San Francisco

The final act

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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The final act

arts@sfbg.com

FALL ARTS The Brother/Sister Plays The most anticipated event of a rather sparkling fall theater lineup is surely this triptych of plays penned by a 20-something playwright being hailed as a vital new voice in American theater. Tarell Alvin McCraney’s celebrated trilogy, which premiered at New York’s Public Theater, delves with potent language and exceptional theatrical imagination into the lives of ordinary people in the bayous of Louisiana, its setting and themes made more urgent than ever in the wake of manmade catastrophe in the gulf. To make room for this epic work, three of San Francisco’s leading theaters are collaborating in the presentation of all three plays, with mid-September seeing the unveiling of In the Red and Brown Water at Marin Theatre Company and The Brothers Size at the Magic, and October following with Marcus, or the Secret of Sweet at ACT. Sept.–Oct., various venues; www.brothersisterplays.org.

How Can You Stay in the House All Day and Not Go Anywhere? Ralph Lemon began as a dancer/choreographer but has evolved into an interdisciplinary artist of broad scope and rigorous invention. Yerba Buena Center for the Arts presents his latest multimedia piece, which unfurls in four separate events or chapters, together combining live performance, visual art and film in various spaces. Oct. 7-9, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts; www.ybca.org.

Etiquette This half-hour, site-specific, audience-as-actor piece from lauded London-based experimental theater company Rotozaza plants two willing participants at a time in a San Francisco eatery (The Grove on Mission Street), wearing headphones that feed them their lines and actions. First launched in London in 2007, the globetrotting piece arrives in SF. Sept. 16-Oct. 3, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, www.ybca.org.

The Companion Piece A vaudeville duo struggle to cobble together their floundering opening act alongside the aesthetic perfection of the Headliner, as Z Space at Theater Artaud presents a new devised work conceived by actor Beth Wilmurt and directed by Mark Jackson. But this opportunity is more than the finished piece, which is still evolving ahead of its premiere in early 2011. This fall, audiences are invited into the process — by walking into the theater or watching streaming video online. Check the Z Space website for details. Jan. 16- Feb. 26, 2011, Z Space; www.zspace.org

Coraline It started as a book; it was made into a stop-motion animated feature; now it’s a musical brought to life by composer Stephin Merritt (of the Magnetic Fields) and playwright David Greenspan (She Stoops to Comedy; Dead Mother). Together they compliment the decidedly weird imagination of author Neil Gaiman, a latter-day Lewis Carroll of the children’s fiction genre who penned this creepy-funny story of a little girl’s battle against chaos and evil in a bizarre world just on the other side of the drawing room door. This West Coast premiere by astute presenter SF Playhouse will mark only the second production of Coraline after its initial off-Broadway run in 2009. Nov. 16–Jan. 15, SF Playhouse; www.sfplayhouse.org.

Compulsion Berkeley Rep, New York’s Public Theater. and Yale Repertory Theatre present Rinne Groff’s play based on the life of writer Meyer Levin and his complex obsession with producing his own version of a play based on the diary of Anne Frank. The Public’s Oscar Eustis, who cut his teeth at San Francisco’s storied Eureka Theater in the 1980s setting, among other things, Angels in America aloft, returns to the Bay Area to direct lead Mandy Patinkin amid a cast augmented by marionettes. Sept. 13-Oct. 31, Berkeley Rep; www.berkeleyrep.org.

San Francisco Fringe Festival A perennial, a pearl, a Road Trip to Pluto (judging by one title), the Exit Theatre–sponsored San Francisco Fringe Festival is always a trip. Sept. 8–19, various venues; www.sffringe.org.

Port Out, Starboard Home I recently saw a staged reading of this new work from New York playwright Sheila Callaghan at the Bay Area Playwrights Festival. While Callaghan is still developing the piece with producing company foolsFURY, it seems clear the finished product — set aboard a mysteriously intense cruise liner among a group of vacationing seekers in the material world — should be well worth a look. But this production has yet to find a safe harbor. It will apparently be docking at a theater near you this fall. Date and venue TBD; www.foolsfury.org.

Failure to Communicate Performers Under Stress (PUS) opens its season with a new work of physical theater channeling the perspectives and inner visions of students and teachers at an inner-city high school for severely behavior disordered, emotionally disturbed, learning disabled children, based on the teaching experiences of the company’s managing director, Valerie Fachman. Oct. 29-Nov. 14, The Garage; www.pustheatre.com

Anton in Show Business (Sept. 2–Sept. 26) Three nightmare actresses come together in San Antonio, Texas, for a dismaying production of Chekhov’s Three Sisters in Jane Martin’s 2001 award-winning send-up of the theater world. Oakland’s ever able TheatreFIRST leads off its new season with this swift and ruthless backstage comedy, helmed by artistic director Michael Storm and featuring a strong all-female cast meting out satirical justice to the men and women (and critics) of the art form and the dubious cultural landscape at large. Sept. 2-26, Marion E. Greene Black Box Theater; www.theatrefirst.com.

Herrera’s gang injunction becomes part of D. 10 dialogue

Mary Magee
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As stated in this week’s article about City Attorney Dennis Herrera’s Viz Valley gang injunction, Herrera’s move gives D. 10 candidates an opportunity to show they are tracking all the issues in a district that is home to the city’s largest public housing site.

As C.L.A.E.R. Project director Sharen Hewitt put it at a debriefing session about the injunction, “D. 10 has been reduced to the Lennar issue, and that’s what’s criminal.”

And the injunction is becoming part of the dialogue in the D. 10 race, with eleven candidates in that race sounding off on the injunction, many of them critiquing Dennis Herrera’s approach and/or advocating for legal representation for those named in the suit, and more services in this historically neglected district.

Candidates Isaac Bowers, Kristine Enea, Chris Jackson, Nyese Joshua, Steve Moss and Marlene Tran attended Hewitt’s August 12 gang injunction debriefing.

And by meeting’s end, Bowers and Enea said they would help community members get legal representation.
“A lot of people being served, don’t know what an injunction is, or don’t show up at the hearing and then they become subject to the injunction,”  Bowers said.

Enea said she was glad that City Attorney Yvonne Mere clarified at the debriefing that the 41 young men named in Herrera’s filing could not be included in the actual injunction until they have been served.

“It was important to clarify the notice process,” Enea said.

Jackson said he’s committed to helping these men access job and education opportunities.
“If you i.d. folks as low-income gang members, there is a lot more you can do than simply hand over their names to law enforcement,” Jackson said.
“Before the City Attorney puts in a gang injunction, that office should talk about it with the community.” Jackson continued. “Ultimately this is about land use.”

“For the City Attorney to have a top down approach to gang injunctions is unfortunate,” Jackson said, noting that Herrera’s injunctions have been in predominantly
African American and Latino neighborhoods.

“And in terms of taking away people’s civil rights, it’s unacceptable, “ Jackson added, noting that the City Attorney’s list of targeted individuals is public information.

Reached by phone, Moss says he’d like to see a time limit imposed on gang injunctions. Currently, injunctions are indefinite, once they have been granted.

“I haven’t studied the precise details,” Moss said, noting that he went to Hewitt’s debriefing and has leaved through materials the City Attorney’s Office provided.
“Generally, no one likes gang injunctions because they potentially threaten civil liberties and sometimes the city gets it wrong,” Moss said, referring to cases where folks have been wrongly named in previous injunctions. “But in places where injunctions have been brought, they do seem to have reduced the violence and calmed down the district. I’d like there to be a time limit, a sunset clause.”

D. 10 candidate Marlene Tran said she thinks the injunction could help reduce violence in the neighborhood.
“I was trying to listen to the different input at the debriefing session,” Tran said. “But on TV, I heard that when Herrera talked to the Chinese press, he cited some 200 incidents in the proposed safety zone. About 100 of those incidents involved guns, and there have been ten homicides in three years. Those are really glaring statistics. And this morning I read that there is another injunction in Oakland, and they talked about success with gang injunctions in Salinas, where the homicide rate dropped from 50 to 5, compared to 2008/2009.”

Tran, who sits on the Community Advisory Board for the Police Department’s Ingleside Station, said she heard from Ingleside Captain Louis Cassenego that he wants to serve all 41 respondents named in the injunction peacefully.
“If this is done without any casualties to the district and the community, and if it prevents any further violence, then this is the way to go,” Tran said.

Tran expressed some due process concerns.
“If they spend that much personnel and time [on putting the injunction together], it should be done with due process,” Tran said.

But she feels the current level of violence in Viz Valley is unacceptable.
“I’ve lived here for twenty something years, and if you talk to residents and children, who wants to hear gun fire,” Tran said. “So I think we have to work for a peaceful community to prevent these problems. That’s why we call ourselves the emergent district.”

D. 10 candidate Ed Donaldson believes the injunctions are a product of neglect.
“It comes back to a question of overall neglect in the district,” Donaldson explained.  When you have that level of social and economic neglect, gang injunctions become “necessary’. But when you look at the resources coming into the district through local non-profits, which comes, I believe to $110 million a year, 80 percent of which is city money, paid mostly to non-profits that may not be based in the district, you have to ask, Are we getting what we paid for? And do these non-profits have enough integrity to make sure there is a level of impact to transform people’s lives? “

Donaldson says that, given the overall level of neglect in public housing, it’s not surprising the district has challenges.

“So, are we willing to invest in the neighborhood in a very transformative way, or are we going to continue to give money to police and prisons?” Donaldson asked.
He notes that every year, 1,600 men and women return to the southeast side of San Francisco, and there is a 71 percent recidivism rate among these folks.

“Why is this rate so high in a progressive city like San Francisco?” Donaldson said. “Part of the answer lies with our public housing policy: if you can’t get public housing, you can’t apply for a job, you can’t go to school to better yourself.”

Donaldson says there is a direct connection between the district’s homicide rate and the people getting out of prison, returning to the district and re-offending.
“So, what’s so hard about getting our arms around 1,600 people a year and stabilizing them? Because then a lot of stuff about public safety will go away.”

D. 10 candidate Tony Kelly believes that if there were gangs in Viz Valley, then Herrera’s injunction would be valid.
 “There is gang-like activity, but it’s small scale turf wars, shootings and retaliations, and it’s not organized,” Kelly said. “ Instead, you’ve got unorganized young black men with no other options, doing whatever it takes to get ahead. But instead of doing something constructive, the City Attorney calls them gangs.”

Kelly notes that the City Attorney claims that most of the individuals named in the Viz Valley injunction don’t live in the proposed safety zone.
“But according to what I’m hearing on the ground, a bunch of them do live here and/or grew up here,” Kelly said. “So, we want their families to get involved. They need safe havens. But combined with last year’s budget cuts, all this does is criminalize young people and pushes the problem around. As long as we have 40-50 percent unemployment, we are not going to solve our crime problem.”

DeWitt Lacy, also a D. 10 candidate, said he is concerned that gang injunctions are circumventing people’s due process rights.
“In a criminal case, you have the right to an attorney, but that’s not so in a civil action,” Lacy said.

Lacy worries that gang injunctions lend themselves to racial profiling.
“Folks have to stay in their house or quickly go to and fro because they can’t hang out in the neighborhood,” Lacy said. “A smarter approach would be to do community policy that Sup. Ross Mirkarimi introduced in the Western Addition. It’s been shown to have a positive impact on criminal activity. We should have officers walking around in troubled areas. The more we change a foot patrol pilot into citywide policy, the more we actually address serious issues and problems. Everyone understands the value that police bring and everyone wants to be able to rely on them. When we only use police to bring a punitive action it reinforces the notion that they are evil enforcers.”

D. 10 candidate Malia Cohen said she was concerned by Herrera’s approach.
“I think we need a more comprehensive approach, otherwise, we’ll simply be moving crime two blocks over,” Cohen said. “We need long-term, not short-term solutions.”

Cohen noted that there are Chinese and Russian gangs in town, as well as African American ones, and Latino gangs like the Nortenos and Sudenos.
“But the style of how each gang manifests is different, which makes African Americans an easy target. We need to have a uniform approach to how we deal with this.”

The 41 men identified in Herrera’s latest injunction all appear to be African American, and many have family ties and roots in Sunnydale, meaning the injunction impacts a much larger circle of folks than those simply named in Herrera’s filings.
“The impact on families caught up in this can’t be overstated,” Cohen said.  “Either they’ll have to take bus down to court, or drag down and pay hella money for parking, and for food, and even take a day off from work if they are employed. And then there’s the emotional effect. We could be using our resources in a more productive way. I understand that Dennis Herrera is ambitious, but this is playing on people’s racism. It’s tantamount to ethnic cleansing. Maybe Herrera wants to be seen as tough on crime, but ut how about being seen as big on compassion? Or big on fair? This is not going to help people get jobs and housing. And it prevents American citizens from being able to travel.”

Eric Smith, also a D. 10 candidate, says it’s right to question the injunctions.
“David Campos and Eric Quezada both expressed concerns about Herrera’s injunction against the Nortenos, when they were running in the 2008 race for D. 9,” Smith observed.
“They talked about the unintended consequences of that injunction in terms of deporting folks who then train the next generation in the ways of gangs.”

Smith questions how effective gang injunctions are in the long-term.
“They are a band-aid,” Smith said. “This is like putting a finger in the dike, or using a hammer to kill a flea. Because the root causes are not addressed. If you don’t deal with young people’s lack of education and joblessness, their hopelessness, their choicelessness, the gang becomes their family. So, if the city did community policing and had great youth programs, it would help.”

Smith, who is a professional jazz musician, wants to see more music, poetry and spoken word programs and activities in the neighborhood.
“There’s a lot of untapped talent,” he said. “When you have arts, music and theater, those are life-saving opportunities.”

Also a bio-diesel advocate, Smith wants to see people who are returning to the community after a stint inside, being able to access green jobs, instead of doing more of the same stuff, only better, than the activities that landed them inside in the first place.

“I care about everyone in the district, but most of all about those who have been kicked to the curb and end up in gangs, on drugs, or dead.”

And D. 10 candidate Diane Wesley Smith believes there are better solutions than gang injunctions

“African American culture is almost opposite in terms of physical mannerisms and gestures and tone of voice, and that can be scary to someone who is used to being conservative,” Wesley Smith said, speaking to the rising tensions between some black and Asian residents in the district.

“I believe these things could be solved with town hall meetings, where there is food and translators so folks could talk things out, “ she said. “It’s never going to be worked out through the police. Only law enforcement benefits from these kinds of proceedings. We need to reach out and touch each other, so that the Chinese community knows that the black community has the same goals as they do, which are employment, housing and safety.”

“When we talk about violating people’s civil rights, posting people’s pictures on websites, preying on people’s fears, well, that’s how we got into the war,” Wesley-Smith said. “Unemployment. Lack of access to opportunity. Lack of education. No money for our schools, but an increase in spending on our jails. These all send the same message: You are not wanted.”

Wesley Smith is concerned that the gang injunctions will accelerate the mass exodus of blacks and people of color from San Francisco.
“We all want a safe San Francisco,” she observed. “The solution is more jobs, not war. People are just going to go more underground in face of these injunctions. Meanwhile, the kids in my district don’t have toilet paper or computer paper in their schools.”

“I understand that Dennis Herrera is a career politician, and time will tell what his true aspirations are, but this is not legislation we propose in a caring society,” Wesley-Smith concluded. “We’re not showing any of these kids any love. All we need to do is partner with business and government and work this out. Te thought that four men standing on a corner drinking an energy drink could be considered gang members is shocking. That’s how they perpetuated slavery, and that’s why blacks have problems today. All my nephews dress similarly. So, are we going to consider them gang members? The good and the bad kids dress the same. We need people and parents to understand that none of us can be safe, until we take care of those who have the least in our community. I’d venture that everyone who is a safety concern has not pursued their education, has not been assisted in pursuing education, and has not been assisted in pursuing employment.”

D. 10 candidate Lynette Sweet promised to call me back to talk about the gang injunction, and if and when she does, I’ll be sure to include her comments here. The same goes for Nyese Joshua, Geoffrea Morris and Steve Weber  who had not returned my calls as of blog time, and for any other D. 10 candidates that I was unable to reach for this article. So, stay tuned…

Music, lovers

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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Music, lovers

arts@sfbg.com

FALL ARTS La-dee-dah, ’tis autumn, and to hold your loved ones close really is no crime — just ask the birds and the trees and old Father Time. So an old song goes, one that applies to some lovely new songs by Kisses. Musical and romantic partners Jesse Kivel and Zinzi Edmundson have crafted what might be my favorite album of the year so far, Heart of the Nightlife, a ten-song collection that summons a strong sense of longing in a resort setting, thanks to Kivel’s handsome voice and way with a melody. Perhaps too fittingly, considering the album’s atmosphere, Heart of the Nightlife has yet to find a label to call home, but that hasn’t stopped the duo from moving forward with a fall tour, including a November stop in San Francisco. I recently caught up with Kivel on the phone.

SFBG Travel and a sense of place and of displacement sort of dance with one another throughout Heart of the Nightlife. Can you tell me a bit about that, both in terms of personal experience and inspiration?

JK A year and a half ago I quit my day job and was trying to find ways to make money. I found an ad on Craigslist about writing for a travel site. It focused on vacation spots and timeshares. I thought it might be a scam, but then I started getting paid. They didn’t care about me going anywhere — it wasn’t mandatory for me to go to a hotel before recommending it. In terms of journalistic integrity it was pretty low, but it was a funny way of making money. Kisses was already happening. The song “Weekend in Brooklyn” was the first song I recorded. I’d been listening to a lot of Arthur Russell.

SFBG To me Kisses brings a sort of new new romanticism or Postcard (as in the record label) romance. In the ’80s, new romanticism was a pop phenom. There are waves of groups with ’80s qualities at the moment, but Kisses is the only one that seems to distill or refine them into something potent and distinct.

JK My favorite artists have always toed the line in terms of sentimentality, where the lyrics might be heart-on-your-sleeve or sentimental, but it works. Instead of writing lyrics about vague, cool, things — with so many bands now, you can’t even hear the lyrics.

That’s why I get so mad about being lumped in with chillwave. No one knows how to write songs, but there’s an aesthetic to it that can be easily imitated and people take advantage of that. They can’t sing, but the vocals are covered in reverb. I like a cool vibe, but at the end of the day there’s nothing unique about it. Being a part of a scene like that is degrading to me in terms of songwriting and work put into music.

SFBG The beat of “People Can Do the Most Amazing Things,” puts me in mind of Arthur Russell’s “Platform on the Ocean.” I also feel like there a kinship between the tender and human quality of Russell’s lyrics and yours.

JK It’s unbelievable how few people have even recognized that. Everybody is so engrossed with what is happening this second. There are bands I don’t mind being lumped in with — the Balearic and Swedish bands, the people on Sincerely Yours. But that isn’t chillwave. Culturally, those groups pull off a lot of lyrics because of their unique relationship to the English language. They phrase things in a more poetic way but its incidental.

SFBG How and when did you come up with the line “I would like to take you out for a nice steak dinner” [from “Midnight Lover”]?

JK Have you ever seen Catch Me If You Can? That line is in the movie, and Leonardo DiCaprio says it in this weird accent to a girl, and she loves it. There’s something archaic and formal about it. There are so many things you’re assuming with that line. You’re assuming that a girl would eat red meat. That’s a bold move in this day and age. I liked the image I got from that lyric.

SFBG The other line I have to bring up is “I thought all my friends were over me,” from “Bermuda.” I love how it mixes solitude and closeness.

JK That’s one of the most honest lyrics on the record. I’ve seen this happen with me, and with Zinzi and her friends. You can be wrapped up in your life and have this insecurity about your friends being over you. After school, you are restricted by space and time from hanging out with the people you grew up with, and you wonder whether you’re still important.

SFBG Disco producers such as Alec Costanidos and Gino Soccio are mentioned in relation to Kisses. How does Constanidos figure in your music?

JK I’ve known Alec my entire life. My mom’s best friend is married to Alec, and I remember going to his studio when I was little and dancing around to MC Hammer. I never cared about what he made — in the ’90s, disco was something cheesy and irrelevant.

I revisited Alec after listening to more contemporary artists revive disco in a way that I thought was exciting — people like Lindstrom and Glass Candy and Chromatics. I was trying to figure out my voice in dance music. Songs like Cerrone’s “Supernature” and “Love in C Minor,” which Alec wrote with him, really inspired the style and feeling of Kisses. There are pop elements to them — even though they’re long-playing, with tons of repetition, they have great hooks. 

www.myspace.com/blowkissess

Sounds of music

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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Sounds of music

Blonde Redhead, Penny Sparkle (4AD, Sept. 14) The band returns, with help from Fever Ray producers Van Rivers and the Subliminal Kid.

Brian Eno, Small Craft on a Milk Sea (Warp, Nov. 2) Eno records for the electronic label, and the material world versions include a vinyl set with lithograph.

Corin Tucker Band, 1000 Years (Kill Rock Stars, Oct. 5) The Sleater-Kinney singer-guitarist strikes forth solo in a manner of speaking, with contributions from Unwound’s Sara Lund and Golden Bears’ Seth Lorinczi.

El Guincho, Pop Negro (Young Turks, Sept. 14) Barcelona’s pride issues his second album, with a gorgeous octopus cover art and a track called “FM Tan Sexy.”

Frankie Rose and the Outs, Frankie Rose and the Outs (Slumberland, Sept. 21) The Crystal Stilts, Dum Dum Girls, and Vivian Girls drummer fronts her own band, and covers Arthur Russell.

Fresh & Onlys, Play It Strange (In the Red, Oct. 12) The local foursome teams up with Tim Green for a new album that includes creepy fireside cover art and a song titled “Be My Hooker.”

Kelley Stoltz, To Dreamers (Sub Pop, Oct. 12) The San Francisco songsmith does it all (or most of it) himself this go-round, covering Peter Miller’s “Baby I Got News For You.”

Laetitia Sadier, The Trip (Drag City, Sept. 21) The Stereolab member goes solo, and covers Les Rita Matsouko.

Liza Minnelli, Confessions (Decca, Sept. 21) Liza’s back, after back surgery and a Snickers ad with Aretha Franklin, with her take on “At Last.”

Neil Young, Le Noise (Reprise) Shaky isn’t recording an album of chansons — the title is probably a nod to producer Daniel Lanois.

OMD, History of Modern (Bright Antenna/ILG, Sept. 28) The synth duo that all chill wave acts should bow down to issues its first album in 14 years, with a lead single featuring (wait for it) Aretha Franklin.

Swans, My Father Will Lead Me to the Sky (Young God, Sept. 21) Another group returns after a 14-year absence — Devendra Banhart lends a hand (or voice), but Jarboe doesn’t.

Tamaryn, The Waves (Mexican Summer, Sept. 14) The new wave of San Francisco shoegaze steps out into the world with this widescreen effort.

Weekend, Sports (Slumberland, Nov. 9) San Francisco shoegaze, step two: a double-album debut.

Representing the reps

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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Representing the reps

FALL ARTS Here’s a list to get your started; visit the venue or organization website for even more events than could possibly fit here.

Artists’ Television Access (www.atasite.org): “Other Cinema,” the Saturday-night showcase of creatively programmed films and videos, returns Sept. 11 (www.othercinema.com); the “Electronic Cinema” series brings sound artists together with experimental filmmakers Sept. 14.

Castro (www.castrotheatre.com): “Blonde Bombshells” series (lot o’ Marilyn) Aug. 27–Sept. 5; a digital restoration of 1957 classic Bridge on the River Kwai Sept 10–16; and a Chaplin series Sept. 18–21. Jesse Hawthorne Ficks’ always-fun “Midnites for Maniacs” (www.midnitesformaniacs.com) rolls out a “Reinventing Prom” triple feature Sept. 17 (at midnight: 1982’s Zapped!).

Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Festival (www.cafilm.org): The biggest event up north is the 33rd Mill Valley Film Festival (www.mvff.org), Oct 7-17. Other special events: the “Films of My Life” series, with Talking Head Jerry Harrison discussing Jim Jarmusch’s 1984 Stranger Than Paradise.

Clay (www.landmarktheatres.com): The Clay closes Aug. 29. Head out for Aug. 28’s midnight showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), with the Bawdy Caste on hand for a live performance and Clay “funeral.”

Film Night in the Park (www.filmnight.org): Dude! Season-capper The Big Lebowski (1998) invades Dolores Park Sept. 25.

Forbidden Island (www.forbiddenislandalameda.com): Shout out to Will “The Thrill” Viharo, whose “Forbidden Thrills” double-feature-and-signature-drink series packs in some true oddities. Nov. 15’s entry is an Ed Wood tribute, with “The Angora Sweater” cocktail.

Pacific Film Archive (www.bampfa.berkeley.edu): Highlights of the fall program include “Drawn from Life: The Graphic Novel on Film” (Sept. 10–Oct. 31); and the San Francisco Cinematheque co-sponsored “Radical Light: Alternative Film and Video in the San Francisco Bay Area” (Sept. 17–March 31).

Red Vic (www.redvicmoviehouse.com): Oh, hi. Good luck trying to get a ticket for The Room (2003) with THE Tommy Wiseau in person Sept. 17–18. Other fall delights: the local theatrical premiere of Cropsey, a doc that investigates the intersection of true crime and urban legend, Oct 15–19.

Roxie (www.roxie.com): It’s a festival-a-thon, with the SF Latino Film Festival (www.sflatinofilmfestival.com) Sept 16-19 and the SF Irish Film Festival (www.sfirishfilm.com) Sept. 23–25. Don’t miss the Robert Altman miniseries, with 1977 personality-swapping epic 3 Women Sept 21.

San Francisco Cinematheque (www.sfcinematheque.org): Complete program information was unavailable at press time, but SF Cinematheque heads to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (www.sfmoma.org) for a screening of films by avant-gardist Alexander Hammid, plus live music by the Beth Custer Ensemble, Oct 21.

San Francisco Film Society (www.sffs.org): A few highlights: the NY/SF International Children’s Film Festival (Sept. 24–26); programs of films from Taiwan (Oct. 22–24), France (Oct. 23–Nov. 3), and Italy (Nov. 14–21); the San Francisco International Animation Film Festival (Nov. 11–14); and a screening of 1919 silent Sir Arne’s Treasure with accompaniment by the Mountain Goats (Dec. 14).

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (www.sfmoma.org): Picks include “The Elements” sound and film performance Sept. 30, with experimental filmmaker Paul Clipson; and the “Witches” double feature Oct. 28 with George Romero’s Season of the Witch (1973) and Dario Argento’s Suspiria (1977).

Victoria (www.victoriatheatre.org): Joshua Grannell’s horror comedy All About Evil screens at the very theater where it was filmed, Oct 21–24 — with Grannell’s alter ego, Midnight Mass hostess Peaches Christ in person (www.peacheschrist.com).

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (www.ybca.org): The maker of 1965’s Dead Birds gets his due at “Others/Ourselves: The Cinema of Robert Gardner” (Sept. 23–30); plus, check out “Totally Ridiculous: The Lost Films of Charles Ludlum” (Sept. 24–26) and “Sesame Street: A Celebration” (Oct. 1–30).

And more: Bernal Heights Outdoor Cinema (Sept. 2–5) blankets the ‘hood with free screenings (www.bhoutdoorcine.org). Good Vibrations Fifth Annual Indie Erotic Film Festival (Sept. 18–23) aims to tickles your fancy (www.goodvibes.com). The 14th Arab Film Festival (Oct. 14–24) screens films from and about the Arab world (www.arabfilmfestival.org).

EPA moves to protect California coasts from sewage dumping

Sasha Cuttler And Mary Magee
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Jared Blumenfeld told the Guardian that his son, who is in the sixth grade, was grossed out when he found out what his dad had been working on recently — crafting a new rule that would ban ships from dumping sewage into California’s coastal waters. The youngster quite sensibly expressed disbelief that up until now, such a thing hadn’t been adequately dealt with.

Blumenfeld, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 9 Administrator and former director of the San Francisco Department of the Environment, signed a new rule on Aug. 25 establishing a No Discharge Zone for vessel sewage in California marine waters. The rule, which will become effective next year, places an enforceable ban on dumping treated and untreated sewage into coastal waters up to three miles offshore that will apply to cruise ships and major commercial vessels. “It will prevent up to 20 million gallons of sewage from going into coastal waters,” Blumenfeld explained, citing EPA estimates.

The No Discharge Zone will cover 1,624 miles of coastline, including major islands and tidally influenced bays, estuaries, and rivers, making it the largest protection zone of its kind nationwide.

A Clean Water Act ban on vessel discharges of untreated sewage already exists off the coast of California, and International Maritime Organization rules currently prohibit dumping treated or untreated sewage up to three miles offshore, and untreated sewage up to 12 miles offshore. However, the EPA’s new rule has teeth thanks to the introduction of a key player: The U.S. Coast Guard. The maritime arm of the Department of Homeland Security “has a very hands-on approach” to enforcement, Blumenfeld explained, and suggested that the Coast Guard’s involvement could go a long way toward ensuring compliance.

The creation of this new, enforceable rule has been in the works for nearly half a decade, but the process was slow going. “This administration came on board and said, let’s take some action and move this forward,” Blumenfeld said.

Unchecked sewage discharges have impacted beaches all along California’s coast, presenting health hazards and occasionally prompting beach closures. Statewide, 40 percent of beaches monitored in 2009 experienced advisories for exceeding water-quality standards due to pathogens found in sewage. In San Francisco, more than 85 percent of the beaches had advisories, likely a byproduct of the thousands of passengers aboard roughly 60 densely-packed cruise ships and 2,000 cargo ships coming into the San Francisco Bay each year. No one can pinpoint exactly what quantity of the sewage that is released is treated, or untreated, Blumenfeld noted.

Beachgoers aren’t the only ones impacted by harmful pathogens in organic waste. Inland waters such as those found in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta provide spawning grounds for important fishery species including striped bass, California halibut, white sea bass, herring, and various types of salmon. Coastal waters, meanwhile, serve as key habitat for kelp forests, which — in addition to providing refuge for many kinds of marine life — are routinely harvested for use in products like cosmetics or ice cream. Other species supported in coastal waters include sea urchin, squid, abalone, spiny lobster, California halibut, Pacific mackeral, rockfish, and several kinds of crab. Sewage is one of many different varieties of pollution that can impact inland and coastal waters in California.

While the EPA’s newly established No Discharge Zone signifies an important step forward in the realm of marine conservation, it’s still just one piece of the puzzle. Once the rule is implemented, cruise ship operators will likely opt to discharge their sewage outside of the three-mile protection zone, free of charge. To discourage these discharges farther out at sea, a whole new rulemaking process would probably have to be set in motion banning oceangoing vessels from discharging any sewage anywhere, and requiring docks to have infrastructure for ships to pump out when they come into port. No such requirement currently exists.

The theory behind allowing sewage discharges outside the No Discharge Zone is that waste is more effectively diluted in greater oceanic depths farther off the coast. But a sixth grader would probably tell you that at the end of the day, it still doesn’t remove the estimated 20 million gallons of sewage from the ocean.

Magic 8-Ball

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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0
Magic 8-Ball

superego@sfbg.com

FALL ARTS/ SUPER EGO What does the immediate future of nightlife hold? “Cloud” DJs, quantum trannies, Hovaround races, de-friending parties, cocktail holography, xylophones? Honey. I just rolled in from a night at Aunt Charlie’s in the TL. Answer hazy, ask again later — maybe after I score some hot hangover grits from Eddie’s on Diviz. In the meanwhile, here’s all tomorrow’s parties I want to see your pretty game face at.

 

LOVETECH

A recent tipsy visit to the California Academy of Science’s Thursday Nightlife party confirmed that it’s still one of the most consistently intriguing events on the scene. (It’s also full of gorgeous, smart women — hint, hint all you lonely geeks). Appropriately for its “Inventors Month” theme, this week will see nonstop live electronic music performances from the likes of Edison, Scuzzy, Seventh Swami, Moldover, Spit Brothers, and the Evolution Control Committee. Will the penguins dance? Yes. Yes, they will dance.

Thurs/26, 6 p.m.–10 p.m., $12. California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Drive, Golden Gate Park, SF. www.calacademy.org/nightlife

 

THE BEAT ELECTRIC DANCE SHOW

Kind of freaking out about this. Mezzanine is getting done up like 1982 Detroit cable dance show The Scene (think Soul Train but with early techno and house) — tinsel curtains, dance runway, platforms, and all. Party Effects, BT Magnum, Black Shag, and more keep you popping and locking — and it’ll all be filmed VHS-style. Jihaari T. hosts, and the Miss Honey children, including Terry T and Manicure Versace, preside.

Fri/27, 9 p.m., $5. Mezzanine, 444 Jessie, SF. www.mezzaninesf.com

 

OSUNLADE

Very deep, very spiritual, very fantastic global house grooves from the busy Yoruba Soul artist. Carlos Mena of Oakland’s lovely Yoruba Dance Sessions weekly and hometown funkologist J-Boogie support, with live drum troupe Loco Bloco.

Fri/27, 10 p.m.–late, $20. Mighty, 119 Utah, SF. www.mighty119.com

 

TRANNYSHACK BJÖRK TRIBUTE

Koo-koo queens once again take on the Icelandic idol in true Trannyshack fashion. With Cousin Wonderlette, Miss Rahni, Elijah Minnelli, Jupiter, Fruitbomb, Suppositori Spelling, Raya Light, Ambrosia Salad (who was born to Björk out), and of course Heklina herself, the queen of creamed salmon. Ever-stylish DJ Omar tickles your medulla.

Fri/27, 10 p.m.–3 a.m., $12. DNA Lounge, 375 11th St., SF. www.trannyshack.com

 

GIRL UNIT

Intensely funky, forward-thinking Night Slugs artist brings the future grime with a side of early Chicago spooky house feel. He’ll be at the quite nice Icee Hot monthly with Disco Shawn, Rollie Fingers, and Ghosts on Tape.

Sat/28, 10 p.m., $5. 222 Hyde, SF. www.222hyde.com

 

GO BANG!

So, what’s the retro-disco scene like in Omaha, Neb.? Find out when cutie Omahanian DJ Brent Crampton heats up the tables at one of my favorite monthly parties. Headliners funky Cole Medina and Sergio V from L.A. join residents Steve Fabus and Sergio Fedasz, plus newcomers Tres Lingerie, to call down the spirits.

Sat/28, 9 p.m.-late, $5. Deco Lounge, 510 Larkin, SF. www.decosf.com

 

BIG TOP THIRD ANNIVERSARY

Promoter Joshua J’s parties are curious mélanges of disparate nightlife flavors, dizzying yet fun. His monthly circus-themed extravaganza Big Top certainly operates under the big tent principle: this anniversary gig includes electro-indie DJ Jeffrey Paradise, fab photog Ava Berlin, drag-vogue shenanigans by the Miss Honey Children and Hoku Mama Swamp, a “lights out” makeout lounge, clothing optional Twister, go-go boys, and a fortune teller. Whew!

Sat/28, 9 p.m.–3 a.m., $5 advance. Club Eight, 1151 Folsom, SF., www.joshuajpresents.com

 

DJ CAM

The dreamy French hip-hopiste comes bearing surreal stoner grooves. (His new album Seven includes an appearance by reclusive house legend Nicolette!) Sway along with local bass-twister Mophono of mind-bending weekly Change the Beat and Carey Kopp.

Sat., Sept. 4,10 p.m.–late, $10 advance. Mighty, 119 Utah, SF. www.mighty119.com

 

DUB MISSION 14TH ANNIVERSARY

San Francisco’s original dub haven, this weekly joint always makes me smile while turning my head all spacey. Mission maestro DJ Sep welcomes Dr. Israel, Patch Dub, Katrina Blackstone, Turbo Sonidero Futuristico, and MC Mex Tape for a global-eared night of true vibes.

Sun., Sept. 5, 9 p.m., $10 advance. Elbo Room, 647 Valencia, SF. www.elbo.com

 

THE FUTURE 06

The sixth installment of this amazing party brings Brainfeeder knob-god Flying Lotus back from L.A. (via space). Trust, you will not know what hit you when he’s done. Also on deck: dubstep slayer Caspa, who radiates a classic bonkers feel.

Fri., Sept. 24, 9 p.m.–late, $20 advance. Mezzanine, 444 Jessie, SF. www.mezzaninesf.com

 

DESIGNER DRUGS

I caught this tireless NYC banger duo a few years back when they opened at a Blow Up party — they seemed far too sweet for the face-melting (yet strangely melodic) set they went on to unleash. It was madness! They’re a lot more well-known now, but their funhouse-electro sound still causes heart murmurs and panty drops.

Sat., Sept. 25, 9 p.m.–late, $12 advance. Mezzanine, 444 Jessie, SF. www.mezzaninesf.com

 

DEVIANTS

Thanks to some canny programming, the Folsom Street Fair is turning into a major music festival in its own right — this year’s performers include Nitzer Ebb, Dragonette, FM Attack, and HOTTUB. Folsom 2010 also sees the launch of a crazy-sounding new after-party, Deviants, with an ear toward extending the pervy deliciousness for hip omnisexuals. House-y thrill The Juan Maclean performs, with DJs Zach Moore of Space Cowboys and Johnny Seymour of Stereogamous opening the floodgates.

Sun., Sept. 26, 6 p.m., $30 advance. 525 Harrison, SF. www.flsomstreetfair.org/deviants

 

LOVEVOLUTION

Change is in the air for this fantastic mega dance festival, formerly known as Lovefest. The party has outgrown its Civic Center location, and a new one is soon to be announced. What hasn’t changed is that the Bay Area is home to several kinds of electronic music, and it would be a shame if we couldn’t all celebrate once a year outdoors, safely and peacefully.

Sat., Oct. 2. Check website for times, location, and price. www.sflovevolution.org

 

NEW WAVE CITY 18TH ANNIVERSARY

Ain’t nothing wrong with a little straight-up, nonironic New Wave nostalgia, especially if venerable 1980s-obsessed DJs Skip and Shindog are serving. Of course, the fun part about this being NWC’s 18th is that the ’80s were barely over before the nostalgia began. Also of course, you won’t be able to not sing and dance along.

Sat., Oct. 2, 9 p.m.–3.am., $12. DNA Lounge, 375 11th St., SF. www.newwavecity.com

 

TREASURE ISLAND MUSIC FESTIVAL

My fondest wishes for this fab four-year-old? More local talent and a DJ tent playing continuous tunes for dancing. Still, it’s hard to argue with a lineup that includes Four Tet, Die Antwoord, Wallpaper, Little Dragon, and more undergroundish acts.

Sat., Oct. 17 and Sun., Oct. 18, $67.50 single day, $119.50 advance two-day package. Treasure Island, www.treasureislandfestival.com

 

PUBLIC WORKS OPENING

I’ve been dying to sing the praises of the awesome crew of DJs and artists involved in this new club and gallery space, located on a nifty street called Erie and marked by a Banksy mural. Now that they’ve set an opening date, I can gush: if all goes well, this should be another hot spot to make the city proud. The launch should be a dance dream.

Wed., Oct. 20, 9 p.m.–4 a.m., price tba. Public Works, 161 Erie, SF.

Leap into fall

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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Leap into fall

Looking over the fall dance schedule, two ingredients jump out: celebration and experimentation. Given the depressed economy and vacuous political conversations, this optimism comes as a welcome surprise. But then dancers are a resilient lot; they are used to rock bottom or nonexistent budgets and functioning below the radar screen of the pundits who try to tell us which way the culture is tilting. They simply go about doing what they sense needs to be done and put their own stamp on the social ecology. Here is a glimpse at what you can expect until Nutcracker time. 

Flyaway Productions Jo Kreiter’s troupe of strong female warriors — one of our more innovative equipment-based ensembles — is taking to the air to celebrate the Women’s Building’s centennial. They have an open rehearsal Aug. 26 at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 10–18, Women’s Building; www.flyawayproductions.com.

Central Market Arts This is a truly exciting initiative by four Mid-Market Street arts organizations: Alonzo King’s LINES Dance Center, The Garage, Kunst-Stoff Arts and Project Bandaloop. Billed as “24 Days of Art, Music, Dance & Theater,” it presents art in the places where it is made. One idea is to show that the “theater district” exists on the streets. It kicks off with free performances by a who’s who of talents at the Mint Plaza by Fifth and Martet. Kunst-Stoff, LEVYdance, and Robert Moses Kin are the among those doing the honors. Sept. 24–Oct. 17, Market St. corridor; www.jonsimsctr.org.

San Francisco Hip-Hop Dancefest Taking its cue from the jam-packed auditions for the San Francisco Ethnic Festival, the San Francisco Hip-Hop Dance Fest is opening its local company auditions to the public. There are so many applicants, it had to create two separate Sept. 12 sessions at Cowell Theater: one from 11 a.m–2: 30 p.m. and another from 3:30 p.m. –7 p.m. (Out-of-town groups undergo separate evaluations.) This all-day event offers a fabulous opportunity to sample Bay Area hip-hop dance and should whet the appetite for the big event in November. Nov. 19–21, Palace of Fine Arts; www.sfhiphopdancefest.com.

West Wave Dance West Wave is back for its 19th season, this time structured as a monthly series falling on usually dance-free Sunday and Monday nights. Each program features five choreographers. Including a night devoted to dance on film, this is a must for anyone wanting a perspective on Bay Area dance. Sept.20–Dec. 13, Cowell Theater; www.westwavedancefestival.org.

Mark Morris Dance Company The much-welcome perennial returns with three West Coast premieres: this year’s Socrates, about dying; 2007’s Looky, about gallery-hopping; and 1990’s Behemoth, which has been described as “cold, abstract, and silent.” Doesn’t sound much like MM, does it? Sept. 30–Oct. 2, Zellerbach Hall, Berk; www.calperformances.org.

“Traditions Engaged: Dance, Drama, Rhythm” To celebrate its 30th anniversary, Chitresh Das Dance Company follows its 2006 “Kathak at the Crossroads” — which brought together an amazing assembly of dancers, teachers, scholars, and aficionados — with a performance that expands to other classical Indian dance forms: bharata natyam, kathakali, kuchipudi. and odissi. Oct. 1–3, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts; www.kathak.org.

Smuin Ballet Try McIntyre has made himself a reputation for skillful, congenial, and exuberantly danceable choreography. So his Smuin Ballet world premiere — set to indie rock by the Shins — is a good match for the company’s fine crop of dancers. It joins Michael Smuin’s Blue Grass/Slide (which involves pole dancing), and Brahms/Haydn Variation, one of Smuin’s more refined essays on a gorgeous piece of music. Oct. 1–19, Palace of Fine Arts; www.smuinballet.org.

ODC Theater (Oct. 1–3, ODC Theater, SF) is opening its new facilities with a firework of performances. First in line is the world premiere of Brenda Way’s “Architecture of Light”, then comes “JumpstART” (Oct. 16), a daylong celebration of dance, music, and theater, to be followed throughout the fall by a series of commissions, the first one for Kunst-Stoff and LEVYdance (Oct.21–28).

Na Lei Hulu I Ka Wekiu Happy 25th birthday to Patrick Makuakane’s company. If you have seen these remarkable hula dancers, you know that every concert by them is a celebration of contemporary and old-style Hawaiian culture. You can expect a cross-section of their repertoire as well as a special one-hour family matinee on closing day. Oct. 16–24, Palace of Fine Arts; www.naleihulu.org.

Scheherazade Today the Orientalism and racism of Mikhael Fokine’s 1910 extravaganza Scheherazade make the work just about unperformable. Not so, says Alonzo King of LINES Ballet Company, who accepted a commission from the Monaco Dance Forum to rethink the tale. Zakir Hussein does the honors for the Rimsky-Korsakov score. This is the U.S. premiere. Oct. 14–24, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts; www.ybca.org.

“Harvest: The Fall 2010 Choreographers Showcase” Dance Mission Theater’s fall showcase rides in on an unlikely premise. Unjuried and programmed on a first-come, first-serve basis, it includes beginners and experienced artists. The results should be surprising, and are frequently satisfying. Oct. 22–23, Dance Mission Theater; www.dancemission.com.

Sankai Juku For sheer elegance of presentation of a very demanding dance style, the 35-year-old Sankai Juku has few equals. It is bringing 2002’s mesmerizing Hibiki: Resonance from Far Away to San Francisco. If you want to see a newer work, head for Stanford, where it presents Tobari (As If In an Inexhaustible Flux), from 2008. Nov. 9, Memorial Auditorium, Stanford; www.livelyarts.stanford.edu. Nov. 11–13, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts; www.ybca.org.

Funny face, fecal face

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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0
Funny face, fecal face

arts@sfbg.com

FALL ARTS/HAIRY EYEBALL “New Work: R. H. Quaytman” It’s appropriate that the paintings commissioned by SFMOMA for R.H. Quaytman’s first West Coast showing were conceived in response to the museum’s own photography holdings as well as the work of SF Renaissance poet Jack Spicer. I’m curious to see what sort of conversation Quaytman’s precise, labor-intensive, and site-specific silk-screens (in “seven interrelated sizes based on the golden ratio”) stage with Spicer’s salty and spicy verse. Oct. 22-Jan. 16, 2011; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, www.sfmoma.org.

“Masami Teraoka: The Inversion of the Sacred” Masami Teraoka built his reputation in the 1980s and ’90s on his apocalyptic ukiyo-e-style paintings, which juxtaposed topical content (AIDS, the globalization of fast food) against their faithful reproduction of an older, “traditional” aesthetic. In recent years he’s turned to Renaissance altar painting as the medium of choice to express his disgust over a whole host of new evils. His latest gilded blasphemy — a triptych that reenvisions the Last Supper as a Papal stag party in hell — encompass the ever-mounting sex abuse scandals linked to the Catholic Church and the gulf oil spill. Oct. 2-Nov.13; Catharine Clark Gallery, cclarkgallery.com.

“Tammy Rae Carland: Funny Face, I Love You” For her second solo show at Silverman Gallery, Mr. Lady Records cofounder and visual artist Tammy Rae Carland presents a suite of new work inspired by female comedians. Carland’s photographs of empty stand-up stages give off a slightly forlorn vibe, to be sure, but her anywhere clubs are also sites of possibility to laugh off gender difference as well as to laugh at it. You’ll leave in stitches. Sept. 10-Oct. 23, 2010; Silverman Gallery, www.silverman-gallery.com.

“10 Years of Fecal Face, An Anniversary Show” A decade in Internet years is a long-ass time, so three cheers to founder John Trippe and his army of global correspondents for sticking to their guns these past 10 years and creating an invaluable resource and platform for Bay Area artists and visual art fans. Tripp has pulled together a who’s who of site and Fecal Face Dot Gallery alum — David Choe, Matt Furie, and Jeremy Fish, to name a few — for this epic retrospective. Support the scene that supports you. Sept. 10-Oct. 9, 2010; Luggage Store Gallery, www.luggagestoregallery.org.

“HARVEST: what have you gathered?” Just in time for the lead-up to Thanksgiving, the North of Market/Tenderloin Community Benefit District Gallery lays out quite a spread. “Harvest” asked a diverse group of TL-based artists, “What have you gathered?” Their responses should make for an interesting snapshot of the lives that comprise a neighborhood in flux. Sept. 1–Nov. 30; 134 A Golden Gate, www.nom-tlcbd.org.

“Reclaimed: Paintings From the Collection of Jacques Goudstikker” Fact: the Nazis did many shitty things, such as taking other people’s (wealthy Jews, in particular) cultural property as their own. Such was the fate of the collection of prominent Dutch art dealer Jacques Goudstikker, who had amassed a sizable number of Northern Renaissance rarities. After much effort conservators finally repieced together the collection in 2006, and now SF gets a peek at Goudstikker’s greatest hits. And what hits they are: for starters, Hendrick Avercamp’s Winter Landscape with Iceskaters (1608) could give Breughel’s peasantry a run for their money. Oct. 29-March 11, 2011; Contemporary Jewish Museum, www.thecjm.org.

“Chris Duncan: Eye Against I” Though it takes its title from a seminal album by Washington, D.C., hardcore-legends Bad Brains, “Eye Against I” can also refer to the mind/body split one undergoes when staring down one of Chris Duncan’s refracted whirlpools of color. Fry art by way of Saul Bass is one way to think about Duncan’s carefully hued spirals of isosceles triangles, but some of the guest artists scheduled for a series of accompanying live events might provide some other ways to re-see the work. Sept. 11- Oct. 16, 2010; Baer Ridgway Exhibitions, www.baerridgway.com.

“One Night Stand: A Mills MFA Group Show” Art doesn’t come much cheaper than this. The bright-eyed and bushy-tailed talents in the 2011 Mills MFA class are selling their work for under $50 a pop. Buy now or cry later after they’ve won a SECA award and made the cover of Juxtapoz. Oct. 8, 6-9 p.m.; Branch Gallery, www.branchgallery.com.

“Cliff Hengst and Wayne Smith: New Work” Both Hengst and Smith have been longtime fixtures on the SF art scene, but their work — different as it is in tone and medium — is always refreshing. Here’s hoping Hengst unveils work in line with the small gems in his last showing at 2nd Floor Projects: news photo-sourced images of demonstrations in which everything but the protestors’ signs have been blackened out. Sept. 10-Oct. 29; Gallery 16, www.gallery16.com.

“Suggestions of Life Being Lived” This exciting group show curated by Danny Orendorff and Adriane Skye Roberts promises to live up to the dare laid down by Bikini Kill many moons ago to be “worse than queer.” Bypassing the usual identity politics-centered narratives and concerns that have defined much LGBT art practice, “Suggestions” seeks out new territory for queerness, whether it be in Kirstyn Russell’s photos of gay bars past, Jeannie Simm’s intimate study of an Indonesian maid training agency, or Chris Vargas and Greg Youman’s humorous “real life” Web sitcom Falling in Love With Chris and Greg. Sept. 9-Oct. 23; SF Camerawork, www.sfcamerawork.org.

OUT OF TOWN

Not all fall hits are in the city. Borrow some wheels and head to points north and south to check out these promising shows:

“THE GOLDEN DECADE: PHOTOGRAPHY AT THE CALIFORNIA SCHOOL OF FINE ARTS, 1945-55”

Before SF Art Institute was SF Art Institute, it was known as the California School of Fine Arts and had one of the finest photography programs in post-World War II America. Set up by Ansel Adams, the program counted such celebrated photographers as Dorothea Lange, Homer Page, and Imogen Cunningham among its illustrious faculty. Smith Anderson North in San Anselmo collects an unprecedented showing of photographers who came out of the program at the height of its fame. Sept. 14-Oct. 15; Smith Anderson North, www.smithandersonnorth.com.

“2010 01SJ BIENNIAL”

You may know the way to San Jose, but San Jose knows the way to the future. The 01SJ Biennial has grown into one of the Bay Area’s premier art events, bringing together visual artists, architects, computer programmers, and a whole host of other creative doers and thinkers and unleashing their creations and collaborations across the city, this year, with the prompt to “Build Your Own World.” Sept. 16-19; www.01sj.org.

The “Roman Wild West”: chatting with “Centurion” director Neil Marshall

Sue Vaughan
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The “Roman Wild West”: chatting with “Centurion” director Neil Marshall

Genre junkies, rejoice! Neil Marshall — 2002 werewolf thriller Dog Soldiers, 2005 cave-monster chiller The Descent, and 2008 post-apocalyptic actioner Doomsday — has a brand-new film: Centurion. The latest from the man some call “the new John Carpenter” is getting a release with actual fanfare (however humble in comparision to, say, The Expendables or whatever), though you’d best hustle to the theater if you care to see Centurion, about a Roman soldier doing battle with tribal Picts in what’s now Scotland, on the big screen. (It’s also now available On Demand, but c’mon: the big screen is always better.) Evident in Marshall’s films is the fact that he himself is a movie fan, which makes him all the more pleasurable to talk to. [Spoiler warning: there are some. Just so you know.]

San Francisco Bay Guardian: Centurion takes a documented event, the building of Hadrian’s Wall, and creatively fills in some of the history surrounding it. Why did you write the story this way?

Neil Marshall: It was kind of a case of compacting a couple of dates, which weren’t that far apart anyway. The myth of the Ninth Legion is based around 117 AD, which is when the film is set. That was when the entire Ninth Legion marched into Scotland and supposedly vanished without a trace. Historians have since been spoilsports and disproved that, and proved that they were attacked but they didn’t get massacred, they were dispersed, and such like. But then, in 122 AD, Hadrian’s Wall started being built. And I just thought, “Well, couldn’t I tie the two in together somehow, that logically, what happened to the Ninth Legion could have been part of the reason for Hadrian to build the wall in the first place?” So, yeah, it was a question of kind of condensing that slightly.

In terms of the Ninth Legion legend, I kind of went with that old adage: when the legend becomes fact, print the legend. Because it’s far more interesting! But the story was kind of book ended: yes, my Ninth Legion goes into Scotland, and at the end of it, it becomes a cover-up by the Romans. Which is kind of what happened in truth, that they disbanded the legion to avoid the embarrassment of having lost so many people to the Picts. So I was playing around to a degree, and I know that to a large extent the story is a fiction, a hypothesis of what might have happened to them based on the legend, but I tried to make that within the most authentic world I could create.

SFBG: The historical setting is new for you. Had you been wanting to do a period film?

NM: I’d been itching to do a historical movie. I love those kind of movies. I love watching those kind of movies. What guy wouldn’t want to make a movie about Romans and Picts, and ancient history, and battles, and stuff like that? It’s great fun! I’d grown up with all that history as well. In Newcastle, it’s one end of Hadrian’s Wall. So I was surrounded by Roman history — ruins of forts, Roman roads, and all sorts of stuff. You can’t avoid it if you grow up in that part of the world. We used to go on school trips to these places, and my dad’s a big history buff, and all that kind of stuff. I think it was kind of in my blood that I would want to make a movie about this stuff, one day or another.

SFBG: Unlike your previous films, Centurion doesn’t have a supernatural element. Did you decide that ahead of time, on purpose?

NM: It was very tempting. When I first came up with the story, I’d just made Dog Soldiers. And when I heard about the entire legion vanishing without a trace, initially I went down a supernatural path. I was thinking, was it gonna be some monsters? An alien abduction? Were they eaten by the Loch Ness Monster or something? And then I quickly thought, “I don’t want to immediately repeat myself. What might have actually happened to them? Who are these Picts?” I mean, these Picts sound pretty scary, because the Romans built this 60-mile wall to keep them out. So I figured maybe I didn’t need to go down a supernatural path to find a terrifying opponent or enemy. And that’s when I kind of based it more in reality, I guess.

SFBG: Something else that’s new is Centurion‘s romantic subplot. It softens the tone of the film somewhat. Why did you decide to include that?

NM: Yes, it’s new for me. Um, I don’t know. It just felt right. I thought, maybe it’s time I do have a bit of a romance in one of my films. It’s a long way from suddenly going down the route of turning to romantic comedies, but a little bit of a love story going on seemed like, I don’t know, a step for me. Getting older, maybe maturing as a writer. I didn’t really think about it that much. It just naturally fell into place.

The other thing is that, in the original draft of the script, there was more to [Imogen Poots’] character [Arianne] than just being a love interest. In the original ending of the film, it’s revealed that she’s half-sister to [Olga Kurylenko’s character] Etain, and it was Etain who in fact gave her the cut on the face, and there’s this really kind of issue between the two of them. Originally, Etain survived until the end of the film, when it was Arianne who killed her and not Quintus. When I was writing the film, it seemed like less of just a love story and more of an integral part of the plot.

SFBG: Why did you change it?

NM: It was under producer pressure. I don’t know why they wanted to change it, but they kind of pressured me into changing it. Those are the perils. Even in a low-budget film like this, the idea that I have absolute control is a myth. [Laughs.]

SFBG: Even with a low budget, it seems like you got a good cast together.

NM: We were incredibly lucky with timing. When we cast Michael [Fassbender, who plays Quintus], I hadn’t seen Hunger (2008), and Inglourious Basterds (2009) hadn’t been released yet. But we knew that he’d done this stuff. I’d actually auditioned both him and Dominic [West, who plays Virilus] for Doomsday. Due to scheduling difficulties I wasn’t able to get either of them in that movie but I still wanted to work with them. So when the opportunities came to have them in this movie, I just jumped at the chance. So that just fell into place perfectly. The rest of was just getting the best caliber of actors that we could in those roles. We were very lucky. Somebody like David Morrissey — I never figured he would take what is essentially a supporting role, but he was just really itching to do an action movie, and, you know, play a Roman soldier and hack people to bits with swords. So, he jumped at the chance. Same with everybody else, really.

SFBG: Were you a fan of [Dominic West’s TV show] The Wire?

NM: Oh yeah. I’m a huge fan of Dominic. Amazing work in The Wire. Really phenomenal stuff. So phenomenal, I think, that many people forget that he’s an English guy. [Laughs] He’s such a larger-than-life presence as well, and it was perfect for the role of Virilus.

SFBG: When I talked to you about The Descent, we discussed how the movie was incredibly physical though it was shot mostly on sets. With Centurion, it seems like you actually went out and shot it in the elements. Did that present any particular challenges?

NM: The first day of filming, we were 3,000 feet up a mountain in a blizzard, and it was minus 18 degrees. That set the standard for the rest of the shoot. I deliberately went out to get the most miserable, hard conditions that we could find. My ethos in this film was to kind of do the anti-300. It was never gonna be on a soundstage. It was never gonna be green-screen, and all kind of in slo-mo. This was gonna be in the rain, in the mud, in the snow, and it was gonna be tough, very very tough for everyone involved. And everybody embraced that. The crew, the cast. I warned everybody beforehand: “You know, this isn’t going to be easy. This is gonna be tough.” And everybody signed up for it, and nobody ever complained because they were just 100 percent for it.

SFBG: You said that there were four films that influenced you when making The Descent: Deliverance (1972), The Shining (1980), Alien (1979), and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974). Did you have any touchstones like that when making Centurion? Braveheart (1995) or Gladiator (2000) …

NM: Actually, I tried to put Braveheart and Gladiator to the back of my mind as much as possible. With this one, it was like The Warriors (1979), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), Fort Apache (1948), Last of the Mohicans (1992). Stuff like that. I actually saw a lot of Westerns, and not many Roman movies at all. Chase movies, things like Figures in a Landscape (1970) which is a kind of obscure movie about people running across mountaintops.

SFBG: What elements of the Western do you think you brought to Centurion?

NM: I see this as a Western in two ways. Historically, it’s a Western, because this frontier, ancient Britain, was the equivalent of the Roman’s Wild West. It was their furthest Western frontier. It was lawless, it was violent. They were battling the natives. So it was their Wild West. As a film, I consider it to be akin to John Ford’s cavalry movies. The Romans are the cavalry, the Picts are the Comanches, and the landscape is absolutely integral to everything. I kind of had that in the back of my mind all the time. And also from the point of view that, if Ford was trying to make those movies today, they’d be seen as incredibly un-PC, because you’re telling them from the point of view of the invading army. Which is exactly what I’m doing here, telling it from the Roman point of view. I was never saying the Roman point of view was right. I was just saying, that’s what it was.

SFBG: The main Roman character has a change of heart from beginning to end.

NM: Absolutely. It’s primarily about the individuals. I’m not asking the audience to sympathize with the Romans. I am asking the audience to sympathize with Quintus and his band of brothers as it were, because they kind of get left in the lurch and are disillusioned by the whole system. They basically just want to get home.

SFBG: There’s also a more contemporary subtext within the film, since the invading-army story mirrors the current Iraq war in some ways. Did you set out to make that parallel?

NM: I didn’t write it with that in mind, but it became really obvious when I was writing it that there is a subtext there. Things are happening today that were happening 2,000 years ago. This is about a superpower marching into a country and being held back by a guerrilla fighting style. The comparisons are screamingly obvious. But, once I recognized that fact, I made a conscious decision not to turn it into a political allegory, to ram it down the audience’s throat, or make that kind of movie. It had to be seen first and foremost as a historical action-adventure movie. And if people read that into it, if people see that, that’s fantastic. It’s certainly there. But it shouldn’t distract from the story.

SFBG: What’s next for you?

NM: I’m producing a film called The Ghost of Slaughterford, that’s being directed by my wife, Axelle Carolyn [who plays a supporting role in Centurion]. For myself, I’m attached to a project that Sam Raimi’s producing, called Burst. It’s gonna be a horror movie, it’s in 3D, and it’s all about people exploding.

SFBG: Ah, I was going to ask you what you thought of the 3D trend. Obviously you’re in favor!

NM: I’m gonna give it a go. I’m dubious about the 3D trend. I’m worried that it’s going to be applied to anything and everything, when it should be very specialized. But it’s a great tool, and I want to have a go at seeing what I can do with it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiQCofKrYAI

Centurion opens Fri/27 in Bay Area theaters.

Crackdown on gangs — or civil liberties?

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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Crackdown on gangs — or civil liberties?

Sarah@sfbg.com

City Attorney Dennis Herrera’s Aug. 5 decision to file a civil gang injunction against two alleged gangs in Visitacion Valley is being hailed by top local law enforcement officials as an important weapon in a war between heavily-armed members of two rival gangs in the Sunnydale housing projects.

“I consider this another vital tool in the prosecution of violent criminals,” District Attorney Kamala Harris said in a City Attorney’s Office press release announcing the suit against the Down Below Gangsters (DBG) and Towerside Gang.

But in the middle of a heated race for supervisor in District 10, the gang injunction also has become a political issue — and infuriated civil liberties activists who say it’s unfair and won’t work.

Herrera’s complaint names and identifies 41 young black men using declarations from gang task force members, police reports, photographs of the men sporting tattoos, flashing hand signs, and wearing purported gang clothing — and even extracts from a letter that one listed individual sent to another alleged gang member, who was in jail.

If Herrera’s request is granted in court Sept. 30, it will be San Francisco’s fourth civil gang injunction. Herrera secured similar injunctions against the Bayview-Hunters Point Oakdale Mob in October 2006; the Mission District’s Norteños in 2007; and the Western Addition’s Chopper City, Eddy Rock, and Knock Out Posse in 2007.

The City Attorney’s Office claims a “cooling off” effect as a result of those injunctions. “Since Herrera launched the civil gang injunction program at the end of 2006, 46 percent of identified gang members (43 of 93) have gone without even a single arrest in San Francisco for crimes other than minor violations of the injunction itself,” Herrera’s office states.

It claims that the data also show progressive improvements over time. “Only 14 percent of identified gang members (13 of 93) were arrested for noninjunction crimes so far in 2010 — down from 41 percent in 2007,” Herrera’s office states.

But San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi, civil rights lawyers, and community advocates worry that the injunction raises constitutional issues and practical problems that could be counterproductive in terms of Herrera’s stated effort to reduce violence in Visitacion Valley.

“The first difficulty you observe is that there is no right to counsel,” Adachi said, pointing to the three injunctions Herrera has already launched. “Instead, the burden is on the individuals named in the injunction to come forward and contest the injunction.”

Contesting an injunction is expensive and difficult, Adachi says.

“There’s a large amount of filing, and then there’s a hearing and a trial,” said Adachi, who represented individuals named in Herrera’s 2007 suit against the Norteños. “It costs between $10,000 and $20,000 to mount an adequate defense.”

Adachi claims Herrera’s past injunctions were mostly based on allegations and stale information that could have triggered more violence. “We saw that the city attorney based its injunction solely on what police officers had alleged, officers who in most cases were members of the Gang Task Force,” he said. “For instance, there was a woman who had been in a gang, but left years before. As a result of being named, her family was threatened and she was fearful there would be reprisals.” The woman’s name was ultimately removed.

Adachi represented a young man who had never been in trouble but found himself on Herrera’s Mission-based injunction list after he rapped about the Nortenos. “There was no evidence, but when we said there had been a mistake, the city attorney disagreed,” Adachi said. “In the end, a judge found there was insufficient evidence.”

Adachi worries about the impact on individuals mistakenly named in the suit. “When you name someone, that brands them. What we saw in other injunctions was that people lost jobs.”

He notes that only a few people came forward to challenge past injunctions. “But in at least four cases, people were found not to be gang members,” he said.

At the time of those injunctions, there was no way to get off the list. “So we worked with the ACLU to demand one and the City Attorney’s Office agreed,” Adachi said. “But I don’t know how many people have since filed paperwork.”

Ingleside police station Capt. Louis Cassenego told us that as of Aug. 20, 12 men had been served with the injunction — six allegedly from DBG, six from Ingleside.

“We had signage posted on utility poles, and no signs have been torn down,” Cassenego said. “And so far, the folks served have taken it in a matter-of fact fashion.”

But Sharen Hewitt, executive director of the C.L.A.E.R. Project, a community empowerment and violence prevention nonprofit, said she worries that people don’t understand the implications of being served and won’t take the trouble to opt out. “I talked to a young man after he got served and he tore up his notice,” Hewitt said.

Hewitt invited representatives from the City Attorney’s Office, Police Department, Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, Bay Area Legal Aid, and residents of the area to an Aug. 12 emergency debriefing. “We are sitting in the middle of a major war zone,” Hewitt said, referring to the meeting’s location at Britton Courts, a public housing project that Herrera claims is on DBG turf. “Although this situation threatens the community, it has also brought us together. And now we are trying to pull together a legal team.”

Deputy City Attorney Yvonne Mere explained that the suit seeks to ban criminal and nuisance conduct by creating a proposed safety zone that covers two-tenths of a square mile and encompasses both gangs’ alleged turf plus a buffer zone.

The injunction would impose a 10 p.m. curfew on the 41 men listed, who are a barred from trespassing, selling drugs, and illegally possessing firearms, loitering, displaying gang signs, and associating in public in neighborhoods surrounding the Sunnydale, Heritage Homes, and Britton Courts developments.

Some of this conduct is already against the law, but other activities, including assembling in groups, is typically protected by the Constitution, Mere explained.

Lt. Mikail Ali of the Ingleside station said many youngsters don’t want to be in a gang. “This is an out,” Ali said.

But some residents questioned whether some men on Herrera’s list are in a gang. “Who are you to say who is a gang member?” asked Sheila Hill, who was concerned that her son, the victim of a shooting a couple of years ago, was on the list. “Yes, they might have done something three or five years ago, but many of them have moved on, got married, and got a job. I don’t believe you guys are really checking your records.”

Mere disagreed (later clarifying that Hill’s son isn’t named by the injunction). “We looked at criminal records within the last five years, including shootings, shots fired, and weapons possessed, and it’s a pretty violent zone down here,” Mere said. Mere claims the war between DBG and the Towerside caused 10 murders in the last three years.

Leslie Burch, president of the Britton Courts Neighborhood Association and cofounder of the Visitacion Valley Peacekeepers, said a lot of the men named grew up together, playing sports, staying at each other’s houses overnight, and making affiliations.

“So I wouldn’t necessarily classify them as gangs,” Burch said. “They are just a bunch of friends who have common interests like music, sports, and hanging out together.”

Mere pointed to the opt-out option, part of a 2008 agreement between the city attorney, ACLU, and Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights.

“It’s an option for people to say, ‘No, you are wrong,'<0x2009>” Mere said. “They can submit letters from pastors and friends, and we’ll consider that between now and Sept. 30.“

But Burch challenged some of the evidence posted at the City Attorney’s wesbite, including photographs of people sporting alleged gang tattoos and clothing.

“Take the T sign,” Burch explained “The city attorney says it represents the Towerside. But I had a nephew who was murdered. His name was Trayon, and some people wear the letter T in remembrance of him. I was in court with a nephew who was trying to explain that he is not a gang member just because he’s wearing a hat with a T on it.”

Hewitt noted that the injunction follows budget cuts that decimated local nonprofits and that funding is desperately needed for programs that provide young men with jobs and other alternatives to crime.

Hewitt also noted that the injunction gives District 10 candidates an opportunity to show the community that they are tracking all the issues in this pivotal race. “D-10 has been reduced to the Lennar issue, and that’s what’s criminal,” Hewitt said, adding that coverage of the race has so far largely excluded Viz Valley, even though it’s home to the city’s largest public housing site.

Indeed, the injunction is becoming part of the dialogue in the District 10 supervisor campaign. Candidates Isaac Bowers, Kristine Enea, Chris Jackson, Nyese Joshua, Steve Moss, and Marlene Tran attended Sharen Hewitt’s Aug. 12 gang injunction debriefing. By meeting’s end, Bowers and Enea said they would help community members get legal representation. “A lot of people being served don’t know what an injunction is or don’t show up at the hearing, and then they become subject to the injunction,” Bowers said.

Jackson said he’s committed to helping these men get access to job and education opportunities.

Candidate Tony Kelly said if there are gangs in Viz Valley, Herrera’s injunction would be valid. “There is gang-like activity, but it’s small-scale turf wars, shootings. and retaliations. And it’s not organized,” Kelly claimed. “Instead, you’ve got unorganized young black men with no other options doing whatever it takes to get ahead. But instead of doing something constructive, the city attorney calls them gangs.”

DeWitt Lacy, also a candidate, said he remains concerned that gang injunctions are circumventing people’s due process rights. “In a criminal case, you have the right to an attorney — but that’s not so in a civil action.”

Rooting out the bad apples?

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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0
Rooting out the bad apples?

rebeccab@sfbg.com

The San Francisco Police Department will begin tracking the records of officers who have histories of misconduct or other red flags so the information can be disclosed to the district attorney if the officer is called to testify in a criminal trial.

Chief George Gascón announced the new protocol Aug. 20 in response to revelations in the wake of the crime lab scandal that San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris had failed to comply fully with a constitutional obligation to provide criminal defense attorneys with the misconduct records, which the defense could then seek to have admitted as evidence to undermine a witness’ credibility.

Harris’ office has to rely on police to determine whether any problems lurk in a police witness’ background, so the hiccup in compliance was blamed on weak communication between the two departments.

But there’s a big lingering question Gascón hasn’t directly addressed: the research will almost certainly turn up information that ought to lead to officer discipline, and in some cases to cops losing their jobs. How, exactly, will the department handle that?

Speaking at a press conference, Gascón said he’d worked closely with the DA’s office and San Francisco Police Officers Association (SF POA) to streamline the process to ensure compliance. “We believe this will be a model policy throughout the country,” Gascón said, flanked by high-ranking members of the department as a line of television cameras pointed toward him.

Since the constitutional requirement stems from the 1963 case Brady v. Maryland, a bureau order issued by the chief refers to negative marks on an officer’s personnel record that is determined to be admissible as evidence as “Brady material.” It could be as simple as a 10-year-old D.U.I. charge, or a more serious offense involving an officer’s conduct in the line of duty.

If an officer has been disciplined in the past for making false statements, for example, and that history is admitted as evidence in trial, the jury might be less inclined to take his or her word as gospel.

In the past, anytime the DA called on an officer to testify against a criminal defendant, the DA’s office was supposed to contact the SFPD to request a background check for that officer to see if any Brady material had to be turned over to the defense. Under Gascón’s new plan, SFPD will notify the DA in advance about officers who have potential “Brady material,” without revealing just what the historic offense is. If the DA calls a police witness whose name has been flagged, the prosecutor will have to file a motion for the court to open the personnel file and determine if the past misconduct is relevant to the case at hand.

So how does an employee get his or her name flagged? The SFPD has assembled a powerful new body with a hokey-sounding name, “the Brady Committee,” to determine whether an employee’s name should be forwarded to the DA. Comprised of various heads of SFPD divisions plus a retired judge with a background in criminal law, the committee will review personnel backgrounds and give employees a chance to make their case as to why the dirt the department has on them shouldn’t be counted as Brady material.

Not surprisingly, “the list” — as it’s being called — won’t be made available to the public, but at the Aug. 20 press conference, reporters wanted to know how many names were on it. Gascón indicated that it was too early to say. “There is unquestionably going to be a number that will start surfacing,” he responded. “At this point, we do not have a list.”

A host of questions surround this new development, and one of the first to emerge is whether officers who are still on patrol duty despite major offenses in their histories will ultimately be shown the door as a result of the internal investigative procedure. Gascón alluded to as much, saying, “When some one commits a criminal act, they taint the entire organization. When we have a bad apple, we’re going to deal with the bad apple.”

And while he declined to give a tally of the list, the chief did make it sound as if the investigations had already been completed. “We have basically gone through the process of assessing. We have vetted our entire department and to the greatest extent that we can tell, we know what needs to be known.”

In an era of economic austerity, another question that has been raised is what the impact will be for officers who have been reassigned to desk jobs in the wake of misconduct charges — earning salaries much higher than would-be civilians capable of performing the same tasks. A recently issued report by the Controller’s Office found that the SFPD could do more tighten its spending. “The department needs to improve its controls over overtime and premium pay,” the office concluded after an audit. “While the department has reduced overtime costs in recent years, it does not consistently follow its policies and procedures for earning, documenting, and approving court appearance premium pay and acting assignment pay.”

Aside from the spending issue are speculations about the political ramifications. Some have been wondering what kind of backlash could be prompted from the politically powerful SF POA if the new Brady protocol results in dismissals or demotions.

The issue of reassignments is alluded to briefly at the close of the chief’s bureau order. “This procedure does not address the situation in which the department determines that the existence of Brady material may prevent an employee from effectively testifying and consequently may limit the assignments available to the employee,” the order notes. “The department intends to implement a separate procedure to address that situation after [meeting] and conferring with the Police Officers Association and other affected employee organizations.”

But that alone is a red flag: SF POA will almost certainly resist any efforts to use the Brady material discipline officers — or to get rid of cops who shouldn’t be on the force. And if Gascón allows the union to set the terms, plenty of bad apples will remain in the barrel.

Alioto-Pier vows to take D. 2 re-election bid to California Supreme Court

Mary Magee
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Alioto-Pier vows to take D. 2 re-election bid to California Supreme Court

Sup. Michela Alioto-Pier announced today that she will file an appeal with the California Supreme Court by the end of tomorrow (August 25), following today’s California Court of Appeal ruling that found she was ineligible to seek another term.

Alioto-Pier’s announcement came shortly after City Attorney Dennis Herrera issued a press release, announcing that today’s California Court of Appeals’ decision “strongly vindicates” his office.

Herrera’s office advised Alioto-Pier in a February 2008 legal opinion that she was ineligible to seek another term on the Board due to the city charter’s term limits provisions.

“More than two years later, Alioto-Pier sued to force Elections Department officials to place her name on the ballot,” Herrera’s office stated, noting that a San Francisco Superior Court judge granted Alioto-Pier’s petition on July 22, holding that voters had implicitly rendered the 20-year-old term limits rule “ineffective” with subsequent charter amendments. 

“Today’s appellate court ruling restores the legal effect of the voter-approved ‘rounding-up rule,’ which provides that if an appointed incumbent serves more than two years of a term, it counts as a full four-year term for purposes of term limits,” Herrera’s office said.  “In so doing, the decision affirms Herrera’s original conclusion that Alioto-Pier is ineligible to seek another term on the Board.”

Herrera included a personal statement in his office’s press release, indicating that he does not want this decision to be seen as a personal attack on Alioto-Pier.

“I am grateful to the Court of Appeal for recognizing the obvious intent of San Francisco voters, and for affirming the clear meaning of the law,” Herrera stated. “This case has always been about the principle of upholding voters’ will, and I regret that some political pundits focused instead on personalities.  I’ve consistently defended Sup. Alioto-Pier’s right to pursue this dispute in the courts, and I wish her and her family every success in their future endeavors.  I know I join the vast majority of San Franciscans in expressing gratitude for her record of public service to the City we share.”

But Alioto-Pier isn’t about to give up on her bid just because of an appeal court ruling.

“Clearly, we disagree with that ruling,” Tom Pier, Alioto-Pier’s husband, told me. “We feel that the panel failed to look at the clear language of the charter in which voters expressed their clear intent that no supervisor should serve no more than two consecutive four-year terms.”

Pier noted that the City Attorney’s Office applied this same argument when it allowed now Assembly member Tom Ammiano to serve on the Board for 14 years, a decision Pier believes was rendered in 1998.

One difference between these two cases is that Ammiano was elected to serve all those years, while Alioto-Pier was initially appointed by Gavin Newsom to fill his D. 2 seat in January 2004, when he became  mayor. Alioto-Pier was then elected to the Board in November 2004. As a result, Alioto-Pier will have served on the Board for seven years, when her term expires in January 2011.

Rumor has it that Elections has had to print two versions of the ballot, one with Alioto-Pier’s name on it, and one without, in face of uncertainty about her appeal.
And now the question becomes if and when the California Supreme Court will agree to hear her appeal in time, given that the election is less than 10 weeks away.

 “The exact date by which they need to render an opinion is yet to be determined,” Pier said.

Music listings

David Talbot
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0

Music listings are compiled by Paula Connelly and Cheryl Eddy. Since club life is unpredictable, it’s a good idea to call ahead to confirm bookings and hours. Prices are listed when provided to us. Submit items for the listings at listings@sfbg.com.

WEDNESDAY 25

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

B Rooster Blues Trio One Bush Plaza, Bush at Sansome; www.peopleinplazas.org. Noon, free.

Bane, Trapped Under Ice, Cruel Hand, Alpha and Omega, Bankrobber Thee Parkside. 8pm, $12.

Blind Willies Union Square, Powell at Geary, SF; www.unionsquarepark.us. 12:30pm, free.

Endroit, Double Plus Good Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $5.

Entropic Density, Zoo, Saything, Zachary Michael Zinn Knockout. 9pm, $6.

Japonize Elephants, Zoyres, Killbossa Rickshaw Stop. 7:30pm, $10.

Oneida, Jonas Reinhardt, Lights Bottom of the Hill. 9pm, $10.

Thriving Ivory, Ryan Star, Entice Great American Music Hall. 8pm, $17.

Tracorum, Dead Winter Carpenters Café Du Nord. 9pm, $10.

DANCE CLUBS

Booty Call Q-Bar, 456 Castro, SF; www.bootycallwednesdays.com. 9pm. Juanita Moore hosts this dance party, featuring DJ Robot Hustle.

Club Shutter Elbo Room. 10pm, $5. Goth with DJs Nako, Omar, and Justin.

Hands Down! Bar on Church. 9pm, free. With DJs Claksaarb, Mykill, and guests spinning indie, electro, house, and bangers.

Jam Fresh Wednesdays Vessel, 85 Campton, SF; (415) 433-8585. 9:30pm, free. With DJs Slick D, Chris Clouse, Rich Era, Don Lynch, and more spinning top40, mashups, hip hop, and remixes.

Mary-Go-Round Lookout, 3600 16th St, SF; (415) 431-0306. 10pm, $5. A weekly drag show with hosts Cookie Dough, Pollo Del Mar, and Suppositori Spelling.

RedWine Social Dalva. 9pm-2am, free. DJ TophOne and guests spin outernational funk and get drunk.

Respect Wednesdays End Up. 10pm, $5. Rotating DJs Daddy Rolo, Young Fyah, Irie Dole, I-Vier, Sake One, Serg, and more spinning reggae, dancehall, roots, lovers rock, and mash ups.

Synchronize Il Pirata, 2007 16th St, SF; (415) 626-2626. 10pm, free. Psychedelic dance music with DJs Helios, Gatto Matto, Psy Lotus, Intergalactoid, and guests.

THURSDAY 26

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Anvil Chorus, Orchid, My Victim Thee Parkside. 9pm, $10.

Bang Data, Funky*C, Los Amnesicos, Basura, DJ Khata Selektor Submission, 2183 Mission, SF; www.kpfa.org. 8pm, $10.

BlackMahal, Boy in the Bubble, Soul Wide World Café Du Nord. 9pm, $10.

Boris, Red Sparowes, Helms Alee Great American Music Hall. 9pm, $18.

Celeste Lear Band, Moving Picture Show Red Devil Lounge. 8pm, $5.

Deep Teens, Moira Scar, Tongue and Teeth, Dawn The Stud. 9pm, $3.

Jason King Band Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $15.

Lazer Sword, Rainbow Arabia, Religious Girls, Sister Crayon Rickshaw Stop. 8pm, $14.

Light Asylum, You, Veil Veil Vanish Knockout. 10pm, $6.

Lydia, Fight Fair, Polaris At Noon Bottom of the Hill. 8pm, $10.

Rondo Brothers featuring Foreign Globester, Oona, King Midas in Reverse Slim’s. 8pm, $13.

Royal Baths, Th Mrcy Hot Sprngs, Outlaw, Lilac Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $6.

Volbeat, Dommin, A New Revolution Independent. 8pm, $16.

DANCE CLUBS

Afrolicious Elbo Room. 9pm, $6. DJs Pleasuremaker and Señor Oz spin Afrobeat, Tropicália, electro, samba, and funk.

Base Vessel, 85 Campton, (415) 433-8585. 9:30pm, $10. With DJs Seth Troxler and Gordon Waze spinning house.

Caribbean Connection Little Baobab, 3388 19th St, SF; (415) 643-3558. 10pm, $3. DJ Stevie B and guests spin reggae, soca, zouk, reggaetón, and more.

Drop the Pressure Underground SF. 6-10pm, free. Electro, house, and datafunk highlight this weekly happy hour.

Gigantic Beauty Bar. 9pm, free. With DJs Eli Glad, Greg J, and White Mike spinning indie, rock, disco, and soul.

Good Foot Som.. 10pm, free. With DJs spinning R&B, Hip hop, classics, and soul.

Gymnasium Matador, 10 Sixth St, SF; (415) 863-4629. 9pm, free. With DJ Violent Vickie and guests spinning electro, hip hop, and disco.

Jivin’ Dirty Disco Butter, 354 11th St., SF; (415) 863-5964. 8pm, free. With DJs spinning disco, funk, and classics.

Koko Puffs Koko Cocktails, 1060 Geary, SF; (415) 885-4788. 10pm, free. Dubby roots reggae and Jamaican funk from rotating DJs.

Mestiza Bollywood Café. 10pm, free. Showcasing progressive Latin and global beats with DJ Juan Data.

Peaches Skylark, 10pm, free. With an all female DJ line up featuring Deeandroid, Lady Fingaz, That Girl, and Umami spinning hip hop.

Popscene 330 Rich. 10pm, $10. Rotating DJs spinning indie, Britpop, electro, new wave, and post-punk.

Solid Thursdays Club Six. 9pm, free. With DJs Daddy Rolo and Tesfa spinning roots, reggae, dancehall, soca, and mashups.

Super Happy Funtime Burlesque DNA Lounge. 7pm, $10. Performance and live music.

Tropicana Madrone Art Bar. 9pm, free. With DJs Don Bustamante, Sr. Saenz, and guests spinning salsa, cumbia, reggaeton, and merengue.

FRIDAY 27

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Café R&B Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $22.

Cannons and Clouds, Winfred E Eye, By Sunlight Bottom of the Hill. 10pm, $10.

Cap’n Jazz, Abe Vigoda Bimbo’s 365 Club. 9pm, $17.

Flexx Bronco, Spittin’ Cobras, Departed, DJ Ace Thee Parkside. 9pm, $8.

Beres Hammond and the Harmony House Musicians, Inner Circle, Culture feat. Kenyatta Hill Independent. 9pm, $35.

Nekromantix, Howlers, Mutilators Slim’s. 9pm, $15.

Lavay Smith and Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers Red Poppy Art House. 8 and 9:30pm, $15.

Kelley Stoltz, UV Race, Total Control, Young Offenders Hemlock Tavern. 9:30pm, $8.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Aleph Trio Yoshi’s San Francisco. 10pm, $25.

Alhambra Love Songs Yoshi’s San Francisco. 8pm, $28.

Pascal Boker Band Savanna Jazz. 7:30pm, $5.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

Albino! Elbo Room. 10pm, $10. With DJ David Satori.

Bryan Girard Trio Cliff House, 1090 Point Lobos, SF; (415) 386-3330. 7pm, free.

Culann’s Hounds Plough and Stars. 9pm.

"Old Time Southern Murder Hour" Great American Music Hall. 8:30pm, $14. With the Pine Box Boys, Trainwreck Riders, Good Luck Thrift Store Outfit, and Virgil Shaw.

Red Meat, Total BS, Famous Café Du Nord. 9:30pm, $15.

DANCE CLUBS

Club Dragon Club Eight, 1151 Folsom, SF; www.eightsf.com. 9pm, $8. A gay Asian paradise. Featuring two dance floors playing dance and hip hop, smoking patio, and 2 for 1 drinks before 10pm.

Down to Earth Rickshaw Stop. 10pm, $15. Outer space dance party with DJs Polish Ambassador and Alxndr.

Duniya Dancehall Blue Macaw, 2565 Mission, SF; (415) 920-0577. 10pm, $10. With live performances by Duniya Drum and Dance Co. and DJs dub Snakr and Juan Data spinning bhangra, bollywood, dancehall, African, and more.

Exhale, Fridays Project One Gallery, 251 Rhode Island, SF; (415) 465-2129. 5pm, $5. Happy hour with art, fine food, and music with Vin Sol, King Most, DJ Centipede, and Shane King.

Fat Stack Fridays Koko Cocktails, 1060 Geary, SF; (415) 885-4788. 10pm, free. With rotating DJs B-Cause, Vinnie Esparza, Mr. Robinson, Toph One, and Slopoke.

Fubar Fridays Butter, 354 11th St., SF; (415) 863-5964. 6pm, $5. With DJs spinning retro mashup remixes.

Good Life Fridays Apartment 24, 440 Broadway, SF; (415) 989-3434. 10pm, $10. With DJ Brian spinning hip hop, mashups, and top 40.

Hot Chocolate Milk. 9pm, $5. With DJs Big Fat Frog, Chardmo, DuseRock, and more spinning old and new school funk.

House of Voodoo Medici Lounge, 299 9th St., SF; (415) 501-9162. 9pm, $5. With DJs voodoo and Purgatory spinning goth, deathrock, glam, darkwave indistrial, and 80s.

I Heart the 90s Madrone Art Bar. 9pm, $5. With DJs Samala, Mr. Grant, and Sonny Phono spinning hip hop, dance, alternative, grunge, and more.

Psychedelic Radio Club Six. 9pm, $7. With DJs Kial, Tom No Thing, Megalodon, and Zapruderpedro spinning dubstep, reggae, and electro.

Rockabilly Fridays Jay N Bee Club, 2736 20th St, SF; (415) 824-4190. 9pm, free. With DJs Rockin’ Raul, Oakie Oran, Sergio Iglesias, and Tanoa "Samoa Boy" spinning 50s and 60s Doo Wop, Rockabilly, Bop, Jive, and more.

Some Thing The Stud. 10pm, $7. VivvyAnne Forevermore, Glamamore, and DJ Down-E give you fierce drag shows and afterhours dancing.

Teenage Dance Craze Party Knockout. 10pm, $3. With DJs Sergio Iglesias, Russell Quann, and dX the Funky Gran Paw.

Tocadisco Club Six. 9pm, $15. With DJs Elz and Elise, Mario Dubbz, Doc Martin, Hektor Perez, and more spinning house for Tocadisco’s 5th anniversary.

Trannyshack DNA Lounge. 10pm, $12. Björk tribute with Heklina and more.

SATURDAY 28

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Band of Brotherz, Stymie and the Pimp Jones Luv Orchestra Bottom of the Hill. 9:15pm, $10.

Blasphemous Rumours, Luv’n Rockets Café Du Nord. 9:30pm, $12.

Bostich + Fussible, Loquat Independent. 9pm, $17.

Melissa Etheridge Warfield. 9pm, $57.75-102.75.

From Monument to Masses, Judgement Day, Silian Rail Great American Music Hall. 9pm, $15.

Guitar vs. Gravity, Moneypenny, Charmless Hemlock Tavern. 9:30pm, $7.

Hightower, Red Octopus, High and Tight, DJ Blackheart Thee Parkside. 9pm, $5.

Earl Thomas and the Blues Ambassadors Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $22.

J Ward, Fujiko-Chan Thee Parkside. 3pm, free.

PROBLEMS, Abrupt Bender’s, 806 S. Van Ness, SF; www.bendersbar.com. 10pm, $5.

Realistic Orchestra Yoshi’s San Francisco. 11:59pm, $20. Michael Jackson tribute.

Shants, Vandella, Not An Airplane, Coyote Girl Hotel Utah. 9pm, $8.

Emily Wells, Valerie Orth, Kindness and Lies Slim’s. 8:30pm, $15.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Al Coster Group Savanna Jazz. 7:30pm, $10.

Cobra Yoshi’s San Francisco. 10pm, $35.

Ralph Carney’s Serious Jass Project Amoeba, 1855 Haight, SF; www.amoeba.com. 2pm, free.

John Zorn and the Rova Saxophone Quartet Yoshi’s San Francisco. 8pm, $30.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

Gas Men Plough and Stars. 9pm.

La Gente Red Poppy Art House. 9pm, $10-$15.

Orquesta Borinquen The Ramp, 855 Terry Francois, SF; (415) 621-2378. 5pm.

Panteon Rococo, Raskahuele, Bang Data Fillmore. 8pm, $25.

Stellamara Trio, Round Mountain Noe Valley Ministry, 1021 Sanchez, SF; (415) 454-5238. 8:15pm, $17.

Craig Ventresco and Meredith Axelrod Atlas Café. 4pm, free.

DANCE CLUBS

Bar on Church 9pm. Rotating DJs Foxxee, Joseph Lee, Zhaldee, Mark Andrus, and Nuxx.

Barracuda 111 Minna. 9pm, $10. Eclectic 80s music with DJs Damon, Phillie Ocean, and Gabe Gavilanes, plus 80s cult video projections, a laser light show, prom balloons, and 80s inspired fashion.

Bootie DNA Lounge. 9pm, $6-12. Michael Jackson Birthday Tribute with mash-up DJs Adrian and Mysterious D.

Cockblock Rickshaw Stop. 10pm, $7. Homolicious dance party.

4OneFunktion Elbo Room. 10pm, $5-10. Hi-hop with Park, FAME, and DJs B.Cause, Mista B, and Aron.

Future Night Knockout. 9pm, $4. Mashers, bang-ups, and refixes with Djs Danny Glover, Kick, and Pope.

Go Bang! Paradise Lounge. Recreating the diversity and freedom of the 70’s/ 80’s disco nightlife with DJs Said, Carnitas, Brown Amy, Steve Fabus, Sergio, and more.

HYP Club Eight, 1151 Folsom, SF; www.eightsf.com. 10pm, free. Gay and lesbian hip hop party, featuring DJs spinning the newest in the top 40s hip hop and hyphy.

Reggae Gold Club Six. 9pm, $15. With DJs Daddy Rolo, Polo Mo’qz, Tesfa, Serg, and Fuze spinning dancehall and reggae.

Rock City Butter, 354 11th St., SF; (415) 863-5964. 6pm, $5 after 10pm. With DJs spinning party rock.

Spirit Fingers Sessions 330 Ritch. 9pm, free. With DJ Morse Code and live guest performances.

Weekend Warriors Madrone Art Bar. 9:30pm, $5. Live music with Will Blades and O.G.D. and DJs Gordo Cabeza and guests spinning motown.

SUNDAY 29

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Dinosaur Bicycle, Red Light Circuit Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $5.

Emily Greene, Rabbits Running, 7 Orange ABC Hotel Utah. 8pm, $8.

Juliana Theory Independent. 8pm, $25.

Junius, Orbs, Disastroid Bottom of the Hill. 9pm, $10.

Slash, Myles Kennedy, Taking Dawn Warfield. 8pm, $32-40.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

Cheetahs on the Moon, Everhearts Thee Parkside. 4pm, free.

Forro Brazuca The Ramp, 855 Terry Francois, SF; (415) 621-2378. 5pm.

Jack Gilder, Darcy Noonan, Richard Mandel and friends Plough and Stars. 9pm.

DANCE CLUBS

Anamanaguchi, Minusbaby, Mr. Spastic, Crashfaster, DJ Harbour DNA Lounge. 8pm, $14. Chip music.

DiscoFunk Mashups Cat Club. 10pm, free. House and 70’s music.

Dub Mission Elbo Room. 9pm, $6. Dub, roots, and classic dancehall with DJs Sep, Vinnie Esparza, and guest Adam Twelve.

45Club Knockout. 10pm, free. Funky soul with dX the Funky Gran Paw, Dirty Dishes, and English Steve.

Gloss Sundays Trigger, 2344 Market, SF; (415) 551-CLUB. 7pm. With DJ Hawthorne spinning house, funk, soul, retro, and disco.

Honey Soundsystem Paradise Lounge. 8pm-2am. "Dance floor for dancers – sound system for lovers." Got that?

Jock! Lookout, 3600 16th St, SF; (415) 431-0306. 3pm, $2. This high-energy party raises money for LGBT sports teams.

Kick It Bar on Church. 9pm. Hip-hop with DJ Zax.

Lowbrow Sunday Delirium. 1pm, free. DJ Roost Uno and guests spinning club hip hop, indie, and top 40s.

Religion Bar on Church. 3pm. With DJ Nikita.

Stag AsiaSF. 6pm, $5. Gay bachelor parties are the target demo of this weekly erotic tea dance.

Superbad Sundays Koko Cocktails, 1060 Geary, SF; (415) 885-4788. 10pm, free. With DJs Slopoke, Booker D, and guests spinning blues, oldies, southern soul, and funky 45s.

Swing Out Sundays Rock-It Room. 7pm, free (dance lessons $15). DJ BeBop Burnie spins 20s through 50s swing, jive, and more.

MONDAY 30

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Eden Brent Trio Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $18.

DANCE CLUBS

Black Gold Koko Cocktails, 1060 Geary, SF; (415) 885-4788. 10pm-2am, free. Senator Soul spins Detroit soul, Motown, New Orleans R&B, and more — all on 45!

Death Guild DNA Lounge. 9:30pm, $3-5. Gothic, industrial, and synthpop with Decay, Joe Radio, and Melting Girl.

Krazy Mondays Beauty Bar. 10pm, free. With DJs Ant-1, $ir-Tipp, Ruby Red I, Lo, and Gelo spinning hip hop.

M.O.M. Madrone Art Bar. 6pm, free. With DJ Gordo Cabeza and guests playing all Motown every Monday.

Manic Mondays Bar on Church. 9pm. Drink 80-cent cosmos with Djs Mark Andrus and Dangerous Dan.

Musik for Your Teeth Revolution Café, 3248 22nd St., SF; (415) 642-0474. 5pm, free. Soul cookin’ happy hour tunes with DJ Antonino Musco.

Network Mondays Azul Lounge, One Tillman Pl, SF; www.inhousetalent.com. 9pm, $5. Hip-hop, R&B, and spoken word open mic, plus featured performers.

Skylarking Skylark. 10pm, free. With resident DJs I & I Vibration, Beatnok, and Mr. Lucky and weekly guest DJs.

TUESDAY 31

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Fat Tuesday Band Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $15.

Huge Cookies, Adonisaurus Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $5.

Jason Reeves with Brendan James, Todd Carey Café Du Nord. 8pm, $12.

*Slayer, Megadeth, Testament Cow Palace, 2600 Geneva, SF; www.ticketmaster.com. 7pm, $39.50.

Le Vice, Tim Carr Project Elbo Room. 9pm.

DANCE CLUBS

Alcoholocaust Presents Argus Lounge. 9pm, free. "Stump the Wizard" with DJ Nodrat and DJ the Wizard.

Eclectic Company Skylark, 9pm, free. DJs Tones and Jaybee spin old school hip hop, bass, dub, glitch, and electro.

Kids in America Koko Cocktails, 1060 Geary, SF; (415) 885-4788. 9pm, free. With DJs Fuzzprobe and Bryna spinning 80s.

Share the Love Trigger, 2344 Market, SF; (415) 551-CLUB. 5pm, free. With DJ Pam Hubbuck spinning house.

Womanizer Bar on Church. 9pm. With DJ Nuxx.

Stage listings

David Talbot
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0

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

How Lucky Can You Get? New Conservatory Theatre Center, 25 Van Ness; 861-8972, www.nctcsf.org. $20-28. Previews Thurs/26, 8pm. Opens Fri/27, 8pm. Runs Thurs-Sat, 8pm. Through Sept 11. Darlene Popovic sings Kander and Ebb under the direction of F. Allen Sawyer.

Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray Eureka Theatre, 215 Howard; 552-4100, www.TheRhino.org. $10-25. Previews Thurs/26-Sat/28, 8pm; Sun/29, 3pm. Opens Sept 1, 8pm. Runs Wed-Sat, 8pm (also Sept 5, Sept 12, and Sept 19, 3pm). Through Sept 19. John Fisher adapts the Oscar Wilde novel for the stage and directs the production.

BAY AREA

Into the Woods 142 Throckmorton Theatre, 142 Throckmorton, Mill Valley; 383-9600, www.142throckmortontheatre.org. $14-30. Opens Fri/27, 7:30pm. Runs Fri-Sat, 7:30pm, Sun, 2pm. Through Sept. 4. Marin Youth Performers present James Lapine’s and Stephen Sondheim’s fractured fairy tale.

The Light in the Piazza TheatreWorks at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro, Mtn View; (650) 463-1960, www.theatreworks.org. $19-67. Previews Wed/25-Fri/27, 8pm. Opens Sat/28, 8pm. Runs Tues-Wed, 7:30pm, Thurs-Fri, 8pm; Sat, 2 and 8pm; Sun, 2 and 7pm. Through Sept 19. TheatreWorks presents Craig Lucas’s tale of love under the Tuscan sun.

MilkMilkLemonade La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid, Berk; www.impacttheatre.com. $10-20. Previews Thurs/26-Fri/27, 8pm. Opens Sat/28, 8pm. Runs Thurs-Sat, 8pm. Through Oct 2. Impact Theatre presents Joshua Conkel’s off off Broadway about a lonely gay man trapped in a chicken farm.


ONGOING

Abigail: The Salem Witch Trials Temple SF, 540 Howard; www.templesf.com. $10. Fri/ 26, 9pm. Buzz Productions, with Skycastle Music and Lunar Eclipse Records, presents an original rock opera based on the Salem witch trials.

Don’t Ask New Conservatory Theatre Center, 25 Van Ness; 861-8972; www.nctcsf.org. $24-36. Wed-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2pm. Through Sept 19. New Conservatory Theatre Center presents the West Coast premiere of Bill Quigley’s play about the affair between a Private and his superior.

The Glass Menagerie Boxcar Playhouse, 505 Natoma; 776-1747, www.boxcartheatre.org. $15-25. Fri/27 (also Sept. 2 and Sept. 3), 8pm. Through Sept 3. The third production in Boxcar Theatre’s trio of Tennessee Williams plays in repertory is the biggest disappointment, not only because director Jessica Holt’s production comes bloated distractingly by "shadow" versions of the principals and other random characters, but because it’s the play that otherwise feels most apt and urgent. The "social background of the play," as narrator Tom (a generally credible Brian Trybom) describes it, is a landscape characterized by depression at home and revolution abroad, as pent-up American energies shuffle along through hangdog subsistence, shallow hedonism and occasional "labor unrest." This is the social projection of Tom’s private quandary, but that’s just how this partly autobiographical play speaks so eloquently and subtly to larger themes. When the unhelpful, enervating pantomiming and other stage business dies down a bit, you can see the principal roles—rounded out by Hannah Knapp as Tom’s too fragile sister, Laura, and Suzan A. Kendall as his indomitable mother, Amanda—breath more genuinely and the play actually take shape on the stage. The arrival of the Gentleman Caller (played with winning solidity by Boxcar’s Nick A. Olivero) marks the best part of the evening, even if the gentleman arrives too late to fully redeem the proceeding hour’s misconceived shenanigans. (Avila)

Gilligan’s Island: Live on Stage! The Garage, 975 Howard; (800) 838-3006, www.brownpapertickets.com. $15-20. Sun/29, 8pm. Moore Theatre and SAFEhouse for the Performing Arts brings the TV show to the stage, lovey.

Party of 2 Shelton Theater, 533 Sutter; (800) 838-3006, www.partyof2themusical.com. $25-29. Sun, 3pm. Through Sept 12. A new show written by Morris Bobrow.

Peter Pan Threesixty Theater, Ferry Park (on Embarcadero across from the Ferry Bldg); www.peterpantheshow.com. $30-125. Tues and Thurs, 7pm; Fri-Sat, 7:30pm (also Sat, 2pm); Wed, 2pm; Sun, 1 and 5pm. Through Sept 5. JM Barrie’s tale is performed in a specially-built 360-degree CGI theater.

*Posibilidad, or Death of the Worker Dolores Park and other sites; 285-1717, www.sfmt.org. Free. Sat-Sun, 2pm; also Sept 6, 2pm; Sept 17, 8pm. Through Sept 17. It may have been just a coincidence, but it certainly seems auspicious that the San Francisco Mime Troupe, itself collectively run since the 1970’s, would preview their latest show Posibilidad on the United Nations International Day of Cooperatives. The show, which centers around the struggles of the last remaining workers in a hemp clothing factory ("Peaceweavers"), hones in on the ideological divide between business conducted as usual, and the impulse to create a different system. Taking a clip from the Ari Lewis/Naomi Klein documentary The Take, half of the play is set in Argentina, where textile-worker Sophia (Lisa Hori-Garcia) becomes involved in a factory takeover for the first time. Her past experiences help inform her new co-workers’ sitdown strike and takeover of their own factory after they are told it will close by their impossibly fey, new age boss Ernesto (Rotimi Agbabiaka). You don’t need professional co-op experience to find humor in the nascent collective’s endless rounds of meetings, wince at their struggles against capitalistic indoctrination, or cheer the rousing message of "Esta es Nuestra Lucha" passionately sung by Velina Brown, though in another welcome coincidence, the run of Posibilidad also coincides with the National Worker Cooperative conference being held in August, so if you get extra inspired, you can always try to join forces there. (Gluckstern)

Skin Tight CounterPULSE, 1310 Mission; www.counterpulse.org. $20 ($35 for gala opening). Thurs-Sat, 8pm. Through August 28. Rapid Descent Physical Performance Company takes its debut bow with Gary Henderson’s oblique portrait of a lifelong love affair, directed and choreographed by Megan Finlay. The couple, the vivacious Elizabeth (Beth Deitchman) and her gentle but quick-witted childhood sweetheart (and later war veteran) Tom (Nathaniel Justiniano) tumble, wrestle and entwine in playful lovemaking and painful heartache across a stage largely bare but for a bathtub set prominently upstage and center, and a white-clad trumpet player (composer-performer Aaron William Priskorn) who observes and accompanies them at close quarters throughout as an invisible muse or piece of mobile furniture. The acting is strong and committed—Deitchman’s sharp and vibrant Elizabeth balances well with the brawny Justiniano’s slyly self-effacing Tom, and both are lithesome in the physically demanding staging—but the dramatic content is thin and hampered by a sentimental storyline that feels precious rather than genuinely romantic or truthful. Moreover, the movement, central to the piece, remains fitfully effective and repetitious. But there’s a promising intelligence at work throughout the production that makes Rapid Descent a welcome arrival. (Avila)

*Streetcar Named Desire Boxcar Playhouse, 505 Natoma; 776-1747, www.boxcartheatre.org. $15-25. Wed-Sat, 8pm. Through Sept 4. It’s no small feat, creating a sultry southern summer circa 1940’s smack-dab in the middle of a typically frosty San Francisco summer circa right here right now, but Boxcar Theatre rises admirably to the challenge. Rebecca Longworth’s creative staging of Tennessee Williams’ "A Streetcar Named Desire" includes musical interludes, ghostly apparitions, and the clattering of a cleverly impersonated streetcar that shakes the walls of Matt McAdon’s simply-detailed tenement flat and the spirits of one Blanche DuBois (Juliet Tanner), while the deliberately-muted lighting (Stephanie Buchner) and period-appropriate sound (Ted Crimy), add the appropriate layers of southern discomfort to the unfolding action. Especially captivating to watch are the performances of supporting characters Stella (Casi Maggio) and Mitch (Brian Jansen), who seem to almost helplessly orbit the hot flame of Stanley Kowalski’s sun (Nick A. Olivero) and the grimly flickering satellite of Blanche’s waning moon. As he does in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," Seth Thygesen stands in for one dearly-departed, in this case Blanche’s old beau, Allan Gray, whose abrupt suicide de-magnetized her moral compass. And in addition to a saucy turn as next-door neighbor Eunice, Linnea George tracks the fractured emotions of the main characters on her mournful violin. (Nicole Gluckstern)

*This Is All I Need NOHspace, 2840 Mariposa; www.mugwumpin.org. Thurs-Sun, 8pm. Through Sept 4. $15-20. In our obsession with possessions, just who possesses who? Mugwumpin’s inventive, hilarious and repeatedly surprising new work—captivated and captivating—reminds us that a possession isn’t just a thing but also a (colonized) state of being. But there’s no manifesto here, so much as a multifaceted, deftly staged exploration of a theme so central to this bare and incredibly cluttered existence that we hardly even notice it. The four person ensemble (Madeline H.D. Brown, Joe Estlack, Erin Mei-Ling Stuart, and Christopher W. White), sharply co-directed by Liz Lisle and Jonathan Spector, brings various states of being and relation to life with aplomb—amid swift transformations of time and place, provocative contrasts and parallels, dexterous vocalizations, and supple and satisfyingly offbeat choreography. I’m purposely leaving out the details of the vignettes and the sometimes-startling mise en scène because it’s better that way. All you really need now is the price of a ticket. (Avila)

This World Is Good Phoenix Theater, 414 Mason; 913-7272, www.sleepwalkerstheatre.com. Thurs-Sat, 8pm. Through Sat/28. $18-24. The 1990s are giving way to a millennial moment of anti-climax known as Y2K, but the anxiety and dread are real, and the bloodiest century in human history looks poised to be outdone by the doom-drones of the next. Making at least academic sense of all that angst is Ally (Dina Percia), a brilliant young Latina writing her doctoral dissertation on Grunge and its landscape of youth alienation. Her best friend and occasional lover is a smitten young English prof (Damian Lanahan-Kalish), a dork with a degree and the pet name Scrotum Face. But as she delves into the world of ideas, Ally loses track of her family: single mother Emmy (Tessa Koning-Martinez) and, more tragically, talented but emotionally tortured younger brother Sam (Shoresh Alaudini), whose battered mind and compassionate heart craft a graphic story around a new "super hero" with no costume, no parallel identity, and indeed no special powers. When her family collapses, Ally reassembles the pieces from a new vantage, outside the ivory tower, where she makes art from a sort of crystalline "ordinariness" that complements her brother’s all-too-ordinary super hero. This World Is Good is the opening gambit in a new trilogy by local playwright J.C. Lee called This World and After, all being presented by Sleepwalkers Theatre this season. Artistic director Tore Ingersoll-Thorp helms a competently acted production, which helps lend Lee’s ambitious scope its tangible human proportions, though in truth the characters do not always feel fully drawn. There’s a fine monologue from Sam, both chilling and exhilarating, but also a proclivity throughout for awkwardly poetical speeches over dialogue. Still, there’s subtlety and real humor in the best parts, and enough here to want to see more. (Avila)

What Mama Said About Down There Our Little Theater, 287 Ellis; 820-3250, www.theatrebayarea.org. $15-25. Thurs-Sun, 8pm. Through August 28. Writer-performer-activist Sia Amma presents this largely political, a bit clinical, inherently sexual, and utterly unforgettable performance piece.

BAY AREA

Antony & Cleopatra Forest Meadows Ampitheatre, 1475 Grand, San Rafael; 499-4488, www.marinshakespeare.org. $20-35. Fri-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 4pm. Through Sept 25. Marin Shakespeare Company’s summer season continues with the tale of the Egyptian queen.

*East 14th: True Tales of a Reluctant Player Marsh Berkeley, 2120 Allston, Berk; www.themarsh.org. $20-50. Dates and times vary. Through Sept 12. Don Reed’s solo play, making its Oakland debut after an acclaimed New York run, is truly a welcome homecoming twice over. (Avila)

In the Wound John Hinkel Park, Berk; (510) 841-6500, www.shotgunplayers.org. $10 (no one turned away). Sat-Sun, 3pm (also Sept 5, 3pm). Through Oct 3. Shotgun Players present a unique take on the Iliad, written and directed by Ian Tracy.

Macbeth Bruns Ampitheater, 100 California Shakespeare Way, Orinda; (510) 548-9666, www.calshakes.org. $34-70. Fri-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 4pm (also Sept 11, 2pm). Through Sept 12. Minneapolis’s Joel Sass returns to Cal Shakes to direct Macbeth with a pared down cast of 12, lead by Jud Williford in the title role of the prophesy-driven regicidal social climber and Stacy Ross as his ambitious and then guilt-crazed Lady M. The towering, two-tiered set (by Daniel Ostling) is a suitably eerie, decrepit-looking place, a "murky hell" with a sort of Old World clinical sleaze about it. The three witches come gowned (by costumer Christal Weatherly) in dingy white nurses habits and sickly green surgical gloves with black voids where their faces should be (their spectral speech projected over the audio system). But Cal Shakes’s production doesn’t really measure up to the atmospheric mise-en-scene, being more dutiful than heat-generating. A wily cut-and-paste job with one of the more famous lines doesn’t quite come off either, since it jars by its initial absence and then rings a bit self-consciously when it does surface as a downbeat coda. (Avila)

The Norman Conquests The Ashby Stage, 901 Ashby, Berk; (510) 841-6500, www.shotgunplayers.com. $20-25. Dates and times vary. Through Sept 5. Shotgun Players presents Alan Ayckbourn’s comic trilogy.

The Taming of the Shrew Forest Meadows Amphitheatre, 1475 Grand, San Rafael; (415) 499-4488, www.marinshakespeare.org. $20-25. Fri-Sun, 8pm; also Sun, 4pm and 5pm. Through Sept 26. Marin Theatre Company presents a swashbuckling version of the classic.

Trouble in Mind Aurora Theatre, 2081 Addison, Berk; (510) 843-4822, www.auroratheatre.org. $10-55. Wed-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2 and 7pm; Tues, 7pm. Through Sept 26. Aurora Theatre presents Alice Childress’ look at racism through the lens of theater.

PERFORMANCE/DANCE

"Buddy Club Children’s Shows" Botanical Garden, 9th Ave and Lincoln; (510) 236-7649, www.TheBuddyClub.com. Sun/29, 11am-noon, $5-10. Robert Strong performs magic.

"New Choreography" The Garage, 975 Howard; 518-1517, www.975howard.com Fri/27-Sat/28, 8pm. SPF5 presents two nights of dance.

Penny Dreadful Project Studio Theatre, Creative Arts Bldg, San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway; 338-2467, www.creativearts.sfsu.edu. Wed/25-Sat/28, 8:30pm; free. A dark tale about an unnamed woman and three versions of her son, directed and co-written (with Alex peri) by Mario El Caponi Mendoza.

"San Francisco Circus Center Showcase" San Francisco Circus Center, 755 Frederick; www.brownpapertickets.com. Fri/27, 7pm; Sat/28 2 and 7pm; Sun/29, 2pm; $10-20. The Circus Center presents its annual showcase.

Sci-Fi Burlesque DNA Lounge, 375 11th; www.superhappyfuntimeburlesque.com. Thurs/26, 9pm; $10-15. Six-person Michigan burlesque group puts on a show.

BAY AREA

On the Cheap listings

David Talbot
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0

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

THURSDAY 26

The Bearded Gentleman Books Inc., 2275 Market, SF; (415) 864-6777. 7:30pm, free. Men have been growing and styling their facial hair for centuries. Hear facial hair expert Nick Burns read from his authoritative, detailed guide, The Bearded Gentleman: The Style Guide to Shaving Face, on 50 specific facial hair styles and how to grow and maintain them.

“On Artists and Institutions” Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission, SF; (415) 978-2787. 6pm, free. Curators Stuart Horodner and Betti-Sue Hertz and artist Sergio de la Torre discuss the relationship between local artists and their city’s arts institutions, and the meaning of “local” in an increasingly globalized art world. RSVP required, email tlam@ybca.org.

“Seedy Side of SF” Bender’s Bar and Grill, 806 South Van Ness, SF; (415) 824-1800. 8pm, free. Check out six short silent films from Grumblefish Films that depict the darker sides of San Francisco, with slapstick humor revolving around heavy drug use, hard boozing, jerk landlords, and more from the underbelly we all know and love.

BAY AREA

007 Jack London Square, 2 Webster, Oakl.; www.jacklondonsquare.com. 7:30pm, free. Practice your double agent skills at this free showing of the newest James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace, coupled with some James Bond trivia and DVD prizes. Prepare for the night by getting a martini, shaken of course, beforehand at one of the many surrounding bars.

FRIDAY 27

BAY AREA

Eat Real Festival Jack London Square, 2 Webster, Oakl.; www.eatrealfest.com. Fri. 2pm-9pm, Sat. 10:30am-9pm, Sun. 10:30am-5pm; free. Celebrate tasty, fresh, handmade food, with a focus on food craft, street food, artisan beers, and local wines at this three day food and culture festival, where no food item will be priced over $5. There will also be DIY lifestyle demonstrations, tons of live music, films, a lit fest, a Porchlight Storytelling performance on Sunday, and more.

SATURDAY 28

Climate Change, Adaptation, and the Gowen Cypress Meet in the Presidio at the parking area at the intersection of Pacific and Walnut, SF; www.wildequity.org. 10am, free. Join Brent Plater of the Wild Equity Institute and Dr. Daniel Gluesenkamp of the Bay Area Early Detection Network for a guided tour of the Presidio’s misplaced Gowen Cypress, an endangered species that is not native to the area.

Cow Palace Farmer’s Market Cow Palace, Lower Parking Lot, 2600 Geneva, SF; 9am-1pm, free. Get some fresh and affordable produce, baked and specialty goods, live music, and more at this community farmers market, happening every Saturday through October 16.

“Regeneration Art Walk” Meet at Intersection for the Arts, 446 Valencia, SF; (415) 626-2787. Noon, free. Attend this guided art walk on Valencia street of artwork curated and created by current and previous participants in Intersection’s Leadership Training Program, exploring regeneration as an integral aspect of growth in our personal lives and communities. Meet the artists and hear about their creative process and response to the theme of regeneration.

“Wondrous Strange” SFMOMA Artists Gallery, Fort Mason Building A, Fort Mason, Marina at Buchanan, SF; (415) 441-4777. 2pm, free. Attend the closing event for the exhibit, “Wondrous Strange: A Twenty-first Century Cabinet of Curiosities,” featuring works by more than a dozen Bay Area artists and including photography, sculpture, and painting, the exhibition explores themes such as evolutionary biology and history, progress and decadence, and the carnal and the intellectual.

SUNDAY 29

“Paint Out” Presidio Officer’s Club, 50 Moraga, SF; (415) 561-5500. 11am-5pm; free, $15 to enter. All artists working in any medium are invited to participate in this California Watercolor Association outdoor painting competition, where each artist has four hours to Select a subject and paint any scene visible from the grounds of the Presidio. Each artist can exhibit one completed work to be voted on for a chance to win cash prizes.

MONDAY 30

“Pint Sized Plays” Café Royale, 800 Post, (415) 441-4099. 8pm, free. Grab a beer and enjoy a series of original short plays by local writers presented in a range of tones and styles that involve people drinking beer and end once the beer is gone. Cheers!

“Up All Night” Hemlock Tavern, 1131 Polk, SF; (415) 923-0923. 7pm, free. Join in this Porchlight Storytelling Series Open Door event, where attendees are invited to tell their own five minute story about whatever it is that they were doing all night when they should have been in bed. Sign up sheet for participants will be available shortly before 7pm.

Rep Clock

David Talbot
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0

Schedules are for Wed/25–Tues/31 except where noted. Director and year are given when available. Double and triple features are marked with a •. All times are p.m. unless otherwise specified.

ARTISTS’ TELEVISION ACCESS 992 Valencia, SF; www.atasite.org. $3-6. "Animated Art," short films, Fri, 8. "Other Cinema Digital and Alternative Digital Domain: Kwik Gigs 66," short films, videos, and live performance, Sat, 9.

BERKELEY FELLOWSHIP OF UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISTS 1924 Cedar, Berk; (510) 841-4824, www.bfuu.org. Free. King Corn (Woolf, 2007), Thurs, 7:30.

CANNERY 2801 Leavenworth, SF; (415) 771-3112, www.thecannery.com. Free. Nine Months (Columbus, 1995), Sun, 8.

CASTRO 429 Castro, SF; (415) 621-6120, www.castrotheatre.com. $7.50-10. •Kick Ass (Vaughn, 2010), Wed, 2:35, 7, and Splice (Natali, 2009), Wed, 4:35, 9:15. •The Thing (Carpenter, 1982), Thurs, 7, and Videodrome (Cronenberg, 1982), Thurs, 9:10. "Blonde Bombshells:" •Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Hawks, 1953), Fri, 3, 7, and The Seven Year Itch (Wilder, 1955), Fri, 4:50, 8:50; •Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Hawks, 1953), Sat, 3:20, 7:10, and How To Marry a Millionaire (Negulesco, 1953), Sat, 1:30, 5:10, 9; •The Girl Can’t Help It (Tashlin, 1956), Sun, 1, 4:50, 8:30, and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Hawks, 1953), Sun, 3, 6:45; •The Big Heat (Lang, 1953), Mon, 1:30, 5:10, 8:55, and Bus Stop (Logan, 1956), Mon, 3:20, 7; •The Burglar (Wendkos, 1957), Tues, 1:35, 5:05, 8:45, and The Public Enemy (Wellman, 1931), Tues, 3:25, 7.

CHRISTOPHER B. SMITH RAFAEL FILM CENTER 1118 Fourth St, San Rafael; (415) 454-1222, www.cafilm.org. $6.50-10.25. The Girl Who Played With Fire (Alfredson, 2009), call for dates and times. Lebanon (Maoz, 2009), call for dates and times. Cairo Time (Nadda, 2009), Aug 27-Sept 2, call for times.

"FILM NIGHT IN THE PARK" This week: Union Square, Geary at Powell, San Francisco; (415) 272- 2756, www.filmnight.org. Donations accepted. Rear Window (Hitchcock, 1954), Sat, 8.

HUMANIST HALL 390 27th St, Oakl; www.humanisthall.org. $5. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick, 1968), Wed, 7:30.

JACK LONDON SQUARE East lawn, Oakl; www.jacklondonsquare.com. Free. "Waterfront Flicks:" Quantum of Solace (Forster, 2008), Thurs, 7:30.

PACIFIC FILM ARCHIVE 2575 Bancroft, Berk; (510) 642-5249, www.bampfa.berkeley.edu. $5.50-9.50. "Akira Kurosawa Centennial:" Rhapsody in August (1991), Wed, 7; Dreams (1990), Sat, 5:30; Madadayo (1993), Sun, 7. "Modernist Master: The Cinema of Francesco Rosi:" Neapolitan Diary (1992), Thurs, 7; The Moment of Truth (1965), Sat, 8:30. "Viva La Revolución: Celebrating the Hundredth Anniversary of Mexico’s Revolution:" Reed: Insurgent Mexico (Leduc, 1971), Fri, 7. "Free Outdoor Screening:" "Shelf Life: Weird and Wonderful Shorts from the PFA Collection," Fri, 8:30.

RED VIC 1727 Haight, SF; (415) 668-3994. $6-9. Micmacs (Jeunet, 2009), Wed-Thurs, 7, 9:15 (also Wed, 2). Best Worst Movie (Stephenson, 2010), Fri-Sat, 7:15, 9:15 (also Sat, 2, 4). 2Everything2Terrible2: Tokyo Drift Sun-Mon, 7:15, 9:15. Reefer Madness (Gasnier, 1936), Tues, 7:15, 9:15.

ROXIE 3117 and 3125 16th St, SF; (415) 863-1087, www.roxie.com. $5-11.50. "Not Necessarily Noir:" •A Town Has Turned to Dust (Frankenheimer, 1958), Wed, 6:15, 9:45, and The Sadist (Landis, 1963), Wed, 8; •House of Horrors (Yarbrough, 1946), Thurs, 5:30, 8:30, and The Face Behind the Mask (Florey, 1941), Thurs, 7, 9:50; •Obsession (De Palma, 1976), Fri, 6, 10, and Last Embrace (Demme, 1979), Fri, 8; •Romeo is Bleeding (Medak, 1993), Sat, 2, 6, 10, and Breathless (McBride, 1983), Sat, 4, 8; •Blue Collar (Schrader, 1978), Sun-Mon, 5:45, 9:50 (also Sun, 1:30), and Bad Lieutenant (Ferrara, 1992), Sun-Mon, 8 (also Sun, 3:45); •Cutter’s Way (Passer, 1981), Tues, 5:30, 9:45, and Thief (Mann, 1981), Tues, 7:30.

VICTORIA THEATRE 2961 16th St, SF; www.threeminutepictureshow.com. $5-10. "Three-Minute Picture Show Presents:" "The Twinking To-Do," films for kids, Sat, 4; "Black Tie Gala and Film Screening," short films, Sat, 8.

VIZ CINEMA New People, 1746 Post, SF; www.vizcinema.com. $10. "Kurosawa On Sword Battles: Samurai Saga Vol. 2:" Rashomon (1950), Wed, 5; Sanjuro (1962), Wed, Fri, and Sun, 7; Thurs and Mon, 4:45; Yojimbo (1961), Thurs, 7; Fri and Tues, 4:30; Sat, 1:30; Throne of Blood (1957), Sat-Sun, 4; Tues and Sept 2, 7; Sept 1, 4:30; The Hidden Fortress (1958), Sat, Mon, and Sept 1, 7; Sun, 1; Sept 2, 4.

YERBA BUENA CENTER FOR THE ARTS 701 Mission, SF; (415) 978-2787, www.ybca.org. $6-8. "Dark in August: Rare Vampire Films:" Near Dark (Bigelow, 1987), Thurs, 7:30; Vampire Hookers (Santiago, 1978), Fri, 7:30; Vampyr (Dreyer, 1932), Sat, 7:30 and Sun, 4:30. "Something From Nothing: Films on Design and Architecture:" The Visual Language of Herbert Matter (Caduff, 2010), Sun, 2.

Furballs ahead

David Talbot
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0
Furballs ahead

le.chicken.farmer@gmail.com

CHEAP EATS It’s hard to believe that Walt Whitman never ate a kimchi burrito. Maybe this is for the best, from the point of view of American literature, but that’s no help to me at 4:30 a.m.

Don’t worry, I’m getting a kitten. Not that having a kitten in the house will help me sleep, but it should provide a more cuddly, playful, and cute excuse for not being able to.

This kitten, the kitten that will be my kitten starting tomorrow (hawks and coyotes permitting), was born feral on a farm outside of Petaluma. My blackberry friend NFC and me were there on Sunday, picking blackberries. NFC, she knows the farmers from the farmers market in Berkeley. They are cheese farmers, and they’d said, “Come pick blackberries!”

So we did.

It was beautiful there. I got about three-quarters of a gallon of berries, then made the mistake of showing them to the Chunks de la Cooter next morning. By dinnertime, I didn’t have any berries. Just a kitten.

How my kitten came to be named Stoplight … well, anyone with a name-needing cat and three-year-old friends would be a fool not to ask the latter for help with the former.

So I did, I asked C. Chunk, and with great seriousness, admirable enthusiasm, and some thought, she said, “Um. Um. Um. Um … Stoplight!”

Bing, a cat was named. A litter box was bought, and the Chunks each picked out a toy for Stoplight, who will join my little hovel of horrors tomorrow. Today, besides cat-proofing the place, I am craving kimchi burritos, naps, and, of course, hot and hopeful sex. Did I mention I have given all the way up on dating?

Yay! Maybe my favorite advantage, besides the Return of Self-esteem, is that I now have more time than ever to organize the wires behind my desk. The tangle back there had gotten downright jungular ever since I started recording music again.

So I needed new glasses, so I went downtown with a buy-one-pair-get-one-free coupon in one pocket and a treasure map for kimchi burritos in the other. The map was courtesy of my new favorite fanmail sender, who had written me a little pick-me-up back in January, then a Welcome Home in March in which he’d mentioned, as Reason No. 1,498,234 for being happy to be back in San Francisco, a little place in the Financial District that was (then) offering their allegedly super-spicy Kimchi Burrito of death (or suicide burrito, or some such scary name) for free, if you could eat it in the store.

It took me two tries to find the place because my fanmailer didn’t know the name or exactly even the street, and I was expecting something more interesting sounding than “John’s Snack & Deli.” It’s on Battery Street, not far off Market, way the hell down there.

The Financial District, as you may know, is not my stomping grounds, so you will forgive me please for not headsing you up to the existence of such a thing as a kimchi burrito any sooner than this.

What do you think? It’s fan-fucking-tastic. Imagine: Korean-style barbecued beef, or bulgogi, with spicy kimchi, rice, and bits of tomato, onion, cilantro, and lettuce, all rolled up burrito-style in a flour tortilla.

I don’t want to start any riots in my own neighborhood, but … never mind.

Suffice to say, it almost ain’t fair how juicy and delicious this kimchi burrito is. If I had been eating over a mug, I could have had a nice cup of kimchi burrito tea to wash down my new favorite burrito with. As it is, I ate on the sidewalk. The real reason they can get away with a promotion like the one mentioned above: it’s takeout only, tiny, and not unpopular (not surprisingly) already.

My intention was to take one bite, then bring the rest home. Yeah, right. I finished it in one standing, straddling my bike, which afterward needed repainting. And my clothes too, and my respect for American poetry … ruined!

Everything.

JOHN’S SNACK & DELI

Mon.–Fri. 6 a.m.–6 p.m.

40 Battery, SF

(415) 434-4634

Cash only

No alcohol

 

Apathy and the arboretum

David Talbot
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5
Apathy and the arboretum

OPINION Nobody believed it could happen, that the ordinance might pass. On the face of it, it seemed inconceivable. The very idea that visitors would have to pay to enter a public park appeared absurd, and had been rejected only the year before. Some believed the hype and were convinced that this would help solve the budget deficit. Others expected someone besides themselves would take action, or believed that that the $7 fee, once imposed, would apply only to nonresidents.

So, by and large, people sat on their hands. Meanwhile, the San Francisco Botanical Garden Society at Strybing Arboretum, the driving force behind the privatization of the arboretum in Golden Gate Park, was using the camouflage of hard times to mask the absurdity of its proposal. The way had been carefully paved. A real estate developer and Bolinas resident handpicked by Mayor Gavin Newsom to head the Recreation and Park Commission voiced his enthusiasm. The rubber-stamp commission he heads passed it on to the Board of Supervisors. Despite the presence of his grandfather’s native plant garden within the arboretum, the mayor lent his support.

The society had craftily employed lobbyist Sam Lauter, who had set up meetings between individual supervisors and wealthy trustees.

The strategy succeeded. Astonishingly, only three supervisors voted against the ordinance imposing a fee on entrance to the arboretum. Leading the charge for the measure was John Avalos, who had added a “sunset” clause along with other vaguely worded amendments. At the hearing, the ever-congenial Chris Daly accused opponents of “elitism.” No public comment was permitted, and no supervisor questioned Recreation and Parks Department head Phil Ginsberg, although Eric Mar did announce his intention to join the Botanical Garden Society.

Much was made about union jobs — as though holding three gardeners’ salaries hostage to the passing of a privatization ordinance was a reasonable proposition.

As things stand now, the society is planning to allow its members free admission to the arboretum. Given that the reason for the $7 fee is all about the budget, this makes no logical sense. Low-income people and the undocumented (not to mention the homeless) will be excluded.

The society is also planning to build a $13 million glorified greenhouse that would have its own entrance on John F. Kennedy Drive. No community discussion has been held, but that has not deterred the society from soliciting the state to pay $7 million toward this so-called “sustainable gardening center,” an edifice that would likely memorialize the likes of Dede Wilsey or similar donor.

So what’s a good citizen to do? If you value public free space, the wings of the society need to be clipped. The best way to do this is to directly contact the offices of your supervisors, especially Sups. John Avalos (554-6975), David Campos (554-5144), David Chiu (554-7450),Michela Alioto-Pier (554-7752), Sean Elsbernd (554-6516) and Carmen Chu (554-7460). And vociferously voice your feelings.

Otherwise, the fee will not sunset next year — or any year.

Harry S. Pariser is a long-term resident of the Inner Sunset. You can join the Yahoo! group at groups.yahoo.com/group/keepthearboretumfree.

Editorial: Beyond Chief Gascon’s reforms

David Talbot
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0

There are cops at every level on the force who ought to be fired for misconduct — and the discipline process has been so slow that it’s utterly ineffective.

EDITORIAL You have to give San Francisco Police Chief George Gascón credit: he talks more about reform, and seems to take discipline more seriously, than anyone who has headed the department in at least 30 years. In the wake of the crime lab scandal, he did what the department should have done years ago: ordered a complete investigation of the background of every officer on the force to determine if anyone has skeletons that might affect his or her ability to testify in criminal cases.

But if the list of problem officers becomes nothing more than a closely guarded secret used only when the district attorney fears for the future of a criminal case, the exercise will have only limited value.

The fallout from the crime lab revealed a much deeper problem in San Francisco law enforcement: the police and the district attorney had not been properly informing defense lawyers when cops who were taking the stand for the prosecution had problems in their past. Hundreds of convictions could be overturned by that failure to abide by Brady v. Maryland, which requires prosecutors to turn over to the defense any material in an officer’s record that could relevant to the credibility of the cop as a witness.

Gascón didn’t create the problem, and he has moved expeditiously to come up with a plan to address it. But as Rebecca Bowe reports on page 8, there’s another gigantic issue here. There are cops at every level on the force who ought to be fired for misconduct — and the discipline process has been so slow that it’s utterly ineffective.

There’s plenty of blame to go around — the Police Officers Association balks at anything that could possibly help clear out bad cops. The Police Commission is abysmally slow at holding disciplinary hearings. And the culture of secrecy in the department — enhanced by some really terrible state laws — makes it impossible for the public to find out where the problems really lie.

But if Gascón is serious, he can make some dramatic changes. For starters, he ought to make the disciplinary process as open as possible. He probably can’t release the names of every cop on the Brady list; that would run afoul of state law. But he can certainly tell the public how many names there are and what offenses are included.

He’s been pushing to change the role of the Police Commission in disciplining cops, asking that that ability to fire an officer, now reserved for the commission, be shifted to the chief, leaving the civilian panel in the role of an appellate body. We agree that the chief ought to be able to fire a bad cop — but so should the commission. If Gascón adopts that stance and asks for more personal authority without eliminating the fundamental powers of the commission, he’d have the support of nearly every progressive in town.

The commission needs to change its own practices, too. Serious discipline cases drag on for years because the commissioners don’t put the time into holding hearings. Either the panel should set a weekly schedule for disciplinary hearings, outside of its regular meetings, or hire hearing officers to do that work. The backlog is insane and needs to be cleared up.

The next few months will demonstrate whether the chief is serious about changing the climate of bad behavior in the department. If he steps up, he’ll get immense public support.

Beyond Chief Gascon’s reforms

David Talbot
-
0
Beyond Chief Gascon’s reforms

EDITORIAL You have to give San Francisco Police Chief George Gascón credit: he talks more about reform, and seems to take discipline more seriously, than anyone who has headed the department in at least 30 years. In the wake of the crime lab scandal, he did what the department should have done years ago: ordered a complete investigation of the background of every officer on the force to determine if anyone has skeletons that might affect his or her ability to testify in criminal cases.

But if the list of problem officers becomes nothing more than a closely guarded secret used only when the district attorney fears for the future of a criminal case, the exercise will have only limited value.

The fallout from the crime lab revealed a much deeper problem in San Francisco law enforcement: the police and the district attorney had not been properly informing defense lawyers when cops who were taking the stand for the prosecution had problems in their past. Hundreds of convictions could be overturned by that failure to abide by Brady v. Maryland, which requires prosecutors to turn over to the defense any material in an officer’s record that could relevant to the credibility of the cop as a witness.

Gascón didn’t create the problem, and he has moved expeditiously to come up with a plan to address it. But as Rebecca Bowe reports on page 8, there’s another gigantic issue here. There are cops at every level on the force who ought to be fired for misconduct — and the discipline process has been so slow that it’s utterly ineffective.

There’s plenty of blame to go around — the Police Officers Association balks at anything that could possibly help clear out bad cops. The Police Commission is abysmally slow at holding disciplinary hearings. And the culture of secrecy in the department — enhanced by some really terrible state laws — makes it impossible for the public to find out where the problems really lie.

But if Gascón is serious, he can make some dramatic changes. For starters, he ought to make the disciplinary process as open as possible. He probably can’t release the names of every cop on the Brady list; that would run afoul of state law. But he can certainly tell the public how many names there are and what offenses are included.

He’s been pushing to change the role of the Police Commission in disciplining cops, asking that that ability to fire an officer, now reserved for the commission, be shifted to the chief, leaving the civilian panel in the role of an appellate body. We agree that the chief ought to be able to fire a bad cop — but so should the commission. If Gascón adopts that stance and asks for more personal authority without eliminating the fundamental powers of the commission, he’d have the support of nearly every progressive in town.

The commission needs to change its own practices, too. Serious discipline cases drag on for years because the commissioners don’t put the time into holding hearings. Either the panel should set a weekly schedule for disciplinary hearings, outside of its regular meetings, or hire hearing officers to do that work. The backlog is insane and needs to be cleared up.

The next few months will demonstrate whether the chief is serious about changing the climate of bad behavior in the department. If he steps up, he’ll get immense public support.

Yee blocks traffic camera at Octavia

Zelda Bronstein
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37
Yee blocks traffic camera at Octavia

The Market-Octavia intersection is one of the most dangerous places in the city for bicyclists. Cars making an illegal right turn onto the freeway ramp hit riders; there were nine collisions in 2008 alone, and there have been 20 injury accidents since the freeway ramp opened. The city’s built barriers and traffic signs, but the illegal turns continue.


So with the backing of the SF Bicycle Coalition, Assemblymember Tom Ammiano introduced a bill that would allow the city to install a trafic camera to monitor illegal turns at that intersection. It’s a modest pilot project, a test run until 2014. It cleared the Assembly easily, with bipartisan support, and right now it’s just one state Senate vote away from the governor’s desk. That is, Ammiano is one state Senate vote short.


And Sen. Leland Yee of San Francisco is refusing to vote for it.


That kind of mystified me; why would Yee be against a fairly common-sense safety measure? I called Yee’s aide, Adam Keigwin, who said it was a matter of principle: “He’s never voted for traffic cameras,” Keigwin said. “He sees it as a police state issue. Once they take pictures of you driving, what else are they going to take pictures of?”


Again: That’s a bit odd. Yee’s usually a law-and-order type of guy. And I’m not for cameras everywhere; I have problems with the cops wanting to put “crime cameras” in neighborhoods. But this one seems fairly harmless — it’s a busy intersection where someone’s going to die one of these days, and I don’t think a traffic camera is going to take us down a slippery slope to a police state.


In fact, the bike coalition’s acting director, Renee Rivera, told me that she understands Yee’s concern, but “in this case, the safety concern takes precedence. This camera enforcement is going to make it safer for people walking and biking.”


Anyway, if you want to express an opinion on this, Yee’s office is (916) 651-4008.

Bay Bridge tolls a boost for congestion pricing?

Zelda Bronstein
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5
Bay Bridge tolls a boost for congestion pricing?


San Francisco officials are watching closely to see if higher tolls on the Bay Bridge might help the city make the case for charging fees to drive into downtown in high-traffice periods — and so far, the evidence is promising.


Since tolls increased July 1, an additional 4,000 commuters turning to BART — and that means fewer cars on the bridge.
The Bay Area Toll Authority elevated fees during the hours of 5 am to 10 am and 3 pm until 7 pm for crossing all bridges except the Golden Gate, which is managed by a different agency.


Drivers crossing the Bay Bridge during weekday commute hours are now expected to pay $6. During other hours, the weekday toll remains at $4. The toll is $5 on both Saturday and Sunday.


The toll has also been bumped up to $5 on the Antioch, Carquinez, Dumbarton, San Mateo, Benicia-Martinez and Richmond bridges. Although previously exempt from charges, occupants in the carpool lane now pay $2.50.
These increased costs may have prompted discontented commuters to add to the approximately 335,000 individuals that use BART each day, spokesman Jim Allison said.


“We have seen 2,000 to 4,000 more people riding BART on an average weekday this month compared with last,” he said.
Allison was careful to note that because of the brief time element and other seasonal changes, it is hard to determine higher tolls as the only reason for a boost in ridership.


“It is just too soon to draw any conclusions,” he said. “While it may be a factor, the increase cannot necessarily be attributed to the changes on the Bay Bridge.”


However, executives from the San Francisco County Transportation Authority planning to bring a citywide congestion pricing plan before the Board of Supervisors this fall were encouraged by the trend toward public transit.
“We do think that it is too early to draw any conclusions,” SFCTA deputy director for planning Tilly Chang said. “But the general indication is that people are shifting their behavior in some way, which is the goal of congestion pricing.”
The toll hikes mark the Bay Area’s first quasi-attempt at congestion pricing, with officials hoping to encourage the use of public transportation while simultaneously decreasing travel time for those who choose to stay in the driver’s seat.
According to a preliminary study on the compounded tolls, there were more than 12,000 fewer carpoolers and 2,300 more drivers paying the full fare on their commutes.


Spokesman John Goodwin said that the increase in solo drivers could be due to the new system’s ability to weed out cheaters, with FasTrak identification and a guaranteed minimum toll putting a damper on disobedience.
“It may very well be that we didn’t have as many real carpoolers as we thought we did,” Goodwin said. “There is, of course, no way of quantifying exactly how many drivers who didn’t meet the occupancy requirement are now recalibrating

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