By Ben Terrall

I met Eric Drooker when we were both callow teens experiencing the joys of a coed Quaker socialist hippie camp in Vermont. We skinny-dipped, which was part of the camp's official policy, and smoked pot, which wasn't. Drooker has lived in the Bay Area since the mid-1990s, but his art is closely associated with New York City. A lanky, laconic man in his late 40s, he was born and raised in Manhattan, and the city still dominates his imagery. This is true of his wordless graphic novel Flood: A Novel in Pictures (Dark Horse), which won an American Book Award in 1993. It also applies to the haunting silent ballad Blood Song (Harvest Books), published in 2002.

Eric Drooker

Yet Drooker is perhaps best known for oil paintings that grace covers of The New Yorker — in early September last year, his 15th cover for the magazine appeared on newsstands. Some of these paintings are also included in 2006's Illuminated Poems (Running Press), which pairs his art with writing by the late Allen Ginsberg. Most recently Drooker published a book of postcards titled Slingshot (PM Press, 68 pages, $14.05). It consists of 32 images created with razor blade on scratchboard.

As local fave Papercuts puts out You Can Have What You Want, sometime contributor to the project David Enos shares a new movie about going without:

SFBG's Laura Peach rounds up local items and experiences to die for. See her last installment here.

How happy April always is. Sunshine and showers bring bright blossoms out into the world. Heavy jackets and scarves are shed and exchanged for light blazers and cardigans. Everything seems to have a new life, which makes Easter a fitting celebration.

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1. Bottled for Baby

Have a friend or family member who took up with the fertility frenzy and has a new little chickie of their own? Newborns don’t digest Cadbury’s so well, really. Opt for one of these rainbow colored baby bottles ($14) instead. They are made of glass, so mama’s milk will taste fresh and delicious. Silicone covers will ensure the bottle won’t crack like an egg if junior drops it.

Spring, 2162 Polk, SF; 415-673-2065, www.springhome.com

Crankies, start revving up your book deals. I have a new love (oh, I know, it's been around since 2008 but I was busy working back then): the cute animal-loathing, curmudgeonly Fuck You, Penguin blog.

I'm especially happy about the fact that the FUP has moved on from simply adorable critters and misbehaving pets to mythical creatures and figments of our imagination like unicorns and Bigfoot. Hey, it's an excellent excuse to give a nice, hard poke to those omnipresent cutsey-pie pics all over the Internets (always the most-popular pics on online news sites) and snappy-good bad-attitude writing.

Here's a primo example of the hee-hee-larious stuff coursing off the site, under the headline "Jaded hipster owls think they've seen it all."

SFBG photog Ariel Soto scoops SF street fashion. See the previous Look of the Day here.

Today's Look: Sally, 24th St. and Sanchez

Tell us about your look: "No comment"

By Juliette Tang

Crossroads Trading Company, the Berkeley-based clothing retailer that deals in used and recycled threads, wants you to submit your fashion photos for a $1,000 prize, plus the inclusion of your photo in an upcoming Crossroads ad campaign. The details: you style your own fashion shoot, snap some pictures, and upload them to the Crossroads website before May 31. Once your snaps are uploaded, judges from Crossroads will pick their favorites on the basis of originality, creativity, composition, and overall quality. “We can’t wait to see this year’s entries,” said Jerry Block, founder of Crossroads Trading Company, “We receive hundreds each year, with some from as far away as Germany and Sweden. The winning photos clearly express our customer and our customer’s love of all things fashion.” So, photogs, what are you waiting for? Hurry up and start snapping away! People have already started submitting. Look at what Crossroads has so far. It's some pretty cool stuff.

By Virginia Miller

Farmerbrown's leaps from the frying pan into Little Skillet

As long-time San Francisco resident and writer, I'm passionate about this city and obsessed with exploring its best food-and-drink spots, events and news, in every neighborhood and cuisine type. I have my own personalized itinerary service and monthly food/drink/travel newsletter, The Perfect Spot, and am thrilled to share up-to-the minute news with you from the endless goings-on in our fair city.

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NEW RESTAURANT OPENINGS

Little Skillet: Chicken & Waffles from a walk-up alley window in SoMa
Farmerbrown's is about to open Little Skillet in a SoMa alley at 330 Ritch. It's a walk-up window offering morning pleasures like biscuit sandwiches loaded with cheese, egg, housemade sausage or bacon, plus Oyster Po'Boys, and one of my favorites in comfort food: Chicken and waffles (from Petaluma Poultry chickens) for breakfast and lunch. Lucky, those who work nearby! Cento, neighboring alley Blue Bottle coffee-source, also sells box lunches of Little Skillet's food. Initial hours are supposed to be Monday–Friday, 8am–3pm, open later as baseball season progresses. No strikes here!
330 Ritch
415-777-2777
www.littleskilletsf.com

Woodhouse Fish Co... Part Deux
When I want a Crab Salad (aka mountain of fresh crabmeat) with fresh lemons, Anchor Steam-battered Fish & Chips or a buttery Lobster Roll without waiting in line at the great Swan Oyster or paying Waterbar prices, Woodhouse Fish Co. fits the bill perfectly. Old seafaring movies on the wall, like 1935's "Mutiny on the Bounty", pair nicely with hanging squids and tackle. Up till now, it's been the Castro locale but with a brand new, larger space on Fillmore, there's more than one way to assuage New England seafood hankerings.
1914 Fillmore Street
415-437-2722
www.woodhousefish.com

Bistro Saint Germain delivers French flair to Lower Haight
Le P'tit Laurent owner, Laurent Legendre, with chef Eliseo Soto Dimos, debuted Parisian bistro fare to Lower Haight this weekend with Bistro Saint Germain. If you want a change of pace from Lower Haight's curry houses and sandwich shops, here you can dine on French classics like bistro-style mussels, salads, escargots and boeuf bourguignon. Legendre makes quick friends in the 'hood by offering Le P'tit's popular steal of a prix-fixe: 3-courses for $19.95, Sunday through Thursday.
518 Haight Street
415-626-6262

By Steven T. Jones

Tom Kennedy -- an artist who helped create the art car movement popularized by Burning Man, and an activist who used his creations to push for progressive political change – drowned yesterday at Ocean Beach at the age of 48.

As the writer of and commenters to his obituary at Laughing Squid attest, Kennedy had a big influence on the Bay Area’s counterculture. After being arrested protesting at the Republican National Convention in 2004, he was undeterred and went back at the GOP four years later as Dr. Stange McCain and the Missile Dick Chicks in a great bit of political theater.

San Francisco has lost a unique creative force to a turbulent ocean and his influence will be missed.

SFBG photog Ariel Soto scoops SF street fashion. See the previous Look of the Day here.

Today's Look: Bronwyn from Australia, 18th St. and Castro

Tell us about your look: "My outfit is very put together because we are traveling and I'm trying to keep warm with what I have in my suitcase."

By the ravenous Guardian staff

(1) Dim sum, Ton Kiang
(2) Hunky Beau’s brisket
(3) Pizza d’Asti and Prosecco, Palio d’Asti
(4) Basil Napolean, Chapeau!
(5) Bacon-wrapped, mushroom-stuffed pork roast and Lagunitas pilsner

LOCAL ARTIST Mike Kuchar

TITLE Myth Men

BIO Mike Kuchar, cinematographer, painter, writer, and brother of George Kuchar, was born in New York City. He began making 8 mm movies in the 1950s, switching over to 16 mm film production in 1960, and continues now, producing short motion pictures in the video and digital formats. He has also done illustrations for various erotic publications, including Manscape, Gay Heartthrobs comics, First Hand, and Meatmen.

SHOW "Dark Americana," through May 9. Tues.-Sat., 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Baer Ridgway Exhibitions, 172 Minna, SF. (415) 777-1366.

WEB www.baerridgway.com

SFBG photog Ariel Soto scoops SF street fashion. See the previous Look of the Day here.

Today's Look: David, Market and Castro

Tell us about your look: "I like color and offbeat items. Be true to yourself when it comes to fashion."

By Molly Freedenberg

Ah, the economic downturn. I'm sitting at my desk, eating instant noodle soup and dreaming of more luxurious times. Times when I'd find myself somewhere like Share Our Strength's Taste of the Nation, a benefit featuring more than 20 of the area's best restaurants and bartenders — and raising funds to end childhood hunger in San Francisco. If I had $75 to spare, I could be at the tasting reception, hosted by Absinthe's Jamie Lauren. A bit more pocket change (OK, it's $175 more) and I'd also enjoy a multicourse dinner with premium wine pairings. A fantasy closer to my actual budget, though, is ViniPortugal's Wine Tasting. One $35 advance ticket takes my imaginary self to the Westin St. Francis, where I'd taste every one of 250 quality wines from Portuguese vintners while noshing on appetizers and supporting WomenHeart, an organization helping women with heart disease. Or perhaps I'll take Dream Molly on a date to Campton Place, where I'll feast on the $45 three-course Stimulus Menu.

But times (and bank accounts) being what they are, my Cup O' Noodle alternatives are going to be a bit less swank — though no less tasty. Find me Thursday at Paragon, where a brat sandwich, fries, sauerkraut, and a Fat Tire costs a mere $13. And next week? Tuesdays with Morty's. The deli offers a delicious Reuben sandwich and a PBR for $7, and is now open until 8 p.m.

Taste of the Nation. April 23, 5:30pm, $75–$250. Field Club Lounge at AT&T Park, SF. taste.strength.org

Wine of Portugal Wine Tasting. Thu/16, 5:30-8pm, $35–$50. Westin St. Francis, 335 Powell, SF. www.viniportugal.pt

By Natalie Gregory

Elissa Down’s The Black Balloon is an impressive little film. The Australian import follows the Mollisons, a family centered on their autistic son Charlie (an awards-worthy performance by Luke Ford). It is told mainly through the eyes of Thomas (Rhys Wakefield), Charlie’s younger brother. We see Thomas struggle with the perception of his brother by his peers and his constant regret that Charlie is not normal. His mother Maggie (played with maternal strength by Toni Collette) and father Simon (Erik Thomson) love Charlie unconditionally and take excellent care of him. And there are certainly incidents to be taken care of. Maggie and Thomas argue just after Charlie has just defecated on his bedroom floor. The reason? Thomas locked him in his room when Thomas’ love interest drops by. It is a quest for Thomas to accept his brother’s fate, and to learn by example what it means to be compassionate. A moving film.

The Black Balloon opens Fri/17 in Bay Area theaters.

By Johnny Ray Huston

In this week's Guardian I make reference to the influence of animator Norman McLaren on Junior Boys' new album Begone Dull Care (Domino). The song collection takes its name from a 1949 film by McLaren, but his influence saturates the album, from its lyrical references to "Parallel Lines" to more overt aspects such as the simply handsome color chart qualities of the CD's booklet, on through to a song titled "The Animator." "I could draw a line without it falling off the page," singer-lyricist Jeremy Greenspan intones wishfully there, before glowing instrumental elements build up to a swoon. Canadian pride and gay affinity live within singer-songwriter Greenspan's tribute to the late McLaren, who drew directly onto film to create many of his best works. But could the Junior Boys' version of Begone Dull Care use a little of McLaren's splashy energy and humor? Though he also dipped into jazz, the music for many of his shorts has a Perrey and Kingsley quality. Here's a sample to enjoy:

Norman McLaren, Dots

Norman McLaren, Begone Dull Care

After the jump -- more McLaren films:

SFBG photog Ariel Soto scoops SF street fashion. See the previous Look of the Day here.

Today's Look: Liz, 18th Street and Noe

Tell us about your look: "My style is independent. There are certain colors and shapes I really like, so then I use them and dress accordingly."

By Rita Felciano

Liz Lerman is one gutsy woman. Early in her career she decided that there is more to dance than working with highly trained performers for an audience that wants to be entertained. "There was a time when people danced and the crops grew," she told a conference of arts presenters 15 years ago. "They danced, and that's how they healed their children." For Lerman, the primary function of dance is to heal and create communities. Not only has she taken her Dance Exchange company to parks, schools, and nursing homes, she has included so-called non-dancers in her performances.

Today such efforts have become fairly commonplace, except they are usually considered ancillary outreach activities. For Lerman, making "dance of, by, and for the people" — as it has been called — is the foundation of her work. She often weaves spontaneous audience suggestions into her pieces. Older dancers (i.e., over 60) and dancers with disabilities are part of her company. And she doesn't shrink away from big topics. In 2006 she brought Ferocious Beauty: Genome to Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. A hugely ambitious collaboration between artists, scholars, and scientists, this multimedia work explored the forces that had been unleashed with the mapping of the human genome. This weekend she is returning with an equally far-reaching project. Small Dances About Big Ideas was commissioned by Harvard Law School for the 60th anniversary of the Nuremberg trials. It looks at atrocities, the law's ability to address genocide, and our capacity to be either "bystanders" or "up-standers."

LIZ LERMAN DANCE EXCHANGE Sat/18-Sun/19, 8 p.m., $28-$36. Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 3200 California, SF. (415) 292-1233, www.jccsf.org/arts

By Johnny Ray Huston

Call me corny, call me crazy, call me Anne Heche, but it's true: it's raining cats and dogs. There's an influx of cat- and dog-related art and events happening in the Bay Area.

Yesterday brought "Walk the Dog Electric," a walking event at Heaven's Dog restaurant with dog portraits by Judy North, who currently has a show of non-canine work up at Electric Works. I like what little I've seen of North's dog portraits, and hope she puts on a show of them sometime.

Judy North, Benni, 60 inches by 40 inches, watercolor

Next week, Visual Aid gets into the act with an April 25 gallery walk that includes "Purrrrseus," Charles Bierwirth's exhibition of feline oil paintings that use vintage studio portraits as source material.

Charles Bierwirth, Purrrrseus #2, 56 inches by 72 inches, oil painting

Lastly (unless someone mentions soemthing I've missed), this weekend brings DogFest 2009.

A DogFest 2008 participant makes his/her voice heard. Photo by Kira Stackhouse-Fetch Photo and Aaron Anderson

Do you look like your dog?

On the subject of DogFest, here's what Guardian contributor Michelle Broder Van Dyke has to say in this week's issue:

"There should be a lot of ass-sniffing at DogFest 2009. Other things to expect: dogs howling or singing, a giant bouncy castle shaped like a doggie, dogs dressed up to look like carrots and batteries, people dressed as dogs, and of course, people who simply look like their dogs (or vice-versa). All of you who've spent hours patrolling the Internet studying dog and owner look-alike photos — I recommend doyoulooklikeyourdog.com — will be relieved to know that a recent study from Bath Spa University has confirmed that the lady in heels is more likely to have a poodle and the big burly man does in fact own a pit bull. Instead of checking them out on the online, encounter them in real life at this benefit for SFUSD McKinley Elementary School."

DOGFEST 2009
Sat/19, 11 a.m.–3 p.m., free ($20 for contestants)
Duboce Park
Duboce and Noe, SF
(415) 241-6300
www.mckinleyschool.org/dogfest

SFBG photog Ariel Soto scoops SF street fashion. See the previous Look of the Day here.

Today's Look: Tim, Market and Castro

Tell us about your look: "Cowboy drag"

By Ari Messer

Snow Day, 2008

One of my most uninteresting college professors used to insist that negatives only exist in language, but couldn't explain what this meant. That's funny, I thought, because I can physically feel a complete lack of interest in your class. In fact, I think you can feel it too; it's contagious. Nonetheless, I was never bored as a child, and I'm still never bored. The boring and the uninteresting are different concepts. Julie Blackmon's lucid, staged photographs of childhood fantasy worlds in the twilight of America are stunning for a ton of reasons, but first and foremost they get their signature bite and sting by recognizing that everyone in each scene is interested in different things. There is no sincere panorama. From the modern intrusions into Blackmon's protoclassical, Dutch-inspired scenes — a miniature FedEx truck, Netflix mail — to trippy little things such as the almost lurid dog eyes and discarded gloves in Snow Day (2008), every person, place, and thing appears distracted by an otherworldly mission.

Adding to this sense of confused biography, Blackmon, the oldest of nine kids and now a mother of three, uses people and things from her life in her work like a novelist trussing out character relations pictorially. She reminds me of some essays by Orhan Pamuk about his daughter, Rüya. It's not the stories themselves that are so thrilling, but the palpable feeling of love in their narrative arcs, plus the vectors they send out into Pamuk's novels, where characters seem to have little aspects or shimmers of Rüya (even if she wasn't born when the story was written): her young mind, her toys and delusions, the way she gazes out the window and finds it startlingly new every day.

JULIE BLACKMON: DOMESTIC VACATIONS Through May 23. Tues.-Sat., noon-5 p.m. SF Camerawork, 657 Mission, second floor, SF. (415) 512-2020. www.sfcamerawork.org

SFBG photog Ariel Soto scoops SF street fashion. See the previous Look of the Day here.

Today's Look: Tinker Bell, Market and Noe

Tell us about your look: "Wear whatever you want. I like vintage, but I also really love high fashion. I just try to build it all together."

Photos and text by Ariel Soto

Protected from the extreme heat beneath their colorful rice paper umbrellas, Japanese beauty queens (and a few drag queens too) made their way through downtown for the Cherry Blossom Festival Grand Parade this Sunday, April 19th. Although a large highlight of the parade were the Japanese beauties, there was also a posse of anime fans and a boat filled with children waving colorful handkerchiefs while dancing to Abba. And of course the parade included several groups of highly energized taiko drummers who kept the parade going all the way to Japantown.

By Molly Freedenberg

I'm not a huge Seth Rogen fan. He's charming enough, I guess, and I always have a soft spot for Jewish actors who aren't conventionally attractive (Jason Schwartzman and Woody Allen, I'm talking to you). But since I am neither a 17-year-old boy nor a stoner, Rogen's comedies simply don't do much for me; hence, neither does he.

However, I've developed a new affection for him after stumbling across a video of him performing stand-up as a teenager on one of my favorite time suck sites, www.idontlikeyouinthatway.com. In the video, he's surprisingly confident and funny for his age. Plus, he's taking shots at Judaism -- a sure way to warm this semi-Semite's heart.

I'm still not going to see Observe and Report, or probably ever finish more than 20 minutes of Knocked Up. But when he gets a little older and starts doing more comedian-turned-serious-actor stints (a la Jim Carrey in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), I might actually buy a ticket to see him rather than watching his film for free via www.sidereel.com. Nice job, 13-year-old Seth. You've (almost) caught yourself a nice (almost) Jewish girl. At least, as a possible fan.

By Virginia Miller

Hot Tamales on Sun/26. See "Events" below

As long-time San Francisco resident and writer, I'm passionate about this city and obsessed with exploring its best food-and-drink spots, events and news, in every neighborhood and cuisine type. I have my own personalized itinerary service and monthly food/drink/travel newsletter, The Perfect Spot, and am thrilled to share up-to-the minute news with you from the endless goings-on in our fair city. View the previous installment of Appetite here.

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NEW OPENINGS

Anthony's Cookies satisfies your cookie craving all day long
On the same Mission block as Suriya Thai (R.I.P.), is a new cookie kitchen that can help assuage the loss of my favorite Thai. Anthony (who has spent over 10 years perfecting his craft) and his staff give a friendly welcome as they bake, for now offering a half dozen cookies for $5, or $9.25 a dozen, eventually selling them individually. On the blessedly smaller side, they're warm and about as homemade tasting as they smell. There's toffee chip, banana (like banana bread in cookie form), cinnamon sugar, whole-wheat oatmeal cranberry, gooey chocolate chip, and maybe my favorite? Cookies and cream. Tastes like home.
1417 Valencia, SF
415-655-9834
www.anthonyscookies.com

Moussy's brings French cooking classes, movies and Petit Dejeuner to Nob Hill/Polk Gulch
Downstairs from Alliance Francaise, there's a new stop pre or post AF's French language classes and film screenings: Moussy's, an intimate, candlelit cafe for a morning croissant and cappuccino, or lunch time respite, serving salads, baked brie, and pot pies. They'll soon be offering French cooking classes and film nights, too, ensuring that foodies, expats, bohemian artists, poets and aspiring cooks have a true Parisian cafe hangout.
1345 Bush, SF.
415-441-1802
www.moussys.com

SFBG photog Ariel Soto scoops SF street fashion. See the previous Look of the Day here.

Today's Look: Rollin, 18th Street and Castro

Tell us about your look: "I got this jacket in Hong Kong."

By Danica Li

Any long-suffering graduate student will tell you that assembling a thesis out of thin air is something that requires a lot of time, a lot of love, and just a pinch of lunacy. The Department of Art at San Francisco State University (SFSU) is graduating artists from its three-year MFA program this month, and work by eight of them will be on display at the university studio through May 13. The contributions run the gamut: there are photography pieces, sculptures, paintings, samples of performance art, and installations.

Tom Griscom, Beale Street, 2008, 8 inches by 36 inches, digital pigment print

Rosie Sesler, Penis of the Quomerticus fere, mixed media, 6" by 4" by 4"

Clare Szydlowski, Untitled, gum biochromate, 28 inches by 70 inches

Seriously? The exhibition is nothing if not a prime chance for the keen-eyed art fanatic to come and rub his hands over bottled fallopian tubes and black and white photos of urban corrosion. Some highlights include Clare Szydlowski's “The Obvious Unseen: Landscapes of Efficiency and Decay,” Tom Griscom's landscape photography, and Rosie Sesler's sculptures, which in the past have taken on the form of exotic, self-created animal species alien to this world and the next.

In the latest edition of FEAST, our guide to dining and drinking in the Bay, we asked three local chefs to create recipes using part of a chicken and a few simple, affordable ingredients. Below is a bonus recipe from Gary Danko.

Chef Gary Danko gives Guardian readers more ideas for affordable, delicious home dining.

Spiced Chicken-Chickpea Stew

Serves 8
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 teaspoon cracked black peppercorns
5 whole cloves
1-inch piece cinnamon stick
2 small yellow onions, finely diced
4 pounds chicken thighs, trim excess fat
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2-3 teaspoon kosher salt or to taste
2 cups boxed or canned chopped tomatoes
1 to 3 cups water or just to cover
1/2 teaspoon saffron threads, finely ground (optional, but delicious)
1 teaspoon toasted cumin
1/2 teaspoon Garam Masala (see recipe below)
2 15-ounce cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup chopped cilantro, mint and scallions

In a thick bottomed soup pot, heat the olive oil. Stir in the pepper, cloves, and cinnamon stick, cooking until the spices start to sizzle. Stir in the onion and coat with oil mixture, cooking for five minutes or so. Place chicken in pot and cook until each side is opaque and slightly golden brown, stirring the onions so that they do not burn. (You want a slight caramelization.) Stir in the turmeric, cayenne pepper, tomatoes, water, saffron, cumin and the Garam Masala.

SFBG photog Ariel Soto scoops SF street fashion. See the previous Look of the Day here.

Today's Look: SF Slim, 16th Street and Sanchez

Tell us about your look: ""Lo rez."

By the edacious Guardian staff

Mmm .. matzoh brie

(1) Pit-roasted whole pig in banana leaves, Santa Cruz Mountains

(2) Matzoh brei and brisket

(3) Fries with eyes, Anchor and Hope, SF

(4) Two towers of stacked donuts while watching Twin Peaks

(5) Pagan Sunday dinner with steak, celery root mashed potatoes, strawberry mousse

By Johnny Ray Huston

David Wilson's new show "Open Endless" includes a 22-foot watercolor of the ocean, and a very small rendering of the sand. I'm going to the opening tonight, because I really like Wilson's art, which was on display at Eleanor Harwood Gallery last year.

WIlson has a kinship with Nathaniel Russell, another Bay Area artist who knows how to make a lot out of just a little line or two. Curated by Brianna Toth, this show collects drawings he's made over the past eight months at the ocean and at the Rodeo Cove cliffs in the Marin headlands. Anyone who has attended one of the happenings Wilson has put together under the Ribbons rubric knows tonight should be sweet, not just because it's at Tartine.

OPEN ENDLESS
Wed/22, 9 p.m.
Tartine
600 Guerrero, SF
(415) 487-2600
www.ribbonsribbons.blogspot.com/

By Natalie Gregory

The need...for speed.

If you’re into horses or horse racing, go see John Corey’s Lost in the Fog -- Lost in the Fog being a famous steed who cleaned house in 2005. The film follows the success of the horse’s short career as told through the experiences of owner Harry Aleo and trainer Greg Gilchrist. Aleo is a semi-famous San Francisco local. He has pictures of President Reagan in his front office in Noe Valley and terms the neighborhood “Looney Valley.” (Guess who he probably voted for.) At any rate, the guy has owned horses for about 39 years. Fate brings him Lost in the Fog, a seemingly unstoppable horse that was born to run. The film doesn’t exactly explain the whole industry and sport of horse racing. But it’s fun to watch Lost’s rise to the top. The more he dominates, the more I understood why people go so nuts for these animals.

Lost in the Fog is now playing at the Roxie.

SFBG photog Ariel Soto scoops SF street fashion. See the previous Look of the Day here.

Today's Look: Milana and Viana, 24th Street and Noe

Tell us about your look: "It's always important to look fashionable."

By Marke B.

Let's get punk-rock and have a slideshow, everybody! While Green Day not-so-secretly toils along its dejected piano-ballad path to Broadway, it's the perfect time for a bracing reminder of what actual punk in the Bay looked like, circa the late-1970s. You know, way before the final episode of Seinfeld. Zing!

Photographer Michael Jang — whose wry '60s home shots of his Chinese American family, collected as "The Jangs" and shown at University High School last year, opened a revelatory window into a 30-plus year career — was up front and snapping when turbulent San Francisco groups like the Mutants, Avengers, and Dils exploded onto the scene. You haven't seen so many skinny ripped jeans, torn Patti Smith tees, untamed hairdos, and askew lapel pins since your last trip to the backroom of Adobe Books.

At Pirate Cat Café, Jang will be projecting prime pics of the above legends in action (and meltdown), interspersed with images of outré icons like William S. Burroughs, Ishmael Reed, Michael McClure, and others to conjure up that rough-and-tumble period a couple decades ago when writers and musicians chose in-your-face tactics over Facebook updates. (The pictures from the slideshow will remain on display in the café until May 22.) Jang will also crack open his vault and treat us to some of his coveted Sex Pistols hangover shots, taken the morning after Winterland, a.k.a. "the day punk died." He'll be joined by veteran journo Jack Boulware — who is working on an oral history of SF punk — and special guests to discuss the images on Pirate Cat Radio, 87.9, FM. "I may even project the slides on a sheet," Jang tells us. "How punk is that?"

PUNKS AND POETS: SF SUBCULTURE IN THE '70S Fri/24, 7 p.m., free. Pirate Cat Café, 2781 21st, SF. (415) 341-1199. www.piratecatradio.com

By Molly Freedenberg

It's Beer Fest time again, which means those lucky enough to have scored tickets to the always sold-out event are prepping their drinking pants for three hours of madness — and those who'll miss the affair are prepping to, well, drip tears into their (non-festival-acquired) beers. We can't blame their lachrymosity. The festival features more than 300 varieties from a mind-boggling number of breweries and brewpubs, from locals like Anchor Steam to internationals like Guinness. Then there are the hard ciders and nonalcoholic options. Oh, and the food from the city's best restaurants. And a commemorative stein to use for tasting and then take home. It's enough to make a beer fan weep like the condensation on an ice-cold pilsner glass.

We're sorry to say there's not much we can do for the people who don't already have tickets — but we can recommend ways to ease the pain. How about staging your own tasting? Pick up a variety of ales, lagers, pilsners, and more from the dizzying selections at City Beer Store (1186 Folsom, SF. 415-503-1033, www.citybeerstore.com), Healthy Spirits (2299 15th St., SF. 415-255-0610, healthy-spirits.blogspot.com), or New Star-Ell Liquor (501 Divisadero, SF. 415-567-7900). Or let the experts choose unusual, exciting Belgian varieties for you at La Trappe (800 Greenwich, SF. 415-440-8727, www.latrappecafe.com), Monk's Kettle (3141 16th St., SF. 415-865-9523, www.monkskettle.com), or the Trappist (460 Eighth St., Oakl. 510-238-8900, www.thetrappist.com). Granted, these options aren't the Beer Fest, but they're all pretty fantastic as alternatives go. And remember, there's always next year.

SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL BEER FESTIVAL 7-10 p.m. $60. Festival Pavilion, Fort Mason, SF

www.sfbeerfest.com

Text and Photos by Ariel Soto

Evocative African beats and spine-tingling motion are filling up Novellus Theater at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts all this week as the local dance company Alonzo King's Lines Ballet takes the stage. The company, which has been in San Francisco since 1982, breaks away from traditional, stuffy ballet by adding modern movements and contemporary music, with each dance creating a story about the struggles and reality of everyday modern life. It is obvious why they are called Lines Ballet -- the dancers' bodies seem to stretch across every inch of the stage, constantly in fluid movements, keeping the audience's eyes glued to the tip of their toes and the ends of their fingers and making them come back for more, year after year.

By Johnny Ray Huston

The next two nights bring a pair of great treats for movie maniacs. Tonight, Gallery Paule Anglim hosts "Reflections," a program of short films that includes ones by Pat O'Neill, Stan Brakhage, a rarely-seen James Whitney work, and some Tarkovsky. At the heart of the program are selections from Dean Smith's ongoing video project thought forms. If Smith's drawings are any indication -- and they should be -- his contribution to the evening alone should be worth the trip. Smith's current exhibition is one of the best I've seen this year, and even better when paired with Dean Byington's painted reconfiguring of collage aesthetics in an adjoining room at the gallery.

Dean Smith, thought form #11, 2005, colored pencil on paper, 37.5 by 50 inches

Mike and George Kuchar, from the documentary It Came From Kuchar

Friday night, Baer Ridgway is home to an hour-long program of films by the Kuchar brothers. (That last sentence deserves a !!! ending more than standard punctuation.) George is showing Jamboree Journey and Portrait of Genie. Mike is showing four movies: Vortex, Stolen Sweets, Tattle Tales, and Witchery. I got a lucky peek at one of Mike's recent movies a month ago, a romantic idyll as gorgeous as its leading man and leading lady -- love at first sight stuff. Wanna be where the cinematic fun is? Be there. And it's free.

REFLECTIONS
Thurs/23, 7:30 p.m.
Gallery Paule Anglim
14 Geary, SF
(415) 433-2710
www.gallerypauleanglim.com

FILM SCREENING: GEORGE KUCHAR AND MIKE KUCHAR
Fri/24, 7 p.m., free
Baer Ridgway Exhibitions
172 Minna, SF
(415) 777-1366
www.baerridgway.com

By Natalie Gregory

Adult Swim’s Squidbillies is a bizarre world of ghoul-like creatures set in nowhere Georgia, whose characters speak with the most hideous Appalachian dialect. I just watched three episodes from the recently released Squidbillies Vol. 2 DVD, and you have to admire the show's animators. Their sense of humor and imagination has no bounds for the ridiculous, or just plain weird. Again, Adult Swim veterans, bear with my naiveté; everyone else, take note: Squidbillies stars a family of what looks like an alien, octopus, human crossbreed. The patriarch is Early, a fast-talking, shotgun-happy bullheaded type who always knows best. His son, Rusty, is a little more mild-mannered and sweet but devoted to his father. Both are devoid of logic, especially Early. And then there’s Granny, whose behavior seems more inappropriate with each episode. Watch what happens when Early and Rusty kill multiple animals to give her new skin.

Obviously, animation is not constrained by plausibility, and for Squidbillies, this is crucial. Early shoots someone multiple times each episode. It usually happens after someone says something he disagrees with. I found myself laughing at the frequent use of violence to solve problems when things don’t pan out as planned. While some people may glorify the show's constant use of sadism (the family's tanning bed stand-in: roasting on a spit until they accomplish third degree burns) as condoning violence, I dare say it’s a subversive attack on the American tendency to solve problems through gun use, and the previous administrations’ tendency to oversimplify complicated political situations. Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself. But I enjoyed Squidbillies, and laughed heartily at its ridiculousness, whatever the intention may be. The DVD, available here, contains special features including Dragonbillies: Squidbillies Circle Jerk 2: Return of the Self-Congratulation. Yee-haw!

By Paula Connelly

Click here to read the Spring 09 Feast article, Get juiced: Fresh, healthy alternatives to the Master Cleanse.

I asked Carolynn Kraskouskas, owner and operator of Be Whole Again! bodywork and nutritional therapy (Be Whole Again!, 3150 18th Street Mlbx 511, Suite 536, SF; www.bewholeagain.net) to help lay out the basics of planning a detox:

It is important to remember that each person is unique and each cleanse should be designed to work towards your personal goals. Your first step should be to set a goal and figure out the organs you'd like to target in your cleanse. Specifically, what you want to move, slow down or remove. Most people cleanse for weight loss and greater regularity, when they feel like their system has become sluggish, generating a feeling of a lack of health. They are interested in digestive cleanses, which allows their organs to rest and cleanse themselves. However, it is crucial to remember that if you cleanse anything you often take the good with the bad. That is why one of your primary goals in cleansing should be rebuilding. Cleanses need to be sandwiched with a program that rebuilds the organs as well as cleanses them. Rainbow grocery sells popular cleanses in a box that also rebuild.

Keep in mind that our eliminative channels for waste and toxins function in a hierarchy: bowels, kidneys, lungs, skin, and, for women, menstruation. Spending some time cleaning out your bowels before you detox can help to lessen the stress on your other channels during detox, and considerably lessen adverse detox symptoms during your fast, like headaches, rashes and diarrhea. Then you can tackle your targeted organs. It's good to do some gentle exercise like walking or yoga and a sauna or steam room can help you to sweat out some of those stubborn toxins. Also, you should be aware that you might have to deal with surfacing emotions. This is also a mental cleanse. Food, and the habit of eating food, provides a comfort zone that distracts us from fully experiencing some emotions. Most of the time this is a good thing because we need to function productively and not dwell on negative things. However, every once in a while it's good to "clear our cache" to lighten the accumulated mental load of every day life. Expect to go through highs and lows and don't attempt any cleanse for less than two weeks because you'll likely experience more negative effects than positive.

SFBG photog Ariel Soto scoops SF street fashion. See the previous Look of the Day here.

Today's Look: Melissa of Darling Design, 16th Street and Sanchez

Tell us about your look: "I'm really into soft clothes right now."

By Rita Felciano

Choreographer-dancer Jacinta Vlach grew up and trained in San Francisco, and her commitment to what she calls "my home" runs deep. What turned her into an arts activist, however, is that "the people I grew up with are not represented in Bay Area dance." Having gone through the city's public school system, she considers herself part of the hip-hop generation and has always been immersed in world music and culture. Although of mixed Latina-caucasian background, she has most identified with the country's African American heritage. It led her to train at the Ailey School and perform for two years with one of the oldest African American dance companies, Philadanco, in Philadelphia. Locally she has been a member of Robert Moses' Kin and Savage Jazz Dance Company. But she credits Detroit-born New York City choreographer Nathan Trice as the man who most shaped her outlook on dance. Like Vlach, Trice says he wants to "create community-based initiatives to reflect current and historical social climates of gender, culture, and identity." So upon settling back into her hometown, in 2007 she founded Liberation Dance Theater, a collective of seven dancer-choreographers who share her vision of dance as a way to explore personal values in the face of the overwhelming odds created by unequal power relationships. Their first work, Abjection in America (2007), a work that "examines what we don't like about ourselves," gained the young company an invitation to this year's prestigious Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival in Massachusetts. Vlach also received a three-year residency at ODC Theater, where this week the dancers are putting the finishing touches on the hour-long Animal Farm, which will travel with them to Jacob's Pillow in August.

JACINTA VLACH/LIBERATION DANCE THEATER Sat/25-Sun/26, 8 p.m., $15-$18. ODC Dance Commons, 351 Shotwell, SF. (415) 863-9834. www.odcdance.org

The scene: the Castro Theatre. The event: opening night of the 52nd annual San Francisco International Film Festival. The crowd: mob-sized.

Benjamin Bratt prefers it slow and low.

Before I say anything else, I know what you're really wondering: what was in the gift bag? Besides Pop Chips -- which seem to be engineering some kind of snack food takeover via film festivals (see also: the Noise Pop Film Festival) -- there was a battery-operated sticky-note dispenser, a DVD of Vanaja (when I used to co-host the San Francisco Film Society-affiliated SF 360 Movie Scene on Comcast's local channel -- we got canned in August -- that title was the top giggle-attack-getter on the set. You try saying "Vanaja" five times fast), a yo-yo, and a piece of biscotti. I devored the edibles, pocketed the yo-yo, and settled in for La Mission, a locally-made drama from writer-director Peter Bratt; his brother, Benjamin (a Law and Order vet whose career admirably survived 2004's Catwoman), stars.

By Kimberly Chun

Encore! Much respect to filmmaker Joe Wright (Atonement, Pride and Prejudice) for The Soloist, a passionate take on homelessness, journalism, and a Los Angeles on the skids and still in love with art. The movie is based on Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez's book on his friendship with schizophrenic musician Nathaniel Ayers. I spoke with the energetic, well-crumpled English director recently when he came through San Francisco on a press tour.

SFBG: The Soloist marks a big change from Pride and Prejudice and Atonement – it’s not a period film?

Joe Wright: No, but it is – it’s 2005. It’s a specific time. And actually it was quite difficult to try and capture the specifics of that period.

SFBG: What attracted you to project?

JW: I’ve always been fascinated by mental illness and extreme perspectives on reality. I was 20 or 21 when a friend of mine had a psychotic breakdown, and we spent 10 days together walking around the streets of London while he had delusions and paranoias. It scared the living shit out of me, really. And I think I partly make films as a way of confronting my fears, really.

Right on: Joe Wright.

SFBG photog Ariel Soto scoops SF street fashion. See the previous Look of the Day here.

Today's Look: Lulu, Jersey and Vicksburg

Lulu's grandmother says: "She likes to wear a lot of pink!"

By Virginia Miller

As long-time San Francisco resident and writer, I'm passionate about this city and obsessed with exploring its best food-and-drink spots (in all categories), events, and news, in every neighborhood and cuisine type. I have my own personalized itinerary service and monthly food/drink/travel newsletter, The Perfect Spot, and am thrilled to share up-to-the minute news with you from the endless goings-on in our fair city.

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NEW RESTAURANT and BAR OPENINGS

RN74 rolls in on French wheels
Start making reservations now for Michael Mina's latest -- and most affordable? -- SF restaurant at the base of the Millennium Tower. RN74is named after Route National 74, which passes through Burgundy, with the focus on, you guessed it: Burgundian pleasures in wine and food. Wine director, Raj Parr, oversees the 80-page, 3000 bottles, 50 by-the-glass wine list (so you know there'll be many a fine choice), and Chef Jason Berthold, of none other than the French Laundry, prepares an exquisite, reasonably priced ($9-17!) menu with the likes of Smoked Sturgeon Rillettes, Crispy Duck Wings, Pea Tendril Veloute, Chilled Salad of Japanese Big Fin Squid, and Herb-Roasted Lamb Loin. Just opened on Friday for lunch and dinner, it's the new, downtown impress a date or colleague dining destination.
301 Mission Street (in the Millennium Tower)
415-543-7474
www.michaelmina.net/rn74

Gourmet sandwiches from random sources continues with Pal's Take Away
Pal's is located inside a dodgy corner market, Tony's, at 24th and Hampshire, with sweet, friendly Jeff and David behind the counter making some kick-ass sandwiches and salads, diving into the ever-growing crowd of gourmet food coming from carts, out of garages (Kitchenette) and whatnot. Just opened last Tuesday, Pal's changing menu includes a banh mi that's becoming a runaway hit in the first week already: tender, pink/brown beef accented with jalapeno, carrot, onion on a crunchy ACME roll. Vegetarians aren't left out with options like Full Belly asparagus tossed w/ Meyer lemon and Reggianno, topped with a Riverdog soft-cooked ranch egg on Acme whole wheat bread. Bet you never got that from a corner liquor/grocery store before.
2751 24th Street
ww.palstakeaway.com

SFBG photog Ariel Soto scoops SF street fashion. See the previous Look of the Day here.

Today's look: Yvonne, Market and Sansome

Tell us about your look: "I got it at Ross!"

By Lynn Rapoport

Mabel (Gena Rowlands, in an Oscar-winning Oscar-nominated performance) has a rare calm moment in A Woman Under the Influence.

The first weekend of the 52nd San Francisco International Film Festival produced a cheerful, if windblown, bottleneck along Post between Fillmore and Webster. The one outside the Castro on Sunday night had a slightly more shell-shocked emotional tenor. The crowd seemed in good enough spirits (though this reviewer admits to getting a bit misty-eyed) while giving Gena Rowlands a standing ovation when the 78-year-old actor came onstage before John Cassavetes’s A Woman under the Influence (1974). But the film’s two and a half hours of abrasive familial dysfunction and poorly attended-to mental illness are rough going, and no one could be blamed for wandering home in a torn-up, overwrought fugue. (Think happy thoughts: like the 2008 restoration of the film by the UCLA Film and Television Archive, underwritten by Gucci.)

Less emotionally brutalizing was Friday evening’s screening of Art & Copy (screening again Tues/28, 4 p.m., Sundance Kabuki), where doc maker Doug Pray (Hype!, Scratch, Surfwise) expressed satisfaction at finally getting a film into SFIFF and noted that this one was centered on “the idea that if you hate advertising, make better advertising.”

Radio, radio: a scene from Art & Copy.

DVRs, defaced billboards, and legislation to calm the traffic of branding on virtually every visible surface of public space also spring to mind. However, these and other options are left unexplored in favor of a brief history of the revolution that occurred in advertising midcentury; commentary by some of the rebel forces and their descendants, including locals Jeff Goodby and Rich Silverstein (Goodby, Silverstein, and Partners); entertaining behind-the-scenes tales of famous ad campaigns (Got Milk?, I Want My MTV); and stats sprinkled throughout on advertising’s cultural presence, nationally and globally.

Self-comparisons to cave painters and a sequence near the close that feels like an advertisement for advertising (emotionally evocative images of children’s faces upturned in wonder to the sky: check) are somewhat uncomfortable to witness. But Pray has gathered together some of the industry’s brighter, more engaging lights, and his subjects discuss their vocation intelligently, thoughtfully, wittily, and often thoroughly earnestly. It would have been interesting to hear, amid the earnestness, and the exalted talk of advertising that rises to the level of art, some philosophizing on where all this branding and selling gets us, in an age when it’s hard to deny that breakneck consumption is having a somewhat deleterious effect on the planet. Or to learn from these creatives whether there were any ad campaigns they wouldn’t touch, such as one centered on nuclear energy, or the reelection of George W. Bush. After all, many of the interviewees come across as shaggy ex-hippies and liberals. (Last fall, trade paper the Denver Egotist referred to “the entire creative world uniting against John McCain in support of Barack Obama” in a piece on Goodby, Silverstein-made anti-McCain spots that the agency cofounders reportedly underwrote personally.) Still, the film is successful in humanizing and developing a richer picture of a vilified profession. And what it reveals about the visions of its subjects (one compares a good brand to someone you’d like to have over for dinner; another asserts that “great advertising makes food taste better”; another that “you can manufacture any feeling that you want to manufacture”) makes it worth watching, even if you make a habit of fast-forwarding past the ads.

Text and photos by Ariel Soto

I have a confession to make: I'm 25 years old and I'm totally obsessed with Gossip Girl. My friend Bobbi Noodle and I spend hours talking about the drama behind Serena's possible marriage in Spain and whether or not Blair will actually get into Yale in the end (don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about people ... I'm sure at least a few of you are addicted too). Last Sunday night I felt like I had entered the world of Gossip Girl, but a cooler, more aware, San Francisco version of Gossip Girl. I was at the Been There Done That Fashion Show at Temple Nightclub, a benefit for Victory Gardens+ and get this ... the event was produced by two high school students, Zoe Fisher and Audrey Snyder from Urban High School.

By Natalie Gregory

If you were unaware of the lawsuit between the indigenous Ecuadorian people and Chevron/Texaco, watching Joe Berlinger’s Crude will get you up to speed. It’s a documentary about the case following the plaintiffs and their lawyers in their seemingly impossible fight against one of the most powerful American companies. Pablo Fajardo is the Ecuadorian native lawyer who battles with impressive, inspiring fervor on behalf of his indigenous citizens. Joining him is New York attorney Steven Donziger, a bilingual Harvard whiz who seems amazed that they are even getting through proceedings (the film certainly mentions the David vs. Goliath element of the lawsuit). The case is still locked in litigation and pending testimonies. But the film is powerful in its defense for the native people of Ecuador, and the state of the Amazon. If you only half-questioned Chevron’s ethics before, this film will make you opt for a Shell station -- or some form of alternative transportation.

Crude screens at the San Francisco International Film Festival Wed/29, 6:30pm, Sundance Kabuki; Thurs/30, 6:30pm, Sundance Kabuki; and Sat/2, 6:15pm, PFA.

By Rita Felciano

Let's send a libation or some other such thing in the direction of Terpsichore — the muse of dance — because Paul Taylor Dance Company is back. For five consecutive years, we've had an opportunity to gain a perspective on Taylor's 50-plus years of dance-making. Then the money ran out. Thankfully San Francisco Performances found a way to have these remarkable dancers return with another set of three different Taylor programs. The earliest, the very dark Scudorama, which was thought to be lost, dates back to 1963. The most recent, Beloved Renegade, inspired by Walt Whitman and Francis Poulenc, premiered in February of this year. Taylor is sometimes considered old-fashioned because early in his career he abandoned self-conscious formal experimentations in favor of honing his pieces — the way a jeweler does when he polishes a diamond in order to bring out its many facets. In Taylor inspiration is wedded to musicality and craft. He also happens to be a sardonic observer of our foibles and vices. And when he strikes — hypocrisy is a favorite topic — he cuts to the bone. Few choreographers have made work which can be so joyously celebratory in one piece — both Esplanade (1975) and Arden Court (1981) are in the line-up — and so mordantly corrosive in the next that it leaves you shivering.

PAUL TAYLOR DANCE COMPANY Wed/29-Sat/2, 8 p.m.; Sun/3, 2 p.m., $32-$49. Novellus Theater, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 700 Howard, SF. (415) 392-2545, www. performances.org

SFBG photog Ariel Soto scoops SF street fashion. See the previous Look of the Day here.

Today's Look: Nikola, Market and Franklin

Tell us about your look: "I wake up in the morning and think how can I stand out by wearing something different from what I wore yesterday."

By the peckish Guardian Staff

(1) Tonno puttanesca, Pesce, SF

(2) Meyer lemon ginger ale

(3) Tofu stew and vegan brownies, San Francisco Zen Center

(4) Trader Joe's chile-spiced mango slices

(5) Fish tacos and mango agua fresca, El Metate

SFBG photog Ariel Soto scoops SF street fashion. See the previous Look of the Day here.

Today's Look: Sonera, Hyde and McAllister

Tell us about your look: "I'm wearing mostly hand-me-downs."

'Tis the season -- San Francisco is alive with movie brilliance. To what do I refer? George Kuchar's latest class production at San Francisco Art Institute. If you don't have a job right now, or if you don't have to work on International Worker's Day, go to SFAI to see Zombies of Zanzibar.

Spring cinema in the Bay Area hits a peak with a free screening of a movie made by Kuchar and his film production class. Billing them as the Studio 8 Players, the characteristically alliterative Zombies promises a zany array of "ACTION!...ROMANCE...TERROR...AND SPECTACLE." Did I say it was free?

ZOMBIES OF ZANZIBAR
Fri/1, noon, free
San Francisco Art Institute Lecture Hall
800 Chestnut, SF
(415) 771-7020
www.sfai.edu/

To get you in the mood, some Kuchar on YouTube after the jump:

By Molly Freedenberg

A high-flyin' Vagaboom! participant

Some of my favorite memories of elementary school are due to arts programming: watching singing science duo Janet and Judy or a traveling theater troupe act out The Jabberwocky in the round; playing flute in the band and dancing to Broadway hits in our annual musical; studying — and then making my own versions of — pointillist, Impressionist, and landscape artwork. Who would I be if I'd never learned to read music? To appreciate silent theater? To identify Georgia O'Keeffe? And what will the world be like in the future if today's kids don't learn to explore their creativity? The artists and activists behind Vagaboom! hope we never have to answer that question. The group of acrobats, musicians, actors, and artists — including Del Arte graduate Martina Oskarsson, Cirque Destino cofounder Marina Karadjieva, and Think13 visionary Dee Kennedy — have pooled their resources and channeled their individual expert training into creating a nonprofit that brings arts programs to kids, particularly those least likely to be exposed to art and music. Lucky for us, we adults will get a taste of what Vagaboom! does at its May 2 fundraiser. The action-packed event features music by Think 13, Cohen, Scattershot Theory, and DJ Centipede; dance performances; acrobatics; and scenes from the experimental theater piece Simple Matters. Sure beats math class ...

Vagaboom! Fun(d)raiser Sat/2, 8pm. $10-$20. SomArts, 934 Brannan, SF. www.vagaboom.org

By Marke B.

Apologies, my veganista friends

I may be the world's biggest queer Arab disco hip-hop leather muppet, but my last name is Bieschke and I was raised Polish (and French Canadian, but that's another story for another "post-racial" day). And man, do I love a nice big grilled kielbasa dressed on a bed of tart, moist sauerkraut. I'll be getting my fill -- and taking in some serious polka oompah-pah and traditional polska loveliness at this Sunday's Polish Festival in Golden Gate Park. Not sure if I'll be dressing in traditional costume, despite the fact that hipster decolletage sure is trending that way .... somebody hand that fixie-pixie a tuba!

And if the weather clears up, me and Hunky Beau might even take our mustard-stained mugs over to the deYoung entrance to watch the swingin' participants of Lindy in the Park if they're out and about ... and even join in. Now that's multicultural.

San Francisco Polish Festival
5/3, 11am-5pm, free
San Francisco County Fair Building
Golden Gate Park
(9th Ave and Lincoln Way)
www.polishfestival.com