I often find Fat Tuesday a dizzying night. And some of the usual factors are in play: beads around my neck and a cocktail within reach. But that’s not why I’m reeling. Holy shit, this Super part of Fat Tuesday is overwhelming, with so many numbers coming in from so many states, with all of it being sliced and diced by so many talking heads and number crunchers. And as I watch the swirl of data, the main impression I get is that nothing much changed today, except for the fact that we’re inching our truly weird democratic process toward an uncertain conclusion. I think I need to freshen my drink. Laissez les bonnes temps roulez!
SFBG Blogs
Obama’s party at the Fairmont Hotel
Finally settled in at the Fairmont downtown after searching fruitlessly in the beginning for a wireless connection.
The most significant thing I’ve seen so far tonight is Oakland City Attorney John Russo throwing his weight behind Obama and MCing tonight’s event. Last night we saw San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera at a rally for Hillary attended by Bill Clinton, Gavin Newsom, Carole Migden and Oakland Vice Mayor Henry Chang.
So now at least we know who wants to return has-been bureaucrats to Washington and who might actually be interested in some original ideas at the federal level. We haven’t seen much talk from analysts about what an Obama cabinet might look like, but for some of us, that’s one of the most intriguing questions of all.
State props
Prop. 92, the community college set aside, is going down hard and the Indian gaming contacts are uniformly ahead with about a million votes each, or 58 percent of turnout thus far.
Parks party celebrates
Piggybacking on the turnout from the presidential election was one of the reasons that Prop. A, the $185 million parks bond, was targeted for this first ever February ballot, San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department director Yomi Agunbiade told me at the Yes on Prop. A party at Boudin’s Bakery in Fisherman’s Wharf. “We’re definitely riding that wave, ” he said minutes after the proposition posted its first real numbers at 67.6 % in favor, surpassing that always difficult 66.6 % it needs to win. Attending the shindig are Sup. Sean Elsbernd, financier Warren Hellman, Neighborhood Parks Council director Isabel Wade, and campaign consultant Patrick Hannan. They say it’s been very hard to get people’s attention for the measure, but they’re pleased that it appears headed to victory.
“This is fantastic. This is going to benefit San Francisco all over the city, improving and repairing old infrastructure and creating new open space,” Elsbernd said.
Hannan credit Eslbernd and Hellman with “carrying the ball” on the campaign, along with parents, athletic leagues and the Fisherman Wharf Merchants Association, which is going to benefit from the measure through improvements at Pier 43. (Sarah Phelan)
Local and state numbers
Where’s the numbers from CA and SF? Hold on, folks, we’re watching and waiting and we have people around town waiting to report and comment.
Clinton takes CA: Projection
CNN is projecting that Clinton will win California. If that’s the case, it will be thanks to her agressive absentee program; she banked a lot of votes over the past month, long before Obama began to pick up momentum.
That’s a big political bounce for Clinton, even if it won’t amount to a huge difference in delegates.
A real convention — or two
The California results aren’t in, but it’s clear that nationwide, nobody dominated Super Tuesday. Clnton and Obama have split the big states, and will split the delegates in California (even if one of them wins the popular vote). Same for the GOP — there’s no clear winner tonight.
So it looks to me right now as if there’s a very good chance that both parties will go into their nominating conventions without a clear nominee. For the first time in my adult life, the conventions may actually mean something. We could have a pair of brokered conventions, perhaps even with no winner on the first ballot.
Could be wild.
All quiet at City Hall
San Francisco City Hall — normally a beehive of activity on election nights — is nearly empty. One reporter (Rick Knee, stringing for AP), a couple of political junkies … and that’s about it. The Department of Elections doesn’t even have its usual display screen for election results.
Frankly, nobody’s paying attention to the local election. California’s a big deal tonigh, and the state primary is huge news; municipal elections are lost in the whirlwind. (Of course, let’s remember that the state’s delegate total, which is what really counts, will probably be split pretty close to even, whoever “wins” the state; Paul Hogarth has a good analysis here.
But there IS a local election, and there are results, and we can pretty much call the three ballot measures now.
Prop. A, the parks bond, needs 66 percent of the vote, and has 64.9 percent in the (generally conservative) absentees. That should pass. Prop. B, the police retirement plan, is a slam dunk and will probably get 70 percent of the vote. The rather wacky Prop. C, the Alcaraz “peace center,” is toast, with 73 percent voting no.
An interesting note the the local vote: Hillary Clinton’s absentee-vote effort had paid off, big time. 65,000 people voted absentee, and Clinton is ahead in those votes, 53-38. I think we’re going to see this statewide — Obama will probably win on election day, but Clinton has a huge bank of absentees that he will have to overcome.
Democratic Party Time
About 75 Democrats clenching glasses of beer and wine gawk at plasma TV’s at Jillian’s bar in SOMA tonight predicting which candidate will win California and eventually the presidency.
San Francisco based Democracy Action is hosting the party for Democrats who eagerly await the primary results. They debate whether Obama or Clinton is the better choice.
“It’s too early to say who’s going to win,” Alec Bash, President of Democracy Action, told the Guardian. “Back in ’04, we thought Kerry would win by a landslide.”
The Coveted opens her closet
No more coveting thy neighborhood blogger’s togs … now you can own ‘em. Jennine Tamm, the fabulous fashionista behind The Coveted blog, is leaving us – and not just San Francisco “us,” but America “us.” Yup, she’s packing up and following her Liebe to Deutschland, where she’s sure to add all sorts of cute vintage coats and plenty more gray shoes to her wardrobe. But first she’s got to pare down her impressive collection of wearables so she can pack ‘em all. Bad news for Ms. Tamm, but great news for the rest of us, who can purchase her barely-used hand-me-downs here.
The starting bid for this Bebe silk corseted dress is $9.99. Which means you wouldn’t even be hearing about it if I could fit into an XS. Miss Tamm, Sie sind ein kleines Mädchen!
Voting and drinking (and a 14″ penis)
Tuesday, 9:09pm
In anticipation of guzzling free Stella, the Kilowatt has been jammed with voting drinkers since 6pm – well before the Guardian-sposored “Dodge the Drafts” party’s official start time. As for who these drinkers supported today, it’s impossible to guess — even tho I’m surround by fellow Guardian employees, and within eyesight of a woman lustily fingering Obama’s Audacity of Hope. The Obama supporters sharing my table say that the bartenders have informed them that we’re in “Clinton territory.” Who knows?
One thing’s for sure: it’s all about voting and drinking at the mission district bar. The free Stella ran out within an hour.
Tonight’s real winner?
I did get some insight from Tim Paulson. The San Francisco Labor Council head tells me that although there’s no official endorsement from his organization, most laborers he know were in support of John Edwards (perhaps because Edwards marched with striking hotel workers three years ago), and that many of those votes are now going to Obama. Nevertheless machinists and teachers endorsed Clinton, while the SEIU favored Obama.
Raindance does year of the Rat
Not feeling the traditional Chinese New Year thing? How about Raindance’s version? The folks responsible for one of the Bay Area’s favorite annual campouts are also behind the one annual DJ event in the city that partygoers make sure they don’t miss: Chinese New Year at 1015 Folsom, which you know means multiple rooms of dance-tastic goodness.
This year features a midnight procession with White Crane Lion Dancers, Santa Cruz Circus, and many surprise performers.
Featured DJs include Raindance favorites Little John and Mozaic, Glitch Mob darlings Kraddy, Edit, Boreta, and Ooah, who all are famous for mixing recognizable tunes in innovative, infinitely danceable ways), my personal favorite DJ Ripple (and that says a lot, considering I don’t listen to much electronica), and LOTS more. Check out the full line-up here.
RAINDANCE 9TH ANNUAL CHINESE NEW YEAR CELEBRATION
Friday, Feb. 8, 10pm, $25 presale, $30 at door
1015 Folsom, SF
info at www.raindancepresents.com
tickets at going.com/chinesenewyear
Ammiano calls the presidential primaries
Barack or Hillary? Sophie’s Choice.
Romney or McCain? Who’s your favorite Menendez brother?
(From the home answering machine of Sup. Tom Ammiano on election day, Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2008).
Personal note to Tom: Slow down. Slow down. B3
Hillary supporters snub Obama camp, Newsom makes quiet show
Camped out at campaign headquarters for the past week, Hillary supporters looked bleary-eyed but fervent early this afternoon as they speed-dialed calls to their vast Democratic database. Even if California results wouldn’t be available for several hours, some said, many of the mostly gray-haired women amongst the 70 or so volunteers, were optimistic Clinton would nail the nomination.
Les Razilles Denudes laid bare
By Matt Sussman
Should bands just stick to their guns and stay broken up? Now that the seemingly impossible has happened and the formerly estranged members of My Bloody Valentine have caught the reunion fever – along with fellow British shut-ins Portishead, who follow on last year’s much ballyhooed reunion of Scottish depressives the Jesus and Mary Chain – what’s to stop other fantasy reformations from coming true? Every other week Pitchfork’s news feed seems to include word of some impending resurrection. Sure, Marr and Morrisey won’t take the stage together until hell freezes over, but honestly, concerts these days really seem like a buyer’s market where any number of groups whose flame was once considered snuffed – whether the Pixies or the Stooges or the Fire Engines – can be seen playing alongside younger bands who openly ape their sound and cite them as formative influences.
Don’t get me wrong. I appreciate wish fulfillment as much as the next music nerd. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the new cross-generational formation of ESG and shaking my ass to “The Beat” played live on a loud sound-system. But I know it’s a far, far cry from hearing the Skroggins sisters and cousin Tito funk up the Paradise Garage’s last party ever. And my friends who saw the Stooges – yeah, I really missed the boat there – couldn’t stop effusing over how much it fucking rocked, despite the fact that Iggy qualifies for the Grand Slam at Denny’s. (At least art punks Wire were being frank when they said that their live dips into their classic first two albums Pink Flag and Chairs Missing were convenient means to get back into proper physical shape. I wish the Spice Girls were as forthcoming since, clearly, this last reunion didn’t exactly turn into the sisterhood of the traveling Cavalli, girl-powered slumber party it was hyped as).
But all griping and throat-clearing aside, if I had the kind of dough that Coachella and All Tommorow’s Parties regularly wave under the noses of some their more resistant would-be reformed headliners, I would send an offer, pronto, to Mizutani Takahashi and his partners in crime in ‘70s underground legends Les Razilles Denudes, who ceased activity around 1996 (even though their first official CD wasn’t released until 1991).
Dinner for Dr. Paul
It was a casual dinner affair for the supporters of Ron Paul on election night, with roughly thirty people showing up for dinner under the big screen at Thai Stick, 925 O’Farrell St. As the results came in from around the country, party-goers casually looked up from their animated conversations to remark at the TV screen.
George Gaboury, self-described “media support”, struggled with a projector and screen, but was finally able to set up a slide show of the groups’ past exploits – including the staged Ron Paul “TeaParty” in December. The projected video showed attendees throwing boxes with words like “Patriot Act” and “WTO” written on them off of a pier near the Ferry Building.
“For people who have been abused by the government for so long, this is almost therapy,” Gaboury said, watching the screen.
Who can beat McCain?
If, as seems fairly likely at this point, John McCain comes out of Super Fat Tuesday with a lock on the Republican nomination, the most important question for Democrats is who can beat him. Most polls have Barack Obama narrowly beating McCain and Hillary Clinton narrowly losing to him, although it’s pretty early in the process and the margins are too narrow to put too much stock in them at this point. But there’s good reason to believe that Obama would have a far easier time beating McCain than Clinton would.
And that’s something primary voters should think seriously about before casting their ballots today.
Clubs: Robyn goes heart to heart
Show her some love: Robyn. Photo by Samantha Rapp.
By Joshua Rotter
Swedish singer-songwriter Robyn – best known in the US for her 1997 pop-R&B Top 10’s “Show Me Love” and “Do You Know (What It Takes)” – might’ve been just another industry casualty, quickly fading into obscurity stateside due to record company mismanagement and a lack of creative control.
But on the verge of giving up in 2003, she discovered fellow Swedes the Knife’s Deep Cuts CD, and reinvigorated by their electro-pop and independent spirit, collaborated with them on the beat-heavy fuck-you to her label “Who’s That Girl.”
Soon she founded her own label, Konichiwa, and with producer Klas Åhlund (Teddybears), recorded her fourth studio album, the more electro-based Robyn, due out in the states this spring. Till then, her new The Rakamonie EP gives American audiences a preview of what’s to come on tracks like the boombastic confidence booster “Konichiwa Bitches,” the dance smash “With Every Heartbeat,” and a dancehall cover of the dirty Prince classic “Jack U Off.”
Now, a decade after her initial hits, Robyn returns to the US on her own terms for a three-city mini-tour to promote her new album. She’ll appear at Popscene on Thursday, Feb. 7. But is this country ready for the pint-sized Swedish bombshell? Robyn was confident in a phone interview earlier this week from her first tour-stop in New York City.
SFBG: What is it like to be back in the US after a decade?
Bill Clinton coaxes voters into windowless van
Bill Clinton always excelled at telling stories. Facing a tough question from a somber-looking vet? Tell a story. Bleary-eyed after hitting several California cities in a single day campaigning on behalf of your wife? Tell a story. Trying to convince undecided voters your family isn’t an inhuman band of relentless over-achievers that hasn’t experienced what most Americans might consider a normal day in decades? Tell a story.
Joined by Gavin Newsom, that’s what Bill Clinton did again for voters yesterday at the Ferry Building in San Francisco. Told a bunch of stories.
What didn’t make sense was why Bill Clinton spent so much time on Monday canvassing California when Hillary’s people have acted as if the state was a lock. By the way, who are the badasses working for her that so brilliantly managed to make C.W. Nevius the vehicle of a localized, anti-Obama whisper campaign? Those bastards are earning their keep.
Hillary’s latest commercial
A vote for Edwards
Christopher Cook, one of my predecessors as city editor of the Bay Guardian, sent out one of the more intriguing appeals that I’ve read today (among the many election eve missives that have been sent my way). It’s a call to vote for John Edwards, even though Edwards dropped out of the race. While I still happily voted for Obama, I think Chris makes good points about the need to keep pushing the Democratic Party candidates to adopt more progressive positions, something that will become even more important in the coming months if Obama and Clinton remain neck-and-neck and we head into a brokered convention.
Tearjerkin’ for Obama
Here we are, awash in the shivers and shudders of another (incredibly fatiguing) election cycle. And although reports are streaming in of another Hillary sob session, the big news on the gushing front is that new star-studded “Yes We Can” vid, produced by Black-Eyed Pea frontman will i. am (ew) and Bob Dylan’s son Jesse, featuring several earnest Hollywood and Billboard players singing along to Obama’s semi-concession speech in New Hampshire.
Dammit, it made me weep a little, despite the fact that the incredibly high-flown rhetoric is a bit suspect (Obama’s really twisting the King gears here) and has absolutely nothing to do with how, exactly, “we can.” Other than voting for Obama with the stars?
700,000+ YouTube views in 48 hours can’t be wrong
Question: What would a John Kerry number have sounded like? Why, oh why, did Dan Fogelburp have to die?
Alas for my enthused bandwagonismy, I foolishly, delightedly lived through the age of Live Aidquarius, and was bonkers as a child over the intensely disingenuous, not to say slightly racist, “Do They Know It’s Christmas“.