The Performant: The sacred and the profane

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Putting the "good" back into Good Friday at “Sing-Along Jesus Christ Superstar” and Zombie Christ Haunted House

They might seem merely irreverent, or downright blasphemous, to conservative churchgoers, but I’m pretty sure the original JC Superstar would have dug the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence -- you know, the water-into-wine Jesus who supported sex workers and preached tolerance and respect for the marginalized.

The Sisters, who have been preaching the same since 1979, really get a chance to shine (and glitter) come Easter Weekend. One of SF’s most singular events, Easter Sunday in Dolores Park grabs the lion’s share of the attention, what with its iconic Easter Bonnet contest, the sainting of local community heroes, and the ever-popular Hunky Jesus competition, being rescheduled as we speak due to spring showers. But for those of us who find it difficult to get up early on a Sunday morning, hardbody of Christ or no hardbody of Christ, the Sisters have expanded their influence across the weekend, creating plenty of opportunity for the nocturnal among us to grab a little of the resurrection gusto for themselves.

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Live Shots: Keystone XL pipeline protest

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Photos by Bowerbird Photography

SFBG's Rebecca Bowe reported on the anti-pipeline protesters who greeted President Obama yesterday in the cold and fog. SFBG photographers from Bowerbird Photography were there as well. After the jump, Ariel of Bowerbird's take on the scene. 

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Local filmmaker's '50 Children' doc debuts on HBO

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San Franciscan Steven Pressman makes his filmmaking debut with 50 Children: The Rescue Mission of Mr. and Mrs. Kraus, an informative documentary about Philadelphia residents Gilbert and Eleanor Kraus — grandparents to Pressman's wife, Liz Perle — who hatched a daring plan in 1939 to rescue 50 Jewish children from Nazi-occupied Austria. The hour-long film airs Mon/8 on HBO.

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RIP Roger Ebert

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A sad day for cinema fans everywhere today; veteran film critic, author, advocate, and (lately) blogger/Twitter master Roger Ebert has died after a long battle with cancer.

Below, some clips paying tribute to the man, the myth, the guy who co-wrote Russ Meyer's 1970 Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.

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The truth conquers all

Will a 25-foot buffer zone keep anti-abortion protesters from freaking out Planned Parenthood patients? 

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I was standing in front of what looked like a semi-vacant office building. I re-checked my maps app — it looked like I had the correct address for the Planned Parenthood clinic. If only this woman would stop shouting about killing babies, maybe I could think.Read more »

New life

Remembering SF psychedelic house pioneer Scott Hardkiss. Plus: Charlie Horse, Tensnake, V.I.V.E.K., Francois K., and more nightlife

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SUPER EGO This one's for Scott Hardkiss — the actually legendary local-bred DJ and producer who in the early 1990s, along with his Hardkiss brothers in music Gavin and Robbie, helped put the psychedelic-ecstatic sounds of San Francisco house on the underground map. He passed away last week at 43 from what is presently believed to be an aneurysm, leaving behind his wife Stephanie, his two-year-old daughter — and legions of fans who revel in his sonic legacy. Read more »

Promo: Lecture and workshop with Joy DeGruy

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Joy DeGruy, PhD, authored the book Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America's Enduring Legacy of Injury and Healing, which addresses the residual impacts of trauma on African descendants in the Americas. Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome lays the groundwork for understanding how the past has influenced the present, and opens up the discussion of how we can use the strengths we have gained to heal.
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Obama greeted with anti-pipeline protesters

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Hundreds of protesters gathered in San Francisco’s upscale Pacific Heights neighborhood on April 3 to greet President Barack Obama with signs and chants opposing the Keystone XL pipeline. Nationwide, environmentalists have been pressuring the president in recent months to reject construction permits for the oil infrastructure project, which would transport oil to U.S. refineries from Canada's Alberta tar sands.

The president was in San Francisco for a $32,500 per person Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) fundraiser at the mansion of San Francisco billionaires Gordon and Ann Getty, preceded by a $5,000 per person cocktail reception hosted at the Sea Cliff residence of Tom Steyer, a billionaire former hedge fund manager, and his wife Kat Taylor. Steyer and Taylor are vocal critics of the pipeline and have donated to environmental causes.

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The hawk and the rat: Hugh Leeman's artistic 'social experiments'

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The artist talks about his upcoming exhibit, depictions of the homeless, and art-related capitalism
 
If you’ve walked through the Tenderloin, along Market Street, or around SoMa, there’s a good chance you’ve seen Hugh Leeman’s art. (He'll be showing new work Thu/4 at SOMArts Gallery as part of the "Dial Collect" show.) Leeman is best known for his drawings of the distinct and arresting faces of Sixth and Market’s homeless, which he used to wheatpaste onto billboards and buildings. His iconic work has been characterized as “street art,” but Leeman views his homeless art project through a more enterprising lens.

The power latent in billboards and marketing campaigns – both to make a statement and to expose vulnerabilities held by the viewer – inspired Leeman to plaster his friends’ faces around town. (Leeman met most of the homeless men he's depicted by engaging in street-side conversation, usually with the help of a trusty pack of Camel cigarettes.) He aimed to get as many eyes on his work as possible by giving away free posters of his drawings and by allowing people to download posters off his website for free. He also screen printed his drawings onto t-shirts and gave them away to men and women on the street to sell for a 100% profit.

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No progress in condo conversion standoff, despite the Chron's spin

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Perhaps it was just an unfunny April Fool's Day joke or some wishful political spin, but the San Francisco Chronicle's April 1 article about how tenancy-in-common owners and their political supporters are pushing legislation that would allow them to bypass the condo conversion lottery seriously misrepresented the city's biggest current political standoff.Read more »

Standing on streetcorners naked, and this week's sexy events

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Memories of a taxi driver desperately trying to flag Courtney Trouble into his cab popped up unexpectedly today upon hearing the BBW queer pornographer discuss how the Madonna-inspired Guardian cover shoot last year for my story following her and the rest of the queer porn clique down to Las Vegas for the AVN Awards has now inspired a movie of its own. Read more »

Feds' use of spy tools under scrutiny due to privacy concerns

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If the FBI is trying to pinpoint the location of a suspect in your neighborhood, investigators could sweep up information from your mobile device just because you happen to be in proximity to their target. Civil liberties advocates are concerned that the practice is a major invasion of privacy.Read more »

Localized Appreesh: Sunbeam Rd.

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Localized Appreesh is our thank-you column to the musicians that make the Bay. To be considered, contact emilysavage@sfbg.com

I'm a lover of past treasures. I like my music vinyl, and I like my mail snail. Sure, I download thousands (millions would be hyperbolic, right?) of tracks a year, send hundreds of emails a day, tweet with the rest of them, and then some. Technology is still my friend, but vintage pleasures will always be my lover. Hence, my delight with the arrival of a colorfully confetti'd physical postcard from psychedelia-minded local fuzz-pop trio Sunbeam Rd., announcing the group's 50th show. Read more »

Norquist exposes tax avoiders

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I'm not a big fan of Grover Norquist, who will be in town April 4 and who is so against taxes that he apparently would have refused to pay his share of the cost of World War II (back when the government actually asked taxpayers to pay for wars as they were being fought, instead of pretending they were free and borrowing money that future generations will have to repay). Read more »