Ariel Soto-Suver visits 2011 Best of the Bay winner Devil’s Teeth Baking Company (“Best Beelzebubian Beignets“) – and digs into the Sunset shop’s heavenly offerings. Powdered sugar: w00t!
SFBG Blogs
The Performant: Serf’s Up!
The Weill Project and Will Kaufman’s Woody Guthrie sing out.
“A pamphlet, no matter how good, is never read more than once, but a song is learned by heart and repeated over and over.” –Joe Hill
As this year’s annual LaborFest draws to an end, and the organized labor movement is facing an uncertain future as exemplified by the recent Republican victory in Wisconsin regarding collective bargaining, and the disappointing conclusion to the Mott’s strike of 2010, it does the socialist spirit good to soothe the savage breast with music created with an ulterior motive. Political convictions as entertainment have had their misses, but it’s the hits we remember more, whether “learned by heart,” or not.
Though probably best known for the unrepentantly dark murder ballad “Mack the Knife,” Bertolt Brecht collaborator Kurt Weill was a staunch socialist firmly on the side of the underdog. The two pioneered theatrical works about and for the working class, and critical of “business as usual,” in life as well as in theatre. Under the direction of Allan Crossman and Harriet Page-March, the Weill Project, explored a set of seafaring songs from familiar Brecht/Weill musicals like “The Threepenny Opera” to more obscure tunes such as “Youkali: Tango Habanera,” which made an orchestral appearance in a mostly forgotten Weill side-project called “Marie Galante.”
“Marie,” sung in French by soprano Sibel Demirmen, was one of the evening’s most striking offerings. Another was mezzo-soprano Meghan Dibble’s rendition of “Pirate Jenny,” a song which exemplifies the divide between the working classes and their careless capitalist oppressors. Two other vocalists, Harriet March Page and Justin March rounded out the vocal mix, ably accompanied by Martha Cooper on piano and John Bilotta on accordion. Presented as part of Stage Werx Theatre’s <www.stagewerx.org> new music series, Underground Sound, the Weill Project set the bar high for shows to come, and is an ensemble to watch out for.
A staunch socialist closer to home, one Woody Guthrie, came to life in the hands of Will Kaufman whose solo performance “Woody Guthrie: Hard Times and Hard Travellin’” (as well as his book, Woody Guthrie: American Radical) followed the dusty road of Guthrie’s political awakening through music.
A mean finger-picker, Kaufman played not just Guthrie tunes such as “I Ain’t Got No Home” and “So Long, It’s Been Good to Know You” as he described Woody’s visits to the migrant camps and the extra-legal liberties taken by the LAPD and a slew of union-busting vigilantes, but also songs that inspired him towards reaction. Songs like Joe Hill’s “The Preacher and the Slave,” Agnes Cunningham’s “How Can You Keep Movin’ (Unless You Migrate Too),” and Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America” — a song that galled Guthrie so much he wrote an angry counterpoint “God Blessed America,” which became his best known song, sans the political verses, as “This Land is Your Land.”
Kaufman, an American living in England, was inspired to tackle Woody Guthrie as a subject back in 2006 during a time when “George Bush and Dick Cheney were speaking for America,” in an attempt to connect with and portray an all-American voice closer to his own point of view. I can’t speak to whether or not he’s got the British convinced, but in San Francisco, his sentiments were welcome.
Police say they’ve recovered gun used by Harding
The San Francisco Police Department issued a statement this afternoon announcing that the gun that fired the fatal shot at Kenneth Wade Harding Jr. has been found.
“After a weeklong community effort, a neighborhood resident led officers from Bayview Police Station to the gun used by Kenneth Harding,” the SFPD statement says. “The gun, an AMT .380 caliber semi-automatic pistol, was matched through ballistic tests conducted by the San Francisco Police Department Crime Lab,” the official announcement goes on. “These tests confirmed that this was the same gun that fired the fatal .380 caliber bullet.”
The police describe the weapon as a “small silver and black handgun,” and notes that it was “seen on the widely viewed cell phone video of the incident” and “picked up from the crime scene by an individual during the chaotic aftermath of the shooting.”
One YouTube video showing the scene of the aftermath is titled, “Aftermath of Bayview gun battle in San Francisco,” and it has had 96,897 views so far.
At around 1 minute and 23 seconds into that video, an individual in a gray hooded sweatshirt reaches down and picks up an object off the sidewalk (which doesn’t look like a gun), but at another point in the clip, a gun-shaped object can be seen lying on the ground.
Lt. Troy Dangerfield, of the SFPD’s media relations unit, would not say whether the man in the hooded sweatshirt had anything to do with recovering the gun. Nor would he say whether an arrest had been made when the gun was turned over to police. “I can’t get into who turned over the gun, or whether that’s where we got the gun from,” he said, but asserted that ballistics testing had confirmed that it was the gun that fired the shot.
“We’re not speaking as to whether fingerprints are on it,” he added when asked if Harding’s fingerprints had been detected on the firearm. He said he did not know whether Harding’s cell phone had been recovered.
There are four separate investigations relating to the officer-involved shooting that occurred in connection with Harding’s death, Dangerfield said. They are being carried out by the District Attorney, the Office of Citizen Complaints, SFPD Homicide Unit and SFPD Internal Affairs.
Asked why SFPD officers did not move in quickly to snap up an unsecured weapon lying on the ground if a suspect had just fired and a crowd of alarmed bystanders was forming around them, Dangerfield said that the police had to prioritize officer safety — and in this case, he asserted, that meant keeping their weapons trained on a suspect who could still potentially pull out a gun and shoot at them. According to training protocol, “crime scene preservation” is a lower priority, he said. Asked if officers were trained to shoot to kill, he said, “we don’t shoot to kill, we shoot to stop the threat.”
Dangerfield went on to say that the video in which Harding is shown to still be moving while police stand with weapons trained on him would make a great police training video. “You do not remove yourself from the target until the target is no longer a threat to you,” he said, indicating that a suspect who is still moving is still perceived as a threat.
However, it was this aspect of the widely viewed video — that police continued to stand with weapons trained on Harding rather than calling for medical assistance after he’d been shot — that seemed to most inflame residents and protesters who’ve condemned the police response in the aftermath.
Dangerfield confirmed that data from SpotShotter revealed that a single bullet was fired, and then multiple rounds fired in succession 1.9 seconds later. The explanation that police have given for this, he confirmed, was that Harding fired a single shot and then police opened fire.
Assuming it’s true that Harding shot himself, as police have said, this suggests that the two police officers on the scene responded to a suspect shooting himself by firing eight rounds, just one of which entered through the leg. Asked why officers would respond to a self-inflicted shot in that way, Dangerfield said, “If you are a police officer and you’re running and chasing … and then shots are fired, what do you think?” He emphasized, “They’re trained to return fire.”
Civil Grand Jury: Parkmerced tenant protections ‘just talk’
The Board of Supervisor’s Government Audit & Oversight Committee heard from members of the San Francisco Civil Grand Jury this morning about a report it issued on the Parkmerced redevelopment.
“When you read this report, nowhere in this report does it say, ‘do not develop,'” said Michael Golrick, a juror with the civil grand jury. Yet he noted that the primary concern highlighted in the document was a perceived lack of tenant protections for residents living in rent-controlled units.
The assurances in the development agreement — that tenants will be moved into new units after their existing units are demolished, with the same rent-control protections they had before — can’t be guaranteed due to unresolved legal questions, he said. “It is aspirational and inconclusive. Tenants will live under a cloud of uncertainty, possibly for years.” He added, “Until a court decides, it’s all just talk.”
Jennifer Matz of the Office of Economic and Workforce Development and John Rahaim, director of the San Francisco Planning Commission, both noted that the Civil Grand Jury report was hitting on a legal issue, so the city’s formal responses will be prepared in concert with City Attorney Dennis Herrera’s office.
Matz also noted that the draft of the Development Agreement which the Civil Grand Jury had based its assessment on had changed since the Civil Grand Jury report was issued, with new provisions to shore up tenant protections. She also charged that the report “fails to understand certain aspects of the Development Agreement.”
Meanwhile, residents organized under the Parkmerced Action Coalition are still hoping they may have a chance to reverse the Board’s decision to approve the Parkmerced overhaul by placing a referendum on the Nov. 8 ballot to ask voters whether the zoning for the project should be approved. The group of tenants, organized under the “Committee to Stop Mass Demolition of Housing,” submitted 18,487 signatures on July 8. The Department of Elections is still verifying them and so far, the referendum has not yet qualified for the ballot.
Many Burning Man DJs get stuck without tickets
UPDATE/CORRECTION: The manager for Infected Mushroom says the group does indeed have tickets.
The mad scramble for sold-out tickets to Burning Man and the subsequent price gouging by scalpers have been frustrating for burners who didn’t plan ahead, but now it appears that it could impact the musical offerings on the playa this year as many big-name DJs and musicians have been stuck without tickets.
“About 25 to 30 percent of our DJs are ticketless right now,” says Chris Kite of the Utah-based Bass Camp, which will be creating Temple of Boom on the high-profile corner of Esplanade and 10:00 this year. “These guys are contributing their art for free, and they aren’t even looking for a free ticket, just access to buy one.”
Among the big acts that are still ticketless are Shpongle, Infected Mushroom, EOTO, Mimosa, and Adam Ohana, many of which are managed by Coast 2 Coast Entertainment, which helped book many of its artists on the playa but waited too long to buy tickets for them, many of whom have been on tour and unable to put the time into preparing for Burning Man.
“We’re having a small crisis in that regard,” said Syd Gris of Opulent Temple, whose epic lineup for its traditional Wednesday-night White Party includes many of the performers who are stuck without tickets. He and Kite have both appealed to Black Rock City LLC, which stages Burning Man, but so far haven’t found a solution to the problem.
Big sound camps have always been the redheaded stepchildren of Burning Man. Despite their role in creating its nightlife and soundtrack – fueling the event’s growing popularity and helping burners with fundraising events throughout the year – they don’t qualify for art grants, free tickets, or other support that art collectives often receive from the LLC. While some burners dislike the DJ culture, Burning Man has in recent years become one of the world’s biggest electronic music events, a status that contributed to brisk ticket sales this year.
“The irony of this is some of these artists usually get paid $50,000 to play and they want to come [to Burning Man and] play for free and they can’t even do that,” said Syd, who has worked with other big sound camps to push for more support from the LLC in recent years, with little success (as I chronicle in my book). “Our lineup on Wednesday night, if we booked it at another festival, would be easily a $100,000 night.”
Kite notes that BassCamp’s budget this year is tens of thousands of dollars, all paid for by member dues and fundraising events – which is fairly typical for big sound camps (which, as part of the burner ethos, don’t pay the DJs) – and he said its been very demoralizing to spend so much time and money at this late stage to ensure they can still deliver their planned music lineup.
“I’m spending a lot of time online just trying to get tickets,” Kite said. Anyone who wants to help out can reach his camp at basscampevents@gmail.com, or they can contact Syd at sydgris@opulenttemple.org. And for a guide to the best DJ sets planned for Burning Man this year, check the Guardian’s Aug. 3 playa prep issue.
Those crazy San Franciscans
Joe Eskenazi has an SF Weekly piece that pretty much repeats what he’s been saying for years: That San Francisco has too much government. This time he goes after all the boards, task forces and commissions — and yeah, there are a lot of them, and yeah, some of them might not be necessary. I could also argue, though, that San Francisco is one of the most politically active cities in the world, and that having a whole lot of ways for residents to plug in to what’s going on in their city isn’t a bad thing at all.
Whatever. Here’s the stuff that drives me nuts:
Last month, the volunteer body appointed by the Board of Supervisors advocated curtailing all pet sales in the city — including guppies, goldfish, and live rodents meant as snake food. Coming on the heels of a proposed criminalization of circumcision, San Francisco was, once again, reduced to an international punchline — many were left to wonder whether a ban on circumcising goldfish is our logical next step. Disbelieving articles poured in from around the globe. Perhaps none was as caustic as a piece in London‘s Telegraph titled “San Francisco goldfish ban exposes the pathology of America’s bourgeois liberal nutjobs.”
Ah, yes, Joe: Those crazy San Francisco liberals and their madcap ideas.
I’m not for banning pet sales (although I think banning puppy mills — also a wacky idea that came out of the Animal Control and Welfare Commission — is a fine thing). And I’m not for the circumcision ban (although, geez, it has lead to some interesting commentary that gives new meaning to the term “dick face.”)
But every time I hear somebody talk about how San Franciscans should stop it with the nutty ideas, I think about a few I’ve followed over the years — and how they’ve changed the way the entire nation thinks. Let me suggest a few for Eskanazi to look at:
“Those crazy San Franciscans don’t want to build freeways.” Yep — in the late 1950s and early 1960s, while the rest of the country (and in particular, California) was rushing to build freeways as fast as possible, people in this city decided to say No. The freeway revolt and the movement that grew out of it changed the way Americans view cities. Wacky shit.
“Those crazy San Franciscans think homosexuals should have the same rights as married people.” Yep, back in the 1970s San Franciscans started talking not only about nondiscrimination — they actually said that gay people who live together should have health insurance benefits. Imagine that.
“Those crazy San Franciscans think that women should make the same amount of money as men.” When then- Sup Nancy Walker introduced legislation in 1985 making “comparable worth” (the notion that men and women who do jobs that require comparable skills should be paid the same) it made headlines all over the country — and was universally derided by the same set that now complain about “liberal nutjobs.” It cost the city a lot of extra money (money that the Eskinazi crew of the day said was too much for a broke city) and led to all sorts of comments about social engineering. San Francisco was the first to push the issue, and it’s now considered mainstream employment policy.
“Those crazy San Franciscans think we ought to give bicycles the same rights as cars.” All the way back in the mid-1980s, bicycle advocates were talking about bike lanes, bike maps, bike racks and alternatives to the automobile. What were they drinking?
“Those crazy San Franciscans think that transgender people ought to get health benefits.” This was as recent as 1993 — and if you think circumcision and pets put SF in the right-wing-talk-show and late-night-comedy targets, imagine when the city decided “to use taxpayer dollars to fund sex-change operations,” as the detractors insisted. Guess what? It turned out to be a major step forward for transgender rights.
“Those crazy San Franciscans think gay people should be allowed to get married.” We did. We do. We were first. The rest of the country is following.
“Those crazy San Franciscans want to ban plastic bags.” We did. For good reason. So did L.A. In another few years, it will be national policy.
“Those crazy San Franciscans want to ban happy meals.” Guess what — McDonald’s got the message.
I could list plenty more.
Yeah, we’re ahead of the curve. Yeah, sometimes our shit seems crazy. But it’s the crazy shit that makes the world change — and over time, the world catches up to San Francisco. And if we weren’t doing it, the world would get better just a little more slowly.
Hot sexy events: July 27-August 3
Ugh. There is nothing sexy about breast cancer (unless you’re Annie Sprinkle). But honestly, when life gives you tumors, you give that thing tumescence – or at least, that’s adult film performer Hollie Stevens’ view.
Stevens was diagnosed with breast cancer this year, but it’s hardly held her down. The clown porn enthusiast filmed an intense scene on societysm.com in which her head was shaved – it had to happen anyway for chemo, so why not make it someone’s fantasy? This week, you can help young Stevens out in her quest for health. On Fri/29, she’s hosting a low-lit lingerie roller disco, complete with an auction featuring Chuck Stevens pornography prints, and Girls and Corpses magazines – the site of Stevens’ recent “Playdead bunnies” feature.
“Is Leather Dead? Does it Need to Die?”
Leather leader-author Guy Baldwin, kink educator Race Bannon, lesbian activist Gayle Rubin, and Instigator magazine editor Michael Thorn take a hard look at leather’s relevance today. In the age of Internet cruising, can a community still be said to exist? Heady questions being asked mere days before the Up Your Alley street fair.
Weds/27 7-10 p.m., free
LGBT Center
1800 Market, SF
A Night for Hollie Stevens
The press release says bring your fat wallet, lingerie, or both. So you’ve got options. Can’t make it? Donate to Stevens here.
Fri/29 8:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m., $30
Private SoMa location, SF (buy ticket for details)
Comfort and Joy Active Touch
Burning Man fundraising season is upon us (for those who were lucky enough to score a ticket) and one of the most venerable playa sexy camps is throwing a big, swinging bash set to jams by DJ Bus Station John
Fri/29 10 p.m.-4 a.m., $20 suggested donation
Mission Control
Perverts Put Out! Dore Alley edition
Our sex columnist Gina De Vries is over the moon for this recurring performance series that focuses on the gamut of sex and artistic expression – cop fantasies, “bearlesque,” even cruising the Excelsior has gotten its due on stage over the years. What will go off this year? You’ll have to attend to find out – it’s also the perfect pre-party for all those that are gonna have to work Up Your Alley tomorrow.
Sat/30 7:30 p.m., $10-15
1349 Mission, SF
(415) 552-7399
Up Your Alley street fair
In the thick of hippie summer fests comes Up Your Alley Fair, an al fresco get-together that unmasks the sexual undertones of other festivals. Why pretend it’s all about the music when you know all you’re trying to do is get that hottie back to your tent to get laid? Up Your Alley (and Folsom Street Fair, its big brother) makes no pretense – it’s all sexy sex all the time, in the DJ areas, in the women-only Venus Playground, and by your favorite pillory.
Sun/31 11a.m.-6 p.m., $7 suggested donation
Folsom between Seventh and 12th St., SF
www.folsomstreetfair.org/alley
Tango at the symphony? Take a whirl
Feeling some half-priced symphony and live tango dancing? It’s a mash-up of culture this Thursday, July 28 at Davies Symphony Hall. The San Francisco Symphony will performs Antonio Vivaldi’s classic Four Seasons along with a punchier, more colorful take on the four seasons by Astor Piazzolla, Estaciones Porteñas (also known as The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires), beginning at 8 p.m.
The Four Seasons is Vivaldi’s most widely recognized work, with each of the four concertos including sounds and evoking the moods of winter, spring, summer and fall. Piazzolla’s Estaciones Porteñas is a set of four tango compositions that were originally conceived as separate pieces, not meant to be played in once cycle as Vivaldi’s. During the SF Symphony performance, Lara St. John will play The Four Seasons with interweaving movements from Estaciones Porteñas.
In addition to the symphony, there will be pre-concert and intermission tango demonstrations in the upstairs lobby, backed by the live music of Tango Revolution Orchestra. The orchestra is made up of young musicians: students and graduates from conservatories, universities, and community music schools.
Known as a “milonga,” it’s an informal social dance gathering for tango dancers. And audience members will have the opportunity to get in on the tango; Argentine tango teacher Sonja Riket will be on hand to lead informal instruction.
It’s a momentous occasion too: Riket says the event marks the first collaboration between the symphony and Tango Revolution Orchestra.
The Four Seasons and “Milonga de Symphonia”
Thurs/28, 7 p.m., $15-$70 (half off with promo code “July50off”)
Davies Symphony Hall
(415) 864-6000
www.sfsymphony.org
Guardian forum July 28: Immigration, education and youth
The next Guardian Forum on issues in the mayor’s race will take place Thursday, July, when we’ll be talking about immigration, education and youth issues. We’ve got a great panel lined up:
Sherilyn Adams, Larkin Street Youth Services
Angela Chan, Asian Law Caucus
David Campos, Supervisor, District 9
Mario Yedidia, Director, Youth Commission*
Pecolia Manigo, Coleman Advocates
(*for identification only)
It’s at the Bayanihan Community Center, 1010 Mission (at 6th), 6-8 p.m.
(Powell Street BART and MUNI 14, 19, 27, or 31)
As always, plenty of time for audience participation. Hopy you can make it.
Enviro justice groups spar with SFPUC on power program
A Pew Research Center analysis based on the latest U.S. Census data has found that Latino and African American households weathered deeper blows in the economic recession, driving the wealth gap between whites and minorities to an historic high. As things stand under current economic conditions, the Washington Post reports, the median net worth of a white family is now 20 times that of a black family, and 18 times that of a Latino family — roughly twice the gap that existed before the recession, and the biggest gap ever since 1984.
Meanwhile, a report issued yesterday by the Natural Resources Defense Council hit on another alarming trend, outlining the water-related challenges coastal cities will face as climate change takes its toll. The report highlights sea level rise, land erosion, saltwater intrusion, flooding, impacts to fisheries, and more frequent and intense storm events. (That’s to say nothing of wildfires.)
In San Francisco, a small group of environmental justice advocates has been working for the better part of a decade to help craft a municipal energy program with the aim of turning the tide, at least on a small local scale, to promote greater economic equality and fend off the worst impacts of climate change. Advocates from groups such as Global Exchange, the Local Clean Energy Alliance, the Sierra Club, the Brightline Defense Project, the San Francisco Green Party, and others have long envisioned CleanPower SF as a way to bolster local job creation, particularly for people who reside in the city’s low-income neighborhoods. The twin goal of CleanPower SF, also known as community choice aggregation (CCA), is to launch a local response to climate change by offering San Franciscans the option of purchasing clean electricity generated from local, renewable energy sources such as wind and solar.
At a July 26 meeting of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) in City Hall, however, it became clear that this overarching vision for the program wasn’t gaining traction with the agency that is tasked with implementing it. As the program inches closer to a review by the Board of Supervisors, advocates have reached an impasse with SFPUC staff as to how the whole endeavor should proceed.
Grassroots advocates raised concerns that the latest proposal for CleanPower SF amounted to a setup for failure, unless there was a concerted effort to plan for robust development of local green-energy sources. While SFPUC staff indicated that the current proposal would result in new jobs at call centers, advocates said more needed to be done to plan for installing local energy-generating sources which could truly bolster local job creation.
Yet SFPUC General Manager Ed Harrington said that what the advocates were asking for wasn’t realistic. He dismissed the original vision for CCA, articulated in a 2007 board-approved ordinance, as “not a realistic goal.” And he spoke in a condescending tone about the grassroots stakeholders, saying, “People saw that they would like green power to be cheaper, and therefore they believed that it was.”
Under the proposal that the SFPUC described to commissioners July 26, monthly electricity rates under CleanPower SF would be at least $7 more than estimated PG&E rates. That’s a key difference from the original draft implementation plan, hammered out in 2007, to “meet or beat” rates offered by the investor-owned utility.
The new proposal has also been scaled down considerably since 2007. As planned, CleanPower SF would contract with Shell Energy North America to begin offering 30 megawatts of 100 percent green power to just 75,000 municipal customers by the spring of 2012. That’s assuming most of the 229,000 residential account holders who will initially be enrolled will opt out; and SFPUC media relations representative Charles Sheehan noted that the full customer base would eventually roll up to the original goal of 340,000 customers. Still, the target at the outset represents just a fraction of the 360 megawatts of power for 340,000 customers originally called for, with a 51 percent renewable energy mix. Under this new scheme, electricity would be purchased through Shell on the open market, with long-term plans to develop local sources but no solid short-term goals for achieving that end.
SFPUC Commissoner Francesca Vietor asserted that SFPUC staff should continue working closely with the grassroots stakeholders and find a way to seriously plan for building local renewable sources, which could ultimately serve to drive municipal rates down and make the program more viable and competitive. “I think local build-out is a really exciting and important opportunity, and a critical piece of the CCA program,” she said.
Commissioners continued the decision on whether to approve parameters for a term sheet and submit it to the full board, pushing the discussion back until September unless a special meeting is called. Several commissioners raised concerns about the financial risk to the city, since the program would have higher rates than PG&E and is designed in such a way that a bulk of power would have to be purchased up front before the agency can determine how many customers will opt out.
“I was actually glad to hear a lot of commissioners raise a lot of concerns, especially about the financials,” Eric Brooks, a long-time CCA advocate speaking on behalf of the Green Party and an organization called Our City, told commissioners. “The more of a local build-out … the lower your price, and the lower you can get in terms of the risks.”
June Brashares, green energy director at Global Exchange, echoed Brooks’ comments in a telephone interview with the Guardian. “The proposal they’re doing now is really vulnerable,” because the higher rates will make the alternative power program less competitive, she said. “The whole reason for CCA — yes, we want cleaner energy — but the real key is the building of local energy sources to create an economic boost, and local green careers. And that’s not at the core of what the SFPUC is doing.”
This article has been corrected from an earlier version.
What’s next for San Francisco’s small theaters? The Roxie has an idea…
The Red Vic closed this week, and a recent SFgate.com article reported that Balboa Theater owner Gary Meyer will be leaving the Richmond District landmark at the end of the summer. What’s a small, independent movie theater to do in these troubled times?
The Roxie, San Francisco’s oldest continually operating theater (it’s had a few different monikers, but the Mission District space opened in 1909; it became a non-profit in 2008), has a plan, according to a press release that landed in my inbox this morning. It boils down to a four-letter word: BEER.
According to the release, “At a spry 102-years-young, the Roxie Theater has applied for a permanent beer license. Over the past year, the Roxie has used its non-profit status to obtain day use permits for on-site alcohol, and the response was so overwhelmingly positive that we’re trying to make it permanent. Our application is in! The Roxie hopes to add beer sales as part of its mission statement to make the theater a place of gathering and celebration, as well as a business model for the survival of neighborhood theaters.”
The release goes on to explain that the programming won’t change (have you seen World on a Wire yet?), and there will still be kid-friendly events planned to balance out the 21-and-over-only screenings. Also: “It has not yet been decided if beer will be offered every day, just weekends or just special events.”
Cross your popcorn butter-stained fingers that the Roxie finds success with this new endeavor, and in the name of all that is (cinematically) holy — get out there and see a movie! Check out the Roxie’s upcoming programming here.
Frustrations rise with skyrocketing prices for scalped Burning Man tickets
In the wake of yesterday’s announcement that Burning Man tickets have sold out for the first time, scalpers have been offering tickets online for several times their face values – some for as much as $5,000 each – frustrating burners and raising difficult questions about what the laws of supply and demand are doing to a community that eschews “commodification” as one of its core principles.
Members of Black Rock City LLC have been worried about this problem since back in January when tickets first started selling briskly. When I asked BRC board members Larry Harvey and Marian Goodell about the possibility of its selling out early, they each asked me not to publicize that possibility because they were worried about scalpers making runs on tickets.
A few months ago, they announced that tickets wouldn’t be available at the gate, and they began to put out word through registered theme camps and occasional notices in the Jack Rabbit Speaks newsletter that selling out was a possibility and that those planning to attend should buy their tickets now.
“I feel bad if anyone was caught unaware, but they should have known,” Goodell told me yesterday.
But if the high prices being asked for Burning Man tickets on sites like eBay and StubHub are any indication, it seems that those looking to profit off the event were just waiting for the announcement that tickets had sold out. High ticket prices are also likely to add incentive to the regular ticket scams that occur, resulting in the likelihood of people getting stuck outside the gate at this far-flung locale.
BRC spokesperson Will Chase addressed that possibility in a post on the Burning Blog yesterday: “For those considering venturing out to Black Rock City without a ticket to ‘try your luck’ purchasing one at or near the entrance to Burning Man, we ask that you do NOT do so, for your own safety and the well-being of the surrounding communities. The Black Rock Desert is an extremely remote, inhospitable environment with limited resources, minimal facilities, and few camping opportunities in the vicinity.”
Longtime burner Chicken John Rinaldi, who has turned into a staunch critic of the way BRC is governed in recent years, said burners who don’t have much money will be tempted to sell their tickets if they really start going for thousands of dollars and he said BRC should have consulted the larger community about the issue.
“They don’t have a plan. They knew it was going to sell out and they didn’t have a plan,” said Rinaldi, who has also been critical of BRC’s plans for converting to a nonprofit with little input from the community about process or potential new governance models. “It was another missed opportunity for Larry to engage with his community…This is going to be a fucking disaster.”
As for what steps BRC is taking to discourage price gouging by scalpers, whether they are beefing up security to better fight off gate-crashers, and responses to criticisms rippling through online discussions among burners about “gentrification” of the event and related concerns, we’re still waiting for responses from BRC members who we expect to interview over the coming days.
So check back for updates on this blog and in next week’s special Guardian issue on Burning Man, which celebrates its silver anniversary this year.
Kim removes homeless shelter reform measure from ballot
Under pressure from the Mayor’s Office, Sup. Jane Kim today removed her sponsorship of the Fair Shelters Initiatives, effectively killing the measure that was set to appear on the November ballot, according to activists working on the issue. Sup. Eric Mar reportedly followed Kim’s lead and also removed his sponsorship, telling activists he was deferring to Kim’s decision.
“We hardly expected the supervisors would put a measure forward and then cave in before the campaign had even started,” said Bob Offer-Westort of the Coalition on Homelessness, which had asked Kim to be the lead sponsor of a measure that he said is the homeless community’s highest priority.
The measure would have removed shelter beds from the definition of housing under the city’s voter-approved Care Not Cash program, thus freeing up beds for the larger homeless population that is often denied space in shelters even as beds reserved for CNC recipients – who give up most of their welfare support in return for housing and services – often remain vacant.
The measure — which was sponsored by Sups. Ross Mirkarimi, David Campos, and John Avalos, in addition to Kim and Mar, giving it one more than the four votes it needed to make the ballot – had been harshly criticized by the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce and other downtown groups, as well as Mayor Ed Lee and other moderate politicians, who said it would somehow destroy CNC and attract more homeless people to the city.
In a recent email blast, Chamber head Steve Falk called the measure “alarming” and was “effectively dismantling the nationally-recognized program.” He tried to use the 100 nightly vacant shelter beds as a rationale against the measure (despite the fact that was the very problem the measure tried to correct), and wrote, “This measure is nothing more than pure politics to turn out progressive voters in a crowded mayoral race.”
Kim and her staffers haven’t returned Guardian calls for comments, and neither Mar nor Mirkarimi could be reached. But Offer-Westort said the arm-twisting by the Mayor’s Office shows just how little things have really changed at City Hall.
“It sets a really bad precedent when once again a mayor bullies members of the Board of Supervisors to get his way,” he said, noting that Kim still claimed to support the reform in her conversations with COH members. “It certainly wasn’t because she changed her mind about whether this was right or wrong. It had more to do with her concerns over the board’s relationship with Room 200.”
A skate day for creative community
At last, a weekend with weather resembling an actual summer vacation. With Saturday’s moderate temperature, a soothing breeze, and clear skies I was in a great mood to head to Tha Hood Games at the African American Art and Culture Complex (AAACC) on July 23 (click here to see our event preview). The vast majority of my experience with skateboarding has been watching the X Games religiously every year, so you could say that the bar was set high for day’s skating.
I didn’t have a problem finding the Western Addition venue; all I had to do was follow the heart-pounding, bass-pumping beats coming from the event’s speakers. Mistakingly anticipating a small crowd as I rounded the corner of Buchanan Street, it turned out the party had already started. A crowd stretched out in front of the AAACC for a lock down Fulton Street: skaters, parents, fans, everyone excited to check out the fun that was visible through the parking lot fence.
Not to be deterred by the onlooking SFPD police vehicle, the energy in the parking lot turned skate park was infectious. It appeared that every skateboarder in the city had turned out for the Games.
Tha Hood Games was the kickoff event for an exhibit that will be on display in the AAACC’s Sargent Johnson Gallery through next year. Eye-grabbing smaller paintings and murals on helmets, car hoods, and other surfaces, all highlighting the past works of Tha Hood Games, which was created to give Bay Area youth a chance to showcase artistic talent in a positive skating environment. Saturday’s opening reception and fashion show were held following the parking lot open skate, which was held in tandem with music performances and a live mural painting.
But the skating was what caught my eye. The downhill orientation of the Complex’s parking lot acted as a natural drop-in for boarders who’d use it in their descent towards the various obstacles and quarter pipes that awaited them at the bottom. Boarders could grab a drink from vitamin water sponsors when thirsty, a bite from Gussie’s Chicken and Waffles booth when hungry, and if their board took a hit, visit the deck doctors stationed at, yes, another booth.
The crowd snapped to attention when the emcee and founder of Tha Hood Games, Keith “K-Dub” Williams announced that pro skater Nyjah Huston had arrived at the AAACC parking lot. Huston was the youngest-ever competitor in the X Games when he made his debut during the 2006 X Games at age eleven. Now, he was being ambushed by a group of skaters that ranged from youngsters to people twice his age.
For a high-schooler like myself, to see a ‘5”7 17-year old admired on a ten-foot scale was really gratifying. For the skaters in attendance, Huston was the person to be: they were standing in front of a skateboarding prodigy.
But the most the most rewarding part of the day was the sight of people of all ages coming together to enjoy a day of skateboarding. Literally, I took an informal poll. Whether it came out of the mouth of Williams or I overheard it from other attendees, the catch phrase of the day was clear: “this is just a beautiful sight.”
The BART cover-up crumbles
Zusha Elinson at the Bay Citizen continues to do great work on the BART Police shooting, and today he’s got a scoop: The audio of the incident gave him the names of the officers involved. OF course, BART can’t confirm or deny anything, as is typical — but the fact that we now know that the shooter was James A. Crowell, who had been on the force for just 18 months, gives some further insight into what happened. I’ve argued for years that the BART Police lack the training and the experience to know when to use lethal force, and this “newbie,” as other officers called him perhaps reacted too quickly to a threat that could have been defused.
At any rate, the whole thing demonstrates a fundamental point of politics: Cover ups don’t work. Information gets out eventually, and the people who are trying to suppress it just look bad.
Will Esbernd support Lee?
As the tom toms grew louder at the Chronicle and in the Willie Brown/Rose Pak community for Interim Mayor Ed Lee to run for the full term as mayor, I emailed two impertinent questions to my district supervisor Sean Elsbernd:
1. Would you have nominated Ed Lee for interim mayor had you known he would consider running for the job?
2. Will you endorse him if he does decide to run for mayor?
As a longtime West Portal resident, I’ve always gotten annoyed at how Elsbernd (and other supervisors) love to play the neighborhood game back in their district — but when the chips are down on a power structure issue, they go down to City Hall and vote with Willie Brown and the downtown gang. Which is what happened in January on the critical vote for mayor when the Willie Brown/Rose Pak forces worked a quiet play to knock out the progressive candidates (Sheriff Mike Hennessey and former Mayor Art Agnos) and put in City Administrator Ed Lee, a Willie Brown ally.
Elsbernd was happy to nominate Lee and told us at the time that he had done so because he wanted an interim mayor who would not run in November.
In his email answer to me, Elsbernd wrote, “I believe the benefits of that strategy have proven correct (e.g. the overall budget process and its unanimous approval, and the unanimous approval of the consensus and comprehensive pension/health care charter amendment.“
So what about today when Lee seems more and more poised to run?
Elsburn noted that he has not endorsed anyone, but that “I have been most attracted to the candidacies of City Attorney Dennis Herrera and former Supervisors Alioto-Pier and Bevan Dufty.” He said that these three have the “right combination of qualifications, experience, intelligence, skills and integrity to serve as mayor.”
So what’s his out? “Should Mayor Lee run for election, I would only consider endorsing his effort under one circumstance—if, and only if, I was convinced that without his candidacy, Sen. Leland Yee would be elected. That is, if I see that no one else can beat Sen, Yee other than Mayor Lee, then I would support a Mayor Lee campaign. At this point, I’m not convinced of that—I still think any one of the three I mentioned above could beat Sen. Yee.”
Well, that’s Elsbernd back in his district doing his neighborhood routine at the Village Grill, a favorite Elsbernd breakfast place. Elsbernd has still left himself a way to do what he said he was dead set against doing: going along with Willie Brown and Rose Pak and helping Lee become the fulltime mayor. Bring back Quentin Kopp and John Barbagelata. B3
Week of action for detained hikers
Family, friends, and supporters of Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, the Berkeley graduates who have been detained in an Iranian prison for nearly two years, are organizing a week of action leading up to the men’s July 31 trial date.
Fattal, Bauer, and Bauer’s fiancée, Sarah Shourd, were arrested two summers ago along an unmarked Iranian border while on a hiking trip in Iraq. Shourd was released last fall, but Fattal and Bauer have languished in prison ever since. They are expected to face trial on charges of espionage on Sunday, the two-year anniversary of their arrest.
A campaign for their release has been in swing since they were first taken to Iran’s Evin Prison, but it’s heating up this week with an effort called Two Years Is Too Long: One Million Voices for Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal. Organizers are asking supporters to phone the Interests Section of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Washington D.C. each day, from July 25 to July 29, with the following message: “I am a supporter of Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal. I know that the two are not spies and urge you to release them and allow them to travel home to their families tomorrow.” The idea is to use a flood of (polite) phone calls to build pressure for their release.
The Interests Section of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Washington D.C. can be reached at (202) 965-4990. For more information, go here, here, or here.
Harding’s family speaks out
On July 25, the family of Kenneth Wade Harding, Jr. — the 19-year-old who was killed in the Bayview by a gunshot wound after he ran from being detained for MUNI fare evasion by San Francisco police — attended a press conference in Oakland at the law offices of John Burris.
News of Harding’s criminal history quickly surfaced in the days following his death, with reports focusing on how the African American man from Seattle had served time in prison for attempting to promote prostitution, and had been named as a person of interest in connection with the fatal shooting of a 19-year-old Seattle woman.
Harding’s mother, Denika Chatman, presented an alternative profile of her son, describing him as an independent person who cared for his family and dreamed of a music career as a rapper. Chatman said Harding had planned on attending Seattle Central Community College and would have turned 20 on Aug. 5. As for his criminal background and allegations that he violated his parole, “it doesn’t have anything to do with what happened to him,” she said.
Chatman and Pointer asserted that Harding was not in San Francisco because he was on the run. Instead, they said, he was there to visit with family and friends in the Bay Area and meet with his music manager. Chatman said Harding’s older brother is signed on with a record label in San Francisco, but declined to say which label.
Attorney Adante Pointer called Harding’s death “a tragedy and a shocking incident, which has brought us here seeking answers.” While he did not directly address the police account of the shooting thus far — that he was killed not by multiple rounds fired by San Francisco police officers, but a self-inflicted gunshot wound — Pointer did express skepticism.
“Those stories continuously shift,” Pointer said. “That’s nothing that you can build any kind of trust or credibility with.” He added, “This community is seeking some type of logical explanation as to what happened, as opposed to what amounts to be knee-jerk speculation.”
Pointer said his office had met with five eyewitnesses so far and hoped to find more. “There are eyewitnesses, there are persons in that community who’ve said this young man never fired a shot,” he said. “That’s inconsistent with what the police have said … let’s find out what the truth is.”
Pointer and Chatman were joined by members of Harding’s extended family, as well as African American community leaders in the Bay Area including Nation of Islam minister Rev. Christopher Muhammad and Rev. Renard Allen of San Francisco’s Third Baptist Church. Also present was Cephus “Uncle Bobby” Johnson, the uncle of Oscar Grant, the 20-year-old Hayward man who was fatally shot Jan. 1, 2009 by BART police officer Johannes Mehserle in a case which prompted riots. The Law Offices of John Burris represented Grant’s mother in a federal civil rights lawsuit against BART, striking a $1.3 million settlement with the transit agency in late June.
Video by Rebecca Bowe
Appetite: Jasper’s menu brightens up the Corner Tap
All photos by Virginia Miller
You heard it here a couple weeks ago: Jasper’s Corner Tap & Kitchen is going to be a drink destination, no doubt about it. Pair its all-star bartender line-up and impeccable cocktail menu with 18 beers on draft (like Telegraph Reserve Wheat from Santa Barbara), a fine wine list with playful categories like “Flower Power” and “We’ve Got the Funk”, satisfying bar food, (eventually) open-all-day hours – and plunk the whole thing down next to Union Square, a perfect tavern space for your downtown rendevous? The set-up is already screaming hit.
If a sneak taste yesterday is any indication, it’s the type of place to bring friends for casual comfort food – house-made sausages, fish and chips, and lamb shepherd’s pie — with well-crafted yet un-fussy cocktails or craft beers in a space that manages to be industrial and warm at the same time. Bar service bodes well with a talented staff that includes not only Kevin Diedrich (formerly of Burritt Room and NYC’s PDT), but also Brian MacGregor (Jardiniere), Francis Kelly (Ponzu, Presidio Social Club), and Allison Webber (Portland’s Irving Street Kitchen and The Gilt Club).
As bar manager Kevin Diedrich told me, the menu is meant to be “approachable and not too geeky,” yet in signature Diedrich style, perfectly balanced and nuanced (for a delicious example of Diedrich balance, try his Soda Jerk, in which blanco tequila and Campari get tart with hits of lime and passion fruit, then fizzy and gently sweet with cream soda and egg white).
Upping the game, Jasper’s will be the first known bar to have Bols Genever on draft! Starting next week, get your fill of a beloved Dutch spirit, flowing fresh and lush. Stay tuned for future unusual draft and barrel-aged offerings.
Enjoying bar bites (Berkshire pork riblettes, anyone?), I tasted through a wide range of the cocktail menu. With playful descriptions under each drink and plenty of house bitters and syrups, it satisfies the cocktail aficionado but, as Diedrich mentions, keeps bartenders and customers happy by not being painstaking or pretentious. Some drinks only have a handful of ingredients, others require a simple mix and stir and they’re ready. Elegant but straightforward.
Join me on a little sneak-peek photo journey through a few food and cocktail highlights. Cocktail recipes are Kevin Diedrich’s unless otherwise noted.
Jasper’s Corner Tap and Kitchen
401 Taylor, SF
(415) 775-7979
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What will the judges do?
Presiding judge Katherine Feinstein is being forced to cut radically the Superior Court staff in the wake of more state budget cuts. It’s a serious problem — among other things, the cuts will allow landlords to evict tenants on a fast track, but won’t allow tenants to sue landlords on the same timeline. But the whole thing raises another interesting question: What are they going to do with all the judges?
San Francisco has 51 Superior Court judges — and if half the courtrooms are going to be essentially shut down, what will all those people do all day? You can’t run a courtroom without staff; at the very least, for any real judicial work to go forward, there has to be a court reporter to create a legal record. So a lot of the wheels of justice will simply grind to a halt.
You can’t lay off judges, of course — they’re elected officials. So they have to go to work every day and get paid. For what?
Well, I asked Ann Donlan, a spokesperson for Judge Feinstein (who, by the way, sounds just like her mother — it’s uncanny), she agreed it was an issue. “It will be Judge Feinstein’s job to keep them busy,” she said.
And no, they won’t be sitting around watching videos to learn about judicial demeanor.
For starters, 11 court commissioners who are getting laid off will have to be replaced — and that means full-on Superior Court judges will be handling drug court, the community justice center, even — yes — traffic court. This is typically stuff that’s considered below the pay grade of the men and women in black robes, but hey: Someone’s got to do it. “We may have to double up some judges in courtrooms,” Donlan said (and I wonder how that will work out).
Feinstein is hoping that the judges can spend a lot of time in chambers, trying to meet with litigants and settle cases. And I suspect some people (particularly plaintiffs) are going to be much more ready to settle, since it may be five or more years before a case can go to trial. Defendants, on the other hand, may be happy to wait it out; they get to keep their money for five years or more. So I don’t know how much settling is really going to go on.
I dunno; I bet someone’s going to making money selling golf shoes over at 400 McAllister.
Sk8 or die! “Tessa & Scott:” a sartorial appreciation
Taken as a sports glory confessional, Tessa & Scott: Our Journey from Childhood Dream to Gold (Anansi, 192 pages, $19.95) is pretty standard. It has more than its fair share of inspirational sound bites (“The young couple faced difficult challenges, but they were sustained by their love for skating and the knowledge that they could be champions.”). It’s also packed with glossy photographs and mildly amusing anecdotes. Yet, taken as a study in the evolution of dancing facial expressions, body chemistry, and ice dancing fashion choices, the book becomes exponentially more interesting.
In terms of facial features, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir (Canada’s 2010 Olympic ice-dancing champs, among their many accolades) were born to dance to together. They’ve got the distinctive “Are we siblings or are we lovers?” look that’s become a prerequisite for the sport. The fuzzier the line, the better. Ambiguous sexual preference is suggested, but not mandatory. Both Scott and Tessa have creamy skin and thick – slightly wavy – chocolate brown hair. It’s versatile enough to be tightly wound back, gelled, and hair-sprayed into oblivion, pre-show. Yet, they can also rock the slightly mussed-up, sweaty, post-dance routine look. Tessa is a huge fan of ponytails, though her go-to look for the ice is an intricate top bun. She’s got a strict anti-bangs policy. Scott has a fantastic variety of smiles (including a grimace that strikes a fine balance between warm and fierce), though he’s lacking a bit in the upper-lip department.
Tessa & Scott: Our Journey from Childhood Dream to Gold, or TSOJCDG, has about four major categories of photographs. The majority are mid-performance drama shots. The rest are the post-dance glory moments, cutesy childhood pics, and special nature photography shoots with Myra Klarman. Along the way, a few hybrids crop up. For example, take the classic moment when a pre-pubescent Tessa and Scott chomped on their medals to test the veracity of the gold.
The earliest evidence of Scott and Tessa’s signature pose is a photograph from early 2000. It’s an icy and intense glare at the cameras, complimented by the arched scowl of Scott’s eyebrows and a passionate clutching of his partner’s lower thigh or shoulder. Scott has a tendency to shut his eyes in passion, Tessa’s tend to widen for the crowd.
TSOJCDG is peppered with shots from a rustic shoot the couple commissioned from photog Klarman. For some reason, Klarman thought it would be a good idea for the couple to wade knee-deep into a lake, and pose crouched in the water. Tessa and Scott seem oblivious to their soaked clothing, and it’s one of those shots where you think more about what happened before and after than the actual image you’re looking at.
Back on the ice, I’d say Tessa has a great fashion sense, especially considering the track record her peers. She favors shades of pink, crystals, velvet, lace, fringe, pearls, and sheer fabric; usually all of the above at once. Scott tends to go for a more conservative image, with a classic tuxedo or suit. Tessa’s fashion climax probably arrived at the 2010 Olympics during a compulsory Tango Romantica. With her usual dark red lipstick and pulled back hair, Tessa wore a one-shouldered burgundy gown with a black tulle overlay, her bodice decked out in ruffles and intricately webbed pearls, jewels, and floral patterns. Underneath, she went for classic leggings and not much else: it seems the publishers didn’t catch an unfortunate nip-slip captured in some of the images.
Tessa only missteps when she ventures too far deep into Dancing with the Stars territory, as she did when competing earlier in her career in Andorra. She wore a magenta strappy dress, exposing lots of skin and bedazzled within an inch of her life. Not long after, Tessa took a risk with a three tiered, sparkling number – plus fringe and a diamond choker – for the 2009 Nationals, but it looks like one that paid off, landing the jump from tacky sad to tacky fun.
Tessa & Scott: Our Journey From Childhood Dream to Gold is an enchanting look at the lives of two artistic and athletic champions. It may not be worth reading the 184 pages of copy and biographical detail, but it’s certainly worth a bookstore browse to check out over 171 shiny photographs of “big dreamers” and ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir.
Ed Lee is going to run
We might as well get used to it: Mayor Ed Lee is going to run in November.
It’s not just about getting his old job back. It’s about the fact that he’s starting to really like being mayor — and that his closest allies have made it clear to him that the choice is either him or State Sen. Leland Yee, and that they find Yee unacceptable.
Lee has been talking to all the people you would expect him to talk to over the past few days, my sources tell me, letting them know that he’s seriously considering it and looking for support. It’s a little late to be lining up big endorsements; a lot of people have already signed on with one of the other candidates. But he’ll be happy with co-endorsements and second-place endorsements — and given his connections, he’ll be able to raise substantial amounts of money quickly.
Oddly enough, if he gets in, the big loser won’t be Yee, who will go out and try to run a campaign as an independent outsider against the old machine (and who doens’t have to worry about offending Lee’s supporters, who dislike him anyway). And John Avalos will be running to the left of both of them.
Live Shots: Emily Wells and the Blank Tapes, Cafe du Nord, 7/24/11
No one seemed to mind that it was a Sunday night and that we were probably all going to be up far past our bedtime on a work night. That’s because it’s worth staying up late to hear some darn good music, truly starting the week off right. Emily Wells and The Blank Tapes were at Cafe du Nord and they kept the tunes coming late into the evening.
I always love going to a show early to find out that the opening band is awesome. The Blank Tapes, hollering from the Bay Area, have this perfectly classic sound, bringing up scents of Cream and the Youngbloods. The quirky sailor outfit was also a plus and I loved the Renaissance-man band member who played everything from bongos and mouth harp, to ukulele and the Puerto Rican guiro. What can I say, I really liked their sound and I bet you would too.
Then Emily Wells took the stage, with about a zillion instruments and a web of electrical cords twisting around her feet. A one-women band, Wells loops her voice, hits away on the drums and evens add violins into the mix. Her voice, melancholy and smoky, made the front row dance in ecstasy (or, perhaps, on ecstasy … some of the moves were a little out there, but it could just have been pure-enthusiasm … who knows).
Wells and The Blank Tapes were definitely the prefect mix for the Sunday night blues, easing us all into the work week with a pitch-perfect concert.
Emily Wells:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6e2wOt1E2Y
The Blank Tapes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Rc2unKuT6M