Interview: Alexander Tonisson

Name
Alexander Tonisson

Introduce yourself in one sentence
My friends call me Alex, I can speak Swedish, brew my own award winning beer, and am a news junky.

Age and Occupation29, Bay Area Organizer for a California Ballot Initiative

Home TownPortola Valley, CA

How long have you lived in the Bay Area and WhereMy dad was a grad student at Stanford University so I was born on campus and lived on campus for the first few years of my life. We then moved to Palo Alto for a few years, and finally my parents bought a house in Portola Valley in 1978. Other than a year in Germany when I was 4, summers spent in Sweden, and my college years in Pittsburgh, PA, I've lived in the Bay Area my entire life.

I lived in SOMA, the North Panhandle, Lower Haight and now a block from Alamo Square Park.

Favorite website(s) The web version of Steve Koepke's excellent Bay Area concert guide It makes keeping up with what shows are going on a lot easier.

www.craigslist.org for everything from apartments to jobs you can’t beat it.

I visit http://www.sfgate.com for local news and http://www.salon.com for the war room daily.

For international news I recommend the UK independent http://news.independent.co.uk/

I recommend http://www.beertown.org/ for homebrewing info.

Finally http://www.YesOn63.org (my shamless plug for Proposition 63:the Mental Heath Services Act)

Favorite local business
Oak Barrell Winecraft in Berkeley is hands down the best homebrew store in the Bay Area. They’ve been around since 1957, and usually have 8 types of liquid malt. Stop by and check out the free brewing classes,and the free sample brews on tap.

The Balboa Movie Theater has daily double features, plays great movies, and is generally a really cool place. They even took an audience poll to see which pattern rug they should put in.

Open Mind Music is a nice alternative to the mega store a few blocks away in the Upper Haight. Personal service, a mellow atmosphere and a good selection of all kinds of music.

The Stanford Theater in Palo Alto is a great old movie house. It’s been renovated, has the best popcorn in the whole Bay Area, and only plays old pre-1960’s classic’s.

What I’m currently Reading
I just finished "My California" a collection of short stories that directly benefits the California Arts Council and "In the Lake of the Woods" by Tim O'Brien However, I have to confess that normally I tend to read sci-fi brain candy and historical/political non-fiction.

I’m reading “America” written by the Daily Show and Jon Stewart (I was given three copies by various friend on my Birthday)

Best Deal in San Francisco
Aux Delice Vietnamese Restaurant(on Polk Street) Lunchtime Deal: Cup of Soup and the best BBQ Pork Noodle Salad in the City for under $7

Civic Center farmers market on Wednesday's and Sundays.

Balboa double features.

Favorite mode of transportation
My feet and MUNI

Best Band or Musician to come out of the Bay Area
Op Ivy, (Operation Ivy)

Favorite local hangout
Japan town is fun for cheap and good food (which is always the best kind), a very pleasant movie theater,the largest selection of car air fresheners you could ever imagine, and a great dollar store that sells all sorts of usefull items in addition to expired Japanese
foodstuffs.

I love brunch with friends on the weekend, so here's my short list of places I frequent these days:
Blue J Café on Divisadero @ McAllister
Lovejoys on Church @ 24th
Eddies Café on Divisadero @ Fulton
Its Tops on Market @ Octavia
J's Pots of Soul on Octavia @ Page

My favorite bars are:
Club Wazima on Divisadero @ Hayes
Zeitgeist on Valencia @ Duboce
Bow Bows on Grant @ Columbus

I also like hanging out in various city parks (Alamo Square, Alta Plaza, Golden Gate, etc.)

SF has the BEST:
Climate, no joke. Yeah, so it gets a little chilly here during the summer, but that's the worst of it. After spending a few years in Pittsburgh I learned to really appreciate the mild climate I grew up in. No oppressive humidity during the summer and no wind chill of –60 F in the winter.

You’ve never lived in SF until:
You've felt a 6.0 or greater earthquake. I remember in ’89 when all the fair weather San Franciscan’s up and moved after the earthquake.

Favorite Bay area politician of past or present:
Joshua Norton(1819-1880) better known as Emperor Norton. He declared himself Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico, printed his own currency, stopped anti-Chinese riots, and was the first person to propose building a bridge from San Francisco to Oakland. To learn more check out: http://www.notfrisco.com/nortoniana/

Best solicitation from a pan handler:
They guy with a live chicken perched on his head. I don't remember what he said, but, come on, he had a chicken on his head!

You can tell someone is a local here IF:
They refer to San Francisco as "the City", you can really tell someone is not a local when they refer to it as "Frisco"

SF would be soooo much better if only:
We had more Thai, Sushi, and Indian/Pakistani Restaurants.

But seriously, it would be nice if there was a real subway system that connected all regions of the city.

Best Burrito:
La Cumbre on Valenica @ 16th. It's the birthplace of the San Francisco burrito(circa 1969), and all other burritos are imitations. The BBQ chicken deluxe burrito is the way to go (with black beans, of
course), the Carne Asada is excellent too.

Best Restaurant:
La Folie on Polk.

Best movie scene filmed in or about SF:
Vertigo at the Legion of Honor.

I want all the SFists out there to know:
You can vote early at City Hall one month before an election. So go vote early and vote often! http://www.sfgov.org/site/election_index.asp

Tell us a San Francisco Story:
When I was little and my family used to come up to San Francisco on the weekends pretty often. I clearly remember taking taxis and urging the cab drivers to speed down the steep hills. When we were really moving it felt like I was in a roller coaster, and all the city lights were a blur.

Question you'd ask if you were doing this interview:
What’s your favorite place for brunch?