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.
We've all had that day: the one where you accidentally hit "Reply All" on an email intended for one or get rear-ended as you're backing out of the veterinary clinic where you've just spent your life savings to find out that the results on your cat's blood work are "inconclusive."
PostedByLauren Smiley
on Wed, Aug 25, 2010 at 4:55 PM
Sadly, New Leaf is being turned over
Exploding costs of health care benefits and leases will force New Leaf -- a 35-year-old San Francisco center serving the LGBT community with mental health, substance abuse, and HIV/AIDS services -- to close in October.
The center's board of directors announced that it is "financially impossible to continue to operate," according to a press release from the city's Department of Public Health (DPH). "Regrettably, the harsh economics of today's climate have been too much for us to overcome," said Thom Lynch, New Leaf's interim executive director.
That could happen as soon as tomorrow. Tom Pier -- her husband and attorney -- said they'll be filing their petition for expedited review and a stay of yesterday's unfavorable Court of Appeal ruling "first thing" on Thursday with the state's highest court. This was a move he'd originally hoped to complete by the end of today.
In any event, tomorrow's filings with the Supreme Court could lead to three potential outcomes:
It's hard to characterize the San Francisco Examiner. You get an impressive breadth of coverage of local events by very hard-working reporters, lunatic fringe national coverage and editorials, and, well, this.
But we weren't sure what was going on when we spied today's "Travel Tips." Beside hyper-local weather reports, tide measures, and air-quality indexes were the following none-too-local stories: Southwest Airlines has cut its fares for passengers flying from the Northeast to Florida, and Amtrak is offering free rides to the New York State Fair. That's in Syracuse, by the way, which is a long way from just about everywhere but Syracuse. Was this some sort of error? Was this copy intended for the Washington Examiner? Nope. Our San Francisco Examiner newsroom source explained it all.
PostedByLauren Smiley
on Wed, Aug 25, 2010 at 1:59 PM
[image-1]Facebook may have unrivaled access to young, liberal voters, but the social networking site is now ensuring those potential supporters of pot legalization never see a marijuana leaf in political ads on the site. While critics are pulling out the online petitions and accusations of censorship, Facebook has not relented.
Facebook banned ads that featured the image of a marijuana leaf submitted by at least three groups: the Libertarian Party, the District of Columbia's Patient Cooperative, and Just Say Now, a political coalition advocating legalization of pot in states with ballot measures like California's Prop 19.
Perhaps 'Clue' should have included BBQ tools in its weaponry?
Last night in San Francisco, the weather was a breezy 90 degrees -- absolutely perfect for an outdoor cookout. Apparently one woman in the Tenderloin had other plans for her barbecue paraphernalia.
A 47-year-old woman named Gay Brandies was last night arrested after an incident with a 45-year-old woman living in the same Single Room Occupancy (SRO) hotel near Sixth and Markets streets. On the police report, it received the rare designation of stabbing by "BBQ Tool."
PostedByMatt Smith
on Wed, Aug 25, 2010 at 12:59 PM
It's unanimous: let's screw San Francisco
In a year when San Francisco faces a $787 million budget shortfall, how do
our representatives in Sacramento propose to help out? By unanimously supporting a measure transferring $400,000 annually in health care expenses from insurers to local San Francisco taxpayers.
The bill, now awaiting the governor's signature, is called the William "Dallas" Jones
Cancer Presumption Act of 2010, and is the subject of this week's "Matt Smith" column. It would compel workers'
compensation officials to presume that firefighters and police officers
who get cancer long after they retire became sick because of work. Current law provides that workers' comp officials assume any police or fire retiree who contracts cancer within five years of leaving the job became ill because work-related matters. Under the new bill, that period would extend to 10 years.
PostedByPeter Jamison
on Wed, Aug 25, 2010 at 12:02 PM
Who says a war is bad for business?
San Francisco-based social-gaming company Zynga is being sued for alleged trademark infringement over its popular Facebook game, Mafia Wars.
Digital Chocolate, another online gaming company, claims in a lawsuit filed in federal court that it owns rights to the name "Mafia Wars," having published its own game of the same title in 2004. You can read a copy of Digital Chocolate's complaint here.
PostedByJoe Eskenazi
on Wed, Aug 25, 2010 at 8:59 AM
Not a first-rate ending to a second date
An unfortunate story emerged today about an South Bay man and woman, enjoying their second date, being brutally beaten and robbed at Coit Tower early Saturday. What's disturbing is not only that such an attack happened -- it's that you're just hearing about it now.
The male victim is still hospitalized and his broken jaw is wired shut, his sister tells the Examiner. She also lashed out at the state of media crime coverage that supposedly kept this story from becoming a water cooler discussion until today.
A spate of anti-vegetation violence continued in San Francisco with the destruction of nine tea tree bushes in the vicinity of Park Presidio and Fulton.
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.'"
