sfbg Archives — Page 54 of 59 — San Francisco Bay Guardian Archive 1966

Some say Pride…

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July 3, 2007

By Stephen Torres

Pink Saturday was not kind to me. I had to work “Mango” down at the river and it never really reached the usual crescendo, but kept truckin’ along all through the night. I woke up at about one the next afternoon with the parade having already passed by. I felt obligated to go, however, and met some friends down on the mall in Civic Center.

It was an already faulty set- up in that I was exhausted and sober amongst a sea of bronzed, vibrant, inebriated fairies. By the look on my friend Jesse’s face, I knew we were on the same page. So what are two tired queens to do when confronted with such glee and sunshine?

Lennar’s Bad News Bears

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June 26, 2007

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Marc McGuire, a tile contractor from San Diego, and CALPASC’s Brad Diede on CNBC this spring to discuss accusations that Lennar has been extorting its contractors

A few months ago, we reported how Lennar had been giving contractors a choice between a rock or a hard place: reduce their unpaid invoices by up to 20 percent—or be excluded from bidding work for a minimum of six months.
Today comes word that the company, which is poised to build condos on most of San Francisco’s underdeveloped lands, including Bayview Hunter’s Point and the decommissioned Hunters Point Shipyard, has just posted a second quarter loss–and it is expecting more losses this year.
Blaming high inventories and dropping real estate prices, and with his company reporting losses of $1.55 per share, Lennar President and Chief Executive Stuart Miller announced, “As we look to our third quarter and the remainder of 2007, we continue to see weak, and perhaps deteriorating, market conditions.”

This time last year, the nation’s biggest home builder was posting a profit of $324.7 million, or $2 per share. But Lennar not alone in its real estate woes. As its quarterly revenue slips 37 percent to $2.88 billion (compared to $4.58 billion this time last year,) the National Association of Realtors reports that sales of existing homes fell for a third straight month in May, the median sales price declined for a record 10th consecutive month and the inventory of unsold homes reached its highest level in 15 years.

Or as Miller put it, ” The supply of new and existing homes has continued to increase resulting in declining home prices across our markets.”

And here comes the part that should really sound the alarms in San Francisco, where a large number of subcontractors look to Lennar for their daily bread. Asked what Lennar intends to do about its financial picture, Miller said his company is “focused on expenses, reducing construction costs and pushing sales to manage inventory.”

With Mayor Gavin Newsom having hastily amended the BVHP redevelopment plan so the Navy could hand the hazardous shipyard over to Lennar for clean up, (despite the company’s ongoing problems monitoring asbestos dust on an adjacent parcel of land), all so he can try and keep the 49ers in town, here’s hoping all the agencies that regulate and oversee Lennar, and not just the local impacted communities, will be watching this project like hawks.

Clairsonic – unfinished

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June 23, 2007

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Masculinity and me

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June 20, 2007

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By Stephen Torres

Having my education more in the school of life than actual school, I sometimes get tripped up by the people I’ve chosen to run with when they start talking about grown-up things. A lot of my friends and acquaintances have made it their life’s work to fight the good fight in the non-profit field, or to explore the nuance and complexity of such studies as sexuality. The beauty part about living in San Francisco, and about my friends here, is that if I’m curious enough to learn something new, there’s usually someone there willing to school me.

I recently saw the one night only performance of Noise: a (Micro)Biopolitics of Masculinity at Counter Pulse. The title alone made my head hurt. Jesse Hewit, who was putting up the piece as his master’s thesis, took some time to give some explanation in the program, but it was the performance that he and his cast gave that provided the most illumination.

Thirds, please?

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June 19, 2007

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By Sean Manning

I started watching Bravo’s Top Chef because it was a cooking show that threw creative challenges at its contestants and occasionally gave useful advice for the wannabe chef. That was Season 1. I got hooked on Season 2 because it acted like a classy cooking show when it was really a culinary “Lord of the Flies” (complete with their own Piggy—the endlessly obnoxious man-child Marcel Vigneron). Those antics were fun while they lasted—about to the point when chef Cliff Crooks tried to hold Vigneron down and shave his waifish Syndrome hair off in the middle of the night. And then the guilt set in. Like many of the show’s fans I had to ask—at the very least, aren’t I supposed to be able to pretend this is a food show?

Maybe that’s why the first installment of the show’s third season (originally aired last Wednesday, and sure to be shown in reruns many, many, many, many more times in the future) seemed so determined to utterly kick the shit out of its 15 brand new cheftestants. Not only were they subjected to two tough challenges (Surprise! Make an amuse bouche out of the buffet platter you just ate on, and a surf and turf combo of nasty meats), but the merciless Chef Anthony Bourdain was brought on to mock the unworthy. As for the chefs themselves, my money is on CPA (“Certified Professional Asshole”) Hung Huyhn, who is making an early bid for this season’s pretentious fine dining villain. If the past two seasons have been any indication, we’re in for some quality television in the coming weeks.

‘Cosmo’ video games as silly as the mag

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June 19, 2007

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By Stephen Torres

As long as there have been admin and reception jobs, there has been un-relenting, mind-numbing boredom as well. Since the positions were held primarily by the female set for such a long time, publications such as Cosmopolitan, founded by the inimitable Helen Gurley Brown in the sixties, found a place jammed into the desk drawers or bags of all those working girls. Or so Miss Brown had hoped. I’m mean, what gal on the go would read anything else?

Nowadays, when you can’t take the monotony of data entry or similar thankless office tasks, one’s options are opened up to whatever you possibly could desire through the magic of the Internet. Never behind the times, Cosmo has added its own brand of pastimes that every girl will doubtlessly enjoy: video games. So I channeled Miss Moneypenny and decided to have myself a look.

The first game is entitled BoyToy and was recently highlighted on Gawker.com — and I really couldn’t agree more with their take on the matter. I’m not one for video games anyway, but it is an inane simulation of what its like to be your alter ego — the girl who gets what she wants from the boys simply by snapping her fingers. The overall impression I got was not that of feeling empowered by living through a blond and tan version of myself named Bunny, but more the miserable experience of being her put-upon slave Cord. It’s like having a split personality that requires more booze, more music, and more attention. Quite frankly, I thought I’d have more fun with Minerva, the slutty nemesis in hospital whites.

Nudity Merited

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June 19, 2007

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By Sarah Phelan

Photo courtesy of Jack Gescheidt’s Tree Spirit Project.

A City of Oakland plan to cut down 224 trees along Lake Merritt has stalled, thanks to a Friends of the Lake lawsuit. Then this Saturday, traffic stalled as demonstrators stripped, some climbing into the tall eucalyptus trees, while others prefered to keep their feet on the ground. But was their nudity merited? Eucalyptus trees tend to arouse the passions of both types of Tree People. Those who love all trees, and those who love all other trees except eualyptuses. So, why are some people hating on eucalyptuses? Does the City of Oakland share their grounds for hate? and what were the nudies thinking?

We’ll never forget you, Punk Planet

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June 18, 2007

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By G.W. Schulz

It was incredibly disheartening to learn today that one the nation’s best known indie-culture and rock zines, Punk Planet, had published its final edition after 13 years and 80 issues. Longtime editor Dan Sinker has announced that it will cease to exist in hardcopy form after the current issue.

No small number of punk journos and thinkers owe a massive debt of gratitude to PP for offering young writers a chance to explore the craft and young readers a chance to see how the “news” is much more than what appears in daily headlines.

Former Guardian staffers A.C. Thompson and Annalee Newitz have written some of the magazine’s most memorable pieces. I certainly wouldn’t be at the Guardian today – or in any media job at all, for that matter – if it weren’t for how much I gleaned from Punk Planet about what could be accomplished through alternative, long-form and literary journalism.

A Hot Pocket by any other name

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June 18, 2007

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By Gazelle Emami

It’s hard to define piroshki, though there’s no doubt they’re a Russian food. I say “food” because it’s a little ambiguous as to whether it’s a pastry, snack, or meal. Whichever group(s) it falls under, with its thick, deep-fried dough stuffed with an assortment of fillings ranging from meat to vegetarian-friendly options, You might call piroshki the Hot Pocket’s granddaddy.

Owner Galina Galant and her father pose with racks of the piroshki they make fresh every morning.

You won’t find piroshki too easily in these parts—Paramount Piroshki, open since 1956, is one of the only places around to dedicate itself wholly to the traditional Russian treat. Owner Galina Galant and her family came to San Francisco from Russia in 1983 and bought the business from its previous owner. The building used to be in the style of a coffee shop, but given Potrero Hill’s industrial landscape, the Galants converted it into a factory and are mainly in the business of selling to other businesses.

Wondering about the CCA-Chamber of Commerce Connection…

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June 12, 2007

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by Amanda Witherell

We just got a note back from Wyatt Buchanan, who reported last week in the Chron on the city’s plan for Community Choice Aggregation. In the story he wrote: “A PG&E spokesperson did not return calls for comment. Instead, a message left with PG&E was returned by a spokeswoman for the Chamber of Commerce.”

We asked the Chamber’s VP of Communications Carol Piasente about it, and she said it was because their poll about CCA came out the same day. “They [PG&E] assumed he was calling about the poll and he wasn’t,” she said about why the call got referred to her organization.

Buchanan confirmed that he called specifically about CCA.

Ye olde Expansion: days of wine and roses

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June 11, 2007

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By Stephen Torres

Back when I was bright-eyed youngin’ in the city and my liver was still shiny and hale, I made my daily bread by working at the recently deceased MacArthur Park in Jackson Square. This was right before the dot.com belle-époque had a meeting with its maker, and times were fast and easy.

We had a pretty fun, outgoing crew at MacArthur, and one of my co-workers, Robin, tended bar part-time at some place called the Expansion up on Church and Market. Like I said, these were the days when my experience in the ways of the gin bin was still relatively little, however it would be this crusty old watering hole that would guide me into being a full-fledged pro.

Cool shit: A brief history of women in art

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June 8, 2007

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posted by Molly Freedenberg

By “brief” I mean 3 minutes. And by “history” I mean 500 years.

Sure, it gets a little tedious after awhile. But tell me that shit isn’t cool.

Hip to be screwed

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June 6, 2007

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By Deborah Giattina

As always, a trip to the Commonwealth Club proved to be an edifying venture. For last night’s event, Hot Young Sommeliers (that’s pronounced so-mol-yay), the club rounded up three of the aforementioned creatures from the front houses of our city’s finest restaurants.

Now, I don’t know very much about wine, and young is such a relative term, n’est-ce pas? But I know hot, as in wouldn’t kick ‘em out of the sack, not as in a wine that heats your palette because it has too much alcohol (ew). And all three panelists–Mark Bright of Oola, Christie Dufault of Quince Restaurant, and Courtney Cochran, steward of the monthly Hip Tastes events–definitely met my grape expectations.

Oola’s hot sommelier, Mark Bright, gives his girlfriend a cool look

Pro-Palestine protesters poke Pelosi

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June 6, 2007

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By Ross Moody
Protesters converged outside the Burton Federal Building in downtown San Francisco yesterday to mark the 40th anniversary of the Arab-Israeli 6-Day War, targeting their message to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, whose district office is inside. The pro-Palestinian group was confronted by another group that supports Israel, and the ensuing ruckus led to both groups getting kicked off the property.

Photo courtesy of 60/40 Campaign

Bad vibrations

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June 6, 2007

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by Sarah Kai Acker
A contentious battle—and an endless hearing—came to a possible close last night as the lawyer for Club Six and the lawyer for the disgruntled residents of the Lawrence Hotel atop the club compromised on a 120-day probation.

For the low-income Lawrence Hotel tenants, this means that if Club Six violates the decibel cap set by the city (it’s 88.1 decibels, for any audio geeks wondering) and if the vibrations from the bass thump their rooms, Club Six will be considered in violation of their probation. Then another hearing (promised to be short) will be held that will likely lead to the threatened 30-day suspension.

A suspension that long could put the club out of business and would create a financial hardship for the 50+ people employed there, many who are struggling financially themselves. For Club Six’s owner Angel Cruz, this means he has a grace period to perfect the soundproofing.

“We’re close, we’re so close,” Cruz told the Guardian. “A lot of [soundproofing the building] is trial and error. There’s no clear cut science.”

Give me soccer or give me death

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June 4, 2007

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By Gazelle Emami

During World Cup fever about this time last year, I found soccer the way some people find religion. Or maybe it was more in the vein of finding yourself with a drug addiction. Either way, once it’s in your blood, soccer becomes a way of life, and it can make you crazy.

So as my friends and I rushed to the stadium Saturday afternoon for the U.S. Men’s National Team (MNT) vs. China match in San Jose, 20 minutes into the first half, hearing the crowd go wild over Marcus Beasley’s penalty goal for MNT, my heart sunk a little at the thought that I’d missed the only chance to see a goal that afternoon. But at the same time, the sound of that crowd made my heart beat a little quicker and my feet move a little faster. Was this panic or excitement I was feeling? This game can make your emotions go a little haywire.

Kid tested, Bono approved

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June 4, 2007

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By Sean Manning

Bono once alleged that Radiohead could be changing the way kids listened to music if only they weren’t so darned esoteric (obviously an extremely relative concept…) and if they just made themselves a little more appealing to the masses: No more death bears and no more blip-bloop-bleep solo albums. sm_Arcade_Fire_k_N5E9300.sized.jpg

Well, Radiohead’s probably not going to change on Bono’s account. But it’s no wonder why the man flipped his shit so thoroughly over Montreal’s Arcade Fire. The band is the super earnest battering ram to indie culture’s ill-advised irony obsession and penchant for witlessly appropriated kitsch. And as their pair of shows at UC Berkeley’s Greek Theatre this weekend showed, the kids are listening.

No longer trembling newcomers, the band took the stage confidently, playing through their two albums’ worth of material the way David Byrne cherry-picks the best of the Talking Heads’ output for his solo shows. Of course, that kind of assured showmanship is probably a lot easier when the crowd is screaming—screaming—your words back to you, but you can’t exactly fault them for that. Material from this year’s Neon Bible fared well; it constituted much of the group’s main set—but it was the one-two of “Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)” and “Rebellion (Lies)” from 2004’s Funeral that was the evening’s long, glorious money shot.

The Arcade Fire is a cool band, to be sure. But they’re the kind of cool band whose show you can take your little brother to—or your mom, for that matter—and that fact doesn’t make them any less cool. At the same time, there’s a sense that this band is saying something, too. It doesn’t take a theologist to see that Neon Bible has some serious underlying commentary on the way religion is culturally appropriated, though the band may not be as blatant about it as Bono would like. But the message is there, and people are listening. And that’s what’s important.

Richard returns

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June 2, 2007

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By Molly Freedenberg

Did you miss your chance to see Richard Cheese at the Red Devil Lounge on May 27? Even though he added a late night show just for you? You poor sucker.

You missed the best Dick Cheese live performance I’ve seen yet. Yes, he played Vegas versions of “Me So Horny” and “Brass Monkey” and even the theme to the Spiderman cartoon from the ‘80s. Yes, as usual, he cruised through the crowd spouting loungey, slightly-offensive compliments to members of the audience (even once getting stuck mid-room when a song ended, and asking his band to redo the last few measures so he could sing his way back to the stage). And yes, he changed smoking jackets several times, ending up in his martini-glass version. But there was something else to this performance. A subtle excitement. Maybe he was drunk from the early show? Or just slap-happy? Or maybe there’s something about a San Francisco crowd that really is special for him. Whatever it was, we all seemed to be riding the same wave – somewhere between awe at how good the band actually is and awe at how fucking hilarious it is to do something so silly so well.

So why am I telling you all this? Just to rub in that there’s nothing you could’ve done that Sunday night that would’ve been better than this?

No. (Although that’s fun too.) I’m telling you because Dick is coming back. On August 28, he’s returning to San Francisco as part of the farewell-tour-that-will-never-end. So here’s your chance. You can still see Dick Cheese live. But tickets always sell out. And they go on any minute (supposedly today at 10am). So get your shit together and go buy some .

You’re welcome.

Rock it science

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May 30, 2007

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By Beth Gilomen

We all like to think that we are unique little snowflakes. We assume that we formulate opinions of our own will and make our own decisions about our likes and dislikes. That may be true, but to a certain extent, one company has proven that what we like may not be as subjective as we think.

Platinum Blue, a research company, has developed something they call the “Music X-Ray.” Basically, by analyzing hit songs, ranging from classical compositions to current pop music, Platinum Blue has been able to detect upwards of 60 mathematical patterns that popular songs fit. These algorithms are not detectable by the human ear, but they somehow appear to influence how we feel about the things we hear.

The company claims that using their analytical software, a record label can increase the chance of picking a hit from 10 percent to roughly 80 percent. They claim that they were able to predict the success of Gnarls Barkley’s single “Crazy” by testing it against these mathematical patterns, and apparently, the program’s predecessor predicted Norah Jones’ success before she “was on anyone’s radar,” according to the Web site.

So great, right? Record labels won’t have to spend millions of dollars promoting singles that, mathematically speaking, don’t stand a chance. That’s great for their budgets, but it sets a frightening precedent.

Pushing the electronic envelope

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May 29, 2007

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By Sean Manning

If the advent of sample culture has taught us anything, it’s that you can’t just slap two and two together and expect to make something transcendent. For every Grey Album there are countless forgettable mash-ups attempting to play “What if?” with pop’s back catalogue and even more pointless remixes. And while rock purists may decry anyone who can’t barre a chord to save their life as a phony, real cut-and-paste collage—when given the proper attention to detail and refinement—can be magic.

Brazilian-born DJ Amon Tobin crashed an otherwise typical set of hip hop and funk spinning at San Francisco’s Mezzanine on Friday night with an abrasive wall of white noise and grinding beats—all in glorious surround sound. It was an appropriate beginning—a palette cleanser of sorts, and a call to the audience that you shouldn’t be dancing anymore. The wall of sound was embellished with audio snippets of a children’s choir to great apocalyptic effect before transitioning into “Esther’s”—a powerful and aggressive track from Tobin’s recent album The Foley Room, which darts fragments of micro-percussion around a sample of a revved engine. The result was something exhilarating and somewhat mysterious, because despite his command of the stage, Tobin seemed to be generating an impossible amount of sound.

As a sound artist more than a breakbeat fiend, Tobin may have seemed a little bit out of place at the Mezzanine, but his performance showed that while everyone and their mom may have access to GarageBand these days, true envelope pushing sound collage remains much more elusive, and, inherently, much more interesting.

Love is in the air

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May 25, 2007

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By Beth Gilomen

I’m new to the city and don’t know many people yet, so I must admit, I’ve been browsing the craigslist missed connections for the last two weeks, passively hoping that someone out there wants to meet me. So far, no luck. But here’s what I have found: there are a lot of you in San Francisco looking for some love in your lives. I feel for you, and apparently, so do the people running this year’s Carnaval San Francisco . The 29th annual bash kicks off this Saturday with the theme Love Happens.

In addition to the usual activities, such as a parade, music, and dancing, this year’s celebration of Latin American and Caribbean cultures will feature speed dating (for those of you ready to get off the computer and reconnect with the real world) and weddings/ commitment (or re-commitment) ceremonies. The ceremonies take place right before the parade on Sunday – and, really, what better way is there to celebrate new unions than a community reception like Carnaval?

So, as cliché as this sounds, give your laptop a rest, go outside, and let a little love happen to you this weekend. I’ll be out there with you.

P.S. If you’re not quite ready to escape the Internet dating circuit, Carnaval SF offers an online dating service as well at www.carnavalsf.com/love .

Beauty with bite

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May 24, 2007

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By Beth Gilomen

Visiting the Conservatory of Flowers’ current special exhibit, Chomp, flooded me with memories of fourth grade field trips – if they’d had a “Little Shop of Horrors” theme. Yes, the playfully titled show features carnivorous plants from all over the world (that’s right, these plants eat meat), displayed almost too close for comfort.

I say “almost,” because I was assured that none of these hungry little predators are harmful to humans. Even sticking your finger inside a Nepenthes pitcher and leaving it there for a few days will only give you a sunburn-like discomfort. Of course, you wouldn’t want to let your pet mice near one.

SFSYO: Celebrating 25 years of serving the community and kicking ass

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May 16, 2007

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By Molly Freedenberg

It’s rare that a youth orchestra performs Beethoven’s monumental Symphony No. 9, the one famous for being created after he went deaf (and also for being considered one of mankind’s greatest artistic achievements.) But the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra, who will present the symphony on Sunday, May 20, is no ordinary youth orchestra.

No, this ensemble of 100 culturally diverse musicians ranging in age from 12 to 21 is considered one of the finest of its kind in the world. And that’s not just because it’s been providing tuition-free orchestral experience to youth for 25 years. It’s because the experience these kids are getting is a world-class, pre-professional caliber musical education. (After all, how often do you think youth orchestras get to work with Yo-Yo Ma and Isaac Stern the way SFSYO has? Answer: almost never.)

It’s basically a guarantee then, that Sunday’s 25th Anniversary concert will amaze and impress – especially considering the performance will include Grammy Award-winning San Francisco Symphony Chorus and four San Francisco Opera Adler Fellows as soloists. Oh yeah, and Colin McPhee’s Tabuh-Tabuhan, a work inspired by Indonesian gamelan music (you know, more of the usual youth orchestra fare…)

SFS YOUTH ORCHESTRA 25TH ANNIVERSARY CONCERT (including post-concert reception and anniversary exhibit)
May 20, 2 p.m.
$10 general, $75 reserved
Davies Symphony Hall
201 Van Ness, SF
(415) 864-6000
sfsymphony.org

Me + Kinky = 2gether 4ever

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May 4, 2007

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By Molly Freedenberg

Dear Kinky,

Oh, how I love you. Unlike so many other objects of my affection, you always come through. And not just because you come when you say you will, or because you’re always dressed for the occasion, or even because you always act as though there’s nowhere in the world you’d rather be except right here, right now, with me.

No, not only do you always deliver on your promise of high-energy music and a great live show. But you also always exceed my expectations.

Wednesday night at the Independent, you were better, cuter, more energetic, and more incendiary, than I’ve ever seen you before. And that’s not easy, because you were pretty damn good when I saw you at the Knitting Factory in L.A. several years ago. and again at in Santa Barbara during that festival Modest Mouse was headlining with “sunshine” in the title. But this. Oh, God. This.