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.
Mashing up different world cuisines is usually a popular conceit for new quick-service eateries and food trucks to make a quick buck and gain Instagram fame, but Volta has shown how well global cross-pollination works on a refined plate without stretching for novelty or pretense in the process.
Is there a syndrome for thinking your dad committed famous murders?
As if police didn't already have their hands full with loonies and conspiracy theorists calling in tips about who the Zodiac Killer is, they can now add a freakin' ex-cop to their list.
"Steve Hodel is not just anybody claiming his father is the Zodiac," announced a recent press release from Hodel's publicist. "He spent 24 years as a homicide detective with the L.A.P.D. with one of the highest 'solve rates' in the department."
If that's true, we humbly suggest that the LAPD check back over those cases and make sure Hodel didn't simply blame his father for all of them. He seems to enjoy doing that.
Hodel claims that his surgeon and Chronicle reporter father, Dr. George Hodel, sliced the Black Dahlia in half in 1947 (he's written another book arguing as much), and in 1946 dismembered six-year-old Suzanne Degnan in Chicago. Oh yeah, Hodel also thinks his father was the Lipstick Killer.
PostedByJoe Eskenazi
on Wed, Sep 23, 2009 at 5:05 PM
Jim Herd
Earlier today, the Transit Workers Union predicted that the unfortunate driver who crashed her training coach yesterday -- knocking out a light pole, a pair of trees, two parking meters, and coming to rest against a building -- would be fired, unless some manner of equipment failure caused the crash.
With chilling speed, Muni has severed its ties with the driver. Spokeswoman Kristen Holland moments ago told SF Weekly " the trainee in yesterday's accident no longer works for the SFMTA."
I don't think we're exaggerating by calling Frank Chu -- omnipresent "12 Galaxies" protester -- the living San Francisco icon. He called the other day with a housemate dilemma: "She found a new date so she's moving out."
The implications of that statement are a bit hazy, but the upshot is that Chu is on the search for a housemate who's willing to pay $150 a month for a room in his house near Oakland's Chinatown. We told him he could probably charge more than $150 dollars, but he said the rent is mostly just to help him out with "some financial situations." Don't question this opportunity, folks, just go with it.
PostedByPeter Jamison
on Wed, Sep 23, 2009 at 3:01 PM
Our colleagues at the Village Voice broke a strange story of both local and national interest yesterday. It turns out that James O'Keefe, the mischievous videographer behind a series of covert films that have disgraced the national grassroots organization Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now -- better known as ACORN -- has pulled down funding from San Francisco resident Peter Thiel, the conservative Silicon Valley entrepreneur.
Writing on the Voice news blog, Steven Thrasher reveals that Thiel helped O'Keefe produce an earlier video with a grant of at least $10,000. (The previous video, called "Taxpayers Clearinghouse," featured O'Keefe duping working-class folks into thinking they'd won $28,000.) A founder of PayPal and early investor in Facebook, Thiel is now a hedge fund manager. He is co-author of the the anti-"multiculturalist" polemic, The Diversity Myth; according to Gawker's Valleywag, Thiel is gay. He denies that he directly funded the ACORN video, but Thrasher notes that previous financial support from the entrepreneur could have seeped over to aid the latest project.
PostedByMatt Smith
on Wed, Sep 23, 2009 at 11:59 AM
But can Rover end global warming?
In the debate over what to do about global warming, almost nobody has a coherent position on the issue -- leftist greenheads hate market-based solutions even though they work. Right-wing Luddites profess the climate change problem doesn't even exist.
Could this dissonance become strong enough to provoke a polar magnetic field shift in earthly politics, in which right-wingers end up taking the lead proffering effective solutions to the climate-change problem? Recently statements by a deep-red Southern California politician suggest such a cosmic shift may be in the making.
San Francisco is in the process of rolling out a pilot program called SFPark, in which parking in a congested area at a busy time of the day would cost
more than parking later in the afternoon far from downtown. Parking will be priced according to supply and demand, in other words.
PostedByJoe Eskenazi
on Wed, Sep 23, 2009 at 10:59 AM
After learning that a Muni training bus yesterday managed to collide with a light pole, a pair of trees, two parking meters, and, finally, a building in Japantown, readers probably pondered two scenarios for the poor would-be driver: Dismissal or a quick trip to upper management.
In all seriousness, however, the fate of the driver-in-training was not mentioned in any media reports we could find. Is crashing your service vehicle a firing offense or is there some leeway here? Muni spokeswoman Kristen Holland said she couldn't comment on specific employee disciplinary matters, but would get back to us with a big-picture answer. But the Transportation Workers Union was more candid: Don't expect this driver to be around long.
Raphael Cabrera, the union's executive vice president, said a driver who crashes his or her training coach "usually suffers dismissal." Barring a brake failure or other equipment meltdown, Cabrera foresees that outcome in this case as well: "That's a terminating offense."
PostedByJoe Eskenazi
on Wed, Sep 23, 2009 at 8:30 AM
Watching Matt Cain and the Giants piss away a big lead and then mount an ill-fated comeback was unpleasant, especially when coupled with the Colorado Rockies staving off an epic bullpen meltdown to gain another game on San Francisco. But we didn't assuage our disappointment by draining a 12-pack of cheap, watery beer and then wearing the box on our heads like a crown while commanding our fellow apartment dwellers to make way for the real King of Beers.
We don't work for The Westword, in Denver, where, apparently, this is how you deal with life's problems. In their latest bout of trash-talking all things Giants and San Francisco, the rapscallions at our sister paper assumed we'd have resorted to massive quantities of alcohol to ease the pain. Two things: Coors may run in the taps out Westword's way, but not here. Second, any Giants fan who reaches for a bottle of booze whenever this team disappoints will live on in perpetuity when his relatives visit his beachball-sized liver in a medical museum well into the 22nd century. The Westwordalso took issue with our earlier statement noting that Denver is a city that has never "felt the joy of a sporting championship that wasn't connected to John Elway's equine, leering mug," noting the Colorado Avalanche's pair of Stanley Cup trophies. Fair enough -- let us amend that statement. Denver is a city that has never felt a joy of a sporting championship that wasnt connected to John Elway's aforementioned equine mug -- or the plundering of a hockey team from Canadians who nurtured it with their tears for agonizingly long stretches of futility only to have it greedily yanked away to Denver the moment it showed any promise.
So let's put that in perspective. Those 300,000 books are ferried from the Friends' warehouse to Fort Mason via 10 trips from an 18-wheeler. As anyone who's ever had the pleasure of packing up an apartment knows, books are heavy. Well, imagine moving 8,000 boxes of books. Hope you've got a good chiropractor.
So, yes, there's going to be a whole lot of books. And people do get worked up. Katie Ambellan, the Friends' spokeswoman, notes that people fly to San Francisco for this. They wait outside the door like Long Islanders anticipating the opening of the Wal-Mart on Black Friday and roar about the aisles "like Supermarket Sweep." A couple of years ago, a fire broke out after someone left a ball of tape on top of a heater. No one wanted to leave the books despite the smoke and flames and patrons had to be physically removed.
So If you want to walk away with an armful of books rather than have a flock of obsessed, apparently flame-retardant readers walk over you: Ambellan has some advice.
PostedByJoe Eskenazi
on Wed, Sep 23, 2009 at 6:30 AM
Joe Eskenazi
'My hooptie rollin', tailpipe draggin', heat don't work an' my girl keeps naggin'...'
Put on a San Francisco Giants jacket and walk through this city and, within 20 minutes, you'll likely be giving someone directions to Union Square.
The breakdown of who's traipsing through Union Square on any given day looks a bit like this: Around 50 percent tourists (many international) dressed for Los Angeles weather and all toting the same map; 25 percent Bay Area residents who don't mind paying retail; 13 percent Academy of Art students; 12 percent maintenance and janitorial staff of surrounding buildings; and one guy in a Giants jacket telling everyone where to go.
This is the tip of the spear for San Francisco's collision of haves and have-nots. Perhaps spears and collisions help explain the condition of this automobile, recently seen parked in front of the Tiffany's on Post Street.
So it's unlikely that the folks at the Lorillard Tobacco Company will anchor an ad around a Tuesday incident on the 4100 block of Mission Street. After an unknown person forced his or her way through the front door of a business, the resultant police report notes the loss of the "cash register, U.S. currency, and Newport cigarettes."
Our calls to the officer who filled out the report and to the department's burglary detail haven't yet been returned. But unless this is oddly worded, it appears this thief knew what he wanted and bypassed all the other cigarettes in favor of that menthol-chilled and remarkably refreshing taste only Newports can deliver.
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.'"
