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.
PostedByLois Beckett
on Mon, Jan 11, 2010 at 7:30 PM
Elisa Stephens had an admission to make today. "We have made a few mistakes," she said at a public hearing regarding the controversial housing practices of her family's for-profit Academy of Art University.
And that, claim the Academy's many critics, is one hell of an understatement.
For decades, the Stephens family -- which founded and runs the Academy -- has been buying up residential buildings and turning them into dormitories, without the appropriate city permits. Filling formerly rent-controlled apartments with multiple bunk beds per room is a lucrative business -- and up to now, the city has pretty much let the Academy get away with ignoring the law.
Planning Department officials have been working with the Academy on a "path toward legalization," but there have not yet been any consequences for the school's long-term violations. On top of this, city officials and community members have raised concerns about the safety and living standards in the Academy's converted dormitories.
PostedByPeter Jamison
on Mon, Jan 11, 2010 at 6:30 PM
City Attorney Dennis Herrera is asking state energy regulators to shut PG&E up when it comes to a controversial overhaul of San Francisco's power system that proponents say would provide greener electricity.
A city brochure for CleanPowerSF
In a petition filed today with the California Public Utilities Commission, Herrera asks for a sweeping prohibition on any communications from the company directed at its San Francisco customers on the subject of the city's plan, called CleanPowerSF. "There's a difference between First Amendment rights and using your market monopoly for an anti-competitive end," said Matt Dorsey, Herrera's spokesman.
The petition was provoked in part by a December mailer sent out by a PG&E-affiliated political action committee that attacked CleanPowerSF, citing predictions by economists in the City Controller's Office that it would raise customers' rates. (Disclosure: the mailer also quoted a January 2009 SF Weeklycover story on the potential pitfalls of the program.) Dorsey said that such mailers would be illegal if the state Public Utilities Commission grants Herrera's request.
PostedByLauren Smiley
on Mon, Jan 11, 2010 at 5:30 PM
A roundup of the action on Day One of the Proposition 8 trial at San Francisco's Federal Courthouse.
The attorney for the Prop. 8 backers argues: "Marriage is essentially the sexual embodiment of the man and the woman
who formed the marital union." Did this guy not get the news that marriage is the end of sex? You think if he's so disgusted with gay sex, he'd want them to marry. [The Advocate]
The opening statements from the gay couple's attorney reiterate that
As goes California, so goes the nation? Equality California's director weighs in on whether this verdict will spread quicker than the swine flu in an audio interview. [Pam's House Blend]
The Prop. 8 opponents remind us that having the gay married neighbors won't affect your hetero-marriage one bit. With 50 percent of marriages ending in divorce, that means you're probably still doomed. [Think Progress]
Milk screenwriter says he doesn't want today's gay kids to feel they're second-class citizens. Was that in the script? [KCBS]
Last month, an unknown person or persons painted several large swastikas, epithets, and phallic images around the Glen Park playground. The Recreation and Park department quickly painted over the anti-Semitic symbols, and police opened an investigation into the hate crime.
Then it happened again. Over the weekend, a swastika appeared on the wall of the nearby Glen Park Recreation Center in what police are calling "a repeat incident."
According to an Ingleside police newsletter, the station is now keeping a close eye on the area and has officers specifically assigned to patrol parks at night.
The department asks that anyone who notices suspicious activity in the area to report it immediately.
PostedByJoe Eskenazi
on Mon, Jan 11, 2010 at 1:30 PM
www.lcpstc.org
The "anything you can do I can do better" competition between unknown miscreants on both sides of the bay to see who can immolate more vehicles recorded a couple more San Francisco entries.
Sometime between midnight and noon on Sunday -- that's the window the San Francisco Police Department have given -- someone smashed in a car window on the 2200 block of 39th Avenue and ignited the interior. The car's owner discovered the vehicle burning, presumably sometime after noon.
Then, 12 hours later at around midnight this morning, another car went up in flames on 39th Avenue.
PostedByAndy Wright
on Mon, Jan 11, 2010 at 11:59 AM
So, The Simpsons is still on! The eminently quotable show is in its 20th year and Fox aired a 90-minute special directed by documentarian Morgan Spurlock to celebrate the momentous occasion. Various celebrities discussed their favorite characters. Our fair mayor, Gavin Newsom, joined Jerry Springer in singing the praises of the corrupt and reprehensible Mayor "Diamond" Joe Quimby of Springfield. (Check out the video here.)
Of the Kennedy-esque cartoon politician Newsom says, "The corruption, the graft, the sexual escapades! It's just a typical day on the job!" Gawker is quick to point out that the interview is engineered for maximum cynical self-referential humor: "Springer, during his unsuccessful 1982 campaign for Ohio governor improbably turned the fact that he slept with a hooker into a campaign ad; and Newsom slept with his campaign manager's wife. You could totally see Quimby doing these things." Okay, we're just going to say it: D'oh!
Wired magazine got an early look at the special, and of Newsom's appearance they quipped, "Newsom's mention of Diamond Joe's "sexual escapades and heavy drinking" especially shines, considering the real-life politician's real-world experiences on similar terrain. There's got to be a joke in there somewhere." Yes...somewhere.
10:30 a.m. - City Operations and Neighborhood Services committee
There is so little going on at this meeting that physicists have yet to quantify an amount this small.
1 p.m. - Land use & Economic Development Committee
When local small business owners spend years complaining, the result is a meeting like this one. Four out of the six measures on the agenda are designed to help local and/or small local businesses get more contracts and money from the city. Why? Because we're San Francisco, damn it: We believe in putting local people first, and efficiency last.
We caught up with one such gentleman, a 34-year-old Chris Daly residing in Boston where he's a programmer. Following his profane namesake's pledge to institutionalize his profanity, Boston Daly's pals began razzing him about it on his Facebook page.
"Personally, I think this is very funny," said Boston Chris Daly. "But, then, I'm not a constituent. It doesn't seem terribly effective for me; as an elected official it doesn't seem very professional. But, as someone in Boston reading about him, it's kinda funny."
Boston Chris Daly did have one solid word of advice for his San Francisco namesake: Why limit yourself to just "fuck"?
PostedByJoe Eskenazi
on Mon, Jan 11, 2010 at 7:59 AM
Now on YouTube ... and Twitter!
Since getting a pass into today's high-profile Prop. 8 trial at the city's federal courthouse essentially required getting a favor because you're Atticus Finch's kids, the rest of us will have to watch on YouTube.
UPDATE 8:30 -- Due to a Federal Supreme Court ruling, there will be no video at all in this case. So that makes it Twitter or nothing for fervent court followers.
If you thought a Web site that vaulted to cultural ubiquity largely via videos of Tyson the skateboarding bulldog would now be a major factor in a massive civil rights trial with far-reaching ramifications -- well, congratulations on your foresight. And yet, watching the trial on YouTube will require a day's delay. What if you're not Jem or Scout Finch and you want to know what's going on with the trial now?
Well, if YouTube is too slow, you may have to go with Twitter. Dan Levine, a reporter with the legal newspaper The Recorder, will be live-tweeting the trial (he's @FedcourtJunkie, and you can read his feed here).
Finally, we just heard from a colleague who attended this morning's
sunrise vigil/pep rally in favor of same-sex marriage rights. And he
relayed a clever line from one of his fellow attendees: "How do you get
people to show up so early in the morning? Promise everybody a speaking slot."
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.'"
