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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

Noise Pop: A last-minute slacker's guide

02.23.10 - 7:09 pm | Amber Schadewald |
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An exhausting week of show after show has arrived, and it’s hard to say no to such a thick lineup of interesting indie. That is, if you had a choice. If you’ve already got your tickets, my mother would be proud. If you are among the league of last-minute fools, be forewarned -- you are officially SOL (insert Debbie Downer "whaw whaw" here). Lots of shows are sold out, including almost everything I had my eye on: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zones, Loquat, Best Coast, Zee Avi, Atlas Sound, Four Tet, Mirah... So, if you’re like me and staggering to find your place in Noise Pop, here’s a guide to what’s best of what’s left.

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Dolores Park closure update: Public forum on March 3

02.23.10 - 6:26 pm | sfbg |
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By Chloe Roth

Dolores Park is a prime spot for many activities: basking in the sunshine, finding dates, judging people, smoking and drinking in public, hitting nappers in the head with Frisbees, fraternizing with the locals, feeling claustrophobic, and becoming more attractive (see below). First and foremost is sunshine, of which the rainy months and desk jobs have robbed many SF residents. The exodus to Dolo Park usually begins when the first rays of sun break through the fog, but the true swarm takes place on the first days of summer. Certain contingents (we could call them “the gentrifiers”) arrive looking like the undead: wan, anemic, and skeletal. But by August, Dolores Park has worked its magic: tank top tans have transformed them from “almost-see-through” to a sallow shade of “slightly-less-pale” and little beer bellies round out their skinny frames.

A couple weeks ago, however, it seemed that all this Dolo magic might be coming to a temporary halt.

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alt.sex: Don't be a dick

02.23.10 - 6:12 pm | Andrea Nemerson |
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Dear Andrea:

I'm not your average 20-something male. I love sex, but not unless its part of a relationship. I guess I think too highly of myself to tag random chicks meaninglessly. I do have a high sex drive and a great deal of experience, but the women I go for are usually highly-educated, professional, librarian types.

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"Sha-Boo-Lee" -- Brontez shakes it

02.23.10 - 4:27 pm | Johnny Ray Huston |
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See video

Reasons to watch the Younger Lovers' "Sha-Boo-Lee," directed by Irwin Swirnoff: hula hoops; cotton candy; Vespas; Mission Adult Superstore; pay phones, Fag School; naked sunbathing; dance instructor Brontez shaking it; sounds like if Henry's Dress were on Stax.

Is Chevron lying about its crude plans?

02.23.10 - 4:11 pm |
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By Adam Lesser

William Rostov, the Earthjustice lawyer who represents three Bay Area environmental groups, broke it down: “The question is: will it be heavier and will that result in more pollution?” He was speaking about crude oil refining at Chevron’s Richmond refinery as he addressed California’s First Appellate Court in San Francisco this morning. Heavier crude oil is usually less expensive for oil companies to purchase but generates more pollution during the refining process.Read more »

Editorial: No more silence on PG&E’s statewide power grab

02.23.10 - 2:31 pm | Bruce Brugmann |
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Every single elected official, candidate for office, and political group in the state that isn't entirely bought off by PG&E needs to loudly oppose Prop. 16 - now Read more »

The attack on the SF left

02.23.10 - 2:04 pm | Tim Redmond |
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If I were a political consultant hired by the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce and the big developers and the landlords and Mayor Newsom, and my job was to launch an effective attack on the progressive movement in the city and undermine progressive control of the Board of Supervisors, here’s what I’d do:Read more »

A look back at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival (part two)

02.23.10 - 1:47 pm | Jesse Hawthorne Ficks |
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For part one of Jesse's Sundance report, click here.

Rounding out the mumblecore minions was Cyrus from the genre-defining Duplass Brothers. Even while having name actors (John C. Reilly, Marisa Tomei, Catherine Keener, and Jonah Hill) as well as a seven million dollar budget to play around with (by comparison, their first film, 2005's The Puffy Chair, cost $15,000), the siblings have not lost one iota of their charm or sincere humor. And most importantly, these characters and situations (no matter how complicated things get) are explored with depth and honesty. Jonah Hill is still the Jonah Hill from Judd Apatow films, but here he's finally been allowed to explore his creepy-sad side, enabling a viewer to truly relate to his character, a son who's a little too overprotective of his single mom. During what was one of Sundance's greatest 9 a.m. Q&As, the hung-over directors and cast laughed about how they have no clue how to market this film. My suggestion: don't miss Cyrus, sure to be one of the funniest, and most unexpectedly poignant, films of 2010. Read more »

John Yoo's torturous book tour

02.23.10 - 1:15 pm | Steven T. Jones |
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By Adrian Castaneda and Steven T. Jones

John Yoo – the infamous author of legal memos justifying torture for the Bush Administration and a controversial UC Berkeley law professor – continued his surreal book tour yesterday, stopping in San Francisco yesterday to appear on KQED’s forum.Read more »

Sunday parking in the Mission

02.23.10 - 11:23 am | Tim Redmond |
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I'm not surprised that merchants in the Mission want to retain free parking on Sundays. Times are tough for neighborhood businesses, and anything that would seem to discourage customers is frightening.

Of course, if the city doesn't expand parking meter hours, it's going to have to make even further cuts in Muni, which could impact the merchants even more.Read more »

Breakfast with a hot Guerrilla

02.23.10 - 9:17 am | sfbg |
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By Robyn Johnson

My social media tuning fork started vibrating with reports of a new street food vendor making ground in Oakland. My unmitigated Oaktown pride compelled me to investigate.

Guerrilla Grub has indeed set up shop at the prime commuter hub of the MacArthur BART stop, serving breakfast burritos out of a pushcart adorned with its evocative fist-gripping-a-fork logo for early morning riders. Besides the hot dog guy, I have never seen a street food vendor at MacArthur. In fact, outside of Fruitvale taco trucks and the odd ambitious cupcakers at Art Murmur, I haven’t seen a street food vendor anywhere in the East Bay. Could a true revolution be at hand?

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Live Shots: De La Soul, Yoshi's Fillmore, 02/12/2010

02.23.10 - 8:43 am | sfbg |
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By Chhavi Nanda

Word came that De La Soul's flight was delayed, but they'd still make it. Anticipation levels rose to a fever pitch in the crowd. Fumes from the blunt smoke hazed the faces of the eager fans. Then finally, they made their entrance on to stage chanting "De La" with the audience responding with a unison scream "Soul!"

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Gung Hay Fat Choy!

02.22.10 - 8:08 pm | Caitlin Donohue |
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If 2010 wasn’t enough new year for you, fret not -- for Chinese New Year is upon us in all its glory. The holiday season (which actually started on Valentine’s Day) culminates this weekend with a firecracker explosion of Asian culture and showmanship. San Francisco does the new year big, bigger than any city outside of Asia, in fact. We suggest you get out your red clothes, mandarin oranges, and yusheng raw fish salad (all believed to bring good fortune for your next 365 days) and hit up some of the following events. This is one of those weekends that make our city great.

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Just what we need: Guns in the park

02.22.10 - 5:44 pm | Tim Redmond |
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Okay, here's some excellent news: You can now carry a concealed weapon in a national park. So when I'm hiking in Muir Woods or the GGNRA, I can look forward to running into a gun toter. I hope my dog doesn't pee on his leg.

 

Hey Matier & Ross -- PG&E is no security blanket

02.22.10 - 2:59 pm | Rebecca Bowe |
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Today’s San Francisco Chronicle piece by Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross brought to mind a Pacific Gas & Electric Co.-sponsored Web site that was set up to undermine the city’s fledgling Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) program.

That’s because one of the key points in the story was that San Francisco’s CCA could result in higher customer bills. According to the Chronicle:

"A 2007 city controller's report concluded that a typical residential utility bill under this type of plan could go up by 24 percent if only half the purchased energy is green. The cost would almost certainly go even higher if the city went totally green, the report said."

This city controller’s report is referenced on the PG&E-funded Web site, too, and this supposed 24 percent increase was splashed prominently across colorful outsized postcards that the PG&E-sponsored “Common Sense Coalition” sent to businesses and residences throughout the city last December. However, San Francisco’s Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo), a city commission responsible for setting CCA in motion, maintains that the claim is misleading.

Why?

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