By Tim Redmond
Nice radio ad by the Courage Campaign.
SFBG Blogs
NIMBY warehouse is fighting for its life
By Steven T. Jones
Another East Bay workspace for Burning Man artists is being threatened by a code compliance crackdown. The operators at NIMBY warehouse – an amazing Oakland warehouse instrumental in the creation of artworks such as Streampunk Tree House, Colossus, and Dance Dance Immolation – have spent thousands of dollars getting up to code and are now have a hard time making rent.
The Shipyard, a workspace in Berkeley run by artist Jim Mason, barely survived a similar struggle two years ago, one that sidetracked his work on project using gasification technology that generates usable power from waste products such as coffee grounds and walnut shells. Mason says he’s donated $1,000 to NIMBY and he’s urging others in the Burning Man and artist communities to help out as well.
“Each of us has been here. Each of us is really still here in some manner. And each of us will most likely continue to be here in some manner or other forever,” Mason wrote. “I don’t really think these institutions are beatable. I’ve lost my idealism on this one. the best we can hope for is management of a chronic problem to a state of tolerable pain. And the next project we do, the creatives vs standards enforcement dance will start again, with blood soon flowing across the dance floor.”
For more information or to learn how to help, contact NIMBY’s Michael Snook – who was also involved with La Contessa — at snook@nimbyspace.org.
SCENE: N.I.C.E. Collective designs a community
The N.I.C.E. boys. All photos by Spencer Hansen
Designers Joe Haller and Ian Hannula of burgeoning San Francisco fashion brand N.I.C.E. Collective (www.nicecollective.com) met in a club more than a decade ago and started collaborating on projects — the first one was repurposing an electric blanket into a jumper — complete with tag and plug. Their big idea was to fuel fashion with a musical and nightlife sensibility, enabling the duo to build a community of artists. N.I.C.E. (an acronym for “navigate, inform, create, explore”) rocked New York Fashion Week last spring with a show that felt more art installation/dance party than runway presentation, and whose backdrop included a 19th century carriage and much charred wood. The impeccably edgy Time Machine line they introduced there took off and now holds its own on the floors of retail boutiques next to editorial darlings Rag & Bone and more established brands like Comme des Garcons.
But what next? Between constant trips back and forth from New York to the site of their “live fashion installment” in Bolinas, we managed to snag Joe and Ian for a moment to ask them about the concept for their latest, “communal” clothing line.
SFBG When did you start cultivating the concept for a communal line launch?
N.I.C.E. We came across this stretch of land in Bolinas, and we looked over it and thought, “with the economy tanking, why don’t we just set up a little commune together?” This thought became the jump-off point for our design inspiration for spring 2010. We decided to name it the Gathering.
Then when we didn’t find what we were looking for to show the clothes in New York during Fashion Week this fall, we thought back to Bolinas and decided to go ahead and actually set up a temporary community there. Instead of art directing an outdoor photo-shoot, we would live it and take pictures of our line that way.
SFBG How did it go? Were any of the models eaten by bears?
N.I.C.E. It was absolutely fantastic. We underestimated how difficult it would be. We could only drive so far, and had to carry everything to the site for a quarter mile. We didn’t finish unloading until 3 a.m. We were up there for four-and-a-half days, with perfect weather, building domes and tents and art installations.
The models were great: they were pitching tents and carrying sound equipment. Even models are creative: they were building visual platforms that had a good flow. We ended up chasing light a lot of the time to capture what was going on, and the images were not as haphazard as we had envisioned. But in the end, it was really a magical experience.
The biggest thing for us is to be able to share our thought process. The design is so close to our hearts, but I think oftentimes it’s missed by the customer. We want to give people a path to see it.
SFBG Do tell a bit about the clothes, then.
N.I.C.E. The idea we’re focusing on is pioneering, which highlights utilitarian use. But we try to make the utilitarian component hidden, and clothes that fit and work no matter what environment you’re in. Nothing is too precious: everything is beautiful but still sturdy. Each garment has a little way of achieving a secondary use; technology is layered in to communicate that a little more. We have a fabric that has stainless steel woven into it, so it holds where you form it, creates a great wrinkle. And garments reconstructed from military tents that can be worn as either a parka or a skirt.
SFBG Brilliant. So seems like you’ve entirely eschewed New York.
N.I.C.E. In New York, there is this typical fashion noise where everyone is kind of vibrating at the same pace. San Francisco lets us be apart from that and do our own thing. It is a challenge working here. The fashion industry is not here, but it’s such a great, inspiring city to work in that the benefits are worth it. When we came back from Fashion Week, we needed a month to recover. But since we’ve been back from the Gathering, we’ve still got an inspirational glow.
2K Top 10: Erik Morse’s best IDM/ home-listening/ lounge-chair electronica of the noughties
Continuing our Decade on Music coverage, here’s ambi-eared Guardian writer Erik Morse’s list, “in no particular order…”
1. Christian Fennesz, Endless Summer (Mego, 2001)
The paradigm of Mego’s electroacoustic “sound”, Fennesz’s ode to breezy, oceanic pop is a 21st century masterpiece rivaling the work of Brian Wilson, Eno and Kevin Shields. Tracks deftly alternate from pixilated seascapes to reverbed vistas. While the sheets of static and rhythmic glitches invite close listening throughout much of Endless Summer, it is Fennesz’s unique attention to acoustic melody that elevates this album toward a kind of blissful simplicity and an echelon all its own. An utterly indescribable musical experience.
Stand-out tracks: “Caecilia”, “Shisheido”
2. Raymond Scott, Manhattan Research Inc. (Basta, 2000)
The compilation release of the decade, Basta’s two CD treasure chest of Raymond Scott’s jerry-rigged exotica provides hours of bleeps, squiggles and zoinks. Collected from his upstate New York studio work in the 50s and 60s, tracks include radio-jingles, one-off experiments and the cosmic sounds of home-built instruments. In his sonic genius, Scott anticipated every seminal electronic artist of the last fifty years, from Kraftwerk to DJ Spooky to Aphex Twin.
Stand-out tracks: “Cindy Electronium”, “Don’t Beat Your Wife Every Night”
3. Gas, Pop (Mille Plateaux, 2000)
One of many monikers of Cologne musician and label founder, Wolfgang Voigt, Gas represented the vanguard of German ambient at the turn of the century. The final release in a series that included albums Gas, Zauberberg and Konigforst, Pop takes its titular namesake as its ultimate objective, delivering heartaching loops and Voigt’s omnipresent kkickdrum in an atmosphere as haunting as the Schwarzwald of Deutschland. Pop would also serve as an inspiration for Voigt’s massively successful Pop Ambient series.
Stand-out tracks: “Track 7”
4. Child’s View, Funfair (Bubble Core, 2000)
Drum and bass DJ Nobukazu Takemura might very well be the true heir of exotica savants, Raymond Scott and Danny Elfman. Child’s View, one of his side-projects, takes the Japanese musician’s love of heavily processed beats and glitches and combines them with calliope, vibraphone and other carnivalesque tones. Funfair sounds futuristic and retro, digital and phonographic, a testament to Takemura’s mastery of both cutting edge electronica and traditional pop.
Stand-out tracks: “The Cradle of Light” “Assi Que Dodo”
5. Philip Jeck, Stoke (Touch, 2002)
Plunderphonic turntablist extraordinaire Philip Jeck takes Dansette soundscaping to its most extreme in Stoke. Using warped and broken vinyl as his base material, Jeck spins obsolescent straw into gold. Rather than emphasizing rhythmic scratching and beat, Jeck improvises with tactile textures, swirling phases and haunting voices, then edits the results into concise five minute études.
Stand-out tracks: “Lambing”, “Below”, “Close”
NIMBY warehouse is fighting for its life
By Steven T. Jones
Another East Bay workspace for Burning Man artists is being threatened by a code compliance crackdown. The operators at NIMBY warehouse – an amazing Oakland warehouse instrumental in the creation of artworks such as Streampunk Tree House, Colossus, and Dance Dance Immolation – have spent thousands of dollars getting up to code and are now have a hard time making rent.
The Shipyard, a workspace in Berkeley run by artist Jim Mason, barely survived a similar struggle two years ago, one that sidetracked his work on project using gasification technology that generates usable power from waste products such as coffee grounds and walnut shells. Mason says he’s donated $1,000 to NIMBY and he’s urging others in the Burning Man and artist communities to help out as well.
“Each of us has been here. Each of us is really still here in some manner. And each of us will most likely continue to be here in some manner or other forever,” Mason wrote. “I don’t really think these institutions are beatable. I’ve lost my idealism on this one. the best we can hope for is management of a chronic problem to a state of tolerable pain. And the next project we do, the creatives vs standards enforcement dance will start again, with blood soon flowing across the dance floor.”
For more information or to learn how to help, contact NIMBY’s Michael Snook – who was also involved with La Contessa — at snook@nimbyspace.org.
50% sale today at Goodwill: This is not a drill
Text and photos by Caitlin Donohue
Well knock me over with a feather…
Although my disdain for (and fear of) some San Francisco thrift stores has been duly noted, I have to admit that sometimes they make me feel all warm inside. Case in point, today- every Goodwill in the city will be selling all their clothing and shoes for… holy moley, half price!(!!)
Now, granted this is no “all clothing and shoes for $2” sale (lemme tell you, November was a good month for me), but 50% is nothing to shake a stick at. I’ve taken the liberty of assembling a few gems you could pick up today- if you get off your ass right now and start throwing ‘bows people! I’m serious, store opens at 9 a.m.- you don’t want to be the last one rifling through the holiday sweater pile. The choice items shown below are from the Fillmore and Sutter store, easily the best outlet in the city. I have two theories about this: (a) its where the ladies who lunch from Pac Heights drop their impulse shopping designer threads and (b) there is a donation center attached to the store and all the intrepid employees (they are lovely here) squirrel away the best items for the benefit of their committed customers. I go in once a week, so I count as one of these.
But that’s neither here nor there. Without further ado (besides the jump), inspiration to hit the 50% sale! Sales tax free as always! Let’s see that hustle, people!
SCENE: N.I.C.E. Collective designs a community
Interview by Laura Palmer. From SCENE: The Guardian Guide to Nightlife and Glamour on stands in the Guardian now
The N.I.C.E. boys. All photos by Spencer Hansen
Designers Joe Haller and Ian Hannula of burgeoning San Francisco fashion brand N.I.C.E. Collective (www.nicecollective.com) met in a club more than a decade ago and started collaborating on projects — the first one was repurposing an electric blanket into a jumper — complete with tag and plug. Their big idea was to fuel fashion with a musical and nightlife sensibility, enabling the duo to build a community of artists. N.I.C.E. (an acronym for “navigate, inform, create, explore”) rocked New York Fashion Week last spring with a show that felt more art installation/dance party than runway presentation, and whose backdrop included a 19th century carriage and much charred wood. The impeccably edgy Time Machine line they introduced there took off and now holds its own on the floors of retail boutiques next to editorial darlings Rag & Bone and more established brands like Comme des Garcons.
But what next? Between constant trips back and forth from New York to the site of their “live fashion installment” in Bolinas, we managed to snag Joe and Ian for a moment to ask them about the concept for their latest, “communal” clothing line.
SFBG When did you start cultivating the concept for a communal line launch?
N.I.C.E. We came across this stretch of land in Bolinas, and we looked over it and thought, “with the economy tanking, why don’t we just set up a little commune together?” This thought became the jump-off point for our design inspiration for spring 2010. We decided to name it the Gathering.
Then when we didn’t find what we were looking for to show the clothes in New York during Fashion Week this fall, we thought back to Bolinas and decided to go ahead and actually set up a temporary community there. Instead of art directing an outdoor photo-shoot, we would live it and take pictures of our line that way.
SFBG How did it go? Were any of the models eaten by bears?
SCENE: Lazer Sword zaps the boom-blap
By Michael Krimper. From SC ENE: The Guardian Guide to Nightlife and Glamour, on stands in the Guardian now!
Lazer Sword photo by Beryl Fine
San Francisco-bred electronic duo, Lazer Sword, has a secret weapon. Bryant Rutledge (a.k.a. Low Limit) and Antaeus Roy (a.k.a. Lando Kal) have developed a musically enhanced dehydration gun that zaps the sweat out of dance crowds like a soul-sonic Super Soaker. There’s no escaping it. Inside investigators report that this weapon emerged mysteriously from a Mission District apartment building in 2006, conceived from a reactive mixture of 1980s sci-fi psychedelia and a futuristic bass-rattling force unanticipated by even the most forward-thinking predictions of the oncoming 2010s. It’s manufactured out of grime-ridden computer technology and 8-bit video game parts, designed with the stuttering ferocity of electro-house synthetics and drum machines, and blessed by the hustlers and gangstas of swagger rap. Welcome to Lazer Sword’s boom blap.
And just like one of those vintage sci-fi films, Rutledge and Roy seem to be on their way to world domination. The duo just returned from their second European tour, slaying dance floors from London, England, to Bialystok, Poland. “Crowds overseas are pretty open to electronic music in general,” says Rutledge, “but I get the feeling that two guys jamming on their midi controllers making weird rap beats mixed with dolphin noises and Hanna Barbera samples is a little different and new for them.” Unabashed, Lazer Sword welcomes the challenge of converting unknowing club fiends, wallflowers, and beat heads alike to their leftfield, electro hip-hop bounce. “There’s always an awesome feeling when the crowd doesn’t know what to expect at first,” Roy weighs in, “then over time, cats are dripping in sweat and falling over themselves.”
50% sale today at Goodwill: This is not a drill
Text and photos by Caitlin Donohue
Well knock me over with a feather…
Although my disdain for (and fear of) some San Francisco thrift stores has been duly noted, I have to admit that sometimes they make me feel all warm inside. Case in point, today- every Goodwill in the city will be selling all their clothing and shoes for… holy moley, half price!(!!)
Now, granted this is no “all clothing and shoes for $2” sale (lemme tell you, November was a good month for me), but 50% is nothing to shake a stick at. I’ve taken the liberty of assembling a few gems you could pick up today- if you get off your ass right now and start throwing ‘bows people! I’m serious, store opens at 9 a.m.- you don’t want to be the last one rifling through the holiday sweater pile. The choice items shown below are from the Fillmore and Sutter store, easily the best outlet in the city. I have two theories about this: (a) its where the ladies who lunch from Pac Heights drop their impulse shopping designer threads and (b) there is a donation center attached to the store and all the intrepid employees (they are lovely here) squirrel away the best items for the benefit of their committed customers. I go in once a week, so I count as one of these.
But that’s neither here nor there. Without further ado (besides the jump), inspiration to hit the 50% sale! Sales tax free as always! Let’s see that hustle, people!
SCENE: Sirron Norris bears all
Interview by Caitlin Donohue. From SCENE: The Guardian Guide to Nightlife and Glamour — on stands in the Guardian now!
“When you walk into a room in San Francisco, half the people in there are going to know who I am — or at least the bear,” says “cartoon literalism” artist (and palindrome) Sirron Norris. Norris may be right about his citywide ubiquity. The friendly blue bears and pink rabbits that frolic through his Technicolor streetscapes are probably brightening up a wall near you, from Balmy Alley to the neighborhood cheesesteak restaurant. But the lightheartedness of Norris’ popular work belies an artist with an intense drive to be commercially viable in the increasingly barebones world of art. Upcoming projects include Bob’s Burgers, an animated series on Fox, and a studio at 1406 Valencia where he’ll hawk his own work and teach cartooning classes — even a proposed reality show. Ever opinionated, Norris pulls no punches when it comes to taggers, the Mission anti-gentrification movement, and the value of commercialism.
SFBG How did you get started in the SF art scene?
SIRRON NORRIS I fell into fine art. I’d never planned on it at all. I was making video games at a software development company in San Rafael and painting on the side out of frustration. I was doing these canvases on my own and [one day] I took them down to Luggage Space, which was the hot gallery at the time. A few months later, I had a show.
SFBG I think, given the aesthetic of your work, a lot of people would be surprised to find out that you don’t come from a graffiti background.
SN I have a huge disdain for graffiti. My murals have been ripped apart by it. I exercise a lot and the main reason I started is honestly because I wanted to stay up super-late at night and run around with a baseball bat and find [taggers]. People don’t understand when they ruin my murals how hurtful that is. You are stealing that artist’s life away from them. And for what — you want people to notice you? I just think that it’s sad and self-indulgent. I’m an artist too, but when [someone tags a wall] it’s gonna be their name, or an elaborate form of their name, or their crew. It’s not like the murals, where we’re trying to tell some rich indigenous history or something about apartheid.
Retail for the people: Black Panther Clothing
By Caitlin Donohue
It’s possible that on December 3rd, 1969, when he was arrested for alleged death threats against President Richard Nixon, Black Panther Chief of Staff David Hilliard could not have predicted he’d have a lasting fashion legacy. It was near the height of the Panthers’ international freedom fighting activities. The group was involved in providing food, medical care and legal aid to underserved African-American communities- but in a time of serious governmental persecution, Hilliard was arrested on numerous occasions for everything from possession of a weapon in a public place to his participation in the Oakland police shoot out that killed his comrade Bobby Hutton.
“Hey Panther, where’d ya get that jacket?” A fashion show Friday’s got the answer
They were rebels, social leaders, badasses- and man, could they dress. The “Panther look”- berets, traditional African textiles and sharp leather jackets- were a hipper, sleeker activist chic than the haphazard “hippie” look prevalent at the time. Although they didn’t set out to be style icons, “the greatest threat to the internal security of the United States” (as J. Edgar Hoover memorably dubbed them) definitely made their mark on the fashion scene.
SF fashion designer Andrea Lamadora with her artistic inspiration, Black Panther David Hilliard
It’s a tricky business, commodifying a social movement, but in preparation for creating a clothing line based on the Panthers’ innate vogue, fashion designer Andrea Lamadora had the unique chance to learn from a key player in the movement- Hilliard himself. Her friendship with the activist gave her “the privilege of seeing the Black Panther Party archives, including never seen by the public images and photos of actual Panther clothing from the ‘60s and ‘70s,” Lamadora says. “I was immediately inspired to lend my creative style to this very important historical, political and cultural organization.” After the jump, what she came up with.
Muni and the shuttle buses
By Tim Redmond
As far as I can tell, those shuttle buses run by UCSF don’t have the legal right to use Muni bus stops to load and unload passengers. So how come I see them day after day, sliding into the stop at 16th and Mission — sometimes right ahead of a Muni bus, which then has to wait behind the shuttle van, backing up traffic for everyone?
I asked Judson True, Muni’s spokesperson, about this, and he referred me to a study MTA did on the role of shuttle buses in San Francisco.
It doesn’t get into my particular gripe in great detail, but does say this:
Conflicts with Muni vehicles when loading or idling: MTA staff report this has been a general problem at several locations, a concern also echoed by both MTA field supervision staff and in resident outreach surveys. MTA field staff also cited stress reported by Muni drivers if passengers were compelled to try and board outside of the Muni zone. Muni drivers are instructed not to pick up passengers outside the bus zone for safety reasons, yet passengers often insist on boarding. Authority staff witnessed only a few instances of shuttles blocking Muni vehicles in Muni zones, though one recent instance at Glen Park was troublesome. A shuttle in the process of boarding passengers on Bosworth Street in a Muni zone blocked an incoming Muni bus, thus causing a conflict and even secondary queueing along Diamond Street where another Muni bus waited for both vehicles to move forward before proceeding onto Bosworth Street.
I think this is a bigger problem than the report suggests — and UCSF isn’t the only outfit running these things. The Academy of Art University, Google and all sorts of other private operators are doing it. Which is fine, if they want to offer students and employees and alternative to driving.
But if they use Muni stops, they ought to be paying the city a license fee for the right to do it.
Street Threads: Jill and Ra
SFBG photog Ariel Soto scoops SF street fashion. See the previous Look of the Day here.
Today’s Look: Jill and Ra, Castro Station
Tell us about your look: “We both like a lotta layers.”
Should Pelosi oppose the Health Care bill?
By Tim Redmond
There are some good reasons, I suppose, to support the Obama insurance bill. It’s a start, anyway — and you could argue that once it gets up and running, the flaws will become obvious and we can fix them later (by adding a public option, say).
You could also argue that this is the only chance we’re getting, and once this behemoth is in place, it’ll be hard to open the debate up again for years.
And the list of problems with the bill is growing.
Which is why Howard Dean is leading the charge to defeat it (and pissing off the White House in the process.)
In my Editors Notes column this week, I noted that a new poll shows Democrats less likely to come to the polls and vote for their party’s candidates next fall if there’s no public option in the health care bill. That leaves an interesting question: Once the bill gets out of the Senate, the House will have to reconcile the differences (since the House bill was not at all like the Senate bill is currently). If Speaker Nancy Pelosi doesn’t support the bill — that is, if she takes Dean’s line — the it could well die. So far, she’s not saying much:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declined to show her hand on the matter Wednesday, telling reporters that she won’t make a call on the Senate bill until she sees it. She suggested she’s open to compromise.
“We do know that, between the two bills, we have the makings of a … big difference for the American people,” she said. “And our members are very enthusiastic about our House bill, and we want to defend our position. At some point, though, the legislative process will say that they have to yield on things and we have to yield on things.”
I’m starting to go with the Howard Dean line — we’ve given up absolutely everything. There’s no public option. There’s no Medicare buy-in. There’s not really a ban on pre-existing conditions.
So what, exactly, are we getting here?
Police chief: SFPD dignitary security costs were a mystery even to him
By Rebecca Bowe
San Francisco Police Chief George Gascon offered an explanation yesterday for why it took so long for the San Francisco Police Department to provide any figures whatsoever on how much it spends on security detail for elected officials: Apparently, no one really had any idea what the costs actually were.
“Quite frankly, when I first came here I asked multiple times, how much are we spending in dignitary protection? And I could not get the answer within my department,” Gascon told the Board of Supervisors yesterday.
Sup. Ross Mirkarimi first began asking for this information back in July. “When we got the first cut of information approximately two weeks ago, I looked at it and I said, this information does not seem right,” Gascon recounted. “Go back and work on this.”
When his staff finally produced a figure of around $2 million for all dignitary security costs for the budget year ending in June 2009, Gascon says he immediately shared that figure with the media and members of the Board. This past weekend, the San Francisco Chronicle ran a front-page story about the cost, which includes protection for the mayor, politicians visiting from outside San Francisco, and others.
“I don’t believe it is copasetic to allow a black ops budget to exist” within the SFPD, Sup. Ross Mirkarimi said at yesterday’s Board meeting, during a discussion about legislation he introduced to require elected officials to reimburse the city for the cost of bodyguards on the SFPD payroll when they’re out on the campaign trail.
SF to pay $100 million for disappearing island
By Steven T. Jones
Artists rendering for the Treasure Island development.
Mayor Gavin Newsom just announced an agreement in which San Francisco will pay the U.S. Navy more than $100 million for Treasure Island – property that we were originally supposed to get for free to offset the economic impacts of military base closures and which could be underwater by the end of the century.
In the press release, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus called the agreement “good for the American tax payer” and Newsom expressed optimism that “having the terms of this conceptual agreement with the Navy in place will allow us to finalize our development plans and generate badly needed jobs in this difficult economic climate.”
But this project is still years away from breaking ground. And despite what the release called a project “widely heralded as one of the most environmentally sustainable development plans in US history,” an April report from the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission indicates that a 55-inch sea level rise from global warming – which models show we could experience within 90 years — would inundate most of the island.
Yet project developers, including Lennar Corp. and the politically connected Darius Anderson, will be long gone when Treasure Island sets a new standard for underwater sustainability.
Podesta: The Progressive case on health bill
John Podesta from the Center for American Action Fund recommends passage of the Senate health bill despite its many flaws
The Center for American Progress Action Fund is the sister advocacy organization of the Center for American Progress. The Action Fund transforms progressive ideas into policy through rapid response communications, legislative action, grassroots organizing and advocacy, and partnerships with other progressive leaders throughout the country and the world. The Action Fund is also the home of the Progress Report.
By John Podesta
Since Joe Lieberman demanded stripping the public option and Medicare buy-in provisions from the merged Senate bill, some strong progressives like Howard Dean have argued that without a public option or a Medicare buy-in provision, the bill is a giveaway to private insurers and should be killed. Other progressive leaders like Senators Jay Rockefeller, Tom Harkin and Sherrod Brown believe that the bill represents the best chance for passing health care reform in the foreseeable future. “I’m going to vote for it,” Brown told reporters. “I can’t imagine I wouldn’t. I mean there’s too much at stake.”
Ants attack!
By Tim Redmond
While the health-care bill is melting down and the global warming conference is frozen, we have some unavoidable news of a different sort: The ants are attacking.
I have ants in my house. Half the people I know are under ant attack. Dave Crow, the tenant lawyer (and one-time Guardian staffer) who writes for SF Appeal, says ants aren’t covered by city health codes and landlords don’t really have to do anything about them. Which is something I didn’t know.
The commenters on Crow’s piece say, among other things, that all you have to do is seal up all the cracks in your house with caulk and the nasty little beasts won’t get it. That’s not much help to those of us who live in older houses that have so many cracks, crevices, holes and tiny entryways that there’s no way to find them all, much less seal them all up.
Of course, you could also carefully remove every tiny scrap of food from counters, floors and sinks and seal everything in airtight bags and bins, but frankly, some of us just aren’t that clean.
We used to use vaseline, which traps the ants but makes an awful mess. Now we pour cinnamon in their path, which confuses them and sometimes sends them away. I’ve also had luck with a mixture of molasses and yeast, dropped onto small pieces of paper; the ants love the sweet stuff, and take it home to the rest of the nest — and since ants can’t fart, the yeast makes them explode. At least it’s an organic form of chemical warfare.
Other suggestions?
Herrera to Campos: duck and cover
Louis XIV’s weakness was liking to hear people sing his praises. Is the same true of Newsom? And is this why he is refusing to meet with immigrant advocates, who have been critical of his sanctuary policy cave-in, and do the right thing for immigrant youth?
Text by Sarah Phelan
City Attorney Dennis Herrera replied today to Sup. David Campos’ request that he tell Newsom that he’s not a monarch. Campos made his request after Newsom said he intends to ignore the Board’s veto-proof amendment to the sanctuary ordinance.
Herrera also replied to Campos’ request that the Juvenile Probation Department could comply with the ordinance’s directive by adopting a proposed policy thqt was drafted by the Asian Law Caucus.
And the answer seems to be yes, Newsom’s not a monarch, and yes, JPD could adopt ALC’s proposed policy, but it all comes down “to the extent permitted by state and federal law,” which sounds like a massive passing of the buck.
Durst: The Top Ten Comedic News Stories of 2009
Okay. Here’s the deal: the Top Ten Comedic News Stories of 2009 are not to be confused with the Top Ten Legitimate News Stories of 2009. They are as different as night and day. Fire and frogs. Popeye’s chicken and ballet fundraisers. High rise condo balconies and balsa wood furniture. Southern Baptist 4th of July church picnics and snow tires. There were all sorts of heavy- duty stories that impacted the country and the planet. Can’t think of any right now, but trust me, there was a bunch. Rather, the Top Ten Comedic News Stories of 2009 are the accounts that provoked a slow shake of the head and a soft chuckle without having to bear a moral weight larger than Manitoba owing to the extreme unfunny nature of the death, destruction and gruesomeness inherent in the legitimate news. So here is the flip side, the stories from 09 most filled with mirthing possibilities.
Hot sex events this week: Dec 9-15
Compiled by Molly Freedenberg
The Twilight Vixen Revue, shown here at last year’s Hubba Hubba Revue Christmas special, will make an appearance at Friday’s Chrismanukkah show.
————-
>> International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers
Annie Sprinkle and Kimberly Kline host a rememberance ritual at Femina Potens before leading a solidarity stroll down Market to the St. James Infirmary.
Thurs/17, 6pm
Femina Potens
2199 Market, SF
www.feminapotens.org
————-
>> Holiday treats and personal shoppers
Pamper your way into the holidays with complimentary chocolates and wine on select evenings, when personal shoppers will help you pick out items for everyone on your erotic gift list.
Thurs/17-Sat/19, 6-9pm
Free
All Good Vibrations locations
www.goodvibes.com
————-
>> Ecstasies and Elegies
Sex workers, advocates, friends, families, and allies observe the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers with an evening of works by current and former sex worker performance artists, writers, and visionaries.
Fri/18, 7:30pm
$10-$20
Center for Sex and Culture
1519 Mission, SF
sexandculture.org
Diego’s Umbrella breaks out the lasers and the lesbians
By Caitlin Donohue
At a certain point, hibernation becomes a bit of an issue. There’s the odd smell emanating from the heater, the mice scooting about in the antechambers, holiday treats that last night’s hostess convinced you to take home taunting you from the fridge. I appreciate that chilly climes sanction being all cozy inside your Christmas lights and heavy blankets but sometimes… you… need to get out. Tough love, I know.
But, you would-be grizzly bear you, there’s a show this weekend that practically has a stay-warm guarantee.
Diego’s Umbrella has more fun in a puddle than you did last month
Diego’s Umbrella is hella fun. Fun like they perform wearing matching, home-made stage costumes. Fun like they’ve dubbed their genre “Mexicali gypsy pirate polka” and it works. They play fun songs, like the klezmer inspired toe tapper “Lasers and Lesbians,” and people get fun when they watch them. Last time I caught a Diego’s Umbrella show a vast percentage of the crowd was dancing, or rather, jumping gleefully about and flailing their limbs by the end of their set. It’s that kind of music.
2K top 12: A dozen from Mosi Reeves
Guardian writer Mosi Reeves, who contributed a stellar essay to our Decade in Music package, weighs in with a lucky dozen of favorites from the past decade. Says Mosi: “Yep, I probably need to go outside now.”
*Ghostface Killah, Supreme Clientele (Epic)
*Ellen Allien, Berlinette (BPitch Control)
*Cannibal Ox, The Cold Vein (Definitive Jux)
*Modest Mouse, The Moon and Antarctica (Epic)
*Edan, Beauty and the Beat (Lewis)
*Flying Lotus, Los Angeles (Warp)
*Quasimoto, The Unseen (Stones Throw)
*Boards of Canada, Geogaddi (Warp)
*M83, Dead Cities, Red Seas and Lost Ghosts (Mute)
*Colleen, The Golden Morning Breaks (Leaf)
*Portishead, Third (Mercury)
*TV on the Radio, Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes (Touch & Go)