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

Today's Look: Ashley, University of San Francisco

Tell us about your look: "This is all American Apparel."

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

Today's Look: Bryan, Balboa and Arguello

Tell us about your look: "I got these glasses from the thrift shop in LA."

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

Today's Look: Chris, University of San Francisco

Tell us about your look: "I like dark, primary colors. Today I'm wearing all blue and black."

By Cheryl Eddy

Ticonderoga pulls no revolutionary punches

PREVIEW There is literally something for everyone at this year's 18th annual San Francisco Fringe Festival. Don't try to argue, man — this year's slate, which jams over 250 performances of over 40 experimental works by companies near and far into just under two weeks, is incredibly diverse. And though the old judging-a-book-by-its-cover cliché definitely applies to theater, some of the titles here are pretty irresistable: Hell, the Musical (inhabitants include a Valencia Street dyke and a Marina ditz); Spider Baby the musical (based on the 1968 movie subtitled The Maddest Story Ever Told? Yes, please!); and the Ed Gein-inspired The Texas Chainsaw Musical (sense a theme here?). For fans of history and, uh, sketch comedy, there's the Revolutionary War-themed Ticonderoga; for morally-conflicted mountain climbers, there's The Tao of Everest; and for anyone who thinks plays are boring, there are several on tap that challenge that belief in the most scandalously delightful ways, including Bible-stories-on-crack Pulp Scripture and the site-specific Missing: fugue #9: wear a warm coat, performed as audiences stroll through Bayview's Quesada Gardens.

SAN FRANCISCO FRINGE FESTIVAL Sept 9–20, $10 or less. Various venues (main venue is Exit Theater, 156 Eddy, SF). (415) 673-3847, www.sffringe.org

By Louis Peitzman

As titles go, A Woman in Berlin is rather vague. A clearer option, to borrow from a popular children’s books series, would be A Series of Unfortunate Events. Based on a true story published anonymously by, well, a woman in Berlin, the film recounts the tribulations faced by German women at the end of World War II. As the Russian army occupies Berlin, these ladies must defend themselves against rape and domination while they await their husbands’ return. It’s a dark chapter in history — and a frequently forgotten one at that. But though A Woman in Berlin may be an important film, it’s not a good one. Without the cinematic flair required to handle a story of this magnitude, writer-director Max Färberböck turns the movie into something monotonous and draining. The characters are morally ambiguous but not interesting; the plot is depressing but tedious. I’m reminded of a quote from The History Boys (2006), another film that touches on (albeit briefly) the atrocities of the second world war: “How do I define history? It’s just one fuckin’ thing after another.”

A Woman in Berlin opens Fri/11 in Bay Area theaters.

Camus can do, can you?

Hey, y'all -- grab your peacock-plumed keyboards, polish up your virtual inkwells, and unleash your mini-Kerouac because we've got a little competition for you to take part in. Wanna win a nifty gift certificate to Books, Inc?

All you have to do is submit a little story -- fiction, nonfiction, or poetry -- that somehow reflects living in the Bay Area to culture@sfbg.com by Tuesday, September 22. (Put "Lit123" in the subject line, and please include your name or nom de plume and city.)

The catch? All entries must be exactly 123 words. Easy as 123, right?

We'll publish our 10 favorites in our special Writers Issue on 10/7, and give those authors gift certificates to Books, Inc. To help get you started, here's a horrific little story by our always zombie-fightin' arts and entertainment editor. Submit yours today!

Alone in his dilapidated Victorian, the hulking cannibal mutant arranged his weapons collection with pride. There was the chainsaw he’d refurbished after finding it abandoned on the 22; the hatchet and axes he’d inherited from his hulking cannibal mutant father; and the set of steak knives he’d ordered from QVC. He also had, strewn about his SoMa property, various bear traps, pits concealed with leaves, trip wires, and so forth. Earlier that day, he’d waddled out to the nearest road -- pothole-strewn, dirt, the kind of route only a traveler lost mid-shortcut would take -- and felled a large tree that blocked both lanes. It would only be a matter of time, he figured. He was ready. And man, was he ever hungry.

Every week, Virginia Miller of personalized itinerary service and monthly food, drink, and travel newsletter, www.theperfectspotsf.com, shares foodie news, events, and deals. View the last installment here.

EVENTS

9/10: Joy of Sake at Yoshi's San Francisco
Though you cannot imagine a Japanese meal without sake, you know there's a whole world of sakes out there you have yet to discover. The Joy of Sake is an annual event highlighting the best of the rice spirit, featuring 100 gold and silver award–winning sakes (and finalists) from the 2009 U.S. National Sake Appraisal. Junmai, ginjo, and daiginjo... it's all here for tasting, including 49 unavailable in the U.S. In the past, this event has been held at hotels at a higher cost with over 200 sakes, beyond medal winners. This year, the best have been weeded out for you and it takes place in the ideal, Japanese-chic setting of Yoshi's San Francisco. Skilled Executive Chef, Shotaro "Sho" Kamio, serves an all-inclusive menu of dishes like Okinawa rock sugar–braised short ribs with peach compote, Kakiage Tempura fritters with veggies, shrimps and scallops... or why not wood burning–oven roasted American Kobe Tri-tip with caramelized shallot teriyaki? It's an education and a feast, all in one evening.
7:30–10:30pm (food 8-10pm)
$50 advance, $60 at the door
Yoshi's on Fillmore
1330 Fillmore Street
415-655-5600
888-799-7242
http://joyofsake.com

9/12-13: Ghirardelli Square’s 14th Annual Chocolate Festival
If your not "festival-ed out" yet, it's almost time for the Ghirardelli Square Chocolate Festival, benefiting Project Open Hand. Going 14 years strong, the weekend hosts over 40 vendors serving chocolate well beyond truffles (including Amore Chocolate Pizza, Ana Mandara, Boomerang Vodka Chocolate Martinis, Bo's Best Pancakes, Eat My Love For You Vegan Desserts, Gelateria Naia, Kara's Cupcakes, Kika's Treats, Mighty Leaf Tea, Pacific Puffs, Spun Sugar, The Toffee Company), loads of chef demos hosted by Season 3 Top Chef finalist, Casey Thompson, the “Hands Free Earthquake Ice Cream Sundae Eating Contest" (may be even be more fun to watch than to participate in), Cadillac Ride & Drive (Cadillac is displaying luxury cars in the Square while offering visitors an opportunity to test-drive the 2010 SRX - not sure what gets you 'in'?), and Crown & Crumpet hosts a tea party with chocolate teas, scones, sandwiches and truffles (both days at 3pm, $12). Surrounded by chocolate sampling stations and views of the Bay, it's not a bad weekend.
Free; $20 for 15 tasting tickets
9/12-13, 12-5pm
900 N. Point Street
415-775-5500
www.GhirardelliSQ.com

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

Today's Look: Daneekah, Lyon and Fulton

Tell us about your look: "I got these overalls at Crossroads for $8."

By Robert Avila

Violeta Luna photo by Zach Gross.

Humans and post-humans take note: Corpo/Ilicito: The Post-Human Society 6.9, latest provocation-installation from acclaimed Mexican American performance artists Guillermo Gómez-Peña and Violeta Luna (aka La Pocha Nostra), unfurls for two nights only, this Friday and Saturday, at CounterPULSE.

Corpo/Ilicito premiered in the 2009 Habana Biennale in Cuba and the Trouble Festival in Brussels. This weekend marks its Bay Area premiere. In terms of what you might expect, here’s this from their press release: “In their latest project, la Pocha creates a performance setting that is both live jam session and reflective zone. The full environment installation ultimately allows the audience to co-direct the fate of the performance.

“Gomez-Peña has said about this project: ‘As live artists, our task is to create living metaphors that articulate a new aesthetic, culture, spirituality and a sexuality that emerge out of the ruins of our Western civilization.’”

These are the ambassadors from badass. Go ahead and call them edgy, especially if by edgy you mean pissed off. Or edgy as in the fractured, fractious frontier running between Mexico and the United States -- slithering East to West, West to East, in all its slippery serpentine significance, delusional substance, riotous pretense and delightful permeability. And while you're at it, throw in all the other frontiers of identity that go into limning our “postmodern” “Western” borderline personalities.

Fri/11-Sat/12, 8 p.m., $15-20
CounterPULSE, 1310 Mission, SF
(415) 626-2060, https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/73700

By Marke B.

I don't know whether this is awesome or boring, but one of the most perverse pleasures to be had in the Bay for the last decade has been fantasy house-hunting — dressing like you can afford more than a rent-controlled railroad flat's closet and hitting the Sunday open-house real estate orgy circuit, mostly to decry the recent penchant for tacky recessed lighting and cheap beige granite counter-tops. The '80s are back! If you're a premium architecture and design junkie, though, you'll be swooning all September — launching your intellectual and tactical fantasies into the clouds with the Architecture and the City festival, presented by AIA San Francisco. The sixth annual celebration of unique builds, the nation's largest, not only takes you on the San Francisco Living: Home Tours drool-a-thon (Sept. 12-13) focusing on smart sustainability, but also explores a bonanza of exciting, dialogue-stimulating Bay design ideas through presentations, investigations, demonstrations, and more. Prepare to push up your teeny octagon-shaped eyeglasses and scream, "Build it! Build it NOW!"

ARCHITECTURE AND THE CITY Through September 30. Check Web site for locations, times, and prices. www.aiasf.org/archandcity

By Max Goldberg

Lady, It Always Rains on Sunday

That undisputed champ of repertory programming, film noir, is getting a good workout during otherwise sunny September. Elliot Lavine combs the Columbia vaults for a 22-film Roxie bonanza, while the Castro Theatre and Pacific Film Archive look across the pond for a touch of "tea and larceny." Even if it's disingenuous to label these Anglo entries as noir — the camera angles are right, the mannered scripts not so much — the down-and-out British crime films make for a fascinating mirror image to their American counterparts, not least for the visible evidence of World War II trauma. The rarity-heavy PFA series will better satisfy the buff, but only a fool would pass up a week's worth of Rialto restoration prints at the Castro. Three of the five films are Graham Greene affairs, including a long-overdue re-release of Brighton Rock (1947). The real discovery of the series, however, is Robert Hamer's It Always Rains on Sunday (1947), an unusual mélange of kitchen-sink drama, Dostoyevskian moral tale, and on-the-lam thriller. If the steady downpour is pure noir, the film's narrative is less typical. Instead of concentrating trauma and repression into a single (male) figure, Hamer spreads it around an entire East London neighborhood. There is a escaped convict at the center of the story who looks every bit the seductive part, but in spite of a stylish chase finale, Hamer is more interested in the drab corners of ordinary deceit. His resourceful dramatizations of working class spaces — and specifically their lack of privacy — are consumed with an anxiety far in excess of the film's serviceable plot.

RIALTO'S BEST OF BRITISH NOIR Sept. 11–16, $10. Castro Theatre, 429 Castro, SF

(415) 621-6120, www.thecastrotheatre.com

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

Today's Look: Janet, Arguello and Balboa

Tells us about your look: "Pretty much I go for comfort and cheap."

An oldie but goody from the the Early Office Museum

Hey SF scribes! Tell us a story -- fiction, nonfiction, or poetry -- that reflects life in the Bay IN EXACTLY 123 WORDS. Our 10 favorites will be printed in our 10/7 issue and the writers will win a gift certificate to Books, Inc.!

(Send your entries to culture@sfbg.com by Tuesday, September 22. Put "Lit123" in the subject line, and please include your name or nom de plume and city. See more details here.)

You've only got a little over a week left, so get to scribblin'! Here's an example, written by our Executive Editor Tim Redmond, to get your gears lubricated:

Moon and I are walking through McLaren Park, looking for the dog run with the pond so she can chase ducks. But I have no sense of direction, so we wind up wandering toward where the park turns into a neighborhood where old white hippie-type men tend to be way out of place. And along come two young guys out of gangster central casting -- tough, big, tats, baggy plants and puffy coats, and I’m maybe just a little bit nervous, until I notice that they’re ... holding hands. So then I smile nice, and they smile back and we go on walking as I wonder: Is it homophobic of me to just assume that gay men are unlikely to be violent thugs?

By Kimberly Chun

Sighted in the Mission District at 23rd and South Van Ness: one of my fave murals in the barrio, El Immigrante by Joel Bergner (2005).

By Kimberly Chun

Revelation time: a woman cannot live by Bi-Rite Creamery alone.

And along comes Ici, the Francophile's wet, creamy dream over in Rockridge, right off Ashby. I checked out this lovely, tiled, Gallic-flavored spot recently, on a steamy, humid day - the kind that Bay Area types are never prepared for, sending us scurrying in vain for air-conditioning. The line wound out the door and snaked down the street, but it moved surprisingly quickly. Efficiency and beauty - who could ask for anything more?

Inside what is probably the most stylish and attractive ice cream shop in the Bay, were baked alaskas, bombes, ice cream sandwiches, and an ultra-tempting counter of treats and marbled homemade cones. A gold star for the nice, icy pitcher of sparkling water to sip while you wait.

But, man, it was the ice cream - kitted out in unique flavors - that swayed us and slayed us: verbena, sweet corn and chili, Earl Gray, hazelnut praline, raspberry verbena, pluot sorbet. (Pictured, a shot of mint fudge with burnt caramel sauce.) If I were you, I'd get two delectable scoops in a cone that comes with a truly delish little surprise of a chocolate tip. You've been warned: incoming deliciousness, Ici.

ICI
2948 College, Berk.
(510) 665-6054

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

Today's Look: Lilly, University of San Francisco

Tell us about your look: "I thrifted this dress and the bag is from Forever 21. I'm a student, so I mostly buy cheap clothes."

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

Today's Look: Liz, University of San Francisco

Tell us about your look: "My fashion inspiration is Chloe Sevigny."

Every week, Virginia Miller of personalized itinerary service and monthly food, drink, and travel newsletter, www.theperfectspotsf.com, shares foodie news, events, and deals. View the last installment here.

DEALS
Just for You's new happy hour and New Orleans inspired bites
Despite this past weekend's thunderstorms, our Summer is still in its early stages - Just for You Cafe commemorates an SF Indian Summer (and their nostalgia for New Orleans, which I acutely share) with new menu items and Wednesday through Friday happy hour specials. There's $4.50 Root Beer Floats made with Nawlins' own Abita Root Beer and our Mitchell’s Ice Cream. And it wouldn't be an ode to the South without Red Beans and Rice ($4.50, $2 to add Louisiana hot sausage), Hush Puppies ($4) or a Creole Sampler ($6) of red beans and rice, jambalaya, and shrimp creole. Heineken and Miller beers are $2 and there's Chicken Empanadas ($2.25) or Crispy Chicken Tacos ($2.95) for a veer off the New Orleans' path.
Wednesdays-Fridays, 4:30-6:30pm
732 22nd Street
415-647-3033
www.justforyoucafe.com/specials

------------

NEW OPENING
Fish & Farm launches American Box
Gourmet lunches from top notch chefs continue to proliferate downtown, with Fish & Farm now in the mix, launching American Box. Executive chef, Chad Newton, created a menu that, similar to the flagship restaurant, is farm-fresh, local, sustainable. Eat from changing menu items, like a "Chop" Salad ($9) with Molinari salami, a Double Taco Box ($7), or a Grilled Moist Melt Box ($8, a rye, cheddar, pickle, caramelized onion sandwich), to go or in Fish & Farm's dining room. Save room for cookies or brownies for dessert.
Monday-Friday, 10:30am-1:30pm
Cash only
339 Taylor Street
415-474-3474
www.americanboxlunch.com

-------------

EVENTS
Test your blind wine tasting skills at Press Club all month

So the Governator himself has dubbed September California Wine Month (isn't every month?) No matter... I like the sound of Press Club's Blind Tasting throughout the month - to test or improve your tasting skills, as the case may be. In Press Club's roomy underground environs, $17 will get you pours of three wines, each selected from some of Nor Cal's best wineries. If you're feeling comfortable, submit your guesses as to each wine in the blind tasting and be entered to win a $50 private tasting for two.
20 Yerba Buena Lane
415-744-5000
www.pressclubsf.com

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

Today's Look: Lordes, 11th St. and Howard

Tell us about your look: "I just put this outfit together. I got my hat at a thrift shop."

By Molly Freedenberg

Screw the consumerism of Christmas, the war imagery of Independence Day, and the inevitable disappointment of New Year's Eve. Our favorite holiday of the year is PARK(ing) Day, when individuals and groups around the world turn metered parking spots into the playgrounds of their dreams. Started in 2005 by the SF art and design collective Rebar, the event takes advantage of a legal loophole that allows any (legal) use of parking spots as long as the meter gets paid. (Think of it as miniature, short-term space rental.) Want kiddie pools and pink flamingos on Valencia Street? Sod and benches outside a Haight Street shop? A mobile grassy knoll taking up residence in the mayor's parking spot? It's all fair game. Nearly five years in, the idea has become so popular that, on certain city boulevards, a stroll on PARK(ing) Day can feel like a street festival — minus the annoying commerce (if people are playing by Rebar's rules). One part fun, one part frivolity, and two parts commentary on the way we use urban space, this open source project makes an ordinary workday ... ahem ... a walk in the park.

PARK(ING) DAY Fri/18. Find information, maps, and instructions on how to construct your own park at www.parkingday.org.

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

Today's Look: Maggie, University of San Francisco

Tell us about your look: "I like a lot of color, but not too much all at the same time. That can be overwhelming!"

By Rita Felciano

"Jamie Ray Wright came to dance later than most," the choreographer and artistic director of the DanceWright Project says of himself — an understatement if there ever was one. At Stanford, Wright was a pop musician who then embarked on a career in marketing. For 20 years he watched dance from the audience's perspective but finally "could stand it no longer" and started to study ballet 24/7, three hours a day. No, he didn't become even a second-rate Barishnikov — but he did become a choreographer whose work has been floating around the Bay Area for the last half dozen years or so, most prominently at the Black Choreographers Festival. Neither are his dancers virtuosi. But what he and they have in common is a sense for craft, a lack of pretense, and a love for ballet that enlivens every turn, every gesture and every encounter. In addition to pieces from the rep, the evening will feature a world premiere, Bella Donna, performed to the live playing by jazz guitarist Chris Tozzi. This is the DanceWright's first self-produced evening, and it has invited some other "newcomers" to share the program. Enrico Labayen, who used to be very active in the Bay Area a decade ago, is resurrecting his Labayen Dance/SF; Kat Worthington, a dancer with Wright, is introducing her own group; and the locally little-known Dac Pac, a youth company from Santa Clara.

DANCEWRIGHT PROJECT AND SPECIAL GUESTS Fri/18–Sat/19, 8 p.m., $15–$18, Dance Mission, 3316 24th St., SF, (415) 826-4441, www.brownpapertickets.com/event/76954

Text and photos by Ariel Soto

Smiling dancers spun across the stage wearing neon bright pep-band uniforms. Classical music from a live ensemble kept the dancer's movements fluid and true. It was the last rehearsal before opening night at Zellerbach Hall (as part of Cal Performances) for the Mark Morris Dance Group, who will be premiering two new pieces on the West Coast, entitled "Visitation" and "Empire Garden" this coming weekend.

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

Today's Look: Michelle and Andrew, University of San Francisco

Tell us about your look:
Michelle -- "My pants have holes in them and my shirt is falling apart."
Andrew -- "I stole this jacket from my friend and then I broke the zipper on it, so my friend let me keep it."

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

Today's Look: Renee, Arguello and Anza

Tell us about your look: "I'm late and I've got to get to class!"

By Caitlin Donohue

Er ....

Rejoice, ye public access hosts, ye corporate training stooges, ye home movie starlets, for thy hour is nigh. No longer will your tapes be the viewing delight of a happenstance few. Film collagists Nick Pruehler and Joe Pickett have vaulted you into a slightly more middling level of obscurity. The fruit of their labor, The Found Footage Festival, makes its way to the Red Vic Movie House for a two night run starting Friday, October 2, bringing with it the panorama of American G-list treasures that Pruehler and Pickett have been discovering ever since a fateful trip to the back room of a McDonald’s in 1991. Discovering, scavenging, stealing -- don’t get bogged down in semantics, people, it’s all part of the creative process. We recently interviewed Pruehler to discuss the profound joy produced by combining the FFF with Bay Area cush, as well as his deep-seated man love for Mr. T.

Found Footage Festival trailer

San Francisco Bay Guardian: How renegade are we talking here in terms of your video collecting techniques-- do you ever dumpster dive for the tapes, or is that something you have "people" to do for you these days?
Nick Prueher: We're not afraid to get our hands dirty and root around through garbage cans and dusty bargain bins at thrift stores in search of VHS gems. We'll take risks to get videos. A few weeks ago, we were in a FedEx office picking up a package and happened to see a set of three VHS training videos behind the counter. When the clerk went back to grab the package, Joe snuck behind the counter and grabbed the tapes. Unfortunately, they were all pretty boring.

Celluloid scavengers Joe Pickett and Nick Pruehler

SFBG: Has anyone from the home movies ever gotten sassy on you because you put them in a showcase?
NP: Without fail, whenever we've met people in the videos we've found, they've been universally flattered by the fact they've become unintentional cult heroes of sorts. This footage that they've long since forgotten about is now bringing joy to hundreds of people across the country. The one close call we had was with Jack Rebney, a guy we dubbed "The World's Angriest R.V. Salesman." We cut together some outtakes of this guy going nuts during a promotional video for Winnebago R.V.s and it became a big hit from our first show. Then Jack found out about it and, believe it or not, was pretty pissed off. But we somehow convinced him to appear with us at a show at the Red Vic last year. He came out to a standing ovation and regaled the audience with hilarious stories from that disastrous shoot, then signed autographs for a half hour afterward. At the end of the night, we actually hugged the man.

Have you entered yet? Midnight on Tuesday, September 22, is the cutoff for entries so get to scribblin'!

Our 10 favorites will win a gift certificate to Books, Inc. and be published in our October 7 Writers Issue! Just send a story that reflects life in the Bay -- fiction, nonfiction, or poetry -- to culture@sfbg.com with LIT123 in the subject line. The catch? Each entry MUST BE EXACTLY 123 WORDS! (Not including any title.)

Here's one from copy chief Diane Sussman to help your creative juices flow:

A few weeks back, shortly after a 57-year-old friend dropped acid (at a concert, surrounded by grinning friends, designated driver assigned, all glowing and good) my husband and I began thinking about the worst places we could think of to drop acid. And then it came to us: the 22 Fillmore. It took us a while to get there. Natural settings were out: there's always the risk that a stray bug proboscis can wander on the scene and unhinge your worldview. Home was out: a massive dustbunny could lead to hours of horror. I tested it out on a 20-something at a Haight Street head shop. "Whoa," he said. "Whoa. Yeh, man." Then he paused for a second. "I dunno. I think the 23."

See more examples here and here. Hope to hear from you soon!

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

Today's Look: Ruth, University of San Francisco

Tell us about your look: "This outfit is a secondhand, vintage piece by local designer Karen Rentschler and I got these boots about ten years ago from Nine West."

By Jesse Hawthorne Ficks

There were quite a number of exciting films at the 34th annual Toronto International Film Festival, though attending 21 features and 20 shorts in five days also involved some disappointments. Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Air Doll somehow dropped the ball in every which way, throwing around interesting concepts involving a sex doll who comes to life (a la The Velveteen Rabbit), but it ended up leaving me longing for Michael Gottlieb’s 1987 politically incorrect gem, Mannequin. Or Fridrik Thor Fridriksson‘s The Sunshine Boy, an Icelandic documentary about Autism around the world. Though it used Bjork and Sigur Ros on the soundtrack, it felt like an infomercial for public access. (To be fair, I saw the version with an Icelandic narrator and not the newest version with Kate Winslet reading the cues.)

Some films succeeded in minor ways, including George Romero’s fifth entry in his zombie oeuvre, Survival of the Dead. While enjoyable, this one seems to lack the political immediacy of his previous entries, including his underrated Diary of the Dead (2007). Michael Moore’s (last?) feature Capitalism: A Love Story had some brilliantly ironic moments -- as always, interspersed with his typical forehead-slapping activism (do you really have to continue using minimum wage-earning security guards at major corporations as the butt of your wacky antic jokes?). It felt a bit scatterbrained. Still, the film is well worth watching and even won the runner-up audience award for Best Documentary.

The creator of the original British version of The Office had his directorial debut with The Invention of Lying. Ricky Gervais' cynically hilarious, cameo-packed laugh-fest sadly ran out of steam during its last act, but no matter. What’s most important here is the sucker-punch moment that has Gervais flexing dramatic skills so poignantly that it literally brought tears to the entire audience. (On a side note, why doesn't Gervais ever end up kissing his leading ladies? Is this a conscious choice to counteract the likes of Woody Allen or Vincent Gallo or is it truly due to a low-self esteem?)

Todd Solondz’s Life During Wartime, Bong Joon-ho’s Mother, and Claire Denis’ White Materials all delivered solid entries, proving these directors know their craft and do it quite well -- though depending on how much you may have enjoyed their previous films you may be left wanting a little less or a little more.

By Steven T. Jones

Bike thefts in San Francisco are always bad (and mostly ignored by the local cops), but this one seems particularly tragic. Andrew Marinelli just completed a 6,255-mile, cross-country bike trek to raise money for the UN World Food Program, arriving in San Francisco on Saturday.

And then last night, his bike was stolen from the downtown area, where it was locked at the corner of Montgomery and Sutter streets. The bike is a large frame dark green Windsor road bike with one fender in the back and a broken right pedal. If you have any leads, contact him directly at 803.443.9343 or andrewmarinelli@gmail.com.

Despite the loss, he had a pretty good attitude about it, telling us, “It happens. I’m just glad that I made it here first.”

By Caitlin Donohue

Photos by Erik Anderson

Back in January 2008, before Obamarama had reached its most dizzying heights, before the Beer Summit, even before calling Kanye West a “jackass,” our Barry O.’s campaign trail led him to the Women’s Building. El Presidente-to-be picked the site to publicize his plans to aide working class women and families. He couldn't have chosen a soapbox with better mojo.

In 1979 the Women’s Building became the first women-run and operated resource center in the country. For the past 30 years, its extravagantly muraled walls have housed a cornucopia of practical tools for some of the most overlooked members of our community: a food pantry for immigrant families, dirt cheap professional legal advice, information on how to obtain a restraining order, even an after-school running program to help build confidence in girls. “This is a safe space for women,” says Corrin Buchanan, Program Director. “Lots of people have come through these doors and left with social services. It’s a place to gather for the community.”

By Caitlin Donohue

“Gene Simmons Begs Barbie” by Lavonne Sallee from the 7th Annual Altered Barbie Exhibit

During the years in which I was easily influenced by colorful plastic and catchy commercial jingles, my parents were good feminists and most certainly did not buy me Barbie dolls. Nonetheless, Barbie dolls multiplied in my toy chest like darling, prolific rabbits. How? The fact of the matter is that The Blonde One is a part of our social milieu. Getting away from Barbie is a proposition akin to avoiding pavement or romaine lettuce; it is simply not done.

SFBG TV at Altered Barbie 2008

This brings us to the San Francisco 7th Annual Altered Barbie Exhibit, wherein local Bay Area artists have appropriated the pink high heels, the taffeta, the Corvette and permanent purple eyeshadow and made this anatomically improbable fact of life their own.

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

Today's Look: Virginia, Willard North and McAllister

Tell us about your look: "I need to do my laundry!"

Every week, Virginia Miller of personalized itinerary service and monthly food, drink, and travel newsletter, www.theperfectspotsf.com, shares foodie news, events, and deals. View the last installment here.

Barrel-aged beer sounds delicious right now. Photo from www.beerandnosh.com

EVENTS

10/10 Beer & Nosh presents Notoberfest
Jesse Friedman, whose popular blog Beer and Nosh is one of the best out there on the sudsy stuff and accompanying foods, throws an event beer and food lovers shouldn't miss. But be forewarned... the event is already half sold out though weeks away.

With a cap at 150 people, Friedman told me he plans to keep it a comfortable party with various outposts around the room, flowing with food and beer. In the spirit of collaboration, Jesse assembled quite a line-up. None other than Ryan Farr and the 4505 Meats team prepare a feast with details not completely confirmed, though I hear rumors of grass-fed beef roasted over a fire, malt-studded/malt extract-glazed pork belly (yes!), barley beer brats on a stick, fried croquet on barley & sour apple chutney, and hopped rolled face on a fence(!) Dessert promises to be equally stunning with Humphry Slocombe creating six custom beer ice creams and treats just for this event. Wow.

Sampling the goods with Steve Altamari (Valley Brew), Ryan Farr (4505 Meats), and Jake Godby (Humphry Slocombe). Photo from www.beerandnosh.com

And the beer? Valley Brewing Co. serves their suds: Reinheitsgebot-breaking beers, each non-traditional, modern takes on heirloom styles:

* Luna Blanca - Central Valley Golden Ale
* a tart Olallieberry Sour that's been fermented using wild yeast
* Brandy Barrel-aged “Collaborative Evil” Belgian Strong Golden Ale
* India Pale Ale

* Bourbon Barrel Russian Imperial Stout
* a rich Valley Brew Skullsplitter Root Beer
* the event's signature beer, “Notoberfest” Bourbon Barrel Maibock Lager

This collaborative night brings together passionate craftspeople serving one-of-a-kind beers, meats and ice cream. If you need any more reasons to attend, I can't think of them.
October 10, 1-5pm
$50 pre-purchase; $60 at the door (if not sold out): includes beer, food, commemorative glass and poster (shown on Web site)
Mars Bar
798 Brannan Street
415-621-6277
www.beerandnosh.com/notoberfest

This just in: Dinners from Chef Melissa Axelrod
Read about wine or beer pairing dinners around town from Chef Melissa Claire in my current issue of The Perfect Spot.
www.melissaclaire.com

Bar reviewer Kristen Haney seeks to separate hipster wannabes from real-life dives in this weekly column.

Ha-ra ra, sis boom ... nevermind. Don't get too cute at this Tenderloin dive, or bartender Carl might get more surly than usual.

The term “dive bar” is difficult to define. The label tends to be subjective, used to conveniently describe myriads of diverse drinking establishments. According to the ever-so-accurate encyclopedic knowledge of Wikipedia, a dive bar is a “down market drinking establishment frequented by a poor or working class clientele.” A slightly more trustworthy source, the Oxford English Dictionary, simply considers a dive to be a “disreputable nightclub or bar.” And just in case I haven’t been keeping up with the jive street jargon of today’s young folk, I consulted Urban Dictionary, which says the term can be used to describe anything from a “comfortable-but-basic neighborhood pub” to the "nastiest swill-slinging hole."

Pretty general, right? In the name of journalism, I’ve taken it upon myself to put on my drinking shoes and sling back beers with regulars at this city’s great (or not so great) dives. I’m willing to cause irrevocable damage to my liver in order to bring you a weekly review of places that fit my dive bar criteria, so you don’t have to waste your precious brain cells on places populated by neckerchiefs and skinny jeans. Here’s what I consider important for determining the “divey-ness” of the watering holes that pepper the city like cockroaches refusing to be squashed. You can take ‘em or leave ‘em, but I’m going to take a page from the typical dive bar patron and let you know I could care less what you think. Besides, that which we call a dive bar by any other name would smell just as…questionable.

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

Today's Look: Chynna, Judson and Forester

Tell us about your look: "I work at Crossroads and these are all secondhand."

By Caitlin Donohue

Burlesque pistol Bunny Pistol gets more comfortable on the Expo for Independent Arts stage on Saturday

In a world where Rupert Murdochs and Borders Books cast their shadows over the city streets, where rent payments and the IRS hovers over upstanding creative citizens -- in a world that tries its best to homogenize and monetize its art and artists, the bat signal is permanently alight for cape crusaders like the Independent Arts & Media producers’ co-op. The group was started in 2000 to provide resources and support to autonomous voices in art and media and lucky us, their centerpiece event of the year, the Expo for Independent Arts, is this weekend and it’s gonna kick ass. Dig the scene - whether your bag is selling your indie art, copping some indie art or just checking out what’s going down with Bay creatives.


Four Corners Mural Project South Bay by Expo artist Andy Gouveia

On Friday Berkeley will play host to the Symposium, the learning segment of the massive shindig. There’ll be experts champing at the bit to teach about everything from DIY career planning and low budget marketing techniques to how to self- pitch fast (in an elevator, no less!).

By Laura Swanbeck

If the Amazon is the “lungs of the world,” the exhausted natural resources and indigenous people who have lived there for centuries are in need of some serious oxygen. Crude, a candid, even-keeled documentary by Joe Berlinger (1996’s Paradise Lost; 2004’s Metallica: Some Kind of Monster) examines the class-action lawsuit filed by 30,000 Ecuadorians who charge that Chevron, who bought out Texaco in 2001, is responsible for dumping 18 billion gallons of toxinogens into the Amazon between 1972 to 1990. However, the oil conglomerate counters that state-owned PetroEcuador, which has since taken over, truly ravaged the countryside, polluted streams, and killed off inhabitants and livestock. Although the film’s opening — in which the lead prosecutor, Pablo Fajardo, accepts the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize in San Francisco — suggests closure, Berlinger realizes that this battle is far more complicated than your average David vs. Goliath story. A study in perseverance and public perception (Trudie Styler and Sting make cameos to drum up support), Crude delves into political strategy, American entitlement (on both sides), and the frustrating bureaucracy that has plagued this ongoing case.

Crude opens today at the Lumiere and Shattuck.

By Spencer Young

SF-gone-NY artist Tauba Auerbach, who has a keen obsession with language systems and structures, departs (slightly) from the well-worn two-tones of her 50/50 series in the current anagrammatically-titled exhibit "HERE AND NOW/AND NOWHERE." Showcased at the ever-so-hip Deitch Projects, these new works dazzle with optical trickery and viewer interaction. The stars of the show (aside from the elephant-like organ that stands obtrusively in the gallery's center) are the seemingly innocuous "Crumple Paintings" that hang all the way in the back. I say seemingly because at first glance the canvases look crumpled, but deeper inspection of their disorienting visual static reveals they are rife with polka dots.

In a previous exhibit, Auerbach explained this work as a confrontation of the "threshold between order and chaos, or between pattern and randomness," wherein "it's never a discreet line" and "maybe these states overlap or maybe they don't really exist in a pure way." She also suggests a 2-D and 3-D interactive experience new to her work that develops between viewer and object. Hence the need to be near or far to see both sides.

Tauba Auerbach, Crumple VII, 2009, acrylic and inkjet on canvas, 96 x 128 inches

If I understand correctly, from a distance the "Crumple Paintings" are meant to represent chaos/randomness and a contoured 3-D experience, but up close bring orderliness/pattern, flat/2-D. However, neither is necessarily accurate, because it's all a matter of perspective, based on where you're standing. In other words, it's all relative. Check. But isn't this too easy and rigid of an analysis -- much like the clean nicety of an anagram where nothing gets left out, just rearranged? If so, isn't it then a return to the same formulaic structure of her 50/50 pattern pieces? Or has a blurring evolved between the two, as exemplified in the actual visual blur that happens when physically approaching the work?

By Dan Abbott

Video of last year’s Handcar Regatta by Mike Sloat of Roaring Mouse Productions

Do you ever get the feeling that we're totally screwed? I do, but I'm kind of into it. I've been consuming dystopian science fiction most of my life. I don't remember the last time I read or watched speculative fiction that saw the future as being better than the present. That may be one of the fundamental differences between the Boomer generation and their children; up until the early 70s, people actually believed the world would be better in 20 years. I grew up watching The Terminator and The Road Warrior, and at this point anything better than fighting wasteland mutants for a dented can of Dinty Moore will be a pleasant surprise. And considering the widespread interest in being actually prepared for a zombie apocalypse, I am not alone.

This is indicative of a deep distrust of progress, which is really the fundamental belief of modernity. The idea that there is a trajectory for the human species, that mistakes are learned from and that we are slowly but surely improving ourselves. Before the mechanized bloodbath of World War I began to throw it into question, this belief in the inexorable march of progress was iron-clad. The technological wonders of the 19th century inspired writers like Jules Verne to envision a future made utopian through invention, a world of crackling Tesla coils, bicycles and iron gears powered by steam. While this vision was drowned in a sea of bubblin' crude at the dawn of the 20th century, there is a revival of this sort of speculative engineering going on. Some of the Bay Area's best and brightest gearheads will be showing off their technological prowess this Sunday, Sept. 27, in Santa Rosa at The 2nd Annual 2009 Great West End & Railroad Square Handcar Regatta & Exposition of Mechanical & Artistic Wonders!

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

Today's Look: Alanna, City College, Ocean Campus

Tell us about your look: This sweater is my grandma's and it's a really old Guess. The shoes are my mom's."

By Sarah Jimenez

Glen Park: Charming home of yogis with nonfat lattes, rich moms with dogs, and ... cheap lunch? Yup.

Poor lunch. It always gets overlooked. While breakfast gets all the crepe and omelet glory, and dinner gets a sexy night vibe, lunch has long been demoted to that awkward hour you finally meet up with your ex and eat another fucking Cobb Salad, dressing on the side – or stuff your face with whatever boring staples are in your cupboard. Bore me to tears.

I contemplated this one recent afternoon as I sat at home, hungry as hell, with a fridge full of condiments and no freakin’ food. Watching Paula fry chicken on the Food Network wasn’t helping matters. How's a poor girl to give the midday meal it's due?

I threw on yesterday’s threads, brushed my teeth, and got my lazy ass outta the house. Over the river and through the woods is a bomb-ass Thai place that you’ve probably heard of, even if you’re an Excelsior brat like me and can barely see outta the fog: Osha Thai. The Glen Park location has $11 lunch specials -- just right if you’re a broke bastard or just a big cheapskate (hey, I don’t judge). The new spot on Diamond Street is my closest samosa salvation, just a hop away on the always eventful (aka brain-cell destroying) 44 line where I get pushed and shoved into the mosh-pit of teens screaming on their cell-phones and at each other.

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

Today's Look: Gavin, City College, Ocean Campus

Tell us about your look: "My shoes are from Hong Kong."

Every week, Virginia Miller of personalized itinerary service and monthly food, drink, and travel newsletter, www.theperfectspotsf.com, shares foodie news, events, and deals. View the last installment here.

10/11 Soul Food Farm Fundraiser from Il Cane Rosso & Coi
Our Nor Cal food and farm community was saddened to hear about 30 burned acres and 1000 baby chicks lost in a recent devastating fire at Soul Food Farm in Vacaville. Daniel Patterson and his dynamic duo of restaurants, Il Cane Rosso and Coi, sponsor a fundraising dinner next week where all proceeds go to Soul Food Farm and you're treated to a three course, family-style meal at Il Cane Rosso. Two seatings (between 5:30-6 pm, or 7:30-8 pm), offer a communal, heartwarming meal prepared with generously donated ingredients from Prather Ranch, Mariquita Farm and Full Belly. It feels good to help... and eat well at the same time.
$50 (including wine, not including tax & gratuity)
10/11, Sunday, 5:30-6pm or 7:30-8pm seatings
Il Cane Rosso, Ferry Building
415-391-7599
www.canerossosf.com
http://soulfoodfarm.com/blog/2009/09/cane-russo

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Magnolia's new Southern-inspired brunch
Magnolia Gastropub is one of our best local breweries and a darn good restaurant to boot. With my great love for New Orleans comes excitement at Chef Ronnie New's Southern-inspired brunch menu (he is from New Orleans, after all). Saturdays and Sundays there's dishes Shrimp & Grits (made from the best, naturally: Anson Mills Grits), Crab Cake Benedict, even Pheasant Eggs & Toast. Magnolia's best is still on offer, including their house-made sausages), excellent Chicken & Waffles, French Toast, and so on. So whether you prefer your brunch with Blue Bottle Coffee or Magnolia's renowned suds (the sampler lets you try six), you know the morning after can be nearly as fun as the night before.
Saturdays and Sunday, 10am-2:30pm
1398 Haight Street
415-864-7468
www.magnoliapub.com

By Caitlin Donohue

Loves it when you eat him. Photo by Erik Anderson

There’s a brisk wind running down Market today. And though I hear that it was 80-degree loveliness over the past weekend, I spent the past few days out of town in a place where they have things called “seasons.” So I missed out this time on the Indian summer benefits and am now reaccustoming myself to living in one of the world's most bizarre weather systems.

But the Bay Area possesses many charms, and primary among these is the sheer fertility of the ecosystem we live in. Particularly when it is producing things I can eat. On Saturday, the National Park Service will be schooling hungry people on this glory of nature. Namely on how to catch your very own crabs in the shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge. There will be a 15-minute demonstration on how to use a crabbing net (nets provided) as well as on which crabbies can come home with you and which will live to pinch another day (rock and red crabs = all yours, dungeness = their life, their love, and their lady is the sea).

After the quick lesson you’ll have the next hour and a forty five to mess with your new favorite hobby, smiling dreamily over thoughts of bouillabaisse and etoufees. And you will have a new dinner option on the table, as the Fort Point pier is open for permit-free public crabbing 24/7. Just cross your fingers that our crabby friends haven’t shared the fate of their herring brethren, whom recent studies suggest have been adversely affected by the 2007 Cosco Busan oil spill. Dang polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons!

Crabbing How-To
Sat/3 10 a.m.- noon, free
Fort Point Pier
End of Marina Drive, at south anchorage of Golden Gate Bridge
(415) 556-1693
www.nps.gov/fopo

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

Today's Look: Kaida, City College, Ocean Campus

Tell us about your look: "My hat is from Wondercon Comicon. I got these jeans from my mom and I don't know where she got them. The jacket is from Hot Topic."

By Johnny Ray Huston

In honor of how quick Guardian workers just were at helping a fellow employee who needed eye drops, here are some photos of John De Fazio's work at [2nd Floor Projects], where he and Daniel Minnick share a show.

E.T. bong. All photos by Johnny Ray Huston

The name of the show is "Sweet Believer Exit," and the opening on Saturday night was sweltering. When John Waters arrived at the small space, his appearance couldn't help but become a mini-performance piece on how people react to the glare of celebrity: some lingered nearby and said hi, while others retreated to the less crowded and thus slightly cooler hallway or escaped outside.

Weird octodoll bong

More bongs and some wonderfully creepy dolls by Minnick after the jump.