Local

For sale: Panhandle Bandshell

Sasha Cuttler
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For sale: Panhandle Bandshell

If you’re an environmentally minded lover of the arts who wants to start hosting cool gatherings on your property, have we got a centerpiece for you! Remember the Panhandle Bandshell? That was the temporary performance venue that a group of local artists built from old car hoods and other recycled materials back in 2007. And now, for the right price, it can be yours.

“It’s a classic bandshell and the ideal use is for community to gather and performers to do their things,” says Will Chase of Finch Mob, which collaborated on the project with Rebar and CMG Landscape Architecture. “If people are interested in recycling and reuse, this is a great example of that in action.”

After its initial (slightly controversial) run on the Panhandle in the summer of 2007, where it hosted regular performances, the bandshell has been more recently been on display at Fort Mason, from where it must be removed by Oct. 8.

Its artist-owners have the opportunity now to move it out to Treasure Island, either for storage or display, but first they wanted to see whether a private party would want to give it a more permanent home. They’re hoping to pull down around $30,000 for the piece, which they’ll pour into other projects, so make them an offer if you’re interested. Contact info and details on the piece can be found on their website.

Ednorsement interviews: Bus drivers on Prop. G

Zelda Bronstein
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3
Ednorsement interviews: Bus drivers on Prop. G

Advocates for Muni drivers came to the Guardian this week to make the case for voters to reject Proposition G, which would remove their pay guarantees from the city charter, and to argue that the union has been unfairly demonized by Mayor Gavin Newsom, Sup. Sean Elsbernd and other city officials in an effort to deflect blame for problems with the troubled transit system.


The group included top Transport Workers Union Local 250A officials Irwin Lum and Rafael Cabrera, Bob Planthold with Senior Action Network, and Frank Lara with More Public Transit Coalition (which was spearheaded by the ANSWER Coalition). “Muni is broken and needs drastic change. It needs to be changed from the top to the bottom,” Lum began.


Yet he said targeting Muni drivers, most of whom are people of color doing a difficult job in one of the country’s most complex systems, doesn’t solve a problem that goes far beyond work rules and salaries. The problem lies with lack of resources and the political will to pursue them, they said, which is why the union supported proposals to reform the Municipal Transportation Authority governing structure and pursue significant revenue options, which were discussed but ultimately abandoned by the Board of Supervisors earlier this year.


“Too many people at City Hall are looking to cover their political rear ends,”said Planthold, who advocates for the rights of those with disabilities and has studied transit systems around the country.


Newsom has repeatedly singled out TWU as the one public employee union that didn’t agree to givebacks to help close the city’s budget deficit, and even some progressives have told the Guardian that the union hasn’t done itself any favors with its intransigent stance. But Lum said union leaders were prepared try to sell their members on a deal that included forgoing raises and accepting unpaid furlough days but that Newsom was too quick to leak news of the deal to the media for political reasons, causing TWU members to dig in and reject the deal before that education process could begin.


While the city and MTA may save $10 million through the measure, they said that was small change compared to the system’s real needs, which they estimated to be around $125 million, much of which could be brought in by creating transit assessment districts to charge big employers whose workers rely on Muni.


Click below to read the complete interview.


 

TWU by endorsements2010

 

The news that didn’t make the news in SF

Sasha Cuttler And Mary Magee
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Every year, the Guardian features the Top 10 Project Censored stories presented by the Sonoma State University project that spends all year analyzing which stories the mainstream media missed. But which stories did not find their way into the mainstream press here in the San Francisco Bay Area?

News outlets other than the Guardian typically ignore Project Censored (unless you count SF Weekly’s snark), so you might say that even Censored tends to be censored. Other than that, we note that issues not hand-delivered via press release or PR campaign might receive less attention than those obvious stories. Using a rather unscientific process of surfing alternative news sites online to find out which stories didn’t get a lot of play in the mainstream, we’ve come up with an assortment of Local Censored stories – though this is by no means a comprehensive list. What other news didn’t make the news?

Local Censored stories:

* What we didn’t hear about when PG&E was pushing Prop 16

Speaking at an informational hearing in Sacramento in February 2010 about Pacific Gas & Electric Co.’s ballot initiative, Proposition 16, former California Energy Commissioner John Geesman noted that the state’s most powerful utility company was using customer money to finance a bid to change the state constitution for its own purposes. Prop 16, which earned a thumbs-down from voters in the June election, would have created a two-thirds majority vote requirement before municipalities could set up electricity services separate from PG&E. While there was no shortage of reporting about the astounding sums of cash that PG&E sank into Prop. 16, hardly anyone aside from Geesman picked up on the more salient point of what PG&E was not spending its money on.

“California’s investor-owned utilities face a Himalayan task in modernizing our electricity system and building the infrastructure necessary to serve a growing economy,” Geesman wrote on his blog, titled PG&E Ballot Initiative Fact Sheet. “They ought to focus on that, rather than manipulating the electorate to kneecap their few competitors.” It is now abundantly clear that PG&E’s aging gas pipelines in San Bruno were badly in need of replacement – and the utility’s neglect opened the door the catastrophic explosion that occurred Sept. 9, resulting in tragic loss of life and destroying homes. “The current leadership at PG&E has lost its way. Nobody is minding the ship,” senator Mark Leno told the Guardian shortly after the blast. “Enough with the self-initiated, self-serving political campaigns. … How about focusing on the current mission — to provide gas and electricity safely, without death and destruction?”

PG&E Ballot Initiative Fact Sheet: http://pgandeballotinitiativefactsheet.blogspot.com/
Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christine-pelosi/deadly-priorities-why-did_b_713800.html

* What you might not have read about Johannes Mehserle’s murder trial
 
If you looked to Colorlines.com, Blockreportradio.com, the San Francisco Bay View, or Indybay.org for coverage of Johannes Meherle’s murder trial for the fatal shooting of Oscar Grant, then you got a different picture from the one offered by mainstream Bay Area news outlets. There may well be plenty of details about the trial that didn’t make the cut for mainstream news, but one particular point caught our eye as something that should’ve warranted more prominent coverage, or at very least sparked deeper questions from mainstream press. According to the witness testimony of Jackie Bryson, who was with Grant on the train platform the night of the shooting, Grant’s friends immediately urged BART police to call an ambulance after Grant had been shot, but police didn’t do it right away.

Here’s the report from Block Report Radio: “Jack Bryson said he yelled at Oscar after he was shot to stay awake and to the police to call the ambulance. The unidentified officer who was on Bryson declared, ‘We’ll call the ambulance when you shut the fuck up!’ Bryson went on to say that he was never searched on the Fruitvale platform or at the Lake Merritt BART police station, which seems ridiculous if you consider the earlier testimony of former BART police officers Dominici and Pirone, who were involved in the murder and who testified last week that they had felt threatened by Oscar Grant and his friends.” So, if it’s true that Grant’s friends were told to “shut the fuck up” when they were urging BART cops to call an ambulance, and that the supposedly threatening parties weren’t ever searched, why didn’t these points receive as much attention in the media as, say, the claim that years earlier, Grant may have resisted arrest? After witnessing the death of his friend, Bryson said in his testimony, he was detained for hours while wearing handcuffs pulled so tight that his wrists hurt, only to be told afterward that since he had not been read his Miranda rights, he was not under arrest. To be fair, the detail about calling the ambulance did make it into the Chronicle, near the bottom of a blog post, under the subhead, “Friend’s claim.”

Block Report Radio: http://www.blockreportradio.com/news-mainmenu-26/894-jack-bryson-hits-the-stand.html
Colorlines: http://colorlines.com/archives/2010/06/defense_opens_with_gripping_testimony.html

* Homelessness on the rise in San Francisco

The controversy surrounding Prop L, a proposed ordinance to ban sitting and lying down on the sidewalk, has been widely reported on — but there’s a more pressing issue related to homelessness that hasn’t gotten nearly as much ink. An article in New America Media, “Shelters predict homeless count to skyrocket,” highlighted a perceived surge in San Francisco’s homeless population, evidenced by overwhelmed service providers who can hardly keep up with demand. “We’re serving 200,000 more meals per year than two years ago, but we haven’t had the capacity to add staff,” the chief executive officer of the Glide Foundation noted in the article. The drop-in center, she added, no longer had enough seats to accommodate those in need. According to a fact sheet issued by the Coalition on Homelessness in July of 2009, 45 percent of respondents to a COH survey were experiencing homelessness for the first time. The overwhelming majority of respondents, 78 percent, became homeless while living in San Francisco.

New America Media: http://newamericamedia.org/2010/04/shelters-predict-homeless-count-to-skyrocket.php
Coalition on Homelessness: http://www.cohsf.org/en/

* The long wait for Section 8

It isn’t easy for a tenant with a Section 8 voucher to find housing in the San Francisco Bay Area. In San Francisco, there’s a barrier to getting the voucher in the first place, since the waitlist is currently closed. Those who have vouchers are often passed over by landlords, and the string of denials can drive people to unstable housing situations such as extended hotel stays. An article in POOR Magazine features the story of Linda William, a woman who left a San Francisco public housing project with a Section 8 voucher in hand only to embark on a wild goose chase, ultimately winding up in a low-end motel outside Vallejo. “Well whaddya know,” William told the POOR magazine reporter, “I found closed wait lists on almost all the low-income housing units in all of those places and all the rest of the landlords wouldn’t even return my calls when I told them I had section 8.” An article by Dean Preston of Tenants Together that appeared in BeyondChron, meanwhile, spotlights the issue of landlord discrimination against Section 8 tenants.  “In the Section 8 voucher program, participating tenants pay 30 percent of their rent and the Housing Authority pays the balance to the landlord,” Preston writes. “It takes years for eligible tenants to be able to participate in the program. Once tenants get off the wait list, the landlord must sign a payment contract with the housing authority in order to receive the portion of the rent paid by the government. By refusing to sign onto the program, some landlords seek to force rent controlled tenants into situations where they cannot pay their rent.”
POOR Magazine: http://www.poormagazine.org/node/3277
BeyondChron: http://www.beyondchron.org/news/index.php?itemid=8012

* San Francisco’s trashy secret

Despite being thought of as a beacon of sustainability, San Francisco’s not-so-green waste stream is something that didn’t make the front page of many papers – except, of course, this one. Sarah Phelan’s “Tale of Two Landfills,” a Guardian cover story this past June, examined San Francisco’s decidedly unenlightened policy of transporting waste far outside of the city despite a goal of reducing waste to zero in the next 10 years. Here’s an excerpt: “It’s a reminder of a fact most San Franciscans don’t think much about: The city exports mountains of garbage into somebody else’s backyard. While residents have gone a long way to reduce the waste stream as city officials pursue an ambitious strategy of zero waste by 2020, we’re still trucking 1,800 tons of garbage out of San Francisco every day. And now we’re preparing to triple the distance that trash travels. ‘The mayor of San Francisco is encouraging us to be a green city by growing veggies, raising wonderful urban gardens, composting green waste and food and restaurant scraps,’ Irene Creps, a San Franciscan who owns a ranch in Wheatland, told us. ‘So why is he trying to dump San Francisco’s trash in a beautiful rural area?’”

SFBG: http://www.sfbg.com/2010/06/15/tale-two-landfills

* The real unemployment rate

The Bureau of Labor Statistics makes a distinction between so-called “discouraged workers” who have stopped looking for jobs, and the jobless who are actively seeking employment, so the official unemployment rate (9.7 percent in San Francisco, according to the most recent data) may be much lower than the actual unemployment rate.

We haven’t seen any brilliant local reporting on this issue, but the problem is summed up nicely in this YouTube video produced by a personal finance software firm.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ulu3SCAmeBA&feature=player_embedded

Lynette Sweet, the “no comment” candidate

Mary Magee
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Lynette Sweet, who is running for D. 10 Supervisor, has already declined to give the Guardian an endorsement interview. And earlier this year, when Sweet sat down for a brief interview as part of our kick-off coverage of the D. 10 race, her campaign manager Shane Meyer kept trying to answer our questions before Sweet could even open her mouth.
But yesterday Meyer took the campaign’s habit of non-communicating to a new level, making us wonder just how much access or information anyone will be able to get out of Sweet, in the event that she actually gets elected, given how she is behaving as a candidate.

“We make no comments to the Guardian,” Meyer told us, when we called to ask if Sweet knew that workers with her campaign had stuck her campaign signs on the doors of the tenants association building in the Sunnydale public housing projects

Now, aside from the fact that Sweet is running a truly off-putting campaign by refusing to communicate on even the most straighforward issues, she might want to make sure her campaign staff are properly trained.

That’s because, as John St. Croix, executive director of the city’s Ethics Commission, told us, “It’s generally illegal to post any sign on public property.”

“All political signs can only be posted on utility poles and lamp posts,” St. Croix added, noting that the Department of Public Works regulates such activity and these regulations are clearly laid out in the Elections Department’s candidate guide.

That guide also states that local law prohibits the posting of signs in excess of 8-1/2 x 11” on all street poles—and that there is a total prohibition on historic lampposts, traffic signals (duh!) and poles with directional signage.

The guide lists common violations of the law regulating outdoor political advertising, which include posting more than one sign on the same pole, and failure to remove signs after Election Day.

“Candidates are strongly advised to become familiar with all applicable laws to avoid such violations,” the guide states.

Chron endorsement dishonestly attacks marijuana measure

Sasha Cuttler
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5
Chron endorsement dishonestly attacks marijuana measure

Once again proving itself to be an corporate-run embarrassment to a city that has been at the forefront of progressive reform – including the movement to legalize medical marijuana – the San Francisco Chronicle this morning recommended that voters reject Prop. 19, which would allow cities and counties to legalize marijuana use by adults. And it did so with tortured logic and a cowardly, disingenuous claim to support legalizing marijuana.

As a journalist who has covered the medical marijuana industry in the Bay Area, I didn’t recognize the chaos that Chron editorial writers say resulted from the landmark 1996 measure Prop. 215, the medical marijuana measure written right here in San Francisco, home to a well-regulated, professional network of cannabis dispensaries, thanks to the city proactively setting guidelines. The cities cited in the Chron all did nothing to set standards for medical marijuana dispensaries, whereas in cities like San Francisco that did, an increasingly important sector of the local economy flourished with few problems.

Prop. 19 would similarly allow cities and counties to create systems for regulating marijuana for recreational use – or to not allow it if they so chooses. Yet the Chron takes issue with this localized approach, writing, “The measure establishes no state controls over distribution and product standards; it does nothing to help cure the state’s budget deficit.”

Both statements simply aren’t true. The measure explicitly gives the state authority to tax and regulate marijuana, Assembly member Tom Ammiano already has proposed legislation to do so if the Prop. 19 passes, and the California Legislative Analyst’s Office has estimated it could bring in more than $1.5 billion annually into state coffers.

Although the Chron claims “that the ‘war on drugs’ – especially as it applies to marijuana – has been an abject failure,” it bemoans a provision in the measure that prevent employers from firing employees simply for having marijuana in their systems, as it would be if someone smoked a joint three weeks ago, despite having no impact on job performance. “Pre-employment testing would be banned,” the Chron writes, as if that were a bad thing. The editorial also complains that people would be allowed to grow small plots of marijuana in their backyards. Again, and the problem with that is what exactly?

Bottom line: Chron editorial writers fall into the same old tired reefer madness stereotypes that have driven the drug war’s “abject failure,” but they just aren’t honest enough to admit the contradiction with their stated claim that “if this were simple a referendum on the status quo, and the ability of a 21-or-older Californian to possess an ounce or less for personal use, it might be an easy ‘yes’ vote.”

Because the reality is that’s what this measure does, simply lift the prohibition on pot, while also including language supporting local control and basic civil rights. There are some valid arguments against Prop. 19 – such as it lets jurisdictions tax or regulate pot too much – but those honest disagreements weren’t raised by the newspaper.

Instead, the paper made it sound like measure would fill the roads with stoned drivers and every neighborhood with the stench of marijuana, which is laughably alarmist. San Francisco’s experience with medical marijuana should serve as an indicator. This city has been the most accepting and legitimizing of marijuana for decades. It’s part of our culture. But drug surveys from our school district and others show that the rate of marijuana use among young people here is lower than the state average, and we have been at the forefront of world-renowned technological innovation and academic research, so clearly the normalization of marijuana hasn’t corrupted our youth or turned us all into menacing zombies.

The Chronicle’s presentation of the issue, and its recommendation on this measure, are anachronistic throwbacks to another era and should be tossed into the dustbin of history where they belong.

Better living through porn

David Talbot
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Better living through porn

When one door closes another opens: as summer comes to an end, Good Vibrations gives us something to ensure that warm sensation continues — porn.

Yes, it’s that time of year again. On Sept. 23, the Castro Theatre opens its doors to the Good Vibrations Indie Erotic Film Festival’s short film festival competition, after a lead-up week of diverse, sex-positive programming at various venues. The annual contest, now in its fifth year, offers filmmakers the chance to share their unique erotic visions on the big screen.

“As heavily censored as film and TV are today, it’s important to have a safe outlet,” says Steffan Schulz, who is screening his film Lorelei. “More importantly, and specifically to an erotic festival, the Puritan mentality that dominates American society today is really kind of hypocritical.”

The short films vary wildly in terms of gender, sexuality, and explicitness. While Schulz’s Lorelei is more sensual than hardcore, Maxine Holloway and Lex Sloan’s Outlaw is a bit more raw: the titular character is a nine-and-three-quarters-inch dildo.

“When casting, it was important for us to represent the queer community and show a diverse selection of sexualities and bodies,” Holloway and Sloan explain in a jointly-written e-mail. “Which mostly entailed Maxine making a list of people she really wanted to fuck or make-out with and then asking nicely.”

For most of the filmmakers, who range from local to international, these movies are a response to the limited scope of the mainstream porn industry. That means looking at groups who are too often sidelined and approaching erotica from a different perspective.

Spanish filmmaker Erika Lust is screening her fetish film Handcuffs, which she hopes will help open minds.

“Primarily I thought that practice of dominance and submission might still be kind of a taboo for most women,” she says. “In general, I would like to see more of a female view … until it seeps into the mainstream that women are not only there to provide something for the male gaze.”

It’s significant that so many of the films shown at the IXFF delve into realistic portrayals of female sexuality. After all, the porn industry has long been derided as degrading to women — or at least a dangerous perpetuator of the fake female orgasm. Humor is another area several of the filmmakers identified as sorely lacking from mainstream porn. Allegra Hirschman, who also competed last year, is showing T4-2, a film inspired by 1960s and ’70s sitcoms. Naturally, there’s a sexual twist, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t funny.

“Sometimes erotica is so serious it can become somber,” Hirschman notes. “We think adding some hilarity can help erotica remain relatable. It can be playful and still retain its erotic power.”

On a broader scale, the festival speaks to Good Vibes’ sex-positive vision. It’s all part of an exciting effort to celebrate and redefine erotica. Those who have attended in the past know that the films step into uncharted territory more often than not — sometimes even rendering co-MCs Dr. Carol Queen and Peaches Christ temporarily speechless.

“It is always riveting to see people getting sexy outside the lines and being turned on by something you didn’t know moved you,” Holloway and Sloan point out. “And to be really specific, we also would like to see more sex in cars, vajazzling, sex scenes with food, 1960s hairdos, ponytail butt plugs, and humor in our erotica.”

Seems like a lot to cram into one film. But hey, there’s always next year. (Louis Peitzman)

GOOD VIBRATIONS INDEPENDENT EROTIC FILM FESTIVAL

Sept. 18–23, various venues, $7–$10

www.gv-ixff.org/film

Endorsement interviews: Bert Hill

Zelda Bronstein
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Endorsement interviews: Bert Hill

Bert Hill is running to represent western San Francisco on BART’s Board of Director, taking on incumbent James Fang, the city’s only Republican elected official. But even though Hill has the support of Democratic Party and a wide variety of progressive organizations, voters won’t see their party affiliation in this nonpartisan race. Instead, the race could be a referendum on an agency that Hill says isn’t responsive enough to the needs and experiences of riders.

“It’s important to figure out what are human needs on the trains,” Hill told us, citing the need to better accommodate passengers with bicycles and lots of luggage, the lack on working bathrooms and elevators in most stations, extending service beyond midnight on weekends, and the need for better station labels so passenger easily know when to get off.

Hill said BART is in need of major reforms in its financial planning (calling for the agency to build reserves during good times to avoid service cuts during recessions), its police force (saying the board should consider disbanding the BART Police and contracting out to local law enforcement agencies), and its transparency and accountability (telling a funny story about his own experience just trying to get permission to take a campaign photo by a BART train).

Listen to Hill full endorsement interview below. Fang has not responded to Guardian requests for an endorsement interview.

hill by endorsements2010

The Performant: What, me Fringe?

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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Unfortunately for me, I’ll be unable to attend a whole plethora of sure-to-be-intriguing shows this weekend such as Right Brain Performancelab’s “The Elephant in the Room,” The 11th Hour Ensemble’s “Alice,” and The Offcenter’s “Waiting for Godot.” But fortunately for me, it’s because I will be holed-up in the booth of the newest addition to the Exit Theatreplex — The Studio — where I’ve been running lights for a whole plethora of shows ranging from confessional monologues to sketch comedy to a whacked-out whodunit set in Super-Duper Mega-Marine Coaster World. Is that a bowl of free pretzels in my hand? It must be Fringe Festival season again in San Francisco.

SF Fringe is uncurated and uncensored, it’s fair to say that not every show is road-tested and audience-approved. Caveat Emptor, ticket-holders. But fans of local theatre companies past and present such as Art Street Theatre, Black Box Theatre, Lunatique Fantastique, Thrillpeddlers, Killing My Lobster, Thunderbird Theatre, Cutting Ball, Crowded Fire, Mugwumpin’, Banana Bag and Bodice, Foolsfury, Ripe Theatre, Performers Under Stress, Pi  Clowns, SF Buffoons, Dark Porch Theatre, Boxcar Theatre (and many more!) should know that all of the above have been featured at the San Francisco Fringe — and in fact, more than half of these companies debuted at the Fringe. By providing an anything-goes, low-cost production crucible for local, national, and even a few international performers, the San Francisco Fringe Festival makes it possible for previously unknown companies with a clear artistic vision to get a boost up to the next stage (pardon the pun) of their development. Armed with buzz, some of these companies go on to solid artistic success. Some disappear without a whimper. Regardless, everyone gets a fair shake.

True, a 10-year veteran of the SF Fringe, I’d had no idea there were such things as honest-to-god Fringe Festival rock stars until I went to Edinburgh and to Montreal and saw them for myself—performers who tour the Fringe circuit every year, and actually make a living at it, or at least build a solid international reputation. The San Francisco Fringe is a lot more self-contained, but in terms of getting in on the ground floor of the next big thing in Bay Area theatre, the festival will always be your best bet to be able to say “I saw them when.”

One thing our Fringe has been somewhat remiss with in the past has been providing interim entertainment for patrons and performers with down time. The EXIT (Fringe homebase) is addressing that very issue with a rotating roster of three separate showcases in the theatre’s café. An evening of Fringe singer-songwriters (Thu/16 @ 8:30 p.m.), the “Fringe Potpourri” of jugglers, magicians, and their ilk, on Saturday and Sunday afternoons from 3 p.m.-5 p.m., and most exciting of all, a late-night improv talk show “Last Call” hosted by Cora Values (Sean Owens), which features Fringe performers such as Fred Blanco (aka Cesar Chavez) and Megan Liley (“Grafitti Highway”) this past weekend. (See Cora again this weekend: (Fri17, Sat/18 @ 10:30 p.m.) Secrets are revealed, banter exchanged, and juicy fringe gossip is plundered for its levity factor. Cora is both sweet and savvy—like apple pie with an attendant wedge of Wisconsin-sharp, and her show already feels like a festival tradition. Just like the free pretzels, but saltier, and fresher.

Appetite: 3 twists on the Caprese salad

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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Appetite: 3 twists on the Caprese salad

The purity and simplicity of a caprese salad, or insalata caprese as it is known in Campania, Italy, where it originated, is hard to outdo. Silky buffalo mozzarella, red tomatoes and fresh basil are drizzled with olive oil and salt. When I eat a quality caprese, I am immediately transported to Italia, eating lunch alongside glimmering water, maybe the canals of Venice or the expanse of Lake Como, the juice of the tomatoes dripping down my chin and a glass of Sangiovese in hand. That this experience could be improved upon is doubtful, but what of variations in a caprese’s perfection? A few local San Francisco restaurants have taken its key elements of tomatoes and mozzarella and created something unexpected… 

ROCKETFISH’S FARMERS TOMATO SALAD — Rocketfish, Potrero Hill’s newest sushi lounge, also deals in Japanese small plates. In this izakaya spirit, the kitchen serves what seems to be a simple farmers tomato salad ($7). Caprese elements create the base: heirloom tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella. But it takes on a whole new dimension sprinkled with honey balsamic and ume salt, then given a bit of crisp with caramelized fennel crumbled over the top. It works so well, it almost outshines the sushi. 

JARDINIERE’S HEIRLOOM TOMATO SALAD — Pop into Jardiniere‘s bar or sit down for a meal and start with its heirloom tomato salad ($16). You’ve seen all this before: plump, gorgeous heirloom tomatoes over arugula with croutons for crunch. But wait: interspersed in the arugula are Padron peppers and Castelvetrano olives. Sweet tomatoes, salty olives, and piquant peppers hint of a marriage between Italy and Spain, one officiated by California. The combo feels so natural, you’ll wonder why you don’t see it more often. 

BAR CRUDO’S LOBSTER SALAD — A recent visit to the ever brilliant crudo haven of Bar Crudo yielded salad loaded with chunks of lobster and creamy burrata (the pinnacle of mozzarella… with cream) topped with mache leaves. While some nights they make it with gold and chiogga beets ($17), my last visit entailed a load of plump tomatoes with the lobster and burrata ($18), again elevating the basics of a caprese to luxury salad level. 

Our Weekly Picks: September 15-21, 2010

David Talbot
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WEDNESDAY 15

 

MUSIC

Head Cat

Boasting a bona fide all-star lineup of musicians, rockabilly super group the Head Cat features Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead on bass and vocals, Slim Jim Phantom of the Stray Cats on drums, and Danny B. Harvey of the Rockats on guitar and piano. Breathing new life and a new attitude into classic tunes by Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, and others, the trio hits the road for a few special gigs whenever they can find the rare time in their mutually busy touring schedules. Fans can expect a new slew of hell-bent covers from their yet untitled forthcoming second album, along with a couple of original songs born from the same vein of the seminal sound that forged the template for all rock ‘n’ roll to come. (Sean McCourt)

With Red Meat and Bad Men

9 p.m., $20

Uptown

1928 Telegraph, Oakl.

www.uptownnightclub.com

 

THURSDAY 16

 

MUSIC

Wild Nothing

Don’t call it “chillwave:” Wild Nothing’s Jack Tatum makes woozy beach music that owes more to ’80s Cocteau Twins dream-pop than the recent lo-fi progeny who bear that wince-inducing label. The dream-pop badge is one Tatum wears proudly, initially gaining online chatter from a faithful rendition of Kate Bush’s “Cloudbusting” before releasing debut album Gemini, which features a lot of those deep drum machine sounds you used to hear out of Collins and Gabriel before they moved on to Disney theme songs and cover albums, respectively. Joining Tatum at this Popscene event is Swedish Balearic pop star Eric Berglund, of Tough Alliance fame, performing as DJ CEO. Don’t forget the beach ball! (Peter Galvin)

With DJ CEO and JJ

9 p.m., $10–$13

Popscene

330 Ritch, SF

www.popscene-sf.com

EVENT

“w00tstock”

Though the Revenge of the Nerds movies were made back in the 1980s, the collective social paradigm had yet to really shift in favor of our pocket protector-wearing brethren. But now, with the near ubiquity of computers, entertainment technology, and mainstream success of events like Comic-Con, the time has come to push those horn-rimmed glasses back up our noses and bask in the geek glory that is upon us. Join Adam Savage from Mythbusters, Wil Wheaton from Star Trek: The Next Generation, music-comedy team Paul and Storm, and others for a night of music, comedy, readings, films, demonstrations, and more that embrace geek pride. (McCourt)

Through Fri/17

7:30 p.m., $30

Great American Music Hall

859 O’Farrell, SF

(415) 885-0750

www.gamh.com

 

FRIDAY 17

 

FILM

The Room

Oh, hi. You know, we have a policy about not running sold-out events in Picks, and I suspect tickets for the Red Vic’s screenings of 2003’s The Room — hot commodities under any circumstances — are in scarce supply, especially since writer-director-producer-star Tommy Wiseau plans to attend each showing in person. But how could I naaaht include what just might be the cinematic event of the year? If you’ve seen The Room, you know whereof I speak. If you haven’t seen it, you are tearing me a part [sic]. Gather your spoons, your football, your red roses, your red dress, your pizza, your tuxedo, your drug debts, your green screen, your phone-tapping device, and your most romantic slow jamz — maybe that’ll be enough Room mojo to secure a front-row seat. (Cheryl Eddy)

Through Sat/18

8 p.m. and midnight, $15

Red Vic

1727 Haight, SF

(415) 668-3994

www.redvicmoviehouse.com

 

SATURDAY 18

 

MUSIC

Kele

Kele Okereke has a deeply soulful voice that forms the heart of his steady band, Bloc Party, consistently matching dramatic post-punk guitars and ruthless drums with gusto. But it appears Kele’s interests are more far-reaching than anyone ever thought: he brings those soulful vocals to a collection of chintzy U.K. house in his first ever solo album. The Boxer is a hodgepodge of ideas and styles that survives solely on the exuberance Okereke brings to each performance. He’s so happy to be making these songs, you can literally hear him smiling as he sings. (Galvin)

With Does It Offend You, Yeah?, Innerpartysystem, Aaron Axelsen, and Miles

9 p.m., $20

Mezzanine

444 Jessie, SF

(415) 625-8880

www.mezzaninesf.com

DANCE

Mary Armentrout Dance Theater

Mary Armentrout is a choreographer of keen perception and sharp intelligence. As an artist, her pieces are witty and wonderfully theatrical — yet they also explore important ideas. Unfortunately, she is not very prolific, so this premiere should be a real treat. The site-specific the woman invisible to herself explores issues around identity even as it questions the very nature of performance — as a state of being and as a theatrical practice. Armentrout structured woman as a solo for herself — and for Natalie Green, Nol Simonse, and Frances Rotario. It will be performed for small audiences at sunset in and around her studio, the Milkbar in East Oakland. (Rita Felciano)

Through Oct. 3

Sat.–Sun., 6:30 p.m. (times vary), $20

Milkbar at the Sunshine Biscuit Factory

851 81st St., Oakl.

(510) 845-8604

www.maryarmentroutdancetheater.com

EVENT

Creature Feature Night at AT&T Park

Beloved local TV horror host and writer John Stanley resurrects the classic Creature Features show for a spooktacular evening at the ballpark tonight — after cheering on the Giants as they take on the Milwaukee Brewers, fans can head out onto the field for some eerie entertainment, prizes, and limited edition T shirts. Then, under cover of darkness (and likely shrouded in a perfect scene-setting fog), the high tech scoreboard will transform into a giant movie screen, showing the 1954 Universal monster melee Creature From The Black Lagoon. Be sure to bring a blanket — and watch out for any beasts clamoring out of McCovey Cove! (McCourt)

6:05 p.m., $25

AT&T Park

24 Willie Mays Plaza, SF

www.sfgiants.com/specialevents

www.bayareafilmevents.com

EVENT

“A Tribute to Fess Parker”

For multiple generations of kids, Fess Parker was a true American hero. Though he was just an actor, he came to embody the stature and values of the roles he played, particularly those of Daniel Boone, and of course, the one he is most remembered for, Davy Crockett. Parker passed away earlier this year, but his legacy will live on in the hearts of his fans, who can celebrate his life and work this weekend with a series of Davy Crockett screenings and a special tribute event featuring members of his family. (McCourt)

Sat/18–Sun/19, 3 p.m. (also Sat/18, 10:15 a.m.), $5–$12

Walt Disney Family Museum Theater

104 Montgomery, Presidio, SF

(415) 345-6800

www.waltdisney.org

EVENT

UFO X Fest

Because you’ve only got 472 days left until 2012. Because that lenticular cloud you peeped over Mount Shasta on Labor Day weekend left you a little tingly. Because The X-Files hasn’t been on TV for eight years. Whatever the reason, mysterious forces are pulling you to UFO X Fest. G’wan, heed them — the two-day lineup of speakers, films, and collegiate paranoia is just the ticket for truthiness. Speakers include a chappie who has assembled a database of 142,000 recorded UFO sightings and a cryptohunter whose specialty lies in scrutinizing unexplained cattle mutilations. Through Sun/19. (Caitlin Donohue) 

9:30 a.m., $89.99 (weekend pass, $149.99)

Historic Bal Theater

14808 East 14th St., San Leandro

(510) 614-1224

www.ufoxfest.com

 

SUNDAY 19

 

MUSIC

Melvins

No strangers to the SF stage, Seattle’s iconoclastic sludge merchants the Melvins are back, with a new album, The Bride Screamed Murder, in tow. The band has long specialized in mind-bending songwriting and arrangement, and The Bride doesn’t disappoint, working in everything from free jazz to boot camp-style call-and-response — “Captain Beefheart playing heavy metal” according to guitarist/vocalist King Buzzo (and his legendary coiffure). The dual-drummered quartet (Big Business skinsperson Coady Willis joined in 2006) will be presaged by the delectably grungesque L.A.-by-way-of-SF trio Totimoshi, touring on 2008’s thumping Milagrosa but touting a new record very soon. (Ben Richardson)

With Totimoshi

9 p.m., $21

Slim’s

333 11th St, SF

(415) 255-0333

www.slims-sf.com

FILM

 

“Radical Light: Landscape as Expression”

San Francisco plays itself in dozens of Hollywood movies, but the avant-garde works featured in the inaugural “Radical Light” program explore the imaginary city, the one perpetually coming into shape through the fog and over the hills. Of the city’s topography, filmmaker-teacher Sidney Peterson noted with some delight, “The straight line simply resisted use.” Tonight’s bill draws on the works of artists similarly disinclined: Bruce Baillie’s lovely Ella Fitzgerald-scored camera movement (1966’s All My Life); Chris Marker’s science-fiction views of Emeryville trash sculptures (1981’s Junkopia); Dion Vigne’s electrifying survey of North Beach’s surfaces (1958’s North Beach); and in-person appearances from two established masters, Lawrence Jordan (1957-78’s Visions of a City) and Ernie Gehr (1991’s Side/Walk/Shuttle). (Max Goldberg)

6:30 p.m., $9.50

Pacific Film Archive

2575 Bancroft, Berk.

(510) 642-1412

www.bampfa.berkeley.edu


TUESDAY 21

 

MUSIC

Cloud Cult

The inspiration for much of Craig Minowa’s music with Cloud Cult is, and seemingly will always be, the sudden death of his two-year-old son in 2002. An event like that is likely to shape any man’s future. Although the Cloud Cult moniker existed previous to that devastating moment, it’s absolutely appropriate for a band that thrives on songs about the next life, fear, and pain. Let me backpedal a bit though, because while those are scary subjects, this is not scary music. We’re talking jubilant indie music here, and, judging the tunes apart from their lyrical content, Minowa crafts some wildly fun, experimental beats that prove that the things that shape you don’t have to define you. (Galvin)

With Mimicking Birds

8 p.m., $15

Independent

628 Divisadero, SF

(415) 771-1421

www.theindependentsf.com

FILM

“Robert Altman vs. Friendship!”

Of the three consecutive Robert Altman double-headers at the Roxie this week, I’ll put my money on this one every time. California Split (1974) remains one of the great troves of talk in American movies and a prime example of the director’s open sound design. In a just world, lovers of 1998’s The Big Lebowski would line up for Elliot Gould and George Segal as compulsive gamblers and friends, blurting out pearls on betting, the Seven Dwarves, stealing time, and California (“Everybody’s named Barbara”). As for 3 Women (1977), I still think I must have dreamed Shelley Duvall and Sissy Spacek being in the same movie. (Goldberg)

7 and 9 p.m., $6–10

Roxie Theater

3117 16th St., SF

(415) 863-1087

www.roxie.com 

The Guardian listings deadline is two weeks prior to our Wednesday publication date. To submit an item for consideration, please include the title of the event, a brief description of the event, date and time, venue name, street address (listing cross streets only isn’t sufficient), city, telephone number readers can call for more information, telephone number for media, and admission costs. Send information to Listings, the Guardian Building, 135 Mississippi St., SF, CA 94107; fax to (415) 487-2506; or e-mail (paste press release into e-mail body — no text attachments, please) to listings@sfbg.com. We cannot guarantee the return of photos, but enclosing an SASE helps. Digital photos may be submitted in jpeg format; the image must be at least 240 dpi and four inches by six inches in size. We regret we cannot accept listings over the phone.

At the Drive-In

David Talbot
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0
At the Drive-In

arts@sfbg.com

VISUAL ART Before it became the context-free darling of YouTubers and meta-bloggers, the 1980s was a real, living era. Movies and music videos copulated. An actor became president and decided to invade Grenada despite a warning from, yes, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher that the action would be seen as "intervention by a Western country in the internal affairs of a small independent nation, however unattractive its regime." The pre-politics Governator appeared in 1984’s The Terminator as "something unstoppable … that felt no pain." And Martin Amis, in Einstein’s Monsters (1987), wrote that "the arms race is a race between nuclear weapons and ourselves." The future appeared bleaker than bleak, its robotic violence and darkness palatable if seen through neon-tinted pop culture glasses.

The 01SJ Biennial, a welcome if dizzying affair that opens this week in San Jose, is a plugged-in antidote to ’80s-era apocalyptic soothsaying. Although more recent cultural creations from 28 Days Later (2002) to The Road (2009) have done little to imagine a coherent future, they’ve at least begun asking what it means to be honestly human. Might we finally stop blaming technology?

Blogging about the biennial’s "Build Your Own Future" theme, Artistic Director Steve Dietz recently noted that the event offers a chance for "serious play." For an illustration of what he means, look no further than Todd Chandler and Jeff Stark’s Empire Drive-In, a fully functional theater featuring cars saved from a local auto wrecker and a screen built almost entirely from salvaged wood. A collaboration with artists including Brett James, Ian Page, and Robin Frohardt (who designed and fabricated a unique concession stand), Empire‘s cinema comes to life inside the San Jose Convention Center’s airplane hangar-sized South Hall.

Last week, Chandler took a break from cleaning broken glass out of one of the cars to chat about the project. He said he had first presented Dietz with the idea of a possible live performance by his band Dark Dark Dark, along with Flood Tide: Remixed. a sort of contemplative preview version of his forthcoming feature film of the same name. "Steve was interested," Chandler explained, "but he said that it wasn’t enough. I was like, not enough?!"

Though Chandler had been pouring himself into Flood Tide project, if the biennial wanted something even bigger, he knew what to do. He called Stark, the intrepid editor of Nonsense NYC (www.nonsensenyc.com ). "Jeff is amazing at pulling off really big, impossible projects," Chandler says. "And he’d had this idea in his head for a while about a junk car drive-in."

Chandler and Stark met while working on the Miss Rockaway Armada project (www.missrockaway.org ), the first iteration of a number of artistic ventures involving large rafts made of salvaged materials. That participatory trip down the Mississippi River — deemed an "anarchist county fair" and a "fools’ ark" — gave birth to the projects that became the subject of Flood Tide. In turn, Empire Drive-In includes not just the hypnotic Flood Tide: Remixed, but a number of "live cinema" presentations, including Zoe Keating and Robert Hodgin’s Into the Trees, and Laetitia Sonami and SUE-C’s Sheepwoman.

"The cars we’re using were on their way to Redwood City to get crushed," Chandler explained. "A lot of them had smashed windshields." He and Stark chose vehicles based on what was available rather than a predetermined vision: "We didn’t want to do a retro, ’50s-style drive-in."

As with any other theater, when a drive-in closes for good, we say that it has "gone dark." My childhood haunt, Skyview Drive-In in Santa Cruz, went dark a few years ago. When I drove by and saw the missing screens, I started to cry. Empire Drive-In presents the unbearable lightness of seeing in a world that might someday go dark.

01SJ BIENNIAL: EMPIRE DRIVE-IN

Thurs/16–Sun/19, various venues

(408) 916-1010

www.01sjart.org

On the Cheap listings

David Talbot
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0

On the Cheap listings are compiled by Paula Connelly. Submit items for the listings at listings@sfbg.com.

WEDNESDAY 15

Bad Movie Night Argus Lounge, 3197 Mission, SF; (415) 824-1447. 8pm, $2. If you’ve got a bad film you’ve been secretly wishing to screen, here’s your chance to share it. Bring any film on DVD, made by you, that is under 10 minutes and enter for a chance to win a best worst mystery prize. Proceeds benefit the Cut and Run Tour, a traveling film festival specializing in short, avant-garde, and experimental film. With DJ Squid spinning punk, core, and alt rock.

"Hot and Cold Extreme Environments" Randall Museum, 199 Museum Way, SF; (415) 554-9600. 7:30pm, free. Join planetary scientist Chris McKay, from the Space Science Division of the NASA Ames Research Center, for a presentation on life in extreme environments and how it is relevant to the search for life in the Solar System.

Ten Fingers Café Royale, 800 Post, SF; (415) 441-4099. 8pm, free. Everyone has a story to tell, so come share yours at this live storytelling event where performers have a chance to win $150 or be featured on NPR’s Snap Judgment. The only rules are: no reading, keep it under 10 minutes, and aim for nonfiction. To sign up in advance, email stephanie@snapjudgment.org.

BAY AREA

El Grito Bicentennial Jack London Square, Franklin at Water, Oakl.; www.jacklondonsquare.com. 4pm, free. Celebrate the 200 year anniversary of Mexican independence from Spanish rule at this outdoor festival featuring artists, craft vendors, live music, activities, and more.


THURSDAY 16

Inside Storytime Café Royale, 800 Post, SF; (415) 505-0869. 6:30pm, $3-$5. A fun, cozy event where you can booze and schmooze with the San Francisco literati featuring readings from Raj Patel, author of The Value of Nothing, Justine Sharrock, author of Tortured, Gordy Slack, author of The Battle Over the Meaning of Everything, Anna Mantzaris, Hank Pellissier, and James Warner.

Project Censored City Lights Bookstore, 261 Columbus, SF; (415) 362-8193. 7pm, free. Each year, Project Censored lists the top 25 major news stories that were ignored or underreported by the mainstream press and presents the details of these stories in depth. Join Mickey Huff and Peter Phillips in discussing this year’s most censored stories and celebrating the release of Censored 2011.

FRIDAY 17

Readings from Joyland Dog Eared Books, 900 Valencia, SF; www.joyland.ca. 8pm, free. Catch the second stop of the Joyland American tour celebrating the release of books from Joyland founders Emily Schultz and Brian Joseph Davis who will be reading along with San Francisco writers Peter Orner, Tamar Halpern, Helene Wecker, Ruth Galm, and host Kara Levy. All authors have been published on the joyland.ca site, which aims to make the international local by providing a platform for unique voices in short fiction.

SATURDAY 18

J-Pop Summit Festival Post between Webster and Buchanan, SF; www.j-pop.com.

11am-6pm, free-$20. Take in the Japanese pop-inspired attractions at this annual festival featuring musical performances by some of Japan’s hottest bands, fashion shows, film screenings, art and anime booths, live art performances, Japanese food vendors, and more.

Literary Tribute to Al Robles Intersection 5M, 925 Mission, SF; (415) 626-2787. 6pm, $5 suggested donation. Join members of the Bay Area literary community as they honor poet, educator, community activist, and advocate for the poor and senior citizens, Al Robles. The evening of storytelling hosted by D. Scott Miller to include poetry, prose, conversation, and recollections of Robles with Jessica Hagedorn, Jack Hirschman, Janice Mirikatani, Alejandro Murguia, Jaime Jacinto, Ishmael Reed, and more.

BAY AREA

Artspark San Pablo Park, 2800 Park between Russell and Ward, Berk.; www.artsparkfestival.org. 11am-4pm, free. Enjoy this free, community sponsored festival promoting community health by offering free health information from East Bay health organizations and free art lessons in drawing, painting, dancing, spoken word, and more. Also featuring nutritious, hot meals for under $5 and entertainment and performances including live music, spoken word, and more.

SUNDAY 19

Dancing in the Streets Noe at Market, SF; www.castrocbd.org. 1pm-4pm, free. Enjoy a live band and dancing in the streets with the Byran Keith Country Band and Queer Ballroom giving free country two step lessons.

Leland Avenue Fair Leland at Bayshore, SF; www.sfvvboom.blogspot.com. 10am-4pm, free. Celebrate the recently completed Visitacion Valley public art and streetscape at this community festival featuring local talents including Latin jazz percussionist Pete Escovedo and his six-piece orchestra, artists, chefs, entertainers, and vendors.

Roadworks Street Fair Rhode Island between 16th and 17th St., SF; www.sfcb.org. Noon-5pm, free. Using a three ton steamroller, a team of featured artists will be making large-scale prints right in the street from carved linoleum blocks. Watch the action and enjoy the bazaar featuring wares from over 80 artists, vendors, and organizations, live music, entertainment, street food, and activities.

Comedy Day Sharon Meadow, Golden Gate Park, SF; www.comedyday.com. Noon-5pm, free. Thirty comedians will be performing in a non-stop relay of jokes to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Comedy Day. Comics to include up-and-coming talent, national and Bay Area favorites, and a few who performed at the original Comedy Day. Food and beverage vendors available.

PG&E’s deadly failures

David Talbot
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0
PG&E’s deadly failures

EDITORIAL In 1994, a fire raged through the tiny community of Rough and Ready in Nevada County. The inferno destroyed a dozen homes and caused $2 million in damage. The cause: tree limbs that Pacific Gas and Electric Co. should have trimmed brushed against high-voltage power lines.

A furious local district attorney filed criminal charges — and in a dramatic trial, evidence emerged that PG&E had intentionally taken $80 million in ratepayer money designated for tree trimming and diverted it into executive salaries and profits.

After a natural gas line that was installed in 1948 burst last week in San Bruno, killing five and devastating a community, local and state officials should be asking if the company is still taking money that should be spent upgrading and maintaining its system and spending it elsewhere.

There’s certainly evidence that the company’s safety record is shoddy. In 2003, a fire at a Mission District substation caused 100,000 people to lose power — and the CPUC chided PG&E for failing to follow its own rules and for general procedural laziness. In 2005, an underground explosion at Kearny and Post streets caused a fire that seriously injured a pedestrian on the sidewalk above. In June 2009, a fire at a PG&E vault at O’Farrell and Polk streets caused an explosion that roared up through a manhole and cut power to 8,600 customers.

In San Bruno, neighbors reported smelling gas in the days before the explosion. PG&E trucks had come to the scene and left without repairing the problem.

In the Rough and Ready fire, PG&E was found guilty of criminal negligence — and the San Mateo County D.A., James P. Fox, should immediately start looking into the possibility of filing charges against the company. In the meantime, San Francisco ought to be taking a long, hard look at the state of the private utility’s infrastructure in the city — and how much of it is vulnerable to deadly failure.

The mayor, the supervisors, and the city attorney should demand that PG&E produce a map of every gas line, power line, transformer, and substation in the city — with details about age, condition, and maintenance history. The city should hire an independent auditor to investigate how much of what PG&E has under and above the city streets is old, crumbing, poorly maintained, and likely to fail. The results should be made public — and the city should take whatever legal action is necessary to ensure that the company’s equipment doesn’t pose an imminent risk to local residents and businesses.

State Sen. Mark Leno is calling for a hearing, and PG&E officials should be forced to discuss, in public, how this disaster was allowed to happen. City officials, and the local Legislative delegation, should also be pushing the California Public Utilities Commission to investigate how PG&E has been spending the money it collects from ratepayers for maintenance and system upgrades. It’s clear that company profits were healthy enough for PG&E to spend $46 million on a failed ballot initiative that would have blocked public power in the state; why wasn’t that money used to replace the ancient natural gas pipes in San Bruno? Where else is the company skimping on facilities? How much of the company’s system needs immediate upgrades, and what’s PG&E’s budget and schedule for that work?

There’s a larger point here: none of the public power systems in Northern California have had this type of accident. None of the publicly run utilities have been found guilty of diverting maintenance money to executive salaries and profits. San Francisco’s first modest moves toward public power will come with the establishment of a community choice aggregation system — but that system will still rely on PG&E’s grid. The sooner the city can move to get rid of that private monopoly and build its own power system, block by block and neighborhood by neighborhood if necessary, the less likely it will be that a San Bruno-type catastrophe will happen here.

PG&E’s deadly failures

David Talbot
-
2

The CPUC should investigate how PG&E has been spending the money it collects from ratepayers for maintenance and system upgrades

EDITORIAL In 1994, a fire raged through the tiny community of Rough and Ready in Nevada County. The inferno destroyed a dozen homes and caused $2 million in damage. The cause: tree limbs that Pacific Gas and Electric Co. should have trimmed brushed against high-voltage power lines.

A furious local district attorney filed criminal charges — and in a dramatic trial, evidence emerged that PG&E had intentionally taken $80 million in ratepayer money designated for tree trimming and diverted it into executive salaries and profits.

After a natural gas line that was installed in 1948 burst last week in San Bruno, killing five and devastating a community, local and state officials should be asking if the company is still taking money that should be spent upgrading and maintaining its system and spending it elsewhere.

There’s certainly evidence that the company’s safety record is shoddy. In 2003, a fire at a Mission District substation caused 100,000 people to lose power — and the CPUC chided PG&E for failing to follow its own rules and for general procedural laziness. In 2005, an underground explosion at Kearny and Post streets caused a fire that seriously injured a pedestrian on the sidewalk above. In June 2009, a fire at a PG&E vault at O’Farrell and Polk streets caused an explosion that roared up through a manhole and cut power to 8,600 customers.

In San Bruno, neighbors reported smelling gas in the days before the explosion. PG&E trucks had come to the scene and left without repairing the problem.

In the Rough and Ready fire, PG&E was found guilty of criminal negligence — and the San Mateo County D.A., James P. Fox, should immediately start looking into the possibility of filing charges against the company. In the meantime, San Francisco ought to be taking a long, hard look at the state of the private utility’s infrastructure in the city — and how much of it is vulnerable to deadly failure.

The mayor, the supervisors, and the city attorney should demand that PG&E produce a map of every gas line, power line, transformer, and substation in the city — with details about age, condition, and maintenance history. The city should hire an independent auditor to investigate how much of what PG&E has under and above the city streets is old, crumbing, poorly maintained, and likely to fail. The results should be made public — and the city should take whatever legal action is necessary to ensure that the company’s equipment doesn’t pose an imminent risk to local residents and businesses.

State Sen. Mark Leno is calling for a hearing, and PG&E officials should be forced to discuss, in public, how this disaster was allowed to happen. City officials, and the local Legislative delegation, should also be pushing the California Public Utilities Commission to investigate how PG&E has been spending the money it collects from ratepayers for maintenance and system upgrades. It’s clear that company profits were healthy enough for PG&E to spend $46 million on a failed ballot initiative that would have blocked public power in the state; why wasn’t that money used to replace the ancient natural gas pipes in San Bruno? Where else is the company skimping on facilities? How much of the company’s system needs immediate upgrades, and what’s PG&E’s budget and schedule for that work?

There’s a larger point here: none of the public power systems in Northern California have had this type of accident. None of the publicly run utilities have been found guilty of diverting maintenance money to executive salaries and profits. San Francisco’s first modest moves toward public power will come with the establishment of a community choice aggregation system — but that system will still rely on PG&E’s grid. The sooner the city can move to get rid of that private monopoly and build its own power system, block by block and neighborhood by neighborhood if necessary, the less likely it will be that a San Bruno-type catastrophe will happen here.

Alerts

David Talbot
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0

alert@sfbg.com

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 15

Solidarity Against Racism


If you’re angry at the revived campaign of racism being unleashed by the Tea Party and other right-wingers, fight back by attending this public forum. The discussion should be lively and serious and will focus on why racism still exists and what all we can do to combat it in the midst of a deepening economic crisis.

7 p.m., free

Red Stone Building

Luna Sea Room, second floor

2940 16th St., SF

www.norcalsocialism.org

FRIDAY, SEPT. 17

Park(ing) Day


Call attention to the need for more urban open space and help generate debate around how public space is created and allocated by transforming a metered parking space into a park-like space. Stay aware of local regulations and stay within the law . For more information on how to be arty and legal at the same time, go to www.parkingday.org.

All day, free

All around the Bay Area

www.parkingday.org

SATURDAY, SEPT. 18

Green Eye


Spend the weekend learning about climate change and how we got here at the series of films, talks, and workshops presented by 3rd i Films. Saturday, Ami and Amar Puri demonstrate the basics of bike maintenance, followed by a group bike ride through the city, ending at a fun food destination. On Sunday there will be screenings of Climate of Change, followed by the multimedia presentation Around the World Without Flying.

Bicycle Workshop


10 a.m., $20

The Bike Kitchen

650 H Florida, SF

Group Bike Ride


11:30 a.m., free

Meet at The Bike Kitchen

650 H Florida, SF

Film Screenings


3:30 p.m., $10

Artists Television Access

992 Valencia, SF

www.thirdi.org

Bike Church


Attend Manifesto Bicycles final bike church of the year, and event designed to bring the local community together and promote riding. Featuring live music by Winifred E. Eye, the Heated, and Anna Ash; half-price coffee from Subrosa; and gourmet brunch from Jon’s Street Eats.

11 a.m.–1 p.m., free

Manifesto Bicycles

421 40th St., SF

(510) 595-1155

Sunday Streets Western Addition

Take over some of the streets of the Western Addition with healthy and family friendly activities at this month’s Sunday Streets celebration. Open streets include Fillmore between Post and Golden Gate, Golden Gate between Laguna and Baker, Grove between Divisadero and Central, and more.

10 a.m.–3 p.m., free

Western Addition, SF

www.sundaystreetssf.com

TUESDAY, SEPT. 21

Oakland Peace Day

Celebrate an International Day of Peace at this free music festival happening at three different Oakland locations.

5 p.m., free

Preservation Park Bandstand

13th Street at Martin Luther King Jr., Oakl.

6 p.m., free

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church

114 Montecito, Oakl.

7 p.m., free

St. Augustine’s Church

400 Alcatraz, Oakl.

www.listenforlife.org

Mail items for Alerts to the Guardian Building, 135 Mississippi St., SF, CA 94107; fax to (415) 437-3658; or e-mail alert@sfbg.com. Please include a contact telephone number. Items must be received at least one week prior to the publication date.

PG&E’s history of blowups

Zelda Bronstein
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4
PG&E’s history of blowups

By Noah Arroyo

We don’t yet know if the San Bruno fire is a horrific accident or an equally horrific mistake. But Pacific Gas and Electric Company, which owns and operates the gas line that ruptured, has a history of incidents that look a lot like this one. Some of these incidents have caused power outages. Others have blown things up, or injured people.

The company also has a history taking money that ought to go to maintenance and diverting it into fat corporate profits.

In December of 2003, a cable fire at the Mission Substation of the Golden Gate Control Center caused a more than 100,000 people to lose power. The California Public Utilities Commission inspected the incident and found that PG&E suffered from general procedural laziness, and that “PG&E failed to follow three recommendations made in its 1996 Root Cause Analysis Report following [a] 1996 fire.”


At the time, San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera noted: “The evidence is clear that PG&E knew about problems that endangered public safety and threatened to cost San Francisco businesses millions—and yet did nothing to fix them.”

Then, in August 2005, something exploded underground the intersection of Kearny and Post. A manhole cover shot into the air and the escaping fire severely burned a passer by. The event’s catalyst was a failed transformer, owned and operated by PG&E.

In June last year, a fire peeked and then roared from a manhole with enough force to resemble an explosion to onlookers. The electrical fire, at O’Farrell and Polk, was coming from a PG&E vault. The impact? 8,600 customers lost power. This, like Thursday’s fire at San Bruno, was a fire bigger and more resilient than what emergency responders at first assumed. At least in 2009, nobody died.

Another difference: In 2009, leading up to the explosion, PG&E didn’t know about the problem beforehand.

Why hadn’t PG&E replaced this natural gas pipe (the San Bruno fire’s origin) since its installation in 1948? Was the problem one of cost? If so, would replacing such a pipe cost more than the $46 million the company spent trying to push Proposition 16 in June’s election?

Or could this be a replay of the Rough and Ready fire of 1994?

That year, an inferno raged through the small Nevada County town, destroying a dozen homes and causing $2 million in damage. The cause of the fire? Tree limbs that PG&E was supposed to trim brushing against the company’s power lines.

The local district attorney sued, and during the trial, evidence came to light that PG&E had taken $80 million from ratepayers — money that was supposed to be used for tree trimming — and diverted it to executive salaries and to pad the bottom line.

The company was found guilty of criminal negligence and fined $2 million.

So if PG&E in fact failed to maintain its facilities, at great cost to the public, it wouldn’t be the first time.

 

Golden age remix: Bay graff gets its props

Andrew Lam
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Nate1’s business card is totally dope. It’s front depicts a Kry-lon paint can, the brand most used  for graffiti in the days he was coming up as a street writer in 1980s San Francisco. “Back then we used to have to make art with automotive paint,” he tells me at 1AM gallery, where his new show on the golden age of Bay tagging, “The Classics” opens today (Fri/10). “We’re talking about paint to paint red wagons and doors,” he remembers, smiling like a man that didn’t mind too much.

The card is striking because it evokes the sentiment behind this artist and the show he’s thrown up. “The Classics” is about those icons of SF’s early days on the graffiti scene, back before anyone with a few bucks could buy specialized Mammoth paint from 1AM’s retail section, cans specially designed for low pressure artistic liberty – but it’s also about where that art form stands today. 

1AM owner Anna says that before he came up with the inkling for this particular showing, Nate1 would bring around scrapbooks to street art openings, forcing heads to remember the days when. Finally, they hit upon the idea to base a show on these old masterpieces. On the gallery’s walls are seldom-seen photographs of the “Psycho City” wall in SoMa, the only place where young taggers could work on their art in public, in peace from police presence and neighborhood complaint. UB40’s ubiquitous-at-the-time scrawl is present, as is shots of trains painted by King 157, and Rigel’s game-changing robot piece. 

But the show’s no time capsule. What Nate1 wanted to do was pull these works into the present, juxtapose San Francisco relatively (to New York’s) unsung heroes with the realities of today. The artists are adults now, grown community members – Nate1, an original member of the graf crew Masterpiece Creators, has two kids, teaches graffiti art history at 1AM, and owns a clothing company – but they’ve still got skills. Most of the pieces at his show are not classics at all, but mature artists’ reimaginings of the culturally mega works they sprayed onto the sides of buildings and MUNI buses when they were in their teens. The show’s a celebration of where the art form’s been, but also how far it’s come.

“This show was put together by a writer, for a writer.” Nate1 is now addressing a crowd who has assembled the night for a sneak peek tour through the artwork that through months of searching and finding, he has deemed “The Classics.” In the audience are no small amount of writers from the ’80s scene: Rise is here, and Mike Bam. They’re among the artists Nate1 called on to create new pieces for the show. Throughout his tour, they pick up on Nate1’s more obscure points and chime in with clarifications, added bits of information.

“So dope!” Nate1 gets stoked on an original piece at his show “The Classics”

Some of the artists on display, like Rigel with his robot, re-imagined classic works from days of old and put them on canvass to grand affect. Others expanded on long dormant skills with new technology. Nate1 stops in front of a piece by Vogue entitled “Teenage Love.” It’s a painted closeup of Kry-lon cans, the glint of the metal popping in the bright, happy colors of everybody’s youth. “He did that with spray paint,” Nate1 announces to the assembled crowd, staggering backwards as if blown away by the technical mastery involved in this act. “Jesus!”

Still others made pieces of art that reflect the change in their lives, in everybody’s lives since those days of fat laces and “bus hopping” (which Nate1, in his best art history professor’s voice helpfully defines as when a graf artist boards a bus solo or en masse and “you take a tool of your choice to mark the surface”). Rise is called to the front when the corner that houses his work is introduced. A father himself, he has struggled with the “spiritual blackout” of alcoholism, only to finally see the light in a world with strange issues that dwarf running from the cops and fingers covered in aerosol paint. His intricate painting “Heaven Only Knows” shows a rising figure in Masonic imagery, surrounded by social ills, the seven deadly sins inscribed on paint cans, labyrinthine, interlocking words describing the scene, all of it framed by his son’s small hands on a video game controller. He talks about seeing names of military consultants in the credits of his offspring’s game manuals, explaining to his sons that though the games are fun to play, they’re still a tool of social conditioning. “Something that frustrates me is the condition of how things are going,” says Rise, a self-identified conspiracy theory enthusiast.

What may draw street art aficionados to “The Classics” is the promise of a look at the old school “OGs,” as Nate1 puts it. And that’s here: James Prigoff’s vast compendium of snapshots from 1980s taggers and their art has been selectively drawn from by Nate1. There’s a classic framed photo that shows a group of kids falling out the windows of a bus, adrenaline pumping in the aftermath of a writer’s party at the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts in honor of the first San Francisco book of street art. The shots serve as a tangible reminder of a time that wasn’t captured in graff mags, not endlessly cataloged on the Internet.

But what one walks away from “The Classics” with is the postmodern riffing images created for the show. It’s the fact that our local street art scene has become a school worthy of imitation, analysis, and homage that impresses. ’80s street artists – those night-crawling, fence-jumping, anti-social social crusaders, have finally and fully been embraced into the world of “art.” And they’ve got the business cards to prove it.

 

“The Classics”

Through Oct. 16

1AM gallery

1000 Howard, SF

(415) 861-5089

www.1amsf.com

Appetite: Drinking in the Wente Vineyards Concert Series

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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Appetite: Drinking in the Wente Vineyards Concert Series

There may be other Bay Area concert winery venues (Mountain Winery, for example), but none like family-run Wente Vineyards in Livermore. Run by the same family for five generations and set on a 3000-acre expanse of golden rolling hills and vineyards, Wente is managed by delightfully down-to-earth members of the family who keep the business alive, yes, with wine-making, but also with a scenic golf course, a restaurant, and the aforementioned concert venue.

It’s magic sitting out under the warm Livermore night sky, cradled by palms, vineyards and foliage, in a venue big enough to feel like an event, small enough to offer visibility. On August 19, I trekked out for a Chris Isaak show. I was a fan in high school, pleased to say he’s utterly charming in person, maintaining old-fashioned showmanship and witty banter in a sparkly, classic country/Elvis-style wardrobe. The setting could not have enhanced the enchantment of his music more. The range (and randomness) of Wente shows is wide — with appearances from my longtime hero, Harry Connick, Jr., or the likes of Liza Minnelli, Earth, Wind & Fire, The Fray, even ZZ Top (!)

The rest of this year’s line-up includes Willie Nelson with Ryan Bingham on Monday, September 13, the one-and-only Harry Connick (sadly, his show is sold out) on September 21st, and a just-added Don Henley show on September 20th. Tickets are pricey, running just shy of $90 to nearly $150 for seats, or anywhere from $150 to just below $300 with dinner, whether it be outdoor picnics or a multi-course meal, wine included, in their restaurant. Of course, you can eat at the restaurant on non-concert days without concert prices.

But the combo of the two certainly makes for a memorable special occasion or date, and what surprises most is the quality of the food in a full, three-course dinner. My dinner was paired nicely with bottles of 2006 Murrieta’s Well, a melon, vanilla-tinged white Meritage ($11 glass; $40 bottle), and a 2006 Annika Syrah, rich with plum and wild blackberry ($24 glass; $96 bottle).

Executive chef Eric Berg uses produce and herbs from their own organic garden (there’s even a master gardener, Diane Dovholuk, on staff) and unusual offerings, like bison tenderloin tartare with yellow beets, green onion, creme fraiche, sorrel puree and beet greens. It was a treat to eat bison raw, tender and fresh with garden accents. Simple and pure shines in the case of Frog Hollow Peaches with red onion, toasted hazelnuts, mizuna greens and pancetta vinaigrette. A perfect Summer dish.

Liberty Farms duck breast “scaloppini” with leg confit, horseradish gnocchi, charred lemon zest and smoked eggplant puree was appropriately prepared medium-rare with the confit leg adding succulence. Wagyu flatiron steak & Maine lobster is a pleasing “surf and turf” combo, prepared with stewed heirloom chiles, fingerling potato fondant, in a lobster-veal sauce.

Though I especially liked the sound of frozen horchata with hibiscus soup, local strawberries and mint, it was more like a bright palate cleanser than spiced with horchata flavor, while a local nectarine tartlette with sweet corn ice cream and salted caramel lingered longer and pleasurably.

Needless to say, it’s a hefty splurge, but the whole package, both dinner and concert, is a uniquely California experience: vineyards, palm trees, garden-fresh cuisine, even an Old West feeling of remoteness out among dry, rolling hills, create a bewitching evening.

Michael Franti’s bare feet

Andrew Lam
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Entering into its twelfth year of existence this weekend, Michael Franti’s Power to the Peaceful music and yoga festival doesn’t appear to pack quite the big name punch on (recycled, written on with hemp ink) paper – the Talib Kwelis and String Cheese Incidents that shared the bill with Franti in years past have been cycled out for Rupa and the April Fishes, SambaDa, and other relatively little known acts. But we caught up with Franti a few weeks ago to talk about this weekend’s (Fri/10-Sun/12) life-loving festivities while he was driving through the Nevadan desert, and he says there’s a method to the grooviness.

“It’s like being in a western movie out here,” Franti tells me after our call is dropped for lack of service. Reconnected, I ask: Michael, how’d you choose your supporting lineup for the concert you created to free Mumia, spread love, and perpetuate peace in Speedway Meadows?

“Last year we had Alanis Morrissette, lots of groups that we brought in from afar. This year we wanted to highlight Bay Area music,” says Franti, a Hunter’s Point resident himself. He took me through the lineup, which truth be told will probably make for a far more fun crowd than that of the year I had to throw bows to make it through the Indigo Girls crush. 

The patchouli-heavy roster includes the Santa Cruz capoeira crew SambaDa, bringing in a high-energy sound straight from the beach. All the acts involved have some smattering of multi-culturalism, including the Rupa and the April Fishes, of whose front lady Franti tells me “her family is Indian, but she grew up in America and sings in French and Spanish. She’s a M.D. half the year, and tours the other half of the year. I’ve always thought she was an amazing person.” We’ve got Rebelution to look forward to, surf-reggae boys from Santa Barbara, local emcee Sellassie, and… American Idol‘s Crystal Bowersox? She’s from Ohio, but hey she’s got dreadlocks – she’s in!

Most of the acts on the roster share the distinction for explicitly progressive social thinking, pretty key for a concert that Franti says he started to raise awareness of the fight to free Mumia Abu-Jamal, the Black Panther sentenced to Death Row for his alleged murder of a Philadelphia police officer. Tied to the concert, which focuses on promoting peace on an institutional and personal level, will be a 9 a.m. “1,000 Yogis for Peace” mass sun salutation (Sat/10), and a variety of paid shows meant to raise funds for future PTTP events. Though the Saturday Golden Gate shows will be the only free events of the weekend, the Fillmore Theater will also play host to Franti’s vibe, starting on Friday night when he’ll perform his new album, The Sound of Sunshine, continuing with a Talking Heads tribute Saturday night, and yoga-Brazilian dance workshops during the day on Sunday.

But before I hung up with Franti we had another hard-soled issue to discuss. That being, his lack of them. Franti threw off the shackles of tounges and laces a decade ago – kinda. “It comes up quite regularly that I go into a restaurant or store and they’ll ask me to wear shoes. So I put on flip-flops.” Damn the man! Oh, and he wears them running as well. 

Must we ask why? We must. Franti tells me through the savannah-induced static that he had been playing a lot of shows in developing countries, and the kids there thought his fragile, callus-free feet hilarious. Once back in SF, he decided to go unshod for three days, and the rest is history. Ironically, he’s been pretty involved in getting those things back on the feet of people that need them – donations are being collected at the concert for one of his favorite charities, Souls 4 Souls. That group will join over 100 social justice organizations at the concert on Saturday, where they will be offering information on everything from environmental issues to gang intervention. So wait, we’re listening to propaganda here? “The idea is to plug people into serving,” Franti says. 

 

As a willing member of the liberal media, I’ll be at Power to the Peaceful all weekend, and how! Check out my take on the downward dogs and loosely cinched fisherman’s pants in next week’s print edition of the SFBG

 

Power to the Peaceful 

main concert: Sat/11  9 a.m.-5 p.m., $5 suggested donation

Speedway Meadows

Golden Gate Park, SF

other live events: Fri/10-Sun/11, times and prices vary

Fillmore Theater

1805 Geary, SF

www.powertothepeaceful.org

Benefits: Sept 8-Sept 14

David Talbot
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0
Benefits: Sept 8-Sept 14

Ways to have fun while giving back this week


Thursday, Sept. 9

Coalition on Homelessness Auction
Attend this live and silent art auction featuring works by Bay Area artists, live music by Perranosperous, food by the California Culinary Academy, desserts from Kingdom Cake, and a raffle. Proceeds to benefit the Coalition on Homelessness.
5:30 p.m., $25
SOMArts
934 Brannan, SF
(415) 346-3740, ext. 307

Faubourg Tremé
Watch this documentary film about the history of the radical roots of one New Orleans community, where during slavery, Black people could earn their freedom and purchase a house. The film, fully titled Faubourg Tremé: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans, concludes with new challenges facing the Black community after the Katrina disaster.
7:30 p.m., $6 donation
ATA Theater
992 Valencia, SF
(415) 821-6545

Free Community Health Programs
Support two free community health programs at this benefit concert featuring Embers, Speed of Darkness, Somnolence, and Crucifixion. One of the programs, the Street Level Health Project, offers medical screenings, a lunch program, mental health support, herbal medicine and nutrition, and more services for urban immigrant communities in the Bay Area. The other program, Casa Besu, aims to bring alternative, holistic treatments to the people of the Navajo Nation in New Mexico.
8 p.m., $5-$10
El Rio
3158 Mission, SF
(510) 533-9906

Saturday, Sept. 11


A’s Firefighter Appreciation Night
Local firefighters from around the Bay Area and Northern California will be honored at the Oakland A’s vs. Red Socks game. A portion of the ticket proceeds will be donated to charitable organizations that support burn foundations, fire safety, educational programs, and other community organizations when you buy them through the webpage oaklandathletics.com/firefighters, passcode: HERO.
6:05pm
Oakland Coliseum
7000 Coliseum, Oakl.
(510) 563-2336
www.oaklandathletics.com/firefighters

Ghirardelli Square Chocolate Festival
Enjoy San Francisco’s signature chocolate delicacies, sip wine, and take part in family activities. Proceeds benefit Project Open Hand.
Sat. – Sun. Noon-5 p.m., $20 for 15 samples
Ghirardelli Square
900 North Point, SF
www.ghirardellisq.com

Sunday, Sept. 12


True Blood Party
Watch the Season 3 finale of HBO’s True Blood series and enjoy a night of entertainment with host comic Marcella Arguello, a live blues performance by I See Read, a lesbian firedancer show, live tattooing with SkinFiend, a look-a-like contest, Creole food, and more. Proceeds to benefit the Red Cross.
6 p.m., $25-$50
The New Parish
579 18th St., Oakl.
www.thenewparish.com

Wild Salmon BBQ
Enjoy a BBQ dinner featuring sustainably harvested wild Alaskan salmon, fine California wine, live music by the Bay, and a silent auction in celebration of the sustainable marine life of Pacific Rim and the work of Pacific Environment. Proceeds to support Pacific Environment. Vegetarian and vegan options available.
3 p.m., $60
Olympic Circle Sailing Club
1 Spinnaker, Berk.
(415) 388-8850, ext. 309

Quick Lit: Sept 8-Sept 14

David Talbot
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Quick Lit: Sept 8-Sept 14

Literary readings, book tours, and talks this week

The first installment of Dog Park Club, Melissa Stein, Healing Walks for Hard Times, “Why There Are Words,”and more

Wednesday, Sept 8  

Women and Family in Contemporary Japan
Hear author Susan Holloway read and discuss her new book.
5:30 p.m., free
University Press Books
2430 Bancroft, Berk.
(510) 548-0585

Thursday, Sept 9

Bodies in the Bog
Author Karen Sanders will read and discuss her new book, Bodies in the Bog and the Archaeological Imagination.
5:30 p.m., free
University Press Books
2430 Bancroft, Berk.
(510) 548-0585

Citrus County
Author John Brandon will read from his new novel about a teen named Shelby Register who moves with her single father to Citrus County, Fl. only to find rednecks instead of surfers.
7:30 p.m., free
Pegasus Books Downtown
2349 Shattuck, Berk.
(510) 649-1320

Dog Park Club
Author Cynthia Robinson presents the first in a new series featureing an opera singer as the unlikely protagonist.
7 p.m., free
Books Inc.
601 Van Ness, SF
(415) 776-1111

“Why There Are Words”
This monthly literary event features local published authors reading their original works on the theme of “body language.” Featured authors are Elaine Beale, Katie Crouch, Rachel Howard, Junse Kim, Elizabeth Rosner, and K.M. Weaver.
7 p.m., $5
Studio 333
333 Caledonia, Sausalito
(415) 331-8272

Friday, Sept 10

Anshu: Dark Sorrow
Author Juliet S. Kono’s first novel, Anshu is based on historical events about human triumph over adversity spanning from the cane fields of Hawaii to the devestation in Hiroshima.
6:30 p.m., free
Eastwind Books of Berkeley
2066 University, Berk.
(510) 548-2350

“Last Word Reading Series”
Attend this poetry reading with Diane Frank, Andrena Zawinski, and Stewart Florsheim accompanied by Erik Levins on cello. Open mic to follow.
7 p.m., free
Nefeli Café
1854 Euclid, SF
(510) 841-6374

Sunday, Sept 12 

Healing Walks for Hard Times
Author, journalist, competitive race walker, and cancer survivor Carolyn Scott Kortage will discuss her new book that advocates the mental and physical healing power of a regular walking regimen in dealing with stressful situations that are out of your control.
2 p.m., free
Book Passage
51 Tamal Vista, Corte Madera
(415) 927-0960

Rough Honey
Attend the release party for Melissa Stein’s new poetry collection, which won the 2010 APR/Honickman First Book Prize.
4 p.m., free
The Booksmith
1644 Haight, SF
(415) 863-8688

Monday, Sept 13

Freedom
Jonathan Franzen discusses his forthcoming novel at this fundraiser for the 826 Valencia College Scholarship program.
8 p.m., $20
Herbst Theater
401 Van Ness, SF
www.cityboxoffice.com

Tuesday, Sept 14

Private K-8 Schools
Betsy Little and Paula Molligan talk about the private K-8 schools of San Francisco.
7 p.m., free
Books Inc.
601 Van Ness, SF 
(415) 776-1111

“Spotlight on Survivorship”
In this lecture series installment, author Sandy Boucher discusses her new book, Hidden Spring: A Buddhist Woman Confronts Cancer, and her place in the world as a teacher, Buddhist, and cancer survivor.
6 p.m., free
Jewish Community Center
3200 California, SF
(415) 476-0276 for reservations
 

Endorsement Interviews: Malia Cohen

Zelda Bronstein
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7
Endorsement Interviews: Malia Cohen

Malia Cohen has three priorities: She wants to keep District 10 residents working, healthy and safe.

Healthy means expanding open space in the district, creating more pocket parks and turning McLaren Park into more of a destination. Safe means more community policing and using nonprofits like TURF to help monitor streets and buses. “I’m a believer in the broken windows theory,” she said, arguing for brighter lights on Third Stree and San Bruno Ave. She’s also calling for community clean-up days to “change the culture of Third Street.” But she opposes the city attorney’s gang injunctions. Working means more jobs for local people from development and better educational opportunities, particularly for people who might not go on to college.

Cohen took some strong progressive stands — she’s against Sit-Lie, and for public power (although she wasn’t too familiar with Community Choice Aggregation.) She supports the hotel tax, the real estate transfer tax and the vehicle license fee.

But she has a decidedly conservative streak, too: She wouldn’t support any further limits on condo conversions, Ellis Act evictions, or TICs, saying those regulations would infringe on the rights of property owners. You can listen to our interview here:

 

 

mcohen by endorsements2010

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