THE TWILIGHT SAD
Killed My Parents and Hit the Road
(Fat Cat)
By Todd Lavoie
Get it while you still can: Scottish snarlers the Twilight Sad recently released their limited-edition odds-and-sods gather-up Killed My Parents and Hit the Road, and as it turns out, this is much more than just a stopgap until the next album.
Rather, the EP is a fine showcase for the band’s formidable abilities in interpreting the work of others, as well as their impressive know-how in ramping up the drama onstage. There are also a couple of previously unreleased tracks that have left fans a-foaming in speculation over whether or not the songs are sneak-previews of what’s next for the group. Originally available only at stops on the combo’s autumn tour last year, it is now for sale on the label’s Web site, www.fat-cat.co.uk. Better snag one soon – or else your only option might be eBay.
Ficks interviews Kelly Reichardt, director of Wendy and Lucy, which opens in the Bay Area Fri/30. (For Guardian reviewer Lynn Rapoport’s take on the film, go here.)
San Francisco Bay Guardian: Why are all the hipsters moving to Portland? They heard there were no jobs.
Kelly Reichardt: That’s a good one. It’s actually not even a joke. Did you know 66,000 people moved to Portland last year? We (filmmakers) Todd Haynes, Gus (Van Sant), myself, we’re all ruining it for Portland by making films there.
SFBG: Both of your last films were shot in Portland. Why did you start making films there?
KR: Todd Haynes is a close friend and moved there about nine years ago. He kept calling me and saying, “These people are so great!” And I was like “Yeah, yeah, yeah, shut up.” So I started visiting him out there and started making some short films. Then Todd introduced me to Jon Raymond who ended up writing Old Joy (2006) and Wendy and Lucy and now we’re working on a new film together. Jon also wrote a novel that I really fell for, The Half Life. If you don’t want to take my word for it, it’s one of Thurston Moore’s favorites. In any case, Jon’s writing is so region specific (born and raised in Portland) and his writing ties people into their surroundings in a way that is really appealing to me. There’s also a lot of space in his writing, which makes it easy as a reader to bring your own self to the table. I’m making films again because I found a writer that really fits with my filmmaking style. And the films are so much the better for it.
SFBG: While watching Wendy and Lucy I kept thinking this film is the perfect antithesis to Sean Penn’s Into the Wild (2007).
KR: It’s funny, when I saw the trailer for Into the Wild I was like, “oh no, that’s our movie!” But his film is more like, Nature on Speed.
SFBG: Michelle Williams was so wonderful in Wendy and Lucy, especially her scenes with the older man who played the security guard.
KR: The security guard is an interesting guy in real life too! His name is Walter Dalton — Wally. I can’t even remember what the character’s name was suppose to be in the script but it just became Wally because he so embodied it. His other life before Wendy and Lucy was that he was a writer for TV like [for] the Smothers Brothers, Laverne and Shirley and Barney Miller. I love the Smothers Brothers. Plus he’s a total lefty, awesome guy. And he just came down from Seattle to read for us one day. He’s such a good guy, that when he would leave the set, we would all go, “Oh Wally.”
SFBG: Wendy and Lucy, like Old Joy, feels like the answer to what’s dragging down the recent indie cinema scene. Do you make a conscious effort to take that step when making your films?
KR: That’s so nice of you. Come to my class and tell my students that. My students are all like “You’re gonna show us this again?”
Wendy and Lucy trailer:
SFBG: I really do think your films are that next step. A neo-indie scene, which is less marketed to them and can deliver something that they didn’t know they wanted.
KR: Well, I teach visual storytelling up at Bard College. It’s a very groovy place. I get to work with a bunch of filmmakers that I really admire like Peter Hutton, Jacqueline Goss, Peggy Ahwesh, Les LeVeque. It’s this hardcore, mostly avant-garde group who are all so badass. And that’s the funny thing with me there; I’m like the sell-out narrative person of the group! (Laughs)
SFBG: What a great role to play!
KR: I’m what they can handle as far as narrative goes. So I teach visual storytelling, and the gist of my class is kinda old school in the way of telling a story through camera placement and movement. I do sort of feel that this is going by the wayside, how to tell a story visually, just by the nature of video cameras and the whole mumblecore movement which is the opposite to what I’m trying to teach. Though I can’t say that my students have embraced mumblecore as much as I feared they would.
SFBG: Are you attracted to working with other filmmakers, or working in a community like the mumblecore directors?
KR: (Laughs) I’m in a community. I swear I am! Ira Sachs (Forty Shades of Blue, 2005), Larry Fessenden (The Last Winter, 2006), and I all used to share an office back in the day so we all like showing each other our latest films. It’s true we don’t act in one another films or anything. I have Todd Haynes watch cuts of my films and give me notes as well as Phil Morrison who directed Junebug (2005). Actually Todd Haynes did make an appearance in one of my films once when he stopped by the Wendy and Lucy set, by walking into a really long take, wearing an Old Joy t-shirt! I was like, “Who’s that asshole? Oh Todd, thanks for stopping by.” I also keep up with So-Yong Kim (In Between Days, 2006). So yeah, I’m in a community.
SFBG: Why did you start teaching?
KR: They say, “Those who can’t do, teach” but they never talk about the actual teaching part. When teaching is good, it’s really, really good. Being at Bard College is a place I have wanted to be at for a long time. There’s eight students to a class and they don’t let you just major in film. When my students are coming into my class saying things like, “I just built a theremin in music class!” it really charges me. One of my classes is Intro to Moving Image and all these kids who are growing up with computers are suddenly getting to go into the Cascades with a Bolex in their hands for the first time and it’s awesome. Plus, I love to talk about film. As I said, I’m working on a new film, a Western with Jon (Raymond) and so I’ve been slipping Westerns into my teaching, which keeps me thinking about my own things in a new way. These kids who are studying avant-garde filmmaking more than narrative, will hear me say something I take perfectly for granted like “objective shot” and they’ll bring in a shot of a beetle and ask if it’s objective. And I’ll get to go, “I don’t know, let’s sit here and think about it!”
SFBG: How do you continue to make these little masterpieces?
KR: I haven’t put the burden of having to make my living on filmmaking. I mean it just didn’t work for me. I think these films, the way we’re making them really works because that burden isn’t there. You go off and no one’s paying attention to you and you have privacy and have six months to edit and then you can still go back and shoot and redo some things. There aren’t too many hands in the pie. It’s all just very small stuff. And since no one’s getting paid on these movies, we can take that burden off the filmmaking process and I’m able to be put in the realm that’s more feasible for me.
SFBG: Please just keep making more of these kinds of movies.
Midnites for Maniacs programmer and Academy of Art University film history teacher Ficks tallies up his favorites from Sundance and Slamdance 2009.
(1) Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire – directed by Lee Daniels
Not to be confused with the upcoming Dakota Fanning film of the same name, this gut-wrenching adaptation of the struggles of Precious, an overweight, illiterate 16-year-old, (performed with utter grace by new-comer Gabourey “Gabby” Sidibe) has the power to take the country by storm if and when it’s released (the film has yet to be picked up by a distributor even though it won Sundance’s Grand Jury and Audience Award prizes). Mo’Nique as Precious’ abusive mother delivers one of the most authentic performances of our time (she won a Special Jury Prize for Acting), while Mariah Carey is brilliantly understated as a caring social counselor. But what’s so special about this Dancer in the Dark-esque film are Damien Paul’s screenplay and director Lee Daniels’ choices to always take the more difficult road with the characters. This is powerhouse filmmaking at its finest.
(2) Humpday – directed by Lynn Shelton
So straight they’re gay! If you took the two straight-male archetypes from Kelly Reichardt’s Old Joy (2006) — the adventurous, wandering beardo and the settling-down, sensitive progressive — got them drunk at a party, and had them challenge one another to have sex with each other, you have the setup for hands-down the funniest bromance mumblecore film of the year. As the two friends (Joshua Leonard and Mark Duplass of 2005’s The Puffy Chair) try and prove who’s living life to the fullest and man-liest, director Lynn Shelton showcases the “awkward moment” and thoroughly explores straight men’s confused sexuality. (If the premise sounds uncomfortable, think of how baffled the Utah audiences were of the concept of two straight guys fucking one another. Magnolia picked the film up so keep your eyes open for the limited release.) This is classic indie cinema of the golden 1990s type.
(3) We Live in Public – directed by Ondi Timoner
Following-up Timoner’s 2004 Documentary Grand Jury Prize-winning Dig!, this jaw-dropping doc follows the bipolar exploits of Josh Harris, a man who predicted every single step of the internet. The hypnotic footage has the power to warp the viewer into Harris’ Orwellian vision of the future. It’s as fascinatingly addictive as it is horrifyingly revealing of where our current society is headed.
Melissa Nix says she has not seen the report that French investigators recently completed, ruling that her ex-boyfriend Hugues de la Plaza was murdered in his Hayes Valley apartment on Linden Avenue in the wee hours of June 2, 2007
“I was told about it by Hugues’ father, Francois.” Nix said.
But she believes that the SFPD’s suggestion that de la Plaza’s death was a suicide—a suggestion floated out early on in the investigation—is part of a systemic problem that leads all the way back to Mayor Gavin Newsom.
“It was under Mayor Newsom’s guidance and supervision that this happened,” Nix said. “May be there are problems with police workers or the homicide department, but the Mayor has the ability to call upon Chief Heather Fong and her officers any time.”
“Someone has not done their work and I don’t believe it’s the French,” Nix added, claiming that critical forensic evidence went untested for a year, that neighbors were not interviewed in a timely fashion and that vital evidence was not collected.
“I lay the blame not only at the feet of the SFPD, but also at the feet of Gavin Newsom,” Nix said.
Noting that Newsom “incidentally happens to be in Paris right now,” Nix added, “So, what is the Mayor’s priority? Moonlighting as an international celebrity or leading the people of San Francisco?”
Stop dreaming about the day when you’ll wake up as a celebrity artist. Now you can pretend and get paid!
Your chance to step into the shoes of the most infamous prince of pop art is here. That’s right. You can be Andy Warhol. The man who convinced the world there was art in a can of Campbell’s soup, who created the Factory and filled it with sexy Superstars, who spent his evenings partying at Studio 54, and who made himself into an international icon. (And then, of course, the shooting … )
The de Young museum is searching for performers who can embody the enigmatic personality of Warhol for public appearances scheduled around the upcoming Warhol Live exhibit, which will showcase Warhol’s pop star artwork from February 14 until March 17. Father-son curator-artist team Rene and Rio Yanez will be auditioning aspiring Andys on Saturday, January 31.
It’s time for you weekend nightlife forecast, but first this update from that horribly “hip” new Domino’s BBQ chicken pizza campaign:
Viral! Compare that, of course, with SF’s very own dirty techno birdie, Claude VonStroke — and is anyone else 100 blog centuries old like me, and remembers that whole Burger King “subservient chicken” viral campaign where you could tell the guy in the chicken suit what to do? From like 2k3? OH MY GOD IT’S STILL HAPPENING!!!
I’ll never understand why we always make cute what we want to eat. Except puppies. Even kitties are cheezburger on the Internetz.
But let’s put away childish things, shall we, and dig into some of this weekend’s better affairs:
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TONITE! THU/22
THE NOISE
New local promotion juggernaut Hacksaw Entertainment launches with a grab-yr-cha-chas blast at 103 Harriet — featuring, of course, my laptop life-love Lazer Sword bringing the future bass soundz, plus the very talented Ana Sia who’ll bring some of her techno-burner pedigree to the tables, and SF mashup psyphy duo Hookerz and Blow, who blow the hooker-roof off live …. High-tail it to the H&B MySpace page and check out “Blow the Whistler” and it’s Too $hort meets Claude VonStroke (again with him!) for some pure traffic jam genius.
Beloved DJ Andrew Phelan and the rest of the chunky beats Prismatic crew — the promos behind the hyperinventive Tonal color-coordinated loft parties — bring in the big names for their AlphaBeats party, subtitled A is for Alien (I eagerly await B is for BetaMax). I would scoff a little at the umpteenth appearance of 90s god Doc Martin, but his set at LoveFest this summer was out of hand with its perfect blend of old school house numbers and new school choons. Doc’s never really been known for his subtlety on the tables (it’s all about bangin’ hard into the cosmos), but he’s definitely evolved stylistically as a major dance artist. BONUS: Sunshine Jones, of fave raves Dubtribe Sound System, will be on hand to spread it. DOUBLE BONUS: dress as an alien and get a free mix …. do it now!
Dick Cheney at the Inauguration in his Baby Jane wheelchair. I’m not done. But you are, man, you are.
(Ammiano ended his Ammianoliner with a sneer in his voice that outsneered the best of Dick Cheney sneers.) Heard on the home telephone answering machine of Assemblyman Tom Ammiano on the day after the Inauguration on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2008. B3
Happy 10-Year Anniversary to Upper Playground! Of all the stores with cute little walrus mascots in the Lower Haight that sell printed t-shirts, Upper Playground is my favorite. They’ve been dressing San Franciscans in urban streetwear for a decade, and to thank us for our support, they’ve taken 50% off everything they have in stock until January 25 (except the gallery art, unfortunately). The sale is only available on the online store, but it’s definitely worth the shipping and handling. Items we’ve got our eye on include the I heart SF t-shirt and David Cho hairdo pillows. But get your shop on before January 25, because this is recession friendly for only 4 more days.
Locations:
220 Fillmore Street, SF, CA 94117
2509 Telegraph Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94704
Who’s the best dressed girl in San Francisco? My vote goes to Rumi Neely, a San Francisco fashion blogger whose eye for style has landed her onto to the pages of Teen Vogue and French Vogue, plus an upcoming modeling campaign for RVCA. Rumi chronicles her day-to-day outfits on her personal site, Fashion Toast, and her casual California chic, quirky mix of high and low fashion, and insane collection of Chloe ankle boots has propelled her from San Francisco blogger to international fashion doyenne. The cutest thing about Rumi, besides her fabulous taste in footwear? Her favorite hangout in San Francisco is the Kinokuniya bookstore in Japantown.
From soupy Bangkok we flew to Luang Prabang, Laos, a world heritage site and a city with a wat on almost every other block. It is located along the beautiful Mekong river and much of the culture revolves around the river. It is where people bathe, wash their clothes and, along which, they grow their food (much of which is farmed organically.)
Schoolmates looking out over the Mekong river in Luang Prabang
Novice monks taking a break from classes in Luang Prabang
A typical street in Luang Prabang
A fruit stand at the night market in Luang Prabang
A textile weaver at the Hmong night market in Luang Prabang
STORY This is part of a series based on a hallucinatory memory LeDoux imagined during his childhood. He recounted seeing a fountain in the thick Louisiana forests. The fountain’s beauty was so astonishing that he immediately wanted to share it with his friends and family, but when he took them back to see it, it was nowhere to be found.
BIO LeDoux was born in 1976 in Louisiana. He is currently a BFA candidate at California College of the Arts.
SHOW "The Fountain of Giant Teardrops," Fri/23 through Feb. 28. Silverman Gallery, 804 Sutter, SF (415) 255-9508. Opening reception Fri/23, 7–10 p.m. Conversation with Larry Rinder and Neil LeDoux, Feb. 29, 7 p.m.
Spirits are high in San Francisco, following the departure of former President G. W. Bush, and the inauguration of the 44th U.S. President, Barack Hussein Obama.
I saw a guy walking down Market Street, chanting “O-Ba-Ma”, like it was a protective mantra. And pretty soon other folks were joining in, like newborns emerging from the darkness of the Bush years.
And then there was the crowd of folks who were gleefully throwing shoes at an appropriately shifty cardboard cut-out of Bush. The cut-out was standing inside at colorful carnival booth that antiwar groups Direct Action to Stop the War and Courage to Resist had set up near the Obama inauguration simulcast at Civic Center Plaza.
At first, it was fairly quiet when I got there shortly after 9 AM, but the crowd quickly grew, once people emerged from the simulcast. Pretty soon, folks were eagerly waiting in line and cheering each other on, clearly delighted to have the chance to vent and throw one last shoe at Bush.
“Throw a shoe for the widows and orphans and all those killed in Iraq!” shouted one of the event organizer, quoting Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zeidi, who stunned and delighted the world when he took aim during Bush’s Dec. 14 joint news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Still in prison in Iraq, al-Zeidi was due to face trial in December on charges of assaulting a foreign leader, which carried a 15-year maximum sentence. But an appellate court is currently considering a motion to reduce his charges to simply insulting Bush. And someone really should award al-Zeidi a medal for managing to pitch a perfect shoe toss under extreme pressure.
ActivelyOUT.com hosts an Obama Ball at Bruno’s Night Club, featuring plasma screens with highlights from Inauguration Day, a dance party with DJ Duarte and a free glass of champagne for the first 150 people. A donation from the evening’s proceeds will go to And Marriage for All, a collaborative partnership of African-American community leaders spearheading dialogue and public education about same-sex couples’ freedom to marry. “Gay fabulous, str8 friendly, no H8-ers!”
6 -10 p.m., $8 cover, $5 for activelyOUT.com members
Glide into a new era with budget-friendly drink specials at the Paradise Lounge. Rock Barack: The Obama Inauguration Party will featuring 99-cent drafts and 99-cent well drinks from 6 to 9 p.m. the event will benefit not just your budget but the Glide Foundation, a San Francisco nonprofit working to end poverty.
League of Young Voters
LYV says: “No need for upscale dress attire for our BALL! We’ll have drinks, ginger bread cookies and a good crew celebrating Obama’s Inauguration! We need YOU to get the party really started!”
Boogie down to support Amnesty International during its fundraising event, "Dance for Change." Music from hip-hop to house to rock will be spinning all night long, so prepare to shake it for Barack to the wee hours.
Electric Works gallery is hosting an Inaugural Ball featuring a rebroadcast of the inauguration followed by dancing. Formal dress is suggested but not required (changing rooms and borrowed finery will be available for those coming directly from work). Drinks and light hors d’oeuvres will be provided and proceeds benefit the San Francisco Food Bank.
The San Francisco Democratic Party and local women’s political groups — including Emerge California, Good Ol’ Girls, and the San Francisco Women’s Political Caucus — are throwing an Inauguration Night party in the swanky Green Room of the War Memorial Opera House, featuring hors d’oeuvres, drinks, and entertainment.
The California Outdoor Rollersports Association hosts a political roller disco featuring Sarah Palins and Barack Obamas on wheels. There’s even a chance that a live feed from the party will be broadcast at the Presidential Gala in Washington. Dress up as your favorite politician and resist the urge to knock out your rivals.
By Jesse Hawthorne Ficks Midnites for Maniacs programmer Ficks is in Utah checking out the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. Here’s what’s gotten his attention so far…
“We Live in Public” trailer
Paper Heart, directed by Nicholas Jasenovec
Early on in this semi-mock doc, the actor Michael Cera, who plays himself, responds to the overview of Paper Heart by saying, “Just what America needs, another quirky comedy.” Cera, who has reinstated the term “perfect comic timing” since he appeared as George Michael in Arrested Development , is yet again awkward and hilarious in this sweet but fairly clunky trek across America, which asks real couples how they met, reinacts them with paper cutouts a la Science of Sleep (2006), and if ponders the question if love truly exists. The film’s lead actress — Charlyne Yi, the stoner girl who hangs with all the dudes in Knocked Up (2007) — also co-scripted this sure-to-be crowd pleaser. If only certain scenes hadn’t felt so forced.
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, directed by John Krasinski
Director Krasinski — better known as Jim on The Office — also adapted the screenplay from David Foster Wallace’s story. The tale follows Sara (Julianne Nicholson), a woman who’s been recently cheated on, as she interviews multiple subjects of the male gender about their honest fears, fantasies, and frustrations. Krasinski’s film pushes through its similarities to Paper Heart (getting to the bottom of love) by taking its “personal interviews” to impressive depths about the male psyche. It delivers some pretty powerful moments.
We Live in Public, directed by Ondi Timoner Fascinatingly addictive, this follow up to Timoner’s cult classic Dig! (which won the Sundance Grand Jury Prize in 2004) follows the bi-polar exploits of Internet pioneer Josh Harris. This man predicted every single step of the internet and the jaw dropping footage of his “experiments” are here to prove it. In 1999 he created a quasi-cult community in the basement of New York, in which people were given pods to sleep in, free food, drugs, and all night raves while every move was being recorded and shared. Even now, the uncompromising footage has the power to warp the viewer into his Orwellian vision of the future. But wait — that’s not all: Harris then goes on to rig 32 motion-sensor cameras in his house, creating the first website to stream his and girlfriend’s every life moment. I can’t express enough how awesome this film is, or how horrifyingly revealing of where our own society has headed. You wanna talk about the film of Sundance ’09? Look no further.
It took more time than it should have, but San Francisco’s long anticipated ID Card program took off today. Assemblymember Tom Ammiano, who authored the ID card legislation, helped debut the program by receiving his own card at City Hall today.
The card is all-in-one photo identification card that streamlines access to City services and offers discounts at local businesses. The card allows folks to establish borrowing privileges at the library and a family account with Recreation and Parks. Nine banks and credit unions have also stated that they will accept the card to open a financial account.
“The card will help a wide breadth of San Franciscans – children that don’t have a school ID, immigrant workers that want to open a bank account, and seniors that no longer have a need for a driver’s license,” Ammiano stated in a press release.”The transgender people will also benefit from an ID that accurately represents their identities.”
Yesterday was the new Board’s first test on two key issues and in both cases, Sup. Bevan Dufty provided Mayor Gavin Newsom with the swing vote he needed.
Dufty’s votes were further evidence that he will likely be swinging increasingly to the right, as the next mayoral race looms on the not too distant horizon.
First, Dufty joined Sups Michela Alioto-Pier, Carmen Chu and Sean Elsbernd, in voting not to override Mayor Gavin Newsom’s veto of legislation that would have required conditional use permits and hearings when housing units are being eliminated.
Then, he joined the mayor’s usual trio of allies to block an appeal by opponents of a mixed-use project at the corner of Valencia and 14th streets. The project includes 36 homes and three stores and is the first big test case of the new Market Octavia Plan. So, even though CU proponents pitched it as being only a case of seven parking spaces, everyone knew it was about a lot more than that.
At issue was the fact that the Planning Commission had decided to waive the plan’s limitation on construction of parking spaces to one space for every two units.
Opponents of the project argued that decreasing automobile dependency and associated harms, including global warming and traffic congestion, require the political will to stick to progressive policies developed over many years.
But Dufty argued that he did not believe this project is “precedent setting” as he went along with the Newsom administration’s top allies on the Board.
To her credit, Sup. Sophie Maxwell joined the progressive voting block on both these issues, despite having lost the Battle for Board President at the hands of the progressive faction. For a moment, we thought she wasn’t going to: Maxwell initially voted not to override Newsom’s veto. But then she rescinded her vote and voted against Newsom. So double kudos go to Maxwell.
It will be interesting to see if planning staff recommend conditional use permits for the Whole Foods on Market and Dolores and a new proposed condo on Market and Buchanan. If they do, then Dufty, who to his credit gave the project sponsor’s attorney David Silverman a hard time for his divide and conquer-style tactics, may find himself having to eat his “not precedent setting” comment.
And despite Dufty’s very public push back against Silverman, Jason Henderson, Vice President of the Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association, feels the D 8 Supervisor ultimately didn’t listen to his own constituents enough.
“Bevan’s giving too much weight to some very loud people who constantly pester him, Henderson said.
Good things come in twos, so after writing about it last week, Blaine Dixon’s new book, Polk Gulch (Blurb, 144 pages, $44.95), is appearing in the Intro twice in a row. Why? It’s a perfect match for "Polk Street: Lives in Translation," a new audiovisual exhibit at the GLBT Historical Society. Both reveal the changing face — and faces — of Polk Street, the thoroughfare that once inspired me to write a millennial poem entitled "Pinocchio on Polk Street" (half the landmarks name-checked in it are now gone). A month or so ago, I found an old gay magazine. The headline of one article asks, "Castro Street — the New Polk Street?" The answer is yes — and no.
Thurs/15, 5:30 p.m. talk by Susan Stryker, 7 p.m. reception; free
One of the greatest swindlers in American History, Charles Ponzi’s name has become synonymous with any scam that pays early investors returns from the investments of later investors.
And last week, I asked whether Vallejo’s loss, when Lennar declared bankruptcy at Mare Island as part of a LandSource restructuring deal, could somehow have become Lennar’s gain.
And now comes news that Lennar’s stocks took a nasty nose dive last week, when Barry Minkow, who served time for stock fraud, but now apparently investigates fraud in between being a pastor in San Diego, accused Lennar of using its joint ventures like a Ponzi scheme.
Photo by Luke Thomas “Mr. Mayor, it’s great to see you in Chambers. We need to have your cooperation,” Sup. John Avalos (far right) tells Newsom (second from right), as newly elected Board President David Chiu (second from left) and Clerk of the Board Angela Cavillo (far left) look on.
Text by Sarah Phelan
Newly sworn-in Supervisor John Avalos told the Guardian yesterday that he had asked to be on the board’s powerful Budget and Finance Committee and would happy to be its chair.
And now comes news that Avalos, who represents the predominantly working class District 11, has got his wish.
Avalos, who was sworn in yesterday by newly elected Board President David Chiu, will take over as the Budget and Finance Committee chair from termed-out Sup. Jake McGoldrick.
The move comes as the City faces its worst budget deficit since the Depression.
But though Avalos is a first-time supervisor, he already has a deep and broad understanding of the City’s budget process, knowledge that he gleaned while working as Sup. Chris Daly’s legislative analyst for the past three years.
“John Avalos has more experience of budget issues than me,” Daly told me yesterday, outside the Board Chambers, after the inaugural meeting was over. “Because while I was in there (Daly gesticulates towards the Board chambers) listening to endless hours of public comment, John, as my legislative analyst was meeting with the Controller and the Budget Analyst and all the other people involved in the budget process.”
But even Avalos is awestruck by the tsunami of bad financial news that has hit the City.
“I was visibly shaken” Avalos told me of his reaction during in a recent meeting about the City’s budgetary woes.
Avalos will also oversee hearings on $125 million in midyear budget cuts, including Peskin’s proposal to get rid of the Small Business Assistance Center and cut ballet, symphony and opera funding in half.
Paréa, meaning a friend or family gathering in Greek, first came to my attention through my bar manager, who’s been raving incessantly about its small plates and organic ingredients. Hitting up the spot with my own paréa, I found that the one (and only) thing I had to rave about this place is their expensive—I mean extensive—wine list, featuring an incredible selection of high-end wines. If you’re a super bougie cork-dork who doesn’t mind shelling out hefty bills for international wines you won’t see on most California wine lists, then perhaps this is your go-to place. But for those of you San Franciscans who actually have to pay rent and eat a decent meal without going broke, you might want to grab a burrito somewhere else instead.
If you do insist on enjoying yourself at Paréa, then by all means, drink two glasses of wine as quickly as possible (while taking careful note of its exquisite taste, of course). With a smooth buzz, you might not notice that the thinly sliced beets taste kind of limp and do nothing for the taste buds. Or that the cheese plate here is good, but nothing spectacular. If homegirl from your paréa has been baby-sitting her wine for too long, then drink hers too. Feel the tipsiness! Now you won’t care that you’re eating a dry panini with a weak slab of turkey – the whole thing mostly just a mouthful of bread. To further enhance your experience, don’t ask questions when the bill comes; just peel away those Jacksons and ignore that your broke friends decided not to pitch in again. You were insistent on enjoying yourself, right?
