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So many summertime festivals

Small town salsa, enviro-docs, artisan Jello shots, fun punk: warm weather celebrations abound in 2013. Here's our list

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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From the Blogs

Should bars be open until 4 am?

03.15.13 - 4:56 pm | Tim Redmond |
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State Sen. Mark Leno is introducing a bill that would allow (not require, allow) cities to designate areas where bars could stay open and serve alcohol until 4 am. It's not going to lead to a rampage of all-night drinking -- the bill calls for a three-stage approval system that would allow public input at every step. But it might allow a handful of clubs in the city to stay open later -- something that works just fine in a lot of other places, including most of New York State.Read more »

CPMC deal gets warm welcome despite some shortcomings

03.15.13 - 2:49 pm | Steven T. Jones |
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Even though the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the term sheet for the California Pacific Medical Center's hospital deal this week, comments from the supervisors and the general public indicated there are still a few outstanding issues before the project returns to the board for final approval, probably in July.Read more »

MUNI switchbacks disproportionately affect low-income and outlying areas

03.15.13 - 2:40 pm | Rebecca Bowe |
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MUNI switchbacks may be on the decline overall, but when you zero in on who bears the brunt of these annoying service disruptions, it becomes clear that not all transit passengers are created equal. In fact, the vast majority of these annoying service disruptions were concentrated in just three locations this past January, according to San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) data.Read more »

Live Shots: Rich Kidd, Young Galaxy, tween angst, and barbecue at SXSW, Day 3

03.15.13 - 2:11 pm |
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SL Jones at SX704. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.
Rich Kidd at SX704. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.
Concert venue along S. Congress. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.
Lunch at Casa de Luz. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.
La Barbecue three meat sandwich. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.
Residual Kid. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.
Residual Kid. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.
Street vendor selling handmade jewelry on S. Congress. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.
Street musician. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.
Gladys and Maybelle. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.
Telekinesis at Music by the Slice stage. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.
Corb Lund. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.
Guitar Shawn. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.
Kelly Willis. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.
Dancers at the Kelly Willis and Bruce Robison show. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.
Young Galaxy at Music by the Slice stage. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.
14 year old street musician, Sophia, raising money for M.S. and a bike ride from Houston-Austin. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.
Street musician, the Gin Jars. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.
Awesome dude on horse on S. Congress. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.
The famous bats flying into the sunset. Photo by Bowerbird Photography.

Photos and words by Bowerbird Photography

The surrealists employed a method of drawing called the exquisite corpse, where an artist would create an image on a section of paper, fold it back to conceal the image, and then pass on the paper for another artist's contribution. The beautiful monstrosity wasn't revealed until everyone was finished and the paper unfolded.

Walking down South Congress Street during SXSW 2013 yesterday felt like the musical version of an exquisite corpse. Nearly every block had its own outdoor stage, with an alternative country performance across the street from a hard rock band, indie pop music next to honky-tonk, and street musicians in between. It was sonic mayhem. Read more »

Bone, on: Here's the week in sex events

03.14.13 - 4:47 pm | Caitlin Donohue |
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Internet flame wars, naked people in Berkeley, fativism, shamrock-spangled stripper heels. Oh yep, that's this week in sex events. Read more »

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 »