SFBG Blogs

Punk you, Bad Brains

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By Duncan Scott Davidson

I went to the Bad Brains show at Slim’s last night. The sad admission: I’d never seen them before. I mean, I had, for the Rise (Epic, 1993) tour with Israel Joseph I on vocals instead of HR, which really doesn’t count, now does it? Sort of like going to the Wonka Chocolate Factory and being shown around by someone named “Millie Monka” instead of Willie Wonka.

Needless to say, I was stoked on the show last night, though I wasn’t expecting to see HR playing a guitar, an F-hole Ibanez with a blue sunburst paint job. That was all well and good, and added a little more crunch to the music (as if it needed any). I remember being physically moved by the early Brains footage in American Hardcore, just floored by how raw and forceful they were live. Nonetheless, I knew HR wasn’t in his twenties anymore, and wouldn’t be wearing a white droogie outfit and doing flips. Still, during the reggae tracks, when he wasn’t moored to his guitar, he stood with his hands in the pockets of his oversized ragamuffin Harry Potter hoodie-cardigan-blazer thing, his eyes slits, clearly higher than Haile Selassie I. You figure the guy can’t be a whole lot older than fellow DC favorite son Henry Rollins, but you know Hank wouldn’t rock out with his hands in his pockets. Of course, Rollins doesn’t smoke a whole cannabis club to his head every day. And what is it with being from DC and affecting a Jamaican accent? Does playing reggae and being a Rasta mean God sends down and authentic accent from above? Does converting to Hinduism make you speak like a Bollywood star?


Bad Brains, back in the day.

Jew out, Chu in. Who? Chu

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Mayor Gavin Newsom finally stepped up today, filing official misconduct charges against the twice-indicted Sup. Ed Jew, and removing him from office pending permanent removal by the Ethics Commission and Board of Supervisors. A PDF of the charge and related letters is available here. That overdue action was long-anticipated, so the real news today is that he has named his 29-year-old deputy budget director Carmen Chu to fill the slot, starting with today’s board meeting.
Chu is a virtual unknown in local politics, but those who have worked with her tell us that she’s smart, attractive, not very political, and a sort of quiet, behind the scenes policy wonk. Given her age and the huge opportunity that Newsom has just handed her, most people assume that she’ll be a loyal vote for Newsom. Yet Chu did play a role in this year’s divisive and highly politicized budget battle between Newsom and Sup. Chris Daly, serving as the point person on two of Newsom’s most troubling (and ultimately unsuccessful) budget gambits: cutting funding for local AIDS programs and reducing the number of psychiatric beds at General Hospital. It was an understandable role given that she was with the Department of Public Health before moving over to the Budget Office.

Your prose is going down

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By Chris DeMento

Opium Magazine out of New York City hosted its third Literary Death Match here in SF last Wednesday night, and barring some ridiculously bad jokes on the part of the MC [an Opium bloke whose name escapes me], it was a pretty good time — and well worth the five-dollar admission.

Regina Louise opened the event with a half-sung, half-spoken childhood reminiscence about growing up in a foster home, giving it entirely from memory. Kelly Beardsley also worked without a text, relaying a funny but over-long oral account of picking up the Rolling Stones from the airport in a bus when she worked as an on-call driver for a pick-up service. Carol Queen read a tale she’d concocted about a babysitter who likes to hump her male employer; Her piece was impressive — brave, even — on account of its anti-pathology, vanquishing any trace of teenage guilt and inviting the audience to explore, as she put it, the “friendship naked” between the adolescent [retrospect] narrator and her adult lover.

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Winner! Lovin’ the Big & Tall wordcraft of one Bucky Sinister.

Grr. Argh. Addict.

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It’s official. I have a “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” problem.

Sure, I’ve been obsessed with the Joss Whedon television show for years. I’ve been watching it every single night before I go to sleep (bedtime stories?) since I moved to San Francisco in February. I even once admitted during an Eating Disorder recovery meeting that I thought I was replacing my addiction to dieting with an addiction to watching the slayer kick demon ass.

But last weekend I took my Buffylove to a new level. I paid a ridiculous amount of money for two tickets to the live action, Rocky Horror-style screening and singalong of “Once More With Feeling,” the musical-themed (and pretty much everyone’s favorite) episode from Season 6. Not that the tickets themselves were expensive – oh no. At face value, they were $12 each. Perfectly reasonable. Me? I paid $90. Per ticket. Without flinching. Of course, I was too embarrassed to admit it to my partner in crime, Camille, so I paid for her ticket too. Which means I spent $180 to see a movie.

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A moment of silence

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(tear)

Jew, You’ll be a Woman, soon

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Photo by Charles Russo
Or at least your District 4 replacement might be

With the legal noose tightening at the federal and the state level around beleagured Sup. Ed Jew’s neck, and City Attorney Dennis Herrera preparing to file a civil lawsuit to remove Jew from office, two San Francisco women, b have sent a letter to Mayor Gavin Newsom, urging him to name a woman to replace Jew.
In their letter Alix Rosenthal, President, National Women’s Political Caucus (SF chapter) and SaskiaTraill, President, San Francisco Women’s Political Committee note that during Newsom’s administration, “the number of women who serve in elected office has been reduced, after you replaced two women, Assessor Mabel Teng and Treasurer Susan Leal, with men.”

The full text of the letter follows:

Dear Mayor Newsom,

When you appoint a replacement for Supervisor Ed Jew, we strongly urge you to name a woman. It is important that you continue to demonstrate your commitment to gender equity at the highest levels of government.

On Saturday, September 15, forty-five elected officials and leaders of women’s organizations met at the San Francisco Women’s Policy Summit 2007, with the aim of determining our top priorities to improve the lives of women in San Francisco. The Summit participants agreed unanimously that our highest priority is to get more women elected and appointed to public office.

One of every three citywide elected offices in San Francisco is held by a woman. In addition, only two members of the Board of Supervisors are female. During your administration, the number of women who serve in elected office has been reduced, after you replaced two women, Assessor Mabel Teng and Treasurer Susan Leal, with men.

We are confident that you will select a woman who has the energy and the experience to restore District 4’s confidence in their elected representative. Until women hold half of the seats of power in San Francisco, a woman’s perspective will not be adequately represented in City Hall. We will be happy to meet with you at any time to discuss this further.

Sincerely,

Alix Rosenthal – President, National Women’s Political Caucus (SF chapter)
and
Saskia Traill – President, San Francisco Women’s Political Committee

Mahmoud Ahmadinegay

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This one’s a real corker. Iran’s national nightmarish, Holocaust-denying president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke today at Columbia University — in the interests of promoting democratic exchange, of course! And to help Americans who have “suffered in diverse ways and have been deprived of access to accurate information.” Columbia’s president Lee Bollinger asked him what he called a “tough question”: What about the persecution of gays in his country?

The response: “In Iran, we don’t have homosexuals like in your country.”

No, Little Hitler, you just have hanged, flogged, and beheaded ones. (Oh! My bad. That last one was our fabulous Saudi allies. Rock on Saudi Arabia!)

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Pic from — oh dear, strange bedfellows — glennbeck.com

Hey Ahmadinegay, bite my gay Arab ass, and then work me on the wicked dance floor of your life. One look at your alterna-beard and sassy coif and my gaydar goes apewild.

PS. Nice shoes, Mahry.

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PPS. “Too hobbit”

Stealing time with Thievery Corporation

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Corporate raiders? Thievery Corporation.

By Kevin Lee

Before Thievery took the stage on Sept. 15 at the Treasure Island music fest, I took the opportunity to sneak backstage and ask what D.C.’s favorite downtempo duo was up to.

Bay Guardian: How are you guys enjoying the Bay Area so far?

Rob Garza: We’re having a great time. We always love being out here. It’s one of our best
audiences.

“Undead fraggle”

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“What the heck do those lazy, pot-smoking, kinky- (possibly gay-) sex-having ‘progressives’ who work at the Bay Guardian do all day?” is a REALLY good question. Allow us to take you behind the scenes, for one lightning-flash moment. A peek through the green curtain, as it were.

Today’s blogtastic, syntagmatic Pixel Vision journey is brought to you by the letter S.

S as in Slayer.

One of our esteemed colleagues (cough-Eddy-cough) was sporting a nifty number in line with her kick-ass metal tastes, that looked akin to this:

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Or this:

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(The intellectual smoke was flying so fast from her that she couldn’t stay still long enough for me to get a pic.)

It was remarked by another member of our staff (sneeze-Duncan-sneeze) that Slayer’s mascots often resembled “undead fraggles.”

Meet the candidates: Ahimsa Sumchai

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The Bay Guardian is interviewing the candidates for the 2007 elections. We’ll be updating this entry as more information comes in. Post your thoughts or comments below.

Mayoral candidate: Ahimsa Sumchai

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www.ahimsa4mayor.com

“Just as we looked at AIDS as an epidemic, we should look at violence as an epidemic.”

Ahimsa Sumchai interview (play time: 59:15)


Ahimsa Sumchai news on SFBG.com

Visit the Guardian 2007 Election Center for updates, more interviews, and 2007 election news.

God of thunder alert – Valient Thorr at Slim’s

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By Ben Richardson

Almost all of the members of Valient Thorr wear denim jackets emblazoned with their own backpatches, which would be a pretty lame move by a band that didn’t claim to be from Venus.

Yet once a group makes a certain level of commitment to a ridiculous concept, all is forgiven, and a collection of pseudonyms and a convoluted interplanetary backstory only serve to heighten Valient Thorr’s endearing, cultish goofiness. They stormed the stage Wednesday, Sept. 19, at Slim’s, ripping through a high-octane set that combined punk rock, AC/DC, and a healthy dose of ZZ Top.

Majestically bearded frontperson “Valient Himself” patrolled the stage like a demented ringmaster, stretching the world’s tightest pair of purple thrift-store pants to their absolute limit. His ranting, raving vocal stylings kept the crowd raucous, and his copious sweat rained down on the front row, especially when he started purposefully flicking it out of his armpits with both hands.

Barnburners such as “Heatseeker” and “I Am the Law” were kept at a fever pitch by the guitar team of “Eidan” and “Voiden Thorr.” The two seared from start to finish, displaying a devastating talent for four-fingered sixteenth note runs in between their psycho-boogie chord changes. One of them – I’m not sure which – even demonstrated a novel hairdo which I will dub the “reverse beard,” which involves pairing a mohawk and beard combo with a second beard that joins the “face” beard above the ears and runs down along the back of the neck. With some careful maintenance and maybe a little tattoo work, the guy could have a convincing face on the back of his skull.

Are the cops doing their jobs?

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For the first time ever, the San Francisco Controller’s Office (using outside consultants) is conducting a survey on the behavior and effectiveness of the SFPD. You can fill it out online here.

This is part of legislation by Sup. Ross Mirkarimi, and it’s important that all parts of the community respond. Cuz’ you know the cops will all fill out the survey ….

My only problem with the survey is that it doesn’t ask about police abuse or accountability, but it does ask about effectiveness, and there are places where you can type in comments.

Stopping the GOP’s dirty trick

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A ballot measure that would effectively guarantee that the next president is a Republican — and quite possible guarantee GOP control of the White House for years to come — is headed for the California ballot, and the Democratic party has been a bit slow to respond. Considering that this is a Very Big Deal — about as big a deal as you can imagine, with the future of the world literally at stake — the Democratic party needs to pull out all the stops to defeat this thing.

And the bloggers aren’t waiting around for that to happen.

Already, there’s a lively campaign underway at Nodirtytricks.com — and it features a stunning video from Bradly Whitford, better known as Josh on the West Wing. Check it out:

Solo Supper

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By Amber Peckham

Dining out alone is, for me, one of the most socially awkward experiences imaginable. Now, I don’t mean dining out at a fast food joint or anything like that; I’m talking about dining out for real, with tables and menus and cloth napkins. I usually try to avoid dining out alone at all costs. I will go hungry for hours until I have someone to eat with, because in my mind, a meal is an experience you are supposed to share; and if I’m alone while I eat, it’s usually all I can think about.

(I would like to interject here that I don’t have any problem being by myself. In fact, I usually prefer it. That whole “afraid of their own thoughts, has to surround themselves with people” thing does not and never has applied to me. I just hate eating alone. I grew up in a family who ate together.)

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On one particular day, though, waiting for company wasn’t an option. I was alone in Japan Town on a crazy quest for dishes, and I needed to refuel. My stomach had been set on udon noodles for about an hour, but before I could get them, I actually had to locate a restaurant, go in, sit down, and order. Alone.

Diamonds are a skull’s best friend? Skulls are in!

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Damien Hirst might have “created” the most notorious and expensive one, but he’s far from alone: skulls are on display everywhere right now, within galleries, on record covers, and spray-painted on the wall next door. Behold this onslaught of skull imagery, collected from current art shows and some recent reissued albums and labels. Dia de los Muertos beckons, yet there’s a serious sinister present-day political element to at least some of this work. Add your skullbitchery, skullduggery and skull contribution suggestions to the comments section below.

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For the Love of God by Damien Hirst. This platinum-cast skull, covered with 8601 pave-set diamonds, recently sold for $100,000,000.

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At Cheim & Read in New York, “I Am As You Will Be: The Skeleton in Art” includes pieces by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Louise Bourgeois, Hirst, Pablo Picasso, Gerhard Richter and Andy Warhol. Above is Alice Neel’s Self Portrait, Skull, from 1958.

Hey, did Gavin think about this?

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We know at this point that Mayor Newsom didn’t seek legal counsel before he decided to ask for everyone who runs anything in town to resign. If he had, and he’d thought about it a little bit, he might have discovered what City Attorney Dennis Herrera did: This could cost the city big money.

I’m not talking about lawsuits by forcibly resigned employees — Newsom had ever legal right to do what he did. No, what’s fascinating is a two-sentence note at the end of the city attorney’s seven-page opinion on the mass resignations. It says:

“The resignations of certain department heads or commissioner may present other legal issues for the City depending on the particular facts and circumstances. For example, There could be questions about whether to make public disclosures under certain City bonds or municipal debt issuances.”

What that means is that the city might have to notify the financial markets — the bond holders and brokers — about the mass almost-firings, the same way a company that holds public debt would have to notify debtors that all of its senior staff had resigned.

If the bond-rating agencies decide that a mass exodus of all the experience and talent managing the city is a bad thing for San Francisco’s financial stability, we could see a downgrading of our bonds — and that could cost us a lot of money.

I wonder if Gavin ever thought about that.

Weekend fun begun? Maps, One Block Radius, Blank Tapes unraveled

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Oh, the places you’ll go, the shows you’ll see. Here are a few that slipped down an air shaft before the issue hit print.

Maps
Mercury Prizes are flying furiously these days – and yet another nominee for this year’s lovin’ cup comes our way this forthcoming week: the Maps. The UK group’s We Can Create (Mute) has been praised for its “understated ambition (Billboard) and “mood-enhanced stargazers” (Blender). Could it be the next big thing, since snowy earpieces? They chart a path at Bottom of the Hill on Monday, Sept. 26.

One Block Radius
Ex-Scapegoat Wax members suture hip-hop heft with pop preoccupations. Equipto, Xienhow, and others help ’em out on Saturday, Sept. 22, at Elbo Room.

Blank Tapes
Matt Adams captures a carefree, skewed pop vibe with his startlingly rangy new self-released CD, Daydreams, at this party. Supported by Greg Ashley and 60 Watt Kid, Adams and co. perform Sunday, Sept. 23, at Café du Nord.

Ammianoliner: the Ed Jew blues

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Following the Chronicle’s front page headline on Friday (Sept. 21) saying that “Feds charge Ed Jew in alleged shakedown, FBI details supervisor’s dealings with tapioca drink shop owners,”

Sup. Tom Ammiano’s sang the following song, to the tune of “Embraceable You,” for today’s voice mail Ammianoliner:

Indict me, my sweet indictable Ed Jew

Excite me, my bribable you

Don’t be a naughty supervisor

Come to rehab, come to rehab do. B3

Moments to treasure – at guess where!

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I got my eye on the isle. Photo by Sofia Ramirez.

By Kevin Lee

First off, I have to say that the folks behind the inaugural Treasure Island Festival did a spectacular job and this year’s event must be considered a success: Treasure Island could be considered a “cozy” outdoor music festival, simultaneously intimate and spacious.

Saturday, Sept. 15, I showed up fashionably late which meant I missed local act Zion I. But I did
manage to see Ghostland Observatory, a frenetic Austin duo that pulsated with vigor – thanks to the vocals of Aaron Behrens and loopy, electrified beats of Thomas Ross Turner. Ghostland impressed the early-afternoon crowd and likely garnered many a new Bay Area fan.

Local artist Kid Beyond dropped some lyrical inspiration before launching into an up-tempo set,
part techno beats, part jungle, and part slick vocals. I had the chance to briefly talk to KB after his set, and he mentioned that one of his lyrical inspiration is Hafiz, a Persian poet from the 1300s. How about that for drawing on the past?

MIA: I admit, she put in a full-on effort to get the crowd moving. Midway through her set, she implored female fans to climb onstage – 30 random girls followed suit and began dancing the only way you can while sharing the stage with MIA. A couple of tracks later, she clambered 10 feet up on the lights scaffolding with cordless mic in one hand, belting lyrics. Mind-boggling displays of showmanship.

Phil Frank memorial service Monday

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Lee Houskeeper (no pesky e) sent out this press release announcing the public memorial service for Phil “Farley” Frank from noon to l p.m. Monday at Washington Square Park (Camp Farley).

If I were writing a story for the Guardian, or most any other newspaper, I would take this release and convert it into a story. I would make sure that Houskeeper’s name, as the press guy for the Frank family, would not appear. After all, he did all the work and that would not be good to reveal.

However, since this is the Bruce blog, and I can do any damn thing I like, I am going to run the Houskeeper press release as is, since it is a good one and lays out the information and the art straightforwardly in good Farley form. That’s why I like blogging now and then. See my previous blogs for more Frank lore and his early front page graphics for the Guardian. Our then Art Director Louis Dunn spotted Frank as a real talent and immediately pressed him into front service and his work appeared first in the Guardian, starting in 1972. Click here to see some early 70’s Phil Frank Guardian covers. B3

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A Farley Celebration of Phil Frank

Monday, September 24th, 2007

Washington Square Park (Camp Farley)
12:00 Noon—1:00 PM

Attire: Favorite Farley character

Hosts: San Francisco Chronicle & Friends of Phil

Lunch: BYO to park (Possible Frank Hot Dog Concession)
Chris Tellis MC
Washington Square Bar & Grill and other North Beach Restaurants alerted
Fog City Diner (hosting Park Service Mounted patrol)

Speakers:

Phil Bronstein-Publisher San Francisco Chronicle
Honorable Gavin Newsom
Honorable Willie Brown
Mike Tollefson-Superentendent-Yosemite & Park Ranger Mia Munro-Muir Woods
MC: Mike Cerre-Correspondent

Entertainment:
Beach Blanket Babylon
Green Street Mortuary Band
Tried & True Gospel Singers
National Park Service mounted Color Guard Patrol
SFPD Parking Enforcement “Precision Scooter Team”

Ammianoliner on the groper

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Arnold Schwarzenegger says marriage is a sacred contract between a man and anyone he can grope.

(On the voicemail of Sup. Tom Ammiano) B3

Boen on SOL

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Up here near the North Pole, we are watching you at night via the live internet pod cast dancing in the afternoon sun in Northern California. Everyone here is much more aware than one might think of everything we do and have done in California. Here they have built the perfect egalitarian society, in California we have not. I just wish more Americans would wake up and read their Bill of Rights and Constitution. It says nothing about the Corporation for which we stand; it is the Republic for which we stand. America has nothing to do with any capitalist, communist, socialist, Nazi, or any other kind of goal. America is a Republic by the people, of the people, and for the people. And if those words are forgotten and the Bill of Rights and Constitution are forgotten, then all Americans will become enslaved and the electronic advances we now enjoy will become the whip our slave masters will use to drive us like cattle wherever they wish. I wish more Americans would wake up and Make Love, Not War. And once in awhile, read the Constitution and the Bill of Rights

A day in the park

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Who said the only thing you can park at a meter is a car? How about an actual park? That’s the idea behind PARK(ing) Day, a one-day global event centered (and founded) in San Francisco, during which individuals and groups construct temporary parks in metered parking spaces all over their cities. The idea? To challenge the way we think about streets and how they’re used, as well as to advocate for more urban open space. This year’s event, which will be held tomorrow, promises to be bigger and better than ever, featuring more than 40 parks as well as Rebar’s PARKcycle, a human-powered mobile park.

Check out the Parking Day website www.parkingday.org for maps and more information.

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Kickstart my heart

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I love hair metal. I love it more now than I did when it was actually popular and not just popular in this ironic, 80s retro, leggings-are-back sort of way. I’m not sure who to blame for this: My sister’s band, whose show opening for Bon Jovi last year led directly to my obsession with finding “Dead or Alive” and “It’s My Life” on Limewire? My ex-boyfriend Kyle, who wooed me with a metal-heavy mp3 mix? Or maybe the indie-rock hipsters who’ve bored me so much with their anemic (but pretty, I admit) shoe-gazing songs that I’ve had to turn to Journey for a good hook? Whatever it is, I suddenly have the musical taste of a 16-year-old boy – in 1983.

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Then.

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