Santa's Favorite Lap Dance
The days are shorter, the wind is nippier, the reindeer and Christmas lights are popping up in window displays along Powell Street. And over at the Penthouse Club in North Beach, a small chorus line of exotic dancers is preparing for its annual toy drive and fundraiser for San Francisco Fire Fighters Local 798, set for Nov. 21, 8-10 p.m. The Penthouse Toy Drive is as much a San Francisco tradition as the ice-skating rink or tree-lighting ceremonies in Union Square, and in the course of a decade, it's purportedly netted more than $250,000 for children in need. Patrons receive free admission for bringing an unwrapped toy worth $20 or more, and dancers perform "charity" routines, allocating a portion of their proceeds to a fund for the toy program. A stripper-sponsored toy drive might seem like an awkward move for a family-friendly fire department. But it's certainly been a rousing success in years past. The department has also reaped funds from poker tournaments and bare-chest calendars — also an entrenched San Francisco tradition. Sex sells here, but it also shares the profits.
Pink Bike, Pink Nose
This wasn't their typical traffic call: Police say they came across a grown man passed out in the middle of the street next to his child-sized pink bicycle. The man told officers he had gotten drunk on the beach before riding down the street on a kid's bike when "something happened" to him. He hit the ground at 48th Avenue and Cabrillo Street, just north of Golden Gate Park, where he passed out. Officers cited the man for bicycling under the influence (see, it does happen!) after finding a jail identification number on him (for unknown reasons). When officers realized the manchild was unable to stand on his feet, they called for medical units, which transported the early-morning rider to San Francisco General Hospital where he sobered up before pedaling home — on his pink bike, of course.
Comments are closed.
