The neighborhood lemonade stand is a rite-of-passenger for most U.S. kids. The first foray into business, these mini pop-up shops last an afternoon, perhaps two. But one 9-year-old from Marin County kept selling her lemonade, at one point selling it for 322 days in a row, in the pursuit of obtaining a lofty goal -- to end child slavery.
Now the project has been made into a documentary film, #Standwithme, which is currently playing in San Francisco; it's debut yesterday coinciding with National Freedom Day.
Following Vivian through the process, from an idea to a lemonade-bottling plant, the film documents her journey to raise $150,000 in the hopes of freeing five children from slavery.
This show is so gay. I mean, this week our hero was surrounded by seamen as he went to some sort of game-company party.
Here's my favorite line from this week:
"I had a bad fucking day," says Agustin -- in an Angry Samoans t-shirt, no less. He was just fired by Ann Magnuson and her scaffolding of chairs, so of course he is bummed.
"Oh good, me too," replies Patty. In a second, we all get it -- it's what makes roommates matter, even though this was spoken betwixt people who don't actually live together; the two collapse onto the couch as though they both live there.
This week covered the gamut of bathhouses and male prostitution. Dom is the character that takes sexual risks. He's also, apparently, going to open up his own restaurant in San Francisco, a gigantic fucking risk if I ever saw one.
So what's going on with this show? It slow-paced, but drawing me in. We feel like we are watching real people living real lives, still I can't help but wonder if it has appeal for straight people. Though the show has tried to be "post-gay," it still seems to rely a lot on the character's sexuality for plot. Gimme more.
It's still showing San Francisco in a new light, but tiny mistakes are happening, like Scott Bakula's "floral shop on Castro," when we all know the good one is on 18th Street. Bakula is the go-to guy for ancillary gay characters in HBO joints though. Kudos for that.
If you're like many San Franciscans, the first thing you think of when you hear "Bayview" likely isn't an image of arts and culture. But there is a burgeoning art scene, one that encourages city kids and neighbors to take part in, and the place that hosts this all has hit a very large milestone. Happy 125th birthday, Bayview Opera House.
One of the oldest entertainment venues in San Francisco, the opera house was built in 1888 by Free Masons for use as a community center and place of entertainment -- and it has stayed true to its original purpose.
"It's always going to be a place that provides arts and entertainment for its community," says Bayview Opera House executive director Barbara Ockel.
Several years ago Ockel founded the Dare To Dream ARTS Youth Enrichment program, which she says has had a huge impact on both the Bayview Opera House and the surrounding community.
"Kids need somewhere to go during the summer," Ockel says of the summer program. "Last summer, we had over 600 kids come in... it's exciting and they have something to do. They have a positive experience at the opera house and tell their parents about it, so their parents feel more comfortable about it and about Bayview as a whole."
