Gypsies, Vagabonds and Refugees

Tonight Oddball Films presents Elswhere: Gypsies, Vagabonds and Refugees, a series of archival short films all about what really gets people moving.

[frame of Buster Keaton in Railrodder]

The Hitch-Hiker (1950), a rather racy instructional film on how to get a ride; Railrodder (1965), wherein an aging Buster Keaton traverses the Canadian National Railway in style; Madeline and the Gypsies (1959), the film adaptation of the classic tale by Ludwig Bemelman; The Greenie (1942) a touching bit of WWII propaganda about a young polish refugee; San Francisco Earthquake and Fire (1906), or how Oakland got its start; Thumbs Down (1974), a cautionary educational film featuring real-life Los Angeles hitchers; Story of the Hungarian Refugees (1956), a U.N.-produced piece regarding the perils of border-crossing; and Riff Raffy Daffy (1948), on one unlucky duck’s run-ins with the Pigs! …Plus: Newsreels, Wobblies, Navajos, + “Wild & Bully.”

Arrive early for Clowns, Henry Miller in Paris, Donuts and special surprises!

Sounds pretty cool. The show is tonight (Thursday, July 31st) at 8:00pm. Oddball Films is at 275 Capp Street (btwn 17th & 18th). Admission is $10 and you can RSVP to RSVP@oddballfilm.com or (415) 558-8117

Marc Maron is a Cancun guy

20140731-122054-44454613.jpg

This Caturday: Bring your cat to the park day!

You’ve gato be kitten me, is this fur real? This one definitely gave me paws! Purrhaps the best thing since Whisker Wednesdays, or just a huge cat-astrophe waiting to happen? It’s freakin’ meowt!

RSVP and invite your furrriends here.

(No apawlogies.)

Everything you ever wanted to know about parking in San Francisco

Definitely check out Helen’s latest infographic for the Bold Italic: Parking by the Numbers

A discount arsonist attempted to burn down Foods Co.

On Monday evening, a suspect armed with a knife and some lighter fluid stepped into the Foods Co. grocery store on Folsom & 14th Streets, and attempted to set fire to the place.

The incident occurred around 6:30 p.m. on Monday evening — prime dinnertime shopping hours for everyone’s favorite discount grocer. According to fire department officials, the suspect entered and “started pouring lighter fluid on the floor.” Bay City News has more:

The suspect was waving a knife and set the floor on fire, police said.

The fire department responded and quickly put the fire out. Two of the store’s employees were taken to a hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation, police said.

Police quickly arrested the suspect, identified as Shaun Lavell Jones, 24. Jones was born a male but identifies as a female, police spokesman Officer Albie Esparza said.

According to police, Jones was booked on suspicion of burglary and arson. It is currently unclear why exactly anyone would want to burn down a grocery store with such delightful soda can displays.

[via: SFAppeal]

[Photo via: Street View]

About that old police station

Reader Britta writes in to let us know about a writeup she did on the old (abandoned?) Mission Police Station on 17th Street near Treat. I’ve always wanted to check out the interior, but never had the chance. Anyone know what’s going on in there now? Last I heard Tracy Chapman was thinking of buying it, and had maybe done some recording in there. Britta suggests that it may currently be owned by an entertainment industry management firm. Sounds spooky.

In 2014


[image via Google Street View]

In 1924


[photograph via UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library]

[article link]

City Hall will finally revise fascist anti-arcade game legislation

Some 30 years ago, your San Francisco forefathers deemed it necessary to protect the youth of tomorrow by limiting the number of pinball and arcade game and bingo games for money machines based on a business’ square footage or their proximity to schools. Presumably, they felt the change-powered entertainment craze would pluck quarters from the pockets of unsuspecting children and rot their tiny brains with too much Elvira and the Party Monsters. In other words, during the 80s the city decided to limit pinball machines in the same way we currently restrict where pot clubs can open and where the taco trucks can park. That anti-arcade legislation is expected to be revised today thanks to prevailing common sense and some hard working pro-pinball activists.

(more…)

A veteran skater responds to uproar over skatepark noise levels

Our buddy Eric Ehler, who penned a very heartfelt review of the new skatepark for us, responds to the uproar over his recommendation that ambitious skaters hop the fence before the park’s 9am opening hour:

Thanks for publishing that review. Honestly, I didn’t think of the noise level that hard. I mean, as I thought about the problem, there was a construction crew jack hammering outside my door, at 7:00am.

Though that problem will go away (my construction), the skate park problem will stay. Maybe?

I think the piss problem can be solved, just need a public restroom, just like any other park, right?

But that noise. I was unaware that people were going in the middle of the night. I did it once, and its super hard to skate. Definitely the people going in the middle of the night are teenagers/kids. Not too many older skaters. It’ll all mellow during the school year.

Anyway, thanks for supporting the skateboarding community. I’ll urge folks to not skate after hours.

Thanks, Eric!

[Photo via a video by Luis Zavala]

Progress update on Amos Goldbaum’s new mural

Btw, for some Amos Goldbaum of your own, check out his online store.

[via Amos Goldbaum on Instagram]

Drama Talk & Drinks: “It felt like a bad joke.”

Brittany & Katie do this column because they love theater. They really do. And so it is with two heavy hearts that they delivered this review of Patterns, at The New Stage in Hayes Valley:

“Wall-size video projections surround the audience with an awe-inspiring panoramic view of love in life.” This was the description we read when we got the invitation to check out Patterns a one woman performance piece. Sounds awesome right? We thought so.

After the show, at the line for the bathroom

Man in line: Did you guys get it?
Katie: Nope.
Brittany: Nope.
Man in line: Ok good, me neither.

The Verdict: This piece feels like a over-thought and over-indulgent Master’s thesis. It’s definitely interesting but not necessarily enjoyable.

The Drama Talk: Amy Munz, The New Stage founder and the creator and performer of Patterns is obviously a talented artist. But Patterns feels more like an artist’s contemporary take on Artaud’s Theatre of Cruelty, than a piece designed to entertain. The show kicks off with screaming manic laughter and devolves from there. Although The New Stage concept of immersing the audience in video projections is intriguing, the positioning of the screens made us feel like were were watching a tennis match. We had to constantly readjust and look from side to side around fellow audience members heads to catch obstructed views of the dream-like video projections. It was tiring.

Video of what looks like a cow being disemboweled plays while the character of a young girl delivers a disjointed schizophrenic monologue (not about cows getting disemboweled, mind you). It felt like a bad joke. Munz might be trying to alienate the audience, but the performance fails to actually assault the senses (largely because video screens are obscured) while playing into every stereotype of the out of touch ACTOOOR. The characters, though vibrant and distinct, lacked an arc. There wasn’t really a story to speak of, just flashes into the psyches of unstable women. Without a story, without a character arc, and with obstructed video screens which nearly gave us whiplash we didn’t really enjoy the show. This piece has so many promising elements, but this execution falls short.

The Drinks: After the show we couldn’t wait to get a drink and sort through what we just saw, luckily Sauce was very nearby. Sauce is a quaint little bar and restaurant under a boutique hotel. Katie had the moscow mule and Brittany had the American Honey Side Car. They were tasty and strong and helped us relax after a hectic performance piece that left our heads spinning and neck aching.

Patterns runs through 8/16 at the the Dennis Gallagher Arts Pavilion, and tickets can be purchased through their website. Ticket prices vary from $30-$65 depending on what package you buy.