Archives from 2004

News, Feature

2004: A Year of Mayoral Triumph

What a year it was! In 2004, a young, handsome, husky-voiced mayor became a national celebrity, and the city was changed for good. Who could forget the heartwarming scenes at City Hall? Or the mayor's brave and always-surprising positions: on…

by Nate Cavalieri and Tommy Craggs December 29, 2004 Tags: Feature, Featured Stories, Matt Gonzalez

Music,

It's Kind of Unusual

It began in Queens, N.Y., in the late '60s, in the closet of Steffanos Xanthoudakis' mother. There, on the back of her closet door, hung the lordly image of the singer who is known by many names, but whose admirers…

by Nate Cavalieri December 8, 2004 Tags: Music, Feature, Tom Jones, Tom Jonesing, San Francisco, Tantric Tom

News, Feature

A Winding Path

From the air, it looks as if a giant, heavy hand reached down and touched this spot, leaving a set of fingerprints in deep, grass-covered grooves of earth. On the ground, it's impossible to see that the circular forms make…

by Nate Cavalieri December 1, 2004 Tags: Feature, Featured Stories, Jeff Saward, John Thomas, Lauren Artress, San Francisco

Music, Reviewed

The Weakerthans

There's a certain authority in the tenor of John K. Samson's well-schooled power pop that can be a little daunting. It's not just that the Weakerthans' leader is hyperaware of the shoulders on which he stands -- clever writers like…

by Nate Cavalieri December 1, 2004 Tags: Reviewed, Reviewed, John Samson, The Weakerthans, Clem Snide, Elvis Costello

Music, Reviewed

Richard Buckner

Like so many others who steer their V-8s into the burned-out Brigadoon of altcountry, Richard Buckner has a hard-on for the classics: heartache, rotgut liquor, and bleak backdrops. Even though Buckner stays this course, his sixth studio effort does try,…

by Nate Cavalieri December 1, 2004 Tags: Reviewed, Reviewed, Richard Buckner, Barry White

Music, Hear This

Hear This

Maybe it's because of her borrowed handle, but songwriter Sam Phillips always seems to require a little too much explanation. Fans inevitably have to qualify themselves with "Sam Phillips the singer," so as not to mix her up with the…

by Nate Cavalieri, Maya Kroth, and Dave Pehling December 1, 2004 Tags: Hear This, Critics Picks, Sam Phillips, Bobby Darin, Sam Phillipsalways, Aimee Mann

Culture, Books

No Plot? No Problem!: A Low-Stress, High-Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days

By Chris Baty Chronicle Books (2004), $14.95 It's appropriate that Chris Baty's first published book has roots in National Novel Writing Month, the annual competition he founded to challenge would-be novelists to write a 50,000-word work of prose in a…

by Nate Cavalieri November 24, 2004 Tags: Books, Books, Chris Baty, Chronicle Books LLC

Culture, Books

the school among the ruins

By Adrienne Rich W.W. Norton (2004), $22.95 Northern California poet Adrienne Rich always steers us straight into disasters -- from the forceful Diving Into the Wreck, which established her voice in American poetics, to her latest, the school among the…

by Nate Cavalieri October 27, 2004 Tags: Books, Books, Adrienne Rich, W.W. Norton & Company, Baghdad, Beirut

News,

The Ackerman Election

On a Tuesday night two weeks ago, Arlene Ackerman, San Francisco's superintendent of schools, parked herself squarely in the middle of a horseshoe-shaped table, peered over her sunglasses, and launched into a lifeless recitation of a Pablo Neruda poem. Around…

by Nate Cavalieri October 27, 2004 Tags: News, Columns, Arlene Ackerman, Heather Hiles, Eric Mar, Mark Sanchez

Music, Reviewed

Tom Waits

Over the past decade, Tom Waits has developed a tripartite personality: There's the surrealist cabaret singer of The Black Rider, the sorrowful lounge act that has taken a "Downtown Train" to hell and back, and the high-octane caveman who emerged…

by Nate Cavalieri October 13, 2004 Tags: Reviewed, Reviewed, Tom Waits, MoveOn.org

News, Feature

Sup-Ee-Oh!^TM

INTRODUCTION The election is only weeks away, and already the voter guides are thudding against our doorsteps. Indeed, San Francisco is abuzz with 11th-hour politicking, but even at this late stage, one race remains a puzzle: District 5. There --…

by Nate Cavalieri and Tommy Craggs October 6, 2004 Tags: Feature, Featured Stories, San Francisco, Matt Gonzalez, Francis Somsel, Jim Siegel

News, Feature

Under the Gun

Jaron Nunnemaker looks ready to die for his country. He's dressed entirely in black -- black cowboy hat, shirt, vest, jeans, and chaps. The only other colors he wears are a touch of gold and white (in the "Army of…

by Nate Cavalieri September 29, 2004 Tags: Feature, Featured Stories, Jaron Nunnemaker, Professional Bull Riders, U.S. Army, San Francisco

Music, Reviewed

Björk

By limiting the instrumentation of her fifth proper studio release almost exclusively to vocal samples, Björk holds to the path that has made her an icon of eccentricity. Doubtless, the 14 tracks are ambitious and astute, whether nodding to Karl…

by Nate Cavalieri September 29, 2004 Tags: Reviewed, Reviewed, Karl Stockhausen

Music, Reviewed

Steve Earle

It's almost as if Steve Earle's 12th studio recording has been issued as an antidote to this season's abundance of carefully worded stumping. All but two of the 11 songs were recorded within 24 hours of conception, in a frenzied…

by Nate Cavalieri September 8, 2004 Tags: Reviewed, Reviewed, Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris

Music, Reviewed

Little Wings

Some musicians are more accurately understood by their ZIP codes than a list of like-minded peers. It's true of Kyle Field's quiet, five-year career as Little Wings. Though Field might be filed alongside Will Oldham or M. Ward, his tributes…

by Nate Cavalieri September 1, 2004 Tags: Reviewed, Reviewed, San Luis Obispo, Will Oldham, Kyle Field

News, Feature

March Radness

So there you are, standing on a Manhattan sidewalk, having driven the width of the country to protest the Republicans' coronation of President Bush, and it's only now that you realize just how woefully unprepared you are. No megaphone. No…

by Nate Cavalieri, Tommy Craggs, and Garrett Kamps August 25, 2004 Tags: Feature, Featured Stories, George W. Bush, Manhattan, Mill Valley, Iraq

News, Feature

Love on the Run

I'm standing in the middle of Van Ness during rush hour. I'm breathless and my legs are heavy, and I'm wet with sweat. It's like one of those anxiety dreams about wandering through the halls of high school without pants…

by Nate Cavalieri August 11, 2004 Tags: Feature, Featured Stories, Mike Caton, Robert Philkill, San Francisco, Tara Bietz

Music,

Emo Money

"This is a scrapbook that I started keeping," Todd Bell explains to the video camera. He's sitting at a kitchen table thumbing through the pages with the kind of unfettered nostalgia usually reserved for high school football stories or John…

by Nate Cavalieri July 7, 2004 Tags: Music, Columns, Bob Nanna, Todd Bell, Chicago, Chris Broach

Summer Guide, Summer

Easy Parking

When a summer day in San Francisco actually turns sunny, our most popular city parks get packed. You'll dodge Frisbees in Dolores Park, run from busloads of tourists in Golden Gate Park, and put up with troupes of rollerblading dot-moms…

by Nate Cavalieri June 23, 2004 Tags: Summer, Summer Guide, Tank Hill, San Francisco, Golden Gate Park, Kite Hill

Music,

Sonny's Days

We're in a stark, cheap motel room with a view of the desert, a place with faded blue plaster walls and a vibrating bed with a quarter slot. The scratchy soundtrack -- a Bakersfield-country guitar waltz -- seems inappropriately chipper…

by Nate Cavalieri June 16, 2004 Tags: Music, Columns, Sonny Smith, San Francisco, Jolie Holland, Central America

Music, Reviewed

Bad Religion

Notable tele-psychiatrist Dr. Phil McGraw asserts that we all have destructive emotional characteristics in our personalities, which he calls "bad spirits." Below are some of Dr. Phil's "bad spirits," which have the ability to sabotage long relationships: "You Think It's…

by Nate Cavalieri June 16, 2004 Tags: Reviewed, Reviewed, Phil McGraw

Music, BeatBox

BeatBox

Now that lurid sex acts have been (sort of) banned in the backroom of Powerhouse (as well as at all other SOMA bars after a recent bust at My Place), the venue's "Wrasslin'" night is the next best way to…

by Brock Keeling and Nate Cavalieri June 16, 2004 Tags: BeatBox, Columns, Nate Cavalieri, Folsom, Brock Keeling, Brad Pitt

Music, Reviewed

PJ Harvey

Depending on how you verbalize the ham-fisted title to Polly Harvey's seventh release, the three grunts can either be an endorsement ("Uh huh, hell yeah, its HER!") or a dismissal ("Uh huh, whatever, its her."). But Harvey's catalog has always…

by Nate Cavalieri June 9, 2004 Tags: Reviewed, Reviewed, Polly Harvey

Music, BeatBox

BeatBox

Every trend, no matter how fleeting or forgettable, can cough up at least one masterpiece that marks its zenith. The most durable artifact that's emerged from the irksome '80s revival (reissued Garbage Pail Kids, anyone?) might be the recent work…

by Nate Cavalieri, Charlie Amter, and Sam Chennault June 9, 2004 Tags: BeatBox, Columns, Felix Da Housecat, Pharoahe Monch, Orlando (Florida), Chicago

Music, Reviewed

New Found Glory

Near the Earth's core there exists a subterranean conference room, replete with comfy leather chairs, chilled carafes of water, and delicately perfumed air. Recent meetings there have resulted in low-rise jeans, Wal-Mart's underwriting of NPR, and Jimmy Kimmel. In the…

by Nate Cavalieri June 2, 2004 Tags: Reviewed, Reviewed, Jimmy Kimmel, Orv Madden, Burger King Corporation, Hot Topic Inc.

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Issue.Year

Features

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Nate Cavalieri

What a year it was! In 2004, a young, handsome, husky-voiced mayor became a national celebrity, and the city was changed for good. Who could forget the heartwarming scenes at City Hall? Or the mayor's brave and always-surprising positions: on…

It began in Queens, N.Y., in the late '60s, in the closet of Steffanos Xanthoudakis' mother. There, on the back of her closet door, hung the lordly image of the singer who is known by many names, but whose admirers…

From the air, it looks as if a giant, heavy hand reached down and touched this spot, leaving a set of fingerprints in deep, grass-covered grooves of earth. On the ground, it's impossible to see that the circular forms make…

There's a certain authority in the tenor of John K. Samson's well-schooled power pop that can be a little daunting. It's not just that the Weakerthans' leader is hyperaware of the shoulders on which he stands -- clever writers like…

Like so many others who steer their V-8s into the burned-out Brigadoon of altcountry, Richard Buckner has a hard-on for the classics: heartache, rotgut liquor, and bleak backdrops. Even though Buckner stays this course, his sixth studio effort does try,…

Maybe it's because of her borrowed handle, but songwriter Sam Phillips always seems to require a little too much explanation. Fans inevitably have to qualify themselves with "Sam Phillips the singer," so as not to mix her up with the…

By Chris Baty Chronicle Books (2004), $14.95 It's appropriate that Chris Baty's first published book has roots in National Novel Writing Month, the annual competition he founded to challenge would-be novelists to write a 50,000-word work of prose in a…

By Adrienne Rich W.W. Norton (2004), $22.95 Northern California poet Adrienne Rich always steers us straight into disasters -- from the forceful Diving Into the Wreck, which established her voice in American poetics, to her latest, the school among the…

On a Tuesday night two weeks ago, Arlene Ackerman, San Francisco's superintendent of schools, parked herself squarely in the middle of a horseshoe-shaped table, peered over her sunglasses, and launched into a lifeless recitation of a Pablo Neruda poem. Around…

Over the past decade, Tom Waits has developed a tripartite personality: There's the surrealist cabaret singer of The Black Rider, the sorrowful lounge act that has taken a "Downtown Train" to hell and back, and the high-octane caveman who emerged…

INTRODUCTION The election is only weeks away, and already the voter guides are thudding against our doorsteps. Indeed, San Francisco is abuzz with 11th-hour politicking, but even at this late stage, one race remains a puzzle: District 5. There --…

Jaron Nunnemaker looks ready to die for his country. He's dressed entirely in black -- black cowboy hat, shirt, vest, jeans, and chaps. The only other colors he wears are a touch of gold and white (in the "Army of…

By limiting the instrumentation of her fifth proper studio release almost exclusively to vocal samples, Björk holds to the path that has made her an icon of eccentricity. Doubtless, the 14 tracks are ambitious and astute, whether nodding to Karl…

It's almost as if Steve Earle's 12th studio recording has been issued as an antidote to this season's abundance of carefully worded stumping. All but two of the 11 songs were recorded within 24 hours of conception, in a frenzied…

Some musicians are more accurately understood by their ZIP codes than a list of like-minded peers. It's true of Kyle Field's quiet, five-year career as Little Wings. Though Field might be filed alongside Will Oldham or M. Ward, his tributes…

So there you are, standing on a Manhattan sidewalk, having driven the width of the country to protest the Republicans' coronation of President Bush, and it's only now that you realize just how woefully unprepared you are. No megaphone. No…

I'm standing in the middle of Van Ness during rush hour. I'm breathless and my legs are heavy, and I'm wet with sweat. It's like one of those anxiety dreams about wandering through the halls of high school without pants…

"This is a scrapbook that I started keeping," Todd Bell explains to the video camera. He's sitting at a kitchen table thumbing through the pages with the kind of unfettered nostalgia usually reserved for high school football stories or John…

When a summer day in San Francisco actually turns sunny, our most popular city parks get packed. You'll dodge Frisbees in Dolores Park, run from busloads of tourists in Golden Gate Park, and put up with troupes of rollerblading dot-moms…

We're in a stark, cheap motel room with a view of the desert, a place with faded blue plaster walls and a vibrating bed with a quarter slot. The scratchy soundtrack -- a Bakersfield-country guitar waltz -- seems inappropriately chipper…

Notable tele-psychiatrist Dr. Phil McGraw asserts that we all have destructive emotional characteristics in our personalities, which he calls "bad spirits." Below are some of Dr. Phil's "bad spirits," which have the ability to sabotage long relationships: "You Think It's…

Now that lurid sex acts have been (sort of) banned in the backroom of Powerhouse (as well as at all other SOMA bars after a recent bust at My Place), the venue's "Wrasslin'" night is the next best way to…

Depending on how you verbalize the ham-fisted title to Polly Harvey's seventh release, the three grunts can either be an endorsement ("Uh huh, hell yeah, its HER!") or a dismissal ("Uh huh, whatever, its her."). But Harvey's catalog has always…

Every trend, no matter how fleeting or forgettable, can cough up at least one masterpiece that marks its zenith. The most durable artifact that's emerged from the irksome '80s revival (reissued Garbage Pail Kids, anyone?) might be the recent work…

Near the Earth's core there exists a subterranean conference room, replete with comfy leather chairs, chilled carafes of water, and delicately perfumed air. Recent meetings there have resulted in low-rise jeans, Wal-Mart's underwriting of NPR, and Jimmy Kimmel. In the…

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