on location

As we're on the topic of movies, here's the video I made for Mac & Emily over Christmas of Leland's trip (and theirs of course) to San Francisco in November.

(Has to be viewed via personal space as YouTube deleted the audio.)

movie magic

It's Oscar season, so skip back over to YouTube for the recent episodes of Steve Hayes' Tired Old Queen at the Movies.

Here's his take on Audrey Hepburn's first American film, for which she won her first Oscar, Roman Holiday.

crimson tide

"They were all having their periods and one said, 'It's like a crime scene in my pants!' and I thought that was so spot on."
"No pun intended I'm sure."

New euphemism: She's off to the library to check out the "Red Badge of Courage."

and in rocking mascot news

I think it is kind of awesome and hopefully subversive that the mascot for the Arkansas School for the Deaf is the leopard. As it says on the title for their sports web page, Go Deaf Leopards!

You 'k?

Via Laughing Squid: The difference between the United Kingdom, Great Britain, and all English Crown stuff explained. Its a quick run through, and quite well done.

I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue

Tonight as part of the ongoing SF Sketchfest: An Airplane! tribute and Q&A with with Jim Abrahams and the Zucker brothers, with special appearance by Robert Hays.

God that movie is funny. I bought the special edition DVD for the "pop up video" style trivia track. Made of awesome.

crabby

Beth Spotswood has another fun/scary outing in her blog Tourist Trapped, wherein she and Big Chris brave the hideousness that is Joe's Crab Shack.  Two things:  (1) they missed a shoot out between local knock-off merchants on the street in front of said Shack by about five minutes.  (2) Now I really want to go out to dinner and people watch with Big Chris. 

Their painful trip reminded me of that time we tried the buffet at Todai for the same batshit-crazy experience. 

eye like, a lot

There's a new art blog on the scene I have really been enjoying.  Click over to ArtStormer, take a five minute break, and and browse some beautiful visuals of work you might not otherwise come across.  ArtStormer is billed as "Flash storms of art for the visually addicted."  Post are like sudden summer showers of interesting.  Nice.

Although some of these are still freaking me out. 

seven mil

Wow.  Half as much in L.A. gets you a celebrity compound.  But this gorge 5 bedroom, 4.5 bath, three story home in Presidio Heights, a typical yet lovely and largish home if dropped anywhere else in the country, is going for $7 million.

Sigh.  Want. 

update on The Edge

Word is in from the DJs:  The Edge will be reopening Friday night (tomorrow) under new ownership.  More word is that there may be fundraising tie-ins to benefit Lyon-Martin Health Services, who recently had to close.  There is a community rally for Lyon-Martin Saturday afternoon on the Castro, and the fundraiser at El Rio Sunday night.

Here's a full report from the new Edge operators in the way of a Facebook note.

everybody dance now

Cleverly and appropriately posted under the heading "So this is a thing now" on the World of Wonder blog, a new meme is remixing the Newsies dance scene to other music.  Which one does it better?



I'm on the GaGa.

MacWorld this week

I love MacWorld for all of the Apple-intensive geeky and gadgety goodness, and for bringing often-missed friend Bryan Rusciano back to town for at least a week.  MacWorld opens today, and the Expo opens tomorrow.  I'll be there all day taking in whatever classes and workshops I can, and scouring the Expo floor for affordable toys and useful apps.  I'm waiting for the next version before I buy and iPad, so all the the iPad-centric stuff this year will just have to whet my appetite. And I hear this is all about iPad.

Also useful for non-MacWorld tourists and locals, the Cult of Mac has put together a list of Best Apps to Get the Most Out of MacWorld, including the local must-have and much-beloved app Routsey. 

bad and sad news: Lyon-Martin Health Clinic closed

The SFist has the news and the press release.  The Lyon-Martin Health Clinic has a beautiful history and has been an amazing resource for the City and its communities.  Lyon-Martin has often been a beneficiary of our Golden State Gay Rodeo Association, Bay Area Chapter events.

Update:  This Sunday's fundraiser is still on.

a good sign

Posted by Lindsey Conner Mosby to Facebook:

Love it!

I have always thought that Americans who profess love for both guns and Jesus are idiots. One really can't be a Republican anymore, or a Tea Party supporter, AND a Christian without being a ridiculous hypocrite.  (War in the name of the Prince of Peace?  Hate in the name of the God of Love?) The Christian Right has always been neither. 

I want to put this sign on the side of truck and drive around rural Tennessee. 

Flat Stanley

Childhood friend Katherine Kennedy contacted me recently, as one of her few California friends, to ask if I could take a couple of photos of "Flat Stanley" for one of her children's class reading projects. Flay Stanley got delayed in the mail, but as KK's youngest got an extra snow day before turning in the project, Flat Stanley was scanned and e-mailed to me and I managed to snap a few quick picks from the car on the way into work from the dentist's office. I had hoped to make a big photo shoot production for Flat Stanley, and stage scenes across San Francisco, but I think these quick shots cover Stanley and San Francisco quite nicely. And even though it was brief, it was fun.

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At the cable car turnaround, one kid called out, "Hey! That looks like Flat Stanley!" which completely cracked me up. Although I can't think of "Flat Stanley" without thinking of the American Dad character "Bad Larry."

Bryan, Pollo, GlamaZONE, and Wendy Ho

It's MacWorld season again, which brings back to SF former resident and always good friend Bryan R.! Yay for Bryan time! He left a snowy and -8 degree Boston at 5:00 a.m. to arrive SFO just past noon, and in time lunch on a cloudless, sunny day with temps hitting the 70s. A perfect day for a walk around his old stomping grounds, followed by an evening of haunting old cruising grounds bar haunts in the Castro.

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We very much enjoyed the 80s block at the Badlands, and by 9:30 we were up for one last drink at the Café to catch Pollo's show at the GlamaZONE. And boy were we glad we did. No only did Pollo rock the show again, this time in a frightfully short dress—frightening as we feared her candy might pop out at any minute, but her emmcee/stand-up skills are getting better and better. The Grrl is hilarious now that she has a mic that consistently works.

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A newcomer to the stage did a drag performance to one of our favorite songs by honorary drag queen and tongue-in-cheek hip hop performer Wendy Ho—who just happened to be in the audience, happened to have a CD in her purse (all good queen do) and gave the crowd an impromptu live performance of her new song "Oprah Winfrey."

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Tonight (Monday) Wendy Ho is performing a full show "Into Africa" at El Rio. Doors at 7, show at 8. Lots more info at WendyHo.net.

Also tonight, Funny Monday's Open Mic Comedy at Deco Lounge from 7 to 9 p.m., hosted by Leather Daddy, Master, and Funny Man Tony Koester, followed by the season premier of "Ru Paul's Drag Race," hosted by Ginger Snap.

Bluegrass Brunch

In December, Coco came across and advertisement for the The Hotel Utah's ongoing Country/Bluegrass Brunch, recurring on the third Sunday of the month and featuring the Afternoon Delight Social Band. As a regular fan of half of the ADSB (who are Misisipi Mike, Mike Anderson, Anthony Sales, and Steve Owen), I was excited to accept Coco's invitation to last Sunday's Bluegrass Brunch. Unfortunately, Coco had to cancel, but Skot Land was already signed up as an eager participant so we put on some western wear and headed down to Fourth & Bryant.

The Bluegrass Brunch was one of extremes: the service and food were as ridiculously wretched as the band was sublimely sensational. Bad news first:

Okay, if you are going to host and advertise a brunch event, have a brunch menu. While there is seating in the music room, one has to order from the bar. Menus were hard to find, and even those were the usual burger/bar fare. It turns out there was in fact a brunch menu, if we are really going to call it that, but there were only two copies in Lucite frames that had to be hunted down. And once in hand, the brunch menu left much to be desired, and I say this as a huge (no pun intended) fan of simple diner and bar food.



Also note that there were no more home fries. By 12:30. Brunch started at noon. There were french fries on the main menu, which the bartender ultimately offered to add to the order, but not as a substitution.  The home fries were $2 and the french fries were $9. For digging into a different bag of fried frozen potatoes? Whatever.

I've heard that people love the food at the Utah on Yelp. I don't think that's a fair statement. If they basically only serve burgers and the burgers are good, I think you could say that people like their burgers. I cannot imagine that the affinity for the burgers is extended to the rest of their food items.

While the bartender was very kind, the overall service was pretty wretched. The place was crowded with bar goers and football watchers, and the music room/overlook had plenty of music lovers. One bartender/wait staff for the entire bar. This meant that placing an order just standing at the bar took over 20 minutes. While we were waiting more than one person came in, waited at the bar to order a drink, got visibly impatient, then ultimately left. I'm not sure what the Utah's cost/benefit analysis of number of patrons versus number of staff would reveal, but I watched them repeatedly drive away their own customers by being understaffed.


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While there was one person behind the bar, he was matched by a single guy in the kitchen attempting to fill all of the orders himself. Skot's and my orders were simple: Skot got an egg on an English muffin and I got the Eggs Benedict and added a side of bacon for $1. We decided to split a basket of fries. There was no table service but the bartender would call our name when the meal was ready. There's no hearing anyone in the bar from the music room, so we had to go back and check in with the bar every five to ten minutes to see if our lunch was ready. What amounted to two eggs, toast, and a basket of fries took about 45 minutes to prepare. Skot and I decided to take them up on their bottomless mimosa for $9 and to get our money's worth while we waited and enjoyed the show.

When the food was ready, there was no ham, hollandaise, nor any other sauce or garnish on the "Eggs Benedict." The side order of bacon, which turned out to be some sort of fried salted pork but not a variety of bacon I've ever encountered, was on the English muffin, and the poached egg was as solid as a puck. I never thought one could over-poach an egg until it was hard boiled. I did not mind the not traditional bacon as hey, "fried salted pork."

So that was their version of eggs Benedict: hard boiled egg on dry toast. I did ask for the ham as I was expecting and paying for both ham in the Benedict and bacon on the side, and when it was returned to the kitchen I watched the cook pick up the boiled egg with his hand, take out the bacon, wipe it off with a fork and leave it on the side of the plate, and put a quarter of a slice of lunch ham in it's place on the toast, then replaced the egg puck. Even the fries were undercooked, and we had to hunt, unsuccessfully, for a Heinz bottle that had more than six or seven molecules of ketchup left inside. (If you're going to do one thing well, and that's burgers & fries, at least refill the ketchup bottles at the start of every shift.)

We had more mimosa refills. A very pretty girl successfully got the bartender to switch out her champagne flute for a pint glass to reduce her number of return trips. We envied her position, but did not want to push it with the bartender, nor did we have the feminine charms/anatomy supposedly required for such an exchange.

But here's the good news: The Afternoon Delight Social Band is great fun and perfect company for waking up or spending your lazy Sunday afternoon. The ADSB is very much a social band. They are not a tightly tuned band playing their own songs, but rather four independently talented musicians playing in the round and playing off of each other. They know enough of each other's original songs from their respective bands, and have a wicked repertoire of country, folk, bluegrass and rock favorites.


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Back home in Nashville when talent and instruments were brought out impromptu in the living room or around the fire, we'd call it "pickin' and grinnin'." With the Afternoon Delight Social Band I felt at home. Another impressive skill of these musicians is their ability to play along with or pick up a song started by one but completely unknown by the others. Interaction with the friendly crowd added to the warm "in your living room" feel of the show. And where they could, they'd take requests.

It was also fun to watch them try to one up each other in esoteric hits and homemade ditties. When examined, it should not be that funny of a song, but we were all rolling when Steve Owen broke into a ditty with the chorus "she took a lot of pills and died."




The ADSB played pretty tirelessly all afternoon and we were happy for the music. I only wish there were room to dance down there. Regardless, I think we'll be regulars from now on. Next show is scheduled for February 21st, and rumor has it there will be special treats for this event, including an all new brunch menu.

However, the lesson learned for us this week was that the Bluegrass Brunch at the Hotel Utah is a great event, but eat before you come.

Bluegrass Brunch featuring the Afternoon Delight Social Band, third Sundays at the Hotel Utah Saloon, 12:00 noon to 3:00 p.m.

no, that's "bucking" the trend

Under recent criticism I feel the need to clarify that I see a notable distinction between good places (or "nice" places) and trendy places.  I recognize that I tend to be put off by trendy places, even if they are good, just because they are trendy (or suddenly overwhelmingly popular).  Trendy for trendy's sake I can't abide.  (That's just too much Emperor's New Clothes for me.)  Even if there is some quality there, the trendy factor adds a pretense which to me sours even the sweetest milk.  I'd rather be excited to be with a small group of like-minded enthusiasts than a crowd of those enthusiastic to be of like-mind. 

I never did care where the Food Cart is going to be, and I'm not going to "follow them on Twitter" just to find out.

And yes, I do recognize the flaw inherent in not liking something just because everyone else does.  But I am willing to own my aversion to mass appeal—maybe it's snobbery in not having too high of an opinion of American masses—and my desire to be ahead of the bell curve rather than following the bulge.

By sheer numbers, too many participants turn the exceptional into the average.  And I have never striven for average. 

Victims of their own success and all of that.

fatty, fatty, 2x4; can't fit through the kitchen door

If you're an In-N-Out aficionado, you know all about the "secret" menu items.  However, there are many lists online of dubious reliability claiming authority of these off-menu orders.  Luckily for us, John Marcotte of Badmouth has done some actual research on this and provides an up-to-date illustrated compendium of In-N-Out secret menu orders on which even a reference librarian could rely.  News to me: these "secret" orders may not be on their consciously-simple menu, but they are hardly non-corporate.  If you order your lunch Animal Style, "Animal Style" appears on your computer-generated receipt.

A “2×4″ is a burger with two beef patties and four slices of cheese. You can also order a “3×3,” a “4×2″ or any other meat/cheese combo your little heart desires. In the past, we’ve seen burgers as large as a 100×100, but In-N-Out changed their policy and now a 4×4 is as large as you can get.

right into the GlamaZONE

I am not one to say kind things about The Café, the "urbanized," LED-laden dance club at Castro and Market that caters to the 25-and-under crowd with BART passes and excessive jewelry. Sure, back in its redwood deck heydays, and my 20s, we'd hang out there some Sunday afternoons in the sun. Although as much as it makes me feel like a snob to air my disdain for the usual Café crowd, I am grateful for the Café if for no other reasons than (1) it fills a niche, (2) we need at least one honestly lesbian-friendly bar in the Castro (actually, we need more but whatever), and (3) like the ultraviolet, bug-zapping light at the edge of the porch, it attracts pests away from where I am sipping my cocktails at the other ends of the Castro.

So when the Glamazon Pollo Del Mar announced that she would be hosting a weekly event at the Café Sunday nights, I wasn't overly thrilled to check it out. And Sunday nights are reserved for Sundance Saloon anyway.

It looks like I'll be leaving Sundance a little early from now on to catch her show!

This Sunday night before MLK Monday I took my worn out self and non-dancing jankle to the Café to cheer on Pollo at her new GlamaZONE event, and support Bebe Sweetbriar in one of many comeback performances last week.

Here's the thing, the crowd at the Café may make the cast of Jersey Shore look like members of the Incredibly Elite Bona Fide Blue-Blood Beaumont Driving Club, but Pollo fucking owns that bar on Sunday nights and throws down one hell of a show. And I may have been too harsh on the crowd as they were all kind and showed that diva the love and respect she deserves on that stage.


Of course, they were all also hammered on the two-for-one special that ended at 9:00.

Joining her on stage last week were the returning BeBe Sweetbriar, Mercedez Munro; Felicia Lamar; and the Legendary Nikki Starr. Bebe rocked it out and Ms. Starr was her usual outstanding, crowd-crazy-making, glamorous self.

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Go girls. Pollo Del Mar's GlamaZONE, Sundays at the Café, party at 8:30, show at 9:30, drink specials vary.

quite stellar cartography

I love maps.  I was nearly giddy when invited to the rare map room on a tour of the Black Diamond library in Copenhagen (mentioning that you are a librarian on vacation touring libraries of the world opens all sorts of doors fun doors).  For Christmas, Shilpa and PeeDee gave me a beautiful hardbound modern (art) atlas of San Francisco, Infinite City, and it's going to be one of those reference-type works that I'll read from cover to cover. 

Today via the SFist, SFGate, and the SF Association of Realtors come two new SF maps of note:  First, the realtor people have redefined and renamed some of the boundaries to the patchwork of neighborhoods we call San Francisco.  You'll have to click through to the flash version on the SFAR web site to see the details.  Brock said it best: "Remember, in San Francisco you are your neighborhood. If your hood has changed, please adjust your personality accordingly."  Luckily for me, the realtors have changed the name they use to designate my neighborhood to the name we've all been using for decades anyway.  Apparently, Cole Valley wasn't always technically so. 

Even better though, is this awesome map of San Francisco, envisioned by artist Johnny O of BurritoJustice (my new favorite local blog).  Inspired by Kyle Sluder who depicted Seattle with waterways, BurritoJustice has meticulously refined (see his comments section) his map of The Islands of San Francisco. 

Originally posted in May of 2010, it's getting some new attention today.  Posters are now available on Zazzle for $11 to $25.  Total map porn.

she's so old fashioned

I think a good name for a crotchety, conservative, fundamentalist drag character would be Auntie Diluvian.

a cocktail worth its salt

Four years later and The Salt House on Mission between First and Second continues to serve both excellent atmosphere and superbly crafted cocktails.  Thar bartenders appear to be younger and younger (but always handsome), which usually signifies an inexperienced mixologist—one who needs some seasoning for his seasonings.  But the managers of The Salt House have an eye for talent and the fare from the bar is consistently savory.

The menu prices reflect the craft of the cocktails and unlike many other pretentious arty-cocktail bars that spring up like rye weed, the drinks are worth their salt.  The dinner menu, however, seems a little ridiculous with all entrées hovering barely south of $30 and a mere bowl of nuts listed at $5.50.  The poutine, beef rip gravy over french fries, is so absurdly delicious it's not hard to imagine trading all of your secret sexy vices in the darkest reaches of your imagination for submerging yourself in a bowl of this stuff, or hooking it up to an IV.  Never has a bowl of fries and topping been so well worth the $12.  They might as well list it on the menu as:

Poutine..................Your Soul

The menu prices are above the usual price point, which is consistent with the above market space, service, and quality of dining companions.  If you just want a beer or a couple of vodka/sodas, head out to any old bar.  If you would like consciously crafted cocktail with more than three ingredients, consider stopping in the Salt House, even if you decide you should come with a fulls stomach.  As has become our practice, I recommend stopping by after the movies to cleanse yourself of the chaos and relative filth of the masses and concession detritus from the nearby Metreon or Century Theaters.  You will start to feel civilized again, and your tastebuds will thank you.

And if you are on a date, you could not ask for better lighting.

Summer lovin', had me a blast

May 2010 was a ridiculously good time.  As some of you may recall, I took Shilpa and PeeDee home to Nashville for the races (the Iroquois Steeplechase), and stayed a few weeks for quality time with the family and then wrapped up the vacation with the Swan Ball.  As usual, every moment was accounted for, so while there was much to blog about there was no protected time for doing so.  I could barely find half an hour to crank out my race articles for Nfocus, which I did at Fido's after dropping the kids off at BNA (or rather, parted ways at Prince's Hot Chicken). 

I never got around to backblogging, but the 1,200 or so photos from the weekend certainly tell a story (a thousand pictures is worth how many words?).  I have finally gotten around to posting the Nfocus articles from May and June though, so here they are.  Rereading/formatting these made the cold little studio feel a little like summer again.

Steeplechase bits:  Mr. Fancy Pants and No Glass on the Grass
Swan Ball:  Church Clothes and The Butterfly Affections

somewhere, under the sea

From childhood bestest friend and current mother of three under seven—When Simon did not know I was eavesdropping, he addressed the television: "Oh, Sponge Bob, you so funny..."

I think Simon is around four. This is the same kid who asked on Halloween, "Is this one of the days that Y is a vowel?" I need to hang out with him more often.

green machine

Super Fab NYC Drag Queen of Green Hedda Lettuce hits the Rrazz Room in SF next weekend.  Read the interview with Bebe Sweetbriar here.

Razing the Bar

It was a packed Friday-Saturday-Sunday weekend following the announcement of the imminent closing of the long-standing supporter neighborhood bar The Edge at Collingwood and 18th. Friday night Ben and Ricky of Ejector were spinning excellent sets to a cautiously celebratory crowd. Saturday night the crowd grew more dense and more typically outrageous in The Edge terms, with local drag stars holding court and various guys dancing/stripping on stage for beads and bucks. Sunday the place was just out of fucking control. The bar was serving whatever they had left and pouring mixers out of small plastic bottles. Napkins and various dark bar detritus filed the air, as did a sense of hammered celebration and farewell to a long-standing Castro institution serving very distinct, even if diverse, populations of the Bay Area LGBT community.

By 10:00, the street was littered with trash, the bar was dark, the doors were locked and a "thank you" note was posted in the window.

HOWEVER:
I have news from a reliable source that the owners of the Rainbow Cattle Company bar in Guerneville and Q-Bar in the Castro have bought the Edge from its previous owner and hope to re-open the bar as early as this Friday. The new owners plan a significant renovation (including the bathrooms!!), but plan to open and operate during the renovation period. Hopefully, the nasty toilet facilities and "giant turd" construction will be sledgehammered out first.

Funding for the three R's

Which is in this case, the Russian River Resort, known as the Triple R. The Triple R has long been the anchor for LGBT events in the Russian River "resort" town of Guerneville, especially after Fife's ("Fifi's") changed management and began rejecting the community which made them successful. Ever since my relocation to the Bay Area as a baby gay, I have always loved the trips up to The River and the Triple R has always been the place to pool party (again, Fife's notwithstanding), and has served as a social support center to the rest of the vacation and B&B community around town. During the season, Guerneville can look like a town-wide sunny sidewalk cocktail party, and typically patrons are walking to or from, or at least dropping in at, the Triple R.

Poor upkeep and financial issues have made for tough times for the Russian River Resort—so much so that the bank has chained and locked the doors and the Triple R is now up for sale.

Personally, I'd love to look at the appraisal for the property. I think with the proper management, renovation, marketing, and passion, the $1.25 million list price could be a bargain. But I'd need to know more about the market study and the expected NOI. It was enough for me to consider buying and running the place. That could be a lot of fun hard work. But I am a City boy. Here I stay.

dined and dashed

Skot Land had few of us over to his new place last week to warm the studio and have his A/V guy, i.e. me, wire up his speakers and multiple electronic systems.

As is often the case, excessive drinking can lead to excessive mouthing off. And if Coco was going to give Skot the finger, he was going to keep it.

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Verizon iPhone

Yes it's here.  Or almost.  I haven't weighed in on it yet as it has gotten plenty of press all over everywhere else.  I won't switch until my contract runs out for the following reasons:  (1) Let's see how the tech shakes out, (2) you can't call and use data at the same time, which actually I don't think I've ever done so no big deal really, (3) let's see how the coverage shakes out, and (4) hopefully those that do jump ship will relieve the pressure on AT&T's network.

Not that the super crappy AT&T service will magically provide coverage to my home or neighborhood just because some folks have switched.

Although it seems I may be able to save five or ten bucks a month on text messaging plans.  I hope the Verizon competition will result in more benefits for AT&T customers and soon.

Of note to my friends who have been holding off on buying an iPhone until they could use the Verizon network:
• The "New Every Two" upgrade promotion has quietly been canceled.
• If you upgraded or signed up for a new phone between November 26th, 2010 and January 10th, 2011, you’re eligible to get $200 back on a VISA gift card, as long as you buy the iPhone 4 at full retail price and return your existing phone.

Grabbing Mister Pointy and Headed to the Lone Star

This just in From Alert Reader Jeff J:  Tonight is a Buffy trivia night at the Lone Star: 7:00 -10:00 p.m.

If the apocalypse comes, beep me. 

Update from DJ Ben Holder:  It's actually the first Fanboy Night at the Lone Star, featuring three episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer with a round of intense BtVS trivia in between.  So much for staying home and writing this week...


Post Event Update:  Holy Water that was fun!  Furry fanboys completely geeking out over Buffy with my three favorite episodes on the big screen.  More than once, someone nearby in the packed house mentioned that this was one ridiculous sea of gay.  I no longer felt shame but pride in my apparently shared ability to recite each line and lyric.  Episodes screened were Hush, Once More With Feeling, and Buffy Vs Dracula.

The trivia was deep into Buffy OCD territory.  I thought I knew all—but Salty Goodness!—these were hard questions, and there were some serious Buffy scholars in that room.  My crowd, ironically, had only seen one or two episodes and were zero help.  Of course, I'm a little competitive at trivia and a little huffy about my Buffy so happily paired up with new friend Christopher who also had a preternatural affection and knowledge of all things related to Miss Buffy Anne.  She did, after all, save the world.  A lot. 

In a text message earlier, I had lamented that I had no Buffy-themed wear for the event.  When I entered the Lone Star at the end of Hush, I noted the crowd of boys wearing bunny ears.  That's some funny shit for Buffy fanboys.  And points to the hosts for the excellent "The Bronze" banner.

Personally, I think our team name deserved an honorable mention.  For a BtVS memory challenge, I thought "Blame It On the Lethe's Bramble" was pretty sweet.  

Thanks to Whatever... comics in the Castro for hosting a table of Buffy items and sponsoring the trivia prizes.  The final issue of BtVS Season 8 comes on sale today.  Get yours there. 

Organizers are trying to make Fanboy Night at the Lone Star a monthly thing.  next Fanboy Night will be Tuesday, February 15 with Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog.

Looks like we'll be cruising through the Whedonverse for a while.

KUSF-OFF

News via Maurice of 77 El Deora:  It looks like USF has sold off their indie-popular radio station—much to the surprise of the staff and DJs as they were kicked out while on the job.  Report from the SF Weekly.

Update:  Brock Keeling has all the news and links at the SFist.  

copy that

I've always loved writing copy, and often longed for a job where I could get paid well for writing clever little bits.  But everyone I've ever talked to who worked for an ad agency has hated everything about working for an agency.  I imagine not the least of the pain is derived from nitshits who say stuff like this and mean it. 

wrap your mouth around this

Okay, that came out sounding dirtier than I intended. 

Coming soon to downtown near my old office: the insane & tasty goodness that is the Sushirrito.  According to Thrillist, Sushirrito will offer the triple-fished, wasabi mayo'd Three Amigos (yellowtail/ salmon/ tuna), the tempura shrimp-filled Crispy Ebi with melted Pepperjack, and the Smokin' Chicken buritt-roll with plantain chips, chipotle aioli, avocado, and baked chicken. 

This looks ridiculously tasty and an good excuse to pop downtown.  The space will be tiny, with only a few drop-down trays for standing room only eating when the room isn't overcrowded.  I'm hoping their hours will accommodate after-work shoppers and the pre-movie eating crowd. 

Website coming soon, Sushirrito opened today at 59 New Montgomery Street between Market and Mission. 

notes for this weekend

I was looking forward to chilling (although not so literally) for January and February and recover my energy and finances from the whirlwind holiday fervor that started back in August. As such, I am trying to keep my sights and activities low.

Some friends have asked me what was going on in the City this weekend, so as requested here's a list of what's on my calendar or on my radar for this weekend. I suppose a grander social calendar is in order on a monthly basis. But for now, here's for now:

Friday night (tonight):
• SF Sketchfest starts today (opening welcome act last night) and runs through Feb 5. LOTS of super fun shit going on. See the ridiculously awesome schedule here. (Celebrity Autobiography is always a crowd pleaser!)

• DJ Friday happy hour at the Edge featuring the hot and sexy Ben Holder of Ejector. It's possible this is also the farewell to the Edge closing party so stop by and raise a heavily-poured glass.

• Rockstar: The Return Tour of Be Be Sweetbriar at Trigger, starting at 10:00 p.m.
• Lick It! (What do YOU have a taste for?) hosted by Lance Holman at the Powerhouse. Starts at 10:00 p.m. and benefits the Breast Cancer Emergency Fund and the Stop AIDS Project. Tonight's theme: "Superbowl season... You have to love football...lot's of tackling, wide receivers and tight ends. Come out and sport your favorite gear.....jocks, socks, jerseys, you name it. "

Saturday
• Get your classic disco ON at the new Strobe event at Deco Lounge, DJ Tweaka Turner with special disco performances by BeBe Sweetbriar and Duplicity Dilemma. Starts at 9:00 p.m.
• Beatpig with Juanita More at the Powerhouse, starts at 10:00 p.m.

Sunday:
• Bluegrass Brunch with bottomless mimosas and the Afternoon Delight Social Band at the Hotel Utah 12:00 to 3:00
• Sundance Saloon, country-western dance lessons start at 5:30 p.m., dancing until 10:30 p.m., 550 Barneveld, $5 donation cover.
• The GlamaZONE starring Pollo Del Mar at the Café, parity at 8:30, show at 9:30, 2-4-1's until 11:00, and NO COVER. This week featuring performances from The Diva Bebe Sweetbriar, Matriarch de Maison de Munro Mercedez Munro; Super-Fan Felicia Lamar; and the Legendary Nikki Star.

Other weekend treats:
• Martha Reeves "Queen of Motown" is at the Rrazz Room Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
• Final performances: Tom Orr's Dirty Little Showtunes! at the New Conservatory Theater.
• Clue, the play, now being performed at the Boxcar Theater, running through Feb 5.

Over? The Edge?

Rumor has it that The Edge is closing! I'm not entirely convinced though. It sounds like a negotiating tactic to me. The lease is up for renewal, the rent is way above market, and the new owner is clueless about owning commercial property.

Blog post to the Bay Area Reporter is here.

The Crown and the Crow's Confession

Honky Tonk Showdown 6 was a rollicking good show with excellent sets by my local favorites Misispi Mike and 77 El Deora. This night was also the release party for 77's newest album The Crown and the Crow's Confession, featuring one of my new favorite songs (I Just Dodged a) Bullet.

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Beyond their awesome sound, I must say that 77 is a good looking bunch of band members.  Jenn Courtney's dulcet tones were wrapped in a hot black fur coat and Bassist Mike Anderson continues to set the girls and the boys-so-inclined a-swoon.  Mau and Fish are confident in the rugged handsomeness, and Steve Kallai fashioned himself out of a hot new electric fiddle.


Joining me on the Saturday night frolic were fell 77-followers Coco Flores (Co-Captain, Team Wilson) and Monica Gervin.

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The Showndown's organizers through in a couple of contests for good country measure, but I was shut out of the "Country Wear" contest and completely robbed (robbed I tell you!) in the dance competition. I took some consolation in that the winner of the western wear contest did go go a beautiful woman who was actually in classic country western wear (note to guys: a plaid shirt does not count).

Meet the lovely Eden and Margaret.


Also known as "the only other gay people I have seen at one of these things." I don't know why the Sundancers are so a'feared of live music. And speaking of western wear, Coco particularly liked Dirk's choice of shirt:


And finally, offered without comment:


Another good coutry show coming this weekend is The Stillmen with The B-Stars at The Lost 23 Club (23 Visitacion Ave., Brisbane) this Saturday, Jan 15, 9:00 p.m., $10 or free with car club jacket (LOVE the Lost 23 Club).

Also of note: unknown to me but love their name: Wayne Hancock/Slack Jawed Sons of Bitches are playing at the Blank Club, 44 S. Almaden Ave., San Jose 9:30 p.m. $10, Saturday, Jan 22.

is/has cold

I've been worn out by a cold this week so no blogging, just work as necessary.  Posts to resume.

Upside: I finally bought a new oil-circulating radiator to heat my apartment as my landlady is too cheap to provide sufficient radiator heat as required by the rental agreement.  According to the manager she's running it at the legal minimum.  I have been able to see my breath in my own place for weeks now, with the temperature rarely rising above 60 indoors.  I had a small electric space heater but I'm afraid that sent my PG&E bill through the roof.  This oil one came highly recommended, is very quiet, supposedly energy-efficient, and nice and toasty!  Of course, I have no idea where I'll store it once spring comes.  Although this being San Francisco, I suppose I'll need it again in June.

someone's in the kitchen with Dinah

I love the banjo. And I love banjo jokes even more. I think a the common love/ridicule relationship with banjos is like rating a pun: a pun's value is in inverse proportion to how bad it is.

My favorite story is about the Bluegrass guy who was playing a gig at the Hotel Utah and parked his car south of Market with his banjo in the back seat. When he got back to his car he discovered that someone had broken in and left four more banjos.

For your pssoble enjoyment: the Canonical List of Banjo Jokes.

Castro Crawl

Ejector's Ben Holder and Ricky Terry are making an awesome night of the new "DJ Friday" at The Edge in the Castro, and were a perfect Castro Bar Crawl launching point for the visiting Nashvillians B. Fitz and Mitchell, joined by youthful new New Yorkers Dave and Zach. )I thought it was adorable how Dave would not relinquish his blazer and tie. We are not D.C.)

A fun night, I believe, was had by all, witha late dinner at Thai House on 19th and a one-drink-each hit to the Edge, the Midnight Sun, Moby Dick, 440, then we had to ditch the Castro to catch the height of Nasty at the Powerhouse. A nice run for newbies, and a great night out for me—all my buddies seemed to be out in force and widely distributed across the City. TGIF.







I love the nightlife. I've got to boogie.