SFBG Blogs Archives — Page 466 of 597 — San Francisco Bay Guardian Archive 1966

The wonderful politics of gay marriage

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June 17, 2008

I was listinging to Forum this morning on my way to work and although a few complete idiots called in, most of the talk was about how great it is that California now has legal same-sex marriage. I was struck by one caller who announced, with a kind of bemused confidence, that the protests and acrimony are really old news and will soon by ancient history.

The man, who identified himself as straight and 30 years old, said that when his generation takes control of this country, same-sex marraige will be legal, accepted and no longer an issue at all.

Michael Krasny, the host, pointed out that there are stil some young, religious types who oppose gay marriage, but the called shrugged that off. Sure, there are a few, and there will always be a few bigots and nuts around, but in fact, even the young religious types aren’t as adamant about this issue. When you grow up exposed to something as part of your culture, you come to accept it, the man said.

Yeah, I know, when I was in college I thought that when my generation took control, pot would be legal and war would be outlawed, but this guy is right. The wonderful politics of same-sex marraige is that fact that the battle is over, and we’ve won.

When two 80-year-olds who had fought all their lives for basic human rights and dignity took their vows from a mayor about half a century younger than them, it was both a victory celebration and a passing of the torch. Thanks to older queer pioneers like Lyon and Martin, and the generation that followed them, homosexuality is now a part of mainstream American society. Queers are everywhere, literally — on TV, in the movies, in magazines, in comedy, in popular music, in professional sports, going to high-school proms … and that’s never going to change.

So the religious right can make a last gasp attempt to overturn the Supreme Court decision, but that’s going to fail. The tide has turned.

Manimal Fest makes us feel like animals

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June 17, 2008

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Kicking up some dust at Pioneer Town. All photos by Jen Snyder.

By Jen Snyder

I feel like I’m airing a secret by writing this, but have you ever been to Pioneer Town? If you haven’t, I’d like to suggest that you think of a reason to go there. If possible, make it a reason full of rock ‘n’ roll, music critics covered in dust and beer, and plenty of the locals. On June 7 and 8 in Pioneer Town, two hours east of Los Angeles and deep in the burning June desert, Manimal Vinyl held their first major event, Manimal Festival. The LA label showcased a string of bands including the resurfacing Ariel Pink and his Haunted Graffiti as well as some up-and-coming bands and projects.

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Picture a basin dotted with Joshua Trees and red rock. Pioneer Town seems to just appear out of nowhere behind the rust-colored formations, looking more like an amusement park than a bar. There’s a pod of teepees, an entire fake town – complete with bowling alley – full of weathered mannequins, miniature ponies, and tons of bikers. The bar and the outside patio both have separate barbecues. There I saw someone with a Bloody Leroy, a Bloody Mary with a barbecued rib in it.

I don’t know why people aren’t flocking to Pioneer Town constantly. It was a kitsch dream, as you can imagine, stuffed with velvet paintings and chili-pepper lights and boasting the nicest legless bouncer you ever met. To top it all off, the music was incredible. Highlights include Mariee Sioux, We Are the World, and Aeriel Pink.

Homonuptials: More Day 1 wedding shots

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June 17, 2008

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Guardian photog Ariel Soto got these shots of Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin’s wedding at City Hall yesterday, as well as some of the celebratory crowd outside.

The view from City Hall steps

Spiralling toward matrimony

Phyl and Del (in wheelchair) cutting the gorgeous Citizen Cake cake

Joined by the glowing, and glowing-haired, mayor

Ariel says: “From my perch up in the balcony of city hall, looking down at the throngs of media and a beautiful white cake, my heart started beating faster and faster because I was about to witness a true piece of much awaited and much deserved history — the first legal same-sex marriage of Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin on June 16th in San Francisco’s City Hall. The couple was greeted with lots of love and joy and loud cheering, along with the huge crowd outside the court house who were also joining in with the festivities, passing out flowers, singing songs and just being darn happy that this day has finally arrived. Congrats Phyllis and Del on your much awaited marriage — and may your love and courage live on forever!”

Well-wishers from above

Homonuptials: Phyl and Del’s wedding, as seen from outside

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June 16, 2008

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Hunky Beau and I hightailed it down to City Hall at 5pm today to (we hoped) catch Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin, San Francisco’s first legally married same-sex couple — and the city’s only one today, symbolically — emerge triumphantly onto the hall’s steps, frantically waving their newly imbued license to the roar of a supportive crowd.

The crowd of hundreds eagerly awaits

Tired, usual bigots in their corner

Signs of support

That crowd was sprinkled with hometown stars, including Ron, former owner of the much-missed Josie’s Cabaret and Juice Joint in the Castro and comedian Scott Capurro, who kept the waiting crowd in giggles with occasional surreal outbursts.

Yep, we’re gay

Calling geeks about the White House emails

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June 16, 2008

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Dear Geeks,

Never mind about the pressing matter of whether the White House should be required to turn over records about a stash of possibly missing e-mails.

No my question is purely technical, but pertinent, me thinks, to all of us who are hunting information in the digital era, (as well as to those of use who are trying to hide our tracks.)

So, please say it ain’t so that the White House could lose any e-mails. Let alone e-mails from when Bush decided to go to war with Iraq, and White House officials decided to leak the identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame and the Justice Department began a criminal investigation into who leaked that classified information.”

Please, please, say it ain’t so. Because if it is…then surely, the electronic ground rules just changed?

Towards Carfree: Aboard a Portland-bound train

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June 16, 2008

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Steve Jones reports from the Towards Carfree Cities conference.

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Our crew includes (from left) Jon Winston, Nancy Bodkin, Jason Henderson, and Brian Smith.

“We’ve got a runner,” the train conductor said over the PA system as we pulled out of Eugene, Oregon for the final leg of our overnight train from Oakland to Portland. Someone seeking good coffee had missed the train and was fruitlessly trying to catch up to us.

I was with a large contingent of Bay Area transportation policy experts, activists and thinkers – all bound for the Towards Carfree Cities conference — and we laughed. Then we laughed harder once we realized that Jason Henderson, a geography professor at San Francisco State, was no longer with us. Shit, we chortled, Jason didn’t make the train.

Co-conductor Justin Clark, who is just 22 but has been working for Amtrak for two years, walked by the aisle so I asked him what happened. “He decided to go to the coffee stand a block and a half up the street. I saw him running with the coffee in his hand,” Clark told me. He radioed conductor Archie Club, “and he said it was too late.” Clark said he might have stopped the train if it was his call, but it wasn’t.

“We don’t do it for fun,” Clark, whose tongue was pierced, said of leaving passengers behind and watching them run for the train. In fact, Clark felt a little bad as he stood in the doorway, watching the passenger try to stop the train: “I had to look away. I didn’t want him to see that I saw him.”

The trip had been a smooth one so far, leaving the Bay Area only a few minutes late, a sharp contrast to Amtrak’s reputation for long delayed trains, something activist Brian Smith connected to our runner: “That’s Amtrak’s new commitment to on-time efficiency.”

Jason walked up part way through my interview, so our crew was intact after all, soon to arrive for a big week in Portland.

Trouble in Hayes Carll’s mind

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June 16, 2008

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By Todd Lavoie

Looks like the third time’s a charm for Texan singer-songwriter Hayes Carll – the rough ‘n’ tumble country-folk outlaw has just released album number three, Trouble in Mind (Lost Highway), and it’s a huge leap forward for the guy. Not only does his move to a major label give an extra boost of exposure beyond the Texan scene and onto the national level – his first couple of discs were either self-released or issued on a small regional label – but along the way he’s landed himself a sweet supporting slot, opening for the similarly boot-stomping Old 97’s. You’ll see what I mean this Tuesday, June 17, when Carll works his storytelling woo-ha on the Fillmore crowd.

You can’t miss that Texan drawl: Carll’s is as thick as a brick, perhaps even given a little extra layer on top just to be sure no one’s confused about his point of origin. Inevitably, Steve Earle comes to mind – particularly his first couple of decades’ worth of recordings, rather than the genre-hopping excursions of recent years – thanks to a similarly evocative dusty whine, equally capable of a sneer and a leer as it is of hitting heartstrings with a broken admission of weakness.

Then there’s the choice of subject matter. Much of Carll’s material shares the barroom bluster of Earle’s ’80s and ’90s output. Drugs and drink, hard-luck men and women, tight-lipped drifters itching for a brawl – sound familiar? Perhaps so, but Carll also tends to inject most of his character sketches and roadhouse recollections with plenty of wit and a no-nonsense poet’s grasp of language. As much as I’d imagine he might argue that his songs are nothin’ fancy, there is considerable complexity at work here. Sure, Trouble in Mind doesn’t put on any airs, but the disc is a wordsmith’s delight, loaded with lingering images and sly turns of phrase.

Same-sex equality: From dongs to ding-dong-dings

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June 16, 2008

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OK, so this is it. This is the day I’m finally equal. No longer a “second class citizen” — in California at least, the third biggest state with the largest population in the good ol’ US of Gay. Today at 5pm, two precious octagenarian lesbians will legally tie the knot at San Francisco City Hall, and tomorrow I’ll have access to the last state right denied to me on the basis of which side I butter my queer toast. Weird.

Will I suddenly walk taller? Will my shoulders expand and my chest inflate? Will I finally fall prey to all that Sex and the City hoo-ha and watch my moods swing from Blahnik pump to Wang gown with every hysterical cosmo and Cosmo I down? Or will I become the stereotypical male role model — unable to commit to an ice cream flavor or credit card company, let alone matrimony.

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Gurl, we already had Sex and the City in the ’40s. From www.queermusicheritage.us

Maybe worse, as someone whose queer identity was partly formed by saying “who cares” to marriage, because there’s more pressing problems confronting the community — now that that stance is officially a personal rather than a political statement, what will happen to my politics? “Who cares.”

Mostly, and oddly, though, I found myself waking up this morning itching for a fight.

From dongs to ding-dong-dings

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June 16, 2008

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OK, so this is it. This is the day I’m finally equal. No longer a “second class citizen” — in California at least, the third biggest state with the largest population in the good ol’ US of Gay. Today at 5pm, two precious octagenarian lesbians will legally tie the knot at San Francisco City Hall, and tomorrow I’ll have access to the last state right denied to me on the basis of which side I butter my queer toast. Weird.

Will I suddenly walk taller? Will my shoulders expand and my chest inflate? Will I finally fall prey to all that Sex and the City hoo-ha and watch my moods swing from Blahnik pump to Wang gown with every hysterical cosmo and Cosmo I down? Or will I become the stereotypical male role model — unable to commit to an ice cream flavor or credit card company, let alone matrimony.

spotqu~1a.jpg
Gurl, we already had Sex and the City in the ’40s. From www.queermusicheritage.us

Maybe worse, as someone whose queer identity was partly formed by saying “who cares” to marriage, because there’s more pressing problems confronting the community — now that that stance is officially a personal rather than a political statement, what will happen to my politics? “Who cares.”

Mostly, and oddly, though, I found myself waking up this morning itching for a fight.

Golden prawn afternoon: Regent Thai in Noe Valley

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June 15, 2008

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Guardian video slideshow journalist Ariel Soto spent an enlightening Friday afternoon at Noe Valley’s Regent Thai restaurant.

Lennar files for bankruptcy at Mare Island

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June 13, 2008

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Just as folks in San Francisco are beginning to wonder if Lennar is planning to mothball the Hunters Point Shipyard in face of a $25 million funding gap (reportedly related to lowered land prices), comes word that folks in Vallejo are beginning to wonder what Lennar Mare Island’s June 8 bankruptcy will means for their city’s already strained finances.

On Sunday June 8, Lennar Mare Island LLC, which has been involved in redeveloping the former naval station at Mare Island for eleven years. petitioned for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, along with its parent company LandSource and 19 other Lennar-related subsidiaries.

The move came several couple of months after LandSource defaulted on a $1.24 billion loan–and five days after the June 3 election, in which Lennar Homes of California spent $5 million to pass Prop. G, which gives it the right to develop luxury condos at Candlestick Point, as well as at Hunters Point Shipyard.

Oh, no — not BUDWEISER!

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June 13, 2008

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Egads! The company that makes my favorite beer may be taken over by a Belgian brewer!

And sales are down 1.4 percent this year!

I’m sorry, Mr. August Busch IV — I’m drinking as much Bud Light as I can!

How can we allow this timeless icon of America be sold off to the makers of (gasp!) Stella Artois?

Forget the war, the budget, crime and poverty — the is BEER we’re talking about. To the ramparts!

Semi-conscious consumerism: Nike + American Apparel = what, exactly

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June 13, 2008

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By Justin Juul

I know I’m not supposed to buy Nike shoes because they’re made by starving children in developing countries — unlike Converse, New Balance, and Reebok shoes which are all made by high-paid workers right here in San Francisco — but holy shit has Nike made an awesome sneaker. Their new Free-Everyday line has a super-streamlined look with a custom-colorway option, which is what really sealed the deal for me (mine are all grey with brick-red highlights).

But that’s not all. They also come with a little microchip you can slide into the sole. The chip pings to a bracelet (or an iPod) so you can monitor your progress. Also, if you’re a nerd, you can personalize the back of your new shoes with a two-word phrase. I was going to get “America Rules” emblazoned on mine, but there was a copyright issue so I chose “Manifest Destiny” instead. * Come on! Starving children are great and all, but really, how could I not buy a pair of these things?

You see, I’m a runner, but until I got my Nikes I was just a casual nighttime runner, a secretive runner if you will. Now, I’m a machine. I’ve already clocked 50 miles on my new kicks and I’ve got my sights set on running the first half of the SF marathon in August. Why the sudden change? Well, it sucks to admit, but I’ve never publicly expressed my love for running because runners are fucking dorks. Have you seen their shoes!? Before the Nike Free-Everyday was released, the only running shoes you could get –good ones, I’m talking about—looked like they’d been designed by colorblind robots from the planet Zorton. This isn’t 1986, guys. This isn’t Back to the Future II. Mismatched neon, totally useless plastic ridges, and air bubbles may have been cool at some point, but this is the nineties, man. I need my kicks to look fresh! And now they do. But compromising my morals wasn’t as easy as I thought it’d be. And soon, other problems began to surface

Sausage and the City

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June 13, 2008

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By Justin Juul

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you ever actually pursued one of those weird ideas you get when you’re driving (or bussing or biking) home from work and your brain starts to wander? You know the shit I’m talking about. Something like this: Mmmm, I’m hungry — a hot dog would be nice – they always smell so good – but there’s bacon in them dogs – I wonder how much money those bacon-dog cart people in the Mission make – I wish they sold veggie dogs – I wish I had a hot dog cart – I bet I could find one on Ebay – I could start my own veggie-dog cart and get rich peddling my stuff in the park.

Wonder no more!

Then someone cuts you off and you slam your brakes and forget about the whole thing. You start thinking about sex or iPhones or something important like that. We all have those ideas that we know would work, but that we don’t have the time, energy, or money to get around to. The truth is we’re just lazy. That idea –the one about the veggie dogs– would totally work. Just think about how much money you’d make at Dolores Park on a sunny Sunday afternoon. All those stoned hipsters! All the drunk vegetarians! Who knows, after a month or so maybe you could make enough money to buy a cute little French bulldog to tag along as your mascot. You should do it! But you can’t –not anymore—because Danielle and Kristine, better known around these parts as Sausage Party, have already done it. And their dogs are fantastic.

Dog Eat Dog. Would the cute guy in this pic call Marke B. immediately.

Bring the Guard home

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June 13, 2008

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Here’s a good idea to further localize the effort to stop the war in Iraq. See how the states of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont are organizing efforts to pressure their state legislatures to stop the deployment of the National Guards, from their state to Iraq, on the orders of President Bush.

“It is clear that the mission that Congress authorized no longer exists. The President has no current or permanent legal authority to keep Guard members in Iraq. The Governor as Commander-in-Chief of the Vermont National Guard should take necessary steps to bring them home.”
~ Rep. Michael Fisher, Vermont State House

Let’s get a movement going in California. Let’s start by asking rep. Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House and our San Francisco representative, up for reelection this fall, if she would support the movement or lead the charge.

For more information go to www.BringtheGuardHome.org

Nick Cave, Rancid, Eagles of Death Metal, Ledisi, Dandy Warholds to launch reopened Warfield

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June 13, 2008

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Fly, Eagles of Death Metal, fly.

Save your tears for the gym-ed up Alcazar and other grand old venues and theaters that have been made over as enormous drug stores. The Warfield reopens soon, under the aegis of Goldenvoice, the production company that puts on Coachella, and a slew of shows are set to go on sale via Ticketmaster on June 22.

Sept. 15 – George Lopez. Third show on sale Sunday, June 22 (third show added).

Sept. 18 – Musiq Soulchild and Ledisi. On Sale Sunday, June 22.

Sept. 20 – Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. On Sale Sunday, June 22.

Sept. 23 – the Hives/Eagles of Death Metal. On sale soon.

Sept. 24 – Bootsy Collins “Tribute to the Godfather of Soul.” On sale soon.

Sept. 25 – Bullet for My Valentine. On sale Sunday, June 22.

Sept. 26-27- Rancid.

Oct. 4 – Dandy Warhols. On sale Sunday, June 22.

Oct. 11 – Julieta Venegas. On sale Sunday, June 22.

Oct. 25 – the Kooks. On sale soon.

Oct. 30 – Cassandra Wilson. On Sale Sunday, June 22.

Nov. 7 – Jim Gaffigan. Late Show added; on sale Sunday, June 22.

Dec. 6 – Frank Caliendo. On sale soon.

Dec. 21- Brian Setzer Orchestra. On sale soon.

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Nick Cave, eyeball rolling back in the day.

Moving in on Reggae on the Move

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June 13, 2008

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Marlon Asher, right, a.k.a., Ganja Farmer, and Rajah Muffin coolin’ out backstage.

By Chris DeMento

The better part of you missed one of the best reggae shows of the year last Thursday, June 5, when a slew of Jamaican artists came through the DNA Lounge (which is a nice little tent – I’d never been inside before, and it has pretty good sound): the tour titled Reggae on the Move.

Headliner Marlon Asher threw down with his international hit, “Ganja Farmer,” which was awesome, of course. But even without Asher it was a well-rounded lineup including Ras Kidus, Undah P, Ras Ndu, Mistah Majah P, Rajah Muffin, and Brimstone. And what an irie evening it was.

I’m not sure I’m licensed to use that word, “irie,” but there you have it. The band held it down and the MCs each turned in a tight mini-set, about three songs apiece. I love posse shows like this, and when they’re as green as this one was, who among us verdant San Franciscans would complain?

Fashion bug: Minnie Wilde puts wind in our sidewalk sales

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June 13, 2008

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Shopping Spy casts a gimlet eye upon yet another delectable little bargain extravaganza this weekend: local girly fave Minnie Wilde will be throwing a “Sunsational Sidewalk Sale,” Saturday, June 14, 11 a.m.-7 p.m., and Sunday, June 15, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Word has it that spring styles will be 25%-30% off, seasonal samples will go for $30 and up, and previous season’s backstock will be marked down to $20-$75. You just have to get on down to Minnie Wilde, 3266 21St. at Valencia, SF. (415) 642-wild.

What is carfree?

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June 12, 2008

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Carfree – it’s a word that is not part of the American lexicon. Even breaking the word apart – car free – won’t much help the average automobile-dependent U.S. resident intuit its meaning. If the concept seems foreign, that’s because it is.

The World Carfree Network started in Europe more than 10 years ago to, according to its mission statement, “bring together organizations and individuals dedicated to promoting alternatives to car dependence and automobile-based planning at the international level and working to reduce the human impact on the natural environment while improving the quality of life for all.”

But just as Americans begin to seriously grapple with global warming, high gasoline prices, and hopelessly congested roadways, the carfree concept and its adherents are establishing a beachhead here. The group’s eighth annual conference, Towards Carfree Cities, begins Monday in Portland, Oregon, the first time it’s been in the U.S.

And San Francisco activists are hoping to use the occasion to firmly plant the “carfree” word and concept in the minds of local planners and politicians, a cause the Guardian will help promote with daily coverage from the week-long conference.

Treasure Island welcomes vinyl dildos and tankers of lube

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June 12, 2008

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We honestly thought the Exotic Erotic Ball would be the last event to leave the beleaguered Cow Palace. But sure enough, we’ve just learned that the 28th annual “celebration of flesh, fetish and fantasy,” in fact, won’t be held at the legendary Daly City venue. Instead, organizers have moved it this year to Treasure Island. The ball’s operator says the event simply outgrew Cow Palace, but it may also have been Daly City’s campaign to get rid of the convention center and replace it with a massive development project to include a grocery store, condos and some chain retail outlets.

In announcing the move, Treasure Island’s director of operations, Mirian Saez, tried to get all hip and claim that the all-but-deserted sliver of land out in the middle of the Bay that developers are currently planning to build a small city on has a long history of hosting sordid celebrations of sin. During the 1939 World’s Fair held at Treasure Island, for instance, one of the most popular attractions was a strip show known as Sally Rand’s Nude Ranch where women wore cowboy hats, gun-belts, boots and not a lot else, according to a statement.

So, Treasure Island officials reasoned, why not have the Exotic Erotic Ball there, too? I mean, apparently they’ve been naked and banging each other out there for years anyway. Maybe that’s why Willie Brown had a particular fondness for sending patronage hacks out to Treasure Island’s administrative offices. Okay, that’s totally unfair.

The show’s producer, Howard Mauskopf, said in the statement that he loved Cow Palace, but the island will be a logistical improvement:

“We had big fun at the Cow Palace and threw some of our best parties ever at that site. But, on Treasure Island, we will have greater flexibility, and all the space we could possibly want. Plus, it’s one of San Francisco’s most idyllic and scenic waterside locations with unparalleled panoramic Bay views, and it has its own spicy and salacious past, just like the ball.”

According to the ball’s official history, it began in 1979 when Perry Mann hosted the shindig in his San Francisco penthouse apartment to collect campaign money for a presidential candidate running on the Nudist Party ticket at the time. His slogan? “I have nothing to hide.”

*Image courtesy Breaktaker.com.

Dufty to run for mayor?

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June 12, 2008

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Stephen Seewer, the LGBT chair of the Commonwealth Club, called to tip me off to a big story that the media missed: Sup. Bevan Dufty announced on Monday at the Commonwealth Club that he’s running for mayor of San Francisco! Political watchers have long known this was a possibility, but how did we miss such an important announcement?
So I spoke with Dufty, who told me that he is indeed thinking about it, but far from making it official: “I don’t feel like it was a formal announcement.”
Dufty said Seewer caught him off-guard at the event with a question about whether he plans to run for mayor. Dufty says he answered by talking about the ambitious agenda he intends to pursue over the next two years and, as he tells it to us, he then told the audience, “Hopefully, I’ll look like a strong candidate for mayor.”
OK, maybe that’s not quite an official declaration, but it’s no secret that Dufty has his eye on the job. Others who seems to be setting themselves up for a run and have made similar statements of interest include Sup. Ross Mirkarimi, City Attorney Dennis Herrera, Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting, Sup. Aaron Peskin, and District Attorney Kamala Harris (provided she doesn’t get tapped by President Barack Obama to be attorney general). And I wouldn’t be surprised if Senator Carole Migden takes a step back after losing reelection, licks her wounds, and returns to the fray as a mayoral candidate.

On Jay-Z, Lil Wayne swagger jacking allegations

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June 12, 2008

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By Ian Ferguson

Hip-Hop has long depended on sampling and remixing beats for its instrumental tracks; why should its vocal tracks be any different? Commercial rappers bring home the bling, and for what? For spending torturous hours, pen in hand, slaving over rhyme to earn the accolades “best rapper alive” (Lil Wayne) or “Hova” (Jay-Z, as in Jay-Hova, Jehovah, God)? Judging from the numerous Swagger Jacker remixes posted on YouTube, probably not.

In urban slang, a swagger jacker is a person who steals someone else’s syle, flow, lyrics, or ideas and passes them off as their own. The two most notorious alleged swagger jackers (or at least those most dissed as biters, synonymous with swagger jacker, in cyberspace) consistently fill arena seats and stand at the highest heights of the hip-hop hierarchy: Lil Wayne and Jay-Z.

When Lil Wayne raps, “Some say the X, makes the sex spec-tacular, make me lick you from yo neck to yo back, then ya, shiverin’, tongue deliverin’, chills up that spine, that ass is mine,” he reanimates Notorious B.I.G.’s voice from the dead, biting off of the song “Fuck You Tonight.” Or when Jay-Z raps, “Gather round hustlers that’s if your still livin’ and get on down to that ol’ jig rhythm,” he’s rapping what Slick Rick rapped back in 1987.

Is Lennar mothballing Hunters Point Shipyard?

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June 11, 2008

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The question may seem strange to voters who just gave Lennar the green light to redevelop the Shipyard and Candlestick Point by voting Yes on Proposition G.

But it sure looks like there’s a major financial problem at Lennar’s construction site on Parcel A of the Shipyard ( the first piece of land on the former naval base to be developed), judging from documents obtained from the City.

“Without the requested $25,021,079 Infill grant allocation, our infrastructure project faces a serious risk of being mothballed,” wrote Stephen Maduli-Williams, Deputy Executive Director of Community and Economic Development for the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency, on May 23, 2008. “The project would face increased costs from work stoppage, remobilization efforts and substantial change orders.”

Maduli-Williams was writing to Wanda Yepez, a grant program manager at the California Department of Housing and Community Development, to appeal a grant application that Yepez determined as ineligible a week earlier, on May 16, 2008.

In his May 23 appeal, Maduli Williams stated that, “In addition to setting national benchmarks in the percentage (in terms of total units developed) and affordability level of housing units created, this project sets benchmarks with its level of developer commitment/investment as well as other community benefits (Legacy Fund).”

Dead men walking to cost shit-tons more

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June 11, 2008

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It’s one of California’s oldest prisons still in operation if not the oldest. The San Quentin State Prison was first built in July of 1852 at Point Quentin in Marin County just north of here on more than 400 pristine acres of Northern California land.

It’s history is illustrious. Johnny Cash performed a live concert there in 1969, you might have heard. Metallica shot the video for “St. Anger” there as well in 2003, which would have been a lot cooler if it was 20 years before and the song was “Dyers Eve,” but whatever.

San Quentin’s also the place where the major news cable networks like to go when they want to do a two-hour reality special titled something like “Dudes Looking Murderous in Front of a Camera While a Voiceover Describes the Prison’s Simple Day-to-Day Operations, But No One’s Really Paying Attention to the Reporter Because They’re Engrossed by the Distant Prospect That the Guy With Tattoos on His Head Playing Cards Might at Any Moment Stab in the Throat the Guy Playing Bones Nearby.”

Larry King did one recently where he kept asking a group of pre-selected inmates to detail their stories of prison rape and clandestine drug use, but they mostly wanted to talk about rehabilitation and missing their kids.

Anyway, San Quentin also houses all of California’s male condemned inmates, the people scheduled to be executed for committing murder and/or littering in Marin County and/or not voting for Mark Leno. Pumping poison into condemned jail inmates is a costly business, more costly than simply jailing them for life, anti-death penalty advocates contend, if you factor in all of the appeals and the special housing requirements.

Metallica in San Quentin