SFBG Blogs

Free Farm Stand faces an uncertain fall harvest after call from Rec and Parks Department

Andrew Lam
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Every Sunday at the Parque Niños Unidos in the Mission, an eager group of people gather to receive free, organic food from the Free Farm Stand. The incredible project has been going on since since 2008 and has to date given out almost 17,000 pounds of fresh produce.

This is the brainchild of Tree Rub, a volunteer who started the project “to create a network of neighbors and local farmers who grow fruit, vegetables, and flowers and share their surplus with the community and especially with those in need.” But last Sunday Tree announced that the SF Recreation and Parks Department had received two complaints that the Free Farm Stand is “having a negative impact on the park.”

He was also informed that the group would need a permit for its tent, which it set up to protect to food and volunteers from the sun. Tree says he applied for a permit in 2008 but “never heard back” from authorities.

Sometime the produce that’s given out is extremely ripe and almost past it’s peak, but the savvy San Franciscans who receive the Free Farm Stand’s food (the bounty can include heirloom tomatoes and sun-kissed white peaches) are happy to take the time to can and preserve them. The stand not only creates access to extremely nutritious foods, it saves them from getting composted. Tree also distributes organic seedlings so that people can grow their own veggies and then share any surplus they might have with the community — a feedback loop of neighbors nourishing each other.

I contacted the permits office at SF Rec and Park to ask about the future of the Free Farm Stand and got a message back from Dana Ketcham, the permits and reservations manager.

According to Ketcham, her office doesn’t want to shut down the Free Farm Stand, but employees there “have received complaints that families feel overwhelmed by the crowds as they use this park with their children.”

As of two weeks ago, people waited in line outside of the park, and were only actually in the park when receiving produce. Since the lines have gotten long, last Sunday a new system had been implemented in which numbers are handed out so that people can relax in the grass until it their turn to get food.

Ketcham said that parks are “not authorized places for distribution of food” and “that we needed to give the organizer time to find a new location.” The Free Farm Stand has until October 15th to find an alternative location.

As a long time patron of the Free Farm Stand, this came as very sad news. Tree has created an amazing community that feels like a gigantic potluck. You can meet up with friends and enjoy the sunshine there, in addition to getting fresh food for dinner.

Ketcham suggested the Free Farm Stand re-locate to an “empty parking lot” in her email to me. That plan would mar the beauty of having the stand alongside a community garden where people sometimes wander while they wait and are able to relax in the shade of a tree.

I made of a video of the Free Farm Stand right when it opened, back when it was still a pretty small operation. Tree was handing out jars of honey from his personal bee hives and sprouts. Now, there’s the Free Farm and more than 200 people receiving food each week. It would be a horrible loss to San Francisco if Free Farm Stand disappears.

If you know of any locations where the Free Farm Stand might be able to re-locate, please contact Tree at: iamtree99@gmail.com.

 

Portland scene clocked by Time Based Arts Festival

Sue Vaughan
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Portland scene clocked by Time Based Arts Festival

Just up the coast, the contemporary art binge that is Portland Institute of Contemporary Art’s (PICA) ninth Time Based Art Festival (TBA) bubbled with fluidity and openness as the resounding spirit. From September 8-18 that fluidity and openness occurred between contemporary art practices, between the city and the art, between performers and audience members, between onstage and offstage. Not only addressing current global issues, the festival embraced the increasingly porous walls between art disciplines and outside fields, collapsing the container for presenting art experiences.

Under the direction of Cathy Edwards (also the Director of Performance Programs at New Haven’s International Festival of Arts and Ideas and formerly of Dance Theater Workshop and Movement Research), TBA employs a nomadic citywide platform requiring attendees to explore nooks and crannies with eleven main venues spread throughout the four quadrants of Portland. PICA headquarters the festival at the closed Washington High School called “The Works,” a hub for the round-the-clock possibilities including morning workshops with the TBA artists, noontime salons, afternoon happenings, evening performances and late night activity with a beer garden for gathering, digesting and discussing. The clear nights, lush nature, industrial pockets, culinary delights and bike-friendliness that accompany the festival indeed dovetail with the tastes of many San Francisco residents, and help make TBA a ten-day utopia for art lovers.

“The TBA Festival future-forecasts important aesthetic developments,” writes Edwards in the program, and the performances do, in fact, ripple out, with a handful of the TBA artists appearing recently and upcoming in San Francisco. On the opening day of the festival, Shantala Shivalingappa performed solos by her mentors Ushio Amagatsu (of Sankai Juku) and Pina Bausch. Catch her in San Francisco with a Kuchipudi program at the Herbst Theater November 1, presented by San Francisco Performances.

Also coming to town this season, the Portland-based company tEEth appears at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts’ Left Coast Leaning Festival, December 1-3. Directed by choreographer Angelle Herbert and composer Phillip Kraft, tEEth performed Home Made at TBA, an intimate work with live-feed video, haunting vocals, and plenty of nudity. In the push-pull between hostility and tenderness, hostility dominated the stage for the majority of the work, demonstrating missed connections and relationship struggle with silent and amplified screams, as well as quick-morphing theatrical expressions.

Kyle Abraham, who appeared in San Francisco during the 2011 Black Choreographers Festival with his work-in-process Live! The Realest MC, brought a further developed version of that solo, as well as his full-length work The Radio Show to the festival with his company Abraham.In.Motion. His technique, illuminated during a TBA Institute class, unfolded as a fast-moving mashup of postmodern movement, incorporating influences from New York teacher Kevin Wynn, Merce Cunningham and, naturally, the swift and luscious language of Abraham’s own body.

Taylor Mac, having recently completed his San Francisco run of the epic The Lily’s Revenge, performed his first cabaret at the festival, Comparison is Violence or Ziggy Stardust Meets Tiny Tim Songbook. Highlighting the human tendencies to bring an agenda to the theater and resist audience participation, Mac interrupted himself for a dramatic song here, a David Bowie story there, and, in the end, had the audience on their feet for a mime routine dancing in imaginary bubblegum bubbles.

These are just a handful of the performances that occurred during the ten days in Portland. Augmented by the evening’s natural fade from light to darkness, the Offsite Dance Project, in three parts by Japanese choreographers, immersed witnesses in the playful with Mika Arashiki and Mari Fukutome, the complex with Yukio Suzuki and the disorienting with Yoko Higashino. A train actually ran through the site-specific work, featuring the dance of the city. The program used sites in Southeast Portland’s industrial district for fresh remix of the surroundings.

Austin’s Rude Mechs performed The Method Gun, a theater work based on A Streetcar Named Desire, and gave a talk at the TBA Institute discussing the consensus necessary to create devised work with their group of thirty artists. Additionally, Malina Rodriguez’s Dance Truck – a mobile project that uses the back of a rental truck as a stage – made an appearance from Atlanta. Participatory games by artist Michael Groisman stirred the crowds at Washington High several afternoons. Andrew Dinwiddle’s Get Mad at Sin revisited a 1971 Alabama sermon by Pentecostal preacher Jimmy Swaggart performed in a tent at dusk. Add to that a 24-hour monologue by Mike Daisey, an installation and performance by Seattle-based Zoe|Juniper, and visit from French choreographer Rachid Ouramdance L’A, and you get a sense of the possibilities at TBA.

This year marked a leadership transition for the festival as Cathy Edwards ends her three-year tenure as guest artistic director, passing the torch to San Francisco export and former Yerba Buena Center for the Arts performing arts curator, Angela Mattox. Mattox will remain in Portland year-round (unlike previous directors) expanding PICA’s performing arts programming. While the dates for next year’s TBA are, well, TBA, San Francisco art lovers should plan a jaunt up the coast next September – just a quick flight or ride-share away.

Eclectic al fresco: Video picks from this weekend’s Bay Vibes Fest

Andrew Lam
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Judging from the gentleman blowing washing machine-sized bubbles at Dolo yesterday, it’s summer in San Francisco. Capitalize on the Ked-melting hit by hitting up one of the most local-local day long fests the city has to offer: the fourth annual Bay Vibes Festival, which is being held Sat/24 in the sunny Dogpatch patio of Cafe Cocomo. 

Need to brush up on your local talent? The mashup of genres on tap at Bay Vibes has the power to clue you into the Bay’s music scene in one fell swoop. The kawaii sitar trill of Gabby La La, the Latin-funk-hip-hop block party that is Bayonics, good-natured, furry hat-wearing world jams from Dogman Joe and cute boy cello playing by Alma Desnuda. We’ll make it easy for you to decide to go — videos after the jump.

Some of the talent taking the stage at Club Cocomo this Saturday: 

Gabby La La — “Alarm Clock”

Jethro Jeremiah — “Gust of Wind” (live at Mojo Cafe)

Alma Desnuda feat. Merton — “Baduquai”

La Gente — “Compromiso”

Antioquia — “Humans Do”

Bay Vibes Festival

Sat/24 2 p.m.-2 a.m., $15-100

Cafe Cocomo

650 Indiana, SF

www.bayvibessf.com

 

Endorsement Interviews: David Chiu

Zelda Bronstein
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131
Endorsement Interviews: David Chiu

Board President and mayoral candidate David Chiu could well be the person most directly hurt by Mayor Ed Lee’s decision to run for a full term. It’s ironic, since Chiu supported Lee — on the basis that the former city administrator would not be a candidate in November. And he has the inside story on why Lee is in the race: According to Chiu, Lee told him that he didn’t really want to run, but “was having trouble saying no to Willie Brown and Rose Pak.”

Chiu has been in the center of the current board, moving away from progressives on some key issues — but he’s talking very much a progressive line in his campaign. He’s promising business tax reforms, transit justice, affordable housing and new revenue. Audio and video after the jump.

Chiu by endorsements2011

Localized Appreesh: The 21st Century

Tony Robles
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Localized Appreesh is our weekly thank-you column to the musicians that make the Bay. Each week a band/music-maker with a show, album release, or general good news during those seven days is highlighted and spotlit. To be considered, contact emilysavage@sfbg.com.

Last fall, eclectic new folk act the 21st Century was given the opportunity of a lifetime: a chance to record with legendary producer Stephen Short  (the former owner of Trident Studios who has worked with David Bowie, the Clash, Paul McCartney, Queen, Echo and the Bunnymen et. al.). The Bay Area eight-to-nine piece was thrilled but too broke to cover all the costs of making the album, plus, there were travel commitments (Short is based in Texas).

The forward-thinking futurists harnessed modern technology: they set up a Kickstarter page. With the $10,000+ funding in place (thanks to 187 backers), the band recorded late last  year, and the album will be released in November. Before that release, however, the 21st Century will play a show as part of the ongoing Mission Creek Music and Art Festival.

Year and location of origin: 2010, SAN FRANCISCO/OAKLAND/BERKELEY
Band name origin: The name originates from a few different places. One is ambition. We’re an eight (and occasionally a nine) piece with orchestrated horns and four part harmonies and a couple of kitchen sinks so we wanted to name ourselves in a way that reflected that bold and without limits musical attitude. We also felt that we’d spent much of our lives hearing our times and our generation defined for us in ways that we didn’t relate to so we thought why don’t we take a stab at it and have a say in the matter. Hence THE 21ST CENTURY. Oh and I also remember hearing Elvis Costello saying that he named himself after the two largest acts he could think of — a pretty gutsy move. I thought — now that’s a good idea, but let’s raise him one.
Band motto: Unofficially, it’s probably ‘What would Bruce Springsteen Do?”
Description of sound in 10 words or less: Intricate arrangements, colorful harmonies, brass, lyrical surrealism and off-beat pop sensibility.
Instrumentation: Electric, Acoustic and bass guitars, drums, keys, horns, lots of percussion and lots of singing.
Most recent release: THE CITY, Coming Soon…November 2011.
Best part about life as a Bay Area band: People want to be friends.
Worst part about life as a Bay Area band: The bars and clubs close too early. 2 a.m.? Come on.
First record/cassette tape/or CD ever purchased: The single of “Under Pressure” by David Bowie and Freddy Mercury. I thought I was getting Vanilla Ice.
Most recent record/cassette tape/CD/or Mp3 purchased/borrowed from the Web: Wilco’s The Whole Love & Girls Father, Son, Holy Ghost.
Favorite local eatery and dish: Al Pastor at El Metate–dynamite.And the Cold House Noodles at Yamo.

Mission Creek Music and Art Festival
Ongoing through Sept. 30
Multiple venues through San Francisco and Oakland
www.mcmf.org

The 21st Century
Sept. 28, 9 p.m. $8
The New Parish
579 18th St., Oakl.
Event info

Live at the Starry Plough:

The mud flies

Zelda Bronstein
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The mud flies

Dennis Herrera is out with an ad attacking Ed Lee — and it’s just the beginning of what we’re going to see as the top-tier candidates try to knock the front-runner down.

All the credible polls show Lee at least 10 points out in front. They also show that he has about 30 percent of the voters — which means 70 percent are either undecided or like another candidate. So he’s hardly invincible.

But with so many candidates in the race — most of them competing in the mashup in the middle, without strikingly different policy ideas — the strategists for Leland Yee, Jeff Adachi and Herrera have all decided that attack ads are in order. And the ads all seem to have the same basic theme: Lee is controlled by outside interests.

“Ed Lee says he gets things done,” the new Herrera ad says. “But what’s he doing — and who’s he doing it for?”

There’s a picture of Lee and Rose Pak. There’s a swipe at the Central Subway. There’s a pretty damning charge about Lee trying to raise garbage rates and then getting campaign help from Recology, the local garbage monopoly. And there’s an obvious shot at Lee for calling PG&E “a great corporation.”

The ad ends with some odd Republican lapel pins on the jackets of some unidentified dark-suited gentlemen as the voice-over says:

“Ed Lee’s getting it done — for his friends and his contributors, not for us.”

Hmmm. I didn’t see the Republican connection, but Matt Dorsey, Herrera’s press person, told me that one of the independent expenditure committees raising soft money for Lee is run by a big Republican player. Not sure how many people will get that — but on the other hand, there’s just so much in this ad. The Herrera camp has to figure some of it will stick.

Nothing new, really,  nothing others haven’t brought up. But it’s just the start; expect a lot more trash talk over the next few weeks as Lee tries to stay above the fray and his opponents try to force him to fight.

 

Editorial: SF’s foreclosure crisis–the city shouldn’t put another penny in banks that are destroying San Francisco

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Here’s a great issue for the San Francisco mayor’s race: The big banks that the city uses to hold nearly half a billion in cash deposits are part of a group of financial institutions that are costing the taxpayers $115 million.

That’s the amount the city will wind up paying to cover the lost property taxes and other costs associated with home foreclosures, according to a new report. And the authors of the report, the Community Reinvestment Coalition and the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, estimate that San Francisco homeowners are going to lose a total of $6.9 billion in value because of the foreclosure crisis.

Most of the discussion around foreclosures has focused on the national picture — but there’s plenty the city can do.

The numbers are alarming: 16,355 San Francisco homeowners are underwater on their mortgages, meaning they owe more than the house is currently worth. By 2012, the report estimates, 12,410 local homes will be in foreclosure.

That means 12,400 families facing displacement — which adds to the homeless crisis, puts more pressure on the rental housing market and most likely will force many people who work in the city to find housing a long commute away.

Foreclosures also drive down the value of neighboring property — which means the city collects less property tax. The cost of sending deputy sheriffs out to evict families, of patrolling and monitoring vacant houses, dealing with increased crime in the area — all of that adds up. According to the report, every foreclosure costs the city $19,229. Add up the loss of property taxes and the direct costs to taxpayers and the bill exceeds $115 million.

Two of the top four banks involved in foreclosures in California are Wells Fargo and Bank of America. Those just happen to be two of the three banks that have to contract to handle the city’s cash accounts — which contain $406 million, according to an Aug. 16, 2011 report by Budget Analyst Harvey Rose. So the city is giving its money to banks that are costing the city money.

The banks aren’t paupers, either — and have accepted huge amounts of federal tax money. B of A and Wells together received $270 billion in bailout money — and both are now making nice profits (enough that the CEO of Wells, John Stumpf, earned $17 million last year). They can afford to write down the underwater mortgages and arrange for foreclosure relief for people behind on the bills.

The report suggests that the banks be charged a fee — between $10,000 and $20,000 — for each foreclosure. That would offset the costs and provide a disincentive for throwing families out on the street. The candidates for mayor ought to be pushing that — but the city can do more.

The supervisors ought to call a hearing on the crisis and demand that the B of A and Wells executives come down and explain why they’re moving so slowly on write-downs and relief. And they should be told, in very clear terms, that the city will no longer put a penny of its money in banks that are damaging, instead of investing in, San Francisco.

 

SFBG Radio: Beyond the Wall Street protests

Zelda Bronstein
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SFBG Radio: Beyond the Wall Street protests

Today we talk about the protests on Wall Street — and Johnny offers a more effective approach. Hint: It has to do with blaring out-of-tune techno music at rich people. You’ll have to listen after the jump to get the rest.

sfbgradio9192011 by endorsements2011

Endorsement interviews: John Avalos

Zelda Bronstein
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Endorsement interviews: John Avalos

Sup. John Avalos is running a grassroots progressive campaign for mayor. He is, he says, the only candidate talking about working-class people, and he wans to “create an administration that puts neighborhoods and people first.” He wants to create a municipal bank to use money the city now dumps into Wells Fargo and Bank of America for loans to small businesses and economic development. He told us that by the end of his eight years in office, he’d like to see the city bringing in $500 million a year in new revenue — for education, child care, Muni, parks, public health and other services. Check out the interview (audio and video) after the jump.

Avalos by endorsements2011

Endorsement interviews: Bill Fazio

Zelda Bronstein
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2
Endorsement interviews: Bill Fazio

Bill Fazio has been both a prosecutor and a defense lawyer — most recently working on the defense side — and his views on criminal justice have changed a bit since he first ran for District Attorney’s office in 1999. Back then, he was a supporter of the death penalty; today, he says it’s an expensive failure. He’s not a big fan of “buy busts,” and said he supports restorative justice (but in a limited way). He vowed to us that he’d appoint a team of investigators and prosecutors to go after municipal corruption. You can listen to the interview and watch the video after the jump.

Fazio by endorsements2011

 

The Chron’s bizarre tax logic

Zelda Bronstein
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32
The Chron’s bizarre tax logic

Chronicle Washington columnist Carolyn Lochhead doesn’t typically show her political beliefs in such a clear and direct way, but her attack on the Obama tax plan is just … bizarre. Check it out:

Rather than pursue long-run tax and entitlement reform, the new Obama plan, his sixth by some counts, litters up the tax code even more and does nothing significant on debt drivers Medicare and Medicaid.

Actually, the big “debt drivers” over the past two decades haven’t been Medicare and Medicaid, or even social security — the debt and deficit problem comes from (1) tax cuts on the rich and (2) wars. Remember, Bill Clinton left office with a budget surplus (even including entitlements, and even including projections for the baby boomers retiring and all the other panic buttons the GOP likes to push). Bush turned that into a staggering deficit by cutting taxes at the same time he went to war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

And “litter up the tax code?” That’s crazy talk. Obama wants to get rid of tax breaks that litter up the code.

More:

He re-iterated his call to end the Bush tax cuts on high earners, but keeps the rest of the Bush tax cuts which are a bushel of special tax breaks for the middle class.

What? The middle class has been slammed by the recession (and by 20 years of income moving almost entirely to the top 5% of the population). The only way out of this recession is to give the middle class more spending power.

I’m not defending everything Obama’s done (his willingness to extend the Bush tax cuts was part of the problem), but seriously: This is economics 101.

 

 

Guardian forum: The candidates on the issues

Zelda Bronstein
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Don’t miss the final Guardian forum on the mayor’s race — featuring the candidates. It’s going to be fun — so far, eight candidates have confirmed, and we’re going to ask them to talk about the progressive agenda that we’ve developed over the summer. Among other things, we’re going to ask the candidates whether they support some of the key elements of the program — and an independent blue-ribbon all-star panel of experts (not including me) will judge whether the would-by mayors answered yes, answered no — or waffled.

We’ll see you there.

6 p.m., Wed. Sept. 21, at the LGBT Center, Market and Octavia.

Endorsement interviews: Dennis Herrera

Zelda Bronstein
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Endorsement interviews: Dennis Herrera

Dennis Herrera has an interesting challenge: as city attorney, he’s been barred by law, legal ethics and custom from taking stands on a lot of the legislative and political issues facing the city. He couldn’t, for example, say he opposes a law that he might later have to defend in court. But now that he’s running for mayor, he’s liberated himself, and he’s started to talk about specific challenges facing the city.

Herrera told us he thinks this is the most important mayor’s race in the past 20 years and said that local government is going to have to play more of a role taking care of things that the federal and state governments will no longer do. He talked about the “culture of an organization” and his experience running a large office. He said that the city can’t cut its way out of its budget problems and he supports “additional revenues,” including a higher real-estate transfer tax, a more progressive payroll tax and (possibly) a commercial rent tax.

He supports an affordable housing bond — but wouldn’t call for a moratorium on market-rate housing and condo conversions.

Video and complete audio are after the jump.

Herrera by endorsements2011

Check yo’ head: “The Book of Skulls”

Sue Vaughan
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Check yo’ head: “The Book of Skulls”

Sure, it’s still only September, but in my mind (and at Walgreens, have you noticed?) it’s totally Halloween season. What better time to get your bony hands on The Book of Skulls (due in October from Laurence King Publishing, 160 pages, $14.95), Faye Dowling’s new compilation of all things Memento mori? The table of contents page is illustrated by San Francisco’s own Matt Furie, people. Get on this!

The strikingly-designed (dig the nifty “skeleton binding”) Book of Skulls packs a lot into its petite pages. Dowling, a “freelance editor, curator, and art buyer,” draws together a huge array of representations of skulls (in fine art, street art, fashion, rock n’ roll, etc.), all of them visually stirring but with different levels of spookiness.

Page through and you’ll find a Noel McLaughlin photograph of Paris’ catacombs; examples from Noah Scalin’s popular “Skull-A-Day” blog; Boo Davis of Quiltsrÿche‘s “evil quilts,” works by Shepard Fairy and Damien Hirst; plus giant skull skull-ptures, teeny skull minatures, Day of the Dead art, skull murals and graffiti, crystal skulls, jewel-encrusted skulls, skateboard skulls, skull tattoos, biker skulls, Grateful Dead skulls, the Misfits fiend, Skullphone (you know it), and Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood jewelry. (Blessedly, there’s no Ed Hardy.) The Book of Skulls isn’t your typical hefty art book — obviously, it’s aimed at a wider audience, and is potentially something you’d pick up and flip through while in line at Urban Outfitters. So what? It’s a thoughtfully-curated, great-looking book. Read it while eating your way though that bag of Creepy Peepers.  

Endorsement interviews: David Onek

Zelda Bronstein
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2
Endorsement interviews: David Onek

David Onek has been running for district attorney pretty much since former D.A. Kamala Harris announced she was seeking the office of attorney general. He’s clearly, repeatedly and strongly said he opposes capital punishment and will never seek the death penalty. He told us he’s running because “the criminal justice system is broken” — and vowed, among other things, to start a restorative justice system for juvenile offenders.  And although he’s never been a prosecutor, he told us that “we’ve been arresting and prosecuting people just fine — now we need to reform the system.”

You can see a video of his opening statement and listen to the full interview after the jump.

Onek by endorsements2011

 

 

 

 

Street Threads: Look of the Day

Andrew Lam
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0
Street Threads: Look of the Day

Today’s Look: Lea, Civic Center

Describe your fashion philosophy: “Whatever works.”

Localized Appreesh: Rank/Xerox

Tony Robles
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Localized Appreesh: Rank/Xerox

Some weeks feel so long (thanks a lot Week After Labor Day), you just need another spirited kick in the proverbial ass. So I give you, a second Localized Appreesh this week: Rank/Xerox. The San Francisco punk trio – known for its connections with bands such as Grass Widow (friends/split cassette tape output), and for its other creative endeavors (DIY labels, Web-based videozine Mondo Vision, eye-catching graphic illustrations) – comes from a long tradition of reputable underground punk and arty post-punk, much of which was hatched in San Francisco (Flipper) and London (Wire).

Rank/Xerox is made up of Australian singer-guitarist David West, Jon Shade, who taught himself to play drums for the band, and singer-bassist-illustrator Kevin McCarthy, who, along with Shade, is a former member of the now-disbanded party punk act, Jump off a Building. This weekend, Rank/Xerox celebrates the release of its new self-titled long-player, which was recorded by King Riff and Ty Segall, with a show at Hemlock Tavern.

Year and location of origin: Early 2009 in San Francisco.
Band name origin: Swiped from an old corporate merger, thought it sounded catchy.
Band motto: Stark and dark, bland not grand.
Description of sound in 10 words or less: Antiquated punk junk.
Instrumentation: Jon plays drums, David plays guitar and voice, Kevin plays bass and voice.
Most recent release: Brand new self-titled LP on Make A Mess Records, the Hemlock show on Saturday will actually be a release party of sorts… and a song on the new Maximum Rocknroll all-Bay Area band compilation LP called Noise Ordinance.
Best part about life as a Bay Area band: Getting mistaken for Don Nelson.
Worst part about life as a Bay Area band: Getting mistaken for Danielle Steel.
First record/cassette tape/or CD ever purchased: Jon – Ozzy, The Oz Man Cometh;  Kevin – Cyndi Lauper, True Colors;  David – The Dandy Warhols are Sound (a guess because he didn’t answer).
Most recent record/cassette tape/CD/or Mp3 purchased/borrowed from the Web: Jon – a copy of the Rat Columns 7″ was waiting for me on my bed when I got home, thanks David;  Kevin – Crazy Band Fuck You tape;  David – the Ovens new 7″ on Catholic Guilt (another question unanswered, another guess).
Favorite local eatery and dish: Golden Gate Indian Cuisine and Pizza on Judah. Best restaurant in the city, eat everything but the Italian dishes.

Rank/Xerox
With Kitchen’s Floor, Fat History Month, Yi
Sept. 10, 9:30 pm, $7
Hemlock Tavern
1131 Polk, SF
www.hemlocktavern.com
Facebook event

 

SF’s sluttiest blogger brings the sexy circus to town

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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SF’s sluttiest blogger brings the sexy circus to town

Forget clowns, acrobats, and bedazzled animals and step right up to a stage full of erotic stimulation, play, and perversion at Fleur De Lis SF’s Very Sexy Circus. The sex-positive blogger is throwing the big-top themed bash as a finale to the year she spent documenting her exploration of sex in this city, with the evening’s entertainment made up of the crazy pervs she met along the way. From BDSM eye-candy to bawdy comedy and hands-on educational demos, this show ain’t no tight-rope and monkey act. 

When the seventh of August rolled around last month, Fleur De Lis SF, a.k.a. Vanessa, said she was nearly in tears. It was the end of an era, a wild year of kissing (and/or sucking, fucking, teasing, experimenting, spanking, coming) and telling. She tried animal play, cracked the whip, attended super-secret parties, got dirty, played hard and worked hard, all for the sake of the blog… and personal exploration, of course. 

“The blog was a nice excuse to try things, but this year really helped me discover what I like and what I don’t,” says Vanessa while sipping coffee on a Friday morning. “For example, now I know that I really enjoy group sex and orgies. It takes a particular person to get into it and turns out, I’m one of them.” Putting insecurities, inhibitions, and hesitations aside, Vanessa says the year made her a stronger, more confident, sexually satisfied being. Pretty sure sex sabbaticals should be mandatory for everyone. 

circus1

The local sex celebs turned Circus performers 

“I’ve always been sexual and I’ve always liked to tell my stories privately,” she says, recounting the numerous times her friends would beg for the juicy details over dinner.

Before, spilling these randy tales outside of that trust circle never seemed like a good idea for fear of stigmatization. Even in 2011, most female-identified persons who openly talk about their sexual explorations aren’t given high-fives and kudos. Vanessa wants this double standard to change, which is why she started blogging and getting extra honest about her endeavors; initially under the pen name Fleur De Lis, then with her first name. When she happily accepted the title of the Guardian’s “Sluttiest Blogger of the Year”, her boss found out and fired her. 

“I’m a certified paralegal. I’m an educated woman. I’m not stupid. Yet because I’m a woman, I’m put into that category– I’m ‘that type of girl’ who supports ‘that kind of lifestyle’,” she says with a frustrated sigh, questioning and challenging what those types of labels even mean. “If I was a dude, my boss probably would have thought my blog was great and would have wanted to talk more about it.”

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Performer Monika and the “slutty” blogger showing off some lovely assets

She continued to write and eventually landed some legal work with a group of people who are okay with the concept of a personal life. Now she hopes her willingness to being open and honest about kinky-ness will help pave a trail for other women struggling to overcome cultural bias. The best part about being Vanessa again? She can do whatever the hell she wants. 

“My life belongs to me again. Fucking in a fishbowl has been difficult — everyone knowing everything, but people need to be reminded that sometimes sex isn’t personal. Sometimes its a great stress reliever. Or it’s just fun to try interesting things. It’s my life and I’m free to make these choices.”

Vanessa wanted to put on The Sexy Circus to share these valuable life lessons and she really hopes people who may be interested in being more experimental and want to begin exploring their curiosities can view this celebration as a jumping off point. From suspension to burlesque, The Circus will give the audience a big, fat taste of the SF sex community and send everyone home craving more of their favorite flavors. 

circus3

Performer Reid Mihalko needs a good taming

“Hope to see you all under my big top,” says Vanessa on the flier for the event, which is also “make-out friendly”, meaning while this bundle of performances won’t equate to a full-on sex party, the vibe will definitely be flirty. Vanessa is all about encouraging play and where better than the circus. 

 

Under Fleur De Lis SF’s Big Top: A Very Sexy Circus

Sat/17, 8 p.m., $20

Center for Sex and Culture

1349 Mission, SF

www.sexandculture.org

 

Appetite: What not to miss during SF Cocktail Week 2011

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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Appetite: What not to miss during SF Cocktail Week 2011

For those of you who attended last year’s San Francisco Cocktail Week, you know it was jam-packed with some downright magical events, celebrating our city’s rich cocktail heritage, bar talent and innovation. Monday begins the fifth annual Cocktail Week, bigger than ever, with numerous national and local brands represented, an extensive schedule of seminars, parties, events, and the first ever Legends Awards honoring key contributors in the field.

I’d recommend Cocktail Week certainly for aficionados (cocktail/spirits geeks), but equally for the curious or those who just plain love classy, transporting events.

To name a few, the enchanting Cocktail Carnival Gala and St. George’s Cocktail Cookout last year were unforgettable for all of us lucky enough to attend. We basked in the glow of camaraderie and unparalleled settings like the historic Old Mint (where this year’s Barbary Coast Bazaar will be held) or along the Bay in Alameda. I’m anticipating more memorable events this year.

MAIN EVENTS  include the first ever Legends Awards Gala, showcasing some of our best talent in a multi-course dinner from chef Jen Biesty (of Top Chef fame), cocktails prepared by some of our best bartenders at stations throughout the room, awards announced, with live music and performance interspersed. The list of 5 award winners (including Lifetime Achievement and Renegade awards), along with the all-star bartender line-up, is here.

This is also the first year for an event like Best of the West, where top talent from cities of the West (LA, Victoria, San Diego, Portland, Seattle, Sacramento, Las Vegas) compete with local bartenders, showing off drink style in each of their cities.

SEMINARS are a new addition this year. The line-up is rich with around 15 seminars. Learn how to stock your own home bar, about the science of taste, or the history of cocktails in San Francisco. Seminars are all held at the Boothby Center for the Beverage Arts (1161 Mission St., Suite 120, San Francisco), the non-profit behind Cocktail Week.

DINING EVENTS are being thrown all week by restaurants and bars, with special cocktail guests and multi-course menus, at bar-star restaurants like Bar Agricole, Heaven’s Dog, and Jasper’s Corner Tap.

AFTERPARTIES include the big shindig at the newly revamped Starlight Room atop the Sir Francis Drake hotel following the Legends Awards Gala (afterparty included in Legends Award ticket price).

Tickets and schedule here www.sfcocktailweek.com. See you there!

— Subscribe to Virgina’s twice monthly newsletter, The Perfect Spot

Bike Coalition gives Avalos its top endorsement

Sasha Cuttler
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Bike Coalition gives Avalos its top endorsement

Back in May, I noted how mayoral candidates John Avalos and David Chiu seemed to be the only candidates courting the votes of San Francisco bicyclists, noting that the 13,000-plus-member San Francisco Bicycle Coalition was one of the city’s largest grassroots political organizations. Since then, Ed Lee jumped into the race and also made a point of supporting and seeking support from the city’s bicycling community.

After weeks of online voting, the SFBC today announced its endorsements, and they seem to reflect both the efforts of these three politicians and SFBC members’ recognition of who’s been working in City Hall on their behalf. They endorsed Avalos as number one, Chiu in the second slot, and Lee number three.

“By endorsing three candidates, in ranked-choice format, we are recognizing the leaders who are most actively supporting a better city through bicycling,” SFBC Executive Director Leah Shahum wrote in a message to members announcing the endorsements, also noting that there is an “unprecedented number of bicycling-friendly candidates” in this year’s mayoral field.

Avalos and Chiu are both regular cyclists who have actively supported expanding the city’s bicycle network and increasing ridership, while Lee has shepherded several key bike projects through this year and even called for improvements to dangerous conditions on Fell and Oak streets during this year’s Bike-to-Work Day.

SFBG Radio: Johnny wants a coup

Zelda Bronstein
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35
SFBG Radio: Johnny wants a coup

Today, Johnny articulates his vision of the future: Obama gets re-elected, the right wing tries a coup — and finally, the west coast can secede. Has he gone off his rocker? Has he gone off his meds? Check it out after the jump.

sfbgradio9152011 by endorsements2011

Street Threads: Look of the Day

Andrew Lam
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0
Street Threads: Look of the Day

Today’s look: Lea, Civic Center

Describe your fashion philosophy: “Do what works for you.”

The Performant: Dumpster Dive

Andrew Lam
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“Elite Waste” dumpster home makes its San Francisco Fringe Festival debut

There aren’t usually too many compelling reasons to hang out on the first block of Eddy Street, unless the exquisite aroma of urine, pigeon shit, corner store fried chicken, and tour bus exhaust appeals. But during the San Francisco Fringe Festival, now in its 20th year, there’s always a bit of a horde milling around the entrance of the EXIT Theatre-plex: patrons waiting to see shows, performers handing out postcards to the undecided or hauling heavy trunks of props up the sidewalk. 

This year the crowds have been larger than ever, thanks to the public unveiling of a unique, experiential performance-space: a customized luxury living dumpster home parked outside the front door of the theatre for all to enjoy.

And I do mean all. Numerous residents of the nearby SROs and their friends have all scored a tour of the tiny premises, as have Scandinavian backpackers, police officers, and other random passers-by.

Walking down the sidewalk, you can literally hear the word spreading from neighbor to neighbor: “they’ve got a popcorn machine in there… and a toilet!”. 

“Elite Waste” creator Gregory Kloehn is an affable sculptor from the East Bay who has also crafted office and studio spaces from shipping containers. He stands by to answer questions about the features and press hot dogs from the dumpster’s miniature outdoor grill onto anyone who will accept one. 

Meanwhile — it’s not just a draw but a bona-fide Fringe performance — a handful of performers interact with the onlookers in character. There’s Robin Fisher as Olivia Ford, a survivalist with a matter-of-fact approach to her lifestyle. For her, the importance of a self-contained, camouflaged mobile home is obvious.

“I can’t be taking care of everybody in the world like Angelina Jolie,” she declares as she arranges a tangle of sliced onions on the grill. “I take care of myself, and you take care of yourself. That’s how it has to be. You know. When the apocalypse comes.” 

At the same time, a posh bon vivant in an haute couture trashbag ensemble (Catherine Debon) picnics luxuriously on the roof, alternating stage time with Alison Sacha Ross as Italia Orchid, a self-involved New-Ager, who ignores the gawkers in order to meditate. The scent of incense mingles with that of the grill and the stalwart popcorn machine, transforming the usual bouquet of Eddy Street into a much more user-friendly redolence.

And what about the sales pitch? Though no one has of yet made a solid offer on a designer dumpster of their own, Kloehn is open to the possibility. He estimates he spent between $5000-$7000 on materials for his own little “Luxury Living” property, and with labor calculates the price tag would run somewhere around $15,000. 

“The great thing is it’s all totally customizable,” he says with a smile, gesturing to his own hardwood flooring, stainless steel accents, and granite countertop framed by the cheerful red interior paint and sleek black vinyl cushion-covers of the attendant bench-bed. 

Functional planter boxes line the back windows and the miniature kitchen, though tiny, is as serviceable as any hot plate-toaster-oven-cube-fridge-popcorn-maker setup could be. True, the rustic romance of the campground-style outdoor shower might seem less appealing come winter, but a bracing shot from the adjacent mini-bar would go a long way towards alleviating that trauma. Want a tour of your own? Look for the dumpster of your dreams “somewhere on Eddy Street”

 

“Elite Waste”

Sat/17-Sun/18  5 p.m., free 

“Somewhere on Eddy”, SF

 

 

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