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Sean Penn To Fan: 'I'll Make You Eat Your Cell Phone!'

Brock Keeling — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 09:06:04 GMT

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Madonna's ex-husband blew up at a someone trying to take his picture at the St. Regis Lobby Bar on Tuesday. The two-time Academy Award winner, in town to speak at the Salesforce's Dreamforce 2013 conference currently occupying eastern SoMa, was lounging at the acclaimed bar when he saw a flash go off and realized someone was snapping his mug. He then lost his collective shit.

TMZ has more:

A witness at the bar tells TMZ ... Penn bolted after the guy (who wasn't a paparazzo) ... and screamed at him, "Do we look like f**king zoo animals?"
Penn -- who was in town to speak at a sales conference -- also grabbed the man's phone and slammed it to the ground.

That's when our video begins ... and you can hear Penn yelling, "I'll make you eat the phone ... get the f**k out of here!!"

Mr. Penn later told hotel management, "You should do something about that." And as for the photog/fan, he reportedly refused to press any charges.

Previously: 10 Best Bars With Fireplaces In San Francisco
Sean Penn's Son 'Hopper' Drops Racist, Homophobic Slurs At Paparazzi

BART Strike: Day 4

Brock Keeling — Mon, 21 Oct 2013 09:40:10 GMT

Let's dive in, shall we: Monday morning's traffic proved exceptionally sluggish due to the continuing BART strike, now in its fourth day. Over the weekend, a couple of noted tech folks made mistakes on Twitter. And most notably/heartbreakingly, two maintenance workers were killed by a train on Saturday.

First, getting to work this morning will be tough. We feel your pain. The Chronicle has more:

The metering lights at the Bay Bridge were turned on at 5:35 a.m. Those lights usually turn on sometime after 6 a.m., or not at all, said California Highway Patrol Officer Ron Simmons.
Traffic at the bridge's toll plaza began to thicken by 5 a.m., with more cars idling than at the same time Friday. By 6 a.m., cars were backed up on Highway 24 to the Caldecott Tunnel.

Over the next couple of hours, Interstates 80 and 880 approaching the bridge were particularly nasty.

Nasty!

Ferries will run service every 45 minutes during the morning and evening commute. Please be advised.

Also, over the weekend at least a couple of noted tech folks made regretful commentary regarding the BART strike. (Though, rest assured, nowhere near as soul-crushingly stupid as this.) Ben Grossman, Head of Global Operations for Twitter Media, tweeted (and the promptly removed) this golden nugget of wisdom: "What's brown and black and looks great on someone involved in the #BARTStrike? A doberman."

While Grossman doesn't specify whether or not he wishes canine assault on management or unions, it's still a bad move for someone at his level in an industry under such scrutiny from the plebs. It just is. But since tech ilk tend to self-consciously champion their lack of social norms/empathy, shit like this seems de rigueur at this point.

TechCrunch's Alexia Tsotsis replied to Grossman's tweet thusly: "[W]ishing violence on anyone is not a professional thing. In fact, it’s indecent and inhuman - especially since two BART workers were fatally injured on the job in an accident a day after his comments."

Indeed. As SFist reported Saturday, two workers were killed by a BART train. The victims, whose names have not yet been released, were inspecting a stretch of track north of the Walnut Creek station. (Safety issues, you should know, are a part of the negotiations that the two striking unions are begging management to consider.)

In related moments of social media inanity, David Cruise, who "proudly" serves the City of Oakland on issues of "#PublicSafety" made this blunder: "So when is the @SFBart career fair? #BartStrike." Which, oops. His BART strike anger slip caused watchdog journalist Susie Cagle to respond with appropriate head shaking and concern.

We should point out that, when faced with delayed trains and/or another puddle of vodka vomit on the Muni platform, your SFist editor also has a tendency to come unglued on Twitter. So we understand the temptation to vent via social media. Simply irresistible, really. (Thanks for taking it all in stride, @sfmta_muni!)

Until tomorrow...

Watch Andres Torres Destroy His Bat

Rose Garrett — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 12:10:12 GMT

Giants outfielder Andres Torres displayed his brute man-strength on Friday, when he expressed his frustration following a strikeout against the A's by snapping his bat across his knee like so many brittle twigs.

The notoriously genial Torres is fond of this method of anger management, having done the same thing as recently as March 10th, when he struck out with the bases loaded in a Giants victory over the Rangers.

Torres is a strong dude, even for a professional. Let's not forget this choice moment from Showtime's 'The Franchise', which shows Torres--in a pair of very hard-working jorts--getting into shape for the 2011 season by tossing cinder blocks over his head with the greatest of ease.

Gif via Carmen Kiew at Bay Area Sports Guy.

Photo Du Jour: Matt Cain Is The New Tim Tebow

Brock Keeling — Wed, 30 May 2012 10:49:50 GMT

Matt Cain reacts after breaking his bat and grounding out against the Milwaukee Brewers last Tuesday.

Gavin Newsom Furious At United Airlines, Tweets Traumatic Tarmac Wait

Brock Keeling — Mon, 21 May 2012 09:30:32 GMT

California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom is learning what we've known for eons — namely, not having access to the Jetty sucks. On an airport tarmac somewhere last night, Newsom was none too thrilled that United Airlines kept him waiting. The former San Francisco mayor, who was returning home from filming an episode of This Week With George Stephanopoulos, fumed: "Inexcusable @united waiting for over an hour in seat for 'catering'-after almost 2hrs in seat waiting for mech fix & changing plane...you now have us in seats on tarmac approaching 2 hrs (second time) -I'll forgive the 5.5 hour delay-this time it's 'weights'!"

Inexcusable @united waiting for over an hour in seat for "catering"-after almost 2hrs in seat waiting for mech fix & changing plane
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) May 20, 2012

@united -you now have us in seats on tarmac approaching 2 hrs (second time) -I'll forgive the 5.5 hour delay-this time it's "weights"!
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) May 20, 2012

He's right. United sucks. We hope the Lieutenant Governor's next flight proves relaxing and free of fuss and/or muss.

Looking Back At 2011: Brian Wilson's Surprise Temper

Brock Keeling — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 16:02:04 GMT

Over the next couple of weeks, were here at SFist will look back at curious stories and (more importantly) photos that made 2011 way boss. (Was it a good year? We think it was a good year. Sure, 2011 was a good year.) One person who stood out in 2011 was dreamy Giants closer Brian Wilson. Whether a side gig, a form-hugging spandex tudexo at the ESPY Awards, dining at Gary Danko, or endorsing Ed Lee for mayor, Wilson was everywhere. But. Did you know that, outside of the hoopla and his many bearded wannabes, Wilson is also a damn fine athlete. Of course you did. But did you know that he has a temper?

In this July 1, 2011 photo, Wilson took a bat to a water cooler after being pulled from a interleague baseball game against the Detroit Tigers in the ninth inning in Detroit. Wilson was pulled after giving up a RBI-single to Detroit's Brandon Inge.

Not since the spandex suit have we been this aroused.

Sassy Guy in Elmo Shirt Goes Off on KRON's 'Lazy, Fatass' Stanley Roberts

Brock Keeling — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 11:45:27 GMT

Sing-song voiced Stanley Roberts met his match recently during a segment for KRON 4's addictive People Behaving Badly. Filming law enforcement ticketing titularly bad drivers, one sassy law breaker sporting an Elmo t-shirt goes off on Roberts, calling him a "fat, lazy, non-relevant, non-factor ass." Among other things. He also threatens to break the camera and suggests "1-800-GET-THIN, cubby butt."

Roberts takes it all in stride knowing full well he has a hit on his hands.

Our favorite part? The innocent U.S. flag car-freshener bystander. Behold:

[via DListed]

Video: Pedestrian Intentionally Hit By Car During Occupy Oakland Strike?

Brock Keeling — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 14:30:08 GMT

The following footage (via KTVU) shows a pedestrian being hit by car in downtown Oakland during the general strike. While, of course, the pedestrian could have moved and not slammed the hood of the driver's admittedly snazzy car--a point some of you might argue--it does appear that the driver intentionally plowed through the protesters. And, well, that's wrong. And bad. Very bad.

Although Oakland Police released one driver who hit a pedestrian last night--which me mentioned in last night's coverage--it's going to be hard to claim this particular moment was an accident.

Video below:

For more on Wednesday's Occupy Oakland general strike, check out SFist's comprehensive coverage here and here.

Steve Jobs Backlash Begins

Brock Keeling — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 16:30:41 GMT

And just like that, the death and surrounding melee of noted Apple co-founder Steve Jobs has sparked a minor backlash. As we mentioned earlier, several people took umbrage with the fact that a few spunky nerds held an iPhone vigil for Jobs in Dolores Park last night. Heated words for mourning Mac fans hit hard:

"Disgusting. A vigil for a telephone? How about one for the millions of congolese raped and killed in a war over the minerals needed to create laptops and phones that become obsolete in a matter of months so that a corporation can reap billions of dollars?!"

And:

"Are you seriously trying to hold a vigil for Steve Jobs during the high points of Occupy SF? What the fuck is wrong with you.

Gawker's Hamilton Nolan penned a thought-provoking and thoughtful piece titled Steve Jobs Was Not God. In it, he fumes:

Among my Facebook friends yesterday, more than one wrote publicly that they were "crying" or "can't stop crying" or "teared up" due to Steve Jobs' death. Really now. You can't stop crying, now that you've heard that a middle-aged CEO has passed on, after a long battle with cancer? If humans were always so empathetic, well, that would be understandable. But this type of one-upmanship of public displays of grief is both unbecoming and undeserved.
Real outpourings of public grief should be reserved for those people who lived life so heroically and selflessly that they stand as shining examples of love for all of humanity. People like, for example, the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, who—along with his family—was bombed, beaten, and stabbed during his years of principled activism in the US civil rights movement. Shuttlesworth died yesterday, the same day as Steve Jobs. He did not die a billionaire.

Here on SFist, some commenters noted Jobs' personal shortcomings.

Most notably — and most crazily — Westboro Baptist Church member @MargieJPhelps, using an iPhone, sent out the following Twitter message about the God Hates Fags ilk plan to protest the former Apple CEO's funeral:

And finally, the rapscallions at the The Onion posted a priority-setting piece delightfully called Apple User Acting Like His Dad Just Died.

Yahoo "F--ked Me Over," Says Carol Bartz

Brock Keeling — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 11:35:08 GMT

In her first interview since being fired as CEO of Yahoo on Tuesday, colorful Carol Bartz didn't hold back when discussing her former employers. "These people fucked me over," she said to CNN. And it only gets better/worse. Here's how Bartz's impersonal firing went down.

On Tuesday, Bartz was in New York, to speak at Citigroup's (C) technology conference the next day, when she was supposed to call [Yahoo chairman Roy] Bostock at 6 p.m. "I called him at 6:06," she recalls. When he got on the line, she says, he started reading a lawyer's prepared statement to dismiss her.
"I said, 'Roy, I think that's a script,'" adding, "'Why don't you have the balls to tell me yourself?'"

When Bostock finished reading, Bartz didn't argue—"I got it. I got it," she told the Yahoo chairman. "I thought you were classier," she added.

Soon after her dismissal, Bartz got on her iPad and wrote the following email to Yahoo's 14,000 employees:

To all, I am very sad to tell you that I've just been fired over the phone by Yahoo's Chairman of the Board. It has been my pleasure to work with all of you and I wish you only the best going forward. Carol

An LA Times reports claims that she could get $10.4-million in severance.

Bartz joined Yahoo after CEO and founder Jerry Wang decided to step down due to a sharp decline in stock prices. Bartz was chief executive at Autodesk for over 14 years. During her tenure at Yahoo, she once famously told TechCrunch editor Mike Arrington to "fuck off." Watch Bartz do what she does best below.

Sigh. We'll miss you, Carol.

Police Chief Greg Suhr Tries, Fails to Calm Angry Bayview Residents

Brock Keeling — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 08:50:27 GMT

On Wednesday night, Police Chief Greg Suhr headed back to his old neighborhood to discuss Saturday's justifiable shooting death of 19-year-old parolee Kenneth Harding. Instead of answering questions, Suhr received a chilly reception and was eventually booed off stage. The Chronicle reports:

More than 300 people packed into the Bayview Opera House to weigh in on the shooting Saturday, when Kenneth Wade Harding, a 19-year-old Washington state parolee, was shot and killed after he allegedly fired at two officers. But Wednesday, people in the opera house booed Suhr and repeatedly interrupted his address. Things didn't improve when the chief gave up and opened up the floor to questions: Those trying to question the officials could barely be heard above the crowd's cries of outrage.

On Tuesday, Suhr unveiled information that says "they found gunshot residue on Harding's right hand," which makes it clear that he fired at police first before being riddled with bullets.

Others, however, don't believe Harding shot first or at all. The SF Bay Guardian published a piece saying the parolee was "killed for riding while poor."

After Wednesday night's dismal community meeting, Surh went on to tell reporters: "Everybody is upset. Everybody wants to vent...They want to see me and have a conversation in their community. Here I am. I love this community, and I'm telling you right now, there are some hurting people in there, and they needed to hear us say, 'Here we are.'"

"They shouted me down - that just means I've got to come back again," he went on to add.

If you recall, Harding recently served a stint in the clink for "prostituting a 14-year-old girl in Seattle" and was "a person of interest in a shooting last week" that resulted in the death of 19-year-old Tanaya Gilbert.

A misguided protest erupted in the Dolores Park on Tuesday, featuring a bevy of allegedly angry ilk furious over the SPPD-related shooting death. Many wondered why the banal protest was held in the infamously hipster-laced Mission district and not the infamously crime-ridden Bayview neighborhood. The protest resulted in around 35 arrests and the unfortunate beating of a Muni Clipper card dispenser.

Update: SFPD now claim that Harding died by a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Get Shoved By Meg Whitman, Get Settlement

Brock Keeling — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 09:30:59 GMT

The New York Times reports that very rich California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman became a wee bit too forceful and angry with an eBay employee in 2007 who failed to prepare her for an interview with Reuters on that virtual life thingy, Second Life.

"The employee, Young Mi Kim, was preparing Ms. Whitman for a news media interview that day," the Gray Lady notes. "Ms. Kim, who was not injured in the incident, hired a lawyer and threatened a lawsuit, but the dispute was resolved under the supervision of a private mediator."

And how much did this unprofessional shove cost Meg? Somewhere around $200,000.

Kim, we should point out, still works at eBay as a senior manager for corporate and executive communications.

Angry Resident Spraypaints Open Letter to Neighbor On Alamo Square House

Brock Keeling — Fri, 14 May 2010 15:15:05 GMT

Oh wow. An angry resident on Alamo Square spraypainted an open letter to a perturbed neighbor on the side of the former's house. Located on the northeast corner of Fulton and Scott near the Painted Ladies, the missive reads:

To the ignorant Neibor who Keeps CALLING the Building inspector oN ME ... FUCK OFF! There is NO LEAD PAINT ON This Building. IT WAS STRIPED in 1983. Buy the BooK "HOW TO CREATE A PAINTED LADY + SEE FOR YOURSELF STOP Bothering SOMeONE WHO IS Trying to MAKe MY HOME NICER

Chortle. Right or wrong, that is one tough broad.

(Thanks goes out to SFist reader Aaron Hiatt for the tip.)

Meanwhile, in Berkeley...

Brock Keeling — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 15:20:44 GMT

Looks exciting.

Friday Fun: Gavin's Wikipedia Page!

SFist_Dan — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 13:00:18 GMT

Hey, remember the Wikipedia scanner that tells you who's edited what page on the ol' Wikepedia? Well, we decided to have a little fun with it and see who's been playing with the entry for our beloved mayor. There's lots of fun to be seen:

- Someone with an AT&T account deleted a Michael Moore reference because "[Moore] is not an SF voter.

- A probable Republican (other edits to Reagan's funeral and the "alleged Evolution of the Southern Strategy") points out that "6 percent is not narrowly."

- Our fave: an employee of Alameda County who keeps insisting to other editors: "Please refrain vandalizing this work. In San Francisco, it is well known that he's a closet homosexual." This is the most G-rated of his Gavin comments...click through and take a look!