SFBG photog Ariel Soto scoops SF street fashion. See the previous Look of the Day here.
Today’s Look: Max, Broderick and Haight
Tell us about your look: “Dress differently”
SFBG Blogs
Sight + Sound fundraiser: For a more beautiful, harmonic green
By Caitlin Donohue
Myrmyr (inset) and Odessa Chen raise their voice for arts and the environment
“How does sound affect the environment and how does the environment affect sound? How can sound help the environment? How do we green sound? What compositions and performance can influence environmental change? How can the environment innovate the sound experience? How can environmental concepts engage, inspire, and challenge audiences and performers with a new, exciting, bold and intense aural experience?”
I totally know how important these questions are- dog, I went to a solar powered Dead Prez show this summer at Yerba Buena Center, I’m on it. If you’d like to be as environmentally on the ball as I- who doesn’t, really?- trot yourself over here to buy tickets for Green Sight + Sound, tomorrow’s benefit fundraiser for the forces of good in the eco-friendly art world.
The event will accrue funding for two very up-on-it causes; ME’DI.ATE’s fourth Soundwave Festival and Ecoartspace. Here’s their deal:
ME’DI.ATE’s Soundwave Festival seeks to provide exceptional auditory experiences for its attendees, actually paying its artists (revolutionary!) so that they are able to treat the performance not as a gig, but a project. Next year’s festival, “Green Sound” (whose formative questions I swiped to begin this post) will include music in the Batteries up in the Marin Headlands, a performance that promises to rival this year’s “musical bus rides” in concert-going uniqueness. You’ll be delighted to know that they have arranged for a few wonderful musicians to partake in Friday’s benefit, including electro-acoutical duo Myrmyr and wintry songstress Odessa Chen.
Snap them up at Green Sight + Sound’s silent auction (its for a good cause/s!): Christy Rupp’s Kitchen Towel, woven by a co-op in Guatemala “to combat that queasy feeling at home” and Linda MacDonald’s print, Map of California
Ecoartspace was one of the first national organizations to bring together and support all types of creative forces looking to make positive moves on environmental issues. They will be coordinating a silent auction of environmentally themed piece, priced from $5-$5,000 up for bidding. Their selection most definitely meets my critieron for ripe holiday shopping, as well- one more reason (as if you needed another) to make Sight + Sound your destination tomorrow night.
Green Sight + Sound
Fri/4 6 p.m.-4 p.m., $25-$35
Mina Dresden Gallery
312 Valencia, SF
www.me-di-ate.net/green-sight-sound
www.projectsoundwave.com
www.ecoartspace.org
Catholic Church challenges tax ruling
By Ryan Thomas Riddle
The Catholic Church, which is exempt from paying property taxes, is feeling persecuted for having to pay property transfer taxes.
Not surprisingly, the Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco is contesting the Dec. 4 ruling that holds it responsible for paying an estimated $14.4 million dollars in transfer taxes to the city, vowing to challenge the ruling in court.
In April 2008, the diocese had shuffled 232 properties from one church-held corporation to another. Archbishop George H. Niederauer argued that the property transfers were exempt from transfer taxes in a December 2007 statement. The Transfer Tax Review Board disagreed. The 3-0 ruling was a major victory for Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting whose office is calling this the “the second largest transfer tax event in our city’s history.”
A rockin’ Balkan good time
By Megan Gordon
Brass Menazeri play this weekend’s Kafana Balkan.
Kafana Balkan is part sweaty dance party, part traditional Serbian cultural event, part circus show, and part night at the bar – all benefitting a worthy cause. Though the event — held next at Blue Macaw on Saturday, December 5 — may be hard define, it’s probably even harder not to have a good time when attending.
There’s always dancing, there’s always a variety of folks coming together to celebrate the vibrance of the Yugoslavian culture, and organizers try to have the traditional Rakiya liquor on hand. The ever-talented Brass Menazeri is the resident house band. (Specializing in gypsy powerhouse music, their Web site states, “the energy is infectious—toes tap, bodies slam, sweat flies as vital energy radiates from the dance floor.”) How could you go wrong?
The event was the brainchild of Zelijko Petkovic and Boban Djurkozic, both Serbs who conceived of the gathering as a way for local Yugoslavians could come together and celebrate. Then Joe Mama of the Humanitarian Circus got involved, helping with promotions and marketing and eventually stepping into the driver’s seat.
Run, Anna Conda, run
By Marke B.
Anna Conda runs in D6. Photo by Pete Werner, www.wernerimage.com
So, yes, punk-rock drag mistress, community spokesperson, tireless activist, party hostess extraordinaire, exceptional hairdresser, and all-around knockabout gal Anna Conda has thrown her bloody boa into the ring with about 15 others to slide into Cris Daly’s, er, seat in District 6. In an exclusive round of frantic Facebooking she told us:
My political stance for this campaign? I am not running my campaign only to win — because I have no control over winning or not. The voters do. I support repealing Prop 13 on commercial real estate. Many such properties are now owned by trusts and foreign interests — and why should they not be paying taxes when we can’t find money for ADAP [AIDS Drug Assistance Program]? Injustice by governing bodies is intolerable and it is now commonplace. What I hear from people, they feel like they can’t change anything. I’m here to say we can and we will.
Anna’s really found her political voice in the past couple of years, leading many “Take Back the Polk” protests against the dequeerification of that once proud pink hotspot and standing up against AIDS service budget cuts. In fact, there’s been a wonderful if odd surge of drag queen activism in the past year, perhaps accelerated by the passage of Prop 8. Well, one good thing came of that, I guess. Help on Heels.
Anna Conda at a recent protest against ADAP cuts. Photo by Ryan Cleary
(Could we be seeing the resurrection of Sister Boom Boom‘s ghost?)
Hot sex events this week: Dec 2-8
Compiled by Molly Freedenberg
Fetish star Rubber Doll performs at Saturday’s Von Gutenberg Fetish Ball.
————-
>> Intro to Burlesquercise Mini-Session
Bombshell Betty hosts a three week course including the bump-and-grind warmup and workout, lessons in how to create your own retro style dance moves, how to work a boa and twirl tassels, and more.
Wed/2, 7-8:30pm. Also Dec 9 and 16
$60
Center for Sex and Culture
1519 Mission, SF
www.bombshellbetty.net
————-
>> Sex Workers’ Writing Workshop
Gina de Vries hosts this workshop for current and former sex workers who want to share their writing and get honest, non-judgmental feedback.
Wed/2, 6-8pm
$10-$20
Center for Sex and Culture
1519 Mission, SF
www.sexandculture.org
————-
>> Miz Margo’s Going Away Big Dance Party
The Flying Fox is leaving for New York City and the burlesque community is seeing her off with a dance party featuring goth, deathrock, postpunk, and glam music.
Thurs/3, 10pm
$5
DNA Lounge
375 11th St, SF
www.dnalounge.com
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Don’t give to the Salvation Army
By Tim Redmond
I always walk by the red kettles without putting in money. Mostly that’s because I like Jon Carroll’s Untied Way — I give money directly to panhandlers and cut out the middle man.
But I have a special dislike for charities that talk of good works to hide their institutional bigotry. And now this.
Skip the kettle. Give the Untied Way.
Gift fairs galore
By Caitlin Donohue
Rep it up: Support your crafty community this holiday season
Yes, I know, holiday shopping is painful and spendy and at the moment I’m way more into figuring out if I can pay rent for the month of December than what my unconsciously greedy loved ones will unwrap by the menorah/tree/kinara (I am nothing if not inclusive). But this week’s gift fairs have anticipated the Scrooge-like crab apple that has flourished down where my heart should be and have rendered me helpless in their path. They met my three qualifiers for appropriate gift suppliers, these being:
1. Cheap gifts
2. Non corporate/recycled/handmade/blablablayou’reaware gifts
3. Booze while you shop (exceptions noted)
Lemme guess, those are your criteria too? Smashing! I’ve even included a “Lazy man (or woman) gift suggestion” for each bazaar for those who just can’t be bothered. Here’s your three day plan, plus one to keep you busy next weekend:
Handmade Ho Down Urban Craft Fair
Thur/3 6 p.m- 12 a.m., free
1015 Folsom, SF
Brought to you by the 200 odd Bay Area artists that make up SF www.etsy.com/ Etsy (a website that has destroyed my life, in a good way, many times over), this event makes good on its club location with swingin’ DJs and cold beverages. This is where you head to score www.laserkitten.com/ Laserkitten’s “send me the link” bling-blangin’ lasercut necklace (so urban!) and other such high quality crafts. Get there with the quickness and score one of the swag bags they’re handing out to the first 200 shoppers.
Lazy man (or woman) gift suggestion: Eristotle‘s pillow embossed with a moose design. I dare you to find an emotive human being who doesn’t want this on their couch. And don’t forget the gift wrapping table, cuz I know you’re not doing that yourself you lazy wo/man, you.
Heaven is dull and ugly
By Tim Redmond
So the mayor of Vallejo thinks gay people can’t go to heaven because they’re sinners. If that’s true, I’m afraid heaven will be a very boring and unattractive place.
SF moves quickly on bike improvements
By Steven T. Jones
The latest bike lane is on Mississippi Street in front of the Guardian Building.
In the week since a judge freed San Francisco to finally do bicycle improvements, city crews have already installed three new bike lanes and dozens of bike racks and shared lanes markings, known as sharrows or bike boxes.
“This is huge. We’re really pleased with the pace the city is moving on. We’re thrilled to see so much on the streets already,” San Francisco Bicycle Coalition director Leah Shahum told us.
The latest lane, still being striped as I write this, is on Mississippi Street, right in front of the Guardian building. Yesterday, crews converted one of two turn lanes at 9th and Howard streets into a bike lane. And on Monday, they created a bike lane on Scott Street through The Wiggle, a route popular with bicyclists.
Tomorrow at 1 p.m., SFBC will hold a press conference at Scott and Oak streets, where city crews are creating one of the new bike boxes (intersection spots where cyclists can safely wait for the light to change) going up around the city. Attendees will include Mayor Gavin Newsom, Sups. Ross Mirkarimi and Bevan Dufty, and SFMTA chief Nat Ford.
“The SFMTA is poised to make San Francisco the pre-eminent city for bicycling in North America,” Ford said in a press release announcing the partial lifting of the three-year-old injunction against new bike projects. “Today’s action by the Superior Court will foster the responsible promotion of bicycling envisioned in the Charter-mandated Transit First policy.”
Appetite: Holiday Farmers Market Cocktail Night
By Virginia Miller. Check out more of Virginia’s food news at www.theperfectspotsf.com
12/2 – Holiday Farmers Market Cocktail Night
Quarterly comes the arrival of CUESA’s Farmers Market Cocktail night, reflecting the best of the season’s produce in cocktail recipes created by our city’s great mixologists. I’ve been to a few, including last winter’s, and despite being outdoors at the Ferry Building, it’s a bustling gathering where warmth comes in the form of two full-sized cocktails (this time around featuring Jim Beam bourbon) and an unlimited sampling of eight other holiday-inspired imbibements highlighting a whole range of spirits. Our local chapter of the United States Bartenders Guild co-hosts the event so bartenders are top notch, including Brian MacGregor of Jardiniere, Scott Baird and Aaron Gregory Smith of 15 Romolo, Lou Bustamante, Erick Castro of Rickhouse, Darren Crawford of Bourbon & Branch, Enrique Sanchez of La Mar, Sierra Zimei of Seasons Bar. There’s prizes and exquisite bites from local restaurants in a holiday tasting party that’s all about the spirit/s of the season.
12/2, 5:30-7:30pm, $30
1 Ferry Building
www.cuesa.org
Tickets: www.brownpapertickets.com
alt.sex.column: Attack of the 50-foot MILF
By Andrea Nemerson. Email your questions to andrea@mail.altsexcolumn.com. Read more of Andrea’s columns here.
Dear Andrea:
I initially missed the hot-for-friend’s-mother definition of MILF, and was introduced to the phrase, sweetly, by a former lover. He wasn’t trying to separate the fuckable mothers from the nonfuckable, or fetishizing fecundity. Since we were both middle-aged, he wasn’t designating me a MILF based on the understanding of it that you and the writer of “Still Hot” hold [“Milfbone,” 11/18/09]. He simply meant that my being a mother was one of the things he found attractive about me — he is a devoted father — and that he wanted to fuck me. When you are covered with spit-up or finger paint, when most of your social events involve the PTA, it’s nice to know you’re still hot — maybe even hot because, rather than in spite of, your momitude.
His use of MILF made me feel attractive and desirable. It told me I was still sexy. Indeed, it implied that part of my appeal was my maturity: not the maternal qualities in an icky, “I want to suckle your milk-filled breasts” way, but that he preferred me to young ’uns and to the big-boobed brainless bimbos. “I think Stacy’s mom is way hotter than her teenage daughter; I’d rather F her, because, while society says I should de facto be more attracted to the young girl, I’m more into the woman my own age.” I doubt very much that I’m hot to a 14-year-old. But I might want to be to his dad.
Street Threads: Look of the Day
SFBG photog Ariel Soto scoops SF street fashion. See the previous Look of the Day here.
Today’s Look: Shane, Haight and Ashbury
Tell us about your look: “This shirt is from Calcutta.”
Poll showed SF voters had favorable attitude toward new revenue measures
By Rebecca Bowe
Would you pay five cents more for this if it was going to fund local health care services?
So the city of San Francisco is staring down a $522 million deficit for next year. Does this mean local elected officials are seriously exploring options for new revenue measures? When we asked Board President David Chiu last week if new revenue options were in the cards for next year, he replied, “that has to be one part of the equation.”
David Metz, a partner in Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates, says he discovered that a majority of San Franciscans supported certain revenue-generating options after his firm was commissioned by the San Francisco Labor Council to conduct a poll. FMMM&A has conducted polls on hundreds of tax and bond measures since 1980, when the firm was established.
“There was a majority of support for a number of different options,” Metz told the Guardian. FMMM&A asked 600 “likely voters” in San Francisco in July if they would approve temporary tax increases that would be imposed for no more than three years to help prop up city services. Tossing out a few ideas for bringing in more money, this is what they found:
· 72 percent of respondents said they would support a nickel-per-drink tax on alcoholic beverages in bars, in order to bolster city health-care services. 27 percent were opposed.
· 58 percent said they would vote for an increase in tax charges to hotel / motel guests. 37 percent said nay.
· 60 percent said they’d support a temporary half-cent sales tax increase. 38 percent opposed it.
· 53 percent said they’d support a 2 percent, temporary tax on the value of cars registered in San Francisco, while 44 percent said they’d reject it.
Squeeze box plus Sparkly boobs: the Accordion Babes equal the truth
Text and photos by Caitlin Donohue
Reneé de la Prade rocks an accordion version of ‘I Wanna Be Sedated.’ In a corset. Get it, girl.
“She is the truth.” Last night I turned to see my boyfriend struck starry eyed over a girl with pink hair, a matching corset, and a punk rock way with a squeeze box. We were at the Hubba Hubba Revue/Accordion Babe calendar release party at the Uptown Night Club (928 Telegraph, Oakland), and I had to agree.
There is something about accordion that goes smashingly with burlesque. The two art forms are unapologetically vintage with rather cumbersome apparatuses (stiletto heels, fluffy boas, weighty bellows) and would almost be entertaining enough to look at standing still. But dance burlesque dancers do, and rock accordionists will. Last night’s program went something like this: funny guys, badass accordion song, lady gets naked, monkey clears stage, funny guys, repeat.
Emcees and monkey men break up the broads at the Hubba Hubba/Accordion Babes bash
The real Tiger Woods scandal
By Tim Redmond
It’s not this affair or that affair. It’s his connection with some evil corporate giants, particularly Chevron.
Or so says Dave Zirin, writing in The Nation:
In 2008 Chevron entered a five-year relationship with Tiger Woods’s foundation under the guise of philanthropy. But if Woods had a shred of social conscience, this partnership never would have existed. Lawsuits have been issued against Chevron for dumping toxic waste all over the planet. Alaska, Canada, Brazil, Angola and California have all accused Chevron of dumping. Even worse, Chevron has a partnership with Burma’s ruling military junta on the country’s Yadana gas pipeline project, the single greatest source of revenue for the military, estimated at nearly $5 billion since 2000.
Zirin’s one of the few progressive political sportswriters out there, and I hope this point catches on. I don’t care who Tiger Woods did or didn’t have sex with, but I’ve always been a little pissed that the world’s most prominent and richest black athlete has been so generally silent about race, class and human rights issues. (He wouldn’t even take a real stand against the exclusion of women at Augusta National.)
By the way, the other best comment on this whole sordid affair comes from Scott Ostler:
Hit a fire hydrant … hit a tree … escape from dire peril thanks to crazed flailing and hacking with a club. Isn’t it crazy how this matches the description of my most recent round of golf?
Editorial: U.S. out of Afghanistan
Now is more important than ever for the movement that swept Obama into office to get back into the streets and oppose his Afghan escalation policy
EDITORIAL We knew President Obama wasn’t going to be perfect. We knew he was a lot more of a political moderate than the left — which was so excited about getting rid of George W. Bush and voting for a candidate who was against the war in Iraq — always wanted to acknowledge. And we knew that the key to a progressive national agenda was keeping the pressure on the new president, who won on the basis of massive grassroots support and would be, we hoped, swayed be the mobilization of that same coalition on key political issues.
And now, after the biggest disappointment yet of his young presidency, it’s more important than ever for the movement that swept Obama into office to get back into the streets. Because the president’s decision to put 30,000 more troops into Afghanistan — to escalate, at great expense, a war the United States can’t win — is a disaster for the nation.
Trillin: Lieberman on the public option
CALVIN TRILLIN: DEADLINE POET
Senator Joe Lieberman
and the public option
If public option’s in the bill, Joe says,
He’ll work to make a filibuster stick.
If so, insurance giants then will cheer.
The poor will think of Joe when they’re sick.
The Nation (11/30/09)
Sunshine heroes: Call for nominations!
By Rebecca Bowe
Not every bright star who snags a James Madison Freedom of Information Award is a superstar investigative journalist. The annual contest, administered by the Northern California Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, honors citizens and journalists alike who’ve exercised their right to obtain public documents and used the information to produce stellar work. The awards also recognize those who’ve poured time and energy into promoting greater government transparency.
Right now, the SPJ NorCal Chapter’s Freedom of Information Committee is accepting nominations for The 25th Annual James Madison Awards. The awards recognize Northern California organizations and individuals who have made significant contributions to the advancement of freedom of information and expression in the spirit of James Madison, the creative force behind the First Amendment.
Click here to go to an online nomination form. The last day to send a nomination is January 9, 2010.
The awards are presented at a ceremony in March during National Freedom of Information Week, near the anniversary of Madison’s birth. Eligible for nomination are Northern California journalists, citizens, media organizations, or community groups who, during 2009, have defended public access to meetings, public records, or court proceedings or otherwise promoted the public’s right to know, publish and speak freely about issues of public concern.
The next Assembly speaker
By Tim Redmond
I got a bit of a start this morning when I read on Calitics that Assemblymember Fiona Ma, who has done some awful stuff in Sacramento, was in the running to be the next speaker of the Assembly.
But that, for the moment, appears to be a false alarm — when I contacted Ma, she forwarded me this Capitol Weekly piece that quotes her supporting John Perez, who would be the first gay speaker.
So it looks at this point as if the race is between Perez and Kevin De Leon, who will have a lot of progressive backers. Perez supporters say he has the advantage of being a first termer, which means he’d be around as spekaer for five years — an eternity in term-limit land. On the other hand, he’s also relatively inexperienced; this is his first elective office, and when you’re fighting with the governor and the GOP, experience helps a lot.
But it won’t be Ma — “Unless she suddenly changes her mind again,” one Capitol insider told me. “And with Fiona, you never know.”
Anti-war activists return to the streets
By Steven T. Jones
Photo by Bill Hackwell from our award-winning story “Resistance is futile — or is it?“
As President Obama announces an escalation of the war in Afghanistan this evening, anti-war activists are planning to take to the streets in protest. The questions now are whether the movement can gather the numbers and energy that it had back in 2003, after years of being ignored and demoralized, and whether this new president will listen.
Code Pink will host on event today at Tommy’s Joynt (1101 Geary) starting at 4 p.m. for those who want to watch Obama’s speech together, and they’ll march on the Federal Building afterward. There will also be a march this evening in the East Bay, starting at 7 p.m. at the clock tower at 4063 Piedmont Avenue in Oakland.
Then, tomorrow (Dec. 2) at 5 p.m., a half-dozen anti-war groups will join forces for the main local march against the war, gathering on Market Street at Powell. And the American Friends Service Committee will simultaneously protest outside the new Federal Building (90 7th Street).
P.S. If you’re still on the fence about whether escalating the war in Afghanistan is “necessary” or a dangerous clusterfuck, check out this piece in The Nation about how US contractors are funding the Taliban or this piece on Bill Moyers Journal about how this escalation is likely to do more harm than good.
Ting wins big case against the Catholic Church
By Ryan Thomas Riddle
Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting is the victor in the high-stakes battle against the Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco. The church has been ordered to pay an estimated $14.4 million in transfer taxes to the city. But the victory comes on the heels of the California State Board of Equalization’s decision to slightly lower property taxes statewide.
On Tuesday, Dec. 4, the Transfer Tax Review Board voted 3-0 in favor of the Assessor’s Office, resulting in what the office is calling “the second largest transfer tax event in our city’s history.” The board decided that the Archdiocese’s extensive 2008 property transfers were taxable under the Real Property Transfer Tax Ordinance.
Ting said via phone conference that board’s decision shows that his office has been “aggressive and fairly enforcing the law.” He added that while the Assessor’s Office may have turned a blind eye in the past, the board’s verdict shows that every taxpayer gets treated the same under his watch. “We have worked hard to ensure every taxpayer is being assessed transfer taxes in a fair and consistent manner.”
Ecosexual: F*cking Machine seeks deflowerment
Juliette Tang continues her indepth look at local ecosexuals
Martin Cooper, an overachieving SFSU graduate with a background in art and engineering, created a provocative device earlier this year for his senior art project called “The Mean Green Fucking Machine”. He received an A in the class.
A fucking machine in the tradition of those at Kink.com, the Mean Green Fucking Machine is over 9-feet in height and is powered by a water wheel. An interesting aspect of this machine that cannot be ignored is the water requirement, but while this might be perceived as a limitation, Cooper (as well as I) believe this specificity might attract a while new clientele: the kind of person who is drawn to the aquatic element and its relation to the pleasures of torture. Underwater sex has its fans, and some might find use for this machine as a way to fulfill latent waterboarding fantasies. Just a thought.
Cooper is careful to admit that the machine isn’t wholly green — it wastes the water it’s powered by — but he states that improvements will be made on subsequent creations. According to his artist statement, “…sporting an 8 inch realistic dildo, and spraying water eight feet in every direction, it is a spectacle that cannot be ignored. It cannot help but spark the imagination of its viewer, confronting them with their own views on sexuality, whether they are titillated or repulsed by what they see.” Having seen this behemoth in person, I attest that these photos do the machine no justice. Cooper’s machine conjures images of medieval dungeons, kitschy steampunk gizmos, and the handiwork of my favorite Marvel Comics’ character, the Tinkerer. It’s looms but, perhaps because it’s rendered from bicycle parts, it isn’t intimidating. To me, this is a good thing; if any fucking machine could be cute, this would be it.
Sadly, Cooper’s toy is a virgin at present, but its creator is receptive to the idea of deflowerment. Are there any takers out there? Will someone, anyone, please sxually compromise this toy?
Check out a video of the Green Machine in action here.
Live Shots: Hip-Hop DanceFest, Palace of Fine Arts, 11/22/09
Text and photos by Ariel Soto
For the 11th Annual Hip Hop DanceFest, 11 dance troupes graced the stage for Sunday afternoon at the Palace of Fine Arts. The dance companies hailed from California, South Korea, Norway, Canada, London and New York, showcasing a diverse definition of what hip-hop dance means today. There was some tap dancing, classical music, and Michael Jackson tributes. The ages of the dancers ranged from very young kids to seasoned adults, but their skill and proficiency was perfectly cohesive and steeped full of energy. There was also a spectacular trio, the ILL-Abilities Crew, made up of three dancers with various disabilities who danced with such passion and talent that it brought the whole crowd to a standing ovation. It was obvious after seeing these dance companies perform that hip hop is a dance of all nations, where everyone speaks the universal language for throwing down.
