Mission Archives — Page 27 of 201 — San Francisco Bay Guardian Archive 1966

Best of the Bay 2013: BEST SAIL FROM SOBRIETY (ON WAVES OF NOTORIETY)

Michael Redmond

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October 15, 2013

Best of the Bay 2013: BEST SAIL FROM SOBRIETY (ON WAVES OF NOTORIETY)

The cocktail menu at Virgil’s Sea Room pays homage to our city’s belovedly quirky, endlessly entertaining heroes: fashionista twins Marian and Vivian Brown, departed philanthropist and devoted banjo player Warren Hellman, drag queen Empress I Jose Sarria, perennial 12 Galaxies sign-hoister Frank Chu. But when speaking of our burg’s best loved, mustn’t we mention progenitors of accommodating neighborhood watering holes? If indeed we must, hoist a glass to the triple-threat owners of one of Bernal Heights’ new favorite hangouts. Lexington Club owner Lila Thirkield, DJ-promoter-political dervish Tom Temprano, and former Nickie’s drink slinger Gillian Fitzgerald opened their watering hole early this summer in the space that once housed karaoke dive-a-rama Nap’s III. They’ve slapped on some nautical accents, spruced up a surprisingly roomy patio, and nurtured a relaxed, quirky ambience that raises a welcoming flag to buoy local spirits — while saluting San Francisco’s rambunctious past.

3152 Mission, SF. (415) 829-2233, www.virgilssf.com

Best of the Bay 2013: BEST PET SOUNDS

Michael Redmond

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October 15, 2013

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Different Fur Studios is esteemed by the current generation of music fans for churning out a staggering variety of hip music from San Francisco — A B & the Sea, Main Attrakionz, Lilac, the She’s — and beyond. Given the storied studio’s long history, however, it’s no wonder it’s still helping define the sound of the Bay. It was founded in 1968, at the height of San Francisco sonic weirdness, by Patrick Gleeson, an energetic electronic music composer who brought in the likes of Herbie Hancock, Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers, Stevie Wonder. The Fur stands on end: alert to the changing times and latest trends. Nowadays, it’s known for being highly Web-savvy, recording live iTunes-exclusive tracks, and uploading videos of in-studio sessions (like those of Little Dragon, Girls, Toro Y Moi, Big K.R.I.T., and more). Praise be to a different Pat — current owner and engineer Patrick Brown — who as a champion of local acts and labels alike keeps tradition alive in the heart of the Mission.

www.differentfurstudios.com

Best of the Bay 2013 Editors Picks: City Living

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks

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October 15, 2013

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CITY LIVING

BEST RENEGADE RECITAL

And then one day in June, a piano appeared. Not a tiny Schroeder model, but a full-size, stand-up set of ivories, plopped on top of Bernal Hill with an open invitation attached for giggly renditions of “Chopsticks” and gorgeous, soul-stirring Chopin scores alike. Bernal Heights being the magical neighborhood it is, a full-on recital was planned and performed for a grinning crowd of over 200 very lucky folks. The Bernal Heights piano lineup of skilled musicians sent sassy jazz numbers and symphonic pleasures into the breeze and charmed the perching crowd, as the sun set over the city below. The piano may not be a permanent fixture on the Bernal bedrock — indeed, the instrument used for the recital was a replacement, hastily lugged up by the same start-up workers who donated the first, after it disappeared. (“One does not simply get rid of a piano,” one of the gifters wrote in a blog post. “[We] concocted a plan to bring it to a public place so that it could be enjoyed by many.”) All the more reason to hike to the top and play sweet, sweet songs for the city you love.

www.tynan.com/bernal

BEST BART STRIKE BENEFIT

We all got a four-day taste of Bay Area life without BART during the labor strike in early July (with another one coming in October, or so it seems at press time) — and it was hardly a transit flavor we savored. But amid all the bitter, there was a sweet worth noting, for anyone who used the opportunity to finally try commuting by San Francisco Bay Ferry. What a way to go! For instance, did you know we actually live on a bay, with water and everything? It’s true! With the ferry, you’re out on that very water, viewing the Bay’s waterfront cities from new vantage points, traveling in comfort, usually right on schedule — with access to an on-board bar serving reasonably priced beer and cocktails, no less. Plus, the ferries travel to Marin County, that land considered so inaccessible for adherents of non-aquatic public transportation. It’s almost enough to avoid the underground for good. Almost.

www.sanfranciscobayferry.com

BEST SUPERGENIUS BAR

Look, we’ve all done it: accidentally spilled a tall glass of vodka on our laptop keyboard, but kept watching our Breaking Bad marathon anyway. Sure, a few of the keys have stopped working, but we’re far too engrossed in the saga of Walter White to shut down, wipe down, and store that sucker in a bag of rice for a couple days until it dries out. Uh oh, though — the next morning it won’t turn on at all, or the morning after that. No need to hover around the Apple Store’s genius bar in dismay, hoping for a shot at paying $750 for a basic diagnostic — and who knows how much to actually repair the thing. The superfriendly, incredibly attentive folks of Keane Mac Repair can save the day quickly, professionally, and far more cheaply. (Recently they charged us $150 for an out-of-warranty diagnostic.) Full-service, fully licensed, and located somewhat incongruously in the gorgeous historic Flood Building — no wonder were keen on Keane.

870 Market, SF. (415) 835-9800, www.keanesf.com

BEST COMMUNITY CENTERING

As San Francisco’s Mission District undergoes rapid rent increases and neighborhood demographic change, spaces like the Eric Quezada Center for Culture and Politics become fewer and farther between. We need spaces like this, where artists and activists come together to share stories of their fights for economic and social justice, or deliver stirring performance through music, poetry, art, and dance. Named for beloved Mission dweller and Guatemalan activist Eric Quezada, who lost his battle with cancer in 2011, the space seeks to be a cultural gathering spot that is both affordable and accessible — just blocks from 16th Street BART, and in the middle of a stretch of Valencia more known for spendy restaurants and hipster bars than progressive candidate forums and multicultural celebrations. An apt setting for those seeking to retain their sanity in a shifting SF.

518 Valencia, SF. www.518valencia.org

BEST LADY-LOVING BIKE GANG

Roll up hot and cruise in the cool company of other bike-loving women who make up Fixed With Out Dix—a nonexclusive weekly ride for female-identified folks and their two-wheeled BFFs. The crew meets every Wednesday at the Lake Merritt BART station and pedals around parks, crushes hills, and rolls through town with the wind in its grinning faces. Whether you straddle a flashy fixie, speedy road bike, rusty cruiser, or your aunt’s muddy mountain ride, FWOD welcomes your wheels and the company. Share a snack, make new friends, and discover fresh trails for adventure. They’re pumped to empower women and encourage cycling, and these badass biker babes want others to feel good, be safe, and revel in camaraderie on the move.

Weekly rides meet Wednesdays, 6:30pm, free. Lake Merritt BART station, Oakl. fwodoakland.tumblr.com

BEST REPAIR GRAND CENTRAL

Should you need a custom cabinet, a staircase rehab, perhaps a new cupola on your clock tower, you can turn to Clipper Construction’s Mathieu Palmer. But 501 Waller, the storefront Palmer owned and used as storage space — as he told local blog Haighteration — wasn’t the best use of a neighborhood-facing corner shop. Enter Palmer’s friend Dan Daniel, who created Clipper Repair from this clutter, a friendly place for fixing up, designing, or refurbishing anything you could imagine: lamps, cabinets, antique furniture, electrical things. The interior is a gorgeously organized wonderland of screws, nails, tools, gears, and random curiosities. And then! Garret Peters turned Clipper’s back storage room into a bike shop called Wiggle Bikes, conveniently located off the Wiggle, our crosstown thoroughfare for the two-wheeled. Could there be a more useful stop-off for lovers of sustainable transportation and reuse than the Clipper Repair-Wiggle Bikes complex?

501 Waller, SF. (415) 621-4733, www.clipper-construction.com

BEST ROLLING TWEETS

This is the Bay Area — of course our most ubiquitous meteorological feature has a Twitter, and that Twitter belongs to Karl the Fog. Also of course: Karl trains CrossFit, Karl writes poetry about Folsom Street Fair, Karl creeps the “young, new, and pretty” eastern span of the Bay Bridge (although he’s gentlemanly enough to shout out the “babe” western span as well). Oh, and as befits a major part of our cultural landscape, Karl gets political, too. “The Tea Party and I have a lot in common: we’re great at obstruction, we’re really dense, and we’re almost entirely white,” Karl quips. And yet, like a silver-skinned Barry White, this smooth mover rolls a comforting blanket of seduction over all our areas, high and low, uniting and reminding us that there’s no place like home.

www.twitter.com/KarlTheFog

BEST EXCUSE TO ORGANIZE

Earlier this year, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission adopted Plan Bay Area, a regional recipe for funneling an influx of new residents into San Francisco and the Bay’s other urban cores. It calls for San Francisco to somehow absorb 280,000 new souls, who will live in 92,000 new housing units and drive 73,000 more cars, by the year 2040 (see “Planning for displacement,” 5/28/2013), while doing little to preserve the homes of current residents, expand public transit, or discourage driving. In other words, it’s a free pass for developers, masquerading as environmentalism. Though the plan been challenged in court, activism is our best hope at mitigating the worst parts of it. To get involved, visit sfbay.sierraclub.org, www.cbecal.org, www.earthjustice.org, and the websites of other good activist organizations — and keep reading the Guardian.

BEST ANTI-GENTRIFICATION ELECTRO-PUNK SINGLE

It certainly touched a nerve. “Hey gurl, where you moving to? Moving to the East Bay, living life the broke way. SF keep your money. FUCK YOUR MONEY!” Esta Noche drag star Persia and local electro duo Daddies Plastik’s “Google Google Apps Apps” single came bouncing through the Web early this summer and ricocheted off hyperlocal blogs, paradoxically gaining speed through the power of social media. A bouncy yet sardonic party track that seriously skewers the tech industry and its effects on the San Francisco cost of living, the song (and wacky-genius video featuring the whole freak posse) successfully captured the rage of a city caught up in a tragic transition. It was an anger Persia herself felt when Esta Nocha, the Mission’s Latino gay bar, was in danger of closing. But she took that rage and turned it into summer anthem gold. Hey girl, could you tag me in that pic?

www.soundcloud.com/persia415

BEST TIP-TOP SPIFF UP

It has been remarked that West Portal is quite the happy village in the middle of this teeming city. We concur. Tucked into the side of a hill topped by a Twin Peak, slung happily along a leafy central promenade, the neighborhood is not the worst model for Main Street, USA. Tip and Top Vacuum & Shoe Service, particularly seen in this light, is an all-American gem. Bring in your dirt sucker for a fix-me-up and the capable staff will get it back to dirt bunny-busting in two shakes of a dusty rug. And like any good member of a small community, Tip and Top is a multitasker, as evident from the boots in the window. The shop also repairs shoes, and will even custom-cobble you a boot or slipper. To recap: Tip and Top fixes vacuums and shoes, it’s cute as a button, and you kind of need to check it out.

173 W Portal, SF. (415) 664-9320

BEST LITERARY BYWAY

Though the neighborhood can fascinate in a historic sense, sensory overload is a constant threat among the chain stores, tour buses, and souvenir sweatshirts of Fisherman’s Wharf. One can always head to Richard Henry Dana Place for a brief respite, however. Incongruously tacked onto the waterfront edge of Leavenworth Street, the quiet dead end — placid in a sea of tourist turbulence — was renamed in 1988 as part of a City Lights Bookstore proposal to name a dozen streets after local artists and authors. Richard Henry Dana Jr.’s renowned contribution to our canon, Two Years Before the Mast, contains some of the first accurate descriptions of the West Coast from aboard a merchant vessel. (Melville famously wrote of it, “But if you want the best idea of Cape Horn, get my friend Dana’s unmatchable Two Years Before the Mast. But you can read, and so you must have read it. His chapters describing Cape Horn must have been written with an icicle.”) Dana’s namesake street therefore manages to combine both literary and sea-faring history in one charmingly ramshackle locale.

Leavenworth and Jefferson, SF.

BEST TWERK QUAKE

Long before Miley irrevocably shifted the national conversation in the direction of feverishly jiggling glutei, there were the Twerking Girls. This unabashedly trio of bootylicious women joyfully — but with hilariously straight faces — rapidly oscillated that which their mothers gifted unto them up and down the city. They shimmied through the Apple Store and all around Union Square. They headstood on cable cars and cafeteria tables, invaded laundromats and tiny GoCARS, stunned ’em on BART and at Macy’s. In the sight of God and 2Chainz, they twerked their way right down the veggie aisle at the Safeway. The hypnotically undulating hijinks of Cherry Red, Dollface, and Tastee were captured this summer in a viral video, “Twerking in San Francisco Prank” by the Simple Pickup crew (a trio of dudes made infamous by filming themselves aggressively hitting on unsuspecting women; this celebratory video proved there is a spark of good in everyone). At first watch, you can’t stop laughing at the befuddled, bewildered, or frozen faces of some of the people shocked by the Twerking Girls’ hypnotic undulations. But then a larger, deeper point takes over: damn, San Francisco’s gotten mighty uptight. Thank you, Twerking Girls and friends, for shaking some soul in the city’s face.

BEST PLACE TO PADDLE AND WADDLE

The de Young Museum and the California Academy of Sciences have the giant advertising budgets and thus get all the press, but Golden Gate Park’s hidden gem lies just down JFK from those twin attractions: the Stow Lake Boathouse, perched alongside the built-in-1893 lake. The historic, recently renovated boathouse (it was getting a little creaky) contains a café stocked with handmade piroshkis and serves as the launch spot for Stow Lake’s fleet of boats, including the iconic paddleboats so beloved by tourists — and locals who aren’t too cool to admit it. If hanging out on the water’s not for you, stroll around the lake, dodging rapidly waddling geese and ducks on the paved path. More ambitious hikers can cruise to Strawberry Hill atop Stow Lake’s tiny, wooded island. On days when the fog lifts, the view there is well worth the huffing and puffing.

50 Stow Lake Dr. E., Golden Gate Park, SF. www.stowlakeboathouse.com

BEST PUBLIC ART-CHITECTS

When the Exploratorium reopened at Pier 15 earlier this year, tech wizards Obscura Digital transformed the historic waterfront building’s façade with an ultra-high definition light projection show, dazzling nighttime gazers who flocked there with an array of spectacular, nature-themed dreamscapes. Enormous blooming crystals, fast-forward budding plants, time lapse microorganism interactions were all brought to life, precisely projected in a way that contained them within the lines of the building’s architecture — yet totally screwed with viewers’ perception. It wasn’t the first time this 13-year-old design studio has treated San Francisco audiences to surreal sound-and-light shows in public spaces. Its “Corazon Under the Dome” exhibit at downtown’s Westfield Centre dazzled shoppers with convex architectural mapping, and Obscura’s “Digital Arts Panorama” at the new San Francisco Public Utilities Commission building offers visitors a dynamic virtual tour of the regional watershed.

www.obscuradigital.com

BEST HOME RUN

If you’re a local baseball fan and you haven’t yet run the Giant Race, you’re missing out, and not just because race entry includes a bobblehead (this year: sparkle-eyed Sergio Romo decked out in running gear) and a shiny medal (also this year: an homage to the World Series ring … with glitter, because WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS). The late summer race, which benefits Project Open Hand and offers nearly pancake-flat 5K, 10K, and half-marathon distances, begins just outside AT&T Park but ends on the field. Sure, certain parts of the sacred grass are roped off, but the bulk of the diamond is open for post-race stretching, hydration, and field-of-dreams fantasies galore. Die-hards take special note: There are companion Giant Races in San Jose and Scottsdale, too. No AT&T Park finish, obviously, but think of the superfan bragging rights!

www.race-sfgiants.com

BEST SCHOOL OF THRASH

Between competing coffee shops and obscured by the whirl of growing foot traffic on Divisadero Street sits an old Victorian, surrounded by a fence, upon which hangs a hand-painted sign. The SF Skate Club‘s mission says it all: “[The club] strives to provide a safe, positive, and fun environment for youth of diverse backgrounds to pursue their passion to skateboard.” Skate Club creators, skateboarder Shawn Connolly and educator Thuy Nguyen, are on their grind to use skateboarding as a medium of youth empowerment and community building, and their school is a hub of fast friendship and solid ollies. Summer, weekend, and after-school programs for kids of most ages are offered which teach the basics and tricks. The school also organizes mobile outings, and hosts drop-in visits from professionals. If its pupils’ enthusiasm is any indication, after just a few months it’s already on a roll.

635 Divisadero, SF. (415) 572-2065, www.sfskateclub.com

BEST EYE ON THE OCEAN

Perched above Sutro Baths near Ocean Beach, on a cliff whose face always seems to be exploding with colorful blooms, the exceedingly graceful 4,050 sq. ft. National Park Service visitor center at Point Lobos known as Lands End Lookout is one of our new favorite places in the world. (Although it’s closed as of this writing due to the government shutdown, boo.) Opened earlier this year, it contains a smart little cafe, oodles of info on the area’s environmental features, wildlife, and historical hot spots, and a nature-loving staff. Most people will come here at a starting point of an energizing down to the or through the surrounding hills. But the low and angular yet surprisingly capacious design of the Lookout itself, by EHDD, fits so perfectly into its Point Lobos surroundings (and puts further to shame the industrial barn-like Cliff House next door) that you may find yourself lingering beyond a cappuccino to enjoy the light and light-filled space, waves frothing on the rocks far below.

www.parksconservancy.org

BEST BAR FOR A SECOND DATE

Fancy foodie joints, indie movies, trendy pop-ups, and all that jazz: all great ways to unwind the weirdness of date No. 2, but when it’s a Tuesday, you worked all day, and exhausted yourself in yoga, let’s be real: you’re hangry and horny. This evening out requires two things immediately: food and liquor. Forget trying to be impressive, go with our proven routine. We call up the Little Chihuahua on Divisadero, order something to go, and walk your awkward and excited date next door to The Page — one of the few chill, homey spots left on the rapidly developing (and stressing out) “Divisadero Corridor” — where one can snag a bar stool, drink some whiskey, and feast on your delicious assortment of salsas and burrito fare. This neighborhood staple is cool with your takeout as long as you promise to clean up your foils and spills — and generously tipping your bartender never hurts. Your date will be well fed, your confidence levels will be on the up, and the night is young. It’s time to turn the page on this.

298 Divisadero, SF. (415) 255-6101, www.thepagebar.com

BEST NEW DRONE HIVE (WITH BUZZ)

Face it: cafes do not want an all-day camper leeching off their wi-fi (and scaring away their customers), and people working on their laptops want a place to work where they don’t have to keep buying single espressos just to get that last report done. Now we out-of-office worker bees can bow to our caffeine-overlords guilt-free: The Workshop Cafe is a spot where laptop use is not only condoned, its encouraged. In fact, calling it a cafe may be a misnomer — it’s really a hip and sleek public office space that a cafe snuck into and never left. (And it’s already looking to expand to a location near you.) Each table is equipped with rows of outlets to charge your gear, and there’s a smartphone app to order coffee without moving your rump. Cubbies deep inside the FiDi coffee joint-cum-workspace come equipped with white boards and markers for impromptu meetings, and widescreen monitors await your PowerPoint-laden laptops. Workshop even offers scanning and printing services: no need to head to FedEx or Kinko’s or whatever the heck they call themselves these days. Pro tip: there are free portable batteries to plug your laptops into if you want to toil at the tables outside. For only two bucks an hour, you can work as long as you like, minus snide looks from annoyed baristas. Now we can work forever! Free time, what’s that?

180 Montgomery, SF. (415) 322-1048, www.workshopcafe.com

BEST SUPER-WELLNESS INSURANCE

Clamber up to the Queen Anne Victorian home on a quiet Richmond corner to find some of the best free health care in the city. For 20 years, the SF Free Clinic has tended to the uninsured and underinsured, doing the work that our great federal government is only just now starting to get to. Started in 1993 by Tricia and Richard Gibbs, two general practitioners who wanted to make the connection between low-income San Franciscans and the city’s high quality health resources, the facilities offer preventative health screenings, vaccines, and non-emergency care. Services like free diabetes screenings are aided by health facilities and pros from across the city who lend a hand at the California Street location. Example: renowned yoga instructor Betty Roi offers a regular healthful yoga class. The SF Free Clinic has seen more than 70,000 patient visits since it opened its doors, a staggering number that shows how valuable the clinic is to the city’s health and wellness.

4900 California, SF. (415) 750-9894, www.sffc.org

BEST MEMOS FROM HELL

“I’m so disappointed in Tartine. They can’t make a real croissant. They’re too heavy!” “I’ve had a really hard weekend, I’m exhausted. All I’ve done is go to music festivals.” “You know him, he’s a serial entrepreneur. We are going to have him give a talk!” Nothing could be more indicative of the tragically funny contemporary state of San Francisco than the exclamations posted to the Dispatches from Entitlementistan Facebook page. As the page’s anonymous proprietor explains “I overhear the most asinine snippets of conversation outside of our window. Here is a handcrafted, artisanal, seasonal, locally-sourced, curated selection of comments from the heart of the Mission.” Links to cringe-worthy tech exposes, snaps of “only in privileged SF” moments, and even some nuanced critiques of the state of this rapidly changing city are posted almost daily. Dispatches is no mere anti-tech hate fest, however. It showed some serious viral power when it posted a Bud Light “Party on the Playa” Costco banner at Burning Man time, and a now-iconic pic, shot by Meredith Perry and picked up by Valleywag, of a Google Glass-sporting nerd with a bicycle at Dolores Park selfie-ing while two leather clad unicorns frolicked in the background. The caption? “Perfection.”

www.facebook.com/entitlementistan

BEST GUIDE FOR A CHALLENGING FUTURE

The organization has offered lectures and panel talks on key policy issues to Bay Area audiences for years, but the Commonwealth Club of California’s Climate One series deserves a shout-out for bringing the most pressing environmental issues of our time to the fore. Climate One was founded by Commonwealth Club Vice President Greg Dalton in 2007 after he visited the arctic circle in a Russian icebreaker boat and saw firsthand the effects of climate change on life in that part of the world. So far, the series has brought together public officials, academic experts, key business players, and advocates for serious, in-depth conversations on everything from fracking and the implications of rising sea levels to “Corn, Cows, and Cars.” The result: scary stuff, but with a reach toward actual solutions. Educate thyself with a Climate One talk at the Club’s San Francisco headquarters or download a podcast from a recent event.

www.climate-one.org

BEST SAIL FROM SOBRIETY (ON WAVES OF NOTORIETY)

The cocktail menu at Virgil’s Sea Room pays homage to our city’s unfathomably quirky, endlessly entertaining heroes: fashionista twins Marian and Vivian Brown, departed philanthropist and devoted banjo player Warren Hellman, drag queen Empress I Jose Sarria, perennial 12 Galaxies sign-hoister Frank Chu. But when speaking of our burg’s best loved, mustn’t we also mention progenitors of accommodating neighborhood watering holes? If indeed we must, hoist a glass to the triple-threat owners of one of Bernal Heights’ new favorite hangouts. Lexington Club owner Lila Thirkield, DJ-promoter-political dervish Tom Temprano, and former Nickie’s drink slinger Gillian Fitzgerald opened their watering hole early this summer in the space that once housed karaoke dive-a-rama Nap’s III. They’ve slapped on some nautical accents, spruced up a surprisingly roomy patio, and nurtured a relaxed, quirky ambience that raises a welcoming flag to buoy local spirits — while saluting San Francisco’s rambunctious past.

3152 Mission, SF. (415) 829-2233, www.virgilssf.com

Best of the Bay 2013 Editors Picks: Food and Drink

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks

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October 15, 2013

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FOOD AND DRINK

BEST ALL-NATURAL SWEETIE

Juice may be the perky cheerleader in a made-for-tweens drama, but smoothies are the quiet girl that the plot eventually turns on — you know, the one with deeper substance, a touch of shy sweetness, perhaps a few creamy curves. Maybe smoothies aren’t hip to the cleansing trend, and maybe they don’t come packaged in a collectible glass bottle, but nobody puts them in the corner. The ingredient list for Morning Brew Cafe’s Happiness smoothie is deliciously minimal — avocado and whole milk — but your satisfaction will reach maximal heights. The silky combination of rich, ripe avo and thick dairy makes for a delicious sip and a full belly of healthy fat and vitamins. It’s a real meal, great as breakfast or post-workout replenishment. If you’re not a fan of the animal products, request almond milk and reap the additional protein benefits.

401 Sansome, SF. (415) 986-4206, www.morningbrew.com

BEST BUN NOODLIN’

Yes, you will do it in part for the Instagram. However, the hypebeasts were right on this one: Nombe’s ramenburger is something any self-respecting gourmand in this town has to try. (Curious folks waited over an hour to try one at the SF Street Food Festival, and no one laughed at them.) The burger of Wagyu beef and pork belly tucked between two ramen noodle buns is a culinary voyage, sometimes accompanied by miso, shiitake, and blue cheese if you’re looking for a true umami blast-off. Pro tip: come to Japanese-style izakaya Nombe on half-off wine bottle Wednesday and please, sort out the appropriate photo filter after you eat the thing. This is one burger that is best devoured straight from the kitchen, before the hype (or noodle) has had a chance to cool.

2491 Mission, SF. (415) 681-7150, www.nombesf.com

BEST “MADE” PIZZA

If San Francisco’s classier pizza joints ever threw down in some kind of mozzarella-fueled turf war, the smart money would be on Capo’s — the year-old North Beach joint that’s just as versed in Prohibition Era gangster culture as it is in tasty pizza. Chef Tony Gemignani clearly knows what he’s doing with his award-winning, Chicago-style pies (four choices of crust, from deep dish to “cracker thin”), but the man also has a flair for décor: hand-painted tin ceiling, a 1930s phone booth that actually functions, a bar that pays homage to the Golden Gate Bridge, and snappy red leather booths themed around gangsters of note — with memorabilia to match. Where else can you enjoy Quattro Forni (a pie specialty made using four ovens!) while admiring poker chips once owned by Al Capone? Nowhere else, wise guy. Capisce?

641 Vallejo, SF. (415) 986-8998, www.sfcapos.com

BEST BORSCHT IN BERNAL

Even if you don’t much care for piroshkis (although if that’s the case, we feel only sorrow in our hearts for you), the borscht will keep you coming back to Anda Piroshki. Tucked away in the local mini-mall of the Marketplace on Cortland, the counter’s proprietor Anna Tvelova keeps things simple by offering only a handful of menu options. The signature Anda Piroshki borscht is one of the tastiest we’ve ever encountered — no mushy puree, this savory-sweet beet soup is a chunky, earthy stew of slow-cooked veggies and copious dill simmered in a broth and sold in six-dollar pints so flavorful it’s hard to believe that they’re vegan. But they are.

The Marketplace, 331 Cortland, SF. (415) 821-9905, www.andapiroshki.com

BEST ZAP IN A GLASS

One of the most amazing recent dishes to smack the local foodie scene upside the head: Mission Chinese Food’s Chongqing chicken wings, the little crispy limbs buried in so many “explosive” chili peppers that one bite actually numbs your entire mouth. It’s the weirdest, most viscerally addictive experience on our menus. But what if we told you it was also available in cocktail form? Wow and ouch! The Alembic’s Nine Volt leapt onto the ever-innovative Haight Street bar’s summer cocktail menu this year (crafted by bar manager Danny Louie) and zapped us to attention. Served with white Szechuan peppers — yep, sourced from Mission Chinese — but gorgeously balanced with Aviation gin, green tea, and grape juice, this baby gives out a recharging tongue-in-the-socket thrill without any battery-acid stomach repercussions. Here’s hoping the Nine Volt sticks around through winter: we could use the heat.

1725 Haight, SF. (415) 666-0822, www.alembicbar.com

BEST BARLEYWINE BLAST

Although it’s been absorbed to an extent by SF Beer Week, Toronado’s annual Barleywine Festival has been around much longer (20 years as of last February), and it eschews the exuberant trappings of most of its festival kin to focus strictly on what’s most essential — the booze. As strong as wine but brewed as a beer, barleywines fall beyond stouts, doppelbocks, and tripels on the strong beer spectrum, and are best savored slowly and with a degree of reverence, which Toronado facilitates with generous, inexpensive sample pours of over 50 varieties from around the world. And, dear hearts, the festival always falls on the weekend closest to Valentine’s Day, making it the perfect destination (or distraction) for the lovers and loners alike.

547 Haight, SF, (415) 863-2276, www.toronado.com

BEST BURMESE BRUNCH BRUSSELS SPROUTS

The wait line to get into excellent Inner Richmond Burmese restaurant Burma Superstar is legendary — so legendary that most of us stopped considering it as a dinner option. So when, a few years ago, the owners announced they would be opening a “little sister” down the block named B Star Bar, we rejoiced. B Star Bar kept some of Burma Superstar’s favorites, like the lauded tea leaf salad, but it specialized in innovative Asian comfort food twists. Among the surprises: one of the best brunch menus in the city, including a delectable duck hash quesadilla, succulent tocino (bacon-like Asian jerk pork) with garlic rice, and a full selection of jooks (rice porridge) with all the fixings. But the real brunch superstar here is B Star Bar’s brunch “B Sprouts” — perfectly roasted Brussels sprouts tossed with furikake (rice seasoning), fish sauce, Parmesan, and popped rice that adds a cheery wake-up crunch. The diverse flavors combine so well, we could brunch on these little green gems forever (with mimosas, of course).

127 Clement, SF. (415) 933-9900, www.bstarbar.com

BEST SURPRISE SANDWICHES

“Pastries for lunch?” Your friends might scoff, but oh, what a surprise they’re in for upon entering this hidden gem tucked between office buildings and business folks. “Banh mi!,” they will exclaim, and although there will not be streamers or confetti to complement their shocked expressions, these little sandwiches will do the delighting in both taste and value. Muffins Muffins, tucked innocuously off Second Street, serves up delicious, made-to-order banh mi for as little as five bucks. The vegetarian option features some tasty faux meat with a tangy finish, topped with jalapeños and hugged by a soft bun. Carry your lunch to nearby Yerba Buena Gardens for a Financial District adventure that doesn’t require a suit or a fatty wallet.

123 Second St, SF. (415) 342-7588

BEST WORMWOOD WARLOCKS

There aren’t many in the craft-spirit making movement who can boast of having a US Navy nuclear engineer as a master distiller. The story goes: Lance Winters came to St. George Spirits and presented founder Jörg Rupf with a homemade batch of whiskey in lieu of resume. He got the job, and under his watch, St. George churned out its single malt whiskey and a line of gins. In 2007, it became the first in the nation to legally release a wormwood liqueur, and continues to be well known for its excellent Absinthe Verte. In a retrofitted Alameda naval hanger turned HQ, test stills are charmed into producing oddball booze flavors including oysters, Dungeness crab, or even the company Christmas tree. “If we’re not pushing the limits of our creativity,” they explain, “our spirits aren’t going to be any different or better than stuff that’s already out there.”

2601 Monarch, Ala. (510) 769-1601, www.stgeorgespirits.com

BEST CELEB BREAD

Oh, you thought Food Network personality Tyler Florence was the celebrity most likely to appear at the elegant American bistro he owns in the Financial District? Nope. Before you even order off the classy-comfort-food menu, you’ll have your brush with fame. Instead of a bread basket (boring!), at your table will appear Wayfare Tavern’s popovers — crisp, golden brown, egg-battered treats so delicious you’ll be tempted to spoil your meal with multiple servings. (And so legendary that several staff members sport popover tattoos.) In August, Florence tapped a new executive chef in Joey Elenterio and word on the street is new menu items will follow, so this might be a grand time to make a reservation. Just keep those popovers coming, please!

558 Sacramento, SF. (415) 772-9060, www.wayfaretavern.com

BEST POPPED-UP BOTTLES

You know what this place could use? Some no-frills, open-to-all wine tasting. Enter Mugsy Wine Bar, a pop-up most often spotted at El Rio that knows how to class up a place without bringing down the mood, aided by sips from local vintners. The Mugsy tasting notes: “a wine bar with an emphasis on women, urban, and people of color winemakers” with a mouth-feel of “all-around enjoyment.” And this pop-up is pop-cultured. Witness, theme nights: “Mugsy is the New Black” (a play on Netflix smash-hit prison drama series, “Orange is the New Black”) for which the team brought out lesbian-owned Oakland winery Fraina Blanco. Then there was “Popping up for Pride” night, when bottles were uncorked from Alameda’s Rock Wall Wines and Urban Legend Cellars of Oakland. Hooray for local vino pride.

mugsywinebar.tumblr.com

BEST PALETA CLEANSER

So you’ve just gobbled down an incredible meal at Nopalito that began with a heaping bowl of melted-cheese-covered tortilla chips, followed by carnitas and several bites of your tablemate’s chicken mole. You sipped multiple mezcal-laced cocktails (try the Killer Bee). You are officially stuffed. But when the server comes around asking if you want dessert, there’s only one answer: yes, yes you want in on Nopalito’s housemade popsicles. These paletas hechas en casa may be the only dessert option at either of the restaurant’s two locations, but they’re a thick, rich cut above anything you’ll find in the corner store freezer. There’s a choice of flavors: seasonal fruit or chocolate-cinnamon — the latter like eating a big, ice-cold hunk of Mexican chocolate.

306 Broderick, SF. (415) 437-0303; 1224 Ninth Ave., SF. (415) 233-9966, www.nopalitosf.com

BEST LUNCH PARTY IN THE USA

Perish all lunchtime thoughts of those tea-sipping, watercress sandwich-prone Windsors across the pond — in America, our royalty slurps down such delights as fried peanut butter and banana sandos. But, if you’re the worldly sort and prefer a slightly more elegant take on Elvis-inspired cuisine, point your pink Cadillac toward the Lunchpad. At this daytime sandwich pop-up inside new Hayes Valley wine bar Noir Lounge, one can king oneself with an “Almost Elvis,” Nutella and banana on pain de mie (with an add-bacon option, natch). Savory Lunchpad hits include twists on the classics (roast turkey with habañero candied bacon!) and specials (fried chicken sandwich). Oh, and fans of Hollywood royalty take note: A recent lox-and-eggs concoction paid tribute to Leonardo DiCaprio.

581 Hayes, SF. (415) 552-6647, www.thelunchpadsf.com

BEST CULTURED CACAO

Born of owner Arcelia Gallardo and co-owner Amelia Gonzalez’ passion for Latin America’s rich pre-Colombian heritage, Casa de Chocolates offers spicy, artisanal iterations of the divine sweet, expertly accented by the flavors of Mesoamerica’s traditional food staples. The women’s dual interests in the culinary and cultural make for an exciting, informed menu — one can pick up a box of mole, passionfruit, guayaba, and tamarind-filled handmade bon-bons, or leave the realm of cacao entire for a silky pumpkin flan or a chipotle caramel. There is such a thing as a tequila-filled chocolate butterfly! Though many items, like a foot-wide dark chocolate rendering of the revered Aztec calendar, are available in the shop’s online store, you’ll have to make an in-person appearance for some specialties including a piquant glass of frozen Mexican chocolate, or standout tres leches cupcakes.

2629 Ashby, Berk. (510) 859-7221, www.casadechocolates.com

BEST RETRO EGG CREAM

Did you think egg creams were something you’d only ever experience onscreen in a teens-of-the-1950s movie? Then welcome the sweet, bustling counter here — named for its owner’s great-grandmother — which is doing its part to bring retro sippin’ to the FiDi lunch masses. While you’re there, it’s well worth sampling one of the Jewish-style deli’s delicious, rye-bread sandwiches or bagel concoctions, but Shorty Goldsteins’ egg creams (made with syrup, milk, and seltzer) are a cult classic in the making, with flavors that usually include vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and salted caramel. And if you’d prefer not to drink your dessert … Shorty’s thick, decadent cheesecake just might put your head on swivel instead.

126 Sutter, SF. (415) 986-2676, www.shortygoldsteins.com

BEST FRIENDS FOREVER BAR

A cozy bar with unbeatable drink deals, a genre-spanning variety of DJ nights (soul! Classic country! Brazilian! 1950s mod!), undiscovered by the mouth-breathing masses, yet conveniently located just a few meatball-lengths away from the Emmy’s Spaghetti Shack? What is this magical establishment? Look no further than the spot so friendly it’s named El Amigo — offering late-night drink specials and stocking 40 kinds of tequila. Hi! The joint is owned by the same team behind the ever-popular Emmy’s, providing a great perch for drinking away your wait for a table. And join us there for a cheap beer and a shot at midnight, you might become our BFF.

3355 Mission, SF. Facebook: El Amigo Bar

BEST ESCAPE EN ESPAÑOL

Hayes Valley is a neighborhood in constant flux — witness the condo complex that’s rising where the Hayes Valley Farm’s beehives and veggie rows once stood. Just across Fell Street from this construction is year-old specialty market Nosa Ria (speaking of change, the space was previously a hair salon), selling what its sandwich-board sign dubs “quintessential Spanish foods” — and we dub indubitably delicious. Its list of unique, hard-to-find imports includes grocery staples (cured meats, cheese, olive oils, etc.), wines and sherry, and treats (chocolate! Chupa Chups!). Oh yes, there is that ever-elusive jamon serrano in the house, as well as squid in ink, thick and sweety turron, and all the paella fixings you need, including tha pans. That trip to Galicia and/or Andalusia may be still in the planning stages, but you can start refining your palate ahora.

500 Laguna, SF. (415) 529-1506, www.nosaria.com

BEST PASTRY ERUPTION

Certainly, you can visit this Marina bakeshop without ordering Le Marais Bakery’s Volcan, but this is foolhardy. On your last island getaway did you dither about in the airport gift shop, fretting over gaudy short-sleeve button-downs and plastic leis, tempting as they may be? Of course not, you went straight to the top of Kilauea and delighted in its heart-racing flows and crispy geological crusts. And so you will, bold one, at Le Marais. You’ll save that baguette for later and dive straight into a Volcan, one of the shop’s deep dishes of light and flakey crust, molten ricotta, and some kind of something — Llano Seco pork perhaps, or a smattering of sharp Parmesan. But be warned: any tummy rumblings after this first taste of paradise may signal another trip to Chestnut Street for a buttery, savory baked eruption.

2066 Chestnut, SF. (415) 359-9801, www.lemaraisbakery.com

BEST REASON FOR VEGANS TO BRAVE THE FOG

Ramen is a staple of many an SF diet — especially in the chilly summer months laced with our trademark fog. But the dish almost always includes meat, or at the very least those so-called vegetarian noodles and veggies are floating in warm fish broth. It can seem particularly rude to dissect each element of the noodle bowl at a traditional spot, causing headaches for servers and hungry vegans alike. Enter Ken Ken Ramen, a popular Mission brick-and-mortar location that started as a pop-up. It proudly serves both the traditional stuff, unique nightly specials, and the noodle bowl of vegan dreams. No guessing, it’s labeled clearly on the menu: “Miso Vegan Ramen.” Ah, such a relief filling your belly with warm, tender noodles. And that sizzling bowl includes vegan broth, vegan noodles, and “veggies galore.” Vegans rejoice!

3378 18th St., SF. (415) 967-2636, www.eatkenkenramen.com

BEST PATCHED-UP WATERING HOLE

Perhaps it is, as the official line of the newly renovated Dogpatch Saloon goes, high time for a 100-year-old bar to undergo a facelift. The bar’s new ownership headed by Christopher Barry, the mind behind downtown’s 83 Proof, seemed like it had its heart in the right place, but the neighborhood bar’s clientele had a right to be worried about the integrity of its comfy watering hole in a rapidly evolving area. Lo and behold: the change was good. Fresh new cocktails lubricate a complete (but not drastic) rehash of the age-old interior, and the characters assembled around the bar continue to convey the scruffy ragtagliness of the dockside ‘hood. We like it when well-loved institutions move smoothly with the times, especially when that motion involves a cocktail shaker.

2496 Third St., SF. (415) 643-8592, www.dogpatchsaloon.com

BEST OUT-THERE GROCERIES

Houses in the Sunset may be built on dunes, but make no mistake, the neighborhood is no food desert. The flagship of the snacktastic stretch of outer Judah Street (see also: locavore haven Outerlands, beloved Mexican resto Celia’s by the Beach) is without a doubt grocery co-op Other Avenues, about to round the bend on year 40 in the western neighborhood. This is world-class healthy food: happy-making bulk bins, raw milk, vivacious produce, with a thoughtful wine selection and holistic med shelves so complete you’ll never have to trek into neighborhoods that look down on wearing sandals to re-up on herbs and tonics. Plus it’s cute, friendly, and neatly crammed into a smallish storefront, you’ll never lose the gist of your shopping list after giving your neighborhood a hearty “howdy.”

3930 Judah, SF. (415) 661-7475, www.otheravenues.coop

BEST COMMUTER CRUSTS

The Mexican-Italian house of Juan Gutierrez opened The Sandwich Place in 1979 when Gutierrez was only 14 years old. A tiny shop that just fits its refrigerator cases full of bevs and counter, the shop sits a stone’s throw from the 16th Street BART station in a bustling milieu of commuters, street preachers, and the occasional demonstration or spoken word open mic. In such a space, one would expect strict utilitarianism. But Gutierrez would scoff at such assumptions — quickly, in his exuberantly bilingual manner. One look at the Place’s vast menu reveals everything from chicken milanesas and bacon-wrapped hot dogs to a superb Portobello-and-balsamic sando from an impressive veggie section, all served on his fresh homemade breads in standard and gluten-free varieties. Better than the chain stores? By a million miles. And chances are, you won’t have to travel even one to find out.

2029 Mission, SF. (415) 431-3811

BEST GROWTH IN THE YARD

Back in 1992, inmate counselor Catherine Sneed started pioneering programs for former offenders that eventually led to the implementation of the San Francisco Jail’s Garden Project. This in-jail option gives inmates the time and space to plant and tend their own organically grown food gardens at the Jail’s San Bruno complex as a healthy add-in to their rehabilitation. The program has recently been expanded under Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi, who pushed for and won a new food service contract to ensure more of this yummy nutrition ends up on the plates of inmates who have traditionally had to endure less than wholesome fare. Soon, if the program catches on, jails might have more shared garden space than San Francisco itself.

www.gardenproject.org

BEST CHILL TREAT

“Rich and creamy, baked with love, and served chilled for the California heat” — did Schulzies Bread Pudding sound intriguing until that “chilled” part? Open your mind, bread pudding snob: Sarah Schulz’s Venice Beach-born, super-moist dessert sensation, which added a Hayes Valley location last year, is too delicious to deny (and the shop has warm options to balance out the cold, FYI). Who needs a cupcake or a cronut when you can spoon up fresh-made flavors such as Maple Bacon Lovers (tasty with optional add-ins like whiskey sauce and chocolate chips), Blissed Out Blueberry, or Salted Caramel Charisma? Seriously — who needs to eat any other type of food, ever again?

364 Hayes, SF. (415) 565-7336, www.schulziesbreadpudding.com

BEST NORTH BEACH FRY BOMB

Oh, the end of a long night in North Beach. There you are, mercifully relieved of your singles after oh-so-lovely times watching the ladies of the Penthouse Club clack their mega-heels all up and down the two-story stripper poles. You’re satiated in the “make it rain” department … but damn, are you hungry. Enter Taqueria Zorro’s Zorro burrito, there to stuff your belly and slash “satisfied” across your chest. What’s in the Zorro, you ask? Well, all the same things you’ve come to expect from a burrito, except instead of using traditional rice and beans they stuff the burrito with French fries. This so-called “California burrito” version, supposedly hailing from San Diego in the ’80s is all the carb-filled rage these days — GQ even claimed last month that it would soon replace the ramenburger (see above) in hip factor. And yeah, you can spot it soaking through menus across the Mission. But Zorro got there first and left its greasy, irresistible mark.

308 Columbus, SF. (415) 392-1299, www.taqueriazorro.com

BEST POP SCENE

You’re welcome to play it safe tastewise in Willy Wonka-like soda paradise The Fizzary. Pop a familiar bottle of orange into the joint’s charming quick chill device, crack, and glug. But even amid that flavor’s designated shelf of sodas you’ll find intriguing variations — a bottle flown in from the Phillipines, a blood orange variation innocuously lounging, a five-gallon jug of your childhood favorite fizz to take your sugar highs to new altitudes. Venture out of the known soda universe — that seems to be what local bubble bottlers Taylor’s Tonics wanted when they opened up this quirky shop selling theirs and other carbonated treats — plus retro and hard-to-find candies — in the Mission. A quick listing of the other flavors you may encounter on the shelves and your tastebuds quiver. Chocolate, lavender, clove, bacon, spruce, amaretto, and cucumber from manufacturers the world over.

2949 Mission, SF. (877) 368-4608, www.thefizzary.com

BEST CURRY QUEUE

Light fare it is not, but are we ever glad to have come around to the gravy-like consistency and rich, complex flavors of Japanese curry. Nothing seems more homey or satisfying than when the comforting heft of a curry-laden lunch plate — chicken or pork katsu, tender cubed beef, steaming veggie, etc. versions available — is directed toward your waiting mouth, a feat made possible at the Financial District’s Muracci’s (a joint that now has a sister location in Los Altos.) Venture here for some of the best Japanese curry that we’ve found in town, served up in a small, no-frills space with less than a dozen seats. Plus: sides of pickles! Be not afraid of the line, an apt indicator of the number of J-curry fans in this town — thanks to Muracci’s efficient express plates, the queue moves fast enough to satisfy even our most ravenous lunchtime cravings.

307 Kearny, SF. (415) 773-1101, www.muraccis.com

BEST SURROUND SOUND DINING

When the sound system at your restaurant outstrips the food when it comes to rave reviews, you might have a problem. But the folks at Berkeleys’s elegant, spare, and forward-thinking Comal are confident enough in their menu to take us to the next level of sensual experience. The haute-Mexican cuisine, emphasizing deep flavors and grilled textures, speaks for itself. But the sound of the place speaks volumes. In order to better control the sonic ambiance of the place — and perhaps to diffuse the persnicketiness of SF’s most prominent food critic, whose aversion to dining room noise is legendary — Comal’s owner John Paluska installed a new, state-of-the-art Libra acoustic image system and complementary Constellation active acoustic system from Meyer Sound. Through a series of unobstrusive iPad-controlled speakers and acoustic absorption tiles, managers can control the “buzz” levels of the place, “washing” and basically “whitening” the noise as needed to quiet things down. The can even turn up the buzz around the bar — although with several flights of tequila on the menu, there’s probably enough buzz already.

2020 Shattuck, SF. (510) 926.6300, www.comalberkeley.com

BEST FREEKEH-BEET TO FREAK ABOUT

It is with good reason that Hella Vegan Eats’ doughnut burger was the runaway star of the San Francisco Street Food Festival this year. No false modesty here: the Bay Guardian had already been praising that sticky delicious beet burger for months, even giving it top billing in our “Vegan Junk Food” feature. But no matter who broke the story; the real scoop here is that special dish, lovingly crafted by couple-founders Tiffany and Sylvee Esquivel, and showing up regularly at places like Dear Mom, Timeless Coffee in Oakland, and Dolores Park through La Cocina. Dig its moist-yet-crunchy patty fashioned from freekah (an ancient cereal) and beets and plopped between two (vegan) sugar donuts, piled high with pickled veggies, and laced with a tangy secret sauce. So wrong that it’s right.

www.hellaveganeats.com

BEST NOLA WEST

Appropriately, the Chapel opened last year with a string of concerts by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, a group named for its origin point at NOLA’s Preservation Hall jazz venue. That’s the spot Valencia Street’s new place for music worship (officially known as Preservation Hall West at the Chapel) is modeled after, and endlessly inspired by, be it in in the form of design, live music, or eats. This year, the well-crafted, multilevel, many-roomed Chapel has expanded its musical offerings, dabbling in folk, rock’n’roll, and indie bands like La Sera, Magic Trick, and Weekend, along with more traditional jazz acts, and what-the-hell randomly awesome offerings like Sparks or actor-musician John C. Reilly with Lavender Diamond. It also opened the attached Vestry Restaurant, which offers a full menu leaning more on the SF gourmet side, with items like the duck confit flatbread or seared scallops with beet risotto. During shows, patrons can peep live acts from the open upstairs balcony, from the dramatic main room down below, or perched on a bar stool in the shiny wooded lounge with closed-circuit flat screens, high-end cocktails like the Old Overholt rye-based Ward Eight, and yummy bar bites like shrimp po’ boys that subtly wink at NOLA pride.

777 Valencia, SF. (415) 551-5157, www.thechapelsf.com

BEST POW WOW PUNK CHEF

You may see Rocky Yazzie at the best live venues around town doing one of two things. Either he’s rocking coveralls and slinging authentic Native American fry bread, or banging it out with his self-described “pow wow punk” band, Sweat Lodge. Either way, you’ll be glad to have stumbled into his special Rocky bubble. A few words on his Rocky’s Fry Bread snacks, perhaps the better known of the two projects. The New Mexico native and member of the Diné tribe makes deliciously deep-fried taco-like handheld meals, stuffed with beans and fresh veggies (there are non-veg versions as well), behind his own pop-up stand. There’s something about that fry bread that just perfectly soaks up all the boozing without landing like a log in your tummy. As the friendly slinger once explained it to Scoutmob, “I love life and it shows in the food.”

www.twitter.com/RockysFrybread

BEST POT LUCK

An invention that seems perfect for the busy-yet-locavore-obsessed Bay Area (though test markets are popping up in Brooklyn, New Orleans, and LA) sustainable ready-to-eat delivery service Good Eggs seems to have it all. But for our money — and yes, it’s not exactly cheap — there is one among Eggs’ many intriguing, locally produced offerings that intrigues the most: caterer Max Pouvreau’s Petit Pot. Did you know that everything tastes better in a Weck jar? This is the height of Bay food trendiness on the go: Try jarred lamb shoulder and spring onion tagine with prunes and roasted almonds, followed by a jarred dark chocolate buttermilk cake with coffee whipped cream and cocoa nibs. All delivered to your door! Bonus: $3 deposits on your round glass meal carriers means return customers get a sweet (savory?) discount.

www.goodeggs.com/petitpot

BEST LATE NIGHT HOT POCKETS

Spurn the crowds across the street at ever-popular Taqueria Cancun’s Bernal-side outpost. You, a seasoned Missionite, have had your fill of what one of our dear ones likes to call “the Mexican death log.” Burrito fiend you are not — which is why in your wisdom your tummy’s late night call has led you to a late-night Salvadorean restaurant, sounding thusly: “pupusa…” They’re no baby-sized gut bomb, the pupusas at El Zocalo. These traditional steaming pocket-like snacks come stuffed with cheese (of course), but also zucchini, loroco, feta even for those sick of stringy quesos. And lucky you, the family joint stays open until three in the morning, so it’s ready for whenever you graduate to the next level with San Francisco snacking.

3230 Mission, SF. (415) 282-2572

BEST WORLD SOUND BITES

Watch live flamenco and Arabian fusion music while you dance with a side of papas bravas and plantains. Take in the All-Star Latin Band on weekly Cuban and world music nights while munching Andean fresh corn tamales and yuca frita with cashew cream. Yes, North Beach’s intimate cultural center and restaurant Peña Pachamama (“on a little side street in San Francisco’s old Latin Quarter somewhere between Chinatown, Fisherman’s Wharf, and endless Italian late-night cafes”) offers up such startlingly refreshing culinary-auditory pairings, nearly every night of the week. The friendly South American restaurant and performance venue offers an exceptional range of cultural treats for your tummy and mind, and begs this simple question: why is it so damn hard to find vegan, gluten free, and/or deliciously organic cuisine at other music venues in veg-friendly San Francisco? No matter — Peña Pachamama has already delivered the goods, and they are spicy.

1630 Powell, SF. (415) 646-0018, pachamamacenter.org

BEST NEW GOLD RUSH

Friends, we have eaten gold leaf. That’s what they’re serving these days at the new digs of the most lauded restaurant in SF, Saison: a voluptuous dish of sea urchin over grilled root custard in a handmade Japanese ceramic bowl, topped with a generous skin of melted gold. (Let’s settle one question right away: no, our toilet wasn’t gilded the next morning. Nor did we use the leaf to fake a grill.) It’s part of the $248 tasting menu, $396 with insane wine pairing, at this two-star Michelin hotspot. Don’t worry, there’s a bar menu featuring reserve caviar dolloped over corn pudding and grilled Australian black truffle stew, both at $88, cough. Look, we have to hand it to renegade chef Joshua Skenes and sommelier and co-owner Mark Bright — if you ever can/want to shell out $400 for a meal (ours was a press comp), this is the absolutely perfect one. Fourteen courses of the best the world has to offer, served in jaw-dropping ways. Yet it was the metaphorical combination of the dish mentioned above — gold smothering an urchin — that rang particularly true of this moment in San Francisco history. The delicious, flashy rush. And then what lies beneath it, left behind.

178 Townsend, SF. (415) 828-7990, www.saisonsf.com

Weekly Picks: October 16 – 22, 2013

Michael Redmond

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October 15, 2013

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For events listings, see SFBG.com

WEDNESDAY 10/16

Heavenly Bodies

A few years ago, The Empire of Death: A Cultural History of Ossuaries and Charnel Houses — a magnificently beefy book documenting the centuries-old practice of crafting art from human bones — made the rounds. The author of that beautifully macabre tome was LA-based art historian Paul Koudounaris, who returns with Heavenly Bodies: Cult Treasures and Spectacular Saints from the Catacombs, smaller in scale yet nonetheless jam-packed with sumptuous photos of skeletons dripping in jewels. Koudounaris celebrates his new release with a reading and slide show at (perfect venue alert) curio emporium Loved to Death. (Cheryl Eddy)

5:30-7pm, free

Loved to Death

1681 Haight, SF

www.empiredelamort.com

WEDNESDAY 10/16

Carve San Francisco

Yeah, it’s October, and yes, it’s getting chilly, but c’mon, that’s no excuse not to hit the beach (jacket-clad) to watch some of the world’s best sculptors — sand sculptors, that is — turn flecks of rock and coral dust into stunning works of art at San Francisco’s first international Carve competition. We’re not talking castles here — think pharaohs and pyramids, or wind-surfing skeletons. Tonight and Thu/17 the artists get busy with initial shaping, and the real party begins Fri/18 with Off the Grid food trucks and a surf film screening. Chill Sat/19 with a yoga class, then watch the award ceremony, and by the near end of the weekend, if you still haven’t made it, bro, what are you waiting for? Get down there to see the finished oeuvres. Give a dollar when you vote, and you’ll also help the Surfrider Foundation protect these gnarly beaches. (Kaylen Baker)

Through Sun/20

7am-7pm, free

Presidio waterfront, SF

www.carvesf.com

WEDNESDAY 10/16

Cave

“Funk minimalism” seems to be a label this Chicago rock group has self-applied, but it’s inadequate to describe the collective sounds on its latest energetic album Threace. With the single “Shikaakwa,” a driving beat leads into an Afro-pop sounding keyboard, trading off with a Push Push-era winding flute that alternately spirals in on itself and riffs atop the rhythm. There and elsewhere on the album, the result is wordlessly psychedelic, always heading somewhere, even if you can’t guess exactly where it will lead. (Ryan Prendiville)

With Quintron and Miss Pussycat, zZz, the Vinyl Avenger (DJ set)

Sat/16, 9pm, $10–$12

Elbo Room

647 Valencia, SF

(415) 552-7788

www.elbo.com

THURSDAY 10/17

#TrendingTopics Stand-Up Comedy Night

Maybe it’ll be Kanye, maybe it’ll be Bieber, or maybe it’ll be the economy, but in any case, Twitter is sure to be abuzz with something, and that’s what the comedians of #TrendingTopic Stand-Up Comedy Night will be drawing from for their sets this week. Share some laughs about the most important topics in the world — or at least, what tweeters consider to be the most noteworthy — and vote to crown the best comedian as the new #trendingtopic king or queen! (Kirstie Haruta)

9pm, $10

Sip Bar and Lounge

787 Broadway, SF

(415) 699-6545

www.siploungesf.com

SATURDAY 10/19

“Trolley Dances”

If you regularly ride Muni, you’ll understand why it can drive you bananas. But at least once a year during “Trolley Dances,” Muni becomes pure joy. That’s when Kim Epifano and her fellow dancers take over selected lines for what they call “rolling performance tours.” You pay your fare and you’ll ride to a number of stops to watch performances before the trip continues to the next one. This year they’ll start at the Market Street Railway Museum on Embarcadero and go as far as Church Street. Included among others are Keith Terry and Corposonic, Tezkatlipoka Aztec Dance and Drum, and — since this is the event’s 10th anniversary in SF — Trolley Dances founder Jean Isaacs San Diego Dance Theater. (Rita Felciano)

Also Sun/20

11am-2:45pm, every 45 minutes; Muni fare

Various locations, SF

www.epiphanydance.org

SATURDAY 10/19

Lit Crawl

This year’s Lit Crawl, the epic finale to the annual Litquake festival, features 517 writers, including the likes of Alejandro Murguía and the Conspiracy of Beards (30 men singing Leonard Cohen a capella), and 83 venues, including a bowling alley and the Mission police station, even atop a pool table at the Lexington Club. The crawl highlights everything literary, from your typical erotic poetry session to a cookies-and-milk reading by published 6-year-olds. Personally, I’m excited for “Anna Karenina on the Couch,” where professional psychoanalysts break open the repressed egos of 19th century literary dames Anna Karenina and Jo March (in the flesh!) and the Bay Guardian’s very own “Celebrity Twitterature,” where drag stars playing Hollywood stars reenact breakups and breakdowns through live Twitter feeds. Come join the biggest, hippest bunch of bookworms on the West Coast. (Baker)

6-9:30pm, free

Various venues around the Mission, SF

(415) 440-4177

litcrawl.org/sf

SATURDAY 10/19

POC Zine Project Race Riot! Tour

The POC Zine Project — now on its Race Riot! Tour — makes a Bay Area stop at the SOMArts Cultural Center tonight. Race Riot! brings contributing writers to cities across the nation to share their work and start a discussion. The POC Zine Project, founded by Daniela Capistrano, works to make all people of color zines accessible through experimental, volunteer-based activism and community engagement. Join the discussion and the movement for POC visibility through creative work and activism. All proceeds support the POCZP. (Haruta)

6:30pm, $5-10, no one turned away for lack of funds

SOMArts Cultural Center

934 Brannan, SF

(415) 863-1414

www.somarts.org

SUNDAY 10/20

GWAR

Here’s to almost three decades of rubber masks, obscene lyrics, tasteless humor, and lots and lots of fake blood. Yes, we’re talking about GWAR, the Virginia-based heavy metal shock rock group and its foam penises, staged crucifixions, and exposed butts (among other onstage delights), which will be celebrating its 30th anniversary next year. Despite more than 18 different lineups and 26 members throughout the band’s history, little has changed about the essence of GWAR. If you’re looking to have a night to remember, get your clothes stained permanently by red dye, and maybe even see a Billy Ocean cover (GWAR recently took on “Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car” for the A.V. Club) look no further than Oderus Urungus and his monstrous minions. (Haley Zaremba)

With Whitechapel, Iron Reagan, A Band of Orcs

7:30pm, $28

Regency Ballroom

1300 Van Ness, SF

theregencyballroom.com

SUNDAY 10/20

Goblin

Fans of horror films know how important a soundtrack can be — the best-known examples are probably the shrieking strings of Psycho (1960) and John Carpenter’s iconic synth score for 1978’s Halloween. Fans of Euro horror, however, share a fondness for Goblin, Italian purveyors of the creepy, pulsating, proggy, keyboard-driven music that enhanced many films by macabre master Dario Argento (including 1977’s Suspiria), not to mention George Romero’s 1978 zombie classic Dawn of the Dead. Touring North America for the first time, the veteran band swoops into San Francisco to make Goblin-faithful dreams (and nightmares) come true. (Eddy)

With Secret Chiefs 3, DJ Omar Perez

8pm, $28–$75

Warfield

982 Market, SF

www.thewarfieldtheatre.com

TUESDAY 10/22

The Garden

This Burger Records up-and-comer is an identical twin duo hailing from Orange, Calif. The 19-year-old Shears brothers specialize in melancholy snippets (most of their songs barely pass the one-minute mark) of post-punk drum ‘n’ bass, androgynous style that would make Boy George jealous, teen angst, and getting reblogged on Tumblr. Their songs are haunting and beautifully executed, though rarely understandable. The lyrics are drawn from inside jokes and twin-speak (the Shears have a secret language, for those occasions when they even need to communicate verbally) and the vocals are often drowned in feedback and reverb. But the words don’t seem to matter. Whatever they’re doing or saying, they’re doing and saying it unlike anyone else. (Zaremba)

With Lovely Bad Things, Bicycle Day

9pm, $10

Brick and Mortar Music Hall

1710 Mission, SF

(415) 800-8782

www.brickandmortarmusic.com

TUESDAY 10/22

Maria Bamford

Not gonna lie, comedian Maria Bamford kind of scares me. Clearly it’s the voices. Not really the ones she regularly employs as a voice actor on Adventure Time or CatDog. Or what I think is her “normal” voice, familiar to anyone who caught her recent scene-stealing turns on Arrested Development and Louie. (That one was strangely endearing.) No, it must be one of the many characters she shifts in and out of faster than Gollum, as part of her surreal stand-up routines (and on The Maria Bamford Show and Ask My Mom! web-series). Actually, I think it’s one in particular. Yeah, I think I’m just afraid of Maria Bamford’s mom. (Prendiville)

Also Wed/23, 8pm, $25

Cobb’s Comedy Club

915 Columbus, SF

(415) 928-4320

www.cobbscomedyclub.com

Rep Clock: October 16 – 22, 2013

Michael Redmond

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October 15, 2013

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Schedules are for Wed/16-Tue/22 except where noted. Director and year are given when available. Double and triple features marked with a •. All times pm unless otherwise specified.

ATA GALLERY 992 Valencia, SF; www.atasite.org. $5-6. “The Word, My Dear, is Piecemeal: Films on the Visualization of Text,” works by Stan Brakhage, Stephanie Barber, and others, Thu, 7:30. Presented by SF Cinematheque in association with Litquake. “Other Cinema:” Room 237 (Ascher, 2012), with “Mega-Mix” (Ascher, 2013), Sat, 8:30.

BALBOA THEATRE 3630 Balboa, SF; cinemasf.com/balboa. $10. “Popcorn Palace:” The Corpse Bride (Burton, 2005), Sat, 10am. Matinee for kids.

CASTRO 429 Castro, SF; (415) 621-6120, www.castrotheatre.com. $8.50-12. •Leviathan (Paravel and Castaing-Taylor, 2012), Wed, 7, and Breaking the Waves (von Trier, 1996), Wed, 8:40. Project Happiness (Sorenson, 2011), Thu, 7. Free screening but RSVP required to projecthappiness.eventbrite.com. “Midnites for Maniacs:” •The Blair Witch Project (Sánchez and Myrick, 1999), Fri, 7:30, and Ringu (Nakata, 1998), Fri, 9:20. “Cinematic Titanic: The Farewell Tour:” •The Doll Squad (Mikels, 1973), Sat, 7, and The Astral Factor (Florea, Fowler Jr., and Pierce, 1976), Sat, 9:30. Live riffing with Joel Hodgson, Trace Beauliel, and other comedians. Monster Squad (Dekker, 1987), Sat, 1. Special 25th anniversary screening with filmmaker Fred Dekker and cast members in attendance; this event, $15. Fiddler on the Roof (Jewison, 1971), Sun, 6. With star Chaim Topol in person; this event, $18. The Grandmaster (Wong, 2013), Tue, 2:30, 4:45, 7, 9:15.

CENTER FOR NEW MUSIC 55 Taylor, SF; http://www.sfcinematheque.org. $10. “SF Cinematheque’s Third Annual Art Auction and Benefit,” Fri, 7. Support SF Cinematheque’s 52nd year of exhibiting cutting-edge film and video art by hanging with artists, enjoying tunes by DJ Special Lord B., and bidding on drawings, paintings, photographs, collages, and other works by a variety of artists, including Miranda July, Nathaniel Dorsky, and Desirée Holman.

CHRISTOPHER B. SMITH RAFAEL FILM CENTER 1118 Fourth St, San Rafael; (415) 454-1222, www.cafilm.org. $6.50-$10.75. Escape From Tomorrow (Moore, 2013), Wed-Thu, call for times. Muscle Shoals (Camalier, 2013), Wed-Thu, call for times. Inequality for All (Kornbluth, 2013), Wed-Thu, call for times. Zaytoun (Riklis, 2012), Oct 18-24, call for times. The Institute (McCall, 2012), Sun, 7. Filmmaker Spencer McCall in person.

CLAY 2261 Fillmore, SF; www.landmarktheatres.com. $10. “Midnight Movies:” The Shining (Kubrick, 1980), Fri-Sat, midnight.

COPPOLA THEATRE Fine Arts Bldg, SF State University, 1600 Holloway, SF; lca.sfsu.edu. Free. “Unlikely Films: Documentaries by George Csicsery,” Thu, 5:10-7:55.

DOLBY LABORATORIES SCREENING ROOM 100 Portero, SF; eventbrite.com/event/8421863019. $10. The LuLu Sessions (Wong, 2011), Thu, 6:30. Also Ninth Street Independent Film Center, 145 Ninth St, SF; eventbrite.com/event/8426065589. Fri, 6. $10. Followed by Q&As and panel discussions. Screenings co-sponsored by Susan G. Komen San Francisco Bay Area, Center for Asian American Media, Bay Area Women in Film and Media, and Frameline.

HISTORIC FELLOWSHIP HALL 1924 Cedar, Berk; www.noeliesradio.org. $10. Operation Terror (Cross, 2012), Sat, 7:15.

HUMANIST HALL 390 27th St, Oakl; www.humanisthall.org. $5 donation. Wellstone: They Killed Him (Harvey), Wed, 7:30.

MECHANICS’ INSTITUTE 57 Post, SF; milibrary.org/events. $10. “CinemaLit Film Series: Haunted Hollywood:” Don’t Look Now (Roeg, 1973), Fri, 6.

NEW PARISH 579 18th St, Oakl; www.thenewparish.com. $10. “East Bay Indie Scream Fest,” short horror films, Thu, 7.

NEW PEOPLE CINEMA 1746 Post, SF; www.sffs.org. $14-25. “Sister Cities Cinema: Zurich/SF:” •The Fall (Früh, 1972), Fri, 7, and The Conversation (Coppola, 1974), Fri, 9:30; •The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill (Irving, 2005), Sat, 1, and Downtown Switzerland (Davi, Haupt, Kasics, and Murer, 2004), Sat, 3; •Fräulein (Staka, 2006), Sat, 5, and Medicine for Melancholy (Jenkins, 2008), Sat, 7; Punk Cocktail: Zurich Scene 1976-80 (Uhlmann, 2006), Sat, 9:30; Vitus (Murer, 2006), Sun, 1:30; Day is Done (Imbach, 2011), Sun, 4; •The Swissmakers (Lyssy, 1978), Sun, 6:30, and Freebie and the Bean (Rush, 1974), Sun, 8:30.

ODDBALL FILM 275 Capp, SF; oddballfilms.blogspot.com. $10. “MESS (Media Ecology Soul Salon,” featuring Gerry Fialka’s interview with Winston Smith and rare film clips, Fri, 8.

PACIFIC FILM ARCHIVE 2575 Bancroft, Berk; (510) 642-5249, bampfa.berkeley.edu. $5.50-9.50. “Alternative Visions:” “Image Alchemy: The Films of Phil Solomon (1983-2013),” Wed, 7. Co-presented by SF Cinematheque. “Moumen Smihi: Poet of Tangier:” Moroccan Chronicles (1999), Thu, 7; A Muslim Childhood (2005), Sun, 3; Girls and Swallows (2008), Sun, 5. “Love is Colder Than Death: The Cinema of Rainer Werner Fassbinder:” The American Soldier (1970), Fri, 7; Beware of a Holy Whore (1970), Fri, 8:40. “Pier Paolo Pasolini:” Mamma Roma (1962), Sat, 6:15; Pigsty (1969), Sat, 8:30. “Committed Cinema:” Waiting for Godot and Beyond (Chan, 2005-10), Tue, 7. Filmmaker Paul Chan in person.

ROXIE 3117 and 3125 16th St, SF; (415) 863-1087, www.roxie.com. $6.50-11. Escape From Tomorrow (Moore, 2013), Wed-Thu, 7, 9:15. Standing on Sacred Ground: Pilgrims and Tourists in the Pastures of Heaven and Profits and Loss (McLeod), Wed, 7; Fire and Ice and Islands of Sanctuary (McLeod), Thu, 7. Filmmaker Christopher McLeod in person; these screenings, $15. After Tiller (Shane and Wilson, 2013), Oct 18-24, 7, 9 (also Sat-Sun, 3). Vinyl (Sugarman, 2013), Oct 18-23, 6:45 (also Sat-Sun, 1:30).

TANNERY 708 Gilman, Berk; berkeleyundergroundfilms.blogspot.com. Donations accepted. “Berkeley Underground Film Society:” The Haunting (Wise, 1963), Sun, 7:30.

VORTEX ROOM 1082 Howard, SF; Facebook: The Vortex Room. $10. “The Satanic Rites of the Vortex Room”: •The Undead (Corman, 1956), Thu, 9, and Bell, Book and Candle (Quine, 1958), Thu, 11.

YERBA BUENA CENTER FOR THE ARTS 701 Mission, SF; www.ybca.org. $8-10. “Films by Fassbender:” Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974), Thu, 7:30; The Merchant of Four Seasons (1971), Sun, 2. American Falls (Solomon, 2010), Sat, 7. Filmmaker Phil Solomon in person; co-presented by SF Cinematheque. *

Theater Listings: October 16 – 22, 2013

Michael Redmond

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October 15, 2013

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Stage listings are compiled by Guardian staff. Performance times may change; call venues to confirm. Reviewers are Robert Avila, Rita Felciano, and Nicole Gluckstern. Submit items for the listings at listings@sfbg.com.

THEATER

OPENING

444 Days Z Below, 470 Florida, SF; www.goldenthread.org. $10-45. Previews Thu/17-Fri/18, 8pm. Opens Sat/19, 8pm. Runs Thu-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 3pm); Sun, 3pm. Through Nov 3. Golden Thread performs Torange Yeghiazarian’s drama about an Iranian revolutionary and an American diplomat who encounter each other 25 years after first meeting during the hostage crisis at the US Embassy in Tehran.

Lovebirds Marsh San Francisco, 1062 Valencia, SF; www.themarsh.org. $15-100. Opens Thu/17, 8pm. Runs Thu-Fri, 8pm; Sat, 8:30pm. Through Nov 9. Workshop performances of Marga Gomez’s tenth solo show, about different characters seeking romance in the 1970s.

Shakespeare Night at the Blackfriars (London Idol 1610) Phoenix Arts Association Annex Theatre, 414 Mason, SF; www.subshakes.com. $20-25. Opens Fri/18, 8pm. Runs Fri-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 7pm. Through Nov 17. Subterranean Shakespeare performs George Crowe’s comedy about a playwriting contest between Ben Jonson, Thomas Middleton, Frances Beaumont, and the ghost of Christopher Marlowe.

Sidewinders Exit on Taylor, 277 Taylor, SF; www.cuttingball.com. $10-50. Previews Fri/18-Sat/19, 8pm; Sun/20, 5pm. Opens Oct 24, 7:30pm. Runs Thu, 7:30pm; Fri-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 2pm); Sun, 5pm. Through Nov 17. Cutting Ball opens its 15th season with the world premiere of Basil Kreimendahl’s absurdist romp through gender queerness.

The Wizard of Oz Orpheum Theatre, 1192 Market, SF; www.shnsf.com. $45-210. Opens Wed/16, 7pm. Runs Wed-Sat, 7pm (also Sat-Sun, 1pm); Sun, 6:30pm. Through Oct 27. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new stage adaptation of the classic, complete with a Dorothy (Danielle Wade) chosen through a Canadian reality-show competition.

BAY AREA

Lettice and Lovage Hillbarn Theatre, 1285 East Hillsdale, Foster City; www.hillbarntheatre.org. $23-38. Opens Fri/18, 8pm. Runs Thu-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2pm. Through Nov 3. Hillbarn Theatre, now in its 73rd season, performs Peter Shaffer’s raucous comedy.

Metamorphoses South Berkeley Community Church, 1802 Fairview, Berk; www.infernotheatre.org. $10-25. Opens Sat/19, 8pm. Runs Thu and Sat-Sun, 8pm; Fri, 9pm (no show Nov 9). Through Nov 23. Additional performance Nov 9, 8pm, $5-20, Laney College, 900 Fallon, Oakl. Inferno Theatre performs a multimedia, contemporary adaptation of Ovid’s classic.

Red Virgin, Louise Michel and the Paris Commune of 1871 Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant, Berk; www.centralworks.org. $15-28. Previews Thu/17-Fri/18, 8pm. Opens Sat/19, 8pm. Runs Thu-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 5pm. Through Nov 24. Central Works presents a new play (with live music) by Gary Graves about the Paris Commune uprising.

ONGOING

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical Curran Theatre, 445 Geary, SF; www.shnsf.com. $55-210. Wed/16-Sat/19, 8pm (also Wed/16 and Sat/19, 2pm); Sun/20, 2pm. Pre-Broadway premiere of the musical about the legendary songwriter.

Bengal Tiger at the Bagdad Zoo SF Playhouse, 450 Post, SF; www.sfplayhouse.org. $30-100. Tue-Thu, 7pm; Fri-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 3pm); Sun/20 and Oct 27, 2pm. Through Nov 16. In Rajiv Joseph’s Pulitzer-nominated Bengal Tiger at the Bagdad Zoo, the dead quickly outnumber the living, and soon the stage is littered with monologist ghosts lost in transition. In Joseph’s world, at least, death is but another phase of consciousness, a plane of existence where a man-eating tiger might experience a crisis of conscience, and a brash young soldier with a learning disability might suddenly find himself contemplating algebraic equations and speaking Arabic —knowledge that had eluded his comprehension in life. Will Marchetti’s portrayal of the titular tiger is on the static side, though his wry intelligence and philosophical awakening comes as a welcome contrast to the willfully obtuse worldview of the American soldiers (Gabriel Marin and Craig Marker) guarding him. But it’s Musa (Kuros Charney), a translator for the Americans and a former gardener and topiary “artist,” who eventually emerges as the play’s most fully realized character and also the most tragic, becoming that which he dreads the most, a beast in a lawless land, egged on by the ghost of his former employer, the notoriously sadistic Uday Hussein (Pomme Koch). At times, director Bill English’s staging feels too understated and contained for a play that’s so muscular and expansive (an understatement not carried over into Steven Klems’ appropriately jarring sound design) focused less on its metaphysical implications than on its mundane surface, but however imperfect the production and daunting the script, it remains a fascinating response to an unwinnable war — the war against our own animal natures. (Gluckstern)

BooKKeepers: A True Fiction Southside Theatre, Fort Mason Center, Marina at Laguna, SF; www.generationtheatre.com. $20-35. Thu-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 3pm. Through Oct 27. GenerationTheatre presents Roland David Valayre’s Kafka-inspired fantasy.

BoomerAging: From LSD to OMG Marsh San Francisco, 1062 Valencia, SF; www.themarsh.org. $15-50. Tue, 8pm. Extended through Oct 29. Will Durst’s hit solo show looks at baby boomers grappling with life in the 21st century.

Carrie: The Musical Victoria Theatre, 2961 16th St, SF; www.rayoflighttheatre.com. $25-36. Wed-Sat, 8pm (also Oct 26, 11:30pm; Nov 2, 2pm). Through Nov 2. Just in time to complement the Carrie film remake, Ray of Light Theatre performs the musical adaptation (initially a Broadway flop, then a re-tooled off-Broadway hit) of the Stephen King horror novel.

The Disappearance of Mary Rosemary Phoenix Theatre, 414 Mason, SF; secondwind.8m.com. $15-25. Thu-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2pm. Through Oct 26. Script-wise, Second Wind Production’s J.M. Barrie adaptation The Disappearance of Mary Rosemary might well be the most unique ghost story of the season. But in contrast to their masterfully suspenseful The Woman in Black (staged in 2009), Disappearance falls to sustain that charged atmosphere of unease that defines the best terror tales. It begins promisingly enough in a purportedly haunted parlor being shown to a young soldier (Ryan Martin) by its taciturn caretaker (Juanita Wyles). After she leaves him alone in the room, lights flicker, his video camera spontaneously begins to play, and a mysterious light emerges from under a locked door, all evidence pointing to either a supernatural event, or to a PTSD-style mental breakdown. Cutting to the same parlor 29 years before, where domestic tranquility prevails, a lot of that initial tension gets lost, and even though the equally unexplainable events which ensue prove to be much bigger in actual scale, they don’t quite manage to scare so much as to puzzle. Of the performances, Gigi Benson’s matter-of-fact matriarch is by far the most nuanced, and her chemistry with her stage husband (Dave Sikula) is far more convincing than that of their daughter and son-in-law (Caroline Elizabeth Doyle and Brian Martin). Finally, a very unexpected twist turns this story of a young woman who never grows old into one who has grown perhaps too fast, uncomfortably invoking V.C. Andrews rather than J.M. Barrie, and not for the better. (Gluckstern)

Dirty Little Showtunes New Conservatory Theatre Center, 25 Van Ness, SF; www.nctcsf.org. $25-45. Wed-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2pm. Through Nov 10. New Conservatory Theatre Center presents the return of Tom Orr’s bawdy Broadway parody.

First Stage Werx, 446 Valencia, SF; www.firsttheplay.com. $25-35. Thu-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2pm. Through Nov 3. Altair Productions, the Aluminous Collective, and PlayGround present the world premiere of Evelyn Jean Pine’s play, which imagines a 20-year-old Bill Gates’ experiences at a 1976 personal computer conference.

Foodies! The Musical Shelton Theater, 533 Sutter, SF; www.foodiesthemusical.com. $32-34. Fri-Sat, 8pm. Open-ended. AWAT Productions presents Morris Bobrow’s musical comedy revue all about food.

Forbidden Fruit Garage, 715 Bryant, SF; www.brownpapertickets.com. $25. Fri-Sat and Mon, 8pm. Through Oct 28. Back Alley Theater and Footloose present the West Coast premiere of Jeff Bedillion’s stylized love story that takes on social and religious conformity.

Geezer Marsh San Francisco, 1062 Valencia, SF; www.themarsh.org. $25-50. Wed-Thu, 8pm; Sat, 5pm. Through Oct 26. Geoff Hoyle’s hit solo show, a comedic meditation on aging, returns to the Marsh.

Gruesome Playground Injuries Tides Theatre, 533 Sutter, SF; www.tidestheatre.org. $20-40. Wed-Sat, 8pm. Through Nov 9. Tides Theatre performs Rajiv Joseph’s drama about two people who first meet as eight-year-olds in the school nurse’s office.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch Boxcar Theatre, 505 Natoma, SF; www.boxcartheatre.org. $27-43. Thu-Sat, 8pm. Open-ended. John Cameron Mitchell’s cult musical comes to life with director Nick A. Olivero’s ever-rotating cast.

An Indian Summer Exit Theatre, 156 Eddy, SF; www.wehavemet.org. $20-40. Thu/17-Sat/19, 8pm. Multi Ethnic Theater performs Charles Johnson’s drama set in the 1980s Deep South.

It’s a Bird … It’s a Plane … It’s Superman Eureka Theatre, 215 Jackson, SF; www.42ndstmoon.org. $25-75. Wed/16-Thu/17, 7pm; Fri/18, 8pm; Sat/19, 6pm; Sun/20, 3pm. 42nd Street Moon kicks off its 21st season with this 1966 musical homage to the Man of Steel.

Randy Roberts Live! Alcove Theatre, 414 Mason, SF; www.randyroberts.net. $40. Thu-Sat, 9pm. Through Nov 2. The famed female impersonator performs. He will also perform a different show with jazz pianist Tammy L. Hall: Mon/21 and Oct 28, 7pm, $20, Martuni’s, 4 Valencia, SF.

The Scion Marsh San Francisco, 1062 Valencia, SF; www.themarsh.org. $15-100. Fri, 8pm; Sat, 8:30pm. Through Oct 26. Popular solo performer Brian Copeland (Not a Genuine Black Man, The Waiting Period) performs a workshop production of his latest, “a tale of privilege, murder, and sausage.” The show has its official world premiere Jan. 9, 2014.

Sex and the City: LIVE! Rebel, 1760 Market, SF; trannyshack.com/sexandthecity. $25. Wed, 7 and 9pm. Open-ended. It seems a no-brainer. Not just the HBO series itself — that’s definitely missing some gray matter — but putting it onstage as a drag show. Mais naturellement! Why was Sex and the City not conceived of as a drag show in the first place? Making the sordid not exactly palatable but somehow, I don’t know, friendlier (and the canned a little cannier), Velvet Rage Productions mounts two verbatim episodes from the widely adored cable show, with Trannyshack’s Heklina in a smashing portrayal of SJP’s Carrie; D’Arcy Drollinger stealing much of the show as ever-randy Samantha (already more or less a gay man trapped in a woman’s body); Lady Bear as an endearingly out-to-lunch Miranda; and ever assured, quick-witted Trixxie Carr as pent-up Charlotte. There’s also a solid and enjoyable supporting cast courtesy of Cookie Dough, Jordan Wheeler, and Leigh Crow (as Mr. Big). That’s some heavyweight talent trodding the straining boards of bar Rebel’s tiny stage. The show’s still two-dimensional, even in 3D, but noticeably bigger than your 50″ plasma flat panel. (Avila)

“Shocktoberfest 14: Jack the Ripper” Hypnodrome, 575 10th St, SF; www.thrillpeddlers.com. $25-35. Thu-Sat and Oct 29-30, 8pm. Through Nov 23. Thrillpeddlers presents their 14th annual Grand Guignol show, “a evening of horror, madness, spanking, and song.”

The Taming Thick House, 1695 18th St, SF; www.crowdedfire.org. $10-35. Wed-Sat, 8pm. Through Oct 26. Crowded Fire Theater presents the world premiere of Lauren Gunderson’s modern farce.

The Voice: One Man’s Journey into Sex Addiction and Recovery EXIT Theatre, 156 Eddy, SF; www.theexit.org. $15-25. Fri-Sat, 8pm. Through Oct 26. David Kleinberg performs his autobiographical solo show.

The World’s Funniest Bubble Show Marsh San Francisco, 1062 Valencia, SF; www.themarsh.org. $8-11. Sun, 11am. Through Oct 27. Soapy, kid-friendly antics with Louis Pearl, aka “The Amazing Bubble Man.”

BAY AREA

Can You Dig It? Back Down East 14th — the 60s and Beyond Marsh Berkeley, 2120 Allston, Berk; www.themarsh.org. $15-50. Sat, 8:30pm; Sun, 7pm. Through Oct 27. Don Reed’s new show offers more stories from his colorful upbringing in East Oakland in the 1960s and ’70s. More hilarious and heartfelt depictions of his exceptional parents, independent siblings, and his mostly African American but ethnically mixed working-class community — punctuated with period pop, Motown, and funk classics, to which Reed shimmies and spins with effortless grace. And of course there’s more too of the expert physical comedy and charm that made long-running hits of Reed’s last two solo shows, East 14th and The Kipling Hotel (both launched, like this newest, at the Marsh). Can You Dig It? reaches, for the most part, into the “early” early years, Reed’s grammar-school days, before the events depicted in East 14th or Kipling Hotel came to pass. But in nearly two hours of material, not all of it of equal value or impact, there’s inevitably some overlap and indeed some recycling. Reed, who also directs the show, may start whittling it down as the run continues. But, as is, there are at least 20 unnecessary minutes diluting the overall impact of the piece, which is thin on plot already — much more a series of often very enjoyable vignettes and some painful but largely unexplored observations, wrapped up at the end in a sentimental moral that, while sincere, feels rushed and inadequate. (Avila)

I and You Marin Theatre Company, 397 Miller, Mill Valley; www.marintheatre.org. $37-58. Tue, Thu-Sat, 8pm (also Sat/19 and Nov 2, 2pm; Oct 24, 1pm); Wed, 7:30pm; Sun, 2 and 7pm. Through Nov 3. Lauren Gunderson’s world premiere explores how Walt Whitman’s words affect the lives of two teenagers.

Rich and Famous Dragon Theatre, 2120 Broadway, Redwood City; www.dragonproductions.net. $15-35. Thu-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2pm. Through Nov 3. Dragon Theatre performs John Guare’s surreal musical comedy.

strangers, babies Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby, Berk; www.shotgunplayers.org. $20-35. Previews Wed/16-Thu/17, 8pm. Opens Fri/18, 8pm. Runs Wed-Thu, 7pm; Fri-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 5pm. Through Nov 17. Shotgun Players present Linda McLean’s drama about a woman confronting her past.

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike Roda Theatre, 2015 Addison, Berk; www.berkeleyrep.org. $35-89. Tue and Thu-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 2pm); Wed, 7pm; Sun, 2 and 7pm. Extended through Oct 25. Berkeley Rep performs Christopher Durang’s comedy about a dysfunctional family in rural Pennsylvania.

Warrior Class Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro, Mtn View; www.theatreworks.org. $19-73. Tue-Wed, 7:30pm; Thu-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 2pm); Sun, 2 and 7pm. Through Nov 3. TheatreWorks performs Kenneth Lin’s incisive political drama.

A Winter’s Tale Bruns Amphitheater, 100 California Shakespeare Theater Way, Orinda; www.calshakes.org. $35-72. Wed/16-Thu/17, 7:30pm; Fri/18-Sat/19, 8pm (also Sat/19, 2pm); Sun/20, 4pm. Cal Shakes concludes its 2013 season with the Bard’s fairy tale, directed and choreographed by sister team Patricia and Paloma McGregor.

PERFORMANCE/DANCE

Alonzo King LINES Ballet Training Program fall showcase Z Space, 450 Florida, SF; www.zspace.org. Oct 22-23, 7:30pm. $20. The company’s artists-in-training perform original and diverse works by Maurya Kerr, Dexandro Montalvo, and other choreographers.

BATS Improv Bayfront Theater, B350 Fort Mason Center, SF; www.improv.org. $20. “Horror Super Scene,” Fri, 8. Through Oct 25. “Improvised Farce,” Sat, 8pm. Through Oct 26.

“Broadway Bingo” Feinstein’s at the Nikko, Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason, SF; www.feinsteinssf.com. Wed, 7-9pm. Ongoing. Free. Countess Katya Smirnoff-Skyy and Joe Wicht host this Broadway-flavored night of games and performance.

“The Buddy Club Children’s Shows” Randall Museum Theater, 199 Museum Wy, SF; www.thebuddyclub.com. Sun/20, 11am-noon. $8. Magician Jay Alexander performs for kids and families.

“Canta Napoli” First Unitarian Universalist Church, 1187 Franklin, SF; www.ticketriver.com. Sun/20, 7pm. $35-45. Tenor Pasquale Esposito performs at this benefit to bring artists from Teatro of San Carlo, Naples to perform in San Francisco.

Caroline Lugo and Carolé Acuña’s Ballet Flamenco Peña Pachamama, 1630 Powell, SF; www.carolinalugo.com. Sun/20 and Oct 26, 6:15pm. $15-19. Flamenco performance by the mother-daughter dance company, featuring live musicians.

“An Evening With Linda Eder” Feinstein’s at the Nikko, Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason, SF; www.feinsteinssf.com. Thu/17-Fri/18, 8pm; Sat/19, 7pm. $45-80 (plus $20 food and beverage minimum). The acclaimed vocalist performs Broadway songs as well as standards, pop, country, and jazz.

Neil Hamburger and the Too Good For Neil Hamburger Band Hemlock Tavern, 1131 Polk, SF; www.hemlocktavern.com. Thu/17, 7:30 and 9:30pm. $15. A variety show starring “America’s Funnyman.”

“The Hula Show 2013” Palace of Fine Arts Theatre, 3301 Lyon, SF; www.cityboxoffice.com. Sat/19 and Oct 25-26, 8pm; Sun/20 and Oct 27, 3pm (children’s matinee Oct 27, noon). $15-90. Patrick Makuakane and his Na Lei Hulu I Ka Wekiu dance troupe perform 20 world premieres, a blend of traditional hula and hula performed to modern music.

“The Kepler Story” Morrison Planetarium, California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Dr, SF; www.calacademy.org. Sun, 6:30pm. Through Oct 27. $15. Cal Academy and Motion Institute team up to produce this “immersive performance work” about astronomer Johannes Kepler.

“Mission Position Live” Cinecave, 1034 Valencia, SF; www.missionpositionlive.com. Thu, 8pm. Ongoing. $10. Stand-up comedy with rotating performers.

“Okeanos Intimate” Aquarium of the Bay, Pier 39, SF; www.capacitor.org. Sat, 4:30 and 7pm. $20-30 (free aquarium ticket with show ticket). Extended through Dec 29. Choreographer Jodi Lomask and her company, Capacitor, revive 2012’s Okeanos — a cirque-dance piece exploring the wonder and fragility of our innate connection to the world’s oceans — in a special “intimate” version designed for the mid-size theater at Pier 39’s Aquarium of the Bay. The show, developed in collaboration with scientists and engineers, comes preceded by a short talk by a guest expert — for a recent Saturday performance it was a down-to-earth and truly fascinating local ecological history lesson by the Bay Institute’s Marc Holmes. In addition to its Cirque du Soleil-like blend of quasi-representational modern dance and circus acrobatics — powered by a synth-heavy blend of atmospheric pop music — Okeanos makes use of some stunning underwater photography and an intermittent narrative that includes testimonials from the likes of marine biologist and filmmaker Dr. Tierney Thys. The performers, including contortionists, also interact with some original physical properties hanging from the flies — a swirling vortex and a spherical shell — as they wrap and warp their bodies in a kind of metamorphic homage to the capacity and resiliency of evolution, the varied ingenuity of all life forms. If the movement vocabulary can seem limited at times, and too derivative, the show also feels a little cramped on the Aquarium Theater stage, whose proscenium arrangement does the piece few favors aesthetically. Nevertheless, the family-oriented Okeanos Intimate spurs a conversation with the ocean that is nothing if not urgent. (Avila)

“Recovering Home” CounterPULSE, 1310 Mission, SF; www.counterpulse.org. Fri/18-Sun/20, 8pm. $18-22. Afrique Sogue and Jaara Dance Project perform a work about the “convergence of quests for connection.”

“San Francisco Magic Parlor” Chancellor Hotel Union Square, 433 Powell, SF; www.sfmagicparlor.com. Thu-Sat, 8pm. Ongoing. $40. Magic vignettes with conjurer and storyteller Walt Anthony.

“San Francisco Trolley Dances 2013” Guided tours leave from Market Street Museum, 77 Steuart, SF; www. epiphanydance.org. Sat/19-Sun/20, tours leave every 45 minutes from 11am -2:45pm. Free with Muni fare. Epiphany Productions Sonic Dance Theater and guests participate in the 10th annual incarnation of this rolling performance tour.

“A Show of Hands” Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 3200 California, SF; www.garrettmoulton.org. Thu/17, noon; Fri/18 and Oct 25, 3:30pm; Sat/19 and Oct 24 and 26, 1pm. Free. Garrett and Moulton Productions present a site-specific New Music USA commission that explores the powers and possibilities of human hands.

“Smack Dab” Magnet, 4122 18th St, SF; www.magnetsf.org. Wed/16, 8pm. Free. Open mic with headliner David Miller and his Paradox Magic show.

“Speechless” Public Works, 161 Erie, SF; www.speechlesslive.com. Thu/17, 7:30pm. $20. Improv meets PowerPoint in this new comedy show from the minds behind storytelling series Mortified SF.

“These Are Our Stories” Intersection for the Arts, 925 Mission, Ste 109, SF; theseareourstories.eventbrite.com. Mon/21, 7pm. $5-15. Part of Intersection for the Arts’ Califas Festival, this roving series of site-specific performances is led by playwright Eugenie Chan. *

On the Cheap: October 16 – 22, 2013

Michael Redmond

-

October 15, 2013

0

On the Cheap listings are compiled by Guardian staff. Submit items for the listings at listings@sfbg.com. For further information on how to submit items for the listings, see Selector.

WEDNESDAY 16

“The Birth of Star Clusters” Randall Museum, 199 Museum Way, SF; www.randallmuseum.org. 7:30pm, free (donations accepted). UC Berkeley’s Dr. Steven Stahler speaks about how stars form.

THURSDAY 17

Mike Madrid Cartoon Art Museum, 655 Mission, SF; thirdthursdaysf.wordpress.com. 5-8pm, free. Author and comics expert Mike Madrid (The Supergirls: Fashion, Feminism, Fantasy, and the History of Comic Book Heroines) presents his latest book, Divas, Dames and Daredevils.

“Odd Couples: Extraordinary Differences Between the Sexes in the Animal Kingdom” Bone Room, 1573 Solano, Berk; www.boneroompresents.com. 7pm, free. Evolutionary biologist Dr. Daphne Fairbairn gives a talk on “gender gulfs” in the animal world.

“Writing That Risks: New Work from Beyond the Mainstream” Alley Cat Books Gallery, 3036 24th St, SF; www.alleycatbooksgallery.com. 6-7pm, free. Independent publisher Red Bridge Press celebrates the release of its new short-story collection, featuring emerging writers “who delight in exploring the boundaries of content and style.”

SATURDAY 19

“Apature Comix and Zines Expo” Cartoon Art Museum, 655 Mission, SF; apature2013.brownpapertickets.com. 11am-5pm, $7. Cartoon Art Museum and Kearny Street Workshop present this celebration of Bay Area Asian Pacific American talent, with artist tables, crafts, workshops, screenings, DIY activities, and more.

Ceramics Annual of America Civic Center Plaza, SF; www.ceramicsannual.org. 9am-6:30pm, free. Through Sun/20. Exhibition and art fair showcasing contemporary ceramics from around the world, including Australia, China, Mexico, and Italy.

Classic car show Jack London Square, Broadway and Embarcadero, Oakl; www.jacklondonsquare.com. 10am-4pm, free. Ogle Model As, T-birds, and other souped-up beauties from the 1920s to the 1960s at this vintage-vehicle extravaganza.

Potrero Hill Festival 20th St between Wisconsin and Missouri, SF; www.potrerofestival.com. 11am-4pm, free. Family-friendly fun awaits those who scale Potrero’s mighty hills, with food trucks and local food vendors, two stages with a talent show, over 40 local merchants and artists, pony rides for kids, and more.

“SFMusic Day: Live + Free” San Francisco Conservatory of Music, 50 Oak, SF; www.sffcm.org. Tonight, 8pm, free; Sun/20, noon-7pm, free. Free concerts that hew to the festival’s 2013 Latin theme, with performances by Cascade de Flores, Orquesta La Moderna Tradicion, Quintento Latino, the John Santos Sexed, and more. (Check the website for a full schedule.)

St. John Armenian Annual Food Festival St. John Church, 275 Olympia, SF; (415) 922-1961. Noon, free. Through Sun/20. Purchase authentic Armenian food (in both dinner and a la carte form) at St. John’s annual fundraiser. Don’t miss the intriguing-sounding Kufta, described as “a meatball within a meatball.”

SUNDAY 20

Free community day at the Haas-Lilienthal House 2007 Franklin, SF; www.sfheritage.org. 11am-4pm, free. Tour the 1886 landmark Queen Anne gem, a “living monument” to San Francisco history, for free. (Admission is usually $8.) There will also be a pumpkin patch and other autumn treats for younger visitors. *

Losing our conscience

Michael Redmond

-

October 15, 2013

63

joe@sfbg.com

An eviction epidemic is forcing many San Franciscans from their homes: artists in Mid-Market and the Mission, the Lee family on Jackson Street, and scores of families in the city.

The newest victims of the tech boom’s ever rising rents are San Francisco nonprofit organizations — many of whom take care of San Franciscans in need, and who now find themselves in need.

A report released by the Budget and Legislative Analyst office on Oct. 9 showed commercial rents for nonprofits increased as much as 33 percent in the last two years, with annual rent increases as high as $20,000 for small offices and $200,000 for large spaces. When it comes time for nonprofits to renew their leases, many find they are at prices they can’t afford.

Those nonprofits may need to close, or find the services they render to the city drastically cut.

At the Board of Supervisors Budget and Finance Committee hearing where the report was released, more than 50 nonprofit representatives came up to the podium pleading for help.

“We’re committed to staying in SF, but I’m forced to present a lease to my board of directors on a hope and a prayer,” said Nancy Nielsen, the deputy director of Lutheran Social Services of Northern California. And she’s not alone.

There are 6,005 nonprofits in San Francisco, which is 4.1 percent of all nonprofits in California, according to the report. Of those, 1,425 contract with the city, acting as pseudo-city agencies providing health care, help for the homeless, housing aid, legal help, education, and many other services San Franciscans depend on.

The city pays $528.8 million annually for these services. Essentially, raising rents on nonprofits is a hit on San Francisco’s investments, potentially costing city taxpayers more to maintain the same level of service.

“I want to say it’s an alarming report, a bleeding of our nonprofit sector,” said Sup. Eric Mar, one of the three supervisors on the committee. “We’re in danger of losing the heart of our city with artists, and the conscience of our city with housing and legal nonprofits.”

Many of the nonprofits that came up to speak detailed the thousands of people they serve. Nielsen’s Lutheran Social Services helped 5,000 San Franciscans stay housed, she said. Jessica Robinson Love of Counter Pulse helped more than 4,000 artists find a space to work and showcase their pieces.

When some tried to relocate, they couldn’t find spaces at an affordable rate because the vacancies in San Francisco have shrunk to alarming degrees, according to the report. Sara Shortt, director of the Housing Rights Committee, said she communicates with many nonprofits, and the places they could afford were subpar at best.

“The types of buildings they found were so decrepit they couldn’t afford to fix them,” Shortt said.

Many nonprofits had similar stories. Carla Laurel of the West Bay Pilipino Multi Service Center said that the rents her group found around San Francisco were more than its entire operating budget.

There are few places left for nonprofits to go. The bulk of the city’s 75 million square feet of commercial space is located between Market and SoMA, the report says.

Most of those nonprofits can’t do their work outside the city, said Debbi Lerman, administrator of the Human Services Network.

“Keep in mind they work in partnership with their neighborhoods,” she said. “You can’t take an organization meant to serve San Francisco and move it to Oakland.”

Lerman went to Sup. Jane Kim with her concerns, prompting the supervisor to call for the hearing. Kim noted that this is the second time the city has dealt with nonprofits being priced out, and the last time was in the first tech boom. Many of those facing soaring rents are in Mid-Market and SoMA, where Twitter and Mayor Ed Lee’s other tech darlings are moving in.

The tech bubble burst before the city could implements its solutions to nonprofits being priced out back in the ’90s. Now those strategies are being revived.

The city could request new zoning laws that require spaces for nonprofits at below-market rates, incentives for commercial facility landlords to give them rent breaks, providing city loans or grants to rehabilitate new facilities, letting nonprofits use underutilized city property, or requiring commercial developers to pay into a rental fund for nonprofits, similar to the low income housing fund.

Kim’s aides told the Guardian she’d convene a workgroup of city administrators from a multitude of departments and nonprofit representatives and try to refine and implement these solutions in the next six months.

The last time rents rose this high and fast, “we only got a better lease because of the tech crash,” Love said at the hearing. “Let’s not depend on that again.”

The Gilded Age of Austerity and the breakdown of civil society

Sasha Cuttler

-

October 15, 2013

121

The Gilded Age of Austerity and the breakdown of civil society

Is this the week that civil society in the US finally collapses? It’s starting to feel that way. Most of the federal government is already shut down, and on Thursday, it could start defaulting on its debts, possibly dragging down the global economy. And here in the Bay Area, our transportation system will descend into gridlock if strikes shut down BART tomorrow and AC Transit on Thursday, as their unions are threatening.

It may not be the End of the World as We Know It, but this is a striking confluence of events that should cause us all to take stock of the things we take for granted, from reliable public transit systems to a functional federal government to the ability of politics to resolve our differences.

This era could be called the Gilded Age of Austerity, a duality marked by huge and growing concentrations of wealth for the few, but for the rest of us: increasing economic insecurity, a tattered social safety net, crumbling public infrastructure, and few signs of hope that things will get better.

Democracy is a fragile experiment that needs to be regularly reaffirmed by all sides. The US electoral system was already heavily skewed toward the interests of the wealthy, who sponsor both major political parties, to the point where many consider elections to be a sham. But there was still a political system, a basic framework for running the country even during tough times, and that seems to be breaking down.

For the radical right-wingers responsible for hobbling the federal government, this might appear to be a dream come true: Most of the regulators furloughed, funding for most social services stopped, and only the police state remains largely intact (86 percent of Department of Homeland Security employees are on the job and soldiers are still getting paid).

But these anti-government ideologues have never fully understood or appreciated the myriad things that government does to keep civil society functioning over the long term. Our economy relies on federal spending, our health relies on the CDC spotting coming epidemics and the FDA inspecting our food, justice needs a civil court system, our travels depend on roads, and our future depends on today’s young people getting educated (ie Head Start) and fed (ie Food Stamps), and that’s all come to a grinding halt.

It’s a similar situation with public employee unions, like those that operate BART trains and AC Transit buses. As we’ve reported, private sector wages and benefits often rise or fall with those negotiated by unions. So when unions can’t win good contracts or maintain funded pensions for workers, we’re all dragged down. The Gilded Age gets better for the bosses as the Age of Austerity gets worse for the workers.

BART’s unions had an understandable expectation that they would share in the agency’s recent budget surpluses, particularly after accepting wage and benefit concessions of $100 million over the last four years to help with projected budget deficits that never materialized.

BART managers argue that the district has offered enough and that the rest of the money is needed for its ambitious expansion plans, but there should have been a solution here somewhere short of ultimatums (strike vs. the district’s “last, best offer”). They shouldn’t have needed Gov. Jerry Brown to order the recently ended 60-day cooling off period — the same stall tactic that AC Transit is now asking for — in a world where the basic social contract behind civil society was still intact. When the center still held, before the new Gilded Age fused with the Age of Austerity, people of goodwill could find common ground.

“People’s very livelihoods hang in the balance adding to the additional frustration felt throughout the Bay Area today when both parties failed yesterday to reach an agreement,” Mayor Ed Lee said yesterday in a prepared statement about the BART strike as he cancelled plans to leave on a trade mission to China sponsored by business elites to help carry out their agenda.

Yes, people’s very livelihoods — and their quality of life, and sometimes, their lives — are at stake in these political struggles, those I mentioned and those happening in San Francisco around gentrification and taxation. Anyone who thinks that modern capitalism is sturdy enough to withstand any shock doesn’t have a very good grasp of either economics or history.

Maybe we’ll pull ourselves back from the brink and learn our lessons. Or maybe we’ve entered the endgame, a place where the desperation of those living in the Age of Austerity finally matches the greed and self-interest of those living in the Gilded Age, where one must defeat the other to survive, like two fighting birds plummeting to the ground in a death spiral.

And if that’s the case, are we ready for the next era? Have we sown our seeds and tended our gardens? It took World War Two to really get us out of the Great Depression, and I’d like to think we’ve evolved since then. But this week, I’m not so sure.

Best of the Bay 2013 Readers Poll: Shopping

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks

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October 15, 2013

0

BEST OF THE BAY 2013: READERS POLL

SHOPPING

BEST OVERALL BOOKSTORE

GREEN APPLE BOOKS

506 Clement, SF

www.greenapplebooks.com

BEST USED BOOK STORE

AARDVARK BOOKS

227 Church, SF

(415) 552-6733

BEST COMIC BOOK STORE

ISOTOPE COMICS

326 Fell, SF

www.isotopecomics.com

BEST MAGAZINE SELECTION

ISSUES

20 Glen, Oakl

www.issuesshop.com

BEST RECORD STORE

AMOEBA MUSIC

Multiple locations

www.amoeba.com

BEST VIDEO STORE

LOST WEEKEND VIDEO

1034 Valencia, SF

www.lostweekendvideo.com

BEST GROCERY STORE

RAINBOW GROCERY

1745 Folsom, SF

www.rainbow.coop

BEST FRESH PRODUCE

GOLDEN PRODUCE

172 Church, SF

BEST CLOTHING STORE (WOMEN)

AMBIANCE

www.ambiancesf.com

BEST CLOTHING STORE (MEN) (TIE)

SUI GENERIS CONSIGNMENT

2231 Market, SF

www.suigenerisconsignment.com

UNIONMADE

493 Sanchez, SF

www.unionmadegoods.com

BEST CLOTHING STORE (KIDS)

CHLOE’S CLOSET

Multiple locations

www.chloescloset.com

BEST SHOP FOR PARENTS-TO-BE

NATURAL RESOURCES

1367 Valencia, SF

www.naturalresources-sf.com

BEST VINTAGE CLOTHING STORE

RELIC VINTAGE

1605 Haight, SF

BEST LOCAL DESIGNER

COLLEEN MAUER

www.colleenmauerdesigns.com

BEST FLEA MARKET

ALAMEDA POINT ANTIQUES FAIRE

2900 Navy Way, Ala.

www.alamedapointantiquesfaire.com

BEST THRIFT STORE

THRIFT TOWN

2101 Mission, SF

www.thrifttown.com

BEST SHOE STORE

SHOE BIZ

Multiple locations

www.shoebizsf.com

BEST FURNITURE STORE

COMMUNITY THRIFT STORE

623 Valencia, SF

www.communitythriftsf.org

BEST HARDWARE STORE

COLE HARDWARE

Multiple locations

www.colehardware.com

BEST TOY STORE

THE ARK

Multiple locations

www.thearktoys.com

BEST BIKE SHOP

VALENCIA CYCLERY

1077 Valencia, SF

www.valenciacyclery.com

BEST PET SHOP (TIE)

BERNAL BEAST

509 Cortland, SF

www.bernalbeast.com

PAWTRERO

Multiple locations

www.pawtrero.com

BEST GIFT SHOP

HEARTFELT

436 Cortland, SF

www.heartfeltsf.com

BEST PLACE TO BUY EYEWEAR

VEO OPTICS

Multiple locations

www.veooptics.com

BEST CANNABIS DISPENSARY

THE GREEN CROSS

4218 Mission, SF

www.thegreencross.org

BEST STORE STAFF

CHOCOLATE COVERED

4069 24th St, SF

www.chocolatecoveredsf.com

BEST QUIRKY SPECIALTY STORE

PAXTON GATE

824 Valencia, SF

www.paxtongate.com

BEST SPORTING GOODS STORE

SPORTS BASEMENT

Multiple locations

www.sportsbasement.com

BEST FLOWER SHOP

NOB HILL FLORIST

1396 California, SF

www.nobhillflorist.com

BEST PLACE TO BUY LINGERIE

PINK BUNNY

1772 Union, SF

www.pinkbunny.biz

BEST PLACE TO BUY SEX TOYS

GOOD VIBRATIONS

Multiple locations

www.goodvibes.com

BEST PLACE TO BUY FETISH GEAR

MR. S LEATHER

385 8th St, SF

www.mr-s-leather.com

Illustration by Robert Trujillo

Best of the Bay 2013 Readers Poll: Arts and Entertainment

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks

-

October 15, 2013

0

BEST OF THE BAY 2013: READERS POLL

Arts and Entertainment

BEST MOVIE THEATER

CASTRO THEATRE

429 Castro, SF

www.castrotheatre.com

BEST REP FILM HOUSE

ROXIE

3117 16th St, SF

www.roxie.com

BEST THEATER COMPANY

BATS IMPROV

Fort Mason Center B350, SF

www.improv.org

BEST DANCE COMPANY

ODC

3153 17th St, SF

www.odctheater.org

BEST PERFORMANCE SPACE

COUNTERPULSE

1310 Mission, SF

www.counterpulse.org

BEST FILM OR ARTS FESTIVAL (TIE)

FRAMELINE

www.frameline.org

LITQUAKE

www.litquake.org

BEST MUSEUM

DEYOUNG MUSEUM

50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Dr., Golden Gate Park, SF

www.deyoungmuseum.org

BEST ART GALLERY

SECESSION ART & DESIGN

3361 Mission, SF

www.secessionsf.com

BEST ARTIST OR COLLECTIVE

CREATIVITY EXPLORED

3245 16th St, SF

www.creativityexplored.org

BEST AUTHOR

DAVE EGGERS

www.mcsweenys.net

BEST ZINE

MISSION MINI COMIX

www.missionminicomix.com

BEST PUBLISHING HOUSE

LAST GASP

www.lastgasp.com

BEST ARTS OR MUSIC WEBSITE

THE BAY BRIDGED

www.thebaybridged.com

BEST RECORD LABEL

TRICYCLE RECORDS

www.tricycle-records.com

BEST BAND

MAD NOISE

www.madnoisemusic.com

BEST SINGER-SONGWRITER

SAM CHASE

www.facebook.com/thesamchasemusic

BEST DJ

ULTRAVIOLET

www.facebook.com/ultravioletdj

BEST MUSIC FESTIVAL

OUTSIDE LANDS

www.sfoutsidelands.com

BEST OVERALL PARTY VENUE

PUBLIC WORKS

161 Erie, SF

www.publicsf.com

BEST OVERALL DANCE PARTY

BOOTIE SF

www.bootiesf.com

BEST ROCK CLUB

BOTTOM OF THE HILL

1233 17th St, SF

www.bottomofthehill.com

BEST REGGAE CLUB

DUB MISSION

www.dubmissionsf.com

BEST HIP-HOP CLUB

DOUBLE DUTCH

3192 16th St, SF

www.thedoubledutch.com

BEST JAZZ CLUB

YOSHI’S

Multiple locations

www.yoshis.com

BEST SALSA CLUB

CAFÉ COCOMO

650 Indiana, SF.

www.cafecocomo.com

BEST HOUSE/TECHNO CLUB

MIGHTY

119 Utah, SF.

www.mighty119.com

BEST AFTER-HOURS CLUB

THE ENDUP

401 6th St, SF.

www.theendup.com

BEST TRIVIA NIGHT

FANBOY AT LONE STAR SALOON

fanboysf.tumblr.com

BEST JUKEBOX

MOLOTOV’S

582 Haight, SF

BEST KARAOKE BAR

THE MINT

1942 Market, SF.

www.themint.net

BEST OVERALL QUEER PARTY

HARD FRENCH

www.hardfrench.com

BEST GAY BAR

TRUCK

1900 Folsom, SF

www.trucksf.com

BEST LESBIAN BAR

THE LEXINGTON CLUB

3464 19th St, SF

www.lexingtonclub.com

BEST CLUB FOR TRANSPEOPLE

DIVAS

1081 Post, SF

www.divassf.com

BEST DRAG SHOW

TRANNYSHACK

www.trannyshack.com

BEST DRAG KING OR QUEEN

HEKLINA

BEST BURLESQUE ACT

HUBBA HUBBA REVUE

www.hubbarevue.com

BEST COMEDY SHOW

COBB’S COMEDY CLUB

915 Columbus, SF

www.cobbscomedy.com

BEST COMEDIAN

DHAYA LAKSHMINARAYANAN

www.dhayacomedy.com

BEST MAGICIAN

CHRISTIAN CAGIGAL

www.christiancagigal.com

BEST OPEN MIC NIGHT

HOTEL UTAH SALOON

500 4th St, SF

www.hotelutah.com

BEST LITERARY NIGHT

BAWDY STORYTELLING

www.bawdystorytelling.com

BEST STRIP CLUB

LUSTY LADY

www.lustyladysf.com

BEST SEX CLUB

EROS

2051 Market, SF

www.erossf.com

Best of the Bay 2013 Readers Poll: Food and Drink

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks

-

October 15, 2013

0

BEST OF THE BAY 2013: READERS POLL

Food and Drink

BEST OVERALL RESTAURANT

NOPA

560 Divisadero, SF

www.nopasf.com

BEST NEW RESTAURANT

COQUETA

The Embarcadero

Pier 5, SF

www.coquetasf.com

BEST BUDGET RESTAURANT

TU LAN

8 6th St, SF

BEST SPLURGE RESTAURANT

GARY DANKO

800 N Point, SF

www.garydanko.com

BEST LATE NIGHT RESTAURANT

GRUBSTAKE

1525 Pine, SF

www.sfgrubstake.com

BEST ROMANTIC RESTAURANT

FOREIGN CINEMA

2534 Mission, SF

www.foreigncinema.com

BEST FOOD/DRINK FESTIVAL (TIE)

EAT REAL

www.eatrealfest.com

SF STREET FOOD

www.sfstreetfoodfest.com

BEST FOOD CART

THE CHAIRMAN TRUCK

www.thechairmantruck.com

BEST FARMERS MARKET

FERRY PLAZA

1 Ferry Bldg, SF

www.cuesa.org

BEST PIZZA

LITTLE STAR

Multiple locations

www.littlestarpizza.com

BEST SANDWICHES

IKE’S PLACE

Multiple locations

www.ilikeikesplace.com

BEST BURRITOS

TAQUERIA CANCUN

2288 Mission; 3211 Mission St; 1003 Market St, SF

BEST SMALL PLATES

CHA CHA CHA

Multiple locations

www.cha3.com

BEST BURGER AND FRIES

SUPER DUPER

Multiple locations

www.superdupersf.com

BEST BARBECUE

MEMPHIS MINNIE’S

576 Haight, SF

www.memphisminnies.com

BEST SUSHI

ICHI SUSHI

3369 Mission, SF

www.ichisushi.com

BEST BOWL OF NOODLES

KATANA-YA

430 Geary, SF

www.katanayausa.com

BEST SALADS

BLUE BARN

Multiple locations

www.bluebarngourmet.com

BEST SEAFOOD

BAR CRUDO

655 Divisadero, SF

www.barcrudo.com

BEST SOUL FOOD

BRENDA’S

652 Polk, SF

www.frenchsoulfood.com

BEST ITALIAN

PALIO D’ASTI

640 Sacramento, SF

www.paliodasti.com

BEST MIDDLE EASTERN

LA MEDITERRANEE

Multiple locations

www.cafelamed.com

BEST INDIAN

DOSA

Multiple locations

www.dosasf.com

BEST MEXICAN (TIE)

PUERTO ALEGRE

546 Valencia, SF

NOPALITO

www.nopalitosf.com

BEST CHINESE

MISSION CHINESE

2234 Mission, SF

www.missionchinesefood.com

BEST THAI

LERS ROS

Multiple locations

www.lersros.com

BEST VEGETARIAN

GREENS

Fort Mason, Bldg A, SF

www.greensrestaurant.com

BEST VEGAN

MILLENNIUM

580 Geary, SF

www.millenniumrestaurant.com

BEST BREAKFAST

DOTTIE’S TRUE BLUE CAFÉ

28 6th St, SF

www.dotties.biz

BEST BRUNCH

MISSION BEACH CAFÉ

198 Guerrero, SF

www.missionbeachcafesf.com

BEST LUNCH

MARKET & RYE

Multiple locations

www.marketandrye.com

BEST APPETIZERS

SAUCE

Multiple locations

www.saucesf.com

BEST DESSERT

HEY, COOKIE!

www.heycookiesf.com

BEST SERVICE

GARY DANKO

800 N Point St, SF

www.garydanko.com

BEST FOOD/DRINKS WEBSITE

TABLEHOPPER

www.tablehopper.com

BEST CAFÉ

ATLAS CAFÉ

3049 20th St, SF

www.atlascafe.net

BEST CUP OF COFFEE

SIGHTGLASS

270 7th St, SF

www.sightglasscoffee.com

BEST CUP OF TEA

SAMOVAR

Multiple locations

www.samovarlife.com

BEST OVERALL BAR

MONARCH

101 6th St, SF

www.monarchsf.com

BEST NEW BAR

VIRGILS SEA ROOM

3152 Mission, SF

www.virgilssf.com

BEST DIVE BAR

EL RIO

3158 Mission, SF

www.elriosf.com

BEST SWANKY BAR

REDWOOD ROOM

495 Geary Street, SF

BEST SINGLES BAR

MADRONE ART BAR

500 Divisadero, SF

www.madroneartbar.com

BEST SPORTS BAR

HI-TOPS

2247 Market, SF

www.hitopssf.com

BEST HAPPY HOUR

GREEN’S SPORTS BAR

2239 Polk, SF

BEST WINERY (TIE)

V. SATTUI WINERY

1111 White Lane, St. Helena

www.vsattui.com

BLUXOME STREET WINERY

53 Bluxome St, SF

www.bluxomewinery.com

BEST WINE BAR

NOETECA

1551 Dolores, SF

www.noeteca.com

BEST BREWERY

ANCHOR BREWING

1705 Mariposa, SF

www.anchorbrewing.com

BEST SELECTION OF BEERS

TORONADO

547 Haight, SF

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BEST CREATIVE COCKTAILS

TRICK DOG

3010 20th St, SF

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BEST BLOODY MARY

ZEITGEIST

199 Valencia St, SF

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BEST BAR STAFF

DNA LOUNGE

375 11th St, SF

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BEST CANNABIS EDIBLES

THE GREEN CROSS

4218 Mission St, SF

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BEST BAKERY

ARIZMENDI

Multiple locations

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BEST BUTCHER SHOP

AVEDANO’S

235 Cortland, SF

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BEST CHEESE SHOP

COW GIRL CREAMERY

1 Ferry Bldg, SF

www.cowgirlcreamery.com

BEST CHOCOLATIER

FOG CITY NEWS

455 Market St, SF

www.fogcitynews.com

Best of the Bay 2013 Readers Poll: City Living

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks

-

October 15, 2013

0

BEST OF THE BAY 2013: READERS POLL

CITY LIVING

BEST STREET FAIR

FOLSOM STREET FAIR

www.folsomstreetevents.org

BEST HOTEL

PHOENIX HOTEL

601 Eddy, SF

www.Jdvhospitality.com

BEST TOURIST ATTRACTION

GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE

www.goldengatebridge.org

BEST TOUR

WILD SF WALKING

wildsftours.wordpress.com

BEST SPOT FOR KIDS

EXPLORATORIUM

Pier 15, SF

www.exploratorium.edu

BEST OVERALL BLOG

THE BOLD ITALIC

www.thebolditalic.com

BEST OVERALL WEBSITE

FUNCHEAP SF

sf.funcheap.com

BEST STARTUP COMPANY

GOOD EGGS

www.goodeggs.com

BEST NEWS BLOG OR WEBSITE

HAIGHTERATION

www.haighteration.com

BEST STYLE WEBSITE

BROWNTOURAGE

www.browntourage.me

BEST SEX BLOG

TINY NIBBLES

www.tinynibbles.com

BEST POLITICIAN

JOHN AVALOS

BEST POLITICIAN YOU LOVE TO HATE

ED LEE

www.sfmayor.org

BEST NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION

PROJECT OPEN HAND

www.openhand.org

BEST ADULT EDUCATION

CCSF

www.ccsf.edu

BEST TV NEWSCASTER

FRANK SOMERVILLE

www.ktvu.com

BEST LOCALLY PRODUCED TV SHOW

CHECK, PLEASE! BAY AREA

Blogs.kqed.org/checkplease

BEST RADIO STATION

KQED

www.kqed.org

BEST RADIO DJ

CHUY GOMEZ

www.chuygomez.com

BEST RADIO SHOW

LEGION IS ON THE AIR

Facebook.com/legionisontheair

BEST TATTOO PARLOR

SACRED ROSE TATTOO

www.sacredrosetattoo.com

BEST TATTOO ARTIST

TANYA WISCHERATH, MODERN ELECTRIC STUDIO

www.modernelectricstudio.com

BEST LOCAL ANIMAL RESCUE

ROCKET DOG RESCUE

www.rocketdogrescue.org

BEST DOG-WALKING SERVICE

DOGSTAR

www.dogstar-sf.com

BEST PET GROOMER

KOSITA’S PET GROOMING

98 Bennington, SF

BEST VETERINARIAN

MISSION PET HOSPITAL

720 Valencia, SF

www.missionpet.com

BEST DENTIST

DR. JARED POOL

1719 Powell, SF

www.wsparkdental.com

BEST DOCTOR (TIE)

DR. SHAWN K. HASSLER

www.sutterhealth.org

ONE MEDICAL GROUP

www.onemedical.com

BEST PLUMBER

ACE PLUMBING & ROOTER

945 Taraval, SF

www.aceplumbingandrooter.com

BEST ELECTRICIAN

PAURIC ELECTRIC

541 Scott, SF

www.thesfelectrician.com

BEST MOVING SERVICE

DELANCEY STREET MOVING & TRUCKING

600 Embarcadero, SF

www.delanceystreetfoundation.org

BEST ALTERNATIVE HEALING (TIE)

DOUBLE HAPPINESS HEALTH

1501 Mariposa, SF

www.doublehappinesshealth.com

DRIFTWOOD ACUPUNCTURE AND WELLNESS

3727 Buchanan, SF

www.driftwoodacu.com

BEST THERAPIST

DEBORAH COOPER

3896 24th St, SF

www.deborahcoopermft.com

BEST CAR REPAIR

PAT’S GARAGE

1090 26th St, SF

www.patsgarage.com

BEST MOTORCYCLE REPAIR

MOTO JAVA

498 9th St, SF

www.motojava.com

BEST BICYCLE REPAIR

MIKE’S BIKES

www.mikesbikes.com

BEST SHOE REPAIR

HAIGHT STREET SHOE REPAIR

1614 Haight, SF

BEST TAILOR

AL’S ATTIRE

1300 Grant, SF

www.alsattire.com

BEST LAUNDROMAT

BRAINWASH CAFÉ & LAUNDROMAT

1122 Folsom, SF

www.brainwash.com

BEST SALON

CARMICHAEL SALON

166 Geary, SF

www.carmichaelsalon.com

BEST HAIRSTYLIST

REBEKAH NUMMER

www.rebekahnummer.com

BEST MASSAGE

PROJECT ZEN

www.projectzenmassage.com

BEST DAY SPA

KABUKI SPRINGS & SPA

1750 Geary, SF

www.kabukisprings.com

BEST GYM (TIE)

FITNESS SF

1001 Brannan, SF

www.fitnesssf.com

WHEELHOUSE SF

1 Embarcadero, SF

www.wheelhouse-sf.com

BEST PERSONAL TRAINER

ACE MORGAN

www.acemorganfitness.com

BEST YOGA STUDIO

MONKEY YOGA SHALA

3215 Lakeshore, Oakl.

www.monkeyyoga.com

BEST YOGA INSTRUCTOR

SUSANNAH BRUDER

1501 Mariposa, SF

www.yogasitasf.com

BEST AMATEUR SPORTS TEAM

BAY AREA DERBY GIRLS

www.bayareaderbygirls.com

BEST PUBLIC SPORTS FACILITY

KEZAR STADIUM

755 Stanyan, SF

www.sfrecpark.org

BEST BEACH

BAKER BEACH

www.parksconservancy.org

BEST PUBLIC PARK

GOLDEN GATE PARK

www.golden-gate-park.com

BEST NATURE SPOT FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

MUIR WOODS

www.parksconservancy.org

BEST CAMPGROUND

KIRBY COVE

www.parksconservancy.org

BEST CAMP FOR KIDS

TREE FROG TREKS

2112 Hayes, SF

www.treefrogtreks.com

BEST PARK FOR DOGS

FORT FUNSTON

www.parksconservancy.org

BEST SKATE SPOT

POTRERO DEL SOL PARK

San Bruno Ave & 25th St, SF

BEST SURF SPOT

LINDA MAR BEACH

5100 Cabrillo, Pacfica

BEST PLACE TO WATCH THE SUNSET

LANDS END

Seal Rock Dr & El Camino Del Mar, SF

www.parksconservancy.org

Elderly activists and SF natives march to preserve San Franciscan culture at Our Mission: No Eviction

Erica Hanna

-

October 14, 2013

46

Gum Gee Lee recognizes that she’s not the only one.

Dressed in her now signature floral patterned blue jacket, she climbed the white flatbed truck that served as a makeshift stage of the Our Mission: No Eviction rally on Saturday, and with the aid of a translator she spoke to the 300 or so protesters.

“Its not okay to use gentrification to takeover,” she said. “It is disproportionately affecting the elderly and disabled.”

Lee, 73, took to activism as she, her husband and her disabled daughter were evicted from their Jackson street apartment near Chinatown. Her home of more than 30 years is one of many casualties as rising prices push long time San Franciscans out of the city.

The demands the rally organizers made were to address just that, asking Mayor Ed Lee to halt all Ellis Act evictions and put a freeze on rent increases and for the city to declare a state of emergency as the culture of the city experiences a dramatic shift.

The rally was inspired by a wave of nonprofit and tenant evictions in the Mission district over the past year, like the recent threatened Ellis Act evictions of Chicano artists Rene Yanez, Yolanda Lopez, and Rio Yanez. The march started at the Brava theater on 24th street, a mostly feel good celebration of a shared San Franciscan culture. The elder Yanez, 71 years old, bemoaned the loss of the Mission’s heritage.

Stopped at 24th and Bryant to hear Rene Yañez, recently evicted artist, speak. @mlnow pic.twitter.com/jQhHRgzmJ1

— Alexandra Garretón (@GarretonA) October 12, 2013

“If a mural gets painted over, no one gets upset, but if a muralist gets evicted no one says anything,” he said to the crowd. He later told us that though he has seen many changes in San Francisco since he landed here, he feels the new tech culture only has dollar signs in their eyes. “In the 70’s people came here for love, not for money,” he said. “Those were hopeful times. That’s bohemia.”

Gum Gee Lee and Rene Yanez weren’t the only elderly rabble rousers, but that shouldn’t come as a surprise, Ted Gullickson, director of the San Francisco Tenants Union told us.

Its the elderly who are most often targeted, he said, because they’re the ones who pay the lowest prices by virtue of being tenants the longest.

Landlords who are “okay with” taking smaller amounts are more likely to house elderly tenants with reduced rents, he said, and those landlords are targeted by real estate speculators who want to flip the place to sell as tenancies in common. The landlords themselves are often elderly, and may be looking to get out of the market. This makes buildings with elderly tenants fertile ground for Ellis Act evictions, he said.

“There aren’t going to be a lot of landlords willing to sell if they’re renting to pricey tech people,” Gullickson said.

But older activists weren’t the only ones to make it out to the march. A surprising number of those the Guardian talked to were San Francisco natives, born and bred.

@AvalosSF our Mission no evictions Basta ya pic.twitter.com/EdAZgHoet6

— John Avalos (@AvalosSF) October 12, 2013

Paul Altamriano is a strapping guy with shoulders like a football player, so it made sense that he and his young son (also named Paul) both sported Joe Montana jerseys like true 49er faithful. They marched together with the procession, except for the occasional burst of energy causing the younger Paul to run excitedly ahead.

Altamriano went to Mission high, and so did his two daughters. When his son is old enough, he hopes he can carry on the tradition.

“I was born and raised here, you’ve got to fight,” he said.”I want my son to grow up here.”

His face grew dark when he said that his father died shortly after being evicted from his San Francisco apartment, passing in a city that was not his home.

Vida Ramirez was also out with her children, Cynthia, 16, and Jose, who is “seven and a half,” he said.

“This is our barrio and our neighborhood,” she told the Guardian, as she held her children and marched. Her mother, grey haired and graceful, kept pace. Ramirez remembers when the first Mexican coffee shops and bars packed up in the first tech boom in the 90s.

She felt wronged, as if someone had attacked her personally. Maybe they had.

That’s the heart of it. Longtime San Franciscans fear their culture is being left behind, erased. And its not just the Mission. As has been widely reported, Chinatown is a target for evictions as well as the Castro and Sunset districts.

Protesting evictions in the Mission today #vine https://t.co/woPLpWoDSJ

— Joe A. W. Fitzgerald (@FitzTheReporter) October 12, 2013

But despite the expressions of grief at the rally, San Franciscans also used the day to enjoy the culture thats left in the neighborhood. As dancers in colorful headdresses bobbed and stepped to the beat of a drum, local luminaries stopped to watch along with everyone else. Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi, Sups. John Avalos and David Campos, Assembly Member Tom Ammiano, housing activist Sara Shortt, and a sister of Perpetual Indulgence showed up to the rally. Though they were all the usual suspects, there was something different about this march. A barely perceptible change, but there all the same.

There was hope.

“There’s been a lot of despair around seeing so many people unfairly pushed out, but people are starting to wake up,” Mani Drayton said. He’s an SF native who said he was “a Mustang” (he went to Lincoln High). He agreed that there were a lot more cheers and a lot more smiles than the usual SF protest. As the rally of folks made their way up to Mission street, he speculated on why.

Maybe it was the amount of kids in the crowd, maybe it was the good weather, he said, but maybe it was a newfound feeling of agency.

“I think there’s a positive vibe because a lot of people believe there’s a difference that can be made,” he said. He smiled, pushed up his glasses, and went back to marching with the crowd.

Thee Oh Sees, OBN III’s, and more shake up the Chapel

Tony Robles

-

October 14, 2013

0

Once (three years ago) I broke my wrist at a Thee Oh Sees show, and despite the gnawing pain from my misshapen wrist, I stayed to watch the rest of the set.

You see, you just don’t leave a Thee Oh Sees show early. It is a band you experience, because it’s not that often that you get the chance to see a band that enjoys what it’s doing quite so much, and may just want to pull you into the hectic fun.

My most recent encounter with Thee Oh Sees was last Thursday at the Chapel; the band was kicking off its sold-out, three-night residency with spooky electronic act Fryborg, proto-punk worshippers OBN III‘s and precise psych-rock band the Blind Shake.

Fryborg started as people began to file in to the Mission venue. A one-man act, Fryborg tinkered away on various sound boards with his back turned to the audience. Haunting, Halloween-like imagery was projected on to a screen behind the stage while he did his best to conjure up beats for the better part of 30 minutes. It was either hit-or-miss with the audience (as is with most acts of Fryborg’s ilk), with people either nodding along to the music or hitting the bar.

Next up was OBN III’s. The Austin, Texas based band is Stooges worship in the best way possible. The five-person outfit created a wall of sound that enveloped the audience. It was loud, dirty, and leaning on the edge of proto-punk. The frontperson and namesake of the band, Orville Bateman Neeley III, took notes from Iggy Pop with a confrontational stage manner, and straight-up pissy demeanor. The band shredded through its set with great voracity, and the audience ate it up.

Then a trio of bald men graced the stage. One person from the audience thought it was a crew setting up for Thee Oh Sees. But alas, it was not! It was the Blind Shake, a Minneapolis-based group that serves up intricate psych rock for all ages. Though the Blind Shake airs on the noisy side, that doesn’t stop it from cranking out songs with intense, military-like precision. Also of note: the band released a full-length on Castle Face Records this fall, dubbed Key To a False Door, which is worth checking out.

Finally San Francisco locals, Thee Oh Sees graced the stage. If one gazed upon the crowd-goers surrounding the stage, he or she would find that the people in attendance were nothing short of starry-eyed as the band dutifully prepared for its performance.

Now, accurately describing what a Thee Oh Sees show is like describing colors to a person who has never seen before. (Though I digress.) While I have seen the group numerous times by this point, there is something that always brings me back. It’s likely the effort that the band puts into its sets, and the kinetic energy it exudes that’s nothing less than infectious.

While the Thee Oh Sees played a combination of old songs and new tracks off newest release, Floating Coffin (Castle Face Records, 2013), a good portion of the audience danced and pogoed with the best of them.

No room left in San Francisco for an artist who helped make the Mission what is

Sasha Cuttler

-

October 11, 2013

74

After four decades living and creating art in the Mission, iconic San Francisco artist and curator Rene Yañez is being threatened with eviction.

Yañez made local history in 1972 when he brought Dia de los Muertos, the Mexican holiday honoring the dead, to San Francisco. The parade through the Mission District every Nov. 2 quickly became a Bay Area tradition, drawing thousands of people each year.

He founded the Galeria de la Raza and brought Latin America’s premier artists and photographers to showcase their work there. When the Museum of Modern Art rejected the work of a little-known Mexican woman, it was Yañez who gave a young Frida Kahlo a space to exhibit her paintings. He taught art classes for youths in the community and offered crucial support to many of the Mission’s mural projects.

In 1998, the San Francisco Foundation awarded Rene the “Special Trustees Award in Cultural Leadership.” Now, the man who has contributed so much to the culture of this city finds himself on the verge of being expelled from it.

Rene’s impending eviction from the house on San Jose Avenue where he has lived for the for 35 years is producing a fierce reaction. Fellow artist and personal friend Guillermo Gómez-Peña recently released an open letter expressing his outrage and rallying for public support of Rene’s cause.

“You are being physically and culturally evicted,” Gómez-Peña writes. “Shame on this city! Shame on the greedy landlords and politicians! Your sadness is ours…A city without Rene Yañez…can’t be called San Francisco.”

Gómez-Peña’s cry to action will be answered tomorrow (Sat/12) at 2pm at the Brava Theater on 24th Street with Our Mission: No Eviction, a march in protest of the Ellis Act, the law used to evict all of the tenants living in the five-unit house on San Jose, including Rene, his partner Cynthia, his former wife Yolanda, and his son Rio. (For more on tomorrow’s event and the city’s eviction trend, see our Politics blog).

On Saturday, Oct. 26, Brava Theater in the Mission will host “Our Mission: No Eviction!” a fundraiser in honor of Rene and Yolanda featuring art and performances. All proceeds from ticket sales to the event will go to the legal expenses of fighting the eviction, as well as Rene and Cynthia’s medical bills; both the artist and his partner are currently battling cancer.

“They were kind of at peace that this would be their home when they passed away, in the community they’ve put so much into,” Rio told us. “Cynthia could be dying or dead while they are in the process of moving.”

Under the Ellis Act, Rene and Cynthia qualify for a year-long postponement of their eviction because of their illness, a fact which their landlord, Sergio Iantorno of Golden Properties, LLC, neglected to tell Rene when he offered him $21,000 and a years’ free rent if he accepted his eviction immediately.

Consulting his lawyer, Raquel Fox, Yañez was informed about the legal extension and proceeded to successfully apply for it. Even without her advice, though, Yañez would not have accepted Iantorno’s offer. As Rio explained, that amount is nowhere near enough for Rene and Cynthia Yañez to get another place in San Francisco, especially in the neighborhood that they call home.

“They are in their 70s. They aren’t looking for a huge buyout so that they can start a new life,” Rio told us.

When their original landlord died 13 years ago, Yañez and his fellow tenants pooled their money to make a bid for the house. Golden Properties saw their offer, and doubled it. Now, they are banding together again to refuse Iantorno’s money and fight the eviction.

“I would rather take my chances and fight it,” Yañez told the Guardian. “And also I see it as resistance to what is going on and affecting a lot of people.”

On Oct. 1, the San Francisco Rent Board released its Annual Statistical Report for fiscal year 2012-2013. The report revealed a 36 percent increase in eviction notices since the year before. Evictions from rent-controlled apartments in particular are at an 11-year high.

The Ellis Act was used 81 percent more than last year, providing the basis for almost 10 percent of all evictions. The law was used with greatest frequency by landlords in the Mission District. Meanwhile, city public health officials estimate that someone earning minimum wage would need to work more than eight full-time jobs to be able to afford a two-bedroom apartment downtown.

“It is a disaster,” states Christopher Cook, an organizer with the nonprofit group Eviction Free Summer. “Individuals, families, and increasingly small businesses are being hammered by these twin tsunamis of evictions and dramatic rent increases. Those two factors have been driving people out of the city in ever greater numbers for the past 10 to 15 years.”

Gómez-Peña blames these changes on the mass of high-paid young people produced by the second dot-com boom. They may work in Silicon Valley, but they play in San Francisco, and this new class of wealthy young techies can and will pay any price to live in the city—especially the Mission District.

“I see them everyday, the hordes of iPad and iPhone texting zombies, oblivious to us and our lives, our inspirations and tribulations,” he writes. “I see them in my building and on the street, invading the city with an attitude of unchecked entitlement, taking over every square inch and squeezing out the last drops of otherness.”

It is no easy task to make room for all that wealth when the majority of the city’s residents are renters protected by law against unfair rent increases, landlord mistreatment, and unwarranted evictions. The actual strength of these safeguards may be waning, though, leading Gómez-Peña to warn the public in his letter that, “As renters our hours here are numbered.”

The only way to evict a tenant in San Francisco is by claiming one of 15 “just cause” reasons for removing them. Among those 15, the Ellis Act is something of a landlord’s dream date, skipping all the talking to get straight to the action—eviction. Established in 1985, the California law gives landlords the unconditional right to evict tenants if they are “going out of business.”

In order to implement the Ellis Act, a landlord must evict all of the tenants in his or her building, giving them 120 days notice, and wait five years before they can put the units back on the rental market at an increased price. However, the law does not prevent landlords from renting the units out as short-term lodgings, or converting them to be sold as one massive unit, tenancies in common or condominiums.

“Ellis Act evictions are impossible to fight,” admitted Ted Gullickson, the head of the San Francisco Tenants Union. This makes them an ideal weapon against rent control, which has allowed residents from lower income brackets to hold onto their homes in San Francisco for decades while the values of the real estate grew and grew. Even then, many tenants do not feel secure. Guerra has heard stories about people with rent control living for decades without hot water, working windows, heat, or even a stove. “To have this amazing rent control,” she concludes, “they put up with substandard living.”

When something broke in their building, Yañez and his family often did not even tell the landlord about it. If they did ask him to fix something, and he ignored their request, no complaints were ever made. “Because of rent control, we tried to keep a low profile,” Yañez acknowledges. “We tried not to bother the landlord or make too much of a fuss, because we did not want to find ourselves in this position.”

Rene has been aware of how precarious his situation is for years. Iantorno attempted to evict him multiple times. He watched as neighbors, nonprofit organizations, and local artists accepted their own eviction notices without a fight. When he first opened the Galeria in 1970, Yañez had a list of artists living in the Mission that neared 200 names. Today, it does not even reach 20.

“Since 2000, they’ve started this thing in the Mission,” he states. “They were very quiet about it at first, but now it’s accelerating. Willie Brown started it, this trend of redevelopment, eviction, displacing people without consideration. He opened up this gaping wound in the Mission, and now these developers are throwing salt on it, trying to kill the patient,” he chuckles. “People get really upset when somebody paints over a mural, like, ‘It has history, it has value, it’s been here for years,’ but they don’t have anything to say if the muralist gets evicted.”

Legally, there is not much that Yañez and his family can do in the coming year to stop their eviction. Even an advocate like Cook admits, “You can’t reverse an Ellis Act. All you can do is fight it, try to make it clear that it’s not worth the landlord’s while, that they’re gonna be in for a world of headaches, costs, and public shaming if they do this.”

Yañez has not accepted the eviction, but he is preparing for the worst, searching for a new home for Cynthia and himself. He continues to scour the Mission, in vain. “I love the Mission,” he explains. “I’ve been there 40 years. I adopted it, it adopted me. And it needs cultural preservation,” he says, curling his hands into fists that bang the air. “We saved the community from really greedy people who had absolutely no interest in who we were as a people. They just saw us as savages standing in the way of them making money. That attitude is still here. It’s actually worse than ever—unregulated and devastating. When I see the trucks moving people out, older people who have no idea where they’re going, sometimes they go downtown to the hotels—I just think it’s really heartless,” he finishes, his eyes wide in earnesty.

Guardian of San Francisco culture that he may be, Rene and Cynthia Yañez will be forced to leave the city in search of somewhere more affordable if their eviction occurs. In that event, there is little chance that the elderly man will be able to return to the city to curate SOMArts annual Dia de los Muertos exhibition as he has every year since he began it.

“I’m hoping that I can hang in. It’s a throw of the dice, but I still have some miles left in me,” he says, his eyes drooping wearily.

There is a chance that the exhibition, which opened today (Friday/11), might be Yañez’s last. Every year, he changes the theme. This November, the Dia de los Muertos exhibition is dedicated to all the living battling cancer, and all the dead for whom that battle is over. Each piece is haunting, and all together it is a stunning collection encompassing a range of ages and races to touch any and every person that sees it. Like a loved one lost to cancer, the exhibit leaves you wanting more, yet so grateful fpr what you have experienced.

His last or not, it is something that Yañez can be very proud of.

Anti-eviction rally in the Mission tomorrow supporting the Mission and Rene Yanez

Erica Hanna

-

October 11, 2013

78

Anti-eviction rally in the Mission tomorrow supporting the Mission and Rene Yanez

Tomorrow (Sat/12 at 2pm) advocates and defenders of working class San Francisco will march to protest a rash of recent Mission evictions, including the potential ouster of artists and activists Rene Yañez and Yolanda Lopez from their Mission district home.

The organizers want the mayor to declare a state of emergency in the city as the recent Ellis Act evictions have intensified — 125 Ellis Act eviction notices have been filed this year, with the most recent numbers going to the end of August, according to the SF Rent Board. But 175 requests for Ellis Act evictions were filed, meaning 70 percent of Ellis evictions were upheld. The march follows recent wins against gentrification, including blocking a Jack Spade store from opening in the Mission.

Organizer Roberto Y. Hernandez said that since he announced the march he’s been getting calls of support from all over the city, but most notably in Chinatown, the Bayview, and the Castro.

“I heard horror stories of what’s happening to the gay community in the Castro,” he said. “This doesn’t just affect the Mission, this affects the whole city.”

Each of those evictions represents a person or family whose ouster from their apartments may mean ouster from San Francisco altogether. Ellis evictions gained more notoriety this year, first with the plight of the Lee family and now the ouster of Mission artists Yañez and Lopez.

Yañez is widely credited with bringing the celebration of Day of the Dead to the city. He co-founded the Mission’s Galeria de la Raza and practiced art in his home of the Bay Area since the 60s. Now, while suffering from cancer, the 71 year old is being forced from the neighborhood he helped to shape. Lopez, his former wife, is an artist with deep roots in the Chicano/a movements of the ‘60s, and is facing eviction as well.

After 35 years in their home, the artists face the same plight as the Lee’s and even San Francisco’s local nonprofits — ouster in the face of the tech boom’s ever rising rents.

Rene Yañez’s son Rio is an established artist in his own right and rents a unit in the same building. Rio faces the same Ellis Act eviction as his father.

In an open letter to Yañez and the community, artist Guillermo Gómez-Peña wrote, “Rene, you are my artistic godfather and needless to say, you are an icon; the artistic Capo of the Bay Area Chicano movement…Our city has become a bohemian theme park for consumer fools with the latest gadgets in hand, but what happens when there are no more bohemians left?”

Juan Gonzalez, the founding publisher of the Mission’s local newspaper, El Tecolote, said that Yañez’s ouster from the neighborhood is part of a larger context.

“He’s a leading force, someone who puts his energy in making the city aware that Latinos are here and here to stay,” he said. And of the Mission’s slow but brutal gentrification, “It’s not right. There’s always going to be change, but to see this lost — I think the city as a whole will lose. I’m waiting for the city leaders, beyond our supervisors, to use their powers to stop what’s happening.”

One opportunity to call for change will happen tomorrow.

Honoring Rene Yanez/Yolanda Lopez at @sfbos, great artists facing an #EllisAct eviction after 35 yrs in the Mission. pic.twitter.com/ss8s7mcpi1

— David Campos (@DavidCamposSF) October 1, 2013

The march for Yañez and Yolanda Lopez, “Our Mission: No Eviction,” will hit the streets Saturday, Oct. 12 at 2pm at the Brava Theater, which is on 24th Street between Hampshire and York. The march will move towards Mission where they’ll hold a rally at the 24th street BART station.

“The mayor was involved in the I-Hotel movement back in the day, when they evicted my Asian brothers and sisters,” Hernandez said. “We’ve got to wake him up. I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt, but now he’s gotta move, he’s gotta do something.”

Later this month the Brava Theater will have a benefit for the family, and you can learn more about it here.

Activists score big victory as Jack Spade gives up on the Mission

Sasha Cuttler

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October 10, 2013

275

Score one for people power. Anti-gentrification activists in the Mission scored a major victory last night in their months-long battle to keep Jack Spade, an upscale men’s clothing chain, from opening a store on 16th Street — first by winning over the Board of Appeals, then by convincing the company to just give up.

So Jack Spade won’t be opening in the site of the old Adobe Book Store location near Valencia Street, an outcome engineered by the grassroots activism of the Stop Jack Spade Coalition, Valencia Corridor Merchants Association, and progressive politicians who supported the cause.

At issue at last night’s packed hearing was an appeal of the Planning Department’s ruling that Jack Spade didn’t fall under formula retail rules because it had one short of the 11 stores needed to meet the definition, even though it’s an expanding part of 5th and Pacific Co. and a brother brand to Kate Spade, which has dozens of stores around the country.

Activists considered it a long shot given the supermajority needed to overrule the decision and force a conditional use permit hearing before the store could open, particularly after falling short with the board in August. But this time, the activists won, with the board voting 4-1 to set a full rehearing for Dec. 11.

As representatives of the corporation left the hearing, they told a few activists and business owners that they “were done.” And when the Guardian reached 5th and Pacific CEO Bill McComb by email today, he confirmed that the company is giving up on this controversial location, where activists were concerned its deep-pocketed presence would accelerate gentrification of the neighborhood.

“[We’re] not going to war with the neighbors. We like those people and their neighborhood and we are not fighting the issue. There are many a fine location for Jack Spade. Peace to the city!” McComb wrote to us.

It was a thrilling surprise for the activists that have been organizing against the project for months, and it was reminiscent of the successful 2009 effort to stop American Apparel from opening up shop on Valencia, involving some of the same activists and organizing tactics.

“We’re very pleased about last night,” said Andy Blue, an activist working with local merchants. “We saw a significant shift in momentum and a tremendous community showing. It was clearly a victory for the neighborhood.”

It was a big turnaround from just a few weeks ago, when it looked like Jack Spade had won, and a sign of the rising importance of gentrification issues to San Franciscans who face rising residential and commercial rents fueled by the latest dot-com boom and Mayor Ed Lee’s corporate welfare policies.

“Six months ago, a lot of people in San Francisco felt powerless with the rapid displacement of residents,” said Blue. “It was like, ‘What can we do, you know?'”
But then, as Blue said, “the resistance started boiling up.”

The local merchants decided to appeal the Planning Department decision that would have allowed Jack Spade to simply open its doors with no public hearing. “So many people who were being affected by it started sharing their stories, and things started happening. People had had enough,” said Blue. “The San Francisco that we love is this diverse, unique place and we were watching it transform into something totally different.”

Simply getting to yesterday’s hearing was a huge step for the activist population standing up against the retailer, Blue said. But after the rehearing request was granted, the local merchants still needed to prove that “manifest injustice” had taken place during Jack Spade’s permit acquisition process if the merchants wanted the actual rehearing.

This presented a problem to the VCMA and others. To prove “manifest injustice” had taken place during the permit application process, the merchants needed to prove that Jack Spade not only applied for their permits under a dubious guise, but that they were well aware of just how dubious it was. To be manifestly unjust, the unfairness must be “direct, obvious and observable,” a list that isn’t always easy to satisfy.

While the two sides can’t seem to come to a consensus on how much the rent will actually increase in the surrounding area due to Jack Spade’s arrival, this controversy arose at a time when neighborhoods throughout the city have been rising up against gentrification.

And this may not be the last time that this company is in the crosshairs of that concern. Asked whether its decision applies to the whole city or just this one location, McComb told us, “Just that spot. We have many brand fans in SF.”

Activists try again to stop Jack Spade

Sasha Cuttler

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October 9, 2013

67

The fight to keep suspected formula retailer Jack Spade out of the Mission resumes this evening (Wed/9) when The Stop Jack Spade Coalition lays out it’s case against the men’s clothing chain before the Board of Appeals in an attempt to force the business to go through a conditional use permit hearing. [UPDATE: Activists say they won a big victory last night, not just winning that vote but maybe convincing Jack Spade to withdraw its application completely. We’re working on confirming things now and we’ll have more details soon.]

The new push against Jack Spade comes less than two months after an original appeal found the retailer not to be in violation of the neighborhood’s formula retail ban, with the opposition campaign getting written support of Sups. Eric Mar, John Avalos, and David Campos. They join a growing list of those opposed to the retailer, one that currently features former Board of Supervisors presidents Matt Gonzalez and Aaron Peskin and Assemblymember Tom Ammiano.

If the coalition is granted a rehearing, it will be the second time an appeal is heard on the matter. On Aug. 21, the Board of Appeals ruled against the retailer in a 3-2 majority decision, but the decision still lacked the four votes required to revoke the building permits.

Jack Spade — currently slated to rent the former Adobe Bookshop storefront at 3166 16th Street — was originally granted its business and building permits sans conditional use hearing, an act that was supposed to be unheard of for a prospective national retailer inside a neighborhood with a formula retail ban.

The 2004 formula retail ordinance requires a businesses to get a conditional use permit before moving into certain San Francisco neighborhoods if they meet the “formula retail” criteria. Part of that criteria states that a store can have no more than 11 “retail sales establishments located in the United States.” Jack Spade, pre-Mission store, has just 10 unique stores, which allowed them to circumvent the hearing process.

But according to 5th & Pacific’s public records, the holding company (formerly known as Liz Claiborne) that owns Jack Spade, the high-end men’s clothing store is not an independent business but rather a sub-brand of Kate Spade; a women’s clothing store with 94 locations in the United States alone.

The coalition opposing Jack Spade’s now-imminent Mission migration is using this piece of information as Exhibit A in their fight against the retailer. The coalition is claiming that by not acknowledging the fact that Jack Spade itself was part of a far larger corporation, the retailer violated the formula retail ban by claiming “independent business” status.

As the move-in date for the Mission’s unwanted addition grows near, the coalition has taken up the cause once again, mustering support from nearly every constituency available.

It will be bringing its revamped case to the Board of Appeals, this time with testimony seemingly focused on the misleading nature of Jack Spade’s classification as an “independent business.” That should prove to be an effective move for the coalition, because Jack Spade isn’t an independent business, and they don’t try to classify themselves as such outside of San Francisco.

In fact, according to 5th & Pacific’s 10-K filings with the SEC, the “Kate Spade brand offers fashion accessories for women under the Kate Spade and Kate Spade Saturday trademarks, and for men under the Jack Spade trademark.” The two brands even share the same CEO: Craig Leavitt. Declaring that the two companies are independent of each other based on product offering is like saying beef and milk are independent of other because they come from different parts of the cow.

Now, armed with an updated defense, the Coalition is taking a second stab at the appellate process, one they feel good about. In a letter to the Board, executive director of the Valencia Corridor Merchant Association (VCMA) Luis Granados said, “If the findings section were fully taken into account [last time], we believe the Board will see that Jack Spade is formula retail, as set forth under the law.”

Or as Gonzalez wrote in a letter to the Board of Appeals: “Issues of corporate ownership and/or corporate structure have been a matter of debate in previous hearings regarding Jack/Kate Spade’s permits. While nowhere in the planning code does it require the consideration of corporate ownership/structure, neither does the ordinance forbid a consideration of corporate ownership/structure. Indeed, in order to fulfill the clear intent of the law in a common sense manner, it will be necessary, in some cases, to consider corporate ownership/structure.

I urge you to grant the VCMA’s request for a rehearing of Jack/Kate Spade’s permits in order to prevent manifest injustice.”

And considering the momentum that the anti-Jack Spade movement is now gaining, the optimism isn’t unreasonable.

Activist Andy Blue, who helped organize the protest, acknowledged the high bar needed to overrule the flawed ruling by the Planning Department, telling us, “We’re cautiously optimistic, but it’s a long shot.”

Music Listings: Oct. 9-15, 2013

Tony Robles

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October 9, 2013

0

WEDNESDAY 9

ROCK

Bottom of the Hill: 1233 17th St., San Francisco. Coliseum, Red Hare, Kowloon Walled City, 9 p.m., $10-$12.

Brick & Mortar Music Hall: 1710 Mission, San Francisco. Minerva, Agria, Los Tiliches, 9 p.m., $5.

El Rio: 3158 Mission, San Francisco. Shannon & The Clams, Guantanamo Baywatch, The Chuckleberries, 9 p.m., $8.

Elbo Room: 647 Valencia, San Francisco. Religious Girls, Grill Cloth, Urthdance, Popgang DJs, 9 p.m., free.

Hemlock Tavern: 1131 Polk, San Francisco. Venkman, Bad Daddies, Brain Attack, No Business, 8:30 p.m., $5.

The Independent: 628 Divisadero, San Francisco. Fuck Buttons, 9 p.m., $18-$20.

Rickshaw Stop: 155 Fell, San Francisco. Iceage, The Videos, Cairo Pythian, DJ Omar, 8 p.m., $15.

Slim’s: 333 11th St., San Francisco. Anberlin, The Maine, Lydia, From Indian Lakes, 8 p.m., $26.

Yoshi’s San Francisco: 1330 Fillmore, San Francisco. The Winery Dogs, 10:30 p.m., $25-$30.

DANCE

The Cafe: 2369 Market, San Francisco. “Sticky Wednesdays,” w/ DJ Mark Andrus, 8 p.m., free.

Cat Club: 1190 Folsom, San Francisco. “Bondage A Go Go,” w/ DJs Damon, Tomas Diablo, & guests, 9:30 p.m., $5-$10.

Club X: 715 Harrison, San Francisco. “Electro Pop Rocks,” 18+ dance party with DJ Icon, more, 9 p.m., $10-$20.

DNA Lounge: 375 11th St., San Francisco. Book of Love, DJ Shindog, 9 p.m., $25-$30.

Edinburgh Castle: 950 Geary, San Francisco. “1964,” w/ DJ Matt B & guests, Second and Fourth Wednesday of every month, 10 p.m., $2.

The EndUp: 401 Sixth St., San Francisco. “Tainted Techno Trance,” 10 p.m.

F8: 1192 Folsom St., San Francisco. “Housepitality,” w/ Martin Landsky, Michael Perry, Sean Murray, Bob Campbell, 9 p.m., $5-$10.

Harlot: 46 Minna, San Francisco. “Qoöl,” 5 p.m.

Infusion Lounge: 124 Ellis, San Francisco. “Indulgence,” 10 p.m.

The Knockout: 3223 Mission, San Francisco. “Disorder,” w/ Warm Hands, Tuxedo Gleam, YLLW LDDRS, DJ Russell EL Butler, DJ Nickie, 10 p.m., $6.

Lookout: 3600 16th St., San Francisco. “What?,” w/ resident DJ Tisdale and guests, 7 p.m., free.

Madrone Art Bar: 500 Divisadero, San Francisco. “Rock the Spot,” 9 p.m., free.

MatrixFillmore: 3138 Fillmore, San Francisco. “Reload,” w/ DJ Big Bad Bruce, 10 p.m., free.

Q Bar: 456 Castro, San Francisco. “Booty Call,” w/ Juanita More, Joshua J, guests, 9 p.m., $3.

HIP-HOP

Double Dutch: 3192 16th St., San Francisco. “Cash IV Gold,” w/ DJs Kool Karlo, Roost Uno, and Sean G, 10 p.m., free.

Skylark Bar: 3089 16th St., San Francisco. “Mixtape Wednesday,” w/ resident DJs Strategy, Junot, Herb Digs, & guests, 9 p.m., $5.

ACOUSTIC

Bazaar Cafe: 5927 California, San Francisco. Steve Key, Kate Kilbane, Mike Annuzzi, Gary Garrett, 7 p.m.

Cafe Divine: 1600 Stockton, San Francisco. Craig Ventresco & Meredith Axelrod, 7 p.m., free.

The Chapel: 777 Valencia St., San Francisco. Keaton Henson, 9 p.m., $20-$22.

Club Deluxe: 1511 Haight, San Francisco. Happy Hour Bluegrass, 6:30 p.m., free.

Fiddler’s Green: 1333 Columbus, San Francisco. Terry Savastano, Every other Wednesday, 9:30 p.m., free/donation.

Hotel Utah: 500 Fourth St., San Francisco. Jared & The Mill, Jim Bianco, Amber Snider, 8 p.m., $10.

Union Square Park: 333 Post, San Francisco. The Anita Lofton Project, 12:30 p.m., free.

JAZZ

Amnesia: 853 Valencia, San Francisco. Gaucho, Eric Garland’s Jazz Session, The Amnesiacs, 7 p.m., free.

Burritt Room: 417 Stockton St., San Francisco. Terry Disley’s Rocking Jazz Trio, 6 p.m., free.

Jazz Bistro At Les Joulins: 44 Ellis, San Francisco. Charles Unger Experience, 7:30 p.m., free.

Le Colonial: 20 Cosmo, San Francisco. The Cosmo Alleycats featuring Ms. Emily Wade Adams, 7 p.m., free.

Oz Lounge: 260 Kearny, San Francisco. Hard Bop Collective, 6 p.m., free.

Revolution Cafe: 3248 22nd St., San Francisco. Michael Parsons Trio, Every other Wednesday, 8:30 p.m., free/donation.

The Rite Spot Cafe: 2099 Folsom, San Francisco. Shannon Wolfe with Grant Levin, 8:30 p.m., free.

Savanna Jazz Club: 2937 Mission, San Francisco. “Cat’s Corner,” 9 p.m., $10.

Top of the Mark: One Nob Hill, 999 California, San Francisco. Ricardo Scales, Wednesdays, 6:30-11:30 p.m., $5.

Zingari: 501 Post, San Francisco. Joan Getz, 7:30 p.m., free.

INTERNATIONAL

Biscuits and Blues: 401 Mason, San Francisco. Rolando Morales, 7 & 9 p.m., $15.

Bissap Baobab: 3372 19th St., San Francisco. Timba Dance Party, w/ DJ WaltDigz, 10 p.m., $5.

Cafe Cocomo: 650 Indiana, San Francisco. “Bachatalicious,” w/ DJs Good Sho & Rodney, 7 p.m., $5-$10.

Pachamama Restaurant: 1630 Powell, San Francisco. “Cafe LatinoAmericano,” 8 p.m., $5.

REGGAE

Boom Boom Room: 1601 Fillmore, San Francisco. Indubious, Native Elements, 9:30 p.m., $10.

BLUES

The Royal Cuckoo: 3202 Mission, San Francisco. Big Bones & Chris Siebert, 7:30 p.m., free.

The Saloon: 1232 Grant, San Francisco. P.A. Slim, 9:30 p.m.

EXPERIMENTAL

Explorist International: 3174 24th St., San Francisco. Music for People & Thingamajigs, w/ Octoplayer + 1, 6:30 p.m., free.

Meridian Gallery: 535 Powell, San Francisco. Music for People & Thingamajigs, w/ Bob Marsh (performing “The Spirit of Detroit”), 7:30 p.m., $10-$20.

FUNK

Vertigo: 1160 Polk, San Francisco. “Full Tilt Boogie,” w/ KUSF-in-Exile DJs, Second Wednesday of every month, 8 p.m.-1:30 a.m., free.

SOUL

Yoshi’s San Francisco: 1330 Fillmore, San Francisco. Alice Russell, 8 p.m., $20.

THURSDAY 10

ROCK

Boom Boom Room: 1601 Fillmore, San Francisco. Pamela Parker Band, Jelly Bread, 9:30 p.m., $10-$12.

Bottom of the Hill: 1233 17th St., San Francisco. French Cassettes, The Lower 48, Survival Guide, 9 p.m., $10.

Brick & Mortar Music Hall: 1710 Mission, San Francisco. Heart of the Whale, Cash for Gold, Ultra Violent Rays, Dum Spiro Spero, 8 p.m., $10.

The Chapel: 777 Valencia St., San Francisco. Thee Oh Sees, OBN III’s, The Blind Shake, Fryborg, 8:30 p.m., $15-$18.

DNA Lounge: 375 11th St., San Francisco. We Came As Romans; Silverstein; Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!; The Color Morale; Dangerkids, 6 p.m., $20-$23.

S.F. Eagle: 398 12th St., San Francisco. Thursday Nite Live: Hammers of Misfortune, Hazzard’s Cure, Serpents of Dawn, 9 p.m., $10.

Hemlock Tavern: 1131 Polk, San Francisco. Command Control, Momotaro, What Fun Life Was, 8:30 p.m., $6.

The Independent: 628 Divisadero, San Francisco. J. Roddy Walston & The Business, Gringo Star, 8 p.m., $12.

The Knockout: 3223 Mission, San Francisco. Lord Nasty & The Seekers of Perversion, White Barons, Sweat Lodge, DJ Crappleton, 10 p.m., $8.

Rickshaw Stop: 155 Fell, San Francisco. “Popscene,” w/ Houses, Amp Live, Okta Logue, 9:30 p.m., $12-$14.

San Franpsycho: 505 Divisadero St., San Francisco. “Buried Treasure,” Treasure Island Music Fest Pop-Up Shop concert with Meat Market, Fine Steps, DJ Ben Van Houten, more, 6 p.m., $3.

SFSU Campus/Cesar Chavez Student Center: 1650 Holloway, San Francisco. Radiation City, Social Studies, Look!, Edward’s Crossing, 6 p.m., free.

Thee Parkside: 1600 17th St., San Francisco. “NOT Made in the U.S.A.,” w/ Exile Parade, The Novocaines, The Copper Gamins., 9 p.m., $10.

DANCE

Abbey Tavern: 4100 Geary, San Francisco. DJ Schrobi-Girl, 10 p.m., free.

Audio Discotech: 316 11th St., San Francisco. “Phonic,” w/ MAKJ, Ron Reeser, Alexx Adam, Brenn Wilson, 9:30 p.m.

Aunt Charlie’s Lounge: 133 Turk, San Francisco. “Tubesteak Connection,” w/ DJ Bus Station John, 9 p.m., $5-$7.

The Cafe: 2369 Market, San Francisco. “¡Pan Dulce!,” 9 p.m., $5.

Cat Club: 1190 Folsom, San Francisco. “Throwback Thursdays,” ‘80s night with DJs Damon, Steve Washington, Dangerous Dan, and guests, 9 p.m., $6 (free before 9:30 p.m.).

The Cellar: 685 Sutter, San Francisco. “XO,” w/ DJs Astro & Rose, 10 p.m., $5.

Club X: 715 Harrison, San Francisco. “The Crib,” 9:30 p.m., $10, 18+.

Danzhaus: 1275 Connecticut, San Francisco. “Alt.Dance,” Second Thursday of every month, 7 p.m., $7, 18+.

DNA Lounge: 375 11th St., San Francisco. “8bitSF,” w/ Starpause, Bleeds, Wizwars, DJ Mr. Smith, 9 p.m., $8-$11.

Elbo Room: 647 Valencia, San Francisco. “Afrolicious,” w/ DJs Pleasuremaker, Señor Oz, and live guests, 9:30 p.m., $5-$8.

Harlot: 46 Minna, San Francisco. “Set,” w/ Guy J, Darren Grayson, Matt Hubert, 9 p.m., $10.

Infusion Lounge: 124 Ellis, San Francisco. “I Love Thursdays,” 10 p.m., $10.

Madrone Art Bar: 500 Divisadero, San Francisco. “Night Fever,” 9 p.m., $5 after 10 p.m.

Mighty: 119 Utah, San Francisco. “Stereo,” w/ Le1f, Lakutis, Matrixxman, WolfBitch, 9 p.m., $15 advance.

Q Bar: 456 Castro, San Francisco. “Throwback Thursday,” w/ DJ Jay-R, 9 p.m., free.

Raven: 1151 Folsom St., San Francisco. “1999,” w/ VJ Mark Andrus, 8 p.m., free.

Ruby Skye: 420 Mason, San Francisco. “Awakening,” w/ DJ Bl3nd, 9 p.m., $15-$20 advance.

The Tunnel Top: 601 Bush, San Francisco. “Tunneltop,” DJs Avalon and Derek ease you into the weekend with a cool and relaxed selection of tunes spun on vinyl, 10 p.m., free.

Underground SF: 424 Haight, San Francisco. “Bubble,” 10 p.m., free.

Vessel: 85 Campton, San Francisco. “Base,” w/ Shonky, Alessandro, 10 p.m., $5-$10.

HIP-HOP

1015 Folsom: 1015 Folsom St., San Francisco. 2Racks Rap Contest, presented by Sellassie, 8 p.m., $20.

Eastside West: 3154 Fillmore, San Francisco. “Throwback Thursdays,” w/ DJ Madison, 9 p.m., free.

The EndUp: 401 Sixth St., San Francisco. “Cypher,” w/ resident DJ Big Von, 10 p.m., $5-$10.

John Colins: 138 Minna, San Francisco. “Party with Friends,” w/ resident DJs IllEfect, GeektotheBeat, Merrick, and Delrokz, Second Thursday of every month, 9 p.m., free.

Neck of the Woods: 406 Clement St., San Francisco. “Skratchpad,” Second Thursday of every month, 10 p.m., free.

Park 77 Sports Bar: 77 Cambon, San Francisco. “Slap N Tite,” w/ resident Cali King Crab DJs Sabotage Beats & Jason Awesome, free.

Skylark Bar: 3089 16th St., San Francisco. “Peaches,” w/lady DJs DeeAndroid, Lady Fingaz, That Girl, Umami, Inkfat, and Andre, 10 p.m., free.

ACOUSTIC

Amnesia: 853 Valencia, San Francisco. Anna Ash, Wooden Suns, DonCat, 9 p.m., $7-$10.

Cafe Du Nord: 2170 Market, San Francisco. Houndmouth, Andrew Combs, 9 p.m., $12.

Plough & Stars: 116 Clement, San Francisco. John Caufield, 9 p.m.

Rebel: 1760 Market, San Francisco. Bobby Jo Valentine, Stephen Leonard & Manny Capozzi, $10.

JAZZ

Blush! Wine Bar: 476 Castro, San Francisco. Doug Martin’s Avatar Ensemble, 7:30 p.m., free.

Bottle Cap: 1707 Powell, San Francisco. The North Beach Sound with Ned Boynton, Jordan Samuels, and Tom Vickers, 7 p.m., free.

Cafe Claude: 7 Claude, San Francisco. Dick Fregulia’s Good Vibes Trio, 7:30 p.m., free.

Cafe Royale: 800 Post, San Francisco. West Side Jazz Club, 9 p.m.

Cigar Bar & Grill: 850 Montgomery, San Francisco. Sara & Swingtime, 8 p.m.

Le Colonial: 20 Cosmo, San Francisco. Steve Lucky & The Rhumba Bums, 7:30 p.m.

The Royal Cuckoo: 3202 Mission, San Francisco. Chris Siebert, 7:30 p.m., free.

Savanna Jazz Club: 2937 Mission, San Francisco. Savanna Jazz Jam with Eddy Ramirez, 7:30 p.m., $5.

SFJAZZ Center: 205 Franklin St., San Francisco. “Hotplate,” w/ Si Perkoff (playing Thelonious Monk’s Brilliant Corners), 8 & 9:30 p.m.

Top of the Mark: One Nob Hill, 999 California, San Francisco. Stompy Jones, 7:30 p.m., $10.

Zingari: 501 Post, San Francisco. Barbara Ochoa, 7:30 p.m., free.

INTERNATIONAL

Bissap Baobab: 3372 19th St., San Francisco. “Pa’Lante!,” w/ Juan G, El Kool Kyle, Mr. Lucky, 10 p.m., $5.

Cafe Cocomo: 650 Indiana, San Francisco. Salson, DJ Good Sho, 8 p.m., $12.

Pachamama Restaurant: 1630 Powell, San Francisco. “Jueves Flamencos,” 8 p.m., free.

Slim’s: 333 11th St., San Francisco. Los Texmaniacs, Blanca, 8 p.m., $21.

Verdi Club: 2424 Mariposa, San Francisco. The Verdi Club Milonga, w/ Christy Coté, DJ Emilio Flores, guests, 9 p.m., $10-$15.

REGGAE

Make-Out Room: 3225 22nd St., San Francisco. “Festival ‘68,” w/ Revival Sound System, Second Thursday of every month, 10 p.m., free.

Pissed Off Pete’s: 4528 Mission St., San Francisco. Reggae Thursdays, w/ resident DJ Jah Yzer, 9 p.m., free.

BLUES

50 Mason Social House: 50 Mason, San Francisco. Bill Phillippe, 5:30 p.m., free.

Biscuits and Blues: 401 Mason, San Francisco. Chris Cain, 7 & 9 p.m., $20.

Jazz Bistro At Les Joulins: 44 Ellis, San Francisco. Bohemian Knuckleboogie, 7:30 p.m., free.

The Saloon: 1232 Grant, San Francisco. Tom Bowers, 4 p.m.; Cathy Lemons, 9:30 p.m.

EXPERIMENTAL

Exploratorium: Pier 15, San Francisco. Resonance: Selections from Antarctica – Music from the Ice, w/ Cheryl E. Leonard & Phillip Greenlief, 7 p.m.

The Luggage Store: 1007 Market, San Francisco. French Radio, Dapplegray, 8 p.m., $6-$10.

SOUL

Amoeba Music: 1855 Haight, San Francisco. Alice Russell, 5 p.m., free.

Yoshi’s San Francisco: 1330 Fillmore, San Francisco. Alice Russell, 8 p.m., $22.

FRIDAY 11

ROCK

Amnesia: 853 Valencia, San Francisco. The We Shared Milk, Old Age, 6:30 p.m., $7.

Bottom of the Hill: 1233 17th St., San Francisco. Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside, Wooden Indian Burial Ground, Down Dirty Shake, 9:30 p.m., $12-$14.

Cafe Du Nord: 2170 Market, San Francisco. No Captains, Build them to Break, The Bruises, Orchid Belly Dance, 9 p.m., $10.

The Chapel: 777 Valencia St., San Francisco. Thee Oh Sees, OBN III’s, The Blind Shake, Old Light, 8:30 p.m., $15-$18.

Elbo Room: 647 Valencia, San Francisco. Sabbat, Antebellum, Invocation War, Cardinal Wyrm, 9 p.m., $12-$15.

Hemlock Tavern: 1131 Polk, San Francisco. Tjutjuna, Permanent Collection, Groonies, 9:30 p.m., $7.

The Independent: 628 Divisadero, San Francisco. An Evening with Steve Kilbey & Greg Dulli, plus Alain Johannes., $30.

Rickshaw Stop: 155 Fell, San Francisco. Mike Donovan, Tal National, BreakArts, G. Green, 8 p.m., $10.

Thee Parkside: 1600 17th St., San Francisco. Cold Eskimo, Telenovela, St. Marie of the Sea, 9 p.m., $8.

DANCE

1015 Folsom: 1015 Folsom St., San Francisco. Mr. Oizo, MPHD, DJ Dials, Mophono, Niteppl, 10 p.m., $17.50 advance.

Amnesia: 853 Valencia, San Francisco. “Indie Slash,” w/ DJs Danny White & Rance, 10 p.m., $5.

Audio Discotech: 316 11th St., San Francisco. Plastic Plates, Bit Funk, Lane 8, 9:30 p.m.

Balancoire: 2565 Mission St., San Francisco. “Heavy Duty,” w/ DJ Spun, DJ Jenö, Cosmic D, 9 p.m., $10 (free before 11 p.m.).

BeatBox: 314 11th St., San Francisco. “Werq,” w/ DJ Escape, 10 p.m., $5-$10.

Cafe Flore: 2298 Market, San Francisco. “Kinky Beats,” w/ DJ Sergio, 10 p.m., free.

The Cafe: 2369 Market, San Francisco. “Boy Bar,” w/ DJ Matt Consola, 9 p.m., $5.

Cat Club: 1190 Folsom, San Francisco. “Dark Shadows: Second Annual Masquerade Ball,” w/ DJs Daniel Skellington, Panic, Melting Girl, and Joe Radio, 9:30 p.m., $7 ($3 before 10 p.m.).

The Cellar: 685 Sutter, San Francisco. “F.T.S.: For the Story,” 10 p.m.

DNA Lounge: 375 11th St., San Francisco. “Turbo Drive,” w/ Delorean Overdrive, Kat Haus, Devon, MyKill, Sparkle, Tracer, Fact.50, Mr. Smith, 9:30 p.m., $8.

The EndUp: 401 Sixth St., San Francisco. “Fever,” 10 p.m., free before midnight.

F8: 1192 Folsom St., San Francisco. “Vintage,” w/ DJ Toph One & guests, 5 p.m., free; “Hidden Measure: 1-Year Anniversary,” w/ Gary Beck, Memnok, Mac Vaughn, Daya, Nayive, Thomas Treffry, Symn Bnjmn, 9 p.m., $12-$25.

The Grand Nightclub: 520 4th St., San Francisco. “We Rock Fridays,” 9:30 p.m.

Infusion Lounge: 124 Ellis, San Francisco. “Escape Fridays,” 10 p.m., $20.

Lone Star Saloon: 1354 Harrison, San Francisco. “Cubcake,” w/ DJ Medic, Second Friday of every month, 9 p.m.

Lookout: 3600 16th St., San Francisco. “HYSL,” 9 p.m., $3.

Manor West: 750 Harrison, San Francisco. “Fortune Fridays,” 10 p.m., free before 11 p.m. with RSVP.

MatrixFillmore: 3138 Fillmore, San Francisco. “F-Style Fridays,” w/ DJ Jared-F, 9 p.m.

Mighty: 119 Utah, San Francisco. VibeSquaD, Freddy Todd, Bogl, Ryury, 10 p.m., $10 advance.

Monarch: 101 6th St., San Francisco. No Regular Play, Ghosts on Tape, Kimmy Le Funk, 9:30 p.m., $10-$20.

OMG: 43 6th St., San Francisco. “Release,” 9 p.m., free before 11 p.m.

Public Works: 161 Erie, San Francisco. “Modular,” w/ Stephan Bodzin, Pedro Arbulu, MFYRS (in the main room), 9:30 p.m., $12-$20; “Odyssey: 2-Year Anniversary,” w/ Eli Escobar, Lloydski, Robin Simmons (in the OddJob Loft), 9:30 p.m., $10.

Q Bar: 456 Castro, San Francisco. “Pump: Worq It Out Fridays,” w/ resident DJ Christopher B, 9 p.m., $3.

Qi Ultra Lounge: 917 Folsom St., San Francisco. Fourth Annual Fleet or Flight, Edgewood Center for Children & Families benefit with DJ Chucky Brown, presented by the Spinsters of San Francisco., 8 p.m., $30-$40 advance.

Ruby Skye: 420 Mason, San Francisco. Emma Hewitt, Ben Gold, 9 p.m., $20-$25 advance.

Showdown: 10 Sixth St., San Francisco. “Electric WKND,” w/ The Certain People Crew, Second Friday of every month, 10 p.m., free.

Slide: 430 Mason, San Francisco. “E2F,” Second Friday of every month, 9 p.m.

Underground SF: 424 Haight, San Francisco. “Bionic,” 10 p.m., $5.

Vessel: 85 Campton, San Francisco. “A Night with Skills,” w/ Dyloot, John Beaver, Blix Cannon, 10 p.m.

Wish: 1539 Folsom, San Francisco. “Bridge the Gap,” w/ resident DJ Don Kainoa, Fridays, 6-10 p.m., free.

HIP-HOP

EZ5: 682 Commercial, San Francisco. “Decompression,” Fridays, 5-9 p.m.

Hotel Utah: 500 Fourth St., San Francisco. “Poets & Empowerment,” w/ Aima the Dreamer, Davu Flint, Khafre Jay, Champlu, 9 p.m., $10.

John Colins: 138 Minna, San Francisco. “Heartbeat,” w/ resident DJ Strategy, Second Friday of every month, 9 p.m., $5 (free before 11 p.m).

Slate Bar: 2925 16th St., San Francisco. “The Hustle,” w/ DJs Sake One & Sean G, Second Friday of every month, 9 p.m.

Slim’s: 333 11th St., San Francisco. Roach Gigz, Husalah, Bobby Brackins, The Goomba Circus, DJ Skimask, 9 p.m., $19.

ACOUSTIC

Bazaar Cafe: 5927 California, San Francisco. Eve Fleishman & Joe Rathbone, 7 p.m.

Brick & Mortar Music Hall: 1710 Mission, San Francisco. Lucy Rose, Dresses, Magic Magic Roses, 9 p.m., $10-$12.

The Lost Church: 65 Capp St., San Francisco. Brian Belknap, 8 p.m., $10.

Plough & Stars: 116 Clement, San Francisco. Rain or Shine, Charley Crockett, 9 p.m.

The Sports Basement: 610 Old Mason, San Francisco. “Breakfast with Enzo,” w/ Enzo Garcia, 10 a.m., $5.

JAZZ

Beach Chalet Brewery & Restaurant: 1000 Great Highway, San Francisco. Johnny Smith, 8 p.m., free.

Bird & Beckett: 653 Chenery, San Francisco. Jimmy Ryan Quintet, Second Friday of every month, 5:30 p.m., free.

Cafe Claude: 7 Claude, San Francisco. Nick Rossi Trio, 7:30 p.m., free.

Cafe Royale: 800 Post, San Francisco. Ken Husbands Jazz Trio, 9 p.m.

Cliff House: 1090 Point Lobos, San Francisco. Dick Fregulia’s Good Vibes Quartet, 7 p.m.

Jazz Bistro At Les Joulins: 44 Ellis, San Francisco. Charles Unger Experience, 7:30 p.m., free.

The Rite Spot Cafe: 2099 Folsom, San Francisco. Conscious Contact, 9 p.m., free.

The Royal Cuckoo: 3202 Mission, San Francisco. Wil Blades & Jack Tone Riordan, 7:30 p.m., free.

Savanna Jazz Club: 2937 Mission, San Francisco. Jim Butler Group, 7:30 p.m., $8.

Top of the Mark: One Nob Hill, 999 California, San Francisco. Black Market Jazz Orchestra, 9 p.m., $10.

Yoshi’s San Francisco: 1330 Fillmore, San Francisco. The Messenger Legacy, featuring Ralph Peterson, Donald Harrison, Brian Lynch, Billy Pierce, Donald Brown, and Reggie Workman., 8 & 10 p.m., $25-$31.

Zingari: 501 Post, San Francisco. Joyce Grant, 8 p.m., free.

INTERNATIONAL

Bissap Baobab: 3372 19th St., San Francisco. “Paris-Dakar African Mix Coupe Decale,” 10 p.m., $5.

Boom Boom Room: 1601 Fillmore, San Francisco. Debauche, Juno What?!, 9:30 p.m., $15 advance.

Cafe Cocomo: 650 Indiana, San Francisco. Taste Fridays, featuring local cuisine tastings, salsa bands, dance lessons, and more, 7:30 p.m., $15 (free entry to patio).

Cigar Bar & Grill: 850 Montgomery, San Francisco. Mazacote, 8 p.m.

Pachamama Restaurant: 1630 Powell, San Francisco. Cuban Night with Fito Reinoso, 7:30 & 9:15 p.m., $15-$18.

Red Poppy Art House: 2698 Folsom, San Francisco. Colm Ó Riain, 7:30 p.m., $15-$20.

San Francisco Community Music Center: 544 Capp, San Francisco. Alejandro Ziegler Quartet, 8 p.m., $10-$15.

REGGAE

Gestalt Haus: 3159 16th St., San Francisco. “Music Like Dirt,” 7:30 p.m., free.

BLUES

Biscuits and Blues: 401 Mason, San Francisco. Kim Nalley Blues Band, 7:30 & 10 p.m., $24.

The Saloon: 1232 Grant, San Francisco. Jinx Jones & The KingTones, 4 p.m.; Delta Wires, 9:30 p.m.

EXPERIMENTAL

Meridian Gallery: 535 Powell, San Francisco. Music for People & Thingamajigs, w/ Voicehandler, Bryan Day, 8 p.m., $10-$15.

FUNK

Make-Out Room: 3225 22nd St., San Francisco. “Loose Joints,” w/ DJs Centipede, Damon Bell, & Tom Thump, 10 p.m., $5.

SOUL

Edinburgh Castle: 950 Geary, San Francisco. “Soul Crush,” w/ DJ Serious Leisure, 10 p.m., free.

The Knockout: 3223 Mission, San Francisco. “Nightbeat,” w/ DJs Primo, Lucky, and Dr. Scott, Second Friday of every month, 10 p.m., $4.

Madrone Art Bar: 500 Divisadero, San Francisco. “Yo Momma: M.O.M. Weekend Edition,” w/ DJ Gordo Cabeza, Second Friday of every month, 9 p.m., $5 (free before 10 p.m.).

The Ramp: 855 Terry Francois, San Francisco. “Soul Soirée,” w/ The Tony Saunders Band, 6 p.m.

SATURDAY 12

ROCK

Amnesia: 853 Valencia, San Francisco. Big Still, Roger!, 6 p.m.

Bender’s: 806 S. Van Ness, San Francisco. Castle, Wild Eyes, 10 p.m., $5.

Bottom of the Hill: 1233 17th St., San Francisco. Guitar Wolf, The Coathangers, Coward, 9:30 p.m., $13-$15.

The Chapel: 777 Valencia St., San Francisco. Thee Oh Sees, OBN III’s, The Blind Shake, Dreamsalon, 8:30 p.m., $15-$18.

Connecticut Yankee: 100 Connecticut, San Francisco. Andrea & The Bad Sugar Daddies, Pelicanopolis, 10 p.m.

El Rio: 3158 Mission, San Francisco. The Spyrals, Hot Lunch, Cool Ghouls, Feral Ohms, 4 p.m., $8.

Hemlock Tavern: 1131 Polk, San Francisco. Peace Creep, Gaytheist, Monogamy Party, Sex Snobs, 9 p.m., $7.

Hotel Utah: 500 Fourth St., San Francisco. Dylan Fox & The Wave, The Cabin Project, Wes Fox & The Loons, 9 p.m., $10.

The Independent: 628 Divisadero, San Francisco. Marky Ramone’s Blitzkrieg with Andrew W.K., Figo, The Meat Sluts, 9 p.m., $25.

The Knockout: 3223 Mission, San Francisco. The Bar Feeders, Pollo Del Mar, Virgil Shaw, 10 p.m., $5.

Slim’s: 333 11th St., San Francisco. The Pretty Reckless, Heaven’s Basement, Louna, 9 p.m., $16.

DANCE

Amnesia: 853 Valencia, San Francisco. “2 Men Will Move You,” w/ DJs Primo & Jordan, Second Saturday of every month, 9 p.m.

Audio Discotech: 316 11th St., San Francisco. Treasure Fingers, Spektor, Manics, 9:30 p.m.

Balancoire: 2565 Mission St., San Francisco. “Play It Cool,” w/ Lovefingers, Guillaume Galuz, Matthew Howell, Derek Opperman, Avalon Emerson, 9 p.m., $5.

BeatBox: 314 11th St., San Francisco. “Bearracuda: Underwear Party,” w/ DJs Russ Rich & Matt Stands, 9 p.m., $6-$10.

Cafe Flore: 2298 Market, San Francisco. “Bistrotheque,” w/ DJ Ken Vulsion, 8 p.m., free.

California Academy of Sciences: 55 Music Concourse, San Francisco. SFAF Tribute Celebration, The San Francisco AIDS Foundation takes over the museum with a dinner program honoring Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, MD, followed by an after-party with cocktails plus music by DJ Josh Cheon., 6 p.m., $75-$500.

Cat Club: 1190 Folsom, San Francisco. “Club Gossip: We Love Siouxsie,” w/ DJs Melting Girl, Daniel Skellington, Damon, Shon, and Ryan B, 9 p.m., $5-$8 (free before 9:30 p.m.).

DNA Lounge: 375 11th St., San Francisco. “Bootie S.F.,” w/ Elocnep, A+D, Ding Dong, Haute Mess, Ernie Trevino, JoeJoe, Myster C, Mr. Washington, Hubba Hubba Revue, more, 9 p.m., $10-$15.

S.F. Eagle: 398 12th St., San Francisco. “Sadistic Saturdays,” Second Saturday of every month, 10 p.m., free.

The EndUp: 401 Sixth St., San Francisco. “Eclectricity,” Second Saturday of every month, 10 p.m.

The Hot Spot: 1414 Market, San Francisco. “Love Will Fix It,” w/ DJ Bus Station John, Second Saturday of every month, 10 p.m., $5.

Infusion Lounge: 124 Ellis, San Francisco. “One Way Ticket Saturdays,” w/ Eric D-Lux, Second Saturday of every month, 10 p.m., $20.

The Knockout: 3223 Mission, San Francisco. “Galaxy Radio,” w/ resident DJs Smac, Emils, Holly B, and guests, Second Saturday of every month, 9 p.m.

Lookout: 3600 16th St., San Francisco. “Pink Mammoth Marathon,” w/ David Harness, MoeMoe, Zach Walker, RawC, Derek Hena, 4 p.m., free before 9 p.m.

Madrone Art Bar: 500 Divisadero, San Francisco. “Music Video Night,” w/ DJs Satva & 4AM, Second Saturday of every month, 10 p.m., $5.

Mezzanine: 444 Jessie, San Francisco. “Tormenta Tropical,” w/ Jubilee, Oro11, Deejay Theory, 10 p.m., $5-$10.

Mighty: 119 Utah, San Francisco. “Salted,” w/ Miguel Migs, Julius Papp, guests, Second Saturday of every month, 10 p.m., $10 before 11 p.m.

Monarch: 101 6th St., San Francisco. Disco Knights, Anthony Mansfield, DJ M3, Shiny Objects, 9 p.m.

OMG: 43 6th St., San Francisco. “Fixup,” Second Saturday of every month, 10 p.m., free before 11 p.m.

Public Works: 161 Erie, San Francisco. “Distrikt: Pre-Decompression,” w/ Ben Seagren, Matt Kramer, Darren Grayson, Paul Geddes, Brett Rubin, Syd Gris, Tamo, Jamie Schwabl, Atron, Peter Blick (in the main room), 9 p.m., $10-$20.

Q Bar: 456 Castro, San Francisco. “Shoop!,” w/ DJs Tommy T & Bryan B, 9 p.m.

Qi Ultra Lounge: 917 Folsom St., San Francisco. Dark Beauty Magazine Halloween Party, With music by Pixel Memory, Meikee Magnetic, and Creepy B, plus fashion shows, burlesque, more., 9 p.m., $8.

Rickshaw Stop: 155 Fell, San Francisco. “Cockblock: Super Heroes vs. Villains,” w/ DJs C-Lektra & Kidd Sysko, 10 p.m., $10.

Ruby Skye: 420 Mason, San Francisco. “World Town,” w/ Qulinez, Norman Doray, Trevor Simpson, 9 p.m., $20 advance.

Slate Bar: 2925 16th St., San Francisco. “The KissGroove S.F.,” w/ DJ Vinroc & The Whooligan, Second Saturday of every month, 10 p.m., free.

SOMA StrEat Food Park: 428 11th St., San Francisco. “Local Flavour,” w/ DJs Tyrel Williams, Blue Soul, Dao & Pwny, Benjamin Vallery, Andy Kershaw, Bob Campbell, Darrell Tenaglia, Menage à Moi, and more, plus local art and food, noon-midnight, free.

The Stud: 399 Ninth St., San Francisco. “Frolic: A Celebration of Costume & Dance,” w/ resident DJ NeonBunny, Second Saturday of every month, 8 p.m., $8 ($4 in costume).

Sub-Mission Art Space (Balazo 18 Gallery): 2183 Mission, San Francisco. “Warm Leatherette,” w/ Profligate, Samantha Vacation, Justin Anastasi, Nihar, Jason P, Dreamweapon, 10 p.m., $10.

Temple: 540 Howard, San Francisco. Dirtyloud, Lucas Med, BMFJ, Wes Kraven, J-Trip, DVS, 10 p.m., $20.

Vessel: 85 Campton, San Francisco. Tristan Garner, Clinton VanSciver, 10 p.m., $10-$30.

Wish: 1539 Folsom, San Francisco. “All Styles & Smiles,” w/ DJ Tom Thump, Second Saturday of every month, 10 p.m., free.

HIP-HOP

111 Minna Gallery: 111 Minna St., San Francisco. “Back to the ‘90s,” Second Saturday of every month, 9:30 p.m., $10.

Brick & Mortar Music Hall: 1710 Mission, San Francisco. “The 45 Sessions,” w/ DJ Platurn & Deejay Saurus, 10 p.m., free.

Double Dutch: 3192 16th St., San Francisco. “Cash IV Gold,” w/ DJs Kool Karlo, Roost Uno, and Sean G, Second Saturday of every month, 10 p.m., free.

John Colins: 138 Minna, San Francisco. “Second Saturdays,” w/ resident DJ Matt Cali, Second Saturday of every month, 10 p.m., free.

Milk Bar: 1840 Haight, San Francisco. CBG (Chill Black Guys), 9 p.m., $5.

Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts: 2868 Mission, San Francisco. Raices del Barrio, MCCLA benefit with music by Cempoalli 20, Kaila Love, Chhoti Maa, and MADlines., 7:30 p.m., $13.

Showdown: 10 Sixth St., San Francisco. “The Shit Show,” w/ resident DJ Taurus Scott, Second Saturday of every month, 10 p.m., two for $5.

ACOUSTIC

Atlas Cafe: 3049 20th St., San Francisco. Craig Ventresco & Meredith Axelrod, Saturdays, 4-6 p.m., free.

Brick & Mortar Music Hall: 1710 Mission, San Francisco. Luce, Victoria George, David Luning, 9 p.m., $12-$15.

Cafe Du Nord: 2170 Market, San Francisco. Joe Pug, Vandaveer, K.C. Turner, 9:30 p.m., $12-$14.

The Riptide: 3639 Taraval, San Francisco. Rustangs, 9:30 p.m., free.

Thee Parkside: 1600 17th St., San Francisco. Austin Lucas, Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires, TV Mike & The Scarecrowes, 9 p.m., $10.

JAZZ

Cafe Claude: 7 Claude, San Francisco. The Monroe Trio, 7:30 p.m., free.

Cafe Royale: 800 Post, San Francisco. JBM Jazz Group, 9 p.m.

Cigar Bar & Grill: 850 Montgomery, San Francisco. Josh Jones Latin Jazz Ensemble, 8 p.m.

Jazz Bistro At Les Joulins: 44 Ellis, San Francisco. Bill “Doc” Webster & Jazz Nostalgia, 7:30 p.m., free.

The Royal Cuckoo: 3202 Mission, San Francisco. Steve Lucky & Carmen Getit, 7:30 p.m., free.

Savanna Jazz Club: 2937 Mission, San Francisco. Gina Harris & Torbie Phillips, 7:30 p.m., $8.

Sheba Piano Lounge: 1419 Fillmore, San Francisco. The Robert Stewart Experience, 9 p.m.

Yoshi’s San Francisco: 1330 Fillmore, San Francisco. Fourplay, 8 & 10 p.m., $35.

Zingari: 501 Post, San Francisco. Brenda Reed, 8 p.m., free.

INTERNATIONAL

1015 Folsom: 1015 Folsom St., San Francisco. “Pura,” 9 p.m., $20.

Bissap Baobab: 3372 19th St., San Francisco. Misión Flamenca, Monthly live music and dance performances., Second Saturday of every month, 7:30 p.m. “Paris-Dakar African Mix Coupe Decale,” 10 p.m., $5.

Boom Boom Room: 1601 Fillmore, San Francisco. Debauche, Scary Little Friends, 9:30 p.m., $15 advance.

Cafe Cocomo: 650 Indiana, San Francisco. Elio Revé y Su Charangon, 10 p.m., $30 advance.

KZV Armenian School: 825 Brotherhood Way, San Francisco. Chookasian Armenian Concert Ensemble, 7:30 p.m., $15-$30.

Make-Out Room: 3225 22nd St., San Francisco. “El SuperRitmo,” w/ DJs Roger Mas & El Kool Kyle, 10 p.m., $5.

Pachamama Restaurant: 1630 Powell, San Francisco. Peña Eddy Navia & Pachamama Band, 8 p.m., free.

The Ramp: 855 Terry Francois, San Francisco. Alexis y la Original, 5:30 p.m.

Red Poppy Art House: 2698 Folsom, San Francisco. Persian Starr, 7:30 p.m., $15-$20.

Roccapulco Supper Club: 3140 Mission, San Francisco. Don Chezina, Punta Cartel, 8 p.m.

St. Cyprian’s Episcopal Church: 2097 Turk, San Francisco. “Legends of the Celtic Harp,” w/ Patrick Ball, Lisa Lynne, and Aryeh Frankfurter., 8 p.m., $12-$17.

BLUES

Biscuits and Blues: 401 Mason, San Francisco. Sugaray Rayford, 7:30 & 10 p.m., $22.

Plough & Stars: 116 Clement, San Francisco. Crosscut, 9 p.m.

The Saloon: 1232 Grant, San Francisco. Dave Workman, Second Saturday of every month, 4 p.m.; Barry “The Fish” Melton Band, 9:30 p.m.

EXPERIMENTAL

Meridian Gallery: 535 Powell, San Francisco. Music for People & Thingamajigs, w/ Fred Frith & Sudhu Tewari, Tim Phillips, Todd Lerew, 8 p.m., $10-$15.

SUNDAY 13

ROCK

Amnesia: 853 Valencia, San Francisco. Sweat Lodge, The Steganothings, Devon McClive, 8 p.m., $7.

DNA Lounge: 375 11th St., San Francisco. The Legendary Pink Dots, Orbit Service, Big City Orchestra, DJs Decay & Sage, 9 p.m., $20-$25.

El Rio: 3158 Mission, San Francisco. Vows, Dead Panzies, Tears Club, 8 p.m., $6-$10.

Hemlock Tavern: 1131 Polk, San Francisco. IAMOGB, Aberrant Phase, Gladiators Eat Fire, 8:30 p.m., $6.

Slim’s: 333 11th St., San Francisco. King Khan & The Shrines, HellShovel, Slipping Into Darkness, 8 p.m., $16.

Yoshi’s San Francisco: 1330 Fillmore, San Francisco. Peter Murphy (performing Bauhaus), 7 & 10 p.m., $30-$65.

DANCE

Cafe Cocomo: 650 Indiana, San Francisco. Decompression 2013: Heat the Street Faire, Who needs the playa? Burners convene to decompress from this year’s desert escapades with a multi-block party featuring art installations, stage performances, fire dancers, EDM DJs, and all the usual costumed hoopla (and/or hula hoops) expected from Burning Man’s rabid devotees., noon, $15-$20.

The Cellar: 685 Sutter, San Francisco. “Replay Sundays,” 9 p.m., free.

The Edge: 4149 18th St., San Francisco. “’80s at 8,” w/ DJ MC2, 8 p.m.

Elbo Room: 647 Valencia, San Francisco. “Dub Mission,” w/ Digitaldubs, Vibration Lab, DJ Sep, 9 p.m., $7-$10.

The EndUp: 401 Sixth St., San Francisco. “T.Dance,” 6 a.m.-6 p.m.; “The Rhythm Room: Knocktoberfest,” w/ Rick Preston, Cris Herrera, Brian Salazar, C.J. Larsen, J Funk, Nick Garcia, Mike Tyler, 8 p.m., $15-$20; “Sunday Sessions,” 8 p.m.

F8: 1192 Folsom St., San Francisco. “Stamina Sundays,” w/ Cyantific, Lukeino, Jamal, 10 p.m., free.

Holy Cow: 1535 Folsom, San Francisco. “Honey Sundays,” w/ Honey Soundsystem & guests, 9 p.m. continues through Oct. 20, $5-$10.

The Independent: 628 Divisadero, San Francisco. Griz, Two Fresh, Anvil Smith, 8 p.m., $20.

The Knockout: 3223 Mission, San Francisco. “Sweater Funk,” 10 p.m., free.

Lookout: 3600 16th St., San Francisco. “Jock,” Sundays, 3-8 p.m., $2.

MatrixFillmore: 3138 Fillmore, San Francisco. “Bounce,” w/ DJ Just, 10 p.m.

Otis: 25 Maiden, San Francisco. “What’s the Werd?,” w/ resident DJs Nick Williams, Kevin Knapp, Maxwell Dub, and guests, 9 p.m., $5 (free before 11 p.m.).

The Parlor: 2801 Leavenworth, San Francisco. DJ Marc deVasconcelos, 10 p.m., free.

Q Bar: 456 Castro, San Francisco. “Gigante,” 8 p.m., free.

HIP-HOP

Boom Boom Room: 1601 Fillmore, San Francisco. “Return of the Cypher,” 9:30 p.m., free.

Ruby Skye: 420 Mason, San Francisco. “The Ol’ Skool House Party,” w/ Naughty by Nature, plus DJs Pos Red, Supreme, and C.J. Flash, 10 p.m., $30 advance.

ACOUSTIC

Cafe Du Nord: 2170 Market, San Francisco. Tony Lucca, Jenn Grinels, Shawn Brown, 8 p.m., $15.

The Chapel: 777 Valencia St., San Francisco. KT Tunstall, Brian Lopez, 9 p.m., $25-$30.

Hotel Utah: 500 Fourth St., San Francisco. Steve Kaul, Teja Gerken, Jared Clifton, 8 p.m., $8.

The Lucky Horseshoe: 453 Cortland, San Francisco. Sunday Bluegrass Jam, 4 p.m., free.

Madrone Art Bar: 500 Divisadero, San Francisco. “Spike’s Mic Night,” Sundays, 4-8 p.m., free.

Neck of the Woods: 406 Clement St., San Francisco. “iPlay,” open mic with featured weekly artists, 6:30 p.m., free.

Plough & Stars: 116 Clement, San Francisco. Seisiún with Darcy Noonan, Richard Mandel, and Jack Gilder, 9 p.m.

St. Luke’s Episcopal Church: 1755 Clay, San Francisco. “Sunday Night Mic,” w/ Roem Baur, 5 p.m., free.

JAZZ

Amnesia: 853 Valencia, San Francisco. Slim Jenkins, Second Sunday of every month, 9 p.m., $7-$10.

Bird & Beckett: 653 Chenery, San Francisco. Retro Blue, 4:30 & 5:30 p.m., free/donation.

Jazz Bistro At Les Joulins: 44 Ellis, San Francisco. Bill “Doc” Webster & Jazz Nostalgia, 7:30 p.m., free.

Madrone Art Bar: 500 Divisadero, San Francisco. “Sunday Sessions,” 10 p.m., free.

Martuni’s: 4 Valencia, San Francisco. Madame Jo Trio, second Sunday of every month, 4-6 p.m., free.

Revolution Cafe: 3248 22nd St., San Francisco. Jazz Revolution, 4 p.m., free/donation.

The Royal Cuckoo: 3202 Mission, San Francisco. Lavay Smith & Chris Siebert, 7:30 p.m., free.

Zingari: 501 Post, San Francisco. Kitt Weagant, 7:30 p.m., free.

INTERNATIONAL

Atmosphere: 447 Broadway, San Francisco. “Hot Bachata Nights,” w/ DJ El Guapo, 5:30 p.m., $10 ($15-$20 with dance lessons).

Bissap Baobab: 3372 19th St., San Francisco. “Brazil & Beyond,” 6:30 p.m., free.

El Rio: 3158 Mission, San Francisco. “Salsa Sundays,” Second and Fourth Sunday of every month, 3 p.m., $8-$10.

Pa’ina: 1865 Post St., San Francisco. Raq Filipina with Florante Aguilar & Ron Quesada, 6:30 p.m., $20.

The Ramp: 855 Terry Francois, San Francisco. BrazilVox, 5:30 p.m.

Thirsty Bear Brewing Company: 661 Howard, San Francisco. “The Flamenco Room,” 7:30 & 8:30 p.m.

BLUES

Biscuits and Blues: 401 Mason, San Francisco. Jason King Band, 7 & 9 p.m., $15.

Revolution Cafe: 3248 22nd St., San Francisco. HowellDevine, 8:30 p.m., free/donation.

The Saloon: 1232 Grant, San Francisco. Blues Power, 4 p.m.; The Door Slammers, 9:30 p.m.

Sheba Piano Lounge: 1419 Fillmore, San Francisco. Bohemian Knuckleboogie, 9 p.m., free.

Swig: 571 Geary, San Francisco. Sunday Blues Jam with Ed Ivey, 9 p.m.

COUNTRY

The Riptide: 3639 Taraval, San Francisco. Joe Goldmark & The Seducers, Second Sunday of every month, 7:30 p.m., free.

SOUL

Delirium Cocktails: 3139 16th St., San Francisco. “Heart & Soul,” w/ DJ Lovely Lesage, 10 p.m., free.

MONDAY 14

ROCK

Bottom of the Hill: 1233 17th St., San Francisco. Overseas, Radar Brothers, 9:30 p.m., $15.

Brick & Mortar Music Hall: 1710 Mission, San Francisco. Brasil, Vum, CIVC, Drab Majesty, DJs Neil Martinson & Mashi Mashi, 9 p.m., $5-$7.

DNA Lounge: 375 11th St., San Francisco. Fucked Up, Tony Molina, 8:30 p.m., $15.

Elbo Room: 647 Valencia, San Francisco. SLV, Snow Angel, 9 p.m., $7.

DANCE

DNA Lounge: 375 11th St., San Francisco. “Death Guild,” 18+ dance party with DJs Decay, Joe Radio, Melting Girl, & guests, 9:30 p.m., $3-$5.

Q Bar: 456 Castro, San Francisco. “Wanted,” w/ DJs Key&Kite and Richie Panic, 9 p.m., free.

Underground SF: 424 Haight, San Francisco. “Vienetta Discotheque,” w/ DJs Stanley Frank and Robert Jeffrey, 10 p.m., free.

ACOUSTIC

Amnesia: 853 Valencia, San Francisco. The Pick Bluegrass Jam, Second Monday of every month, 6 p.m., free; Toshio Hirano, Second Monday of every month, 9 p.m., free.

The Chieftain: 198 Fifth St., San Francisco. The Wrenboys, 7 p.m., free.

Fiddler’s Green: 1333 Columbus, San Francisco. Terry Savastano, 9:30 p.m., free/donation.

Hotel Utah: 500 Fourth St., San Francisco. Open mic with Brendan Getzell, 8 p.m., free.

Osteria: 3277 Sacramento, San Francisco. “Acoustic Bistro,” 7 p.m., free.

The Saloon: 1232 Grant, San Francisco. Peter Lindman, 4 p.m.

JAZZ

Le Colonial: 20 Cosmo, San Francisco. Le Jazz Hot, 7 p.m., free.

Sheba Piano Lounge: 1419 Fillmore, San Francisco. City Jazz Instrumental Jam Session, 8 p.m.

The Union Room at Biscuits and Blues: 401 Mason, San Francisco. The Session: A Monday Night Jazz Series, pro jazz jam with Mike Olmos, 7:30 p.m., $12.

Zingari: 501 Post, San Francisco. Nora Maki, 7:30 p.m., free; Gayle Wilhelm, 7:30 p.m., free.

REGGAE

Skylark Bar: 3089 16th St., San Francisco. “Skylarking,” w/ I&I Vibration, 10 p.m., free.

BLUES

Jazz Bistro At Les Joulins: 44 Ellis, San Francisco. Bohemian Knuckleboogie, 7:30 p.m., free.

The Saloon: 1232 Grant, San Francisco. The Bachelors, 9:30 p.m.

SOUL

Madrone Art Bar: 500 Divisadero, San Francisco. “M.O.M. (Motown on Mondays),” w/ DJ Gordo Cabeza & Timoteo Gigante, 8 p.m., free.

TUESDAY 15

ROCK

Amnesia: 853 Valencia, San Francisco. Major Powers & The Lo-Fi Symphony, Tiger Honey Pot, The Lurk, 9 p.m., $8-$10.

Boom Boom Room: 1601 Fillmore, San Francisco. ZuhG, Third Tuesday of every month, 9:30 p.m., $5.

Bottom of the Hill: 1233 17th St., San Francisco. Har Mar Superstar, Harold Ray Live in Concert, Michael Gaughan, The Reefer Twins, 9 p.m., $10-$12.

Brick & Mortar Music Hall: 1710 Mission, San Francisco. Halsted, Churches, Buckeye Knoll, 9 p.m., $5-$8.

DNA Lounge: 375 11th St., San Francisco. Diamond Head, Raven, Volture, Owl, 8 p.m., $20-$25.

Hemlock Tavern: 1131 Polk, San Francisco. Disappearing People, Creepers, Buffalo Tooth, Sutra, 8 p.m., $7.

Hotel Utah: 500 Fourth St., San Francisco. The Jaunting Martyrs, Kitten Grenade, Blood Party, Coffee Shop Dropout, 9 p.m., $6.

The Knockout: 3223 Mission, San Francisco. War Child, Catacomb Creeps, Rock Bottom, DJ Handlebars, 9:30 p.m., $7.

Thee Parkside: 1600 17th St., San Francisco. The Body, The New Trust, Know Secrets, 8 p.m., $8.

DANCE

Aunt Charlie’s Lounge: 133 Turk, San Francisco. “High Fantasy,” w/ DJ Viv, Myles Cooper, & guests, 10 p.m., $2.

Monarch: 101 6th St., San Francisco. “Soundpieces,” 10 p.m., free-$10.

Otis: 25 Maiden, San Francisco. “Vibe,” w/ Binkadink, Third Tuesday of every month, 6 p.m., free.

Q Bar: 456 Castro, San Francisco. “Switch,” w/ DJs Jenna Riot & Andre, 9 p.m., $3.

Underground SF: 424 Haight, San Francisco. “Shelter,” 10 p.m., free.

Wish: 1539 Folsom, San Francisco. “Tight,” w/ resident DJs Michael May & Lito, 8 p.m., free.

HIP-HOP

Skylark Bar: 3089 16th St., San Francisco. “True Skool Tuesdays,” w/ DJ Ren the Vinyl Archaeologist, 10 p.m., free.

ACOUSTIC

Bazaar Cafe: 5927 California, San Francisco. Songwriter-in-Residence: Olivia Clayton, 7 p.m. continues through Oct. 29.

Plough & Stars: 116 Clement, San Francisco. Seisiún with Autumn Rhodes & Pat O’Donnell, 9 p.m.

Rickshaw Stop: 155 Fell, San Francisco. Tim Kasher, Laura Stevenson, Jake Bellows, 8 p.m., $15.

The Rite Spot Cafe: 2099 Folsom, San Francisco. Drizzoletto, 8:30 p.m., free.

JAZZ

Beach Chalet Brewery & Restaurant: 1000 Great Highway, San Francisco. Gerry Grosz Jazz Jam, 7 p.m.

Blush! Wine Bar: 476 Castro, San Francisco. Kally Price & Rob Reich, 7 p.m., free.

Burritt Room: 417 Stockton St., San Francisco. Terry Disley’s Rocking Jazz Trio, 6 p.m., free.

Cafe Divine: 1600 Stockton, San Francisco. Chris Amberger, 7 p.m.

Jazz Bistro At Les Joulins: 44 Ellis, San Francisco. M.B. Hanif & The Sound Voyagers, 7:30 p.m., free.

Le Colonial: 20 Cosmo, San Francisco. Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers, 7 p.m.

Oz Lounge: 260 Kearny, San Francisco. Emily Hayes & Mark Holzinger, 6 p.m., free.

Revolution Cafe: 3248 22nd St., San Francisco. West Side Jazz Club, 5 p.m., free; Panique, Third Tuesday of every month, 8:30 p.m., free/donation.

Verdi Club: 2424 Mariposa, San Francisco. “Tuesday Night Jump,” w/ Stompy Jones, 9 p.m., $10-$12.

Yoshi’s San Francisco: 1330 Fillmore, San Francisco. Tommy Igoe Big Band, 8 p.m., $22.

INTERNATIONAL

Cafe Cocomo: 650 Indiana, San Francisco. “Descarga S.F.,” w/ DJs Hong & Good Sho, 8 p.m., $12.

The Cosmo Bar & Lounge: 440 Broadway, San Francisco. “Conga Tuesdays,” 8 p.m., $7-$10.

Elbo Room: 647 Valencia, San Francisco. “Porreta!,” all night forro party with DJs Carioca & Lucio K, Third Tuesday of every month, 9 p.m., $7.

F8: 1192 Folsom St., San Francisco. “Underground Nomads,” w/ rotating resident DJs Cheb i Sabbah, Amar, Sep, and Dulce Vita, plus guests, 9 p.m., $5 (free before 9:30 p.m.).

REGGAE

Milk Bar: 1840 Haight, San Francisco. “Bless Up,” w/ Jah Warrior Shelter Hi-Fi, 10 p.m.

BLUES

Biscuits and Blues: 401 Mason, San Francisco. John Garcia Band, 7 & 9 p.m., $15.

The Saloon: 1232 Grant, San Francisco. Lisa Kindred, Third Tuesday of every month, 9:30 p.m.

FUNK

Madrone Art Bar: 500 Divisadero, San Francisco. “Boogaloo Tuesday,” w/ Oscar Myers & Steppin’, 9:30 p.m., free.

SOUL

Make-Out Room: 3225 22nd St., San Francisco. “Lost & Found,” w/ DJs Primo, Lucky, and guests, 9:30 p.m., free. 2

Weekly Picks: October 9 – 15, 2013

Michael Redmond

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October 8, 2013

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Huzzah!

THURDAY 10/10

“Calacas: Day of the Dead”

This is the first year Creativity Explored — which guides artists with developmental disabilities — has taken on Day of the Dead, and if the colorful images (depicting, mainly, an array of bejeweled, multicolored, dressed-up, and carefully detailed skull and skeleton sculptures) released ahead of the exhibit are any indication, it won’t be the last. Swing by tonight for the opening reception, or visit anytime during gallery hours through late November to admire a diverse slate of works by over 20 studio artists. (Cheryl Eddy)

Through Nov 24

Opening reception tonight, 7pm, free

Creativity Explored Gallery

3245 16th St, SF

www.creativityexplored.org

THURDAY 10/10

Frameline Encore: The New Black

The complexities of the struggle for equality come to light in The New Black, a documentary that shows both the advocacy for and opposition to recent marriage equality movements by the African-American community. Winner of the Frameline37 AT&T Audience Award for Best Documentary, The New Black is returning to the Roxie Theater as a part of Frameline Encore’s free queer film series. Come in and enjoy the documentary, and perhaps even chat with filmmaker Yoruba Richen, who is expected to be in attendance. (Kirstie Haruta)

7pm, free

Roxie Theater

3117 16th St, SF

(415) 431-3611

www.roxie.com

THURDAY 10/10

Stereo with Le1f

Albany Bowl plays the same mix every Wednesday night. Somewhere between Calvin Harris with Rihanna and the Biebs, a familiar saxblat beat begins. “I love this song,” I tell my friends, before realizing I’ve been fooled again: It’s not actually the playfully sinister “Wut” by motormouthed rapper Le1f, but a popular knockoff. I should just get used to it. Because while some people will know what it is/what is up, there’s also that larger contingent that is painfully oblivious to basic shit. (Some stores exist that sell used clothes for less money?) Catch Le1f — who just released his Tree House mixtape — with fellow Tumblr spawn, including “Wut” producer Matrixxman, at this 3D visual (first 100 people get glasses) and arcade themed dance party. (Ryan Prendiville)

With Lakutis and WolfBitch

9pm, $15 presale

Mighty

119 Utah, SF

(415) 762-0151

www.mighty119.com

FRIDAY 10/11

“Imagining Time, Gathering Memory: Día de Los Muertos 2013 Opening Celebration”

SOMArts opens its 2013 Día de Los Muertos exhibition with an evening of live music and interactive performance, and the unveiling of over 30 altars and art installations. Curated by René and Rio Yañez, the exhibition is a display of works inspired by memories that honor life and the lives of loved ones no longer with us. With this theme in mind, the exhibit has been dedicated to those who have been affected by cancer, which has become the No. 1 cause of death of Latinos. Artists were also asked to keep in mind recent national tragedies and local issues that have touched their lives while creating their works. Join in to celebrate your own memories and honor the lives of your loved ones. (Haruta)

Through Nov. 9

Opening reception tonight, 6pm, $7–$10

SOMArts Cultural Center

934 Brannan, SF

(415) 863-1414

www.somarts.org

FRIDAY 10/11

Arab Film Festival

The 17th Arab Film Festival begins its California tour tonight at the Castro Theatre before shifting to the Opera Plaza Sat/13-Sun/14, then meandering to Los Angeles, Berkeley, and San Diego over the next several weeks. At press time, organizers were still shaking out the specifics of the schedule, but opening night is locked in: Annemarie Jacir’s When I Saw You, which picked up the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) award at the 2012 Berlinale. It’s the Jordan-set tale of Palestinian refugees, including an 11-year-old boy and his mother, struggling to make their way in a new country after the 1967 war. (Eddy)

7:30pm, $15–$40

Castro Theatre

429 Castro, SF

www.arabfilmfestival.org

FRIDAY 10/11

A Rite

PBS’ The News Hour closes its Friday shows with headshots of the soldiers who died recently in Iraq or Afghanistan. Many of them were just so unbearably young. Looking at those faces gives you an inkling of why Bill T. Jones and Ann Bogart did not choose a virgin girl but a soldier as a sacrificial victim for their rethinking of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring. The two collaborators didn’t have to look far to see that innocents are still being slaughtered, supposedly for the “common good.” Calling their work A Rite, and making free use of Stravinsky’s score, they set it on six actors of Bogart’s SITI Company and nine dancers of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. For the purpose of this show, they call themselves “dactors.” (Rita Felciano)

Through Sat/12, 8pm; Sun/13, 3pm, $35–$40

Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company and SITI Company

Lam Research Theater at YBCA

701 Mission, SF

415-978.ARTS

www.ybca.org

FRIDAY 10/11

Mortified

Why is it that our teen years — insert a faded class portrait with braces and acne, mixtapes slipped into Bobby-from-math-class’s locker, and Prom Night (aka Wrong Night) — leave behind indelible scar tissue? This month’s Mortified, a live comedy-musical show where adults explore the most embarrassing moments of their formative years, features love letters, diary entries, and angst-filled poems on getting the guy in 10 days, a kid’s trip out of the closet with guru Liza Minelli, a temporary pathological liar and his gullible Jewish parents, and a girl’s stab at erotica. Borrowing words from the audience, freestyle hip-hop/improv crew the Freeze will add laughter to the tears with musical interludes. (Kaylen Baker)

7:30pm, $21

DNA Lounge

375 Eleventh St, SF

(415) 626-1409

www.getmortified.com

SATURDAY 10/12

Alternative Press Expo

A Bay Area institution that stands out even more in the absence of still-wayward WonderCon, APE is focused on independent and self-published comics, with all the comic-con trappings — an exhibit hall with creators and publishers hawking their goods, workshops for aspiring professionals, and even a “Comic Creator Connection” networking event. Programs include a 10th-anniversary discussion of SF’s Cartoon Art Museum, a talk among comic-creator couples, and a panel on queer cartoonists. Special guests include Bill Griffith (Zippy the Pinhead), Colleen Coover and Paul Tobin (Bandette), Anders Nilsen (Big Questions), Raina Telgemeier (Smile, Drama), Diane Noomin (DiDi Glitz), Bay Area publishing legend Ron Turner (Last Gasp), and APE founder Dan Vado (SLG Publishing). (Sam Stander)

Sat/12, 11am-7pm; Sun/13, 11am-6pm, $10–$20

Concourse Exhibition Center

835 Eighth St, San Francisco

comic-con.org/ape

SATURDAY 10/12

Chocolate 101 with Dandelion Chocolate

For the past 3 million years, the cacao plant has thrived in the cool, dewy mountains of Central America, cultivated by Mesoamerican peoples to make a bubbling, dirt-bitter beverage representing power, desire, and sanctity. Dandelion Chocolates will teach a workshop on the methods of grinding beans on a metate, and mixing ingredients to re-create this ancient hot chocolate, right inside the Mesoamerican cloud forest at the SF Botanical Gardens. Only three decades old, this plant collection survives far from Central America by the grace of Karl, the bay’s infamous fog. After class, gardens curator and horticulture expert Dr. Don Mahoney will lead a tour through the forest, detailing the cultural impact of the plants on the inhabitants of Mesoamerica. (Baker)

11am, $30–$40

San Francisco Botanical Gardens

1199 Ninth Ave, SF

(415) 661-1316

www.sfbotanicalgarden.org

SATURDAY 10/12

Play it Cool with Lovefingers

When I’m not taking my own advice, Derek Opperman’s list of top 5 parties over at SF Weekly is always my go-to for planning a night or weekend out. Likewise, if I miss a DJ that I wanted to see (or that I did see, but have no recollection), I always check out his “Lost in the Night” blog the morning after, for a more clear-headed account. It follows that I’m looking forward to hearing what Opperman and company bring to their Play it Cool parties. This inaugural event upstairs at Balançoire (formerly 12 Galaxies) features LA’s left-field disco head Andrew Hogge, aka Lovefingers aka half of the Stallions, the person behind E.S.P. Institute label and the beloved but now defunct lovefingers.org. (Prendiville)

9pm, $5 (free before 10)

Balançoire

2565 Mission, SF

(415) 920-0577

www.balancoiresf.com

SUNDAY 10/13

King Khan and the Shrines

Huzzah! King Khan and the Shrines have finally recorded a new album! After six years of silence, these psychedelic soul-punk weirdos are back and showing their softer side with Idle No More. The new album is informed not by Khan’s typical crass humor and brash antics, but with a new sense of introspection. In the years he’s been gone, Khan has dealt with the tragedy of losing a few close friends and has coped by spending time in psych wards as well as Buddhist monasteries. As the next step of the healing process, Khan has returned to music, his original source of salvation. While his live show is not quite as insane (or nude) as it was in his youth (he’s now 36 years old) he’s still a helluva performer, and we couldn’t be happier to have him back in the spotlight. (Haley Zaremba)

With Hellshovel, Slipping Into Darkness

8pm, $16

Slim’s

333 11th St, SF

(415) 255-0333

www.slimspresents.com

TUESDAY 10/15

Quintron and Miss Pussycat’s Mystery in Old Bath

Miss Pussycat and Quintron have a reputation for putting on colorful, imaginative, and otherworldly musical performances on stage. With their latest puppet film, The Mystery in Old Bathbath, (featuring characters, Trixie and the Treetrunks) they delve deeper into a realm of wonder, but in a different medium. This 45-minute opus contains drama, high jinks, and handcrafted cuteness — and it has already garnered creative accolades in some high places. Greet Q&P in person at the Roxie as they’ll stick around for a Q&A after unveiling this all-puppet cast adventure, written and directed by the duo for our viewing pleasure. (Andre Torrez)

7:30pm $10

Roxie Theater

3117 16th St, SF

(415)863-1087

www.roxie.com

Rep Clock: October 9 – 15, 2013

Michael Redmond

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October 8, 2013

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Schedules are for Wed/9-Tue/15 except where noted. Director and year are given when available. Double and triple features marked with a •. All times pm unless otherwise specified.

ATA GALLERY 992 Valencia, SF; www.atasite.org. $5-6. “OpenScreening,” Thu, 8. For participation info, contact programming@atasite.org. “Other Cinema:” Widely Unknown (Ackerman, 2013), Sat, 8:30. Complete program info at www.othercinema.com.

BALBOA THEATRE 3630 Balboa, SF; cinemasf.com/balboa. $10. “Popcorn Palace:” The Red Balloon (Lamorisse, 1956), Sat, 10am. Matinee for kids.

CASTRO 429 Castro, SF; (415) 621-6120, www.castrotheatre.com. $8.50-12. •Thelma and Louise (Scott, 1991), Wed, 2:45, 7, and Switchblade Sisters (Hill, 1975), Wed, 5:05, 9:25. Fruitvale Station (Coogler, 2013), Thu, 2:30, 4:45, 7, 9:15. “Arab Film Festival Opening Night:” When I Saw You (Jacir, 2012), Thu, 7:30. More info and tickets at www.arabfilmfestival.org. “Return to Grey Gardens starring Jinkx Monsoon, Peaches Christ, and Mink Stole:” Grey Gardens (Maysles, Maysles, Meyer, and Hovde, 1975), Sat, 3, 8. More info and tickets at www.peacheschrist.com. •Psycho (Hitchcock, 1960), Sun, 2:30, 7, and Marnie (Hitchcock, 1964), Sun, 4:35, 9:05. •A Star is Born (Cukor, 1954), Mon, 4:30, and Funny Girl (Wyler, 1968), Mon, 1:30, 8. •Dracula (Browning, 1931), Tue, 7:30, and Bride of Frankenstein (Whale, 1935), Tue, 6, 9.

CHRISTOPHER B. SMITH RAFAEL FILM CENTER 1118 Fourth St, San Rafael; (415) 454-1222, www.cafilm.org. $6.50-$10.75. Mill Valley Film Festival, Wed-Sun. Info and schedule at www.mvff.com.

CLAY 2261 Fillmore, SF; www.landmarktheatres.com. $10. “Midnight Movies:” The Room (Wiseau, 2003), Sat, midnight.

EXPLORATORIUM 600 the Embarcadero, SF; www.sfcinematheque.org. $5-10. “San Francisco Cinematheque presents:” “Madness and Mindfulness: Four Films By Ken Paul Rosenthal,” Wed, 7.

MECHANICS’ INSTITUTE 57 Post, SF; milibrary.org/events. $10. “CinemaLit Film Series: Haunted Hollywood:” The Time Machine (Pal, 1960), Fri, 6.

PACIFIC FILM ARCHIVE 2575 Bancroft, Berk; (510) 642-5249, bampfa.berkeley.edu. $5.50-9.50. “Alternative Visions:” Breaking the Frame (Nitoslawska, 2012), Wed, 7. “Moumen Smihi: Poet of Tangier:” The East Wind (1975), Thu, 7. “Love is Colder Than Death: The Cinema of Rainer Werner Fassbinder:” Katzelmacher (1969), Fri, 7; Gods of the Plague (1969), Fri, 8:50; The Marriage of Maria Braun (1978), Sat, 8:30; I Only Want You to Love Me (1975), Sun, 7. “Pier Paolo Pasolini:” Medea (1969), Sat, 6:15; A Pasolini Omnibus: Three Short Films (1966-68), Sun, 5:30.

ROXIE 3117 and 3125 16th St, SF; (415) 863-1087, www.roxie.com. $6.50-11. “Seven by Rainer Werner Fassbinder:” The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant (1972), Wed, 7; The Marriage of Maria Braun (1978), Thu, 9. The Institute (McCall, 2012), Wed, 7, 9:30. Short Term 12 (Cretton, 2013), Wed, 9. “Frameline Encore:” The New Black (Richen, 2013), Thu, 7. “SF Shorts,” short films from 12 countries in two programs, Thu-Sat, 7, 9 (also Sat, 3). Escape from Tomorrow (Moore, 2013), Oct 11-17, 7, 9:15. Miss Pussycat and Quintron present Trixie and the Treetrunks (2013), Tue, 7:30.

TANNERY 708 Gilman, Berk; berkeleyundergroundfilms.blogspot.com. Donations accepted. “Berkeley Underground Film Society:” The Phantom of the Opera (Julian, 1925), Sun, 7:30.

VORTEX ROOM 1082 Howard, SF; Facebook: The Vortex Room. $10. “The Satanic Rites of the Vortex Room”: •Good Against Evil (Wendkos, 1977), Thu, 9, and Satan’s Cheerleaders (Clark, 1977), Thu, 11.

YERBA BUENA CENTER FOR THE ARTS 701 Mission, SF; www.ybca.org. Free with RSVP. “Bill T. Jones Documentaries:” Bill T. Jones: A Good Man (Hercules and Quinn, 2011), Sat, 3:30; Bill T. Jones: Still/Here with Bill Moyers (Grubin, 1997), Sat, 5:30. *

Theater Listings: October 9 – 15, 2013

Michael Redmond

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October 8, 2013

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Stage listings are compiled by Guardian staff. Performance times may change; call venues to confirm. Reviewers are Robert Avila, Rita Felciano, and Nicole Gluckstern. Submit items for the listings at listings@sfbg.com.

THEATER

OPENING

BooKKeepers: A True Fiction Southside Theatre, Fort Mason Center, Marina at Laguna, SF; www.generationtheatre.com. $20-35. Opens Thu/10, 8pm. Runs Thu-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 3pm. Through Oct 27. GenerationTheatre presents Roland David Valayre’s Kafka-inspired fantasy.

Dirty Little Showtunes New Conservatory Theatre Center, 25 Van Ness, SF; www.nctcsf.org. $25-45. Opens Fri/11, 8pm. Runs Wed-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2pm. Through Nov 10. New Conservatory Theatre Center presents the return of Tom Orr’s bawdy Broadway parody.

First Stage Werx, 446 Valencia, SF; www.firsttheplay.com. $25-35. Opens Sat/12, 8pm. Runs Thu-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2pm. Through Nov 3. Altair Productions, the Aluminous Collective, and PlayGround present the world premiere of Evelyn Jean Pine’s play, which imagines a 20-year-old Bill Gates’ experiences at a 1976 personal computer conference.

Gruesome Playground Injuries Tides Theatre, 533 Sutter, SF; www.tidestheatre.org. $20-40. Previews Thu/10, 8pm. Opens Fri/11, 8pm. Runs Wed-Sat, 8pm. Through Nov 9. Tides Theatre performs Rajiv Joseph’s drama about two people who first meet as eight-year-olds in the school nurse’s office.

Randy Roberts Live! Alcove Theatre, 414 Mason, SF; www.randyroberts.net. $40. Opens Thu/10, 9pm. Runs Thu-Sat, 9pm. Through Nov 2. The famed female impersonator performs. He will also perform a different show with jazz pianist Tammy L. Hall: Mon/14, Oct 21, and 28, 7pm, $20, Martuni’s, 4 Valencia, SF.

BAY AREA

I and You Marin Theatre Company, 397 Miller, Mill Valley; www.marintheatre.org. $37-58. Previews Thu/10-Sat/12, 8pm; Sun/13, 2pm. Opens Tue/15, 8pm. Runs Tue, Thu-Sat, 8pm (also Oct 19 and Nov 2, 2pm; Oct 24, 1pm); Wed, 7:30pm; Sun, 2 and 7pm. Through Nov 3. Lauren Gunderson’s world premiere explores how Walt Whitman’s words affect the lives of two teenagers.

Rich and Famous Dragon Theatre, 2120 Broadway, Redwood City; www.dragonproductions.net. $15-35. Previews Thu/10, 8pm. Opens Fri/11, 8pm. Runs Thu-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2pm. Through Nov 3. Dragon Theatre performs John Guare’s surreal musical comedy.

strangers, babies Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby, Berk; www.shotgunplayers.org. $20-35. Previews Oct 15-17, 8pm. Opens Oct 18, 8pm. Runs Wed-Thu, 7pm; Fri-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 5pm. Through Nov 17. Shotgun Players present Linda McLean’s drama about a woman confronting her past.

Warrior Class Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro, Mtn View; www.theatreworks.org. $19-73. Previews Wed/9-Fri/11, 8pm. Opens Sat/12, 8pm. Runs Tue-Wed, 7:30pm; Thu-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 2pm); Sun, 2 and 7pm. Through Nov 3. TheatreWorks performs Kenneth Lin’s incisive political drama.

ONGOING

Acid Test: The Many Incarnations of Ram Dass Marsh San Francisco, 1062 Valencia, SF; www.themarsh.org. $15-50. Fri/11, 8pm; Sat/12, 8:30pm. Playwright Lynne Kaufman invites you to take a trip with Richard Alpert, aka Ram Dass (Warren David Keith) — one of the bigwigs of the psychedelic revolution and (with his classic book, Be Here Now) contemporary Eastern-looking spirituality — as he recounts times high and low in this thoughtful, funny, and sometimes unexpected biographical rumination on the quest for truth and meaning in a seemingly random life. Directed by Joel Mullennix, the narrative begins with Ram Dass today, in his Hawaiian home and partly paralyzed from a stroke, but Keith (one of the Bay Area’s best stage actors, who is predictably sure and engagingly multilayered in the role) soon shakes off the stiff arm and strained speech and springs to his feet to continue the narrative as the ideal self perhaps only transcendental consciousness and theater allow. Nevertheless, Kaufman’s fun-loving and extroverted Alpert is no saint and no model of perfection, which is the refreshing truth explored in the play. He’s a seeker still, ever imperfect and trying for perfection, or at least the wisdom of acceptance. As the privileged queer child of a wealthy Jewish lawyer and industrialist, Alpert was both insider and outsider from the get-go, and that tension and ambiguity make for an interesting angle on his life, including the complexities of his relationships with a homophobic Leary, for instance, and his conservative but ultimately loving father. Perfection aside, the beauty in the subject and the play is the subtle, shrewd cherishing of what remains unfinished. Note: review from an earlier run of this show. (Avila)

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical Curran Theatre, 445 Geary, SF; www.shnsf.com. $55-210. Tue-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, Wed/9, and Oct 16, 2pm); Sun, 2 and 7:30pm (no evening show Sun/13 or Oct 20). Through Oct 20. Pre-Broadway premiere of the musical about the legendary songwriter.

Band Fags! New Conservatory Theatre Center, 25 Van Ness, SF; www.nctcsf.org. $25-45. Wed/9-Sat/12, 8pm; Sun/13, 2pm. New Conservatory Theatre Center performs the West Coast premiere of Frank Anthony Polito’s coming-of-age tale, set in 1980s Detroit.

BoomerAging: From LSD to OMG Marsh San Francisco, 1062 Valencia, SF; www.themarsh.org. $15-50. Tue, 8pm. Extended through Oct 29. Will Durst’s hit solo show looks at baby boomers grappling with life in the 21st century.

Buried Child Magic Theatre, Fort Mason Center, Bldg D, Third Flr, SF; www.magictheatre.org. $20-60. Wed/9-Sat/12, 8pm; Sun/13, 2:30. A rural family in slow free-fall finally sees the ground rushing up to meet it in Sam Shepard’s raucous, solemn, and spooky American gothic. The 1978 Pulitzer Prize-winner not only secured a place for Shepard in the upper echelons of American playwrights but helped remake the theatrical landscape when it first premiered, 35 years ago, at the Magic Theatre. The Magic’s current revival tends to show the ways in which the play has aged, however, rather than the ways in which it endures. Loretta Greco’s perfunctory direction inadvertently underscores what has since become formula in the resolutely surreal undercurrent beneath its surface naturalism. Meanwhile her cast —though it includes some normally dependable actors like Patrick Alparone, Rod Gnapp and James Wagner — never comes together as a cohesive ensemble, further distancing us from the still vital dynamism in the text (more of that was captured last year in Boxcar Theatre’s admittedly rocky but overall more persuasive production). Alparone (as long-lost son Vince) and Patrick Kelly Jones (as his belligerent one-legged brother Bradley) manage to infuse some momentary energy, but from the opening lines, delivered offstage by chattering matriarch Halie (Denise Balthrop Cassidy), the tension remains mostly slack, the acting haphazard, and the themes muted. (Avila)

Carrie: The Musical Victoria Theatre, 2961 16th St, SF; www.rayoflighttheatre.com. $25-36. Wed-Sat, 8pm (also Oct 26, 11:30pm; Nov 2, 2pm). Through Nov 2. Just in time to complement the Carrie film remake, Ray of Light Theatre performs the musical adaptation (initially a Broadway flop, then a re-tooled off-Broadway hit) of the Stephen King horror novel.

The Disappearance of Mary Rosemary Phoenix Theatre, 414 Mason, SF; secondwind.8m.com. $15-25. Thu-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2pm. Through Oct 26. Script-wise, Second Wind Production’s J.M. Barrie adaptation The Disappearance of Mary Rosemary might well be the most unique ghost story of the season. But in contrast to their masterfully suspenseful The Woman in Black (staged in 2009), Disappearance falls to sustain that charged atmosphere of unease that defines the best terror tales. It begins promisingly enough in a purportedly haunted parlor being shown to a young soldier (Ryan Martin) by its taciturn caretaker (Juanita Wyles). After she leaves him alone in the room, lights flicker, his video camera spontaneously begins to play, and a mysterious light emerges from under a locked door, all evidence pointing to either a supernatural event, or to a PTSD-style mental breakdown. Cutting to the same parlor 29 years before, where domestic tranquility prevails, a lot of that initial tension gets lost, and even though the equally unexplainable events which ensue prove to be much bigger in actual scale, they don’t quite manage to scare so much as to puzzle. Of the performances, Gigi Benson’s matter-of-fact matriarch is by far the most nuanced, and her chemistry with her stage husband (Dave Sikula) is far more convincing than that of their daughter and son-in-law (Caroline Elizabeth Doyle and Brian Martin). Finally, a very unexpected twist turns this story of a young woman who never grows old into one who has grown perhaps too fast, uncomfortably invoking V.C. Andrews rather than J.M. Barrie, and not for the better. (Gluckstern)

Foodies! The Musical Shelton Theater, 533 Sutter, SF; www.foodiesthemusical.com. $32-34. Fri-Sat, 8pm. Open-ended. AWAT Productions presents Morris Bobrow’s musical comedy revue all about food.

Forbidden Fruit Garage, 715 Bryant, SF; www.brownpapertickets.com. $25. Fri-Sat and Mon, 8pm. Through Oct 28. Back Alley Theater and Footloose present the West Coast premiere of Jeff Bedillion’s stylized love story that takes on social and religious conformity.

Geezer Marsh San Francisco, 1062 Valencia, SF; www.themarsh.org. $25-50. Wed-Thu, 8pm; Sat, 5pm. Through Oct 26. Geoff Hoyle’s hit solo show, a comedic meditation on aging, returns to the Marsh.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch Boxcar Theatre, 505 Natoma, SF; www.boxcartheatre.org. $27-43. Thu-Sat, 8pm. Open-ended. John Cameron Mitchell’s cult musical comes to life with director Nick A. Olivero’s ever-rotating cast.

An Indian Summer Exit Theatre, 156 Eddy, SF; www.wehavemet.org. $20-40. Thu-Sat, 8pm. Through Oct 19. Multi Ethnic Theater performs Charles Johnson’s drama set in the 1980s Deep South.

It’s a Bird … It’s a Plane … It’s Superman Eureka Theatre, 215 Jackson, SF; www.42ndstmoon.org. $25-75. Wed-Thu, 7pm; Fri, 8pm; Sat, 6pm (also Sat/12, 1pm); Sun, 3pm. Through Oct 20. 42nd Street Moon kicks off its 21st season with this 1966 musical homage to the Man of Steel.

The Scion Marsh San Francisco, 1062 Valencia, SF; www.themarsh.org. $15-100. Fri, 8pm; Sat, 8:30pm. Through Oct 26. Popular solo performer Brian Copeland (Not a Genuine Black Man, The Waiting Period) performs a workshop production of his latest, “a tale of privilege, murder, and sausage.” The show has its official world premiere Jan. 9, 2014.

Sex and the City: LIVE! Rebel, 1760 Market, SF; trannyshack.com/sexandthecity. $25. Wed, 7 and 9pm. Open-ended. It seems a no-brainer. Not just the HBO series itself — that’s definitely missing some gray matter — but putting it onstage as a drag show. Mais naturellement! Why was Sex and the City not conceived of as a drag show in the first place? Making the sordid not exactly palatable but somehow, I don’t know, friendlier (and the canned a little cannier), Velvet Rage Productions mounts two verbatim episodes from the widely adored cable show, with Trannyshack’s Heklina in a smashing portrayal of SJP’s Carrie; D’Arcy Drollinger stealing much of the show as ever-randy Samantha (already more or less a gay man trapped in a woman’s body); Lady Bear as an endearingly out-to-lunch Miranda; and ever assured, quick-witted Trixxie Carr as pent-up Charlotte. There’s also a solid and enjoyable supporting cast courtesy of Cookie Dough, Jordan Wheeler, and Leigh Crow (as Mr. Big). That’s some heavyweight talent trodding the straining boards of bar Rebel’s tiny stage. The show’s still two-dimensional, even in 3D, but noticeably bigger than your 50″ plasma flat panel. (Avila)

“Shocktoberfest 14: Jack the Ripper” Hypnodrome, 575 10th St, SF; www.thrillpeddlers.com. $25-35. Thu-Sat and Oct 29-30, 8pm. Through Nov 23. Thrillpeddlers presents their 14th annual Grand Guignol show, “a evening of horror, madness, spanking, and song.”

The Taming Thick House, 1695 18th St, SF; www.crowdedfire.org. $10-35. Wed-Sat, 8pm (no show Wed/9). Through Oct 26. Crowded Fire Theater presents the world premiere of Lauren Gunderson’s modern farce.

The Voice: One Man’s Journey into Sex Addiction and Recovery EXIT Theatre, 156 Eddy, SF; www.theexit.org. $15-25. Fri-Sat, 8pm. Through Oct 26. David Kleinberg performs his autobiographical solo show.

The World’s Funniest Bubble Show Marsh San Francisco, 1062 Valencia, SF; www.themarsh.org. $8-11. Sun, 11am. Through Oct 27. Soapy, kid-friendly antics with Louis Pearl, aka “The Amazing Bubble Man.”

BAY AREA

Can You Dig It? Back Down East 14th — the 60s and Beyond Marsh Berkeley, 2120 Allston, Berk; www.themarsh.org. $15-50. Sat, 8:30pm; Sun, 7pm. Through Oct 27. Don Reed’s new show offers more stories from his colorful upbringing in East Oakland in the 1960s and ’70s. More hilarious and heartfelt depictions of his exceptional parents, independent siblings, and his mostly African American but ethnically mixed working-class community — punctuated with period pop, Motown, and funk classics, to which Reed shimmies and spins with effortless grace. And of course there’s more too of the expert physical comedy and charm that made long-running hits of Reed’s last two solo shows, East 14th and The Kipling Hotel (both launched, like this newest, at the Marsh). Can You Dig It? reaches, for the most part, into the “early” early years, Reed’s grammar-school days, before the events depicted in East 14th or Kipling Hotel came to pass. But in nearly two hours of material, not all of it of equal value or impact, there’s inevitably some overlap and indeed some recycling. Reed, who also directs the show, may start whittling it down as the run continues. But, as is, there are at least 20 unnecessary minutes diluting the overall impact of the piece, which is thin on plot already — much more a series of often very enjoyable vignettes and some painful but largely unexplored observations, wrapped up at the end in a sentimental moral that, while sincere, feels rushed and inadequate. (Avila)

Ella, the Musical Center REPertory Company, 1601 Civic, Walnut Creek; (925) 943-SHOW. $37-64. Wed/9, 7:30pm; Thu/10-Sat/12, 8pm (also Sat/12, 2:30pm). Yvette Cason portrays the legendary Ella Fitzgerald in this Center REP presentation.

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike Roda Theatre, 2015 Addison, Berk; www.berkeleyrep.org. $35-89. Tue and Thu-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 2pm); Wed, 7pm; Sun, 2 and 7pm. Extended through Oct 25. Berkeley Rep performs Christopher Durang’s comedy about a dysfunctional family in rural Pennsylvania.

A Winter’s Tale Bruns Amphitheater, 100 California Shakespeare Theater Way, Orinda; www.calshakes.org. $35-72. Tue-Thu, 7:30pm; Fri-Sat, 8pm (also Oct 19, 2pm); Sun, 4pm. Through Oct 20. Cal Shakes concludes its 2013 season with the Bard’s fairy tale, directed and choreographed by sister team Patricia and Paloma McGregor.

PERFORMANCE/DANCE

BATS Improv Bayfront Theater, B350 Fort Mason Center, SF; www.improv.org. $20. “Horror Super Scene,” Fri, 8. Through Oct 25. “Improvised Farce,” Sat, 8pm. Through Oct 26.

Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company CounterPULSE, 1310 Mission, SF; www.ybca.org. Wed/9, 8pm. $50. The company performs the world premiere of /Time: Study I. Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Lam Research Theater, 700 Howard, SF; www.ybca.org. Fri/11-Sat/12, 8pm; Sun/13, 3pm. The company, with SITI Company, presents the West Coast premiere of A Rite.

“Broadway Bingo” Feinstein’s at the Nikko, Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason, SF; www.feinsteinssf.com. Wed, 7-9pm. Ongoing. Free. Countess Katya Smirnoff-Skyy and Joe Wicht host this Broadway-flavored night of games and performance.

Caroline Lugo and Carolé Acuña’s Ballet Flamenco Peña Pachamama, 1630 Powell, SF; www.carolinalugo.com. Sat/12, Oct 20, and 26, 6:15pm. $15-19. Flamenco performance by the mother-daughter dance company, featuring live musicians.

Margaret Cho Nob Hill Masonic Center, 1111 California, SF; www.livenation.com. Sat/12, 8pm. $41.50-74. The acclaimed comedian performs her new show, Mother.

“Comedy Returns to El Rio” El Rio, 3158 Mission, SF; www.brownpapertickets.com. Mon/14, 8pm. $7-20. With Jabari Davis, Eloisa Bravo, Stefani Silverman, Howard Stone, and Lisa Geduldig.

Dance Theatre of San Francisco ODC Theater, 3153 17th St, SF; www.odctheater.org. Fri/11-Sat/12, 8pm; Sun/13, 7pm. $25-27. The new contemporary dance company founded by Annabelle Henry presents “Debut,” with works by Erik Wagner, Sandrine Cassini, and others.

“The Kepler Story” Morrison Planetarium, California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Dr, SF; www.calacademy.org. Sun, 6:30pm. Through Oct 27. $15. Cal Academy and Motion Institute team up to produce this “immersive performance work” about astronomer Johannes Kepler.

“Mission Position Live” Cinecave, 1034 Valencia, SF; www.missionpositionlive.com. Thu, 8pm. Ongoing. $10. Stand-up comedy with rotating performers.

“Mongrels and Objects” CounterPULSE, 1310 Mission, SF; www.counterpulse.org. Fri/11-Sat/12, 8pm; Sun/13, 7pm. $20-30. Headmistress — Amara Tabor-Smith and Sherwood Chen — presents solo and duo dance work.

“Mortified” DNA Lounge, 375 11th St, SF; www.getmortified.com. Fri/11, 7:30pm. $21. Also Sat/12, 7:30pm, $20. Uptown, 1928 Telegraph, Oakl. Embarrassing tales told by those who lived them as teenagers.

“MythBusters: Behind the Myths Tour” Orpheum Theatre, 1192 Market, SF; www.shnsf.com. Sat/12, 2 and 8pm. $45-95. Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman bring their Discovery Channel show to the stage.

Davy Rothbart Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 3200 California, SF; www.myheartisandidiotbook.com. Thu/10, 8pm. $12. The Found magazine editor and “This American Life” contributor shares his latest finds and reads from his new book, My Heart is an Idiot.

“San Francisco Magic Parlor” Chancellor Hotel Union Square, 433 Powell, SF; www.sfmagicparlor.com. Thu-Sat, 8pm. Ongoing. $40. Magic vignettes with conjurer and storyteller Walt Anthony.

Smuin Ballet Palace of Fine Arts Theatre, 3301 Lyon, SF; www.smuinballet.org. Thu/10-Sat/12, 8pm. $25-72. Smuin Ballet kicks off its 20th anniversary season with its “Xxtremes” fall program, including Jiri Kylian’s Return to a Strange Land and Amy Seiwert’s Dear Miss Cline.

BAY AREA

Paufve Dance Hillside Swedenborgian Community Church, 1422 Navallier, El Cerrito; www.brownpapertickets.com. Fri/11-Sat/12, 6pm. $15-20. Randee Paufve and company present Soil, a quintet of new and revised solo works.

“The Shout: Life’s True Stories” Grand Lake Coffee House, 440 Grand, Oakl; www.theshoutstorytelling.com. Mon/14, 7:30pm. $5-20. Amazing but true short storytelling. *