn from the festival’s public screening schedule at the last minute due to censor complications by the Indian Film Board, this epic melodrama starts out joyous and clean-shaven and devolves into a ferris wheel of destruction. While the tone feels off-balance in the film’s second half, especially with its baffling sequences mimicking Top Gun (1986), Sonam Kapoor’s devastating performance, combined with some foot stompin’ singing and dancing, make this a quite enjoyable ride. Indian censors put a disclaimer before the film, explaining that the Indian Air Force did not approve the film’s presentations of flight sequences or fire explosions.

4) The Ides of March (George Clooney, USA) In the same vein as Michael Ritchie’s The Candidate (1975) and Tim Robbins’ Bob Roberts (1992), George Clooney explores the nooks and crannies of the contradictions and hypocrisies of the idealistic Democratic Party. Whereas those films were ripe with cinema verite stylings, Clooney oddly steers clear of any sort of artistic pretension and lets his actors (Ryan Gosling, a snaggletoothed Paul Giamatti) chew up the scenery.

5) Into the Abyss (Werner Herzog, Germany/Canada) This dark and memorable look at death row inmates as well as the families of the victims should spark some spectacular debates, in true Herzog fashion. Though he sometimes only had 15 minutes to interview a particular prisoner, Herzog’s footage is gripping; the finesse of Herzog’s longtime editor Joe Bini helps make the subjects seem human — not simply, solely, monsters, but rather people who have committed monstrous acts. I can’t stop thinking about this one.

6) Le Havre (Aki Kaurismäki, Finland) The almighty Finnish filmmaker is back with yet another old fashioned morality tale for the Nick Cave generation. His characters may be a whole lot older than those in Leningrad Cowboys Go America (1989), but Kaurismäki’s take on the world is just as delightfully offbeat as ever, when an eight-year-old African refugee washes ashore in a small town in Finland. As the kindly Marcel (André Wilms) and other townsfolk do their best to protect the boy from a policeman who feels like he’s just stepped out of 1940s film noir, time seems to be running out for Marcel’s longtime life partner. Be prepared for a handful of frogs getting caught in your throat as this mini masterpiece gently rests itself onto your list of underrated films in the coming year.

7) A Dangerous Method (David Cronenberg, Canada/Germany/UK/Switzerland) Don’t believe those disappointed critics! This tightly-knit theatrical adaptation accessibly explores the worlds of Freud and Jung with a precise coldness that should remind Cronenberg fans of Dead Ringers (1991) and Spider (2006). And while this film isn’t as gooey as his visceral entries Videodrome (1983) and A History of Violence (2005), the absence of spilled guts is exactly why this film might reach a much wider audience. (Folks who may keep their psyches much cleaner than you or I). Potential Oscar nods are in order for a jaw-dropping Keira Knightley and the ever-flawless Viggo Mortensen.

8) Keyhole (Guy Maddin, Canada) Given $100k to make anything he’d like (“I could’ve taken a Polaroid and pocketed the rest”) Canadian enfant terrible Guy Maddin has concocted yet another whirlwind of black and white tears, repressed fears, and a lifetime of forgotten years. With more oppressed family members hidden away in closets and attics than a V.C. Andrews book, the psychotic camerawork, ominous narration, and ever-present rapid-fire editing equals offbeat cinematic bliss.

9) Jeff Who Lives at Home (Jay Duplass and Mark Duplass, USA) The Duplass Brothers have officially gone Hollywood. Jason Segal is a perfect fit for the brothers’ slacker lead and Susan Sarandon plays his poignant mother perfectly. It’s Ed Helms who’s the odd one out in this surprisingly moral tale; he seems to overplay his middle-class character rather than disappearing into the role. Though the film is funny, it’s more of a drama than a comedy; for that reason (along with its big-name cast), Jeff might be the Duplasses’ first big hit. It just feels a bit half-in/half-out. Either way, you’ve got to root for the Duplass Brothers. Plus this film should make you appreciate how priceless last year’s underrated Cyrus (2010) truly was.

10) Dark Horse (Todd Solondz, USA) For better or worse, Todd Solondz has made a name for himself. And his latest is right on par with the rest of his films. In fact Dark Horse could be a remake of his debut Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995), but this time we’re following a 250-pound Jewish man child, Abe (Jordan Gelber) who still lives at home, collects action figures, and hates just about everyone on the planet. The film plays like a live-action adaptation of Chicago cartoonist Chris Ware’s Rusty Brown as Abe defiantly self-destructs as well as destroys everything he may or may not love. Will polarize audiences, per usual for Solondz, as audiences question if he’s being mean-spirited or just self-reflexive. (I can’t wait to watch it again.)

Coming soon: more of Jesse Hawthore Ficks’ takes on the 2011 Toronto International Film festival, including films from Lars von Trier, Michael Winterbottom, and … Bobcat Goldthwait? Ficks teaches film history at the Academy of Art University; he also curates the Midnites for Maniacs film series, celebrating celebrates dismissed, underrated, and overlooked films.

Live shots: Ladytron at the Regency Ballroom

Tony Robles
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There are not a whole lot of degrees between cool and being cold. On record, Ladytron has always affected a certain disaffected air, and live they come close to crossing over to the alienating side of performance. Alienation can be intentional.

The opener at the Regency Sunday night, SONOIO (Alessandro Cortini, formerly of Nine Inch Nails), hidden beneath a hooded sweatshirt, fetally crouched at the edge of the stage near the electric firelight of a single flickering bulb, and sang into an umbilical cord of rope lighting. It was a pose which meant a very intimate show for a five foot radius. (Unable to see anything further back, I spaced out and thought the following story concept: A mad scientist discovers how to swap minds and switches with a newborn baby in
an attempt to make up for his shitty childhood.)

Opening slowly with “Soft Power” from 2005’s Witching Hour before getting into new track “Mirage” and the haunting “Ghosts,” Ladytron wasn’t rushing it. The only movement on stage seemed to be the billowing of singer Helen Marnie’s draped sleeves, as the musicians performed like scientists in a lab (focused, if not outwardly passionate.) Predominately four people with synthesizers, Ladytron had a drummer on stage, and his heavy kick was a welcome addition (the coupling of the pulsing bass beat and brilliant red strobes on “Little Black Angel” was a near seizure inducing experience.)

More often than not, though, I couldn’t tell if Ladytron was effortlessly performing, or performing without any effort. The band gets labeled as having a cult following, and there was definitely some collective captivation. Instead of raucous calls for an encore, Ladytron submitted to strangely well choreographed “woo-oooh”s from the audience.

“I like your singing,” Marnie said, returning to the stage, before launching into “White Elephant,” the opener and standout of their new record, Gravity the Seducer. “Destroy Everything You Touch” was last and meant Ladytron was going out on a high note. As a flourish, the drummer closed with an incongruously animated, over-the-top outro. A suggestion perhaps, that he was in the wrong band.

 

All photos by Stephen Ho.

SFBG radio: Demanding full employment

Zelda Bronstein
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SFBG radio: Demanding full employment

Today Johnny talks about marching on Wall Street — to demand full employment or else. Check out the discussion after the jump.

FullEmploymentOrElse by endorsements2011

BART seeks power to ban targeted individuals

Sasha Cuttler And Mary Magee
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BART seeks power to ban targeted individuals

Legislation currently before California Governor Jerry Brown would allow Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) to ban passengers who have been convicted of a crime committed while on BART property. Written into a renewal of legislation for existing transit rules in the Sacramento area, the bill being considered by Governor Brown, AB 716, would make it an infraction to return to BART stations or use the regional transit system for up to one year.

“BART seeks whatever legal solutions we can to keep our passengers safe. There are dangerous people who are attracted to these public places. For example, we had a stabbing at the gates of Balboa station on the 8th of September,” BART spokesperson Luna Salaver told the Guardian. “This is something that BART can use as a tool.”

BART denied any connection between the wave of recent protests and the addition of BART to the bill renewal of AB 716. The BART Board of Directors began pursuing their inclusion into the legislation this spring, and addressed the issue at its June 9 board meeting — before frequent protests began over the July 3 shooting death of Charles Hill by BART police at Civic Center Station.

However, if passed, the resulting ordinance could be applied to protesters, some of whom have been arrested during civil disobedience that has caused rush hour service disruptions of BART’s operations, and others who have been arrested in official free speech areas while not directly contributing to a disruption in service.

With some 350,000 people passing through turnstiles each weekday, BART does not believe it can easily prevent everyone who is cited from re-entering BART, but says it will serve as an additional tool if a person is re-encountered by BART police. While a fine of $75 on the first offense may not be enough on its own to act as a deterrent, infractions to the law could be examined as probation or parole violations and subsequent infractions carry heavier fines.

“It would be preferable if these types of conditions were set by a judge as a condition of probation,” said Michael Rifher, staff attorney ACLU of Northern California. “These types of ordinances imposing ‘stay away’ orders without judicial oversight are an area that is very open to abuse.”

Specifics on how the new law would be enforced are not in place yet, and will be developed by BART if the bill receives Gov. Brown’s signature.

“If the bill passes the Governor’s desk, BART will still have to go through its own process to implement it as an ordinance,” said Salaver. “This is something BART can uses as a tool but it will not likely be invoked automatically.”

Rifher says the underlying legislation does go further to protect free speech and the rights of the disabled than many examples of “stay away” legislation. For example, according to the text of the legislation, someone banned from riding BART or entering the station would still be allowed to “engage in activities that are protected under the laws of the United States or of California, including, but not limited to, picketing, demonstrating, or distributing handbills.”

In discussing the process of implementing an ordinance, BART said it would invite people from the disabled community, who may have special concerns about the formation of BART’s policy, to participate.

Sources familiar with the bill say it is unclear whether Governor Brown plans to sign the legislation.

Calvin Trillin: So Why Be So Hard on Vermont?

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Michele Bachman says Hurricane Irene was God’s warning to curb excessive government spending.      –News reports

We know that God’s an all-powerful God

God’s actions are not nonchalant.

We know he can punish whomever he wants.

So why be so hard on Vermont?

 

Yes, spending increases our deficit–sure.

Vermont, though, has not been avant

The rest of the country. We all spend a lot.

So why be so hard on Vermont?

 

Its mountains? Its hiipsters? Its accent? Or what

Might tick off the Great Commandant?

W know we’re all sinners; we spend and we spend.

So why be so hard on Vermont?

–Calvin Trillin: Deadline Poet  Sept. 26, 2011 Nation

 

 

 

 

 

Dare to bare this weekend? We’ve got something for that ass

Andrew Lam
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Dare to bare this weekend? We’ve got something for that ass

Supervisor Scott Wiener recently introduced legislation that would encourage all of SF’s legally protected nudists to put something under their rear ends before sitting down in public. And God knows we here at Guardian are all for running around naked in public (sorry, C.W. Nevius) — but we have nothing against a healthy sense of personal hygiene. That’s why we printed a full page Butt Guardian in this week’s paper, the perfect cheek-to-cheek companion. (Download and print your own paper version here.)

But we’re coming up on a big weekend for naked, so this afternoon we went all DIY. Look for us at the naked hot spots and we’ll hook you up with a hand-silkscreened cloth version of the Butt Guardian. Nudes, you can use!

Here’s where we’ll be handing out the Butt Guardians (and aren’t they gorgeous):

Castro Nude-In

Do your part — not enough people know that they’re legally allowed to strut around like so many jaybirds in SF. Maybe that’ll change after this convivial Folsom Street Fair warm-up. 

Sat/24 noon, free

Castro and 17th sts., SF

 

Folsom Street Fair

Them streets get dirty after this Fair gets going — you know you’ll need a lil’ something to shield the junk in your trunk. 

Sun/25 11 a.m.-6 p.m., $10 suggested donation

Folsom between 7th and 12th sts., SF

www.folsomstreetfair.org

 

Defy the business community’s shameless ultimatum

Sasha Cuttler
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Defy the business community’s shameless ultimatum

On the same day that a Wall Street Journal investigation revealed that many San Francisco restaurants are scamming their customers by tacking an employee health care surcharge onto bills and them simply pocketing the money, the Examiner reports that San Francisco business leaders are threatening to withdraw support for pension reform and other measures if the Labor Council supports legislation that would regulate a similar scam.

So, because labor leaders and progressive Sup. David Campos think that employees should actually get health care benefits from the money that city law requires employers to set aside for that purpose — money that many restaurants are supplementing with surcharges on customers of up to 5 percent — the business community is pitching a fit.

We really shouldn’t be surprised that business leaders are acting in such a hostile manner to the city and their own employees. After all, the SF Chamber of Commerce and Golden Gate Restaurant Association bitterly fought the Healthy San Francisco plan created by Tom Ammiano, appealing it all the way to the Supreme Court and losing every step of way.

Then, rather than being gracious losers, they devised deceptive schemes to: 1) jack up people’s dinner bills and make it appear that the city was requiring such a surcharge; and 2) satisfy the letter of the law by creating difficult-to-access health savings accounts for employees, then pocketing what was left unclaimed at the end of the year, which amounted to $50 million last year.

And now, because labor supporters are trying to now, you know, support workers and their rights, the business community has turned on pension reform? Hilarious! I say, good, call their bluff, and let ‘em stop supporting Prop. C. Then next year, we can come around with a new pension reform plan that’s coupled with tax increases on big business, sharing the burden for reforming long-term city finances in a way that it should have been done in the first place.

C’mon, Labor Council, stay strong and show these greedy corporations what we all think of their attacks on their employees, customers, and the city.    

Foreplay: Two pre-Folsom scenes

Andrew Lam
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As Folsom Street Fair (Sat/24) looms over us like a leather daddy with an itchy whip paw, the city readies itself for the roughest, naughiest, sweatiest weekend of the year. Yesterday, I ran all over the city checking in with the sex scene. I kept my clothes mostly on, but then it is only Thursday… 

Monarchy-Andrew Wedge fitting at Mr. S Leather

“This is Spartaaa!” I’m standing outside one of SoMa’s crucial leather one-stops with an old hand local kink photographer Rich Trove (check his site after the Fair for shots of your flings in the sunshine) and a fashion journalist from the Chronicle. Guess which one is trying to explain to the other what a traditional S&M harness looks like?

Our motley crew has been assembled by Folsom Street Fair’s executive director Demetri Moshoyannis to lurk around Mr. S‘s fitting room while British synthpoppers Monarchy was being fitted for their custommade Andrew Wedge harnesses. The band will be wearing them at their FSF performance on Sunday at 5:10 p.m. on the 12th Street stage. 

“We have no idea what we’re in for,” smiled a member of the band’s entourage. Of course, that wasn’t exactly true — keyboardist Andrew Armstrong attended the fair with a friend six years ago. 

“It kind of freaked me out in a good way,” said Armstrong, modeling the tight neoprene half-tank that Wedge (who vends high end fur and leather designs from places like the Castro’s Sui Generis) had fit over he and his bandmate’s white dress shirts and under the sharp black blazers they were sporting. 

“There’s something a bit religious about it,” he said of Wedge’s designs, which had been agreed upon after a series of emails between the two of them. “It’s futuristic, but masculine as well. Even though we’re basically wearing bra tops.”

“England is very prudish. Well, we take these things seriously, but we do it behind closed doors,” he continued. Again, I found it hard to take him at his word, seeing as the band supplied its own imposing, matching black latex masks for the occasion. They don’t go out in public without them, it turns out, a comment on the nature of celebrity. 

The crew and designer lined up for one last photo opportunity in front of Mr. S’s black leather and harness covered four post king-sized bed. “Not in front of the dildos!” cautioned Moshoyannis. “We want these to be pictures they can use.” Clearly he meant in the Chronicle. 

Side note: if you’re still checking for some sexy threads for this weekend, you could do worse than check out Mr. S’s new sports section. Complete with urinals on the walls and an impressive selection of wrestling singlets, I found myself especially turned on by the display of $12 Style Pig knee socks. I picked some up in red, or as the helpful sales assistant clarified, fisting.

 

Good Vibrations’ Indie Erotic Film Festival at the Castro Theatre

Best reason to finally buy an iPhone: the Ohmibod Freestyle G. I snagged the mp3 compatible vibrator (really, really feel the rhythmn on your favorite beats) at the IXFF’s pre-party upstairs at the Castro, where Jiz Lee, Carol Queen, Kitty Stryker, and other SF local lustfuls drank cocktails of St. George absinthe and rootbeer, slapped on costume mustaches and generally enjoyed the burlesque stylings of Twilight Vixen Revue. 

When the short erotic film competition began, it got surprisingly jocky. Lucia Aniello’s Dildo Sport, Kelly Robinson and Oscar Salisbury’s Fight, Flight, Or Fuck, and Rollo Wenlock’s computer-aged 30 Love all featured tennis, so I guess the New York Times article was onto something with that balls metaphor. 

“30 love” – short film. from Rollo Wenlock on Vimeo.

 

 

Not everything was heavy breathing-appropriate, either. SF’s own Levni Yilmaz entered one of his backlit Magic Marker-ed creations from his series “Tales of Mere Existence,” What Would Penis Do?, a look at his awkward childhood forays into sexual activity. There was the quirky bunnies and peanuts and women’s rooms in Always, Only, Ever — an entry from Barbara Benas of Brooklyn — not to mention an I-guess-hot tryst between a female American soldier and burkha-clad woman in a designer cave, Julien Rotterman’s Salam and Love. 

But some of it was. Erika Lust — who earlier this week had an IXFF evening dedicated to her erotic, high glamour European flicks — shared Love Hotel, a threesome flick that made a trip to Barcelona seem highly advisable. Sadly, as the evening’s hosts (Peaches Christ, Hugs Bunny, Lady Bear, and Dr. Carol Queen — when Carol Queen plays the evening’s straightman you know you’re in for it) pointed out, Lust edited out all signs of genitals. Sigh.

The evening’s winner, as determined by an overwhelming audience response at the end of the night, was La Putiza. Created by Mexican director Gerardo Delgado, the short flick combined erotic comic art, overblown superhero crusading, and joyful, copious amounts of gay sex. Sure, the aesthetic was refined and the lead actor was fuckable, but one suspects that the secret to Delgado’s success, entering into this most phallic of all SF weekends, went back to Peaches Christ’s gleeful promise at the start of the night’s program: 30-foot penises. For Good Vibes’ interview with the filmmaker, voyage here. 

Thanks Castro Theatre, hope we didn’t make too much of a mess. 

Fear not Folsom first-timers: advice through the lens of local photographers

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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Fear not Folsom first-timers: advice through the lens of local photographers

Folsom weekend has arrived and if you’re new to the game, you’ve got all kinds of decisions to contemplate before running out onto the leather field. Those who trot through the gates minus preparation are still going to win on visuals and play, but those who put in just a minute of pre-fair prep will really score– hard. The best place to garner suggestions is obviously via a Folsom veteran, but take it a step further and open your orifices to advice from those who not only make it a point to attend, but whose job it is to professionally observe, capture, and display erotic action at the fair and beyond.

Fear No Art features 17 local photographers and a body of work that will make you cum, gasp, smile, and laugh (not necessarily in that order). From intense bondage, hardcore sex, pretty toys, notes on death and loss, and even a woman strung like a harp, this collection is going to get you all revved up for the weekend’s plethora of sexual opportunities. Since these photographs are more so for offering inspiration and not the obvious logistical advice you may need for your first-time Folsom adventure, a handful of the artists have offered up some helpful hints to get you off in the right direction.

patti_beadles

Patti Beadles

SFBG: Give us a couple notes on etiquette– what to do or not to do? Are there rules?

Beadles: Be respectful. Don’t touch people without permission. Looking is OK but gawking is tacky. Try not to sound like a drunken frat boy by making crude passes at people. 

SFBG: What to wear? Ahh, the choices!

Beadles: Wear whatever you feel comfortable and sexy in. Leather is good. Lace is good. Heels are good. Boots are good. Whatever you wear, remember that you have to spend the afternoon in it while walking around in the hot sun!

 

morgan

Morgan Weinert

SFBG: Give us three must-sees for newbies.

Weinert: 1. The boot black stand at the intersection of Dore and Folsom. Make sure to tip your boot black! 2. Venus’ Playground. Great performances are open for all to watch but the women/trans only space is a great place to get out of the crowd. 3. The Kink.com booth is a crazy place to watch some interesting public performances. The Kink.com models and directors never hold back!

SFBG: What to wear? It’s so last minute…

Weinert: Multi-Kulti is a great place to get fishnet body suits, sequined booty-shorts, and false eyelashes. Clothes Contact is full of awesome vintage lingerie and great dresses– most of it sold by the pound!

 

rosen

Michael Rosen

SFBG: Name your absolute must-try?

Rosen: Five dollars gets you three minutes of spanking, flogging, or foot worship via one of the ladies of Fantasy makers, a local BDSM establishment. Five dollars can also get you three minutes to fondle the ample breasts of a beautiful, green-haired lady. All proceeds go to charity, this year to the Center for Sex and Culture. 

SFBG: What should I wear?

Rosen: Dress to impress, or not. Nudity is OK; wear clothing you can stuff into a fanny pack. The police are cool, but they will tell you to stop any sexual touching. Bring your camera. Leave your “certified panty/jockstrap inspector” t-shirt at home. It’s OK to wear a law enforcement officer’s uniform, as long as it’s not from the SF Police. 

mim

Mim Weisburd

SFBG: Three must-sees?

Weisburd: 1. Fear No Art Exhibit 2. My Daddy’s hot ass 3. All your friends nekkid in the sunshine

SFBG: How about a must-try?

Weisburd: Something you have never ever done before.

 

shilo

Shilo McCabe

SFBG: Thoughts on etiquette?

McCabe: 1. Please refrain from taking photos without permission. 2. Don’t touch anyone without permission– seriously. Just because someone is showing a little (or a lot!) of skin doesn’t mean it’s there for you to touch. 3. Leave the kids at home! It’s kind of unnerving to see parents pushing strollers or walking around with toddlers in hand.

SFBG: What to wear?

McCabe: I always suggest to my friends that the most important things to wear are sunscreen and shit-kicking boots– in case you have to kick shit. 

 

 


Fear No Art (Opening Reception)

Fri/23, 7 p.m. to 11 p.m., donations accepted 

Mark I Chester studio

1229 Folsom St, SF

http://markichester.com

Live Shots: Hightower, Walken, and Black Cobra at YBCA

Tony Robles
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It was all head banging and high-flying guitar yesterday evening in the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts’ outdoor sculpture garden. With the wailing thrash of Hightower, the electric doom of Walken, and two-man hardcore power of Black Cobra, the event, dubbed Metal Mania, was a success.

Groups of bewildered black-shirted fans slowly started to gather near 6 p.m. to catch Hightower, mostly climbing to the stone bleachers to sit for the still-early opening set. Hightower didn’t seem to mind, they appeared genuinely stoked to be there, all big hair head shaking and quick-footed shoeless drumming. But no one seemed more appreciative then metal maniac-quilter Ben Venom, the artist who pitched the show to YBCA in the first place.

He stood for every band, nodded along with the rapid-fire drumming, and at one point during Black Cobra’s sublimely heavy performance (extra credit: the band’s next SF show is with Kyuss and the Sword), I believe Venom spun around to give the finger to the upscale highrises behind us — but that could just be wishful thinking on my part.

Those who attended owe Venom a thank-you because it was a incomparable experience, such noise and vigor in such a peaceful space, opportunity otherwise unknown. We got to wander the museum’s decorated halls, then head outside to catch three epic local acts. Let’s say it together: Thank you for bringing metal to the museum, Venom.

 

All photos by Chris Stevens.

Moving the planet: The beat quickens in Buenos Aires

Andrew Lam
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In Day Two of our series on Moving Planet Day organizers and events around the world (check out yesterday’s chat with San Francisco MPD planner Morgan Fitzgibbons), we’re taking it south to Buenos Aires. 

You might remember Matias Kalwill, founder of the bike-art website La vida en bici, from my article this summer on his city’s emerging bike culture. Since we last checked in, Kalwill has become the leading bike advocate in his city of nearly 13 million people. Over the last few months, Kalwill and his La vida en bici team have been painting a plaza not far from where he grew up. Their goal is to make Plaza Luna de Enfrente — which already includes a playground for the neighborhood kids — the first “bicifriendly” plaza in Buenos Aires. It’ll make a great backdrop for the day of political action and personal development that Kalwill and the Moving Planet Day organizers have planned.

Check out what Saturday will feel like in Argentina — we caught up with Kalwill via email last night in the middle of his pedal-powered preparations. Check in next week when we’ll hear about how the day went from an organizer in Austin, Tex. as well as other places around the globe. 

 

SFBG: What is your role in your city’s Moving Planet Day events?

MK: I’m organizing the event. I invited Greenpeace Argentina, FARN, ITDP, and other NGO’s to participate. I’m also hosting a conference on “biking for sustainable development” and am the main author of the project proposal letter that will be handled to representatives of the National Congress on Saturday. I wrote the series “Moving Cities” for Treehugger Latin America, which had support from 350.org addressing urban mobility and the road to the MP events in Latin American cities.

Matias Kalwill and David Byrne on the musician and bike activist’s recent trip to Argentina. 

SFBG: What inspired you to get involved?

MK: The chance to put on a high impact action connecting bikes and sustainability. The opportunity to share a common effort with people from all over the world. Bill Mckibben’s work, wich is amazing. Previous 350.org’s events in which I participated. The idea that we could share what’s happening in Buenos Aires with the rest of the country.

Buenos Aires’ Plaza Luna de Enfrente with it’s bici-friendly makeover — ready to go for Sat/24’s festivities. 

SFBG: What does your city have planned for Saturday?

MK: We will be doing live art and music and conferences and personal workshops in the Plaza Luna de Enfrente, and then a ride to deliver a project proposal to representatives of the National Congress. The proposal aims to have urban cycling declared “of interest for the sustainable development of the country” by the Congress and can be read here. If eventually this project is aproved by the Congress, it will become a tool for local bike advocates, politicians, and activists all over Argentina. Awesome!

 

SFBG: How many people are expected to attend?

MK: I’m guessing 50 to 200.

 

SFBG: Why is this such a big deal?

MK: I feel it’s another step forward in the road to urban sustainable mobility. In this case, it’s a big one since there will be so many people doing similiar things at the same time. And because so much energy from all over the world will be focused on a few ideas it will be a strong push to get more people involved in the positive and urgent changes we are riding for.

 

SFBG: What do you hope that this day achieves?

MK: More visibility for these problems and more commitment to the solutions for sustainable mobility and climate change.

 

SFBG: How will you transport yourself to the festivities?

MK: With my dear bike of course!

 

SFBG: Complete this sentence: We can reverse the causes of man-made climate change if we…

MK: Come up with exciting and accessible ways to engage people in low-impact city life. Bikes are an excellent example of this: make it sexy and sustainable and available, and the hype is on!

 

Moving Planet Day Bay Area

Sat/24 10 a.m.-6 p.m., free

March starts at Justin Herman Plaza, SF

Afternoon activities at Civic Center Plaza, SF

www.moving-planet.org

Moving the planet: San Francisco speaks

Andrew Lam
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As far as the planet is concerned, it’s probably a good thing that Morgan Fitzgibbons is adept at guilt trips. Consider the Huffington Post editorial the SF neighborhood activist and founder of Western Addition’s Wigg Party wrote earlier this year. You know our descendents? “They will either remember you as someone who fought for life against the greatest odds, or someone who simply neglected your most fundamental responsibility — to pass the world on to the next generation,” wrote Fitzgibbons. 

In the same editorial he promised to “see you in the streets.” Well ready your street-walking shoes, because that day has come: Sat/24 is Moving Planet Day, which will see 2,000 events in more than 168 countries, promises to be one of the largest global manifestations for the environment to date. People across the Earth will be speaking out, massing up, and getting loud about the need to stop our fossil-fueled ways before it’s too late.

Morgan Fitzgibbons walks the walk at a tree planting in July. Photo via St. Cyprian’s Episcopal Church

And you should hear the voicemail we got from Fitzgibbons yesterday. Jesus, blistering. Invoking our duty as agents of change in the Bay Area, for chrissakes. So we decided to swing into action: today, tomorrow, and next week we’ll be profiling Moving Planet Day events across the planet. We’ll begin close to home with Fitzgibbons explaining what will be happening in our very own city. Tomorrow: an organizer from Buenos Aires tells us what’s in store down south. 

San Francisco Bay Guardian: What is your role in your city’s Moving Planet Day events?

Morgan Fitzgibbons: As a leader of a neighborhood based resilient community organization, I am of course a long time fan of 350.org and know from previous experience that their annual days of action are the biggest events in the whole world of climate change, sustainability, etc. So I’ve been doing general volunteering since May to help produce the event – anything from finding a scissor lift to media outreach to hopefully being able to say a few words on stage on Saturday.

SFBG: What inspired you to get involved?

MF: I’ve known and worked with the 350.org folks for a number of years now, and so I know there is no bigger event on the scene. They have done an excellent job of galvanizing the whole world to stand together, and that’s really key – this is a global problem that requires a global solution. 

 

SFBG: What does your city have planned for Saturday?

MF: Our event is going to bring together people from all over the Bay Area. People will meet in their regional cities and towns and then travel to San Francisco at 12 p.m. to march from Justin Herman Plaza down Market Street to Civic Center for a big rally featuring 350.org founder Bill McKibben and the Sierra Club’s executive director Mike Brune as well as a bunch of great music, including Ashel Seasunz!

 

SFBG: How many people are expected to attend?

MF: We won’t really know until Saturday, but we are anticipating somewhere in the 2,000-4,000 range.

 

SFBG: Why is this such a big deal?

MF: It’s a huge deal because climate change and the related planetary crises threaten the very foundations of our society. The world’s governments have obviously demonstrated that they are going to put short-term profits ahead of any long-term security and are effectively ignoring these issues. Saturday is the rare time when we can push the clueless governments out of the way and stand together as a concerned global population. Millions of people around the world are going to devote their day to standing up for this cause, because they know that the maintenance of a healthy planet is more important than anything else in the world. 

 

SFBG: What do you hope that this day achieves?

MF: You know rallies are notoriously tricky because everyone shows up, everyone’s excited, and then at the end of the day you’re not always sure what came out of it. I think obviously a big takeaway is going to be knowing that millions of people around the world feel the same urgency that you do, which is extremely empowering. But what I personally hope people take away from the day is that this isn’t a problem that’s solved with a rally or voting for or against some bill at the  ballot box. It’s something that is going to require us to get out in our neighborhoods every day to organize and build more resilient communities. That’s what I’ll be preaching if they hand me the mic.

 

SFBG: How will you transport yourself to the festivities?

MF: I’m going to be riding from Tour de Fat in the morning, so I’ll be taking my bicycle through the Wiggle. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

 

SFBG: Complete this sentence: We can reverse the causes of man-made climate change if we…

MF: …get out in our neighborhoods and organize. This must happen in every community big and small. There is no movement without this. We need no less than a cultural revolution. But as soon as people take this aspect of the work seriously… look out.

 

Moving Planet Day

Sat/24 10 a.m.-6 p.m., free

March starts at Justin Herman Plaza, SF

Afternoon activities at Civic Center, SF

www.moving-planet.org

 

SOS: Sign a petition to urge Gov. Brown to sign a bill restricting warrantless police searches of cell phones

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Peter Scheer, executive director of the First Amendment Coalition (FAC),  put out an SOS for First Amendment advocates to sign a FAC  petition aimed at getting Gov. Jerry Brown to  sign a key bill now on his desk.

 FAC’s petition, Scheer says,  urges  Brown to sign FAC-sponsored SB 914, which will restrict  warrantless police searches of cell phones. .

Here’s the petition:
http://bit.ly/r4gLB3

Scheer reports that a CNN story today (also blogged on Calaware.com) reporting that SB  914 has already become law is mistaken. (CNN promises a rewrite and  Calaware has withdrawn the blog post). Gov. Brown has until Oct. 10  to sign, veto, or allow SB 914 to become law through inaction. All options are open. Brown is undecided. He is being lobbied by law enforcement to veto, which is why FAC’s petition matters.

——————————————————————
Peter Scheer, Executive Director
FIRST AMENDMENT COALITION
534 4th St., Suite B
San Rafael, CA 94901
415.460.5060  /  415.886.7081 (direct)
pscheer@firstamendmentcoalition.org
http://www.firstamendmentcoalition.org

Guardian forum: Everybody loves public power

Zelda Bronstein
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114
Guardian forum: Everybody loves public power

The Guardian candidates’ forum was a blast — standing room only at the LGBT Center, a great, lively crowd, and most of the candidates for mayor showed up. Not Ed Lee, though — we invited him, but he was a no-show. That’s typical — he’s skipped the vast majority of the mayoral debates and events, and when he does show up, he leaves early.

We set out to pin the candidates down on five key issues that came out of the Guardian’s summer issues forums. Shaw San Liu, our moderator, forced the mayoral contenders to give us yes-or-no answers, and our all-star celebrity panel of answer analyzers (Sue Hestor, Corey Cook and Fernando Marti) weighed in and raised signs to tell us whether the candidate had said Yes, No, or Waffled.

The questions:

1. Will you support the creation of a municipal bank to offer access to credit to small business instead of relying on tax breaks for economic development?

 2. Will you support a freeze on condo conversions and the development of new market-rate condos until the city has a plan and the financing in place to meet the General Plan goal of 60 percent of all new units available at below market rate — and then index new market-rate housing to the creation of affordable units?

3. Do you have a viable plan to bring $250,000 a year in new revenue into the city to address the structural budget deficit?

4. Will you agree to opt out of the federal secure communities program and will you reverse Mayor Newsom’s policy and direct all local law-enforcement agencies not to cooperate with immigration authorities?

 5. Will you support a proposal to either buy out PG&E’s San Francisco facilities or build a new city grid through a bond act so that San Francisco will control its own energy distibution system?

Only John Avalos answered Yes to all five. But it was remarkable how many of the candidates supported most or all of the progressive agenda we’ve developed. Every single candidate voiced support for a municipal bank. And every one of them said Yes to buying out PG&E’s distribution system so the city could run it’s own electric utility.

They had a lot more trouble with the notion of a freeze on new market-rate housing and condo conversions, and not all of them could explain how they would bring in $250,000 in new revenue. But I give them all credit for showing up and facing the tough questions and saying that, for the most part, they wanted to promote a progressive agenda.

Here are the scores:

John Avalos: Y, Y, Y, Y, Y

David Chiu: Y, W, Y, Y, Y

Bevan Dufty: Y, N, Y, Y,Y

Dennis Herrera: Y, W, Y, Y, Y

Phil Ting: NA. NA, Y, Y, Y (He came late and missed the first two)

Joanna Rees: Y, N, N, Y, Y

Leland Yee: Y, W, W, Y, Y

Jeff Adachi: Y, W, Y, Y, Y

Terry Baum: Y, Y, N, Y, Y

So five waffles on housing policy; nobody wants to stand up and say that we’re building too much housing for the rich and that it has to stop until we catch up with affordable housing. (At least Dufty was honest and told us he doesn’t want to cut off TIC and condo conversions).

I’m waiting for the video and I’ll post it when I get it.

SF restaurants cheat on health care

Zelda Bronstein
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SF restaurants cheat on health care

For years, I’ve wondered about those “health-care surcharges” that pop up on menus at local restaurants. The owners say they have to charge extra to pay for the city’s health-care ordinance, which always struck me as odd: You don’t see “avocado price hike surcharge” or “rent-went-up” surcharge or “PG&E rate hike” surcharge — restaurants, like other businesses, typically roll those factors into their normal prices.

This is political: A lot of restaurants opposed the law, which requires employers to pay for health insurance, and they’re sticking that little sign out there to make San Franciscans think the government is driving up the price of a meal.

Now: I would actually be willing to pay an extra 3 percent or even 5 percent for a nice dinner if I thought that money was going to make sure the cooks and waiters and bus staff could go to the doctor when they get sick. But it turns out, according to the Wall Street Journal, that we’re getting scammed — the surcharges often don’t go for health care at all. The restaurants just pocket the money.

In an investigation of 40 local restaurants — most of them high-end places where dinner for two can cost $100 or more — the Journal found that the vast majority of the money collected for health care never goes to the employees:

One Market, which says its annual revenue exceeds $5 million, is one of at least 40 San Francisco restaurants identified by The Wall Street Journal that tell customers they are charging extra in the name of health-care benefits, but which end up spending less than a third of what they allocate. The data come from forms that restaurants filed with the city, which the Journal obtained under California’s public records law. No restaurant mentioned in this article disputed the data.

Wayfare Tavern, the downtown restaurant owned by celebrity chef Tyler Florence, says on its menu that it adds 3.5% to every bill to cover health-care costs. Last year, it earmarked $63,724 for health care but only spent $6,013, the city data show. Café Flore, which adds 35 cents to every bill in the name of health care, spent nothing on health expenses for its employees last year. Trademark, which has a 3.5% surcharge, also spent nothing on employee health expenses last year, the data show.

Worse, this appears to be an intentional way to skirt the law:

In most cases, the plans are administered by a third party. Some of these companies tout how HRAs are a loophole around the San Francisco Heath Care Ordinance. “If the funds are not needed (And many are not!!!) the employer wins because the unused funds stay with them…not the City,” says a brochure from BeneFlex HR Resources Inc.

BeneFlex ensures restaurants inform workers about the HRA to “make sure it’s handled the way it’s supposed to,” says Mark Schmersahl, the firm’s vice president. Still, he says, “There are going to be times when the employer comes out ahead.”

I recognize that the city puts a lot of demands on small business, and a lot of them are expensive — and again, if a restaurant owner has to raise prices a few percentage points to pay for health insurance, I’ll pay — that’s the price of eating out in San Francisco.

But this isn’t how the health-care law was supposed to work — and it’s the reason Sup. David Campos is trying to change it. Campos has a bill that would stop employers from keeping money that was supposed to go for health care. “It’s also a consumer-protection law,” Campos told me. “People are being defrauded here.”

The death penalty: How close, how far

Zelda Bronstein
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The death penalty: How close, how far

The Chronicle didn’t even put the news on the front page (although The New York Times did), but the execution of Troy Davis went forward more or less as scheduled Sept. 21, with news media around the world watching. It was a shameful miscarriage of justice; as the Times noted in an editorial:

Seven of nine witnesses against Mr. Davis recanted after trial. Six said the police threatened them if they did not identify Mr. Davis. The man who first told the police that Mr. Davis was the shooter later confessed to the crime. There are other reasons to doubt Mr. Davis’s guilt: There was no physical evidence linking him to the crime introduced at trial, and new ballistics evidence broke the link between him and a previous shooting that provided the motive for his conviction.

Yes the Georgia courts, and the federal courts, and the United States Supreme Court, let the state kill Davis — and now it’s too late to prove his innocence. That, of course, is the most horrible aspect of the death penalty. It’s also cruel, expensive and pointless.

But there’s a bit of good news, at least in California. I’m convinced that sentiment is changing. We’ve been interviewing candidates for San Francisco sheriff and district attorney over the past two weeks — and I can tell you, while San Francisco isn’t a good reflection of the state as a whole, attitudes among law-enforcement types in this town have changed pretty dramatically over the past ten years or so.

In 1999, Matt Gonzalez, Bill Fazion and Terence Hallinan all ran for district attorney, and Gonzales came in third. Fazio — a veteran prosecutor and tough-on-crime type, went to Gonzalez and sought his endorsment in the runoff. Gonzalez said he’d support him — if Fazio would agree never to seek the death penalty. It was a pretty easy call, since no San Francisco jury is ever going to vote for capital punishment anyway — but Fazio refused. He insisted that he was a death-penalty supporter to the end, and he lost the race.

Now, Fazio says the death penalty is a complete failure, and he would not only never seek it but he’s actively in favor of repealing it.

Just a few months ago, former police chief and current D.A. George Gascon was talking about how the death penatly ought to be one of a prosecutor’s tools — but now he utterly disavows is, says he would never seek it and is calling for repeal.

Chris Cunnie, a former president of the avowedly pro-death-penalty Police Officers Association, told us he opposes capital punishment.

And Kamala Harris, who never wavered in her refusal to seek the death penalty, even for the killing of a cop, managed to get elected attorney general of California.

So there’s hope.

 

 

Other Cinema remembers Helen Hill with “The Florestine Collection”

Sue Vaughan
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Other Cinema remembers Helen Hill with “The Florestine Collection”

Other Cinema kicks off its fall 2011 season Sat/24 with a bittersweet program: the local premiere of Helen Hill‘s The Florestine Collection — her last film, left unfinished after her 2007 death, completed thanks to the dedicated efforts of her husband, Paul Gailiunas. Hill was only 36 when she was shot to death by an intruder (still unidentified) who broke into her New Orleans, LA home; her husband was injured but survived, and the couple’s toddler thankfully escaped unharmed.

South Carolina-born Hill made her first film at age 11, attended Harvard for undergrad, and received her MFA from California Institute of the Arts. Her unique animation techniques (including cut-out puppets) drew from the fairy-tale works of groundbreaking German animator Lotte Reiniger (whose remarkable filmography stretched from the 19-teens up through the 1970s) as well as DIY methods like hand-processing. She was continually inspired by her adopted hometown of New Orleans, as well as her chosen activist causes, including Food Not Bombs and animal rights. She also created the 2001 reference tome Recipes for Disaster: a Handcrafted Film Cookbooklet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7ReG3l_9fM

Hill’s upbeat, friendly attitude (“I love New Orleans!”) and excitement at helping to set up the New Orleans Film Collective (you can also catch a glimpse of her pet potbellied pig!) are evident in this 2003 interview with Timecode: NOLA. The Florestine Collection was inspired by a particularly special day in 2001 (detailed in this interview with Gailiunas) when Hill discovered some 100 handmade dresses discarded after the recent death of an elderly seamstress. Hill’s reaction (per the article: “‘This is the best trash-pile find in the world!’ she exclaimed”) was followed by curiosity about the woman’s identity; the film reflects her findings. Joy and wonder, it seems, were two of Hill’s most accessible emotions — and despite her tragic, terrible death, her work lives on to inspire other creative thinkers and free spirits.

Other Cinema’s program also includes a slew of work by other experimental animators, including Martha Colburn, Kelly Sears, Jim Trainor, Janie Geiser, and more; the fall season runs through Dec. 17 and includes nights dedicated to such diverse topics as Muzak, Mexico and Canada, eco-horror films, social media, and Marshall McLuhan. In other words, fans of strange and unusual cinema: your Saturday nights are set until 2012.

Sat/24, 8:30 p.m., $6
Artists’ Television Access
992 Valencia, SF
www.othercinema.com

The Performant: The mundane sublime

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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Park(ing) and Fold {Live} were far from humdrum

It’s the little things. The things we do over and over again—the automatic, the routine, the de rigueur, the rote—that we need to find ways to celebrate above all, because every moment past could be a moment wasted, or a moment redeemed. But as with conceptual artist Kate Pocrass’ long-running Mundane Journeys project, sometimes the moment needs to be curated in order to be illuminated. That principle got some play over the past weekend with Park(ing) Day and Surabhi Suraf’s “Fold {Live}” installation, two very different projects which nonetheless served to turn the most banal of routines into conscious acts.

On Friday, the mundane act of feeding the meter was celebrated with the now-worldwide annual tradition of Park(ing) Day. Though it was occasionally difficult to tell Parks from Parklets, the Valencia corridor was a hopping Park(ing) Day hotspot, with hay bales and a live sheep parked out front Ritual Coffee, a proto-type vertical garden in front of Range, and a green-roofed doghouse in front of Thrifttown. My favorite concept was a little more scaled back yet more performative: a fundraiser for the Prison Yoga Project spearheaded by Mariah Rooney, whose streetside yoga lessons provided both visual and physical stimulation for passerby. Thank goodness for yoga mats, because there wasn’t much else protecting participants from the asphalt jungle, but there was no sign of discomfort marring the serene faces of the stretchers. Down wiggle way, aka Fell Street, the Wigg Party had set out cushions and camp chairs, and were plying people with tea and books of esoterica from founder Morgan Fitzgibbons’ collection. There was still plenty of traffic, and one bargain hunter who wanted to browse the selection of cushions, but the Wigg party’s little oasis of tranquility held strong though the day, despite the wind and uncomprehending cars rushing past.

Sunday at four p.m., a small group gathered expectantly in front of the Federal Building on the corner of Seventh and Mission to bear witness to the second of four “Fold {Live}” performances, conceptualized and choreographed by recent transplant Surabhi Saraf. Based on her 2010 video project Fold, “Fold {Live}” took the familiar act of folding the laundry and turned it into a group meditation. In silence, nine participants entered the staging ground, collapsible laundry totes in hand, and sat streetside on the round cement “stumps” built as if with this very performance in mind. Carefully, fluidly, each took from their tote a black shirt and began to fold them, in unison, with methodical care. A pair of inside-out jeans followed, which each performer first pulled rightside-out with slow, steady motions, and then gently folded them into little squares. Gradually, particularly in the case of colorful, billowing scarves which made a couple of appearances, the work took on an aesthetic cast which solitary laundry-folding rarely seems to embody, but essentially could.

Like any mundane moment, there is always the potential to turn it into something more meaningful. The hows and whys are up to us.

SEX ISSUE: Fun with cover model Leo Forte

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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Photographer Matthew Reamer and Art Director Mirissa Neff had a steamy Sex Issue cover shoot with strapping adult performer Leo Forte last week. Rrroaw!

Leo — a self-proclaimed Latin musclepup, up-and-coming porn star, and jack of all trades — is part of the Kink.com kingdom (we’re partcularly fond of his work on the Naked Kombat series), has appeared in several flicks from Raging Stallion studios, and will be appearing at the huge Falcon Studios 40th anniversary party at Mezzanine, which looks kind of sexy-scary!

Check out more pics of Leo above — and grab a hard copy (tee hee) of the Sex Issue, out now on the streets. If you see him at the Folsom Street Fair, he might autograph it for you!

Going bare? Get your official Butt Guardian here!

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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Going bare? Get your official Butt Guardian here!

Whether you’re a fulltime nudist or a mere Folsom Street Fair tourist who suddenly finds yourself bereft of tush-covering after a hot dom cat-whips the ass of your fancy jeans off (“insta-chaps”) — you’ll want to print out one of our official SFBG Butt Guardians to comply with Supervisor Scott Weiner’s proposal that bare butts be placed on some sort of suitable covering in order for public nudity to remain lawful in San Francisco.

Weiner is attempting to soothe the heebie jeebies induced in some shrinking violets about stray hairs and other hysterical anal imaginings covering the seats of our fair city in the Castro and beyond. And we want to help. Print out this handy Butt Guardian PDF or grab a current copy of the Bay Guardian on the streets in order to sit pretty without leaving any nitty gritty. See — our paper isn’t just for wrapping fish and lining birdcages after all.

PS: Look for us at the Castro Nude-In at noon on Saturday and the Foslom Street Fair on Sunday where we’ll be passing out a fancy towel version of the Butt guardian. it’s assouvenir!

 

Hot sexy events: September 21-27

Andrew Lam
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Pretty much, today’s whole paper is a hog-tied, historical, self-confessional smutfest of San Franciscan proportions. It only makes sense, because I dare say this week of sex events will reach levels of debauchery that even the City by the Bay can be happily ashamed of. 

Yep, it’s the Folsom Street Fair sex events column! Including things that aren’t Folsom Street Fair also, like Mission Control’s genderqueer play party, a Good Vibes film fest, and an art exhibition that’ll leave you panting.

Indie Erotic Film Fest short film competition and party

The culmination of a week of alternative porno presentations, tonight’s docket includes short blue films from around the world – something for everyone in this wild and wooly world of voyeurs. But cum early – the pre-screening party in the top floor of the Castro is gonna be balls, or at least mustaches. There’s a mustachio-ed photobooth and even more titillating, burlesque dancing courtesy of Twilight Vixen Review. 

Thu/22 party 7 p.m., screenings 8 p.m., $10 each

Castro Theatre

429 Castro, SF

(415) 621-6120

www.gv-ixff.org

 

Steam does Folsom

Get squeaky-durty at this installment of Steam, the SoMa bathouse resurrection party. So many ways to play: enter into the wet towel contest ($100 prize for the best terrycloth tease), massages for $1 per minute, cheap drinks, cheaper go-gos, and hard crusing into the kinkiest weekend in the Bay. Tunes by Honey Soundsystem’s DJ Peeplay help you get some. 

Fri/23 9 p.m.-2 a.m., $8 cover to benefit the SF Bay Area Leukemia and Lymphoma Society

Powerhouse 

1347 Folsom, SF

Facebook: Steam Does Folsom

 

San Francisco erotic art exhibition

From the candy-coated gazes of Yancy Mendoza’s models to the unique sextaur sculpture stylings of Peter Keresztury, there will be enough images of penetration, playtime, and penis at this group art exhibition to merit a stopover in your weekend of hedonism rendered art. 

Fri/23, 4-9 p.m.; Sat/24, 1-9 p.m.; Sun/25, noon-5 p.m., free 

The Artists Alley

863 Mission, SF

www.eroticartevents.com


Velvet

Play in the SF girls of Leather “fungeon,” and have a genderqueer good time overall at Mission Control’s queer-trans-boi-butch-femme puppy pile. Scenes from the Crash Pad Series will be playing all night to ensure that you’ve got inspiration for all the naughty things you’re about to do to your alt sex cupcake. 

Fri/23 8 p.m.-2 a.m., $20 Mission Control members only

Mission Control

www.missioncontrolsf.org


Show Me Where it Hurts

Sardine-pack into a crowd of the hottest, kinkiest dykes on the scene at this free party at the Lex. But dress to impress: Elizabeth and Buck Wilder are performing, DJs Jenna Riot and Durt are spinning… you’ll wanna look whip-smart at the night’s fetish-uniform costume contest. 

Sat/24 9 p.m., free

Lexington Club

3464 19th St., SF

www.lexingtonclub.com


Folsom Street Fair

400,000 fetish fans packed into 13 sunny city blocks – the mother of all fetish fairs takes over SF this weekend. Check for hard-bodied, sweaty-fisted action all over the place, but also the annual erotic artist’s corner and two stages of live music all day. Oh and hey, for a rad look at women’s role at the fair over the years, check out Amber Schadewald’s cover story on the SF girls of Leather from early this summer. 

Sun/25 11 a.m.-6 p.m., $10 suggested donation

Folsom between Seventh and 12th sts., SF

www.folsomstreetfair.org


Deviants: Official Folsom Street Fair after-party

There’s gonna be so much bump and grind at this union of Honey Sound System, Some Thing, and Hard French DJ crews that your harness will go bald. It’s only right – a minutes-long stumble from the main event in SoMa today gets you to the Erie Street cul-de-sac that Public Works looms over. Today, it’ll be blocked off for a outdoors-indoors party that have you screaming for more. The party features the hostessing powers of Sex Issue star Princess Donna http://bit.ly/oQu9mn and a photo confession booth staffed by queer porn maven Courtney Trouble. 

Sun/25 3 p.m.-4 a.m., $20-30

Public Works 

161 Erie, SF

www.publicsf.com

 

 

Free at last

Sasha Cuttler And Mary Magee
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An ordeal lasting more than two years for Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal came to an end in Iran today, when the two 29-year-old University of California Berkeley grads were freed at last from Tehran’s Evin Prison.

CNN reports that Bauer and Fattal were transported from the Iranian prison to an international airport just before nightfall, accompanied by Swiss and Omani officials. They were bound for Muscat, the Omani capital, where arrangements had been made for them to meet with their families and Sarah Shourd, Bauer’s fiancee, who was arrested along with them in July of 2009 while on a hiking trip in Iraqi Kurdistan. Shourd was released in what Iran characterized as a humanitarian gesture last year, after spending 410 days in solitary confinement.

“Today can only be described as the best day of our lives,” a statement from the families said in response to the news that they had finally been released. “We have waited for nearly 26 months for this moment and the joy and relief we feel at Shane and Josh’s long-awaited freedom knows no bounds. We now all want nothing more than to wrap Shane and Josh in our arms, catch up on two lost years and make a new beginning, for them and for all of us.”

Last month, Bauer and Fattal were convicted of spying and illegally entering the country and sentenced to eight years in prison each, despite a lack of evidence and repeated statements by President Barack Obama that they had never worked for the U.S. government.

Yet human rights activists advocating for their release have characterized the Iranian government’s decision to continue holding them as a political tactic to begin with, and some observers didn’t take the outcome of the trial at face value.

The fact that they stood trial after two years of being detained was interpreted as potentially a positive signal by some supporters advocating for their release.
News of their conviction and harsh eight-year sentences also brought kernels of hope, ironically, for some who speculated that the severe outcome of their trial might figure into a broader plan to grant their pardon, setting the Iranian government up for an opportuinity to take credit on the world stage for a merciful act just as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad headed to the United States for the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

However, unexpected delays and hints that the hikers were caught up amid an internal power struggle in Iran kept friends and supporters in a state of agonizing suspense over the past week. On Sept. 13, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stated publicly that Bauer and Fattal could be freed “in a couple of days.”
 
But that statement had come to nothing by Sept. 16, when supporters from the Bay Area gathered in San Francisco in hopes that an announcement would be made. The following day, reports surfaced that an Iranian lawyer trying to free them was waiting on the signature of a judge who was on vacation until Sept. 20 before their release could go forward.

Bauer and Fattal were released on $1 million bail, a sum CNN reported was paid by the Omani government.

Bauer, Fattal and Shourd are social-justice advocates, antiwar activists, writers, environmentalists, travelers, and creative thinkers with deep ties to the Bay Area. Shourd and Bauer had been living in Syria when they joined with Fattal, who was visiting, and embarked on the ill-fated hiking trip in Iraqi Kurdistan in July of 2009. Shourd, who lives in Oakland, was teaching English to Iraqi refugees when she was in Syria, as well as practicing some journalism. Fattal, who taught at Aprovecho — an education center in Oregon focused on sustainability and permaculture — had been traveling to India, South Africa, and other places through the International Honors Program to lead workshops on health and sustainable technology before visiting his friends in Syria.

Bauer wrote for publications such as The Nation, Mother Jones, and the Christian Science Monitor, and the San Francisco Bay Guardian. A photojournalist who has won multiple awards and had his work published internationally, he’s documented stories ranging from tenant conditions in San Francisco SROs to conflict-ridden regions in Africa and the Middle East.

Their imprisonment prompted an international response. Calls for their release were issued by Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, human rights activists, religious leaders, authors, celebrities, and hundreds of supporters who wrote letters, displayed banners, and raised money for efforts pushing for their release. A host of family members, friends, and supporters organized under an effort called Free the Hikers worked steadily to free them, and their long-anticipated reunion with Bauer and Fattal has finally arrived.

Maximum Consumption: Rhubarb Whiskey pairings

Tony Robles
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Booze-soaked bluegrass, could there be anything more befitting for this time of year, on this plot of land? San Francisco is finally warm, if only for the week, so enjoy it while it lasts. Sit on your front porch (read: stairwell or fire escape), whip up a naturally-infused whiskey cocktail, then listen to the rough and tough Americana songs of Oakland’s own, Rhubarb Whiskey. Or you can check out the band live this Friday, Sept. 23 at the Plough and the Stars.

With harder-edged takes on folk, it’s got the auditory sensation of dragged chains through fiddle, railroad spike on accordion, ominous train horns a-coming through the fog, perked up with plucked mandolin. A jug in hand seems almost mandatory at this point. For Maximum Consumption, I asked Rhubarb Whiskey – which includes Boylamayka Sazerac, Emchy, and Sizzle La Fey – to pair their songs (all of which you can hear on their Bandcamp page) with the appropriate whiskey. They did me one better and gave helpful explanations, and a recipe for their specially concocted namesake recipe at the end.

Track: “We All Come to the Same Place” paired with  Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey
Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey – sweet smooth with some hints of caramel and smoke on the finish – it sounds like roughing it, but really it’s all about the most sweet and comfortable moments.

Track: “Whiskey Neat” paired with Jim Beam Rye
While this song about trying to get with a girl at a show but getting into a fight instead even mentions 18-year-old scotch, it’s really more of a rough and tumble Jim Beam Rye sort of feel. Spicy, pissed off, and feeling like you’re gonna have a good time raising hell with your broke-ass friends.

Track: “Bears in the Lot” paired with Wild Turkey
This song also name checks a booze but this time it hits the nail on the head – if you’re stranded and heartbroken in an Alaskan bar with rogue bears, it has to be a Wild Turkey night.

Track: “Night Jasmine” paired with Sazerac Rye with Fee Brother’s Rhubarb Bitters
This murder ballad set in a Louisiana swamp has to have the dark liquid vice of Sazerac Rye Whiskey with the sour seedy and slightly sweet undertones from Rhubarb Bitters. While the whiskey is upfront, smooth, and mysteriously seductive, the rhubarb undertones will pull you into the bitey lusty flavor – and you know that while the drink is tasty it’s going to be a dangerous night.

Track: “Whiskey in the Afternoon” paired with Bulleit Rye
This song is all about what happens when the drinking gets away from you. When the heart of the song is about having your whiskey all day long, we have to speak from the experience of the recording itself and go with Bulleit Rye.

Track: “Go Away” paired with Jameson
A sweet and true love song about drinking on the beach, hopping trains, and stowing away on ships. It’s gotta be Jameson for this one. The booze had to travel to get to the wayfaring lovers but it keeps ’em warm and cozy while they’re barreling forward on those windy boxcars.

Track: “Sorrows Drowned” paired with Maker’s Mark
This was the first song the band ever wrote. Dark, drunken and pissed off it’s the song you stomp and slur along to at last call while you’re finishing that last Maker’s of the night and still just wanting one more.

Final note from the band:
“Lastly of course we have to get to the name Rhubarb Whiskey itself. We love to play music, make food together, and we hella love our rye whiskey, so as soon as the band was formed we knew that we needed to channel our inner boozahol super powers and come up with somethin’ special.”

Adding, “Since Emchy is a big fan of cooking rhubarb pie she went ahead and tried making some rhubarb simple syrup. Add that to some rye whiskey with an ice cube or three and you’ve got yourself a Rhubarb Whiskey.”

Official Recipe
Rhubarb Simple Syrup
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 cup peeled and chopped rhubarb
Boil 1 cup of water, add 1 cup sugar, stir until sugar is completely dissolved, add 1 cup coarsely chopped and peeled rhubarb, lower water to a simmer, let simmer covered for one hour. Put into glass mason jar to cool and then refrigerate. Let sit at least one hour (a full day is better for flavor).

Once your rhubarb simple syrup is cool, add one part syrup to two parts rye whiskey (brand of your choice but don’t go too high end, that insults the whiskey and brings bad luck — we suggest Beam Rye or Makers if you need to get a little fancy). 1-3 ice cubes recommended. Now put on your favorite murder ballads album, drink up, and be careful — it goes down a little too easy.

Record Release Party
With Rhubarb Whiskey, 5 Cent Coffee, and Plasterkatz
Fri/23, 8 p.m., $10
The Plough and the Stars
116 Clement, SF
www.theploughandthestars.com

 

On the eve of our 45th anniversary–a new progressive agenda

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(The new progressive agenda is at the bottom of this blog.)

In our second issue of Nov. 1, 1966, the Guardian endorsed then Gov. Pat Brown over Ronald Reagan in what we called “the most important gubernatorial election in California history.” We wrote in a front page editorial that “the repudiation of Brown and the election of Reagan would mean that a generation of progressive legislation—in medicare, in education, in welfare, in conservation, in water resources, in bringing to account the dreadful problems of growth, population and sprawl—would be in grave jeopardy.”

We were much too prescient when we wrote that “Reagan rides the crest of the latest Califorrnia breakers of ‘conservation’–like Gatsby, it looks for fulfillment in another time–”boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” Reagan’s stands, we noted, “typify the temper of this cause: he is on record at various times, in opposition to the progressive income tax, social security, medicare, the anti-poverty program, farm subsidies, TVA, the city rights act, the voting rights, public housing, federal aid to education and veterans housing for other than service-connected disabilities”

And we asked the obvious question: “How can a man or a movement govern the state of California, from 1966-70, with such a political philosophy?”

Well, Reagan won, he became governor and then president and it seems as if the Guardian has ever since been fighting Reaganonics in one form or another and its deadly legacy of deregulation, ever  lower taxes, laissez-faire economics, ever higher  fees for California colleges, the me-first-and-last  culture, the pernicious idea that government is the problem and  that corporate interests are the solution, on  and on. It’s still the case and we point to the concluding Guardian forum on issues for the mayor’s race.

It’s Wednesday night (9/21) at the LGBT Center. All but one of the major mayoral candidates will be there (Mayor Ed Lee has not confirmed). And the candidates will be asked whether they support key elements of the new progressive agenda developed by several progressive organizations in five forums over the past several months. An independent blue ribbon all-star panel of experts will judge whether the would-be mayors answered yes, no—or waffled. It should be lively, fun,  instructive, and very San Franciscan.  On guard! B3

See you there: Wednesday, Sept. 2l, from 6 to 7:30 p.m., at the LGBT Center, 1800 Market St., (at Octavia) in San Francisco. And here’s the new progressive agenda: http://www.sfbg.com/2011/09/13/new-progressive-agenda

 

 

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