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.
When day drinkers just could not stop pissing along the train tracks at Dolores Park, where every weekend tons of revelers gather to partake in booze and other inebriants, the city came up with a great idea to make public urination acceptable: install an outdoor urinal.
PostedByChris Roberts
on Wed, Feb 17, 2016 at 12:15 PM
Justin Keller/Twitter
Man has blog, internet bites him.
Justin Keller is no Greg Gopman. He did not live in city-subsidized affordable housing while calling the city's homeless "hyenas," all before morphing into the self-appointed savior of San Francisco street people.
But Justin Keller, startup founder, is a tech guy. And he has a blog. And he's a tech guy who on Monday typed out an ill-advised lament in which he states, in the three years he's been a San Franciscan, he has become increasingly alarmed by the "homeless and drug problem that the city is faced with" — which means that he's now and forever in the same category as Gopman and Shih, whose rants about city life earned them internet scorn.
"I’ve been living in SF for over three years, and without a doubt it is the worst it has ever been," he wrote, in what he describes as an "open letter" to Mayor Ed Lee and SFPD Chief Police Suhr (because homelessness is a political and law enforcement problem, natch).
"Every day, on my way to, and from work, I see people sprawled across the sidewalk, tent cities, human feces, and the faces of addiction. The city is becoming a shanty town… Worst of all, it is unsafe."
He went on. And so did the rest of us, on Twitter and elsewhere, where Keller has earned the all-too predictable scorn.
And Gascón is not done. Both the DA and the FBI will be looking deeper at a treasured San Francisco value — pay-to-play politics — with a "political corruption" task force announced Tuesday.
PostedByChris Roberts
on Wed, Feb 3, 2016 at 6:00 AM
Uber Drivers United
Surge situation.
Super Bowl 50 arrives bearing gifts for San Francisco. Hometown hero Uber, for example, is an official partner of the Big Game — which, according to Super Bowl Host Committee spokesman Nathan Ballard, means that Uber drivers can use taxi stands when ferrying passengers to and from the various events in Super Bowl City, U.S.A., including the parties in San Francisco and the game itself at Levi's Stadium.
That's a nice perk for Uber drivers, some of whom are organizing to make sure no driver takes advantage of it.
Some of the organizers of yesterday's protest of Uber HQ — demonstrated, but the first oneto earn national press — in which 200 or so Uber drivers circled from City Hall to Uber's 1455 Market Street offices and back honking horns, are trying to get as many Uber drivers as possible off of the road before Sunday.
It's an Uber Super Bowl strike, a show of driver solidarity in the months leading up to the pivotal court decision on whether Uber drivers are employees or contractors. Will it work? Can it work?
PostedByRick Paulas
on Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 2:50 PM
Ekevara Kitpowsong/SF Examiner
Tent City.
When you're living on the street, information is currency. Some homeless folks have phones, sure, but the data they're looking for isn't a quick Googling away. Where eat, where to sleep, and where to score are all important — and which shop owners aren't going to flip if they see a tent pitched outside even more so.
But what's currently on the minds of every dweller in San Francisco's Tent City, U.S.A. — centered underneath the US-101 overpass where South of Market and the Mission District meet — has been where they're going to be forced to next.
Last summer, Mayor Ed Lee famously said that homeless people would have to "move" while the city welcomed Super Bowl 50 to town. Now that the Super Bowl is here, there's another problem: Tent City has become overly congested, dangerous, combustible.
“When it's spread out, it doesn't look bad," Walker said. "They didn't really know how many people were out here.”
But now, the residents of Tent City can feel something else coming, a new plan in the works to push them even further out of the way before the approaching flood of Super Bowl tourists.
PostedByAdam Brinklow
on Mon, Dec 21, 2015 at 4:10 PM
Bay on the Brink
Warning signs.
If you were driving northbound on US-101 toward San Mateo last week, you may have noticed a new billboard with an alarming announcement:
“IN THE NEXT SEVERE STORM, THIS FREEWAY WILL BE UNDERWATER.”
This disconcerting news is brought to you by Our Bay on the Brink, a public outreach campaign cooked up by environmental groups and big businesses anxious about the potential for devastating floods that will inflict tens of billions of dollars in damages throughout the Bay Area’s low-lying regions.
Sometime in the next couple of decades, a storm the likes of which California hasn’t seen in a century-and-a-half is going to swamp us. But this isn’t about climate change or rising sea levels (although those greatly exacerbate the risk). These kinds of storm are part of Mother Nature’s business as usual.
Uber's new Oakland HQ (formerly the Sears building) was tagged on May 1.
You may have noticed an atmospheric disturbance last night at 7:12 p.m. Did you feel a tingle in your spine? Glimpse a strange shadow in your peripheral vision? Find yourself seized with the desire to open your windows or burn sage?
Coyotes howled. Dogs whimpered. Children cried. Cats did nothing, but they are cats.
The Kid is on its way. El Niño, the blockbuster storm system weather event that occasionally wreaks havoc in California, unleashing everything from torrential floods to landslides, is on track to be a “monster” this year.
As the Los Angeles Times reports, the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center announced yesterday there’s a 95 percent chance El Niño will continue through the winter, meaning the state will see increased rainfall. But will it rival the 1997/98 El Niño (one of San Francisco’s wettest seasons ever)?
Hackers have apparently released 9.7 gigabytes of customer data stolen from AshleyMadison.com, the self-described "world's leading married dating service for discreet encounters."
Although some were initially skeptical of the data's authenticity, security expertsnow seem to agree that the leaked data is real. The data includes 36 million email addresses as well as user names, passwords, and credit card information.
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.'"
