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.
Once upon the 1980s, Filipino emigrant Demetrio Braceros (known as Demi by friends and locals) was entrusted with the care of Cayuga Park, a seedy sump of public space that had fallen into disrepair.
PostedByJoe Eskenazi
on Fri, Oct 9, 2009 at 3:55 PM
The results are in -- the inaugural "Comb Your Hair Like Gavin Newsom Day" is a big, greasy success.
While Newsom's ability to manage this city -- and, potentially the entire realm of California -- is up for debate, his control over his coiffure can no longer be questioned. We ran through combs like Richard III ran though horses, and were forced to use not Pinaud Clubman or Brilliantine, but both. As George W. Bush quipped about running the entire country, whipping your hair into Newsom's 'do "is hard work."
PostedByLauren Smiley
on Fri, Oct 9, 2009 at 3:45 PM
The Federal Trade Commission released new, rather confusing rules this week to smack down bloggers, social media users, famous Tweeters and other online pundits who don't disclose getting money or free schwag from companies that they write about. Some have interpreted the new rules to anyone who didn't disclose tainted reviews could be subject to an $11,000 fine.
Many in the online world are incensed that, in some cases, the FTC rules that will go into effect December 1 seem to be harsher on the Internet than on traditional media. For example, newspapers, including ours, are inundated with reams of free books to review each week, a fact that usually goes undisclosed in the printed review.
Yet we couldn't help wondering how the threat of a massive fine might affect the reviewing-by-the-masses giant in town, Yelp. One Yelper brought the issue up on the Web site's message boards this week, though not many joined in on the discussion.
PostedByPeter Jamison
on Fri, Oct 9, 2009 at 2:41 PM
Windmills aren't the only things spinning
The gears of the Ministry of Correct Progressive Thought could be seen clanking into action once again this week on the editorial pages of the San Francisco Bay Guardian, where that newspaper's opinion purveyors tried to convince readers that San Francisco should be pushing ahead full-bore with a public power scheme known as community choice aggregation, or CCA.
The argument in itself is a fair one. CCA, known in its local iteration as CleanPowerSF, would advance some widely held local energy priorities, such as greener power, while making the city less reliant on PG&E -- which for a century has held San Francisco in the vise-grip of an electricity monopoly. Yet once again, the Guardian has chosen to play its readers false when it comes to the hard facts on CCA and public power.
The big lie in this week's editorial concerns the cost of CleanPowerSF. Most reasonable people would expect that electricity from cleaner and more local sources would come at a premium, and independent analysts have concluded that this will certainly be the case with CCA. As we explained in a January cover story, the city controller's office estimates that CCA would drive up city residents' power bills by 24 percent -- and predicts that this burden would fall disproportionately on the city's poorest residents.
PostedByLauren Smiley
on Fri, Oct 9, 2009 at 11:59 AM
Everyone harbors suspicions that police are enjoying deep discounts on coffee and donuts all over the city -- and, as department spokeswoman Sergeant Lyn Tomioka tells us, they usually are. But it's protocol to never accept anything for free. If the clerk insists, the common practice is to toss the price into the tip jar.
There's a sound reason for this. It requires a ruling of the Police Commission in order for a cop to accept a "gift" of any value. A police officer must petition his or her commanding officer to accept a gift or money, and the request will then be forwarded to the commission. The process, as Tomioka knows well, can take months.
So it may not be a big surprise that just about all of the requests to accept gifts cops have made since 2004 can be enumerated in a blog post. Let's check out who's getting what!
Chase moments ago called SF Weekly and said that, yes, the CHP did indeed run over the victim -- technically.
"Blood and body parts were spread out so far, over two or three lanes," he says. "It's hard to be delicate when describing this situation -- it was like an explosion. There were body parts everywhere."
Chase added that many other cars may have driven through body parts and blood at the gruesome scene on Highway 280.
Officer Shawn Chase of the CHP flatly denied that officers were among the drivers who ran over the pedestrian at around 10 p.m. last night, resulting in several hours of highway closures. Instead, he says, CHP officers got the call of someone "who appeared drunk" wandering onto the highway, but weren't able to intervene until she was struck "at least three times."
The car that struck the woman initially -- and, likely fatally -- did not stop. The second and third -- a Chrystler and a Jeep -- did pull over, however, and the drivers were interviewed by CHP officers.
The San Francsico Medical Examiner's office told SF Weekly this morning they have not yet identified the victim. Chase said it may be a challenge -- the body was "not intact" following the grisly incident. Yes, this means the woman was reduced into pieces, leaving the Medical Examiner to hopefully deterine her identity via fingerprints or other methods.
PostedByJoe Eskenazi
on Fri, Oct 9, 2009 at 7:30 AM
Justin Page
Stay classy, San Francisco
Witness intimidation! Religious and sexual harassment! Bacteria-infested sandwiches! If that's the week it was, we're extra glad it's Friday. Also, time for a quiz:
A. Letters on the men's shirts spelled out K-I-L-L Y-O-U-! (the man wearing the exclamation point wasn't arrested until later as he was only considered an accessory) B. The group wouldn't stop making vicious animal noises during testimony C. The men stood simultaneously and bared their teeth at the witness D. The group surrounded the witness' car in the parking lot prior to the hearing
A. "A complete fucking waste of my fucking time. And you can print that." B. "Not so bad. I walked my parents' dogs. Talked on the phone a lot. It was all right." C. "Mistakes were made. That's all I'm saying." D. "It was a very humbling experience."
PostedByJoe Eskenazi
on Fri, Oct 9, 2009 at 6:30 AM
Fore!
During this weekend's President's Cup Golf Tournament at Harding Park, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, and President Barack Obama are all scheduled to be within cigar smoke-blowing distance of one-another, and 25,000 fans are expected to attend.
There hasn't been a development this exciting in the Outer Sunset since ... well, since The Big Bang, really.
But will attendees be treated to women in blindingly pink attire protesting America's ongoing wars within earshot of the president? We asked Code Pink's San Francisco grassroots coordinator Rae Abileah -- and, like most folks about to attempt a shot out of the bunker, she wasn't exactly certain what was going to happen.
PostedByJoe Eskenazi
on Fri, Oct 9, 2009 at 5:30 AM
Joseph Byrnes
SF Weekly has documented the strange and sad saga of Joseph Byrnes, the San Francisco musician charged in August with hacking his dog to death with an axe in Bernal Heights' Immaculate Conception Church. Police claim they found Byrnes nude and slathered in the blood of his pit bull, Nickel, whom he said he was forced to kill because the animal was demon-possessed.
Byrnes has another day in court next week, when his attorney, deputy public defender Daro Inouye, is scheduled to file a motion to set aside claims of animal cruelty and second-degree burglary on Oct. 14. Assistant District Attorney Brian Buckelew, who is also a spokesman for the DA, said he's confident the motion will be denied: "We really have a pretty solid case." Inouye did not return SF Weekly's calls.
Byrnes' lifelong friends lamented to SF Weekly that the San Franciscan has battled mental illness all his life and is on the tail-end of a disastrous three-year downward spiral that cost him his job, his home, and now his freedom. And yet, the question of Byrnes' mental state on the day he allegedly slaughtered his dog has not yet been broached by the prosecutors or the defense.
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.'"
