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The FBI and Occupy

03.14.13 - 4:28 pm | Tim Redmond |
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A federal judge will decide March 15 whether to dismiss a lawsuit by the ACLU and the Bay Guardian seeking access to FBI records showing the agency’s involvement with the Occupy movement.

As if often the case, the FBI’s legal motions tell an interesting story that sheds light on what some of the still-unreleased documents might show.
The filings make it clear that the FBI was not only spying on the Occupy movement but was sharing data with local law-enforcement agencies -- and at some point may have classified some part of the Occupy movement as international terrorists.Read more »

SEIU 1021 employees authorize strike as its clash with the city goes to arbitration

03.14.13 - 4:19 pm | Steven T. Jones |
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[UPDATE: The two sides reportedly reached a tenative agreement over the weekend]. Service Employees International Union Local 1021, which represents most city employees in San Francisco, continues to fight both internal and external challenges, with its own staff employees overwhelmingly authorizing a strike just as the union battles the city over pay equity issues.Read more »

Live Shots: Unknown Mortal Orchestra, fornicating turtles, and one Dixie Chick at SXSW, Day 2

03.14.13 - 2:25 pm |
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Boat party on Lady Bird Lake. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.
Turtles in the lake. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.
Won Fu from Taiwan. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.
Happy little dancer at the Won Fu concert. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.
Won Fu from Taiwan. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.
Won Fu from Taiwan. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.
Won Fu from Taiwan. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.
Daria from France. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.
Unknown Mortal Orchestra at KEXP day party. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.
Unknown Mortal Orchestra at KEXP day party. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.
Unknown Mortal Orchestra at KEXP day party. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.
SXSW fan, taking a break. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.
Family of the Year. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.
Family of the Year. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.
Family of the Year. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.
Family of the Year. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.
Lord Huron. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.
Lord Huron. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.
Natalie Maines. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.
Natalie Maines. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.

Photos and words by Bowerbird Photography

Immersing oneself in the SXSW 2013 musical experience feels akin to getting deep fried in a small tub of hot oil, crammed with sundry other dancing meats. The sizzle we hear are our eardrums giving their last scream from last night's who-knows-where-we-are dance party. Austin is hot with things to do and people to do it with. Read more »

Those infuriating private buses

03.14.13 - 2:02 pm | Tim Redmond |
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People in the Mission continue to get more and more angry with the private tech-company buses clogging streets and filling up Muni stops; here's a great photo of two of the behemoths forcing Muni passengers to walk out into the street to catch the bus that is supposed to be at the stop.Read more »

Live Shots: The Hush Sound at Great American Music Hall

03.14.13 - 12:37 pm | Haley Zaremba |
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The Hush Sound at the Great American Music Hall. Photo by Haley Zaremba.
The Hush Sound at the Great American Music Hall. Photo by Haley Zaremba.
The Hush Sound at the Great American Music Hall. Photo by Haley Zaremba.
The Hush Sound at the Great American Music Hall. Photo by Haley Zaremba.
The Hush Sound at the Great American Music Hall. Photo by Haley Zaremba.

I was introduced to the Hush Sound in high school, when a girlfriend burned "Like Vines” onto a mix CD for me. It was love at first listen. The awkward, adorably fumbling song structures and whimsical lyrics of the Like Vines album were the perfect mirror to my gawky teenage soul. Goodbye Blues, the last album the band released before going on hiatus, showed more advanced songwriting technique and much better production. It was a tragedy. Growing up had made the Hush Sound lose its charm. I kept burning old Hush Sound songs onto mix CDs for a couple of years, and then slowly forgot about it.

You can imagine my surprise when, walking into the Great American last Friday night for a Hush Sound reunion show, I found myself in a nearly sold-out venue. As it turns out, other people had also restlessly waited through the five-year hiatus for this opportunity to relive their youth. Read more »

Magic, madness, witches, and holdin' on to that feeeeeling: new movies!

03.14.13 - 12:00 pm | Cheryl Eddy and Guardian Staff Writers |
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The newly-renamed CAAMfest (the film festival formerly known as the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival) opens tonight with its own slice of March Madness: basketball-themed doc Linsanity. For more on that film and other CAAMfest documentaries, go here. You'll find a rundown of films focusing on troubled family ties here.

Also this week: Park Chan-wook's first English-language film, Stoker, opens tomorrow — it's a creepy delight, and I spoke with Park about Hitchcock and more in this interview.

For those so inclined, Hollywood rolls out Halle Berry thriller The Call (make your own "phoning in her performance" joke here) and Steves Carell and Buscemi, plus Jim Carrey, as battling magicians in comedy The Incredible Burt Wonderstone.

Read on for short takes on a new horror omnibus, a stirring tale from Romania, the Oscar-nominated War Witch, two music docs (Journey + Snoop Lion), and more. Read more »

Fine Snoop, I'll listen to your reggae album (a movie review)

03.14.13 - 10:15 am | Caitlin Donohue |
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In the life of Snoop Lion (or Doggy Dogg, for those who were done with hip-hop after Chronic 2000), there have been many steps made purely for monetary return. A partial list: various malt liquor endorsements, the AOL commercial co-starring Jerry Stiller, iFizzle, a line of clothing for dogs, an anti-viral ad campaign entitled "Hack is Wack." One is to be excused if news of Reincarnated, the rapper's reggae album produced by Major Lazer and featuring the drumming talent of the Police's Stewart Copeland doesn't set fire to one's creative synapses. 

Thank Jah he and his wife Shante co-executive produced a documentary about the making of the album in Jamaica for Vice. Somewhere in those 96 minutes, I started to feel better about things. Read more »

Desi Santiago inflates Juanita More's Pride party plans

03.13.13 - 7:27 pm | Caitlin Donohue |
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Desi Santiago: Loewe runway show in Paris
Desi Santiago: "The Black Lords" at Lords Hotel
Desi Santiago: Desi Santiago: Louis Vuitton-Marc Jacobs retrospective at Museé des Arts Decoratifs in Paris
Desi Santiago: "This Pop is Perfection" show at Envoy Enterprises Gallery
Desi Santiago: "This Pop is Perfection" show at Envoy Enterprises Gallery
Desi Santiago: headdresses at Louis Vuitton-Marc Jacobs retrospective at Museé des Arts Decoratifs in Paris

Does the idea of one of SF's best-known drag fashionistas rendered in massivem inflatable form excite you? You then, are the target audience for this item of news: Juanita More has announced that multimedia artist Desi Santiago will lend his dark, dramatic style to her yearly Pride party in 2013 as its set designer. 

"Desi is someone with great vision," More told me in an email. That vision has produced black dogs that swallowed a South Beach hotel whole, outfits that appear to be made from different garments when viewed from various vantage points, atmospheric runway sets, and extravagant works various couture happenings. Read more »

Tough questions asked on America's Cup fundraising shortfall

03.13.13 - 5:53 pm | Rebecca Bowe |
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At a March 13 subcommittee hearing called by Sup. John Avalos, representatives from the city’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD), the America's Cup Organizing Committee (ACOC) and others were called upon to explain why coordinators of the prestigious yacht race have failed to reach projected fundraising targets to defray city costs. If the fundraising goals aren't reached, the city’s General Fund could weather a $13 million hit to cover costs for the sailing event.Read more »

Live Shots: K-Pop's Night Out, Ashley Monroe, and more at SXSW, Day 1

03.13.13 - 1:55 pm | Ariel Soto-Suver |
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Fans looking through the show booklets on the Convention Center steps. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.
Mike Love at Whole Foods. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.
Cowboy boots, downtown Austin. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.
Luchador on a rickshaw. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.
Ashley Monroe. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.
Ashley Monroe. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.
Fan waiting outside the K-Pop Showcase. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.
The Geeks at the K-Pop Showcase. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.
The Geeks at the K-Pop Showcase. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.
DJ Earworm at VEVO TV Control Room. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.

Photos and words by Bowerbird Photography

Fans made scrawling lines all through Austin, Texas, waiting to gain access to countless shows, as the SXSW 2013 music festival kicked off on Tuesday night.

Some eager devotees sat cross-legged, tolerating the intense Texas sun since 9am according to a chatty security guard, for the K-Pop Night Out showcase. In the SXSW hierarchy, badges trump wristbands, leaving hardcore fans without tags to load up on patience, scour listings for shows with free access, and pray capacity doesn't max. Read more »

The Performant: Our selves

03.13.13 - 10:15 am | Nicole Gluckstern |
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The body does not lie -- Anne Sexton

So often in the arts it seems like we spend an inordinate amount of time focused on how art engages our minds as opposed to our bodies, as if body were a mere vessel whose primary function was to shelter and nourish the brain. In fairness, this is how we treat our bodies in a non-artistic settings too, at best a cumbersome weight which anchors us to the physical world, at worst, a burden we long someday to be free of. Read more »

Localized Appreesh: Magic Fight

03.13.13 - 10:07 am | Emily Savage |
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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.

Magic Fight has got fangs. More precisely, the newly formed Oakland “post-indie” band — led by Florida born singer-ukulele player Alex Christopher Haager — just released its very first single, “Fangs” off its forthcoming debut album, Wooden Swords & Stolen Echoes.

Read more »

On a mission

Two Mission cops decided they'd rather get jobs for gang members than keep arresting them. And it's working.

03.12.13 - 6:08 pm | Tim Redmond |
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tredmond@sfbg.com

Every gang member on the streets knows Cathey and Sands. They're the cops. They've busted dozens of the young men who hang out in the Mission. They know every excuse, every trick, every way you can duck into an alley, hide in a doorway, ditch a weapon or cover up a crime.Read more »

Supervisors approve Western SoMa Plan, rejecting expanded office development

03.12.13 - 4:29 pm | Steven T. Jones |
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The Board of Supervisors today approved the Western South of Market Community Plan, the first step to ending a development moratorium that has been in place since the citizen-based planning process that developed the plan began in 2005, but not before some supervisors made a last-ditch effort to allow more office development and nightlife.Read more »

Live Shots: The Robert Glasper Experiment at New Parish

03.12.13 - 3:02 pm | Ryan Prendiville |
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The Robert Glasper Experiment at the New Parish. Photo by Ryan Prendiville.
The Robert Glasper Experiment at the New Parish. Photo by Ryan Prendiville.
The Robert Glasper Experiment at the New Parish. Photo by Ryan Prendiville.
The Robert Glasper Experiment at the New Parish. Photo by Ryan Prendiville.
The Robert Glasper Experiment at the New Parish. Photo by Ryan Prendiville.

It really wasn't a question whether the Robert Glasper Experiment would be any good at the New Parish on Friday night  – but how it would go about replicating the success of Black Radio, which recently won the Grammy for R&B album of the year.

That’s an album that features notable collaborators on each track – Erykah Badu, Lupe Fiasco, Bilal, Mos Def/Yasiin Bey, etc. – which could leave pianist Glasper a lot to make up for live. Going into the show I had a few theories: maybe the group would use pre-recorded vocal tracks in places, maybe up-and-coming vocalists would be pulled on stage from Oakland’s music scene, or maybe some surprise guest would be introduced. (Singer José James was nearby at the San Jose Jazz Winter Fest. Maybe he’d finish in a timely manner over there and stop by?) Read more »