San Francisco Archives — Page 344 of 517 — San Francisco Bay Guardian Archive 1966

Poor turnout

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October 28, 2009

news@sfbg.com

The Guinness World Record for the largest mobilization of human beings was recently broken when 173 million people demanded that their governments eradicate extreme poverty around the world. But U.S. media barely noted the call and San Francisco’s event had low attendance, suggesting an uphill struggle for the cause in the world’s richest nation.

Millions gathered at more than 3,000 Stand Up, Take Action events in 120 countries Oct. 16-18 in an attempt to put pressure on governments to achieve the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, but less than 30 people gathered on the steps of San Francisco City Hall to support the movement.

Sup. John Avalos was one of the speakers at the event, organized by a coalition of local activist groups and student volunteers. Admitting that he was "expecting it to be a little bigger," Avalos said the event was just the start of what needed to be a much larger movement by the American people.

"There is a strange phenomenon occurring at the moment. It’s as if people are a little bit asleep about the need to be active," Avalos told the Guardian. "Because we have an administration they view as being more supportive of human rights and economic and social justice, people are being lulled into thinking things will just get better."

Standing just a short walk away from the birth place of the United Nations, Avalos bought attention in his speech to the rich history San Francisco has in mobilizing social change. "We do the best to live up to it, but we have a long way to go. Around the world this is the time to uproot poverty — we try to provide a safety net, but it could be stronger."

The Stand Up, Take Action, End Poverty Now! campaign is in its fourth year and is organized by the UN Millennium Campaign in an attempt to raise awareness of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a series of benchmarks designed to eradicate global poverty.

At the United Nations Millennium Development Summit in 2000, 189 world leaders promised to "end poverty by 2015." The eight goals include eliminating extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, and combating HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases.

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) has authored or coauthored every major piece of legislation dealing with global HIV/AIDS issues since she was elected to Congress. She told the Guardian that MDGs must be placed in context with poverty in America. "Sometimes people argue that we must look after our own first, but my position is that if you look at the eight Millennium goals, they all apply to our own country too," Lee said. "Look at the plight of people who are disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS in our country — especially in African American and Latino communities.

"With the economic downturn, poverty rates in America are soaring, putting more people into circumstances the MDGs focus on outside of America," she continued. "I think it really is important to make those connections."

Lee compared the foreclosure crisis and lack of regulation in the financial markets over the last eight to 10 years to the "wild West" and calls America’s 47 million uninsured a "moral disgrace."

"It is about priorities and political will, and this will be determined by the voices of people saying it must be done," she said. "People have to push for these changes and remember that it didn’t just stop with the election. We have to raise awareness while at the same time working on changing policy. Otherwise we can get stuck debating issues and not doing the work that has to be done to change these very deplorable conditions."

Sup. David Campos was the only other supervisor to speak at the Civic Center event. He said he is committed to the fight against global poverty and wants to see the government represent the values San Francisco was founded on.

"We need to shed light and bring attention to one of the largest issues facing the world today — severe poverty," Campos said. "I really believe that as a city, as a state, and as a country, we not only need to make sure we push the U.S. to follow the lead of other countries, but actually become a leader in making these Millennium goals a reality."

After the event, Campos told the Guardian: "It doesn’t surprise me that more people didn’t show up to the event. But part of the task is to spread the word. San Francisco has been a leader in a number of these issues in the past, and I think we should play a key role in this one."

Campos said that one solution might be to put forward a resolution before the Board of Supervisors to support MDGs and have the city take a formal position on it.

"It is definitely something we are talking about to demonstrate San Francisco’s commitment to the issue," he said. "A lot of people don’t know about the goals, or the fact that the U.S. hasn’t really made them a priority. We need to spread the word and let people know this kind of a movement is only going to be a success if people take it upon themselves to play a leadership role."

Brian Webster, a volunteer who organized the SF event, drew attention to the large number of supporters for the MDGs in California. More than 250,000 people have signed up for the One Campaign, a global NGO that partnered with the U.N. Millennium Campaign in the events.

"For campaigners, it is now a matter of trying to join together and identify vast strategies to communicate what needs to be done," Webster said. "We will continue to educate communities, politicians, and civic leaders in what can be done this month, in the next six months, and ultimately, in the next six years."

While the Bush administration rarely mentioned MDGs while in office, many activists believe President Barack Obama’s public recognition of the goals at a recent U.N. summit demonstrates a change in American policy.

"In other countries, there has been more education and awareness about the goals. But here in America, it is almost like we are starting eight years late," said Anita Sharma, the North American director for the U.N. Millennium Campaign. "President Obama has said that the MDGs are American goals and has even talked about his plans for achieving them."

Also, despite the low numbers at the San Francisco event, Sharma says more than 190,000 people from North America participated in last weekend’s campaign, an increase of more than 70,000 from last year’s attempt.

"It’s not like Americans don’t care about global poverty — in fact we give more in charitable contributions than any other country in the world," she said. "It just takes quite a lot to get Americans into the streets and mobilized. There needs to be more education out there, that’s all."

Ananya Roy, a UC Berkeley professor of city and regional planning and education director of the Blum Center for Developing Economies, says she doesn’t think MDGs can be achieved worldwide by 2015. Even so, she stressed the important role they played in the framework of development.

Speaking at UC Berkeley’s Stand Up and Take Action Event, she said: "The goals are important because they are seen as a new global social contract that makes issues of poverty and inequality quite urgent. They also come with measurements and targets, which is meant to create accountability."

Roy placed particular emphasis on the eighth goal: building a global partnership for development. She noted that that increased awareness can change the ways the U.S. and European governments operate in terms of aid and trade.

"This multilateral contract requires more than simply the action and leadership of the U.S. and Western Europe," she said. "We need to think about poverty and inequality that is immediately around us, understand how we are involved in the production of depravity, and then we must act in solidarity.

"We need to be thinking about poverty as it exits here in the U.S. and not just as an abstract problem that belongs to someplace else," she added. "It is also our problem."

According to a 2009 U.N. report, progress toward achieving the MDGs has been slow in some cases and certain achievements have been reversed by the economic downturn. The report estimates that there will be 55 million to 90 million more people living in extreme poverty than anticipated before the crisis.

For Chandler Smith, media coordinator for the One Campaign — which campaigns for better development policies and more effective aid and trade reform — the Guinness certification marks progress toward achieving the MDGs. "That this year is breaking another world record speaks to the power of people to organize around the world, shows that we are a global community, and that there is a sustainability in the movement," he said.

"As for the North American aspect, we are always trying to educate people more about these issues. Our results show that a lot of our work has been done — but that we also have more work to do."

Sanctuary showdown

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October 28, 2009

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sarah@sfbg.com

City Hall echoed with delighted whoops of Si se puede! last week, as a veto-proof majority of the Board of Supervisors voted to give juvenile immigrants their day in court before referring them to federal immigration authorities.

But the battle over the civil rights of immigrant kids is far from over, as Mayor Gavin Newsom, Police Chief George Gascón and U.S. Attorney Joseph Russoniello all insist that they will ignore or defy the city ordinance.

That puts the city in a strange legal position: the supervisors have passed a law that the mayor won’t implement — so it’s not clear what will happen next.

But here’s what is clear — and alarming: under Newsom’s policy, which the sanctuary legislation by Sup. David Campos would overturn, large numbers of immigrant kids are facing possible deportation. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokesperson Virginia Kice told the Guardian that 150 juveniles from San Francisco have been referred to ICE since June 11, 2008 when Newsom began requiring that the city’s probation officials refer youth to ICE on arrest.Of those, 114 have come into federal custody (and may be facing deportation). Campos, who came to this country from Guatemala as an undocumented teen, said his legislation is a "balanced response" to the shift in sanctuary policy

Under Newsom’s policy, city probation officials are required to refer juveniles booked on a felony and appear undocumented to ICE at the time of arrest.

But under Campos’ amendment, ICE referral would not occur unless a juvenile justice court finds the youth guilty as charged.

Mayoral spokesperson Nathan Ballard short-circuited the immigrant community’s hopes for due process by announcing that Newsom simply plans to ignore Campos’ legislation.

"The Campos bill isn’t worth the paper it’s written on — it’s unenforceable and he knows that," Ballard told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Campos says that’s nonsense. "The whole point of having a sanctuary ordinance is that we choose not to be in the business of federal immigration enforcement," Campos said. "We are not an arm of ICE."

In a phone interview, Russoniello told the Guardian that Newsom’s policy accords juveniles due process at the federal level, and that federal immigration authorities are not interested in going after people who are obeying laws or are simply out of status.

"Our focus is guns, gangs, and drugs," Russoniello said. "But people who are detained should have no expectation that they will not be deported."

In other words, kids who are arrested on felony charges — who may not be guilty — could be deported anyway.

"Juvenile Probation Department alerts ICE when an individual comes in that they believe may be a deportable juvenile alien," Kice said. "We dispatch an officer to interview the juvenile, elicit biographical information, and do background checks to see if they have a legal basis for being in the country."

So where are the kids Newsom has turned over in the past year? Hard to say. Kice said the federal Human and Health Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement is responsible for ensuring that kids receive appropriate care and protection. "We no longer deal with the custody issues related to juvenile cases," Kice added.

Russoniello said he doesn’t know the whereabouts of the 114 juveniles placed in federal custody since Newsom’s policy took effect in June 2008, but dismissed such concerns as "pretextual."

"Before June 2008, the city’s pretext for sending [Honduran teenagers] back home was to reunite them with their family. Now the complaints are they are being ripped away from their families," he said. "The Campos legislation is mute, it’s irrelevant, and it’s contrary to federal law, and I think the mayor and the chief of police both agree."

Chief Gascón, concerned about the lack of due process and kangaroo courts at the federal level that he experienced as police chief in Mesa, Ariz,, recently told the Guardian he hoped to see Campos and Newsom find a compromise.

Gascón, who was appointed by the mayor, now says he believes Newsom’s hands are tied because of federal laws. "I don’t think the mayor has a choice," Gascón told the Chronicle.

But Sheriff Mike Hennessey, whom ICE pressured to amend his department’s policy toward immigrant detainees last year, thinks the Campos amendment is reasonable. "I don’t think we want to be reporting people who aren’t worthy of prosecution," Hennessey said. "Federal law says that if a probation officer violated the Campos’ amendment, they could not be penalized, under federal law," Hennessey explained. "That’s different from saying they are mandated to report juveniles to the federal authorities."

Juvenile Probation Department Chief William Siffermann told the Guardian that his agency "will continue to discharge its duties and responsibilities in a manner that conforms with all laws and await the outcome of the San Francisco legislative process."

"At the conclusion of that, we will confer with the city attorney and outside legal counsel around any impacts this would have on existing protocols."

Chop from the top

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October 28, 2009

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rebeccab@sfbg.com

At the Oct. 23 groundbreaking ceremony for the rebuild of San Francisco General Hospital, Mayor Gavin Newsom sang the praises of the public hospital’s staff.

"To all the men and women who work in this remarkable place that changes people’s lives each and every day … every time I come here, I realize you’re not just saving patients, you’re taking care of families," the mayor said. "It’s so difficult to see someone in pain. But to see the smile and the pride their loved ones have because of the job you guys have done is something magical."

Yet some health care workers, marked by their signature purple and yellow T-shirts, clearly weren’t feeling the magic. As Newsom waxed poetic onstage, they stood clustered in the audience displaying a banner proclaiming, "Keep Public Health Healthy." It was meant as a reminder that SEIU Local 1021, the union that represents certified nursing assistants (CNAs) and clerical workers facing significant slashes in pay in the wake of a city budget cuts, is still pushing to have their salaries restored.

On Sept. 15, 500 CNAs and clerical workers received notice that they would be laid off, although some would be reclassified at lower-paying positions, effective Nov. 15. For the CNAs being demoted, the reductions amount to an average of $15,000 annual reduction in pay. For the clerical workers facing downgrades, the cuts reflect an average loss of $5,000.

It wasn’t the first time SEIU workers turned out at one of Newsom’s public appearances. Beginning in August, union members began vocally characterizing the layoffs and demotions as a civil ights issue because they disproportionately affect women and people of color. According to a Department of Public Health assessment, 96 percent of the affected employees are people of color and 79 percent are women.

Mayoral Chief of Staff Steve Kawa insisted this wasn’t an attack on the city’s comparable-worth policy, which guarantees equal pay for work done primarily by women. "We would not do anything against comparable worth, " Kawa told the Guardian. "Even with the change in status in the wage, these workers will be making 18 percent above market."

But Sup. John Avalos framed it differently. "These people are some of the lowest paid frontline workers in the city," he pointed out a recent Board of Supervisors meeting. "I have spoken to many of them in my district. They’re often single women who are raising children, who don’t know how they’re going to survive."

After angry SEIU members made a series of boisterous appearances at Newsom’s gubernatorial campaign events, the mayor finally agreed to meet with them in talks that were mediated by San Francisco Labor Council head Tim Paulson.

"[Newsom] complained at some length during the first meeting about us attacking him," noted SEIU member Ed Kinchley. "We responded that we’re really not attacking him. What we were criticizing was a policy that goes after classifications filled predominantly by women and people of color."

The ongoing flap took a new twist at the Oct. 22 Board of Supervisors meeting, when Sups. Avalos and Chris Daly each announced plans to find funding to restore the public health workers’ salaries. Avalos proposed skimming some excess from management positions, which have swelled in recent years.

"Before cutting vital city services … we should first look to those who have the most, not to those who have the least," Avalos noted. He said he plans to ask the city controller to draft an annual salary ordinance that would reclassify top management positions in order to free enough funding to stop the demotions and wage reductions for the CNAs and clerical workers.

According to a report issued by the city controller, citywide management positions have grown from 739 in budget year 1998-99 to 1,075 in 2008-09, a 68 percent increase. Some individuals were promoted with salary increases ranging from $20,000 to $40,000 annually.

"I don’t know how one does that," Kawa said when asked about Avalos’ proposal. "It doesn’t make any sense to me."

Daly, meanwhile, noted that Department of Public Health Chief Financial Officer Gregg Sass had highlighted a preliminary projection for an $8 million DPH budget surplus in a Sept. 15 memo. Daly announced that he plans to request the money be flagged to go back into the department to stave off deskilling of frontline workers.

When asked if this money was available to fund the CNAs and clerical workers, Sass responded, "I don’t think it is." Emphasizing that it’s a preliminary figure, he added that "any additional funding, should it exist, is a component of the city’s overall ability to stay on budget this year and offset any shortfalls in city revenue … and address the large projected deficit for next year. I don’t see how it could be seen as ‘available’ until the city has better projections of [other tax revenue]."

The union had planned for a lengthy session with mayoral staff to continue negotiations on the same day of the supervisors’ meeting. But when Kawa learned about Avalos’ proposed legislation, he got angry and walked out, according to one SEIU member.

Asked if proposed legislation detracted from the negotiations, Kawa told us that "it made the last one difficult because it was somewhat of a surprise. And usually when you’re in good-faith negotiations, you share with the other folks the activities you’re up to so that you know that they’re actually there to negotiate in good faith."

Back at SF General after the groundbreaking ceremony, Newsom posed for photos with top public health officials, scooping shovels full of loose dirt with golden spades. The giddy atmosphere dissipated when the mayor turned around to find himself ringed by a group of reporters vying for a chance to pepper him with questions. He responded to most of their queries in typical loquacious fashion. But when the Guardian asked him to comment on Avalos’ proposed legislation, his face darkened slightly. "I don’t have any comment," he responded gruffly. Then he was whisked away for more photographs.

We want free parking!

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October 28, 2009

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steve@sfbg.com

GREEN CITY The strong visceral reactions to extending parking meter hours in San Francisco and Oakland present a difficult challenge to those who seek to have motorists pay for more of their societal impacts and help offset declining public transit resources.

When the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency held an Oct. 20 public hearing on its proposal to extend parking meter hours to evenings and Sundays in order to better manage parking demand and raise $8.8 million for Muni in the process, the proposal was fiercely attacked as a tax on motorists and burden on businesses.

That outrage was expected from conservative factions — landlords, west side residents, and much of the business community — who consistently oppose progressive reforms. But it was surprising to hear the antiwar ANSWER coalition, an immigrant group, and self-described socialists also angrily opposing the proposal.

"The working class is being driven out, and I hope this is the straw that breaks the camel’s back," ANSWER’s Forrest Schmidt said at the hearing, calling for taxes on rich individuals and companies instead. "Someone else needs to pay for the budget deficit that giant corporations created."

"This is a class issue. The rich and the well-to-do don’t have to worry about where to park in this small and crowded city. They have garages or can afford to pay for parking. It is overwhelmingly working class people who are being hit and who will be hit much, much harder if the new policy goes into effect," ANSWER (which stands for Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) wrote in a press release the next day.

But it’s a demonstrably false statement that the working class will be disproportionately affected by the proposal. Average incomes for drivers are far higher than those of Muni riders, who have borne the brunt of MTA budget cuts and will be hit even harder if this proposal fails.

A recent Transportation Authority study associated with the stalled proposal to charge a congestion-pricing fee on motorists entering the city core found that only 6 percent of them earned less than $50,000 per year. And in the census tract around ANSWER’s Mission District office, where Schmidt said poor workers who need cars are being aggressively ticketed, less than half the households actually own cars.

Beyond the fact that drivers are generally richer than the carless, there’s the established fact that they don’t come anywhere close to paying for their full societal impacts, from road building and maintenance to health care costs from accidents and air pollution to global warming.

"These are facts that a lot of people ignore," said Tom Radulovich, executive director of Livable City, calling ANSWER’s position "just a very limited perspective that they haven’t thought through yet."

Indeed, when I discussed the campaign with ANSWER’s regional director, Richard Becker, his arguments were almost entirely anecdotal. "I participate in the scramble for parking on a daily basis," he said.

The emotional reactions to taking away free parking also cause critics to lose sight of the facts. The proposal only affects metered spots in commercial districts, not street parking in neighborhoods. And the study treats every neighborhood differently based on parking demand, with the goal of reaching 85 percent occupancy to make parking more available — the very thing many critics of the proposal are demanding.

"They don’t understand that if we don’t raise the price of parking, we’re going to raise the price of Muni. They are extremely naïve beyond all reason," said Jason Henderson, a San Francisco State University geography professor who has studied the politics of parking and is current writing a book on the subject.

"There are people who want to democratize unsustainable lifestyles," Radulovich said, calling it "a strategy without a future."

Transportation activist Dave Snyder got into a heated discussion with some ANSWER members outside the hearing room, faulting them for failing to oppose the Muni fare hikes and service cuts that were approved last spring and for refusing to accept the need to discourage environmentally damaging activities like driving cars.

"To use price to discourage that is indeed a regressive tax. It’s still worth doing, but we have to think about [ANSWER’s reaction]," Snyder later told us.

But Henderson, Snyder, and Radulovich see a silver lining in this discussion. "It’s a sign of progress," Henderson said. "The more this floats to the surface and we can deal with it now, the better we’ll all be in the long run."

Unholy sheet

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October 28, 2009

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superego@sfbg.com

OK, it’s official — there’s way too much boo this Halloween. Scariest of all, I’m just going to shut up for once and let the parties do the talking. Gasp!

STAY GOLD

The original, frighteningly fantastic queer dance party kicks off the costumed train wreck that will be Halloween ’09. You bet there’s be rainbow unicorns. Wed/28, 10:30 p.m., $3. MakeOut Room, 3225 22nd St., SF. www.makeoutroom.com

DANGER

French rockers enliven the terrifyingly popular 18+ indie club mainstay Popscene, with Veil Veil Varnish opening up, DJ Omar, and other treats. Thu/29, 9 p.m., $5. 330 Ritch, SF. www.popscene-sf.com

ALL HALLOW’S EVE

Perfectly goth and industrial powerhouse parties Meat and Death Guild team up with burlesque killers Hubba Hubba Revue for some spectacular murder on the dance floor. Fri/30, 9 p.m.–late, $13. DNA Lounge, 375 11th St., SF. www.dnalounge.com

BUZZIN’ FLY

Whoa, the seminal deep house club and label headed by Everything But the Girl’s Ben Watt is touching down for a costumed Devil’s Night of smooth beats mayhem. Fri/30, 10 p.m., $20. 103 Harriet, SF. www.1015.com

COCKBLOCK MASQUEERADE

The horribly homolicious — hot young dyke alert! — monthly promises "feathers, face paint, papier-mâché masks, glitter, gold, and glam." With DJs Nuxx and Zax. Fri/30, 10 p.m., $10. Supperclub, 657 Harrison, SF. www.cockblocksf.com

MISS HONEY BOO

Vogue! Drop! Scare! DJs Chelsea Starr, Errol, Nikki B, and more present a runway of death for all you underworld, drag-bedazzled queens. Fri/30, 10 p.m., $5. Triple Crown, 1760 Market, SF. www.triplecrownsf.com

TEMPLE RISING — HALLOW’S EVE

Rising up from the late ’90s rave scene, decks fave Ben Tom relights 1000 Glo-sticks with new track "It’s a Party." The nutso Goldsweats kids hold down the basement. Fri/30, 10 p.m.-4 a.m., $20. temple, 540 Howard, SF. www.templesf.com

ALBINO!

The raucous Berkeley band ‘vades the Independent cosmic tunes at a Star Wars-themed get-down, with the Afrolicious brothers thrusting funky warm-up tunes. Sat/31, 8:30 p.m., $18. Independent, 628 Divisadero, SF. www.independentsf.com

BIBI MASQUERADE

What’s better than a gyrating gaggle of queer Arabian and Middle-Eastern lovelies (and friends)? A drag-studded masquerade party for them, with DJs Cheon, Emancipacion, and Masood. Sat/31, 9 p.m.– 3 a.m., Six, 60 Sixth St., www.myspace.com/bibisf

BIG TOP HOMOWEEN

It’s a spooky disco circus installment of this monthly gay glitterati fiesta from Joshua J and Juanita More, with creepy drag clowns, skeletal go-go boys, and DJs Kevin Graves and Marcus Boogie. Sat/31, 9 p.m.-3 a.m., $10. Club Eight, 1151 Folsom, SF. www.eightsf.com

BOOOTIE

Everyone’s a sawed-off wiener when monster mashup club Bootie unleashes its annual big-H hoedown, with Smashup Derby live, Princess Kennedy, and some smashing Seattle players in the Frankenboot room upstairs. Sat/31, 9 p.m.-late, $15. DNA Lounge, 375 11th St., www.bootiesf.com

CLUB 1994: HALLOWEEN SPECIAL

What did they wear for Halloween before the Internet? Find out at this trés fashionable way-back machine, with DJs Jeffrey Paradise and Richie Panic and the Tenderlions live. Sat/31, 9 p.m., $10–$15. Paradise Lounge, 1501 Folsom, SF. www.club1994.com

COCKFRIGHT

Fear no anal embrace! Fantastic, supergay monthly ironic jock appreciation night Cockfight becomes a haunted locker room with DJ Earworm. Sat/31, 9 p.m., $5 with costume. UndergroundSF, 424 Haight, SF. www.cockfightsf.com

DRESS TO KILL

Bloodcurdlingly cute monthly indie rock dance club Fringe explodes with a screaming array of visual effects and tunes by DJ Blondie K and suboctave. Sat/31, 9 p.m., $5. Madrone, 500 Divisadero, SF. www.fringesf.com

GREEN GORILLA 13

Celebrating a devilishly lucky 13 years, the legendary San Francisco techno collective rages out with Abe Dusque, M3, Sharon Buck, and more. Sat/31, 8 p.m.-4 a.m., $10–<\d>$20. Triple Crown, 1760 Market, SF. www.triplecrownsf.com

HALLOWEEN: A PARTY

Horror queens Heklina and Peaches Christ team up for a wicked drag spectacular featuring the sequin-shredding antics of Jackie Beat, Putanesca, Holy McGrail, Cookie Dough, and so many more. Sat/31, 9 p.m.–3 a.m., $15 with costume, Cat Club, 1190 Folsom, SF. www.trannyshack.com

HOLLA-WEEN

AC/DC tribute band BC/DC salutes you, local electro-poppers Wallpaper sparks it up, and DJ Shane King tickles your bass bone. Holla. Sat/31, 8 p.m.-3a.m., $25. mezzanine, 444 Jessie, SF. www.mezzaninesf.com

MIXHELL

An onslaught of face-melting live hardcore electro from the former drummer of Sepultura(!) and his wife, plus Nisus, Apache Cleo, and DJ Bling Crosby. Sat/31, 10 p.m., $12 advance. Poleng, 1751 Fulton, SF. www.hacksawent.com

NIGHT OF THE LIVING BASS

Low-end burner heroes Opel present a three-arena rumble to rip out your brain, with Syd Gris, Unerzone, and Germany’s Wolfgang Gartner. Sat/31, 9 p.m.-5 a.m., $15 advance. Mighty, 119 Utah, SF. www.mighty119.com

NIGHTMARE ON SIXTH STREET

Show off your all-hallowed hilarity to some mind-blowing hip-hop and turntablist beats, as De La Soul’s Maseo joins Shortkut, DJ Nyce, and Jah Yzer on the operating tables. Sat/31, 10 p.m.–3 a.m., $12 advance. Club Six, 60 Sixth St., www.clubsix1.com

TEENAGE DANCE CRAZE HALLOWEEN

One of my favorite clubs, digging up those old-time, pre-’70s 45s from the vinyl graveyard. Do the Monster mash! Sat/31, 9:30 p.m., $10. The Knockout, 3223 Mission, SF. www.myspace.com/teenagedancecraze

Fall Feast 2009

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October 27, 2009

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Man (and woman) cannot live on PBR and pasta alone. I should know. I spent the whole summer trying. But now that my leftover Burning Man groceries are gone and the weather’s getting colder, I can’t help but crave real food again. And what better time and place is there to be really, really hungry for a substantial meal made with fresh ingredients than right now in San Francisco? Despite the struggling economy, innovative restaurants keep popping up — and the old classics are offering better deals. Plus, the changing culinary landscape has led to all kinds of fun, cheap, gourmet alternatives like pop-ups, lunch carts, and temporary restaurants-within-a-restaurant. This edition of FEAST, our drinking and dining magazine, focuses on what we love about the Bay Area’s food scene, from innovative locales to cross-cultural alternatives, from wintery suppers to summery desserts (after all, how cold does it ever really get here?), and from new restaurants to a niche bookstore that only a foodie-city like San Francisco could support. Whether you’re ready to start your Thanksgiving feasting early or are simply transitioning out of your warm-weather diet (or budget), we’re sure you’ll find something in the coming pages to satisfy your cravings. Unless, that is, you’re looking for PBR and pasta. You’ll have to take care of that one on your own — or wait ’til next summer. (Molly Freedenberg)

>>10 latest, greatest openings

>>6 supper-worthy soups

>>4 fine wine bars

>>6 innovative ice creams

>>4 phenomenal falafels

>>A readable feast: Q&A with Omnivore’s Celia Sacks

6 supper-worthy soups

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October 27, 2009

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Take almost any kid to the grocery store and their favorite place is likely the candy aisle. Me? I salivated in front of the soups. All those colorful cans promising savory combinations of belly-warming meat and veggies caught my childhood fancy, no matter the season in my temperate hometown of San Diego. Back then, the decision always was between hearty beef barley, comforting chicken noodle, and more-fun-than-tasty alphabet soup. Now my palate has matured — but my taste for a brothy meal in a bowl has not. I still consider the greatest dining find to be a liquid lunch with ingredients so fresh and seasonings so rich that ordering a "proper" entrée is superfluous.

LA TAQUERIA MENUDO

If you’re looking for a traditional Mexican stew (or just a fantastic hangover cure) in a hipster-free environment, head out of the sunny, skinny-jeaned Mission District and into the fog of the Excelsior. There, at La Taqueria Menudo, you can find a steaming bowl of perfectly spicy pozole. (Similar to menudo, minus the creepy surprises of tripe — or Ricky Martin). This under-appreciated neighborhood joint serves the classic dish with plump hominy and pork so tender it comes apart when you stab it with your spoon. The dish is traditionally served with cabbage and radishes, but La Taqueria serves it with limes, cilantro, onions, and chile de arbol. No matter. The spicy depth of the soup’s flavor unravels in so many layers, and the accompanying tortillas are always so warm and soft, that those deviations get lost in the mist.

4591 Mission, SF. (415) 333-8604

SOUP FREAKS

Overall reviews of this mini-chain are mixed, but we love this company’s dedication to organic ingredients and free-range, hormone-free meat. And say what you will about any of the other soups, the chili here is transcendent. Made with four different types of beans, fresh tomatoes, and bell peppers with a bit of crunch, this cold-weather classic is satisfying year-round.

90 New Montgomery, SF. (415) 369-9602; 1900 Powell, Emeryville. (610) 601-7687; soupfreaks.com

LA MEDITERRANEE

It may be rare to get San Francisco days so sweltering you need chilled soup to counter them. But La Mediterranee’s cold cucumber soup is worth ordering whatever the weather. The cool blend of fresh fruit (cucumber is one, you know) and warm garlic melds perfectly with the creamy yogurt base, proving bright enough for an Indian summer lunch and dense enough for a nippy autumn supper.

2210 Fillmore, SF. (415) 921-2956; 288 Noe, SF. (415) 431-7210; 2936 College, Berkeley. (510) 540-7773, www.cafelamed.com

SUPPENKÜCHE

It’s easy to assume that all German cuisine is bland and heavy, particularly dishes like potato soup. But the kartoffelsuppe at Hayes Valley’s Suppenküche proves that central European food can be hearty without inducing a heart attack — or a born-of-boredom nap. The thick, savory, beef-based stew may warm your belly, but the balance of spice and starch is delicate enough to delight the palate of diners who’ve never set foot in Münich or Milwaukee.

525 Laguna, SF. (415) 252-9289, www.suppenkuche.com

BURMA SUPERSTAR

Made from a mix of samusas, falafel, cabbage, and fried potatoes, the samusa soup at this Richmond District eatery might sound like the last stop for wayward leftovers, but this thick, salted delight is the reason many diners make the trek to Clement Street in the first place. Indeed, this stewed version of the popular eatery’s varied specialties is so good you might be inspired to skip the next course altogether.

309 Clement, SF. (415) 387-2147, www.burmasuperstar.com

SAN FRANCISCO SOUP COMPANY

SF Soup Company may seem to be everywhere, but it’s an entirely local enterprise. Even better, it has found a way to take tomato soup — the dreaded accompaniment to the ubiquitous grilled cheese sandwich of childhood — far beyond its boring, watery reputation. The secret? Combining the sweet acidity of the native South American plant with savory basil in an organic, creamy base. Add in the choice of wheat or french bread and you’ve got a delicious, healthy meal option wherever you are in the city.

Various SF and Bay Area locations, www.sfsoupco.com

10 latest, greatest openings

-

October 27, 2009

0

There’s been plenty of activity in the world of food in the last few years, especially in San Francisco. Street food madness reached an all-time high, spawning festivals and an array of carts, trucks, and stands from established and new chefs. Pop-up restaurants appeared in cafes, backrooms, and undisclosed locations. Overall, prices actually went down (while quality remained high) and deals proliferated. (See … economic news isn’t all bad.) There also have plenty of top-notch restaurant, café, and bar openings. Here are a few of our favorites.

KAPPOU GOMI

From beginning to end, dinner at this new Outer Richmond District eatery is a thrill. With most small plates from the novel-length menu (grouped by fish, meat, and veggie) hovering under $10, it’s easy to have a feast for as little or as much as you want to spend. Plus, the offerings aren’t the usual bento-or-sushi fare Americans have come to expect from Japanese cuisine. You’ll hardly recognize the tempura, covered here in various nuts and grains. Pork belly in aromatic broth is a revelation. And butter-grilled scallops are so good you’ll want two orders. Don’t bother asking too many questions unless you speak Japanese. Fortunately, you won’t need to: everything is fantastic.

5524 Geary, SF.(415) 221-5353

TONY’S PIZZA NAPOLETANA

Even before opening this North Beach café, owner and nine-time World Pizza Champion Tony Gemignani was famous for his world class pies. We can see why. We love the classic Margherita ($18), which won the 2007 World Pizza Cup in Naples, Italy. But what’s really stellar is the Cal Italia ($18), Gold Medal winner of Food Network’s Pizza Champions Challenge. Made from imported Italian ingredients, like all Gemignani’s pizzas, this one’s covered in four cheeses (asiago, mozzarella, Gorgonzola, and fresh Parmesan), then salted with proscuitto di Parma and sweetened with an aged balsamic drizzle and fig preserve. Not feeling the pizza pie vibe? Tony’s also offers pasta, a range of antipasti options, and a full bar — all in a sophisticated setting.

1570 Stockton, SF. (415) 835-9888, tonyspizzanapoletana.com

CONTIGO

A true taste of Spain isn’t easy to come by in these parts. Sure, there are tons of "tapas" joints serving small plates of Mediterranean-inspired fare, but finding the delicately-prepared, authentic dishes that go so well with Spanish and Portuguese wines is more of a challenge. Thanks to Brett Emerson, though, the search has gotten easier. Contigo’s chef and owner pays homage to his time in Catalonia with gorgeous sardine dishes (served a number of ways, including on toast with chickpea puree or alongside blood oranges and beet relish), crowd-pleasing croquetas de bacalao (salt cod fritters), and a range of imported jamons (aged anywhere from 12 to 36 months). Also delightful (and delightfully authentic) is the choice of coques — or Catalan flatbreads — available with rapini and carmelized onions, anchovies, Txistorra sausage, or a Marin Sun Farm egg. A cozy, heated back patio, vegetable garden, and modern but rustic space add to the culinary charm.

1320 Castro, SF. (415) 285-0250, www.contigosf.com

WEXLER’S

Spanking fresh minimalist interior meets urban BBQ and American food in this one-of-a-kind FiDi restaurant, which opened this June. Whether you’re enjoying a Scotch egg to start ($11), chicken sandwich ($12) with creamy coleslaw at lunch, a satisfying dinner of slow-roasted smoked sturgeon with lobster, cornbread cakes and parsnip mash ($21) or a dessert of inside-out root beer float with house-made vanilla soda and Humphry Slocombe ice cream ($6), you’re guaranteed a chic downtown meal that simultaneously manages to be feel down-home. Best of all? Wexler’s serves a mean mint julep.

568 Sacramento, SF. (415) 983-0102, www.wexlerssf.com

FARM : TABLE

One of my two favorite cafe openings of the year is this postcard-sized spot in the TenderNob. I was drawn in by the beautifully bitter espressos, strong cappuccinos, and other finely prepared coffees from Verve Coffee Roasters in Santa Cruz. But it’s the baked goods and organic lunch items that’ll keep me coming back. Unless you follow the friendly staff on Twitter, you never know what’ll be on the menu — offerings could be anything from apricot bread pudding to sloppy joes. But there’s never a question that it will be good. Plus the welcoming, relaxed atmosphere will encourage you to stay and lounge, whether it’s at a communal table inside, sidewalk seating, or near the picturesque (and usually open) window.

754 Post, SF. (415) 292-7089, www.farmtablesf.com

LITTLE SKILLET

You may have already heard about the chicken and waffles proffered from a window in an alley from the folks who brought us Farmer Brown. But it’s the Southern/New Orleans-influenced specials (all under $10) that get me going. In particular are the grits: usually the right mix of savory with a hint of sweet, with additions like cheese, andouille sausage, and a touch of maple syrup or bacon, brown sugar, and pecans. Worth noting too are the po’boy sandwiches, which come loaded with changing specials of shrimp, sausage, eggs, and more.

360 Ritch, SF. (415) 777-2777, www.littleskilletsf.com

HOLLOW

Is it a coincidence that my other favorite new café is also tiny? Maybe. Or maybe there’s something inherently charming about a lovely little spot that only a handful of people can enjoy at a time. Either way, I’m delighted by this Sunset District purveyor of coffee and garden/home décor items. The java (from Ritual Coffee) is prepared with finesse and delicious alongside delicate truffles and baked goods. The staff is friendly. And thanks to the owner’s interior design training, the low-ceilinged, narrow space is a visual wonderland worthy of Victorian poetry or J.R.R. Tolkein.

1435 Irving, SF. (415) 242-4119

SHOWDOGS

With sausage slingers making appearances all over the city, perhaps we should declare 2009 the "Year of the Dog." There’s the delightful Zog’s Dogs in FiDi. Among my favorite mobile offerings are Ryan Farr’s, which he serves some Sundays outside Elixir and Thursdays at the Ferry Plaza farmers market. True, Rosamunde Sausage Grill is a reliable classic, but my vote for best new dog restaurant is Showdogs. Brave the trek to the less-popular stretch of Market Street next to the Golden Gate Theater to be rewarded with fine beers on tap (available in 4-, 8-, and 16-ounce pours) and dogs showcasing the Bay Area’s best sausage and hot dog makers (including Farr’s 4505 Meats). There’s something for everyone — classic, lemon chicken, Louisiana hot link, a crispy (and huge) corn dog, duck sausage with kimchi, and even a boudin noir — and none cost more than $8.50. The only way to improve a Showdog meal is to include a side of buttermilk onion rings ($4).

1020 Market, SF. (415) 558-9560, www.showdogssf.com

SCHMIDT’S

There’s never quite enough German food around, especially now that we’re losing long-timer, Schnitzlhaus, leaving us with the fabulous but few: Suppenküche and Walzwerk. That is, until the gracious (and smart) owners of Walzwerk opened this new spot in the Mission District. A casual deli with German groceries for sale, German beers on tap, and a spare, beer-hall feel to the clean dining room, this spot provides everything you need for your own mini Oktoberfest (minus the lederhosen). Best of all, their spaetzle, sauerkraut, and house-made sausages are even better than Mom would make, with prices generally under $12. Specials like veal schnitzel also make their way onto the menu, along with baked goods from Esther’s German Bakery in Mountain View. Guten appetit!

2400 Folsom, SF. (415) 401-0200, www.schmidts-sf.com

RN74

No one can argue with RN74’s stunning 3,000-plus wine list, thanks to sommelier par excellence, Rajat Parr. Some argue with the food — or rather, the price for "wine bar" fare — but foodies know this as a metropolitan restaurant with a wine focus (highlighted by the French train station sign showcasing available bottles). I posit that the food completes the picture. Whether you keep it simple in the bar with a glass of wine and creamy, lemony smoked sturgeon rillettes on toast ($9), or you splurge for a bottle and a dinner of silky foie gras terrine ($22), or succulent grilled Maine sea scallops ($29), there’s no question you’ll feel indulgent.

301 Mission, SF. (415) 543-7474, www.michaelmina.net/rn74

10 latest, greatest openings

-

October 27, 2009

0

There’s been plenty of activity in the world of food in the last few years, especially in San Francisco. Street food madness reached an all-time high, spawning festivals and an array of carts, trucks, and stands from established and new chefs. Pop-up restaurants appeared in cafes, backrooms, and undisclosed locations. Overall, prices actually went down (while quality remained high) and deals proliferated. (See … economic news isn’t all bad.) There also have plenty of top-notch restaurant, café, and bar openings. Here are a few of our favorites.

KAPPOU GOMI

From beginning to end, dinner at this new Outer Richmond District eatery is a thrill. With most small plates from the novel-length menu (grouped by fish, meat, and veggie) hovering under $10, it’s easy to have a feast for as little or as much as you want to spend. Plus, the offerings aren’t the usual bento-or-sushi fare Americans have come to expect from Japanese cuisine. You’ll hardly recognize the tempura, covered here in various nuts and grains. Pork belly in aromatic broth is a revelation. And butter-grilled scallops are so good you’ll want two orders. Don’t bother asking too many questions unless you speak Japanese. Fortunately, you won’t need to: everything is fantastic.

5524 Geary, SF.(415) 221-5353

TONY’S PIZZA NAPOLETANA

Even before opening this North Beach café, owner and nine-time World Pizza Champion Tony Gemignani was famous for his world class pies. We can see why. We love the classic Margherita ($18), which won the 2007 World Pizza Cup in Naples, Italy. But what’s really stellar is the Cal Italia ($18), Gold Medal winner of Food Network’s Pizza Champions Challenge. Made from imported Italian ingredients, like all Gemignani’s pizzas, this one’s covered in four cheeses (asiago, mozzarella, Gorgonzola, and fresh Parmesan), then salted with proscuitto di Parma and sweetened with an aged balsamic drizzle and fig preserve. Not feeling the pizza pie vibe? Tony’s also offers pasta, a range of antipasti options, and a full bar — all in a sophisticated setting.

1570 Stockton, SF. (415) 835-9888, tonyspizzanapoletana.com

CONTIGO

A true taste of Spain isn’t easy to come by in these parts. Sure, there are tons of "tapas" joints serving small plates of Mediterranean-inspired fare, but finding the delicately-prepared, authentic dishes that go so well with Spanish and Portuguese wines is more of a challenge. Thanks to Brett Emerson, though, the search has gotten easier. Contigo’s chef and owner pays homage to his time in Catalonia with gorgeous sardine dishes (served a number of ways, including on toast with chickpea puree or alongside blood oranges and beet relish), crowd-pleasing croquetas de bacalao (salt cod fritters), and a range of imported jamons (aged anywhere from 12 to 36 months). Also delightful (and delightfully authentic) is the choice of coques — or Catalan flatbreads — available with rapini and carmelized onions, anchovies, Txistorra sausage, or a Marin Sun Farm egg. A cozy, heated back patio, vegetable garden, and modern but rustic space add to the culinary charm.

1320 Castro, SF. (415) 285-0250, www.contigosf.com

WEXLER’S

Spanking fresh minimalist interior meets urban BBQ and American food in this one-of-a-kind FiDi restaurant, which opened this June. Whether you’re enjoying a Scotch egg to start ($11), chicken sandwich ($12) with creamy coleslaw at lunch, a satisfying dinner of slow-roasted smoked sturgeon with lobster, cornbread cakes and parsnip mash ($21) or a dessert of inside-out root beer float with house-made vanilla soda and Humphry Slocombe ice cream ($6), you’re guaranteed a chic downtown meal that simultaneously manages to be feel down-home. Best of all? Wexler’s serves a mean mint julep.

568 Sacramento, SF. (415) 983-0102, www.wexlerssf.com

FARM : TABLE

One of my two favorite cafe openings of the year is this postcard-sized spot in the TenderNob. I was drawn in by the beautifully bitter espressos, strong cappuccinos, and other finely prepared coffees from Verve Coffee Roasters in Santa Cruz. But it’s the baked goods and organic lunch items that’ll keep me coming back. Unless you follow the friendly staff on Twitter, you never know what’ll be on the menu — offerings could be anything from apricot bread pudding to sloppy joes. But there’s never a question that it will be good. Plus the welcoming, relaxed atmosphere will encourage you to stay and lounge, whether it’s at a communal table inside, sidewalk seating, or near the picturesque (and usually open) window.

754 Post, SF. (415) 292-7089, www.farmtablesf.com

LITTLE SKILLET

You may have already heard about the chicken and waffles proffered from a window in an alley from the folks who brought us Farmer Brown. But it’s the Southern/New Orleans-influenced specials (all under $10) that get me going. In particular are the grits: usually the right mix of savory with a hint of sweet, with additions like cheese, andouille sausage, and a touch of maple syrup or bacon, brown sugar, and pecans. Worth noting too are the po’boy sandwiches, which come loaded with changing specials of shrimp, sausage, eggs, and more.

360 Ritch, SF. (415) 777-2777, www.littleskilletsf.com

HOLLOW

Is it a coincidence that my other favorite new café is also tiny? Maybe. Or maybe there’s something inherently charming about a lovely little spot that only a handful of people can enjoy at a time. Either way, I’m delighted by this Sunset District purveyor of coffee and garden/home décor items. The java (from Ritual Coffee) is prepared with finesse and delicious alongside delicate truffles and baked goods. The staff is friendly. And thanks to the owner’s interior design training, the low-ceilinged, narrow space is a visual wonderland worthy of Victorian poetry or J.R.R. Tolkein.

1435 Irving, SF. (415) 242-4119

SHOWDOGS

With sausage slingers making appearances all over the city, perhaps we should declare 2009 the "Year of the Dog." There’s the delightful Zog’s Dogs in FiDi. Among my favorite mobile offerings are Ryan Farr’s, which he serves some Sundays outside Elixir and Thursdays at the Ferry Plaza farmers market. True, Rosamunde Sausage Grill is a reliable classic, but my vote for best new dog restaurant is Showdogs. Brave the trek to the less-popular stretch of Market Street next to the Golden Gate Theater to be rewarded with fine beers on tap (available in 4-, 8-, and 16-ounce pours) and dogs showcasing the Bay Area’s best sausage and hot dog makers (including Farr’s 4505 Meats). There’s something for everyone — classic, lemon chicken, Louisiana hot link, a crispy (and huge) corn dog, duck sausage with kimchi, and even a boudin noir — and none cost more than $8.50. The only way to improve a Showdog meal is to include a side of buttermilk onion rings ($4).

1020 Market, SF. (415) 558-9560, www.showdogssf.com

SCHMIDT’S

There’s never quite enough German food around, especially now that we’re losing long-timer, Schnitzlhaus, leaving us with the fabulous but few: Suppenküche and Walzwerk. That is, until the gracious (and smart) owners of Walzwerk opened this new spot in the Mission District. A casual deli with German groceries for sale, German beers on tap, and a spare, beer-hall feel to the clean dining room, this spot provides everything you need for your own mini Oktoberfest (minus the lederhosen). Best of all, their spaetzle, sauerkraut, and house-made sausages are even better than Mom would make, with prices generally under $12. Specials like veal schnitzel also make their way onto the menu, along with baked goods from Esther’s German Bakery in Mountain View. Guten appetit!

2400 Folsom, SF. (415) 401-0200, www.schmidts-sf.com

RN74

No one can argue with RN74’s stunning 3,000-plus wine list, thanks to sommelier par excellence, Rajat Parr. Some argue with the food — or rather, the price for "wine bar" fare — but foodies know this as a metropolitan restaurant with a wine focus (highlighted by the French train station sign showcasing available bottles). I posit that the food completes the picture. Whether you keep it simple in the bar with a glass of wine and creamy, lemony smoked sturgeon rillettes on toast ($9), or you splurge for a bottle and a dinner of silky foie gras terrine ($22), or succulent grilled Maine sea scallops ($29), there’s no question you’ll feel indulgent.

301 Mission, SF. (415) 543-7474, www.michaelmina.net/rn74

Newsom lacks authority to decide what’s legal, Campos says

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October 27, 2009

6

Text and photos by Sarah Phelan

Campos moments after Board approves his legislation to give juvenile immigrants their day in court.

Sup. David Campos said today that Mayor Gavin Newsom lacks the authority to ignore the city’s newly amended sanctuary ordinance. And he rebuked the mayor for making it sound, in comments Newsom made to Fox News, as if being a suspect is the same thing as being a convicted criminal.

“I think it’s important for us to look at the facts before we generalize and make comments,” Campos said.

Campos’ comments came as a veto-proof majority of the Board approved the second reading of Campos proposal to give immigrant juveniles their day in court before handing them over to the feds.

Flanked by Ariana Gil-Nafarrate of Mujeres Unidas y Activas and Angela Chan of the Asian Law Caucus, Estella, an immigrant mother, recalls how ICE put a hold on her 15-year-old daughter after a fight in school.

Campos proposal changes a policy that Newsom ordered in June 2008, after city probation officials were apprehended in Texas, escorting Hondurans teens to their country of origin.

Campos agrees that the city should halt that practice, and that city officials should refer juvenile felons to ICE. But he disagrees with Newsom’s current practice, which has led to 150 kids being referred to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE.) to ICE, without first having had the chance to establish their innocence.

Campos says he expects the city to change this policy, as stipulated under his amendment. He says Newsom has 10 days to veto his legislation, and the Board has 30 days to override it, after which the City must change its policy so juveniles are not reported to ICE until they are found guilty of a felony by a juvenile justice.

To illustrate his point about the limits of mayoral power, Campos referred to the California Supreme Court ruling that was triggered by Newsom’s 2004 announcement that he intended to start marrying same-sex couples.

“Even though we have a strong mayor system, the power of the mayor is not absolute,” Campos said. “That’s why we have the Board to enact laws that are reflective of the will of the people.”

If mayors were able to selectively ignore laws, Campos pointed out, “That would be depriving people affected by that law their due process.”

“A public official faithfully upholds the constitution by complying with the mandates of the legislature, leaving the courts the decision of whether the mandates are valid,” Campos said, referring to the state Supreme Court ruling.

“It’s a fallacy that elected officials can ignore a law enacted by the legislature,” Campos continued. “When this law is passed, when the mayor decides to veto it, when the Board decides to override it, we ask the Mayor to do his constitutional duty: let this law be implemented as the system requires it to be. We expect nothing less.”

“It’s been a long time coming,” Campos said, referring to the community’s battle to amend a unilateral policy decision that Newsom made 16 months ago. “This is a proud day for San Francisco, this is a victory for the community. This shows that San Francisco is committed to the notion that we are all human beings, that we are all treated equally.”

Asked about Newsom’s claims that the Campos amendment opens up the entire sanctuary ordinance to challenge, Campos said, “I think the biggest danger to the sanctuary policy was the mayor’s decision to release a confidential memo.”

Asked about Newsom’s claims that the Campos amendment opens up city workers to civil and criminal lawsuits, Campos said “I don’t think he can point to any instance where a city employee has been found liable for following sanctuary ordinance.”

Noting that the sanctuary ordinance just celebrated its 20th anniversary, Campos added, “We expect the mayor and every employee of the city to follow laws that have been duly enacted and If the Mayor does not enact it, then Board will look at its options, including a legal challenge.”

Campos words were followed by the tearful recollections of an immigrant single mother called Estella, who talked about how her 15-year old daughter had an ICE hold placed on her after she got into fight at school.

Following Estella’s public testimony, Abigail Trillin, a staff attorney with LEgal Services for Children, said she like someone from the Mayor’s Office to publicy debate the sanctuary issue with Campos.

“If the mayor’s position is that a minor, who has not been found guilty, needs to be reported to immigration, let’s talk about that,” Trillin said. ” But let’s not put fake federal laws in the way. There is no federal law that says juveniles that are arrested on a felony must be reported. That’s a smoke and mirror thing.”

Pointing to recent statements from law enforcement chiefs in Los Angeles and Sacramento who are supportive of sanctuary laws, Trilliin added, “Anyone who knows about juvenile justice and public safety knows that reporting people who haven’t been found guilty destroys community trust.”

6 innovative ice creams

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October 27, 2009

0

It’s not just you. There really is an explosion of new places to get sweet, cold, creamy treats in the Bay Area. But why the new interest in this classic American dessert? Neil Gottlieb, founder of Three Twins in the Lower Haight, considers the trend the newest place the slow food movement is having an impact. "There’s a renaissance of making ice cream the way it should be made — with fresh ingredients." Jake Godby, chef/owner of Humphry Slocombe, agrees. "Ice cream is the new cupcake," he said. But does that mean the market will become oversaturated soon? Mitchell’s manager Linda Mitchell doubts it, explaining that people simply love ice cream — and have a seeming insatiable desire for new and interesting flavors. Plus, Godby adds, each specialty ice cream shop has its own niche. "We’re all kind of different from each other, and we all get along," he said. After extensive testing (and just a few ice cream headaches), we’ve discovered six of our favorite flavors from both new and long-beloved creameries. Pinkberry who?

MEXICAN CHOCOLATE

You may scream for ice cream, but the yelling in my house came from my mother when I tried to nibble a block of Mexican baking chocolate: "That’s not candy!" Bouncing off the walls, I begged to differ. Now Mitchell’s, the family-run parlor that’s been open more than 50 years, has turned the spiced chocolate of my childhood dreams into a bona fide creamy dessert, rich in flavor and accented with blasts of cinnamon. Not even Mom can argue.

Mitchell’s, 688 San Jose, SF. (415) 648-2300, www.mitchellsicecream.com

SALTED CARAMEL

This orgasmic flavor is what inspires people to wait in tangled lines, even in the middle of a rainstorm. Is it the first lick, when salt puckers your taste buds, that’s so enticing? Or the luscious sweetness of caramel that kicks in next? Or the pleasant surprise at the way the two meld into one perfect after-experience? It doesn’t matter. Thanks to flavor combinations like these, Bi-Rite’s ice cream, always made with organic dairy products from Straus Family Creamery, already feels like a San Francisco classic after only three years.

Bi-Rite Creamery, 3692 18th St., SF. (415) 626-5600, www.biritecreamery.com

DOMAINE CARNEROS SORBET

Three Twins carries only eight flavors of its organic ice creams and sorbets at its tiny shop on Fillmore and Haight (and its several other locations, including one in Napa), so you never know what special flavors will be available. But if you can get the Domaine Carneros sorbet, made from unfermented pinot noir grapes, you won’t want to miss it. The delicate hint of wine mixes with ripe bursts of tangy, tart berries for an unexpectedly balanced flavor, pleasing your child-like and 21+ palate alike. (If the sorbet’s not available, you also can’t go wrong with Lemon Cookie, a Three Twins staple flavor.)

Three Twins, 254 Fillmore, SF. (415) ITS-TWIN, www.threetwinsicecream.com

SAFFRON GINGER

Following the lead of spicemasters like Bombay Ice Cream, Mission District newcomer Xanath has turned the savory spice of saffron into a creamy, lush, and ginger-filled frozen treat. The young, family-owned parlor also offers an array of organic ice creams and vegan sorbets, including options like coconut, strawberry, and peanut butter. And we love the staff, not only because they’re extraordinarily friendly, but also because they let you try as many flavors as you like (before you inevitably settle on Saffron Ginger).

Xanath, 951 Valencia, SF. (415) 648-8996

GOAT CHEESE

I’d like to thank the crazy person who first made goat cheese gelato. In the meantime, I’ll just thank Holy Gelato!, the neighborhood shop that hosts this pungent, creamy party in your mouth. The quirky shop, featuring a picture of Darth Vader glaring at you from a heaping tub of gelato, makes sure you not only get an eyeful of eccentricity, but a mouthful of crazy flavors that’ll have you skipping back for more. (For your best goat cheese pairing, try an accompanying scoop of raspberry sorbet.)

Holy Gelato!, 1392 Ninth Ave., SF. (415) 681-3061, www.holygelato.com

BLUE BOTTLE VIETNAMESE COFFEE

Sure, Humphry Slocombe may have a reputation as the latest hipster trend (and it is). But for good reason: its Blue Bottle Vietnamese Coffee flavor is the most phenomenal thing to happen to ice cream and coffee since the two were first mixed together in … who knows? The shop on Harrison and 23rd streets may be known for its way-out flavors, but it’s the combination of some of the best coffee in the city infused into this simple yet complex ice cream that makes this flavor a hit.

Humphry Slocombe Ice Cream, 2790 Harrison, SF. (415) 550-6971, www.humphryslocombe.com

Film listings

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October 27, 2009

0

Film listings are edited by Cheryl Eddy. Reviewers are Kimberly Chun, Michelle Devereaux, Max Goldberg, Dennis Harvey, Johnny Ray Huston, Louis Peitzman, Lynn Rapoport, Ben Richardson, Matt Sussman, and Laura Swanbeck. The film intern is Fernando F. Croce. For rep house showtimes, see Rep Clock. For first-run showtimes, see Movie Guide.

SF DOCFEST

The eighth annual San Francisco Documentary Film Festival runs through Oct 29 at the Roxie, 3117 16th St, SF. Tickets ($11) are available by visiting www.sfindie.com. All times p.m.

WED/28

American Artifact: The Rise of American Rock Poster Art 7. The Great Contemporary Art Bubble 7. The Philosopher Kings 9:15. Pop Star on Ice 9:15.

THURS/20

Nursery University 7. Speaking in Code 7. Trimpin: The Sound of Invention 9:15. Cropsey 9:15.

OPENING

*The Beaches of Agnès Director’s commentaries are par for the course in the DVD age, but few filmmakers posses the élan to warrant a feature length auto-exegesis. Agnès Varda is one, and her most recent memory machine — she claims it’s her last — cheerfully dissolves the boundaries between memoir, retrospective, and installation. We begin on the beach, with the 80-year old Varda spryly instructing her young assistants on the placement of various mirrors. "If we opened people up, we’d find landscapes," she explains of her motivation for filmmaking, before embarking on an unclassifiable daisy chain of reenactment and reminiscence. The film moves at the leisurely pace of the flâneur’s walk, the better to relish Varda’s joie de vivre and sweet bawdiness. Her chameleon colored bowl cut dares us to keep abreast of her quicksilver digressions on the past (fact or fiction matters less than then and now). As with 2000’s The Gleaners and I, she’s most free with the things she adores: blurry foregrounds, old photographs, heart-shaped potatoes, ancient frescoes, the human body and neighbors. "All the dead lead me back to Jacques," she says, referring to her great love, Jacques Demy, and their life together loops The Beaches of Agnès with a beauty not soon forgotten. (1:40) Opera Plaza. (Goldberg)

Brain Dead With the zombedy combedy genre — I’m sick of "zomcom," aren’t you? — having reached mass impact via Zombietown, you might be hungry if not chalk-facedly ravenous for more of the same. In which case you’ll enjoy this Thrillville-presented West Coast theatrical debut of 1980s horror fave (1986’s Witchboard) Kevin Tenney’s own more modestly scaled mixup of undead mayhem and laughs. When a tiny asteroid lands in a rural area — instantly turning one unlucky fisherman into green-faced chomper and his buddy into lunch — it’s not long before shambling carnivores are imperiling the requisite cabinful of ill-matched strandees. Their number include a televangelist, lost sorority sisters, and two escaped convicts, one nice and one psycho-mean. While the latter takes everyone hostage at gunpoint, those carnivorous ghouls gathering outside have a strictly take-no-hostages policy. They’ll take brains, though. BRAAAAAAAAINS!!! Brain Dead is fun — if kinda dumb fun, compared to Shaun of the Dead or even Zombieland. (Let alone Peter Jackson’s 1992 splatsterpiece Braindead, or the 1990 Bill Paxton-Bill Pullman non-zom horror faceoff also called Brain Dead). But if it lacks that special edge of originality and/or wit, it’s still a whole lot better than 2008’s Zombie Strippers, of which we shall never speak again. (1:35) Four Star. (Harvey)

*Bronson In 2000’s Chopper (2000), Eric Bana killed as Australia’s most notorious psychotic extortionist-killer-jailbird-celebrity autobiographer — more vividly than in any part serving his subsequent, slightly bland leading-hunk status. Tom Hardy is another handsome bloke at risk of looking competent and versatile without fully impressing. Yet here comes Bronson, a film (and role) offering up a dramatized "Man. Myth. Celebrity" (as per its ad line) of actual "worst prisoner in Britain." The real Michael Gordon Peterson, better known as "Charles Bronson" (a PR-minded friend fitted the Death Wish star as nom de notoriety), was an extreme anger-management case whose working-class struggle ended when he robbed a post office in 1974. As the film details, prison spectacularly agreed with him. He enjoyed the tension and violence — between himself and fellow inmates as well as guards — so much that he got sent to a high-security psychiatric hospital. Worry not: even drugged to the gills, he managed to create ruckuses that won national attention. This is the second English-language directing effort by Dane Nicolas Winding Refn, of the crime-drama Pusher trilogy. Bronson is utterly revved up in a way that’s showy but not at all dumbed-down, and it’s pure cinematic inspiration at least half-transcending even a case of snarkish homophobia as you haven’t seen since … well, Chopper maybe? (1:32) Lumiere. (Harvey)

The Canyon See "Into the Wild." (1:42) Opera Plaza.

Gentlemen Broncos The latest from Napoleon Dynamite (2004) director Jared Hess is about a Utah teen (Michael Angarano) who is obsessed with science fiction. (1:51)

*Heart of Stone With metal-detectors blocking its entrance, gang fights breaking out in the halls, and teachers wearing bulletproof vests, it’s clear that Weequahic High School is not your usual blackboard jungle. Once one of the nation’s most respected schools, the Newark, NJ institution was by 2000 plagued by the urban violence that claimed an alarming number of lives. Beth Toni Kruvant’s first-rate documentary chronicles the place’s gradual recovery thanks to Ron Stone, the passionate principal who, using a mixture of diplomacy and compassion, struggled to control the brutality that loomed over a new generation of students. Though similar in subject to Rollin Binzer’s recent The Providence Effect, Heart of Stone is easily the better film, less an infomercial for enrollment than a tough-minded analysis of the historical upheavals and social conditions forming Weequahic’s fall and rise. "Inspiring" is an abused term when it comes to movies about teachers, but Kruvant’s inquiry and Stone’s dedication earn it. (1:24) Roxie. (Croce)

Michael Jackson’s This Is It This concert doc compiles behind-the-scenes rehearsal footage for what would have been Jacko’s run of London shows. (1:52) Cerrito , Four Star, Marina.

Walt and El Grupo This highly authorized documentary chronicles the 1941 South American tour Disney staff took as part of the U.S. "Good Neighbor" policies. The creative results were several fascinating wartime pastiches, including 1944’s anarchic, marvelous feature Three Caballeros. But that last is inexplicably not excerpted here — while tedious home-movie footage with Walt and company on their well-recorded trip, not to mention surviving relatives’ clucking over how wonderful it all was, go on and on. It’s worth noting that this studio vanity project has reached theaters, if minimally — while John-Paul Davidson and Trudi Styler’s The Sweatbox, an unvarnished behind-scenes portrait of the thorny processes behind latter-day Disney ‘toon The Emperor’s New Groove (2000), mysteriously vanished from the planet after its 2002 festival debut. That documentary offered real insight without reducing appreciation for its original talents. This one is a timid, worshipful bore. (1:46) (Harvey)

*The Yes Men Fix the World Can you prank shame, if not sense, into the Powers That Be? Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonnano, the jesters-activists who punked right-wing big-business in the documentary The Yes Men (2003), continue to play Groucho Marx to capitalism’s mortified Margaret Dumont in this gleeful sequel. Decked in sharp suits and packing fake websites and catchphrases, the duo bluffs its way into conferences and proceeds to give corporate giants the Borat treatment. The stunts are often inspired and, in their visions of fantasy justice, poignant: Bichlbaum and Bonnano pose as Dow envoys and announce the company’s plans to send billions to treat victims of the 1984 Bhopal chemical disaster, and later appear as HUD representatives offering a corrective to the shameful neglect of New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The Yes Men may not fix the world, but their ruses once more prove the awareness-raising potential of comedy. (1:30) Oaks, Roxie. (Croce)

ONGOING

Amelia Unending speculation surrounds the fate of aviator Amelia Earhart, who, with navigator Fred Noonan, disappeared in 1937 over the Pacific while attempting to circumnavigate the globe. However, Mira Nair’s biopic Amelia clarifies at least one fact: that Earhart (played by Hilary Swank) was a free-spirited freedom-loving lover of being free. We learn this through passages of her writing intoned in voice-over; during scenes with publisher and eventual husband George Putnam (Richard Gere); and via wildlife observations as she flies her Lockheed Electra over some 22,000 miles of the world. Not much could diminish the glory of Earhart’s achievements in aviation, particularly in helping open the field to other female pilots. And Swank creates the impression of a charming, intelligent, self-possessed woman who manages to sidestep many of fame’s pitfalls while remaining resolute in her lofty aims. She’s also slightly unknowable in her cheery, near-seamless virtue, and the film’s adoring depiction, with its broad, heavy strokes, at times inspires a different sort of restlessness than the kind that compels Earhart to take flight. Amelia is structured as a series of flashbacks in which the aviator, while circling the earth, retraces her life –- or rather, the highlights of her career in flying, her marriage to Putnam, and her affair with Gene Vidal (Ewan McGregor), another champion of aviation (and the father of author Gore). And this, too, begins to feel lazily repetitive, as we return and return again to that cockpit to stare at a doomed woman as she stares emotively into the wild blue yonder. (1:51) California, 1000 Van Ness, Piedmont, SF Center, Sundance Kabuki. (Rapoport)

Antichrist Will history judge Lars von Trier as the genius he’s sure he is? Or as a humorless, slightly less cartoonish Ken Russell, whipping images and actors into contrived frenzies for ersatz art’s sake? You’re probably already on one side of the fence or the other. Notorious Cannes shocker Antichrist will only further divide the yeas and nays, though the film does offers perhaps the most formally beautiful filmmaking von Trier’s bothered with since 1984’s The Element of Crime. Grieving parents Charlotte Gainsbourg and Willem Dafoe retreat to a forest primeval enabling widescreen images of poetic succulence. Yet that beauty only underlines Antichrist‘s garishness. One film festival viewer purportedly barfed onto the next row — and you too might recoil, particularly if unaccustomed to gore levels routinely surpassed by mainstream horror. Does Antichrist earn such viewer punishment by dint of moral, character, narrative, or artistic heft? Like slurp it does. What could be more reactionary than an opening in which our protagonists "cause" their angelic babe’s accidental death by obliviously enjoying one another? Shot in "lyrical" slow-mo black and white, it’s a shampoo commercial hard-selling Victorian sexual guilt.

Later, Dafoe’s "He" clings to hollow psychiatric reason as only an embittered perennial couch case might imagine. Gainsbourg’s "She" morphs from maternal mourner to castrating shrike as only one terrified of femininity could contrive. They’re tortured by psychological and/or supernatural events existing solely to bend game actors toward a tyrant artiste’s whims. There’s no devil here — just von Trier’s punitive narcissism. (1:49) Embarcadero, Shattuck. (Harvey)

*Astro Boy How can a robo-kid so cute be so sad? That’s the beautiful paradox of Astro Boy, the atomic age Japanese manga-cum-Pinocchio parable here given loving new life. Genius creator Osamu Tezuka’s original Astro Boy cannily grappled with the seductions and dangers of Japan’s economic miracle, the country’s conflicted emotions about the technology that fueled both Astro Boy and the war machine, and the struggle between industrialization and the environment. This update adds the recurring favorite sci-fi leitmotif of artificial intelligence — and by extension what it means to be human and non-human — to the mix. This adorable toaster (voiced by Freddie Highmore) awakens with memories of Toby, the brilliant, rebellious son of robotics genius Dr. Tenma (Nicolas Cage), believing he is a boy not a robot. The grief-stricken Tenma built him after the original Toby was killed during the test of a new robotic weapon. Eventually cast out by his Frankenstein father-creator and coping with some major identity issues, Astro Boy finds his place among a slew of outcasts on the now garbage- and robot part-strewn Wall-E-esque Earth, where his sense of compassion and mega powers threaten to bridge the seemingly insurmountable differences between humans and robots. Despite the speed with which director David Bowers and his team put together this animated feature, which boasts the voicings of stars like Charlize Theron and Nathan Lane, Astro Boy succeeds in delivering that crucial hybrid of action, comedy, and emotional heft that the best of classic animation offers, while touching lightly out relevant ideas about technology. (1:34) 1000 Van Ness, Presidio, Shattuck. (Chun)

*Big Fan The Wrestler screenwriter Robert Siegel continues to trawl tri-state working class blues for his directorial debut, Big Fan, a darkened fairy tale of sports mania and the male ego. Sandpaper rough comic Patton Oswalt is Paul Aufiero, a thirtysomething New York Giants nut who lives with his mother and scripts huffy raps for his nightly 1AM "Paul from Staten Island" call to the local sports radio station. Siegel locates a revealing stage for anxious performances of masculinity in the motor-mouthed rituals of sports talk radio. Big Fan is at its best when Aufiero is locked in dubious battle with abstract foes like "Philadelphia Phil," but the film starts to slow down as soon as our anti-hero and his lone pal Sal (Kevin Corrigan) spot Giants QB Quantrell Bishop (Jonathan Hamm) at a Staten Island gas station. They tail him to a strip club in New York City, where Bishop gives Aufiero a bruising upon discovering he’s been followed, thus compromising the Giants’ playoff chances. What a tangled web we weave and all that. It’s telling of Siegel’s limited talents that the best part of the fateful trip into Manhattan is Oswalt’s grimace when faced with a nine buck Budweiser. We’re so hungry for any kind of regionalism in mainstream filmmaking that even Big Fan‘s cheapest shots (all its women characters, for instance) don’t overpower the pleasure of Oswalt’s marshy profanities and the provincial jabber of New York vs. Philadelphia and Staten Island vs. Manhattan. (1:35) Lumiere, Shattuck. (Goldberg)

*Bright Star Is beauty truth; truth, beauty? John Keats, the poet famed for such works as "Ode on a Grecian Urn," and Jane Campion, the filmmaker intent on encapsuutf8g the last romance of the archetypal Romantic, would have undoubtedly bonded over a love of sensual details — and the way a certain vellum-like light can transport its viewer into elevated reverie. In truth, Campion doesn’t quite achieve the level of Keats’ verse with this somber glimpse at the tubercular writer and his final love, neighbor Fanny Brawne. But she does bottle some of their pale beauty. Less-educated than the already respected young scribe, Brawne nonetheless may have been his equal in imagination as a seamstress, judging from the petal-bonneted, ruffled-collar ensembles Campion outfits her in. As portrayed by the soulful-eyed Abbie Cornish, the otherwise-enigmatic, plucky Brawne is the singularly bright blossom ready to be wrapped in a poet’s adoration, worthy of rhapsody by Ben Whishaw’s shaggily, shabbily puppy-dog Keats, who snatches the preternaturally serene focus of a fine mind cut short by illness, with the gravitational pull of a serious indie-rock hottie. The two are drawn to each other like the butterflies flittering in Brawne’s bedroom/farm, one of the most memorable scenes in the dark yet sweetly glimmering Bright Star. Bathing her scenes in lengthy silence, shot through with far-from-flowery dialogue, Campion is at odds with this love story, so unlike her joyful 1990 ode to author Janet Frame, An Angel at My Table (Kerry Fox appears here, too, as Fanny’s mother): the filmmaker refuses to overplay it, sidestepping Austenian sprightliness. Instead she embraces the dark differences, the negative inevitability, of this death-steeped coupling, welcoming the odd glance at the era’s intellectual life, the interplay of light and shadow. (1:59) Elmwood, Opera Plaza. (Chun)

*Capitalism: A Love Story Gun control. The Bush administration. Healthcare. Over the past decade, Michael Moore has tackled some of the most contentious issues with his trademark blend of humor and liberal rage. In Capitalism: A Love Story, he sets his sights on an even grander subject. Where to begin when you’re talking about an economic system that has defined this nation? Predictably, Moore’s focus is on all those times capitalism has failed. By this point, his tactics are familiar, but he still has a few tricks up his sleeve. As with Sicko (2007), Moore proves he can restrain himself — he gets plenty of screen time, but he spends more time than ever behind the camera. This isn’t about Moore; it’s about the United States. When he steps out of the limelight, he’s ultimately more effective, crafting a film that’s bipartisan in nature, not just in name. No, he’s not likely to please all, but for every Glenn Beck, there’s a sane moderate wondering where all the money has gone. (2:07) California, Empire, Grand Lake, 1000 Van Ness, SF Center. (Peitzman)

Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant (1:48) 1000 Van Ness, SF Center, Shattuck.

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (1:21) Oaks.

Coco Before Chanel Like her designs, Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel was elegant, très chic, and utterly original. Director Anne Fontaine’s French biopic traces Coco (Audrey Tautou) from her childhood as a struggling orphan to one of the most influential designers of the 20th century. You’ll be disappointed if you expect a fashionista’s up close and personal look at the House of Chanel, as Fontaine keeps her story firmly rooted in Coco’s past, including her destructive relationship with French playboy Etienne Balsar (Benoît Poelvoorde) and her ill-fated love affair with dashing Englishman Arthur "Boy" Capel (Alessandro Nivola). The film functions best in scenes that display Coco’s imagination and aesthetic magnetism, like when she dances with Capel in her now famous "little black dress" amidst a sea of stiff, white meringues. Tautou imparts a quiet courage and quick wit as the trailblazing designer, and Nivola is unmistakably charming and compassionate as Boy. Nevertheless, Fontaine rushes the ending and never truly seizes the opportunity to explore how Coco’s personal life seeped into her timeless designs that were, in the end, an extension of herself. (1:50) Albany, SF Center, Sundance Kabuki. (Swanbeck)

Couples Retreat You could call Couples Retreat a romantic comedy, but that would imply that it was romantic and funny instead of an insipid, overlong waste of time. This story of a group of married friends trying to bond with their spouses in an exotic island locale is a failure on every level. Romantic? The titular couples — four total — represent eight of the most obnoxious characters in recent memory. Sure, you’re rooting for them to work out their issues, but that’s only because awful people deserve one another. (And in a scene with an almost-shark attack, you’re rooting for the shark.) Funny? The jokes are, at best, juvenile (boners are silly!) and, at worse, offensive (sexism and homophobia once more reign supreme). There is an impressive array of talent here: Vince Vaugh, Jason Bateman, Kristen Bell, Jean Reno, etc. Alas, there’s no excusing the script, which puts these otherwise solid actors into exceedingly unlikable roles. Even the gorgeous island scenery — Couples Retreat was filmed on location in Bora-Bora — can’t make up for this waterlogged mess. (1:47) 1000 Van Ness, Presidio, SF Center, Shattuck. (Peitzman)

*The Damned United Like last year’s Frost/Nixon, The Damned United features a lush 70’s backdrop, a screenplay by Peter Morgan, and a commanding performance by Michael Sheen as an ambitious egotist. A promising young actor, Sheen puts on the sharp tongue and charismatic monomania of real-life British soccer coach Brian Clough like a familiar garment, blustering his way through a fictionalized account of Clough’s unsuccessful 44-day stint as manager of Leeds United. Though the details of high-stakes professional "football" will likely be lost on American viewers, the tale of a talented, flawed sports hero spiraling deeper into obsession needs no trans-Atlantic translation, and the film is an engrossing portrait of a captivating, quotable character. (1:38) Elmwood, Embarcadero. (Richardson)

*An Education The pursuit of knowledge — both carnal and cultural — are at the tender core of this end-of-innocence valentine by Danish filmmaker Lone Scherfig (who first made her well-tempered voice heard with her 2000 Dogme entry, Italian for Beginners), based on journalist Lynn Barber’s memoir. Screenwriter Nick Hornby breaks further with his Peter Pan protagonists with this adaptation: no man-boy mopers or misfits here. Rather, 16-year-old schoolgirl Jenny (Carey Mulligan) is a good girl and ace student. It’s 1961, and England is only starting to stir from its somber, all-too-sober post-war slumber. The carefully cloistered Jenny is on track for Oxford, though swinging London and its high-style freedoms beckon just around the corner. Ushering in those freedoms — a new, more class-free world disorder — is the charming David (Peter Sarsgaard), stopping to give Jenny and her cello a ride in the rain and soon proffering concerts and late-night suppers in the city. He’s a sweet-faced, feline outsider: cultured, Jewish, and given to playing fast and loose in the margins of society. David can see Jenny for the gem she is and appreciate her innocence with the knowing pleasure of a decadent playing all the angles. The stakes are believably high, thanks to An Education‘s careful attention to time and place and its gently glamored performances. Scherfig revels in the smart, easy-on-eye curb appeal of David and his friends while giving a nod to the college-educated empowerment Jenny risks by skipping class to jet to Paris. And Mulligan lends it all credence by letting all those seduced, abandoned, conflicted, rebellious feelings flicker unbridled across her face. (1:35) Albany, Embarcadero, Empire, Piedmont, Sundance Kabuki. (Chun)

*Good Hair Spurred by his little daughter’s plaintive query ("Daddy, how come I don’t have good hair?"), Chris Rock gets his Michael Moore freak on and sets out to uncover the racial and cultural implications of African-American hairstyling. Visiting beauty salons, talking to specialists, and interviewing celebrities ranging from Maya Angelou to Ice-T, the comic wisecracks his way into some pretty trenchant insights about how black women’s coiffures can often reflect Caucasian-set definitions of beauty. (Leave it to Rev. Al Sharpton to voice it ingeniously: "You comb your oppression every morning!") Rock makes an affable guide in Jeff Stilson’s breezy documentary, which posits the hair industry as a global affair where relaxers work as "nap-antidotes" and locks sacrificially shorn in India end up as pricey weaves in Beverly Hills. Maybe startled by his more disquieting discoveries, Rock shifts the focus to flamboyant, crowd-pleasing shenanigans at the Bronner Bros. International Hair Show. Despite such softball detours, it’s a genial and revealing tour. (1:35) Lumiere, Shattuck. (Croce)

Inglourious Basterds With Inglourious Basterds Quentin Tarantino pulls off something that seemed not only impossible, but undesirable, and surely unnecessary: making yet another of his in-jokey movies about other movies, albeit one that also happens to be kinda about the Holocaust — or at least Jews getting their own back on the Nazis during World War II — and (the kicker) is not inherently repulsive. As Rube Goldbergian achievements go, this is up there. Nonetheless, Basterds is more fun, with less guilt, than it has any right to be. The "basterds" are Tennessee moonshiner Pvt. Brad Pitt’s unit of Jewish soldiers committed to infuriating Der Fuhrer by literally scalping all the uniformed Nazis they can bag. Meanwhile a survivor (Mélanie Laurent) of one of insidious SS "Jew Hunter" Christoph Waltz’s raids, now passing as racially "pure" and operating a Paris cinema (imagine the cineaste name-dropping possibilities!) finds her venue hosting a Third Reich hoedown that provides an opportunity to nuke Hitler, Himmler, Goebbels, and Goering in one swoop. Tactically, Tarantino’s movies have always been about the ventriloquizing of that yadadada-yadadada whose self-consciousness is bearable because the cleverness is actual; brief eruptions of lasciviously enjoyed violence aside, Basterds too almost entirely consists of lengthy dialogues or near-monologues in which characters pitch and receive tasty palaver amid lethal danger. Still, even if he’s practically writing theatre now, Tarantino does understand the language of cinema. There isn’t a pin-sharp edit, actor’s raised eyebrow, artful design excess, or musical incongruity here that isn’t just the business. (2:30) Oaks, SF Center. (Harvey)

*The Informant! The best satire makes you uncomfortable, but nothing will make you squirm in your seat like a true story that feels like satire. Director Steven Soderbergh introduces the exploits of real-life agribusiness whistleblower Mark Whitacre with whimsical fonts and campy music — just enough to get the audience’s guard down. As the pitch-perfect Matt Damon — laden with 30 extra pounds and a fright-wig toupee — gee-whizzes his way through an increasingly complicated role, Soderbergh doles out subtle doses of torturous reality, peeling back the curtain to reveal a different, unexpected curtain behind it. Informant!’s tale of board-room malfeasance is filled with mis-directing cameos, jokes, and devices, and its ingenious, layered narrative will provoke both anti-capitalist outrage and a more chimerical feeling of satisfied frustration. Above all, it’s disquietingly great. (1:48) SF Center. (Richardson)

The Invention of Lying Great concept. Great cast. All The Invention of Lying needed was a great script editor and it might have reached classic comedy territory. As it stands, it’s dragged down to mediocrity by a weak third act. This is the story of a world where no one can lie — and we’re not just talking about big lies either. The Invention of Lying presents a vision of no sarcasm, no white lies, no — gasp —creative fiction. All that changes when Mark Bellison (Ricky Gervais) realizes he can bend the truth. And because no one else can, everything Mark makes up becomes fact to the rubes around him. If you guessed that hilarity ensues, you’re right on the money! Watching Mark use his powers for evil (robbing the bank! seducing women!) makes for a very funny first hour. Then things take a turn for the heavy when Mark becomes a prophet by letting slip his vision of the afterlife. Faster than you can say "Jesus beard," he’s rocking a God complex and the audience is longing for the simpler laughs, like Jennifer Garner admitting to some pre-date masturbation. (1:40) 1000 Van Ness. (Peitzman)

Law Abiding Citizen "Spike Lee’s Inside Man (2006) as re-imagined by the Saw franchise folks" apparently sounded like a sweet pitch to someone, because here we are, stuck with Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler playing bloody and increasingly ludicrous cat-and-mouse games. Foxx stars as a slick Philadelphia prosecutor whose deal-cutting careerist ways go easy on the scummy criminals responsible for murdering the wife and daughter of a local inventor (Butler). Cut to a decade later, and the doleful widower has become a vengeful mastermind with a yen for Hannibal Lecter-like skills, gruesome contraptions, and lines like "Lessons not learned in blood are soon forgotten." Butler metes out punishment to his family’s killers as well as to the bureocratic minions who let them off the hook. But the talk of moral consequences is less a critique of a faulty judicial system than mere white noise, vainly used by director F. Gary Gray and writer Kurt Wimmer in hopes of classing up a grinding exploitation drama. (1:48) 1000 Van Ness. (Croce)

My One and Only (1:48) Opera Plaza.

New York, I Love You A dreamy mash note to the city that never sleeps, New York, I Love You is the latest installment in a series of omnibus odes to world metropolises and the denizens that live and love within the city limits. Less successful than the Paris, je t’aime (2006) anthology — which roped in such disparate international directors as Gus Van Sant and Wes Craven, Alfonso Cuaron and Olivier Assayas — New York welcomes a more minor-key host of directors to the project with enjoyable if light-weight results. Surely any bite of the Big Apple would be considerably sexier. Bradley Cooper and Drea de Matteo tease out a one-night stand with legs, and Ethan Hawke and Maggie Q generate a wee bit of verbal fire over street-side cigs, yet there’s surprisingly little heat in this take on a few of the 8 million stories in the archetypal naked city. Most memorable are the strangest couplings, such as that of Natalie Portman, a Hasidic bride who flirtatiously haggles with Irrfan Khan, a Jain diamond merchant, in a tale directed by Mira Nair. Despite the pleasure of witnessing Julie Christie, Eli Wallach, and Cloris Leachman in action, many of these pieces — written by the late Anthony Minghella, Israel Horovitz, and Portman, among others — feel a mite too slight to nail down the attention of all but the most desperate romantics. (1:43) Bridge, Shattuck. (Chun)

The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D (1:16) Castro, Grand Lake.

Ong Bak 2: The Beginning Important: though it does star the original’s Tony Jaa, this is not a sequel to 2003 Thai hit Ong-bak, about a pious martial-arts master who journeys to the big city to retrieve the stolen head of his village’s sacred Buddha. Rather, Ong Bak 2 travels back in time so that lethally limber star Jaa (who also directs) can portray a young man adopted by bandits after his noble parents are slaughtered by a corrupt general. Along the way, he learns multiple fighting styles; bones are crunched, elephants are charmed, and emo flashbacks abound. The cool thing about Ong-bak was that it showcased Jaa’s unique Thai fighting style in an urban environment — his country-bumpkin character took down mobs of petty hoods and smugglers, and he faced an array of ridiculous foes in underground pit fights (for righteous reasons, natch). Ong Bak 2‘s historic setting feels a tad generic, even if it does provide an excuse for a crocodile-wrestling scene. Also, the tragic storyline calls for the kind of acting depth Jaa simply doesn’t have. Though he glowers with conviction, his fists and feet are the most charismatic things about him. (1:55) Lumiere, Shattuck. (Eddy)

*Paranormal Activity In this ostensible found-footage exercise, Katie (Katie Featherson) and Micah (Micah Sloat) are a young San Diego couple whose first home together has a problem: someone, or something, is making things go bump in the night. In fact, Katie has sporadically suffered these disturbances since childhood, when an amorphous, not-at-reassuring entity would appear at the foot of her bed. Skeptical technophile Micah’s solution is to record everything on his primo new video camera, including a setup to shoot their bedroom while they sleep — surveillance footage sequences that grow steadily more terrifying as incidents grow more and more invasive. Like 1999’s The Blair Witch Project, Oren Peli’s no-budget first feature may underwhelm mainstream genre fans who only like their horror slick and slasher-gory. But everybody else should appreciate how convincingly the film’s very ordinary, at times annoying protagonists (you’ll eventually want to throttle Micah, whose efforts are clearly making things worse) fall prey to a hostile presence that manifests itself in increments no less alarming for being (at first) very small. When this hits DVD, you’ll get to see the original, more low-key ending (the film has also been tightened up since its festival debut two years ago). But don’t wait — Paranormal‘s subtler effects will be lost on the small screen. Not to mention that it’s a great collective screaming-audience experience. (1:39) Metreon, 1000 Van Ness, Presidio, Sundance Kabuki. (Harvey)

*Paris Cédric Klapisch’s latest offers a series of interconnected stories with Paris as the backdrop, designed — if you’ll pardon the cliché — as a love letter to the city. On the surface, the plot of Paris sounds an awful lot like Paris, je t’aime (2006). But while the latter was composed entirely of vignettes, Paris has an actual, overarching plot. Perhaps that’s why it’s so much more effective. Juliette Binoche stars as Élise, whose brother Pierre (Romain Duris) is in dire need of a heart transplant. A dancer by trade, Pierre is also a world-class people watcher, and it’s his fascination with those around him that serves as Paris‘ wraparound device. He sees snippets of these people’s lives, but we get the full picture — or at least, something close to it. The strength of Paris is in the depth of its characters: every one we meet is more complex than you’d guess at first glance. The more they play off one another, the more we understand. Of course, the siblings remain at the film’s heart: sympathetic but not pitiable, moving but not maudlin. Both Binoche and Duris turn in strong performances, aided by a supporting cast of French actors who impress in even the smallest of roles. (2:04) Embarcadero, Shattuck. (Peitzman)

Saw VI (1:30) 1000 Van Ness.

*The September Issue The Lioness D’Wintour, the Devil Who Wears Prada, or the High Priestess of Condé Nasty — it doesn’t matter what you choose to call Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour. If you’re in the fashion industry, you will call her — or at least be amused by the power she wields as the overseer of style’s luxury bible, then 700-plus pages strong for its legendary September fall fashion issue back in the heady days of ’07, pre-Great Recession. But you don’t have to be a publishing insider to be fascinated by director R.J. Cutler’s frisky, sharp-eyed look at the making of fashion’s fave editorial doorstop. Wintour’s laser-gazed facade is humanized, as Cutler opens with footage of a sparkling-eyed editor breaking down fashion’s fluffy reputation. He then follows her as she assumes the warrior pose in, say, the studio of Yves St. Laurent, where she has designer Stefano Pilati fluttering over his morose color choices, and in the offices of the magazine, where she slices, dices, and kills photo shoots like a sartorial samurai. Many of the other characters at Vogue (like OTT columnist André Leon Talley) are given mere cameos, but Wintour finds a worthy adversary-compatriot in creative director Grace Coddington, another Englishwoman and ex-model — the red-tressed, pale-as-a-wraith Pre-Raphaelite dreamer to Wintour’s well-armored knight. The two keep each other honest and craftily ingenious, and both the magazine and this doc benefit. (1:28) Presidio. (Chun)

*A Serious Man You don’t have to be Jewish to like A Serious Man — or to identify with beleaguered physics professor Larry Gopnik (the grandly aggrieved Michael Stuhlbarg), the well-meaning nebbishly center unable to hold onto a world quickly falling apart and looking for spiritual answers. It’s a coming of age for father and son, spurred by the small loss of a radio and a 20-dollar bill. Larry’s about-to-be-bar-mitzvahed son is listening to Jefferson Airplane instead of his Hebrew school teachers and beginning to chafe against authority. His daughter has commandeered the family bathroom for epic hair-washing sessions. His wife is leaving him for a silkily presumptuous family friend and has exiled Larry to the Jolly Roger Motel. His failure-to-launch brother is a closeted mathematical genius and has set up housekeeping on his couch. Larry’s chances of tenure could be spoiled by either an anonymous poison-pen writer or a disgruntled student intent on bribing him into a passing grade. One gun-toting neighbor vaguely menaces the borders of his property; the other sultry nude sunbather tempts with "new freedoms" and high times. What’s a mild-mannered prof to do, except envy Schrodinger’s Cat and approach three rungs of rabbis in his quest for answers to life’s most befuddling proofs? Reaching for a heightened, touched-by-advertising style that recalls Mad Men in look and Barton Fink (1991) in narrative — and stooping for the subtle jokes as well as the ones branded "wide load" — the Coen Brothers seem to be turning over, examining, and flirting with personally meaningful, serious narrative, though their Looney Tunes sense of humor can’t help but throw a surrealistic wrench into the works. (1:45) California, Embarcadero, Empire, Piedmont, Sundance Kabuki. (Chun)

The Stepfather (1:41) 1000 Van Ness.

The Vanished Empire Pink Floyd records may become contraband once behind the Iron Curtain, but coming-of-age clichés remain the same in Karen Shakhnazarov’s seriocomic tale of adolescent ecstasies and agonies in 1973 Moscow. Lenin’s words are taught in school, though 18-year-old Sergey (Alexander Lyapin) is more interested in chasing girls, scoring pot, and savoring such illicit pop pleasures as jeans and rock music. Cool Kostya (Ivan Kupreyenko) and geeky Stepan (Yegor Baranovsky) are his contrasting cohorts, forming a trio of pubescent anxiety whose rites of passage are complicated by the arrival of Sergey’s girlfriend, Lyuda (Lidiya Milyuzina). The empire of the title is an ideological one, crumbled by a pleasure-seeking new generation who sell their grandfathers’ Marxist tomes in order to pay for Mick Jagger’s latest hit. Despite its evocative sense of time and place, however, the film’s teen nostalgia remains frustratingly amorphous, squandering the chance to find the youthful pulse of the nation’s transitory upheavals. (1:45) Sundance Kabuki. (Croce)

Where the Wild Things Are From the richly delineated illustrations and sparse text of Maurice Sendak’s 1963 children’s book, director Spike Jonze and cowriter (with Jones) Dave Eggers have constructed a full-length film about the passions, travails, and interior/exterior wanderings of Sendak’s energetic young antihero, Max. Equally prone to feats of world-building and fits of overpowering, destructive rage, Max (Max Records) stampedes off into the night during one of the latter and journeys to the island where the Wild Things (voiced by James Gandolfini, Catherine O’Hara, Forest Whitaker, Chris Cooper, Lauren Ambrose, Paul Dano, and Michael Berry Jr.) live — and bicker and tantrum and give in to existential despair and no longer all sleep together in a big pile. The place has possibilities, though, and Max, once crowned king, tries his best to realize them. What its inhabitants need, however, is not so much a visionary king as a good family therapist — these are some gripey, defensive, passive-aggressive Wild Things, and Max, aged somewhere around 10, can’t fix their interpersonal problems. Jonze and Eggers do well at depicting Max’s temporary kingdom, its forests and deserts, its creatures and their half-finished creations from a past golden era, as well as subtly reminding us now and again that all of this — the island, the arguments, the sadness — is streaming from the mind of a fierce, wildly imaginative young child with familial troubles of his own, equally beyond his power to resolve. They’ve also invested the film with a slow, grim depressive mood that can make for unsettling viewing, particularly when pondering the Maxes in the audience, digesting an oft-disheartening tale about family conflict and relationship repair. (1:48) Cerrito, Four Star, Grand Lake, Marina, 1000 Van Ness, Sundance Kabuki. (Rapoport)

Whip It What’s a girl to do? Stuck in small town hell, Bliss Cavendar (Ellen Page), the gawky teen heroine of Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut, Whip It, faces a pressing dilemma — conform to the standards of stifling beauty pageantry to appease her mother or rebel and enter the rough-and tumble world of roller derby. Shockingly enough, Bliss chooses to escape to Austin and join the Hurl Scouts, a rowdy band of misfits led by the maternal Maggie Mayhem (Kristin Wiig) and the accident-prone Smashley Simpson (Barrymore). Making a bid for grrrl empowerment, Bliss dawns a pair of skates, assumes the moniker Babe Ruthless, and is suddenly throwing her weight around not only in the rink, but also in school where she’s bullied. Painfully predictable, the action comes to a head when, lo and behold, the dates for the Bluebonnet Pageant and the roller derby championship coincide. At times funny and charming with understated performances by Page and Alia Shawcat as Bliss’ best friend, Whip It can’t overcome its paper-thin characters, plot contrivances, and requisite scenery chewing by Jimmy Fallon as a cheesy announcer and Juliette Lewis as a cutthroat competitor. (1:51) SF Center. (Swanbeck)

*Zombieland First things first: it’s clever, but it ain’t no Shaun of the Dead (2004). That said, Zombieland is an outstanding zombie comedy, largely thanks to Woody Harrelson’s performance as Tallahassee, a tough guy whose passion for offing the undead is rivaled only by his raging Twinkie jones. Set in a world where zombies have already taken over (the beginning stages of the outbreak are glimpsed only in flashback), Zombieland presents the creatures as yet another annoyance for Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg, who’s nearly finished morphing into Michael Cera), a onetime antisocial shut-in who has survived only by sticking to a strict set of rules (the "double tap," or always shooting each zombie twice, etc.) This odd couple meets a sister team (Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin), who eventually lay off their grifting ways so that Columbus can have a love interest (in Stone) and Tallahassee, still smarting from losing a loved one to zombies, can soften up a scoch by schooling the erstwhile Little Miss Sunshine in target practice. Sure, it’s a little heavy on the nerd-boy voiceover, but Zombieland has just enough goofiness and gushing guts to counteract all them brrraiiinss. (1:23) 1000 Van Ness, Shattuck, Sundance Kabuki. (Eddy)

Music listings

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October 27, 2009

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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 at listings@sfbg.com.

WEDNESDAY 28

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Jace Everett, Kevin Meagher Hotel Utah. 9pm, $10.

Former Ghosts, White Hinterland, Common Eider King Eider Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $8.

Sean Hayes, Killbossa Independent. 8pm, $16.

Hot Shears, Tank Attack Knockout. 9pm, $6.

Joe Buck Yourself, Jesse Morris and the Man Cougars, .357 String Band, DJ Eva Von Slut Annie’s Social Club. 8pm, $10.

David Landon Biscuits and Blues. 8pm, $15.

MC Chris, Whole Wheat Bread, I Fight Dragons Slim’s. 8:30pm, $5.

Amy Milian, Bahamas Café du Nord. 8:30pm, $15.

Nathan Moore, Fred Torphy Connecticut Yankee, 100 Connecticut, SF; www.theyankee.com. 9pm, $12.

Struck By Lightning, Aftermath, Man Among Wolves, Witness the Horror Thee Parkside. 8pm, $6.

William Elliott Whitmore, Hoots and the Hellmouth, Ferocious Few Bottom of the Hill. 9pm, $12.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

"B3 Wednesdays" Coda. 9pm, $7. With Nick Rossi Trio.

Ben Marcato and the Mondo Combo Top of the Mark. 7:30pm, $10.

Cindy Blackman’s Another Lifetime Great American Music Hall. 8pm, $30. Tony Williams tribute.

Mads Tolling Quartet Yoshi’s San Francisco. 8 and 10pm, $20.

"Meeting of the Minds" Palace of Fine Arts Theatre, 3301 Lyon, SF; www.sfjazz.org. 7:30pm, $30-70. With Béla Fleck, Zakir Hussain, and Edgar Meyer.

Phat Man Dee Climate Theater, 285 Ninth St., SF; (415) 704-3260. 8pm, $7-15.

Tin Cup Serenade Le Colonial, 20 Cosmo Place, SF; (415) 931-3600. 7pm, free.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

Freddie Clarke Peña Pachamama, 1630 Powell, SF; (415) 646-0018. 8pm, 9:30pm; $12

Gaucho Amnesia. 8pm, free. Michael Abraham Jazz Session.

Ben Jordan Plough and Stars. 9pm.

Odes with Kevin Taylor Rite Spot, 2099 Folsom, SF; (415) 552-6066. 9pm.

DANCE CLUBS

Booty Call Q-Bar, 456 Castro; 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 Wednesday Infusion Lounge. 10pm, free. DJ Slick Dee.

Qoöl 111 Minna Gallery. 5-10pm, $5. Pan-techno lounge with DJs Spesh, Gil, Hyper D, and Jondi.

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.; (415) 626-2626. 10pm, free. Psychedelic dance music with DJs Helios, Gatto Matto, Psy Lotus, Intergalactoid, and guests.

THURSDAY 29

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Blowie, Luv and Rockets, Jealousy Knockout. 9:30pm, $8.

Marc Broussard, Matt Hires Café du Nord. 8:30pm, $30.

Dodos, Ruby Suns Bimbo’s 365 Club. 8pm, $18.

Shane Dwight Biscuits and Blues. 8pm, $15.

Jesse Grant, Elektrik Sunset, John Predny Kimo’s. 9pm, $6.

Lorne Smith’s Guns for San Sebastian, Booty Cooler Boom Boom Room. 9:30pm, $10.

Mumiy Troll Independent. 8pm, $25.

MurderMurder, Piles, Josef Van Wissem Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $6.

Joshua Radin, Watson Twins Great American Music Hall. 8pm, $20.

"Rock Strip N’ Roll 3: A Naughty Good Time for Halloween" Rouge Night Club, 1400 Broadway, SF; www.myspace.com/liveevilrock. 9:30pm, $10. With Live Evil, Godz of Rock, Electric Vagina, burlesque performances, and more.

Shonen Knife, Ty Segall, Kepi Ghoulie: Electric! Rickshaw Stop. 8pm, $14.

Tainted Love Red Devil Lounge. 8pm, $15.

Third Date Blondie’s, 540 Valencia, SF; (415) 864-2419. 9pm, free.

Times New Viking, Axemen, Clipd Beaks, Work Bottom of the Hill. 9pm, $12.

*Valient Thorr, Early Man, Hightower, Nihilist Annie’s Social Club. 8pm, $10.

"Witch Tits Homo Halloween Party" Thee Parkside. 9pm, $5-10. With dance jams spun by DJ Campbell, Durt, and Jean Jamz; live music by Try the Pie and Imogen Binnie; and a fashion show.

Your Cannons, In the Dust, Gem Tops, Foreign Resort Hotel Utah. 9pm, $7.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Audrey Shimkas Trio Shanghai 1930. 7pm, free.

Terry Disley Washington Square Bar and Grill, 1707 Powell, SF; (415) 433-1188. 7pm, free.

Eric Kurtzrock Trio Ana Mandara, Ghirardelli Square, 891 Beach, SF; (415) 771-6800. 7:30pm, free.

Erik Jekabson’s New Orleans Quartet Coda. 9pm, $7.

Laurent Fourgo Le Colonial, 20 Cosmo Place, SF; (415) 931-3600. 7:30pm, free.

Yasmin Levy Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness, SF; www.sfjazz.org. 7:30pm, $25-65.

Marlina Teich Trio Brickhouse, 426 Brannan, SF; (415) 820-1595. 7-10pm, free.

Dave Mathews Yoshi’s San Francisco (in the lounge). 6pm, free.

Stompy Jones Top of the Mark. 7:30pm, $10.

Swing with Stan Rite Spot, 2099 Folsom, SF; (415) 552-6066. 9pm.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

Bluegrass and Old Time Jam Atlas Café. 8pm, free.

Charming Hostess Red Poppy Art House. 7pm, $10-15.

Dunes El Rio. 9:45pm, $5.

Flamenco Thursdays Peña Pachamama, 1630 Powell, SF; (415) 646-0018. 8pm, 9:30pm; $12.

Brent Jordan Union Room at Biscuits and Blues. 8pm, $5.

Ravi Shankar and Anoushka Shankar Davies Symphony Hall, 201 Van Ness, SF; www.sfjazz.org. 7:30pm, $30-90.

Tipsy House Plough and Stars. 9pm.

Tribal Seeds Rockit Room. 8pm, $10.

Jozef Van Wissem, Diego Gonzalez, Lickets, Mira Cook Amnesia. 9pm, $8.

DANCE CLUBS

Afrolicious Elbo Room. 9:30pm, $5-6. DJs Pleasuremaker, Señor Oz, J Elrod, B Lee, and special guest Ibeke Shakesdown spin Afrobeat, Tropicália, electro, samba, and funk.

Bingotopia Knockout. 7:30-9:30pm, free. Play for drinks, dignity, and dorky prizes with Lady Stacy Pants.

Caribbean Connection Little Baobab, 3388 19th St; 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.

Funky Rewind Skylark. 9pm, free. DJ Kung Fu Chris, MAKossa, and rotating guest DJs spin heavy funk breaks, early hip-hop, boogie, and classic Jamaican riddims.

Heat Icon Ultra Lounge. 10pm, free. Hip-hop, R&B, reggae, and soul.

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

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

Mestiza Bollywood Café, 3376 19th St., SF; (415) 970-0362. 10pm, free. Showcasing progressive Latin and global beats with DJ Juan Data.

Popscene Halloween Party 330 Ritch. 9:30pm, $8. With DJs Aaron and Nako and live performances by Veil Veil Vanish and Danger.

Represent Icon Lounge. 10pm, $5. With Resident DJ Ren the Vinyl Archaeologist and guest.

Solid Club Six. 9pm, $5. With resident DJ Daddy Rolo and rotating DJs Mpenzi, Shortkut, Polo Mo’qz and Fuze spinning roots, reggae, and dancehall.

Wonderland Ruby Skye. 8pm, $40. Enter a fantasy world inspired by Alice and Wonderland to benefit at-risk youth.

FRIDAY 30

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Art Brut, Princeton Café du Nord. 10:30pm, $16.

Bayonics, Orgone Elbo Room. 10pm, $15.

Blue Flames, Society’s Child El Rio. 10pm, $6.

Ronnie Baker Brooks Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $22.

Death Valley High, Perfect Machines, Killola, Pinky Swear, Protoman Annie’s Social Club. 9pm, $7.

Fast Times Broadway Studios. 8:45pm, $40. First 500 drinks free; proceeds benefit the Steven David Cannata Scholarship Fund.

DJ Lebowitz Madrone Art Bar. 6-9pm, free.

Luce, Felsen Red Devil Lounge. 8pm, $10.

Lucha Vavoom Fillmore. 9pm, $32.50.

Melt Banana, All Leather, We Be the Echo Slim’s. 9pm, $15.

Moonspell, Divine Heresy, Secrets of the Moon, DJ Rob Metal Thee Parkside. 9pm, $15.

Monophonics Coda. 9pm, $10.

No Age, Residual Echoes, Magic Bullets Great American Music Hall. 9pm, $16.

Nobunny, East Bay Grease, Apache Dropout Hemlock Tavern. 9:30pm, $7.

Pine and Battery, New Montgomery, OONA, Hi-Nobles Bottom of the Hill. 9pm, $8.

Skee-Lo, 40 Love, Aquarius, ADDX Rock-It Room. 9pm, $15.

Sleepy Sun, Antlers Independent. 9pm, $14.

Sound Junkies El Rincon. 9pm, $10.

Super Diamond, Knights of Monte Carlo Bimbo’s 365 Club. 9pm, $22.

BAY AREA

"Evil 105’s Subsonic Halloween Spookfest" Cow Palace, 2600 Geneva, Daly City; www.ticketmaster.com. 6:30pm, $40. With Faint, Basement Jaxx, Infected Mushroom, Crystal Method, Flosstradamus, Steve Aoki, and more.

Regina Spektor, Jupiter One Fox Theater. 8pm, $37.50.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Audium 9 1616 Bush, SF; (415) 771-1616. 8:30pm, $15.

Black Market Jazz Orchestra Top of the Mark. 9pm, $10.

Dee Dee Bridgewater Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness, SF; www.sfjazz.org. 8pm, $30-70. Tribute to Lady Day.

Eric Kurtzrock Trio Ana Mandara, Ghirardelli Square, 891 Beach, SF; (415) 771-6800. 8pm, free.

Lucid Lovers Rex Hotel, 562 Sutter, SF; (415) 433-4434. 6-8pm.

Lisa Mezzacappa and friends Red Poppy Art House. 8pm, $15. Edgar Allen Poe-themed performances.

Nicholas Payton, Don Byron Grace Cathedral, 1100 California, SF; www.sfjazz.org. 8pm, $35-60.

Pedestrian Deposit, Acre, Brandon Nickell, Work/Death, Infinite Body Lab, 2948 16th St, SF; www.thelab.org. 9pm, $8.

Sandra Aran Group Shanghai 1930. 7:30pm, free.

Marcos Silva Yoshi’s San Francisco (in the lounge). 6pm, free.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

Cuban Nights Peña Pachamama, 1630 Powell, SF; (415) 646-0018. 8:30pm, $15. With Fito Reinoso.

*"Dark Side of the Uke" Knockout. 10pm, $6. Tatami Mats perform Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon with their all-ukelele ensemble, plus Frisky Frolics and DJ dX.

Toshio Hirano, Michael Musika, Vanessa VerLee, Karl Young, Jessie Woletz Li Po Lounge. 8:45pm, $5. Art opening for Jeremy Rourke.

Joe Henley Band Plough and Stars. 9pm.

Pamela Means, Thomasina and the Jam Dolores Park Café. 7:30pm, free.

Orquesta La Moderna Tradicion Yoshi’s San Francisco. 8pm, $18.

Sonny and the Sunsets, Sean Smith and the Present Moment, Donovan Quinn, Sandwitches Amnesia. 9pm, $7. With DJ Patty P.

DANCE CLUBS

Activate! Lookout, 3600 16th St; (415) 431-0306. 9pm, $3. Face your demigods and demons at this Red Bull-fueled party.

All Hallow’s Eve DNA Lounge. 9pm, $13. Guild, Meat, and Hubba Hubba co-present this party with DJs Decay, BaconMonkey, Joe Radio, Melting Girl, and more.

Bar on Church 9pm. Rotating DJs Zax, Zhaldee, and Nuxx.

Blow Up Rickshaw Stop. 10pm, $15. With DJs Jeffrey Paradise and Richie Panic spinning dance music.

Exhale, Fridays Project One Gallery, 251 Rhode Island; (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 Romanowski, B-Love, Tomas, Toph One, and Vinnie Esparza.

FreakBeat Regency Ballroom. 9pm, $25. DJs Paul Oakenfold and Rooz spinning progressive house, tech house, and techno.

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

Hallonasty Mighty. 9pm, $10. With DJs Ron/E, Worthy, Laura, and more spinning heavy grooves from the whole musical spectrum.

Halloween Friday Mezzanine. 9pm, $25. With DJs Zach Moore, Syd Gris, Kramer, and Adnan Sharif.

Hov-o-ween Medici Lounge, 299 9th St., SF; (415) 501-9162. 9pm, $3. Featuring a deathrock costume contest with DJs Voodoo, Purgatory, and BatKat spinning goth, industrial, deathrock, glam and more.

Look Out Weekend Bambuddha Lounge. 4pm, free. Drink specials, food menu and resident DJs White Girl Lust, Swayzee, Philie Ocean, and more.

M4M Fridays Underground SF. 10pm-2am. Joshua J and Frankie Sharp host this man-tastic party.

Punk Rock and Shlock Karaoke Annie’s Social Club. 9pm-2am, $5. Eileen and Jody bring you songs from multiple genres to butcher: punk, new wave, alternative, classic rock, and more.

Suite Jesus 111 Minna. 9pm, $20. Beats, dancehall, reggae and local art.

SATURDAY 31

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

GG Amos and the GG3 Riptide. 9pm, free.

Chris Kid Anderson Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $20.

Bayonics, Orgone Elbo Room. 10pm, $15.

Built to Spill Fillmore. 9pm, $25.

"Club Silencio and the Coalition of Aging Rockers present Caroly n Keddy’s Super Secret Scary Halloween Show" Hemlock Tavern. 9:30pm, $8.

Corner Laughers, Desoto Reds Make-Out Room. 7:30pm, $7.

Dead Souls, Spellbound, Reptile House Annie’s Social Club. 9pm, $7.

Fast Times Maggie McGarry’s, 1353 Grant, SF; (415) 399-9020. 9pm, free.

Grannies, Mongoloid, Steel Tigers of Death El Rio. 10pm, $7.

Loquat, LoveLikeFire Bottom of the Hill. 8:30pm, $14.

Pop Rocks Red Devil Lounge. 8pm, $10.

Rattler, Bang Maiden, Hate Breeders Thee Parkside. 9pm, $10.

*Slough Feg, Totimoshi, Grayceon, Serpent Crown El Rio. 4pm, $8.

Tori Sparks Union Room at Biscuits and Blues. 8:30pm, $10.

Stone Foxes, Wendy Darling, Buxter Hoot’n Hotel Utah. 8:30pm, $10.

Super Diamond, Knights of Monte Carlo Bimbo’s 365 Club. 9pm, $22.

*Swingin’ Utters, Throw Rag, Thee Merry Widows Slim’s. 9pm, $16.

Triple Cobra, DJ Omar Rickshaw Stop. 9pm, $12.

Wallpaper Mezzanine. 8pm, $25.

Wil Blades Soul Solution Boom Boom Room. 9:30pm, $10.

BAY AREA

"Hell-O-Ween 2009" Uptown. 9pm, $10. With Sonic Seducer and the Hobo Gobbelins.

"Hippie Halloween Costume and Dance Party" Art House Gallery and Cultural Center, 2095 Shattuck, Berk; (510) 482-3336. 8pm, $13. With Spirit Wind as Santana, Pearl Essence as Janis Joplin, Cosmos Factory as Creedence Clearwater Revival, and others.

Johnny Vegas and the High Rollers 19 Broadway. 9:30pm, $15.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Audium 9 1616 Bush, SF; (415) 771-1616. 8:30pm, $15.

Larry Dunlap Yoshi’s San Francisco (in the lounge). 6pm, free.

Eric Kurtzrock Trio Ana Mandara, Ghirardelli Square, 891 Beach, SF; (415) 771-6800. 8pm, free.

James Cotton Superharp Band with Hubert Sumlin Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness, SF; www.sfjazz.org. 8pm, $25-65.

"Jazz Mafia’s Seventh Annual Mobsters Ball" Coda. 10pm, $10.

Marco Benevento Trio Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Forum, 701 Mission, SF; www.sfjazz.org. 9pm, $25. Halloween dance party.

Proteges of Hyler Jones Shanghai 1930. 7:30pm.

Ricardo Scales Top of the Mark. 9pm, $15.

Lavay Smith and Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers Yoshi’s San Francisco. 8pm, $22.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

Albino! Independent. 9pm, $18. Special Star Wars-themed Halloween show.

BooGrass Plough and Stars. 9:30pm, $6-10. Featuring some scary bluegrass, a costume contest, games, treats, and more.

Carnaval Del Sur Peña Pachamama, 1630 Powell, SF; (415) 646-0018. 8pm, $15. Live Flamenco music and dance.

Halloween Spectacular Amnesia. 8pm, $7. With Cretatous and Bob Saggath.

Sila and the Afrofunk Experience Café du Nord. 10pm, $15.

DANCE CLUBS

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

Big Top Club Eight, 1151 Folsom, SF; (415) 431-1151. 9pm, $10. A homoween disco circus featuring a costume contest, drag performances, and go go boys with DJs Kevin Graves and Marcus Boogie.

Cock Fright Underground SF. 9pm; $8, $5 with sports costume. With DJs Earworm and Matt Hite slaughtering the dance floor and performances by Hugz Bunny and Suppositori Spelling.

Dress to Kill Madrone Art Bar. 9pm, $5. A Fringe Halloween party with costume contest and the best indie rock music videos with added special effects.

Hacksaw Halloween Poleng Lounge. 10pm, $12. Featuring Mixhell, a duo with Brazilian heavy metal drummer Igor Cavalera and Laima Cavalera on the turntables.

Halloween Booootie DNA Lounge. 9pm, $10-15. Mash-up party with Adrian and Mysterious D, Dada, and more, plus a costume contest (including "Best Mash-Up Costume"!) and live performances.

Famous: Sin and Celebrities Glas Kat. 9pm, $30. Dress as your favorite Hollywood icon and dance down the red carpet with DJs Fuze, Jerry Ross, Mauricio, and more.

Ghost Ship California Ave., Hanger II, Treasure Island, SF; www.kraaksmak.com. 9pm, $40. With DJs Kraak and Smaak and Fort Knox 5.

Heaven and Hella Suite 181, 181 Eddy, SF; (415) 345-9900. 10pm. With DJs Mindmotion, One G, and Mark Divita spinning dance beats and radio hits. Costume contest for complimentary bottle service.

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.

Kiss of Death Vessel, 85 Campton, SF; (415) 433-8585. 10pm. Featuring a costume contest and DJs Frenchy Le Freak, Pheeko Dubfunk, and Martin Aquino.

Monster Bash Beauty Bar. 10pm, free. Boos and booze all night with DJ White Mike.

Night of the Living Bass Mighty. 9pm, $20. A costume party with DJs Wolfgang Gartner, Uberzone, Syd Gris and more.

Nightmare on 6th Street Club Six. 9pm, $18. With DJs Maseo of De La Soul, Shortkut, Jah-Yzer, Serg One, and more spinning soul, classic hip hop, reaggae, and dancehall.

Nightmare on Van Ness Regency Ballroom. 9pm, $60. Multiple levels featuring a live performance by LMFAO and DJs E-Rock, Scene, Mark Farina, Dale Martin, BB Hayes, Sam Issac, and more.

Saw VIII Masquerade Extravaganza Blue Macaw, 2565 Mission, SF; (415) 341-7314. 9pm, $20-50. Featuring a costume contest with cash prizes, and two spooky levels of music with DJs Mindmotion, Sake1, and more.

SF Halloween Ball San Francisco City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, SF; (415) 816-7763. 9pm, $45-100. An upscale Halloween costume party with DJs remedy, cut 5, vangeli, and more spinning mainstream, top 40, mashups, and house.

Spider Ball Bently Reserve, 400 Sansome, SF; (415) 288-0202. 10pm, $55. Featuring DJs and live performances by Vibe Squad, Beats Antique, Random RAB, Resident Anti-Hero, Tamo, and more to support the Black Rock Arts Foundation.

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

Teenage Dance Craze Halloween Party Knockout. 10pm, $3. Scary teen beat, twisters, and surf rock with DJs Sergio Iglesias, Russell Quann, and Howie Pyro.

Thriller Lexington Club. 9pm, free. Featuring a Michael Jackson inspired costume contest and DJs Durt and Ponyboy startin’ somethin’ on the dance floor.

Zombie Ball Verdi Club, 2424 Mariposa, SF; (415) 861-9199. 9pm, $15. With a live performance by the Hi Rhythm Hustlers and guest Cari Lee and DJs spinning teen beat tunes.

SUNDAY 1

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Built to Spill Fillmore. 7pm, $25.

Dirty Projectors, Little Wings Bimbo’s 365 Club. 8pm, $18.

Flyleaf, Paper Tongues Great American Music Hall. 8pm, $25.

Lucero, Jack Oblivion, John Paul Keith and the One Four Fives Mezzanine. 8pm, $22.

*Possessed, Impaled, Sadistic Intent, Witchhaven DNA Lounge. 6pm, $25.

Jason Reeves, Curtis People Café du Nord. 8pm, $12.

Brittany Shane, Misisipi Mike and Gayle Lynn, Vandella Make-Out Room. 8:30pm, $7.

Skinny Puppy, Vverevvolf Grehv Regency Ballroom. 8pm, $30.

Tori Sparks Union Room at Biscuits and Blues. 8:30pm, $5.

UFO, Travis Larson Band Independent. 8pm, $25.

BAY AREA

Shonen Knife, Ty Segall, Dreamdate, DJs Zola and Jen Schnade Uptown. 9pm, $14.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Brenda Wong Aoki and Mark Izu Ensemble Yoshi’s San Francisco. 2pm, $5-20. Performing Japanese ghost stories and jazz.

Giovanni Allevi, Patrizia Scascitelli Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Forum, 701 Mission, SF; www.sfjazz.org. 7pm, $25-35.

Marc Cary Focus Trio Florence Gould Theatre, Legion of Honor, 34th Ave at Clement, SF; www.sfjazz.org. 2pm, $25.

Rob Modica and friends Simple Pleasures, 3434 Balboa, SF; (415) 387-4022. 3pm, free.

Pamela Rose Yoshi’s San Francisco. 7pm, $22.

SF Contemporary Music Players ODC Dance Commons, 351 Shotwell, SF; (415) 278-9566. 4:30pm, $5-10. Performance and discussion of Ken Ueno’s "Archaeologies of the Future."

"SFJAZZ Beacon Award" Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness, SF; www.sfjazz.org. 7pm, $20-50. Honoring John Handy.

SFJAZZ High School All-Stars Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Forum, 701 Mission, SF; www.sfjazz.org. 3pm, $5-15. Playing Duke Ellington and the sounds of the Harlem Renaissance.

"SIMM New Music Series" Musicians Union Hall, 116 Ninth St, SF; (415) 905-4425. 7:30pm, $10. With Reconnaissance Fly and Noertker’s Moxie.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

Boulder Acoustic Society Amnesia. 9pm, $7-10. With special guest.

Fiesta Andina! Peña Pachamama, 1630 Powell, SF; (415) 646-0018. 7pm, $10. With Eddy Navia and Sukay.

Mucho Axé Coda. 8pm, $7.

DANCE CLUBS

Breakfast in Bed Supperclub. 5am, $15. Halloween After-Party with DJs Syd Gris, Alain Octavo, Cosmic Selector, Dulce Vita, and more.

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

Dub Mission Elbo Room. 9pm, $6. Dub, roots, and classic dancehall with DJ Sep, Vinnie Esparza, and guest Teleseen.

Fresh Ruby Skye. 6pm, $25. A Halloween weekend T-Dance with DJ Tony Moran.

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; 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.

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

Shuckin’ and Jivin’ Knockout. 10pm, free. Rock, doo-wop, jivers, stompers, and more on 78 rpm with DJs Dr. Scott and Oran.

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

MONDAY 2

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Airborne Toxic Event, Henry Clay People Fillmore. 8pm, $21.

*Big Business, Triclops! Bottom of the Hill. 10pm, $12.

Chevelle, Halestorn, After Midnight Project Regency Ballroom. 7:30pm, $28.

Emerald Triangle Independent. 9pm, $15.

Land of Talk, Eulogies Café du Nord. 8:30pm, $10.

Tiger Lilies, Vinsantos Great American Music Hall. 8pm, $20.

Trawler Bycatch, Seim and Rossfunke, 1-2-3 Knife Elbo Room. 9pm, $5.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Lavay Smith Trio Enrico’s, 504 Broadway, SF; www.enricossf.com. 7pm, free.

Nice Guy Trio Yoshi’s San Francisco. 8pm, $14.

Reptet Make-Out Room. 8pm.

SF Contemporary Music Players Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness, SF; (415) 278-9566. 8pm, $28. Performing "Maid to Order," music of Leroux, Ueno, Dennehy, and RB Smith.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

Belle Monroe and Her Brew Glass Boys Amnesia. 8:30pm, free.

DANCE CLUBS

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

Going Steady Dalva. 10pm, free. DJs Amy and Troy spinning 60’s girl groups, soul, garage, and more.

King of Beats Tunnel Top. 10pm. DJs J-Roca and Kool Karlo spinning reggae, electro, boogie, funk, 90’s hip hop, and more.

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

Monster Show Underground SF. 10pm, $5. Cookie Dough and DJ MC2 make Mondays worth dancing about, with a killer drag show at 11pm.

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

Spliff Sessions Tunnel Top. 10pm, free. DJs MAKossa, Kung Fu Chris, and C. Moore spin funk, soul, reggae, hip-hop, and psychedelia on vinyl.

Armin Van Buuren Ruby Skye. 9pm, $30. With DJs Alain Octavo and Syd Gris.

TUESDAY 3

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Ashford and Simpson Rrazz Room, Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason, SF; 1-866-468-3399, www.therrazzroom.com. 8pm, $47.50-55. Performing through Nov 14; check website for showtimes.

Astral, Ghosts and Strings, Moonlight Orchestra, Seabright Elbo Room. 8pm, $6.

Atlas Sound, Broadcast Great American Music Hall. 8pm, $16.

B-Cups, Minks, Started-Its Bottom of the Hill. 9pm, $8.

Layce Baker and the Black Diamond Band Biscuits and Blues. 8pm, $15.

Cage the Elephant, Morning Teleportation, Shackletons Slim’s. 8pm, $16.

Chinese Stars, All Leather, Casy and Brian, Sensitive Hearts Thee Parkside. 8pm, $8.

Jeffrey Foucault and Andy Friedman, Dave McGraw Café du Nord. 8:30pm, $10.

Kawabata, ?Alos, 3 Leafs Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $10.

Imelda May Independent. 8pm, $15.

Queen Latifah Regency Ballroom. 8pm, $39.50-49.50.

Ron Thompson Union Room at Biscuits and Blues. 8pm, $10.

Verbal Abuse, Rat Damage, Steeples Knockout. 10pm, free.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Claudia Acuna Yoshi’s San Francisco. 8pm, $20.

"Booglaloo Tuesday" Madrone Art Bar. 9:30pm, $3. With Oscar Myers.

Conscious Jazz Revolution Café, 3248 22nd St, SF; (415) 642-0474. 8:45pm, free.

Dave Parker Quintet Rasselas Jazz. 8pm.

Euliptian Quartet Socha Café, 3235 Mission, SF; (415) 643-6848. 8:30pm.

"Jazz Mafia Tuesdays" Coda. 9pm, $7. With Joe Bagale.

Ricardo Scales Top of the Mark. 6:30pm, $5.

DANCE CLUBS

Alcoholocaust Presents Argus Lounge. 9pm, free. With DJs What’s His Fuck, Taypoleon, and Mackiveli.

Drunken Monkey Annie’s Social Club. 9pm, free. Guest DJs, free pool, and $1 Hamm’s.

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

La Escuelita Pisco Lounge, 1817 Market, SF; (415) 874-9951. 7pm, free. DJ Juan Data spinning gay-friendly, Latino sing-alongs but no salsa or reggaeton.

Mixology Aunt Charlie’s Lounge, 133 Turk, (415) 441-2922. 10pm, $2. DJ Frantik mixes with the science and art of music all night.

Rock Out Karaoke! Amnesia. 7:30pm. With Glenny Kravitz.

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.

Events listings

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October 27, 2009

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

FRIDAY 30

Bedbugs: Modern Vampires City College of San Francisco, Science Building, room 300, 50 Phelan, SF; (415) 239-3580. Noon, free. Hear Johnson Ojo, Ph.D. from the San Francisco department of health describe the life cycle of bedbugs, our 21st century vampires. Dr. Ojo will discuss the factors that have led to their reemergence and current public health measures to control infestations in San Francisco.

Ghost Walk Palace Hotel, 2 New Montgomery, SF; (415) 557-4266. 6:30pm, free. Learn about the spooky history of the historic Palace hotel, how King Kalakaua, the last king of Hawaii, died there in 1891, how it was rebuilt after burning in the 1906 quake, how President Warren G. Harding died in office there in 1923, and more tragedies and heartbreaks that keep the halls buzzing with spectral visions and mysterious occurrences.

Postmortem Legion of Honor, 100 34th Ave., SF; (415) 750-3548. 8pm, $85. Dance among the undead at this "Ghoulish Gala," combining complimentary potions and witches brews with the current mummy exhibit featuring Irethorrou, a 2,500 year old Egyptian mummy.

BAY AREA

Hallowmas Orinda Masonic Temple, 9 Altarinda, Orinda; (925) 787-9247. 6:30pm, $29. Join other women and girls from the Bay Area to celebrate the Pagan New Year at this annual Womyn’s Ritual and Spiral Dance accompanied by an artisan and craftswomen marketplace.

SATURDAY 31

Classic Ghost Stories North Beach Library, 2000 Mason, SF; (415) 355-5626. 2pm, free. Be a part of the Sitdown Readers’ Theater and help read aloud classic ghost stories like "The Turn of the Screw" by Henry James and "Thrawn Janet" by Robert Louis Stevenson or bring your own favorites.

Costume Walk Yerba Buena Children’s Garden, 4th St. at Howard, SF; (415) 543-1718. Noon, free. Children under 10 and their families are invited to participate in interactive performances and games for kids followed by a costume parade.

Creature Features Exploratorium, 3601 Lyon, SF; (415) 561-0360. 3pm; $10-16, discount in costume. Begin your Halloween festivities with creepy creatures, plants, giant insects, a haunted Victorian house on wheels, and more. Including candy for the kids and a cash bar for adults.

Drop Dead Sexy Block Party Broadway between Montgomery and Columbus, SF; www.megahalloweensf.com. 8pm, $35. Buy a wristband and gain access to multiple clubs for costume contests and DJs spinning hip hop, R&B, mashups, top 40, electro, and more.

End of the Night Justin Herman Plaza, Market at Embarcadero, SF; journey.totheendofthenight.com. 7pm, free. Be a part of this city wide game of tag spanning

San Francisco’s haunted cityscape on Halloween. Players try to make it through six checkpoints on foot or by public transportation, without being caught by chasers. Those caught become chasers themselves.

Freakshow Terra Gallery, 511 Harrison, SF; www.terrasf.com. 9pm, $30. Attend a 1930’s circus big top Halloween party featuring a freakshow with aerialists, jugglers, clowns, DJs spinning indie, pop, and alternative sounds, and more.

Halloween Party Cat Club, 1190 Folsom, SF; (415) 703-8964. 9pm, $15 with costume. In response to years of violence in the Castro, Peaches Christ and Helinka are hosting a fright-night featuring a costume contest, midnight drag show, classic horror films projected on screens, and DJs spinning creepy dance music.

Make Drag, Not War Dance Mission Theater, 3316 24th St., SF; www.againstmilitarism.org. 7:30pm, $20. Join Iraq Veterans Against War (IVAW) for a night of activist drag and dance theater featuring the drag debut of more than a dozen Iraq veterans as a benefit for Dialogues Against Militarism (DAM).

Spider Ball Bently Reserve, 400 Sansome, SF; spiderball.com. 10pm, $55. Dress to impress at this decadent Halloween party and fundraiser for the Black Rock Arts Foundation (BRAF) and enjoy DJs, live acts, and more.

Spiral Dance Ritual Kezar Pavilion, 755 Stanyan, SF; www.reclaiming.org. 7:30pm, $20-100. Honor the dead and celebrate renewal at this spiral dance ritual happening on the day of the year when the veil is thin between the worlds of the living and the dead.

SUNDAY 1

Dia de los Muertos Concert San Francisco Symphony, Davies Symphony Hall, 201 Van Ness, SF; (415) 864-6000. 2pm, $15-65. Celebrate Latino culture at this family concert featuring music, dance, art, and storytelling from the traditions of the Day of the Dead.

MONDAY 2

Dia de los Muertos 24th St. and Bryant, SF; www.dayofthedeadsf.org. 7pm, free. Join thousands of families, community members, artists, and activists for the annual Day of the Dead procession and public altar exhibit. Procession ends at a Festival of Altars in Garfield Park, located at 26th and Harrison.

Editor’s Notes

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October 27, 2009

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Tredmond@sfbg.com

The new police chief, who started out with a lot of promise, has been sending some very bad signals the past week.

Chief George Gascón told us earlier this month that he was sympathetic to the efforts of Sup. David Campos to protect immigrant kids from deportation. He also said he agreed that the cops and probation officers shouldn’t be deciding when to call in the federal immigration authorities. Yet now that the mayor said he will defy the Campos legislation (see page 11), Gascón told the San Francisco Chronicle he’s siding with Newsom. That’s a pretty cosmic wimp-out — and it only took a few days.

Then there’s the shake-up of top staff — which looks to me like a total cave-in to the Police Officers Association. The POA types (who have been associated with a lot of bad stuff over the years) got tough-guy cop Greg Corrales assigned back as captain of Mission Station (where he got in trouble during the Fajitagate scandal, but ultimately faced no discipline. They got Greg Suhr, who had been demoted on a pretty bogus technicality, a new career shot as captain of the Bayview station.

Paul Chignell, one of the rare almost-liberals in the department who was doing a good job at Taraval Station, has been exiled to the night shift. Al Casciato, who supported community policing, has been bounced out as captain of Northern Station in the Western Addition. "This completely belies Gascón’s promises about community policing," Sup. Ross Mirkarimi told me. "These unannounced and unplanned rotations (of district captains) undermine the whole community-policing idea."

And perhaps most alarming, the chief wants to bring back the old SFPD intelligence unit — once again turning local cops into spies.

The intelligence squad was a nightmare. Back in the early 1990s, an intel cop was spying on Arab American and Palestinian groups and passing along the data to the private Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith. Cops were spying on peace activists and protesters. They even had a file on me. When all that started to come out, the city properly shut the spy shop down.

Now Gascón wants to bring it back, citing fears about terrorism. As if there aren’t enough government agencies spying on people already. And SFPD has enough trouble solving murders and keeping its own house in order — opening a spy agency is a really, really bad idea.

Gascón is also refusing to tell Mirkarimi and the other supervisors how much taxpayer money gets spent sending officers around with the mayor as he campaigns up and down the state. I could argue that the Newsom for Governor campaign ought to reimburse the city for those expenses — but Gascón won’t even produce a gross figure. His claim: Telling the taxpayers how much the mayor’s security detail costs threaten Newsom’s security.

I don’t buy it. We’re not asking for protection plans, schedules, deployments, or anything else — just a bottom-line cash number. SFPD doesn’t need spies or a black budget. If Gascón thinks that style is going to work here, he’s going to run into trouble, quick.

Gavin Newsom, lawbreaker

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October 27, 2009

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EDITORIAL Mayor Gavin Newsom has set off something of a crisis in San Francisco government by insisting that he will defy the city law that seeks to protect immigrant youth from deportation. While Newsom claims that the sanctuary policy approved 8-2 by the supervisors last week violates federal law (something the same-sex marriage advocate hasn’t worried so much about in the past), this is really a matter of politics. Newsom, candidate for governor of California, doesn’t want to seem soft on crime — so Newsom, mayor of San Francisco, is siding with the federal immigration authorities.

He’s also putting out a misleading message about the law.

The sanctuary legislation, by Sup. David Campos, is an attempt to deal with a very real — and serious — problem. Under the city’s current policy, any time a young person is arrested and the juvenile probation department thinks he or she might lack documentation, the officers involved contact Immigration Control and Enforcement. That means kids who have lived in this country for years and have no ties to their birth nation can be deported — just on the basis of an arrest that could turn out to be groundless.

Campos’ law establishes a city policy that prohibits local law enforcement from reporting juvenile offenders to ICE until they’ve been convicted of a crime. That’s just basic due process.

Newsom insists (and the city attorney’s office agrees) that no city employee can be penalized for contacting ICE. But that’s not the point of this law. Right now, juvenile officers are required to call ICE when they have someone in custody who may be undocumented. There’s no federal law saying this has to happen. And it’s perfectly legal — and appropriate — to lift that mandate and to say, in effect, that no city employee should be penalized for declining to turn a kid over to the feds.

At this point, the city attorney hasn’t argued that the Campos bill is illegal or unenforceable, and no judge has overturned it. When, as expected, the supervisors override Newsom’s certain veto, the bill will become city law — presumptively valid until a court rules otherwise. And Newsom has a legal obligation as mayor to abide by and enforce that law.

City Attorney Dennis Herrera is in something of a bind here since he has to represent both the mayor and the supervisors. But he needs to make clear, in public, that while he warned of possible legal implications of the Campos legislation, right now there is nothing preventing the law from taking effect — and that the mayor, like any other city official, is required to follow it.

The supervisors need to keep pushing the issue, too. And they need to be prepared to go to court to seek a writ mandating that the city’s chief executive follow his sworn oath and faithfully execute the law.

None of this needs to happen. Newsom could have worked with Campos on the legislation. Instead, the mayor continues to defy the board and act like the sort of imperial executive who is utterly unqualified for any higher office. For the sake of innocent kids facing the horrors of deportation, San Francisco’s reputation as a sanctuary city and Newsom’s own political future, he needs to back off and agree to abide by the city’s own laws.

PG&E ballot initiative clears a hurdle

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October 27, 2009

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By Rebecca Bowe

The Guardian has received several accounts that paid signature gatherers for a ballot initiative backed by Pacific Gas & Electric Co. that could darken prospects statewide for public-power programs were pitching it in a way that, at best, wasn’t entirely straightforward. And by several accounts, the petition has stopped circulating because proponents successfully gathered the 694,354 signatures needed before it can qualify for the ballot.

One voter wrote to say that a canvasser approached him in Pasadena seeking signatures for two different petitions: the PG&E-backed initiative, and a proposal to legalize and tax marijuana. Once he signed the petition to legalize pot, she asked him to sign the PG&E petition as if it were merely a second copy, he charged. She later stated that she had been instructed by her supervisor to do so, according to his account.

The Guardian also got reports that signature gatherers have denied that the petition was funded by PG&E, told people that signing it would result in lower utility rates, or described it as an initiative to promote clean energy in California.

In reality, the initiative, which was previously titled the Taxpayers Right to Vote Act, would require a two-thirds majority vote before any community choice aggregation program could be funded or implemented. This could jeopardize San Francisco’s fledgling CleanPower SF, a community choice aggregation program that would provide San Franciscans with electricity from cleaner energy sources. The Board of Supervisors voted 10-1 to oppose the initiative.

While voters can — and should — read the title and summary of a proposed initiative before signing on the dotted line, canvassers who are paid by the signature clearly have an incentive to speed the process along and frame a proposal in a favorable light. And if signature gatherers stand outside health food stores in the Bay Area asking voters to support legalizing marijuana and developing clean energy, it’s an easy sell.

The problem with chain stores …

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October 27, 2009

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By Tim Redmond

…. is that even chain stores like Whole Foods, which a lot of people don’t think of in the same way they think of Home Depot and Starbucks, can spell the death of locally owned, independent businesses. I love Drewes Brothers meats on Church St. The people who work there are friendly and informative, and it feels like a real butcher shop. It’s also been there about 100 years.

And now, thanks to Whole Foods, it’s in serious trouble.

Which means all the money that once went to a local, independent store is now going to get sucked out of town every night and off to Whole Foods HQ in Austin, Texas.

Places like Whole Foods come and go, but when you lose a Drewes Bros, it’s gone forever — and so is part of San Francisco.

Arnold to SF: Fuck You

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October 27, 2009

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By Tim Redmond

It was hardly a bill of cosmic import, but Assemblymember Tom Ammiano’s AB 1176 would have helped the Port of San Francisco with some financing issues. It’s the kind of bill that legislators offer on behalf of their cities all the time — and generally, they are non-controversial. This one was the same — no substantive opposition, it passed both houses easily — and normally, the governor would sign it with little fanfare.

But no: Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed the bill — and sent Ammiano and the legislators a remarkable veto letter. The letter says nothing about the substance of the bill; in fact, the language is really convoluted and it’s hard to figure out what the gov is really saying.

Here’s the official message:

But wait — there’s a real message, an actual missive from the Gov to Tom, embedded in this text. And it’s not hard to find — in fact, it’s hard to believe it could have been a coincidence.

Read down the letters on the left side of the message

Well, maybe Arnold is still mad at being told to “kiss my gay ass”, but this is a rather puerile way for the governor of California to be spending his time.

Let’s not forget — there was a substantive bill here that would have helped San Francisco. So the gov is not just telling the entire Legislature Fuck You, he’s also saying it to the city and county of SF.

What an asshole. No wonder it’s hard to get anything done in Sacramento; the gov’s office is full of frat boys spending hours (and it would have taken hours to get this exactly right) making stupid little-boy jokes.

(His press office hasn’t returned my call seeking comment on this; I’ll let you know if they do.)

More on SFBG:

>>The lesson of California: The Golden State that invented the tax revolt is failing, but the conservative movement presses on

>>Attack of the right-wing nuts: The manipulations and media machine behind the assault on progressive ideas

Guardian graphic by Ben Hopfer

Editorial: Gavin Newsom, lawbreaker

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October 27, 2009

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Gavin Newsom, candidate for governor of California, doesn’t want to seem soft on crime, so Newsom, mayor of San Francisco, is siding with the federal authorities on deporting immigrant youth

EDITORIAL Mayor Gavin Newsom has set off something of a crisis in San Francisco government by insisting that he will defy the city law that seeks to protect immigrant youth from deportation. While Newsom claims that the sanctuary policy approved 8-2 by the supervisors last week violates federal law (something the same-sex marriage advocate hasn’t worried so much about in the past), this is really a matter of politics. Newsom, candidate for governor of California, doesn’t want to seem soft on crime — so Newsom, mayor of San Francisco, is siding with the federal immigration authorities.

He’s also putting out a misleading message about the law.

Partying with the dead heads

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October 27, 2009

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by Caitlin Donohue

Jose Posada’s classic Day of the Dead “Calavera” engraving

The sharpening chill, nights stretching longer past their summer shortness- in autumn the world as we know it begins to draw in upon itself towards winter’s temporary death. In Mexico, this moment is celebrated as Day of the Dead, a time when the lines blur between this world and the next. Families gather together to remember and treasure lost loves and try their best to tempt them back for a visit.

How do they throw down the welcome mat? This is Mexico we’re talking about, so of course their answers are art and fiesta. There are mock altars decorated with colorful tissue paper and skulls made of sugar. Playful calaveras are written, macabre epitaphs that make fun of your still-living friends. Parades and processionals fill the main streets and over at the cemetery, people are setting up tailgating parties on their dead friends’ graves. It’s a time to strut with a smile in front of death and subvert sadness.

Back to you (you like that, don’t you), because this is also San Francisco we’re talking about. Here are two incredible ways to wild on D.O.T.D:

How it went down last year at the SF Symphony’s Day of the Dead concert

A revealing Newsom interview

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October 26, 2009

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By Tim Redmond

It’s taken me a few days to find the time to listen to the whole thing, but the Calitics interview with Gavin Newsom is interesting — for what he says and for what he doesn’t.

Most of the time, Newsom talks in sound bites and platitudes, much as you would expect from a candidate for governor. (“We need order of magnitude change, I’m not running to fail more efficiently.”)

And he says, toward the end of the interview, that he supports and oil severance tax and a $1.50 a pack cigarette tax to fund education. He also says that California should tax services and lower the overall sales tax rate. And like many Democrats, he would restore the vehicle license fee that Gov. Schwarzenegger cut. Which all makes perfect sense.

But on the larger issue about revenue and services, he’s awfully squirrelly. He talks about how San Francisco funds universal health care and universal preschool — “we value these programs by funding them, finding the resources and funding them.” But then talks about “reform” — redirecting money from one program to another. (For example, right now he’s redirecting money away from front-line health-care workers).

And he proclaims:

“Let’s not accept the parameters that we have to tax or cut.”

Actually, that’s bullshit. Because in the end, you can find some waste and redirect it (we could, for example, release all drug offenders from prison and save a few billion dollars), but it’s almost impossible politically to do anything that saves that kind of money. The waste and redirection gets you pennies. In the end, the state’s actual spending hasn’t even kept up with population growth — and that’s at a time when federal services have been cut and state and local government has had to take up the slack.

So actually, Mr. Mayor, you DO have to tax or cut. And what I haven’t heard him say yet is exactly how he’s going to make those decisions.

I also really like this line: “My number on priority in San Francisco has been job creation.” This from a mayor who has been responsible for about 1,000 layoffs of public-sector workers. Guess those jobs don’t count.

Mystery of the missing de la Plaza coroner’s report

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October 26, 2009

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Text by Sarah Phelan

Rumors mount that a third review of Hugues de la Plaza’s death exists, this time concluding it was a homicide. If true, these rumors also means his killer could still be walking the streets of San Francisco, knife at hand.

By most accounts, there exists a third but as yet undisclosed coroner’s report on the 2007 stabbing death of Hugues de la Plaza, a San Francisco resident with French and American dual nationality. Only this report allegedly concludes that de La Plaza’s death was a homicide, a finding that puts this review on the same page as a report that the French authorities released last year, and at odds with the findings of the San Francisco Medical Examiner’s Office, which classified it as “undetermined” cause.

According to de la Plaza’s ex-girlfriend Melissa Nix, the SFPD and Medical Examiner Venus Azar, are sitting on this third review which was carried out, over 18 months ago, in Feb. 2008 by Marin County Medical Examiner Dr. Michael Ferenc (who used to work with the SF Medical Examiner’s office) at the request of SFPD Deputy Chief of Investigations David Shinn (who is headed to SFO thanks to SFPD Chief George Gascon’s command staff shuffle).

Nix claims Ferenc completed his report pro bono in March 2008, gave it to both Shinn and Azar, then made repeated calls to Azar, but allegedly never heard back.

And the Chronicle cites Bill Fazio, the attorney for Hugues’ parents, saying that Ferenc’s report concludes that de la Plaza’s death was a murder.

But Fazio told us today that he has not seen the report, but simply heard about it from Ferenc, a few weeks ago.

“I need to get a copy,” said Fazio, adding that he hopes to have a three-way video conference between Azar, the French authorities and Ferenc, in the near future, third review in hand.

“Ferenc concludes without doubt that this was a homicide and doesn’t understand how anyone could think otherwise,” Fazio asserted.

While on the phone, Fazio pointed out that while the SFPD made a big deal of the fact that de la Plaza never called 911, as they sought to explain the SF Medical Examiner’s “undetermined cause of death” ruling, they did not make an equally big deal of the fact that de la Plaza was bleeding profusely and had a collapsed left lung, thanks to his knife wounds,.

But these two factors would have made it difficult for de la Plaza to breathe and speak, let alone call 911, before his death, Fazio said.

Noting that SFPD was also never able to explain why there was no knife in the apartment, if de la Plaza stabbed himself, then locked himself into his apartment to die, as was suggested, Fazio said, “I don’t understand why they don’t treat it as a homicide.”

Sup. Ross Mirkarimi also believes the Ferenc report exists and he wants to see it released as soon as possible.

“There are a number of independent testimonies that speak to its existence,” Mirkarimi said. “What’s unconscionable is if SFPD has been sitting on it all this time and not disclosing its existence. I think it’s stunning how these events have unfolded and been treated since day one. I am now wondering if there is an effort to cover up the dysfunctionality of how this case was treated.”

“As I have tried to stay on top of all the violent crimes in my district, this one never added up,” Mirkarimi continued. “It needs to be dealt with in an honest and professional way.”

Mirkarimi also noted that the unresolved status of the de la Plaza death speaks to a larger worry: the role of unresolved homicides in the SFPD.

To date, no one at SFPD has given up the alleged Ferenc report, or made its contents public. But the SFPD released preliminary findings from a report by the LAPD—carried out at the request of newly sworn-in SFPD chief and former LAPD member George Gascón– earlier this year, at which time SFPD claimed the LAPD report was leaning towards calling it a suicide.

But as Fazio notes, the LAPD report itself has not been made available nor has LAPD commented on it.

And as Fazio observes, at the very least, the release of the Ferenc report would constitute a tiebreaker, in a world where the French say that de la Plaza was murdered, the SFPD can’t say, and LAPD calls it a suicide.

And it would also offer de la Plaza’s family, who don’t believe he killed himself, some long-sought solace. Assuming the Ferenc report exists. On the other hand, if it exists and its findings prove true, then this means that Hugues de la Plaza’s killer may still be on the loose. Stay tuned.

Talk to the hand: Madame speaks again

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October 26, 2009

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By Marke B.

She’s back, yak, yak, yak!

First, if you are in any way remotely gay, watch this now. Then everyone watch this and weep a little about what’s been lost:

Just in time for Halloween, beloved, be-snappy, and bejeweled ~~fisting bottom~~ comedienne Madame returns to San Francisco. Seriously, this broad is pretty freakin’ hilarious and puts on one hell of a show. Even though her originator Wayland Flowers passed away some years ago, Madame has a new man on her arm (Rick Skye) and still retains all that campy snap and bite many of us grew up loving on Hollywood Squares, Solid Gold, and Rowan & Martin’s Laugh In. Wait, was Madame even on the Muppet Show? I guess not, since the universe wasn’t canceled out …

Now billed as “The Diva of Decadence,” her new show “Madame with an E!” promises a multimedia spectacle, and a taste of her upcoming (celebrity cooking?) show, Madame’s Dish.

After the jump, my 2006 interview with the grande dame of giddyness (when Joe Kovacs was the new man on her arm), that veers from personal tragedy to new vibrators with a quick yank of the string …

“Madame with an E!”
Oct. 29-31, 10 pm, $30-$35
The Rrazz Room
Hotel Nikko, 220 Mason St., SF
866-468-3399
www.therrazzroom.com