Photos by Rebecca Bowe

A few images from San Francisco's well-attended and festive celebration of Dia de los Muertos, on Nov. 2 in the Mission.

Continue reading "Pics: Dia de los Muertos raises spirits" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Rebecca Bowe at 11:35 AM | Comments (2)

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

Today's Look: Paula, 18th Street and Mission

Tell us about your look: "It's a clash of two cultures: Spain and rock! I just got back from a trip to Spain."

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by SFBG at 11:01 AM | Comments (0)

By Caitlin Donohue

So I’m sitting there chatting with some old school San Francisco anti-gentrification activists on the back patio of a Bernal Heights café and we’re excitedly leafing through a coffee table book. Wha-wha-whaat? Yes I know, anachronistic isn’t it?

This is the book (and please memorize the jpeg below because if you buy a "San Francisco" book this month/year/ever, it needs to be this one):

Great blue heads of people's art, coming soon to a coffee table near you

This is Mission Muralismo, a book edited by Annice Jacoby. Its got hundreds of pages of big, glossy photos of all the best of Mission street art sprinkled with thoughtful essays. Its contributors include Mission barrio luminaries like R.Crumb, Shepard Fairey, las Mujeres Muralistas, Neckface and Rigo.

Where does one purchase said volume, you ask? Well I just happen to know that the DeYoung is seizing upon the book’s release to kick off a yearlong program of events hooting and hollering about Mission neighborhood creativity (“a rising star on the global art map” says the museum. But then, they also say the dress code for the event is “Mission festive,” so I mean, whatever).

Continue reading "Street Art Comes Up: Mission Muralismo at the de Young" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by SFBG at 09:14 AM | Comments (0)

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.

Members of the Farmer-Veteran Coalition will speak at Toby's Feed Farm

11/8 - Tanks to Tractors free farmers and veterans event

For a Sunday countryside excursion with purpose, Tanks to Tractors is a special event at Toby’s Feed Barn in Pt. Reyes Station, honoring veterans who have returned home to work on America’s farms. Veterans have incredible stories to share about what led them to this meaningful work post-service - work all the more needed as US farmers are retiring in droves. The wonderful Marin Organic with the Farmer Veteran Coalition put on this event with story telling from Amy Fairweather (Swords to Plowshares, Iraq Veteran Project Director), Nadia McCaffrey (Gold Star mother and founder, Patrick McCaffrey Foundation), Wendy Johnson (educator, author, co-founder of Green Gulch Garden), Michael O’Gorman (project director of Farmer Veteran Coalition), and others. On top of that, there's free light snacks and drink. A unique way to honor Veterans Day...
Sun/8; 5-7pm, free
Toby’s Feed Barn
11250 Highway One, Pt. Reyes Station
www.farmvetco.org
www.marinorganic.org

Decorate the dickens out of your cookies at One Market

11/7 - Make-A-Wish Gingerbread Wishes event at One Market

Venerable Make-A-Wish Foundation throws a cookie decorating party at One Market, with 100% of the proceeds benefiting Greater Bay Area Make-A-Wish. With striking Bay views before you, bring kids (both young and old) to the luncheon, with finger sandwiches and drinks served by One Market, where everyone works with their own cookie decorating kit designed by pastry chef, Patti Dellamonica-Bauler, including three Gingerbread Wishes cookies and embellishment goods like icing, sprinkles and candies. Decorating cookies was never sweeter.
Sat/7, 11am-1pm, $20
1 Market

415-777-5577
www.makewish.org

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by SFBG at 04:57 PM | Comments (0)

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

Today's Look: Vi, 19th Street and Valencia

Tell us about your look: "This is casual Monday outfit."

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by SFBG at 03:27 PM | Comments (0)

By Caitlin Donohue

Paul Mooney made comedy what it is today. And if you didn’t already know, he’s ready to educate you on the subject. Mooney’s new memoir, Black is the New White (Simon Spotlight Entertainment), lays bare a life spent writing for the seminal auteurs of black comedy, all while keeping it real and making white people nervous. Young pups will recognize him as the prophet Negrodamus from The Chappelle Show, but Mooney, who used to put down riffs for his best friend, Richard Pryor, also has credits on Saturday Night Live, In Living Color, and Sanford and Son. Me and Mr. Mooney had a chat the other day in anticipation of his upcoming shows at Cobb's Comedy Club starting Thurs/5. He had some words of wisdom and, surprisingly, didn’t call me a honky once.

San Francisco Bay Guardian: You grew up a hambone dance champion in Oakland. Do you see any changes in the place since back when you were growing up there in the 50s and 60s?
Paul Mooney: Oh honey, has it changed. I can’t find my grandma’s house because of all the golf clubs and white folks these days.

SFBG: Are you stoked to be back in the Bay Area for your upcoming show?
PM: I love San Francisco. The Asians, the Latinos, they all love me. I love the people’s attitude, they’re educated and happy about being here. Everything will be legalized in San Francisco. Only last time some Asian girl tried to give me trouble because I said ‘chop chop’. Everybody says ‘chop chop,’ it means hurry! I said that’s a crock of shit, that’s someone looking for something. Sometimes people walk in [to my act], they think they can take it. It’s comedy. If you can’t take it, you don’t have a sense of humor, get out! If you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen. Don’t cook!

Mooney was the writer behind the groundbreaking, racially charged 1975 Richard Pryor/Chevy Chase 'word association' skit on SNL

Continue reading "Negrodamus knows: Paul Mooney, ringmaster of black comedy, returns to the Bay" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by SFBG at 08:40 AM | Comments (0)

By Molly Freedenberg

Airbrush work by Jessica Atreides and Andrew Jones at last year's Dia de las Muertos event at Five & Diamond. Photo courtesy of jonology.com.

With all the Halloween hullabaloo, it's easy to get distracted from that other awesome holiday that comes this time of year: Day of the Dead. In fact, many revelers prefer the Mexican holiday, with its beautiful rituals and sincere honoring of the dead, to our bastardized American one, with its inebriated masses in slutty costumes. Lucky for all of us, we don't have to choose just one or the other. So how should you celebrate on Monday, November 2?

The cornerstone of San Francisco's Dia de los Muertos celebration is, of course, the procession in the Mission that concludes at the Festival of Altars. Meet at 24th and Bryan streets at 7pm for the lively parade, or at Garfield Park (26th and Harrison) at 8:30pm for the festival. (www.dayofthedeadsf.org)

But first, we're going to stop by Dia de los Muertos with Five & Diamond, a reception celebrating the store's second anniversary, featuring airbrush makeup by SOHA Collective and altars to beloved friends, and then join a procession to the larger parade on 24th Street. (5-7pm, free. 510 Valencia, SF. www.fiveanddiamond.com)

Can't make it out on Monday night? Visit SOMArts later in the week for its 11th annual Day of the Dead Exhibition, featuring more than 50 artworks inspired by the Mexican tradition still on display through November 7. The gorgeous entries span cultures, mediums, and scale, filling the large front space with a maze of moving, reverent art. The gallery is open Tuesday-Friday, 2:00 - 7:00 pm, and Saturday, 12:00 - 5:00 pm.
(934 Brannan, SF. 415-863-1414, www.somarts.org)

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Molly Freedenberg at 03:32 PM | Comments (0)

By Molly Freedenberg

In this week's issue of the Guardian, we talk about reasons to drink craft beer made locally and discuss someof the masters making noteworthy brews. But the Bay Area craft brew scene is so vibrant and varied, we could only touch on some of what makes it great. In coming weeks, we'll post longer interviews with experts at brewpubs, better beer bars, and breweries on this blog. Also keep an eye out for a story about seasonal brews in our Holiday Guide and a follow-up to this week's "Beer Here!" article, both coming out in November.

For our first installment of our online beer series, we'd like to give a nod to Magnolia Gastropub and Brewery and David Mclean, the award-winning brewmaster/owner of the Haight-Ashbury destination spot. Here's the transcript of our Q&A with him:

SFBG: How long have you been around?

DM: 12 years next month

SFBG: Why is Northern California so good for brewing beer?

DM: It's one of the birthplaces of the modern, American craft beer movement, giving it a 30-40-year head start over many other regions in the country. Not only does that mean that there are many talented brewers here but also that we have a well-educated customer base who appreciate the diversity of flavors and styles brewed in the area. The many facets of the Bay Area's artisan food and beverage culture dovetail together, impacting both the way brewers think about their craft and the way local beer drinkers embrace local beer.

SFBG: Why is it important to drink beer made locally?

DM: On one level, it's just a good idea to support local businesses in general. More specifically, when talking about craft beer, there is a sense of local identity and local pride that comes from drinking beer made in one's community. And, from both an environmental and flavor
standpoint, it's nice to not expend resources shipping beer great distances. Most beer tastes best when fresh and though that doesn't mean you can't get fresh beer from farther afield (or stale local beer), you greatly improve your odds drinking local. That's especially true if you drink beer at your local brewpub, where the beer only travels from the physically attached brewery to your glass.

Continue reading "Beer Here: Q&A with Magnolia's Dave Mclean" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Molly Freedenberg at 03:00 PM | Comments (1)

By Sarah C. Jimenez

Back to the pizza place. It was inevitable, I know. The place that last month my novia and I had a fit in and walked out of after not getting service—not getting a simple greeting after 10 minutes. We, the brown lesbianas in the corner, watched as the perfect white couple who came in long after us sipped their Peronis contently, while we were still hoping to maybe get waters. Our usual efficient and jovial server who, in the past, has always delivered pristine service, had been replaced with…well, no server at all. We’d been crushed that our favorite pizza place had not only blatantly offended us, but shattered our much anticipated pizza fantasies we’d toyed with all day.

The return to Oz started with a middle of the day phone-call while banging away at my computer like Schroeder at his piano, trying to meet a deadline: “Dinner tonight…. Tickets to Wicked…. Call in sick to work?” my girlfriend had pleaded. Giving up a $200 bar shift was not hard. Getting glammed-up for theater was not hard. Going to dinner back at the place where we’d last left with nothing but our stubborn dignity was.

Continue reading "Gialina: Good pizza deserves a second chance" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by SFBG at 12:30 PM | Comments (4)

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

Today's Look: Allison, Washington Square Park

Tell us about your look: "I got this in Denmark. My style philosophy is copy Europe."

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by SFBG at 08:44 AM | Comments (0)