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Vanishing city

Up against intense market pressure, longtime residents and community projects fade from SF

This Week's Paper

Evictions sweep the city. Plus, Björk, Black Watch, a guide to summer's best fairs and festivals, Southside Spirit House, community basketball, and more. Articles Online | Digital Edition

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noise

Bad kids get slimed with the Black Lips at Great American Music Hall

03.21.13 - 10:44 am | Haley Zaremba |
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Black Lips at the Great American Music Hall. Photo by Haley Zaremba.
Black Lips at the Great American Music Hall. Photo by Haley Zaremba.
Black Lips at the Great American Music Hall. Photo by Haley Zaremba.
Black Lips at the Great American Music Hall. Photo by Haley Zaremba.
Black Lips at the Great American Music Hall. Photo by Haley Zaremba.

The Great American Music Hall was a soupy, sweaty mess of swamp-like proportions before the Black Lips had even taken the stage Monday night. The crowd, buzzing with the combined excitement of intoxication and anticipation, erupted into howls and screeches as the band took the stage in a puff of fog-machine smoke. From behind the mist, one of the Black Lips yelled into the mic, “If you wanna be smart, read a goddamn book. If you wanna have fun, you’re in the right goddamn place!” And so it began. Read more »

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Art: It's like money in the bank

03.21.13 - 9:11 am | Caitlin Donohue |
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The panic that grips you in those moments when you need to open a new checking account, but really needed a double shot of espresso are over. Yes, my moneyed mates, greetings and welcomes to the Financial District's somewhat recently opened Capital One 360 Cafe.

Within the gleaming walls, one can perform banking transactions and caffiene transactions with well trained bank staff-baristas. You can plan ahead and reserve a workspace at which you will enjoy free WiFi thanks to corporate America's largess. And for a limited time on those gleaming walls, you can enjoy artist Nick Mancilla's commentary on the transience of wealth while you bask in the endless future of your own, unfurling before you like a expensive, woven, cheerful, infinite Stars and Stripes. Read more »

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Yoga, church, and radical acceptance: An interview with the Grace Cathedral yoga team

03.21.13 - 9:01 am | Karen Macklin |
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Every Tuesday evening, hundreds of people flock to the Grace Cathedral Labyrinth to practice yoga with local teacher Darren Main. With Easter around the corner, SFBG talked to Main and the Rev. Jude Harmon, who manages the program, about how this unlikely class came to be, and why it works so well in San Francisco. Read more »

sexsf

Hot sexy events: Getting (a?)head in the boardroom

03.20.13 - 4:40 pm | Caitlin Donohue |
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I've been reading Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg's new book Lean In recently, which despite its rather class-specific advice and observations is a really great look at why we don't have enough women in power positions. (Hint, sexism.)

Sandberg is great on suggesting ways to circumvent the internalized patriarchy that we carry around with us, but a workshop that is taking place this evening (Wed/20) hosted by BDSM educators Society of Janus and instructor Beatrice Stonebanks takes another tack. In "Corporate Dominatrix Training 101," attendees will learn how to harness sexual tension and turn it to an advantage in officeplace dealings. Read more »

noise

Localized Appreesh: Swells

03.20.13 - 11:13 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. Read more »

politics

Guest opinion: Pinochet, the Pope and good priests

03.20.13 - 10:43 am |
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By Fernando Andrés Torres

I still remember when I was removed from solitary confinement into the general inmate population of Tres Alamos -- one of the infamous concentration camps of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet -– and the special welcome given to us 30 or so freshly arrived detainees by the commander of the camp, Conrado Pacheco.Read more »

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The Performant: Oakland, We’re For You

03.20.13 - 10:27 am | Nicole Gluckstern |
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Oakland Nights…LIVE! Photo by Joe Carrow
Oakland Nights…LIVE! Photo by Joe Carrow
Oakland Nights…LIVE! Photo by Joe Carrow
Oakland Nights…LIVE! Photo by Joe Carrow
Oakland Nights…LIVE! Photo by Joe Carrow

Oakland Nights….LIVE! makes a scene

Clear your calendars everybody, Oakland’s own untelevised late-night talk show has returned from a wintry hibernation and found itself some indoor digs, all the better to display their charmingly populist showcase. Read more »

politics

Spare change, Larry?

03.20.13 - 10:19 am | Rebecca Bowe |
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Tensions flared over the America's Cup last week as critics called for billionaire yacht owner Larry Ellison to cover the looming city deficit out of his own deep pockets.

It's evidently a popular idea: A petition asking Ellison to pony up had collected 1,663 signatures as of Wednesday morning.Read more »

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Whereabouts of W. Kamau Bell: a Q&A

03.19.13 - 3:06 pm | Robert Avila |
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Q Hey, whatever happened to W. Kamau Bell?
 
A Pretty sure the politically astute Bay Area comedian, writer, and director went on to fame in TV land as host of FX’s Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell.*
 
*True, but he’s back this weekend for two late-night sets at Stage Werx.

Read more »

politics

Hectic days in SFPD’s officer-involved shooting unit

03.19.13 - 3:03 pm | Rebecca Bowe |
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Apparently, the one San Francisco Police Department sergeant tasked with investigating officer-involved shootings has been busy. Yesterday morning, the Guardian received an email from SFPD Media Relations officer Albie Esparza, who apologized for taking almost a month to respond to a Guardian request for information.Read more »

noise

Ex-Girls singer Christopher Owens on the real Lysandre, and being 'a bit of a loner'

03.19.13 - 1:20 pm | Haley Zaremba |
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Last year was a momentous one for San Francisco band Girls. Still riding the high from their critically fawned-over and publicly adored sophomore full-length album Father, Son, Holy Ghost, the duo was at the height of its career, playing sold-out shows and reveling in buzz-band glory. Then in July, frontperson Christopher Owens announced via Twitter that he was leaving the band, leaving press and fans alike slack-jawed with surprise.

Owens wasted no time moving into his new career as a solo artist – putting to bed any hopes that Girls’ disbandment was a temporary misstep. This January he released Lysandre, a tight-knight album of autobiographical material from his first tour with a band. It’s a story full of first loves: girls, boys, fellow musicians, and far-off places. He'll perform songs off the album this Sat/23 at the Palace of Fine Arts. Read more »

politics

The lies of war

03.19.13 - 1:11 pm | Tim Redmond |
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I was listening to Democracy Now this morning, and the introduction to a segment on the tenth anniversary of the Iraq War started out with such an honest, accurate, straightforward statement that I didn't even think about it until later:Read more »

politics

There was no rape episode on 'Leave It To Beaver' [UPDATED]

03.19.13 - 1:06 pm | Caitlin Donohue |
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UPDATE: Kershner has added this addendum to the piece

 Some people seem to have misunderstood my point. Mays presented himself to adults far differently than to his friends. I used a TV character many people would remember to illustrate the insincerity of his text to the victim’s father. The string of text messages linked below amply demonstrates how abominably he acted toward the victim, who deserves everyone’s support.

Unfortunately, the use of that character as reference is entirely in keeping with the rest of the media's apparent tendency to recast the rapes as youthful indiscretions. What was Eddie Haskell's most egregious crime? Anyway, poor choice of metaphor, blog post stands. 

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I'll tell you how not to start your morning: like I did. I crushed my soul catching up on the Steubenville rape case. While still in bed. Really dumb. Read more »

politics

A decade later, troubling questions about war and democracy remain

03.19.13 - 12:29 pm | Steven T. Jones |
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Ten years ago, during my second week working here at the Guardian, San Franciscans rose up to protest the Iraq War and shut down the city. Five years ago, I revisited that moment and its impact on people's sense of democratic empowerment, writing this Maggie-award-winning essay. Today, on the anniversary of the start of that long war, it's hard to imagine a critical mass of San Franciscans being so organized and engaged with a cause larger than ourselves.Read more »

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Acclaimed director Sally Potter on redheads, the 1960s, and 'Ginger and Rosa'

03.19.13 - 10:51 am | Cheryl Eddy |
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It's the 1960s, nuclear war is a real possibility, and nuclear-family war is an absolute certainty, at least in the London house occupied by Ginger (Elle Fanning), her emotionally wounded mother (Mad Men's Christina Hendricks), and her narcissistic-intellectual father (Alessandro Nivola).

In Ginger and Rosa, a downbeat coming-of-age tale from Sally Potter (1992's Orlando), Ginger's teenage rebellion quickly morphs into angst when her BFF Rosa (Beautiful Creatures' Alice Englert, daughter of Aussie director Jane Campion) wedges her sexed-up neediness between Ginger's parents. Hendricks (playing the accordion — just like Joan!) and Annette Bening (as an American activist who encourages Ginger's political-protest leanings) are strong, but Fanning's powerhouse performance is the main focus — though even she's occasionally overshadowed by her artificially scarlet hair.

Ahead of the film's release Fri/22, I spoke with Potter about teen drama, redheads, and more.

San Francisco Bay Guardian Many, many films tell coming-of-age stories and tales of female friendship. What sets Ginger and Rosa apart from the rest?

Read more »