Conversations with the Mission Rocker

For one Mission musician, touring is not an option. In fact, he very rarely performs below 16th street or above 24th- these are the outer limits of his chosen venue.  This wild-haired troubadour is known to most by his soubriquet, the Mission Rocker, or as “that guy with the guitar”.  

We have a tenuous relationship, Mr. Rocker, and I.  The few interactions we’ve had, under street lamps and in alleyways, consist of him chasing me down the street, usually to the tune of “screw all you bourgey brats, and while I’m on the subject, the world is going to shit.” It can put a damper on your night, especially if he chooses your steps as the stage for his angsty ballads.  

And who wouldn’t react with apprehension, when while trying to squeeze your car between two leering red-zones, you are serenaded with the discordant ditty: “Just park the goddamn car already! Nah-na-na. What are you doing? La-la-la-la, just park, for Christ’s sake!”?

But, recently, the two of us had a tete-a-tete and I learned a little more about this not-so-quiet soul. 

“I’ve been playing these streets for 20 years,” he informed me.  “Finally, I’ve been getting a little recognition.”  He mentioned being interviewed for a Citisearch article written a few years back (which I haven’t been able to find) and offered to play me “a little something.”  Bracing myself for some aural assault, I was amused when he began to play a rendition of “You Are My Sunshine” which morphed into something entirely different.  After about 5 minutes, I moved to take my leave, thanking him for the song.  

“What’s your name?” I asked. 

 “Don’t you know?” he said, “I’m the King of Valencia.”  I guess that’s his pseudonym du jour.

Renegade Craft Fair

Craft fairs can be quite “marmish” and “kitschy” events, but even so, I usually can’t resist.  There’s a part of me that loves decoupage coasters and crotchet numbers in bright-pink synthetic yarn. But, even though I did not see a SINGLE tea-cosy or coaster at the Renegade Craft Fair at Fort Mason, there were plenty of other novelties to delight in. 

The craftsmen and women at Festival Pavilion are artists incorporating eclectic and modern elements into their wares.  The found, the salvaged, the industrial, the recycled, and the reused, were all on display.  Prices were boutique-high as you might expect from an urban reinvention of “artsy crafty”; Festival Pavilion felt more trade-show than fair.  Not a face painter in sight.   

Here were a couple of artists who stood out:  

Nina Dinoff uses molds to turn vintage martini paraphernalia (swizzle sticks, cocktail picks, etc) into metal bracelets and pins. 

Jamila Starwater Tazewell brought her bright LA based collection of wallets, cardholders, notebooks, condom cases and passport covers.

Amy Cools, designer of AC Clothing and Bags created a great resource called: Afterglow’s Guide to Independent California Shopping.  Amy compiled information about independent designers in California as well as the stores, online shops, and fairs (more crafts!) that carry independent designs. 

I fell in love with local talent, Hilary Williams’, screen prints and paintings.  You can visit her work at her studio on San Jose and Ocean during open studio hours, every Wednesday from 4-7pm. She also makes dolls that are creepily adorable.

Norcal fires still a ragin’

Here’s a snap I took at my house in Old Shasta yesterday with fires 3 and 5 miles away.

Amazingly, the air quality is even worse in other areas of the north state, prompting the California EPA to release a health advisory for Sacramento Valley and the surrounding areas on July 9th.

Since these fires don’t seem to be going away any time soon, Shasta County residents can check for air quality updates at http://www.co.shasta.ca.us/Departments/Resourcemgmt/drm/aqmain.htm . 

To get an idea of just how badly California’s AQI is in relation to the rest of the nation, go to AIRNow.

Want to take people watching at Dolores Park to the next level?

Despite the fact that Dolores Park‘s weekend visitors make Bi-Rite completely un-navigable, I cherish the moments I spend people watching with friends and warm chardonnay.  So, in honor of the upcoming weekend and the fact that temperatures are projected to hit the low 80s, here is a little game I call:

“A Dolores Park Scavenger Hunt You Can Do While Sitting On Your Lazy Rump” 

10 points for someone outfitted head-to-toe in American Apparel

5 points for that black, ugly, hairless, rat-dog. 

15 points for the “treat man”  (20 if you make a purchase)

10 points for a burner on a tightrope

25 points for that contortionist/exhibitionist couple wearing neon lycra 

10 points for Teddevan with his prophetic sign

5 points if you spot someone wearing heels on the grass (add another 5 if that person falls down at some point)

5 points if the women’s bathroom line is more than 20 people long

1 point per speedo

1 point per hula hoop

1 point per fixie bike

 

Co-invention credit goes to my darling friend, Lindsay, who never fails to fill my “someone outfitted head-to-toe in American Apparel” quota.  Here she is in all her flaxen haired glory.

Who Boogaloos?

Oh, Boogaloo’s, you “brunch spot of all brunch spots” in the mission. Come rain, come shine, come in-between grayness, there will always be brunchers queued to partake in your sloppy, vegan and meatetarian friendly, faux-mexican goodness.  

So, who are these loyal participants? On weekends, the answer is: anyone willing to wait 45 minutes for Valencia corridor convenience and eggs. 

But, what about those people who flock to the Boog on TUESDAYS?   Since 11:30 is too early to lunch, and hours late for “breakfast o’clock,” I’ve reasoned that these people are part of the mission elite who BRUNCH on weekdays.  Lets call them, “hipsters who brunch.”

Yesterday morning, the crowd seemed especially busy, so I decided to treat my unemployed ass to a bottomless cup of coffee, a square-cool combo and some people watching with the hopes of better understanding the mysterious order of people engaging in this unpretentious, yet indulgent, ritual. Here are my findings:

Type A. The Unemployed or Self-Employed: Like me, these persons tend to stay too long and order too little. What else have they got to do?  In groups, they are often found splitting side dishes three ways, and asking their server to refill the creme pot for the fourth time. 

Type B. The Parents:  Found in both the male and female breed (how progressive is California!), these doting and mature individuals are clad in the most trendy and ergonomic of “baby-wearing” fashions.  While shoveling whole-grain O’s into their children’s mouths, and 22nd Street Steak Sandwiches into their own, they discuss adult topics like the trials of job-sharing and how to fit two carseats into a Mini. 

Type C. The Night Shifters:  They are just what you’d expect from your local bartenders, servers, and bouncers: pissed off. 

Type D. The Financially Secure:  These trust-funders and Silicon Valley early-retirees are so subconscious about their prosperity that they skip Zuni’s in favor of slumming it.  Despite best efforts, these someones betray themselves by opting for the “real maple syrup” upgrade and never asking for doggie-bags. 

Type E. Truants:  In true Dylan style, these “forever youngs” have called in sick or late in order to ditch their hangover over a plate of soy-chorizo hash. 

So, how does our new generation of “hipsters who brunch” compare with the “ladies who lunch” of yesteryear?  While the number of mimosas may not have increased (those miserable matrons could drink most of us under the table), the diversity of characters certainly has.  And more power to them if they have somehow shirked the 8-6 travail, even if only for a day.

Stevland Hardaway Morris

I went with my family to see this Motown great (better known as Stevie Wonder) play to a packed Shoreline on Saturday night. My sister, Sydney, and I were asked to be in a promo pic for some radio station, most likely because we were the only women under 35 they could find.  But, lest I give you the wrong impression: that 40+ crowd still knows how to rock an amphitheatre and so does Stevie.  And even if you find fault with the 58 year old artist’s aging pipes, you have got to love an icon who will break off a song mid-verse with, “that’s enough of that one.”  No apology needed, Stevie.  You’re way past that.

Online Interactive Language Learning

If you are planning an international vacation,  or simply want to look like less of an “idiota” when ordering at your local taqueria; look into courses on livemocha.com.  Though still in beta mode, this site provides an economically non-committal alternative to pricey language courses or books, offering free multi-level language courses in Chinese, English, French, German, Hindi, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.  

One of the benefits of the course is the option to chat with other students of the same language and level.  Also incorporated is a peer-feedback system for audio files which helps to satisfy the oral component of language acquisition. 

A great place to dabble, brush-up, or cram in your language of choice.

Brave New Traveler researched 7 other online resources for language learning.  After playing around with their suggestions, here are the two sites I found most useful.

BBC Languages Best for French, German, Spanish, and Italian. For these languages, BBC offers an evaluative set of questions that help you locate material on the site that is best suited for your level. I especially love the “Mi Vida Loca” interactive video for beginning Spanish learners, an example that the site is geared towards middle and high-school age language learners.  There is also quite a bit of material for beginners in Greek, Portuguese, and Chinese as well as some online and classroom resources for various other languages, including Urdu, Japanese, and Polish. 

MIT shares its language courses online, complete with downloadable course material and assignments.  Courses are also available in foreign literature, art, music, history and culture, to supplement your language studies.  If MIT Open Coursework doesn’t yet offer what you are looking for, you can sign up for an RSS feed that will notify you when new classes are added.

Lucia di Lammermoor

The staging of the first two acts of San Francisco Opera’s production of Donizetti’s Lucia go something like this:

Act 1. Forbidden Love. Male posturing in the form of strutting and gesticulating from Enrico (Gabriele Viviani), Raimondo (Oren Gradus) and Edgardo (Giuseppe Filianoti).  Lucia (Natalie Dessay) does some rolling around in wispy ground-cover. Next, the lovers duet–an embrace here, an embrace there, kilt play (not as racy as it sounds)–end scene. 

Act 2. Deception, Betrayal and a Wedding.  More male posturing. Lucia and brother, Enrico, exhibiting unintentional sexual tension (by far the most interesting dynamic of the second act).  Dessay is nailed to her marks: chair, table, floor, repeat.  Big wedding and a humorous sword fight. 

Luckily, the infamous Act 3 effectively curbed audience boredom.  Directors Vick and Gandini must have been saving all the gusto for the finale.  While still stiff, the staging was conceptual and Dessay came alive in all of Lucia’s sublime madness to a backdrop of a huge, omnipresent moon. 

Aside from production, there were many standout vocal moments.  While I remained unimpressed by Edgardo and undecided about Enrico, Adler Fellow, Andrew Bidlack, energized the stage with his young but standout voice and Dessay’s cadenza with the glass harmonica was eerily supreme. (You can watch a clip of the cadenza here.)

I have heard so much about Dessay’s energetic and near acrobatic performances that I was eager to see what she would do for her debut role with the San Francisco Opera.  While her coloratura doesn’t disappoint, she seemed to be fighting her suffocating direction.  

Yes, it’s opera and not Cirque du Soleil, but the world has been watching the same standing and arm waving for years, and I guarantee you, “Pavarotti did it better.”  Hopefully the 08-09 season with The Bonesetter’s Daughter and Porgy and Bess will bring more modern interpretation to SFWMPAC. 

The last show of Summer Madness is on Saturday, July 5th and if you are trying to do “standing room” (a true bargain at $10), be sure to arrive early to get a spot on the rail.  And please, ladies, don’t make the mistake I made and forget a change of shoes.  I know it’s the opera, but there is nothing glamorous about standing for 3 hours in stilettos.

Realistic Orchestra at Bruno’s

I’ve never had much of a reason to go to Bruno’s.  On weekends, it’s more crowded than worth it, and on weeknights, the emptiness of the large space can be downright depressing and not in that good ol’ divey “who cares if there are only three of us in here drinking well-whiskey on a Sunday night, ‘let’s shoot some pool'” kind of way. 

But, as it turns out, Bruno’s does offer some pretty sweet mid-week cut-loose. Tuesday nights at Bruno’s belong to Jazz Mafia, a collection of bay area jazz bands with a “Rat-Pack” like mission. 

Realistic Orchestra kicks off the Jazz Mafia rotation the first Tuesday of each month.  This month they pulled an impressive turnout, even more so considering the $10 cover (pretty big-ticket for the mission on an off-night). But with 20+ musicians in their big-band jazz ensemble, their performance is probably more public service than profit.  The inflated horn section is lively and the rotation of talented vocalists (there seemed to be an endless supply of them) kept the energy high. 

Realistic Orchestra’s website is outdated, but information about the band and upcoming gigs can be found on Jazz Mafia’s website or on their MySpace page. 

On a related note, don’t miss the Fillmore Jazz Festival this weekend, July 5th and 6th.  

 

Daytime Curfew for Minors in Redding, CA

When something as alarming as the recently passed “daytime curfew ordinance” happens in my hometown, it reminds me why I moved to SF. The daytime curfew allows for anyone under the age of 18 to be subjected to a “search and seizure” by the RPD if found in a public place between the hours of 8am and 1pm.  

OK, so truancy rates are high, and public schools aren’t getting the ADA they need in order to maintain the fine establishments that they are, but is it necessary to divert law enforcement resources in order to hunt these “delinquents” down?  Is Senior Ditch Day going to turn into a big paddy-wagon roundup? 

It is the responsibility of the parents and schools to ensure attendance.  Why send the po-po on a city wide kid-hunt when truancy records are staring school administrators in the face? Have we really passed the point when parents are no longer have the right to discipline their own children? And what about the rights of our youths? Any student following an less- conventional education path (early graduation, homeschooling, college-connection, etc.) will be forced to carry “proof” of their “right” to be “on the streets” during the day.  

The whole mess is far too close to fascism for my comfort. 

Thanks, Erin Friedman for your letter to the editor.