SFBG Blogs

Pop! goes Monterey

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By Molly Freedenberg
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In case you hadn’t heard (though you’d have to have spent the past two months on acid to have missed the news by now), this year is the 40th anniversary of just about every major event that defined the music and culture of the 60s. Which means this summer should be full of all kinds of cool, interesting, psychedelic, retro events celebrating that fact. (Check out our Summer Guide list of Summer of Love events to see some of them.) Like this one, a screening of a documentary about and made at the original Monterey Pop Festival (and an interview with the filmmaker). Sure, it’s in Monterey, but you were thinking of taking a road trip next weekend anyway, right?

And if you’re not sure what the hell I’m talking about or why you should care, check out the wikipedia entry on the Festival that launched the careers of Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin to America, acted as the precursor to Woodstock, and brought Moog’s synthesizer to the Doors’ attention here.

Going Bananas at Davis’s “Operation: Restore Maximum Freedom”

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By Michael Harkin

ACLU lawyers take note: freedom made its biannual comeback to Yolo County this past Saturday, June 2. It was KDVS’s fifth edition of “Operation: Restore Maximum Freedom,” hosting 16 musical artists in the backyard of Plainfield Station, a biker bar out near Davis.

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Peel out, Bananas. All photos by Michael Harkin.

Despite the weird mix that panned all the vocals to the PA on the right, Sacramento garage-rock veterans the Bananas got even the most copiously sunscreened attendees out of the midday shade of the picnic table area, especially with the closing “Nautical Theme,” the kind of oceanographic, whistle-punctuated nugget that lends credence to their respected stature among the denim-clad garage dedicates.

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All clear: Battleship.

Due to a slightly late arrival, Battleship had a somewhat truncated set, but the Oakland band showed they could shout “hit and sunk” without the dark ambiance of a nightclub: their boss brutality was as much of a beat-down as the Central Valley heat that day. Long may they float!

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Your car is waiting: Valet.

Valet made the trip down from Portland, Ore., producing a droney mood with her vocals and heavily delayed guitar that called to mind kraut-minded shoegaze, especially Pygmalion-era Slowdive, and the drowsy, bleary feeling of opening your eyes after an afternoon nap — as the Damned would say, “Neat neat neat.”

Davis’s the Standard Tribesmen, including two dudes from the Sores, played jittery mutant surf-punk and exemplified the age-old American tradition of multitasking: the vocalist employed all available limbs, playing guitar while tapping out rhythm on a bass drum and hi-hat.

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Psyched about Righteous Movement.

Hip-hop group Righteous Movement likewise represented the local region with their life-affirming verse and exemplary backing band. The instrumental breaks were as tight as what they spun in their collective rhymes.

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There are bubbles – and spots – in my Lemonade.

Lemonade finished off the night: it took a few minutes for the crowd to get its collective head around their echo-fied groove, but as the set went on the spacey noodling and yelping gave way to infectious, danceable beats that got a strong response.

Despite not boasting names as big as some KDVS have hosted before (Erase Errata, A Hawk and a Hacksaw, Growing), the festival was stellar, and the entire 10 hours ran beautifully. The sun was out, the sound was mostly well-engineered, and a 10-minute wait or a quick 180-degree turn to the other stage was all that separated you from the next performance.

The “Operation” will be returning sometime this fall, likely September or October. For more on what’s up in and around Davis, check out KDVS and their accompanying record label, KDVS Recordings.

Hip to be screwed

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By Deborah Giattina

As always, a trip to the Commonwealth Club proved to be an edifying venture. For last night’s event, Hot Young Sommeliers (that’s pronounced so-mol-yay), the club rounded up three of the aforementioned creatures from the front houses of our city’s finest restaurants.

Now, I don’t know very much about wine, and young is such a relative term, n’est-ce pas? But I know hot, as in wouldn’t kick ‘em out of the sack, not as in a wine that heats your palette because it has too much alcohol (ew). And all three panelists–Mark Bright of Oola, Christie Dufault of Quince Restaurant, and Courtney Cochran, steward of the monthly Hip Tastes events–definitely met my grape expectations.

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Oola’s hot sommelier, Mark Bright, gives his girlfriend a cool look

Pro-Palestine protesters poke Pelosi

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By Ross Moody
Protesters converged outside the Burton Federal Building in downtown San Francisco yesterday to mark the 40th anniversary of the Arab-Israeli 6-Day War, targeting their message to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, whose district office is inside. The pro-Palestinian group was confronted by another group that supports Israel, and the ensuing ruckus led to both groups getting kicked off the property.
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Photo courtesy of 60/40 Campaign

Thinking p.i.n.k.

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By Molly Freedenberg

Some scientists try to cure cancer. Some build robots that vacuum our houses for us. But the really important scientists are the ones developing new beverages for upscale clients. Like p.i.n.k., a vodka that has caffeine and guarana already in it so you don’t have to mix it with cloying, syrupy, expensive Red Bull. Superfluous? Or brilliant? Can’t it be both? I’m sure you’re just dying to know…

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See? p.i.n.k. is s.w.a.n.k. (Apparently, the name is an acronym for the distilling process, which is a ginormous company secret.)

Bad vibrations

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by Sarah Kai Acker
A contentious battle—and an endless hearing—came to a possible close last night as the lawyer for Club Six and the lawyer for the disgruntled residents of the Lawrence Hotel atop the club compromised on a 120-day probation.

For the low-income Lawrence Hotel tenants, this means that if Club Six violates the decibel cap set by the city (it’s 88.1 decibels, for any audio geeks wondering) and if the vibrations from the bass thump their rooms, Club Six will be considered in violation of their probation. Then another hearing (promised to be short) will be held that will likely lead to the threatened 30-day suspension.

A suspension that long could put the club out of business and would create a financial hardship for the 50+ people employed there, many who are struggling financially themselves. For Club Six’s owner Angel Cruz, this means he has a grace period to perfect the soundproofing.

“We’re close, we’re so close,” Cruz told the Guardian. “A lot of [soundproofing the building] is trial and error. There’s no clear cut science.”

Bad vibrations

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by Sarah Kai Acker
A contentious battle—and an endless hearing—came to a possible close last night as the lawyer for Club Six and the lawyer for the disgruntled residents of the Lawrence Hotel atop the club compromised on a 120-day probation.

For the low-income Lawrence Hotel tenants, this means that if Club Six violates the decibel cap set by the city (it’s 88.1 decibels, for any audio geeks wondering) and if the vibrations from the bass thump their rooms, Club Six will be considered in violation of their probation. Then another hearing (promised to be short) will be held that will likely lead to the threatened 30-day suspension.

A suspension that long could put the club out of business and would create a financial hardship for the 50+ people employed there, many who are struggling financially themselves. For Club Six’s owner Angel Cruz, this means he has a grace period to perfect the soundproofing.

“We’re close, we’re so close,” Cruz told the Guardian. “A lot of [soundproofing the building] is trial and error. There’s no clear cut science.”

Connect the recall dots

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Consultant Johnny K. Wang

By Steven T. Jones
The political consultant handling the recall campaign against Sup. Jake McGoldrick, Johnny K. Wang’s JKW Consulting, has a client list that is raising questions about the real motives behind bumping off McGoldrick. For starters, there’s the reelection campaign of Mayor Gavin Newsom, who would get to appoint the replacement. Then there’s Google and Earthlink, which Newsom wants to contract with to provide free wireless Internet service to city residents, a deal that McGoldrick has taken the lead in scrutinizing. Finally, there’s a pair of malevolent downtown players, Citizens for Reform Leadership (an attack group created by Newsom moneyman Jim Sutton) and the San Francisco Multi-Employer Group (which represented the big downtown hotels that locked out their workers instead of bargaining with them in good faith). And this is the campaign about which co-chair Keith Wilson said, “This is not being funded by downtown money, this is a grassroots indigenous effort.” Sure, an effort that just happens to dovetail perfectly with downtown interests.

And now Matt Smith and the SF Weekly/New Times/Village Voice Media claim the progressives were soft on AIDS. Where in the world do they get this stuff?

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By Bruce B. Brugmann

I always read Matt Smith, the star columnist of the SF Weekly/New Times/Village Voice Media, with interest. But he often puzzles me. For example, in his column of May 30, he was banging away at his favorite target, those dread progressives, (“Lacking (Progressive) Definition, Lefty factions and a phony convention do not an effective political party make”). And he dropped this puzzling nugget:

“For more than a generation (liberals have been) opposing growth, while snubbing traditional liberal causes such as uplifting gays or African-Americans.

“When San Franciscans, for example, were dying en masse from AIDS during the l980s, progressives’ minds were more preoccupied with opposing ‘Manhattanization,’ the term they coined for new office buildings. Today, when African-Americans in the Bayview District are losing their sons, nephews, friends, and neighbors to drug-related
street violence, progressives’ official political pamphlet is concerned primarily with enacting a moratorium on construction of market-rate apartments.”

The truth, as anyone who was here and had friends and loved ones dying of AIDS knows, the progressives in San Francisco put together a world-renowned system for caring for people with AIDS and pressing for prevention and research funding. The ‘San Francisco Model’ did not come from Washington or Sacramento or Dianne Feinstein. The progressives, led by people like Harry Britt and Cleve Jones and leaders of the Harvey Milk Democratic Club etc., did it themselves. Progressives did, indeed, oppose Manhattanization (and fight for rent control and police oversight and a lot of other good causes) in that era, but AIDS was very much a centerpiece of the progressive agenda.

June is Bustin’ Out All Over

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By Bruce B. Brugmann

After three weeks in Istanbul, Cappadocio, and London, Jean and I got back into the swing of San Francisco
with a walk in our favorite part of Golden Gate Park near the ocean and a visit to the splendid Sunday organ pops concert in the California Palace of the Legion of Honor.

David Hegarty, best known for his 28 years as staff organist at the Castro Theater,
led off with “June Is Bustin’ Out All Over,” the Rodgers and Hammerstein hit from “Carousel,” then rolled through a collection of “Songs of Paris” and some Jerome Kerns and Cole Porter songs and ended with a rousing rendition of “San Francisco.”

The organ concert, amidst the Rodins in the A. B. and Alma de Bretteville Spreckels Rodin Gallery, beneath the French and U.S. flags, is a perfect way to celebrate the start of June and end a Sunday afternoon in San Francisco. Outside the palace, as if on cue, the fog slipped in and out of the trees, around the Holocaust Memorial and under and over the nearby Golden Gate Bridge, illustrating one of the city’s most spectacular views.

Raised eyebrow

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by Amanda Witherell

The best part of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s speech today in front of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce came after the closing remarks when everyone was leaving and the guy sitting next to me said, “Did he even say anything about energy?” Good question, given that we were seated in the inner sanctum of PG&E’s 77 Beale Street corporate headquarters. Why are we here?

“They’ve been a great partner to our administration,” said Schwarzenegger, when he thanked the utility company for the digs, which were pretty bland considering some of the other Chamber of Commerce members probably could have proffered something flashier.

Ah, yes. The partnerships — that’s what they like to call it in PRC terms (not “politically correct,” but “public relations correct,”) which is something the guv thinks he excels at. “I’ve been very well-trained because I sleep with a Democrat,” he joked after his introduction from Willie Brown, which lauded his ability to chum around with the Dems.

Budget battle brews

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By Steven T. Jones
Mayor Gavin Newsom may be content with a “back to basics budget” that focuses on clearing the streets of trash, potholes, and poor people, but progressives are preparing to push for a more forward-thinking plan that addresses low-income housing and other long-term needs. Supervisors Chris Daly and Tom Ammiano (both of whom sit on the Budget Committee) today introduced a measure to restore some of Newsom’s proposed cuts to health services and the $33 million in board-approved affordable housing spending that Newsom blocked last month. Daly put out a statement today saying, “When Gavin Newsom claimed he couldn’t build affordable housing, because the City didn’t have the money, he was lying to the people of San Francisco. The money is available. It is only a matter of priorities.”
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Image from www.onerinconhill.com
San Francisco has built lots of million-dollar condos on Newsom’s watch, but almost no affordable housing, a situation that threatens the city’s socioeconomic makeup.

Ed Jew: “I don’t spend my money this way and I’ll bet you don’t either.”

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By Sarah Phelan

Cannot get enough of the Sunset Beacon!
In a recent “Update on District Affairs” column for the neighborhood paper, Jew writes about why he and Sups. Michela Alioto Pier, Sean Elsbernd and Geraldo Sandoval, opposed Sup. Chris Daly’s $28 million supplemental appropriation for a variety of affordable housing programs.
Since we were kinda wondering about that vote (unlike Jew we don’t own 13 properties in and around San Francisco and therefore we could seriously use some more affordable housing), we read on.
“Some supervisors [that would be seven out of eleven supervisors, Ed] believe this money needs to go to affordable housing because the taxpayers have twice, in recent years, turned down the opportunity to pay more property taxes intended for housing.”
“Of course we need affordable housing, but a last-minute budget raid is not the way to get it, “continues Jew, who claims he was “particularly puzzled” that the $28 million request contained $5 million for the Housing Authority, “an agency,” writes Jew that spends money so badly that former Mayor Art Agnos has just been named it court-appointed receiver for the purpose of forcing the agency to pay its bills. There are no strings attached to the $5 million–it is basically a blank check. I don’t spend my money this way and I’ll bet you don’t either.”
Actually, Ed, now that you’ve mentioned it, we’ve been wanting to ask you about the $40,000 cash in your office safe, and how you were planning to spend it. See you at the Board meeting, tomorrow.

Cowabunga! Yo La Tengo play KUSF benefit

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Plans have been afoot for a splashy headliner for the forthcoming KUSF benefit and now it’s so, so out: Yo La Tengo will be doing the do, to raise proceeds for the beloved SF college radio station.

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The show will happen at Bimbo’s 365 Club on Aug. 3. Expect this “very intimate show” to sell out so get tickets starting today at the KUSF site. That’s the only place you can score ’em, and they’re $25.

Ed Jew’s definition of “now” and his love/hate relationship with trees

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By Sarah Phelan

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Everyone knows Ed Jew has a flower shop in Chinatown–the FBI raided it in May–but did you know that he stopped tree plantings in the Sunset District, which may or may not be where the District 4 supervisor lives?
Guardian photo of Ed Jew by Charles Russo

Ed Jew got back from China on Sunday, and while he is recovering from jet lag, word is spreading of a June column he wrote in the Sunset Beacon, in which he claims his family “now” live on 28th Avenue in a house owned by his father, and the Burlingame home is just a place his wife’s family gather on weekends and holidays.
While the CIty Attorney figures out whether Jew’s definition of “now” passes muster with City residency code, it’s worth pursuing back issues of the Sunset Beacon for insights into Jew’s views on, well, trees.

Give me soccer or give me death

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By Gazelle Emami

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During World Cup fever about this time last year, I found soccer the way some people find religion. Or maybe it was more in the vein of finding yourself with a drug addiction. Either way, once it’s in your blood, soccer becomes a way of life, and it can make you crazy.

So as my friends and I rushed to the stadium Saturday afternoon for the U.S. Men’s National Team (MNT) vs. China match in San Jose, 20 minutes into the first half, hearing the crowd go wild over Marcus Beasley’s penalty goal for MNT, my heart sunk a little at the thought that I’d missed the only chance to see a goal that afternoon. But at the same time, the sound of that crowd made my heart beat a little quicker and my feet move a little faster. Was this panic or excitement I was feeling? This game can make your emotions go a little haywire.

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Kid tested, Bono approved

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By Sean Manning

Bono once alleged that Radiohead could be changing the way kids listened to music if only they weren’t so darned esoteric (obviously an extremely relative concept…) and if they just made themselves a little more appealing to the masses: No more death bears and no more blip-bloop-bleep solo albums. sm_Arcade_Fire_k_N5E9300.sized.jpg

Well, Radiohead’s probably not going to change on Bono’s account. But it’s no wonder why the man flipped his shit so thoroughly over Montreal’s Arcade Fire. The band is the super earnest battering ram to indie culture’s ill-advised irony obsession and penchant for witlessly appropriated kitsch. And as their pair of shows at UC Berkeley’s Greek Theatre this weekend showed, the kids are listening.

No longer trembling newcomers, the band took the stage confidently, playing through their two albums’ worth of material the way David Byrne cherry-picks the best of the Talking Heads’ output for his solo shows. Of course, that kind of assured showmanship is probably a lot easier when the crowd is screaming—screaming—your words back to you, but you can’t exactly fault them for that. Material from this year’s Neon Bible fared well; it constituted much of the group’s main set—but it was the one-two of “Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)” and “Rebellion (Lies)” from 2004’s Funeral that was the evening’s long, glorious money shot.

The Arcade Fire is a cool band, to be sure. But they’re the kind of cool band whose show you can take your little brother to—or your mom, for that matter—and that fact doesn’t make them any less cool. At the same time, there’s a sense that this band is saying something, too. It doesn’t take a theologist to see that Neon Bible has some serious underlying commentary on the way religion is culturally appropriated, though the band may not be as blatant about it as Bono would like. But the message is there, and people are listening. And that’s what’s important.

The convention was no bust

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Run, Ross, Run

By Tim Redmond

No, we didn’t walk away with a candidate for mayor, and yes, that was disappointing to a lot of us. I actually thought for a brief moment that the chants of “Run Ross Run” as Sup. Mirkarimi took the stage late in the day would make a difference, that he would realize he has a constituency and that running for mayor would be a good move for him politically, but that didn’t happen. After a strong speech proclaiming that “somebody” has to take on Gavin Newsom, Mirkarimi made clear that it wasn’t going to be him.

And Chris Daly, who had at one point said that he would run if noboby else did, bowed to the reality of the fact that he has a young child and another on the way, and took a pass.

But overall, the convention was uplifting, inspiring and productive. Whatever the daily papers may say, Daly made the right point at the end: The state of the progressive moment in San Francisco is strong. Progressives control the Board of Supervisors, the School Board, and a number of other top positions; half of the elected officials in San Francisco now put themselves under the progressive banner, Daly noted.

And the green and blue baloons and beads represented what could be a very hopeful future trand — the left wing of the Democratic party and the Green party, working together on what is for most a shared aganda.

We ought to do this sort of thing more often.

A few great moments:

Richard returns

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By Molly Freedenberg

Did you miss your chance to see Richard Cheese at the Red Devil Lounge on May 27? Even though he added a late night show just for you? You poor sucker. rcheese.jpg

You missed the best Dick Cheese live performance I’ve seen yet. Yes, he played Vegas versions of “Me So Horny” and “Brass Monkey” and even the theme to the Spiderman cartoon from the ‘80s. Yes, as usual, he cruised through the crowd spouting loungey, slightly-offensive compliments to members of the audience (even once getting stuck mid-room when a song ended, and asking his band to redo the last few measures so he could sing his way back to the stage). And yes, he changed smoking jackets several times, ending up in his martini-glass version. But there was something else to this performance. A subtle excitement. Maybe he was drunk from the early show? Or just slap-happy? Or maybe there’s something about a San Francisco crowd that really is special for him. Whatever it was, we all seemed to be riding the same wave – somewhere between awe at how good the band actually is and awe at how fucking hilarious it is to do something so silly so well.

So why am I telling you all this? Just to rub in that there’s nothing you could’ve done that Sunday night that would’ve been better than this?

No. (Although that’s fun too.) I’m telling you because Dick is coming back. On August 28, he’s returning to San Francisco as part of the farewell-tour-that-will-never-end. So here’s your chance. You can still see Dick Cheese live. But tickets always sell out. And they go on any minute (supposedly today at 10am). So get your shit together and go buy some .

You’re welcome.

The good side of Daly for Mayor

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By Tim Redmond

Late this afternoon, I’m hearing rumblings that Ross Mirkarimi is, indeed, reconsidering his options and might possibly be considering a mayor run, after all. Maybe he’ll show up at the convention tomorrow and announce. I’m only talking rumors here; I can’t reach Mirkarimi himself, and he has come pretty close to ruling himself out in the past few weeks. It would be a big change of mind.

I think I’ve made it pretty clear that Ross would be one of my top choices for mayor. But if he doesn’t run, and Chris Daly does, well … my previous blog item notwithstanding (as the lawyers say), I want to go out on a limb here and point out some of the positive things that could come out of that campaign.

Just off the top of my head:

1. It sure would be lively. Daly’s a fighter; he has a temper and sometimes says things (and does things) that are a bit impolitic, but he wouldn’t back down and wouldn’t give Newsom even a little break.

2. He’s good on all the issues. Daly’s a real left-progressive, and (unlike Newsom) he actually cares about, and talks about, and works on, issues of poverty, inequality and injustice.

3. He’s a Democrat, which means Democratic party loyalists like Carole Migden wouldn’t be able to duck the race or side with Newsom on the basis of party affiliation. Migden might even endorse him.

4. In fact, a lot of people who try to walk a middle line and still be called progresisves would have to make a bright-line choice here. Daly v. Newsom; it don’t get much more basic than that.

5. Daly complains all the time that he hates being a politician, but the truth is, he has a future in this town. He’s young and bright and will be a serious candidate for higher office in the future. A good run in the mayor’s race this year could set him up for future campaigns.

6. Just imagine if he won.

The crispy crimson killer

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By Stephen Torres

Spending a year in Mexico City provided some insight into the possibility of what is deemed edible. Like most cultures throughout the world, insects and their kin are considered delicious little morsels to not only chilangos (residents of the capital) but most folks throughout the country. They even have that sort of “adorable and delicious” relationship with some bugs that we share with say bunnies or piglets. One such example would be el chapulin (the grasshopper.)

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Adorable, delicious … deadly?

Chapulines are a longtime mainstay of mexican culture stretching from the days of Tenoch all the way down to the lovable El Chapulin Colorado, a goofy superhero icon of mexican TV. Beyond that, however, they are also a tasty snack enjoyed my millions that are often compared to dried shrimp. You can get them pretty much anywhere in a bag to go with lime and chile or perhaps in a taco.

On this side of the border, however, they can be a little scarce and finding them even in the most extensive mexican grocery store can be tough. As a result, like most stuff down there, when you’re feeling a little nostalgic or homesick you just ask someone to stick some in their knapsack on their next visit home.

PG&E LOVES ME!!!!

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by Amanda Witherell

That’s the only explanation I can come up with. They love me. They’re fascinated by everything I write about them and they’re dying to get to know me better. That must be it.

Or at least that’s what it seemed like the other night at this little shindig I went to at the Monte Cristo Cafe down at the Embarcadero. It was the Spring Banquet for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, which would be an otherwise snooze for someone like me who knows and cares little about the intricacies of engineering. But the entertainment for the evening was a discussion on the “renaissance of nuclear power,” about which I just wrote a story. The pro-nukes speaker was Jasmina Vujic, a prof in UC Berkeley’s Nuclear Engineering program, which totally gets money from PG&E. The anti-nuke voice was Dan Hirsch from Committee to Bridge the Gap, which wins the award for Best Non-Profit Name, “Intrigue” category.

Now, when I RSVPed for the event, I noticed the contact had a PG&E email address, but I was undaunted even though they just turned down my request for a tour of Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant because I didn’t have a “clear business need.” (What business needs do qualify? I asked in several emails and phone calls. Response still pending.)

No mayor candidate tomorrow? That’s okay …

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By Tim Redmond

I had high hopes that Chris Daly’s progressive convention would force one of the reluctant candidates (Matt Gonzalez, Ross Mirkarimi, Aaron Peskin) to come forward an announce a campaign for mayor, but that doesn’t seem to be happening. And now, according to BeyondChron, Daly is saying the convention may close with nobody formally seeking or getting the nod.

Which is fine — and right now, is probably the best outcome. Yeah, Daly more or less promised a candidate, and yeah, he could still deliver by announcing that’s he’s going to run himself, but I’m not sure that’s the best strategy for anyone involved at this point.

There’s still a chance that Gonzalez will run (although he’s not ready to announce yet). We may have to wait longer than we wanted for a contender. But right now, I’d rather wait than than try to make a statement for the purpose of making a statement.

The convention will be a great opportunity to talk about the race. It’s still a good idea. If it doesn’t turn out the way Daly or anyone else planned, such is life on the San Francisco left, where nothing ever turns out the way you expect.

Catching the tail of BALLE

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Gazelle Emami checks out Berkeley’s film-oriented BALLE Conference ….

The purpose of educational films—bear with me—are to inform the public. But here’s where they bump into their biggest obstacle. Unless Al Gore is at the helm, they’re probably not going to get wide viewing beyond festivals that are specifically geared toward showing films of their kind. Enter the first ever Business Alliance for Local Living Economies’ (BALLE) Conference Film Festival, a two-day event that was held this past Tuesday and Wednesday at UC Berkeley’s Wheeler Auditorium. The festival’s goal was to build positive sentiment for the BALLE Conference this weekend, kind of like a pep rally for the big game. BALLE, which represents 47 local networks and more than 15,000 small businesses and community organizations, holds an annual conference gathering the preeminent leaders in green industries to discuss pressing issues facing the economy.

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Still from Manufactured Landscapes, a film the opened the conference

According to festival organizer Lisa Katovich, she knew they would be preaching to the choir for the most part. Therefore, Katovich and others tailored the festival’s content to approach the subject matter from a difference angle. So it didn’t really matter that only about 30 people were scattered around an auditorium that can hold roughly 700. By the end, at least all 30 left the room a little more enlightened, as opposed to the hundreds that left Spiderman 3 disappointed, if not a little dumber.

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