When the ancient Polynesians invented surfing, they often used a paddle to help them navigate. Fast-forward a few millennia, and Stand-Up Paddleboarding, or SUP, finds itself trendy again. Part of its increasing popularity is that standing upright allows surfers to spot waves more easily and thus catch more of them, multiplying the fun factor. Paddling back to the wave becomes less of a strain as well. The ability to cruise along on flat inland water, surveying the sights, is another advantage. Finally, it’s a good core workout. If you’re sold on the idea, schedule an intro SUP lesson, free with board and paddle rental, and you may find yourself riding the waves like a Polynesian king.More
Many of us remember coming home from our elementary schools with freshly glazed pinchpots, cups, or whatever else our young imaginations could conjure up. Saturday mornings at the Randall Museum can bring that memory back, or create a new one for the youngsters. Ceramics make great gifts — especially on Mothers' and Fathers' Day. Hop on board for the Randall's once-weekly class, and for $6 and two weeks to have your work fired and glazed, you'll have all the materials you need.More
December is almost over - the New Year is coming up and everyone is busy drying off from the rain or holiday shopping. Let's take a look at what's happened this month.
According to Indian thought, we have seven centers of spiritual power on our bodies called chakras, starting from our reproductive organs all the way up to the top of our heads.
The world nearly stopped last year when rumors that this well-graffitied, deeply historied Market Street rock 'n' roll bar would be knocked down and turned into condos started circulating.
PostedByMatt Smith
on Fri, Jun 12, 2009 at 3:59 PM
Bobby Badfingers
During the current difficult times, we have lost faith in many things. But we always thought that Bobby Badfingers -- the native San Franciscan who since the 1980s has turned quick finger-snapping into a world-famous musical novelty act -- would stay true to his art.
In 1987 Badfingers astonished the world by performing the Surfaris' "Wipe Out" on Late Night with David Letterman,busting out lightning-fast finger-snapping licks so catchy that the gig led to engagements worldwide. In 2000 he quit selling RVs to tour full-time. He was temporarily slowed down a year ago when San Francisco cops jailed him for a week, unfairly, according to a lawsuit he filed against the city. But he quickly bot back to business producing Web pilots for a finger-snapping focused children's television show.
Badfingers' latest gambit, however, has caused us to lose faith in the great one's artistic integrity. In what can only be described as a shameless publicity stunt, Badfingers just e-mailed us a new single, in which he reprises Tiny Tim's 1968 hit "Tiptoe Through The Tulips."
PostedByLauren Smiley
on Fri, Jun 12, 2009 at 2:59 PM
So the Chron underwent massive layoffs, Rolling Stone closed up shop, and then the Onion decided to stop circulating in the city. But just when all seemed doom and gloom in the San Francisco media world, a group of sewing aficionados in a Fort Mason building had the balls to launch a new magazine.
As you may have guessed from the suggestive cover featuring a lady bent over her machine (ironic? we hope?), this ain't your granny's sewing periodical. The mag is called Modern Seamster, and the second issue (available free in its entirety online) indicates impressively well-financed production values and editorial content focused at a demographic of urban hipsters with a great affection for their sewing machines.
Between the ads for irons, sewing machines, and fabric stores, there's an interview with the wardrobe stylist at Kink.com (including a break-out box on "How to Work With Latex"), a feature on sewing machine tattoos and the women emblazoned with them, and coverage of a furry convention in San Jose. There's a Q & A with the Devo archivist, the Top-10 Mistakes Made by Country Western Singers, and a feature on a feminist embroidery.
PostedByLauren Smiley
on Fri, Jun 12, 2009 at 1:59 PM
The San Francisco-based Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this week that the government cannot use an illegal immigrant's expunged guilty plea to a simple drug offense as evidence of bad moral character in deportation proceedings.
Jesus Romero came to the United States from Mexico when he was 10 years old in 1988. He pleaded guilty to a first-time drug possession offense a decade later, yet the judge deferred judgment against him pending his completion of a rehabilitation program. According to state law, if an individual successfully completes the deferred judgment program, the criminal charges will be dismissed. Yet prior to his completion of the program, Romero was swooped up in state court by immigration officials for deportation proceedings.
The immigration judge found he could not be deemed to have "good moral character," one of four elements one must satisfy to beat a deportation order. One is disqualified from good moral character if her or she has been convicted of a number of crimes -- including drug possession -- or merely having admitted to have committed such crimes. The judge found Romero's guilty plea was tantamount to "admitting" he committed a crime, despite the deferred judgment and the charge being dismissed after Romero completed a three-month rehab program.
PostedByMatt Smith
on Fri, Jun 12, 2009 at 1:11 PM
According to news reports, starting in 2000 and up to the near-present, Houston Airport Chief Richard Vacar oversaw the diversion of a reported $1.9 million worth of employee time to a private corporation set up to operate the airport in Quito, Ecuador.
According to an SF Weekly investigation, between 1998 and 2004, San Francisco International Airport Chief John Martin oversaw the diversion of around $2 million to a private corporation set up to operate the airports of Honduras.
Last month Houston Mayor Bill White fired Vacar, suggesting that a well-run airport doesn't have that much excess time for employees to engage in outside business. San Francisco city fathers, however, have remained completely mum on the funds diversion Martin oversaw, despite the fact his employees apparently violated laws preventing government agencies from transferring assets to private parties.
Could it be that San Francisco is even oilier than Houston?
PostedBySteve Elliott
on Fri, Jun 12, 2009 at 12:00 PM
Photobucket.com
To put a new twist on an old saw, desperation is often the mother of invention. When a person, or a state, is in dire straits, it's often an opportunity for the kind of epochal change that, at other times, might not be considered.
That's where we are right now with Marijuana law reform in California, thanks to the state budget crisis and its attendant desperate search for tax revenue. Backers of the Control, Regulate and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010, the first major statewide initiative designed to legalize Marijuana for personal use, say they are preparing to get the issue on the November 2010 ballot.
According to Richard Lee, founder of TaxCannabis2010.org, sponsors of the initiative, the tide has turned. Lee (who's also executive director of medical Marijuana dispensary and teaching center Oaksterdam University in Oakland) said polls showing majority support for legalization and taxation of Marijuana, along with the recession, mean that the initiative could be viewed as a watershed, and even a first step in changing federal Marijuana laws.
PostedByJoe Eskenazi
on Fri, Jun 12, 2009 at 10:55 AM
Harold Hurtt
Harold Hurtt is the top cop in Houston -- and, according to sources, is on the short list for San Francisco's job as well. But if Hurtt doesn't land the job here in the city, he may soon be out of work altogether: One of the candidates for mayor of Houston earlier this month said that, if elected, she'll can the chief.
"I will replace the police chief. I think he's ineffective," City Controller and mayoral candidate Annise Parker
"He doesn't..." Parker was interrupted by someone in the crowd before
she could continue.
The statement was downplayed by both Parker and a spokesman for the Houston Police Department, who told the Press that Hurtt "loves Houston and would like to retire here." That may be, but it doesn't seem that Hurtt is averse to an interlude on the West Coast before curtailing his law-enforcement career, or he wouldn't have applied for the San Francisco job in the first place.
PostedByJoe Eskenazi
on Fri, Jun 12, 2009 at 8:30 AM
On not one, but two occasions (if not more), Supervisor John Avalos has derisively suggested that Mayor Gavin Newsom resides in a different universe than the rest of us. We're not sure if Pacific Heights qualifies as another universe, but, whatever plane of existence Gavin dwells in, it appears he has ready access to at least two things: L'Oreal Total Control Clean Gel and John Avalos' private e-mail account.
Avalos told SF Weekly he was surprised to stumble across a "Buck the system with Gavin" e-mail in his personal inbox recently. Apart from the District 11 supe's questions about how, exactly, casting a vote for Newsom qualifies as "bucking the system," Avalos is curious how he found his way onto the Newsom bandwagon's mailing list.
PostedByJoe Eskenazi
on Fri, Jun 12, 2009 at 7:30 AM
Assemblywoman Fiona Ma's bill to crack the financial whip when it comes to billing disabled parking placard outlaws is moving through the State Senate -- and local leaders are singing its praises.
And why not? Seriously, who could object to a plan to ding those who falsely pass themselves off as disabled and suck up San Francisco's maddeningly sparse parking all damn day long? Who will step forward and fight on behalf of the phony disabled greedy parking community? Whose constituency is that?
Take, for example, the honest-yet-dishonest man accused of lifting liquor in West Portal on Wednesday. When deliverymen caught the man attempting to open the door to their truck, they shouted, "What are you doing?"
According to police reports, the man matter-of-factly replied, "I am robbing you."
PostedByJoe Eskenazi
on Fri, Jun 12, 2009 at 12:01 AM
Persons of interest...
Search warrants indicate that police confiscated 860 Marijuana plants growing in a structure a stone's throw from a Bayview warehouse that burst into flames last month -- a strong indication that initial theories blaming careless pot-growers for the blaze may well be accurate.
A firefighter was injured in the fire last month at a warehouse located at 2265 Revere; an illegal converter box clued police in that a Marijuana growing operation might be tied to the blaze (known as "jumping the box," growers often unlawfully circumvent the meter and tap into the power supply to prevent the massive utility bills police have learned are indicators of a growhouse).
Search warrants obtained by SF Weekly's Will Harper reveal that firefighters spotted hundreds of pot plants at 2266 Shafter -- mere feet away from the charred warehouse -- and police executed the warrant shortly after the fire was contained, carrying off 860 plants from the premises.
Sub Pop recording artists 'clipping.' brought their brand of noise-driven experimental hip hop to the closing night of 2016's San Francisco Electronic Music Fest this past Sunday. The packed Brava Theater hosted an initially seated crowd that ended the night jumping and dancing against the front of the stage. The trio performed a set focused on their recently released Sci-Fi Horror concept album, 'Splendor & Misery', then delved into their dancier and more aggressive back catalogue, and recent single 'Wriggle'.
Opening performances included local experimental electronic duo 'Tujurikkuja' and computer music artist 'Madalyn Merkey.'"
