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Week Around The -ists

Brock Keeling — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 08:00:59 GMT

This week ended with the launch of the seventh and final Harry Potter installation. But while the world was consumed with Pottermania, it's important to remember that there were more serious things going on in the world, too - two of them in -Ist cities.

Sampaist was shocked when a passenger jet crashed into the center of Sao Paulo, killing at least 200 people. The airplane, an Airbus A320, skidded off the runway at the city's Congonhas airport in wet weather, then raced over a very heavily-trafficked avenue during rush hour, before crashing into a gas station.

For Gothamist, New York City's aging infrastructure caused a huge steam pipe explosion in Midtown Manhattan that killed one, left two seriously injured and injured at least forty others. But in lighter news, Whole Foods' release of the "I'm Not a Plastic Bag" caused fights amongst eco-trend-seekers. Speaking of eco-trends, congestion pricing was kind of approved to move forward in the Big Apple. NY State finally sued Exxon-Mobil for the mid-century Brooklyn oil spill that was about twice the size of the Exxon Valdez spill. And Gothamist has videos of their conversations with the manager and residents of the famous Hotel Chelsea.

SFist woke up to a minor jolt Friday morning, care of a 4.2 earthquake along the nervously-monitored Hayward fault, but what's really shaking the city is theorange-laced anticipation of Barry Bonds inching closer to more record-breaking behavior. Other behavior includes VVM publication SF Weekly's dismissal of their web editor, Matt Stroud - SFist has the post that booted him out of said position. And speaking of controversial posts, the Propaganda III art exhibit had many arguing about freedom of speech, racism, anti-Semitism, and other precious topics of debate. Also, local SF Supes Chris Daly and Bevan Dufty almost throw down, one automobile owner's desperate plea for a crime-free life, and SFist alum Derrick ("Obsession With Food" scribe) moves on to glory via his cover story in the Chronicle's wine section. SFist couldn't be more proud. Sob.

Londonist celebrated their Britishness this week. Their inner toffs were liberated at the Chap Olympiad, at which the upper classes compete for "golden bowler hats" in events such as umbrella hockey and "slap the bounder." What-ho. They also attended a discussion evening in a ladies restroom - or "toilet," to use the local lingo. Meanwhile, with the Transformers movie on the way to the UK, London's cab drivers have been converting their motors into giant pink rabbits. And a new graffiti artist was in town, decorating London's walls with 22 stencils of Lennon, Jagger and other musical icons. Londonist has got it all mapped.

Football (Real Football) Comes to Stanford

Jon — Fri, 25 May 2007 11:53:06 GMT

We've written before about our love of soccer but unfortunately, being here in the States, it's a little hard to get the full flavor of it. Major League Soccer isn't quite that exciting and there's no longer a franchise here. There are also plenty of places in the city to watch some Premiere League (and occasional Serie A games) but it's not quite the same as watching the games in Europe. Also, we don't like to get up early.

So we're kind of excited over the news that Stanford is going to host a game between the Premiere League's Chelsea and Mexico's Club America on July 14th.

We don't know much about Club America other than they've won the Mexico League ten times, but we do know a bit about the Blues, mainly that they're sort of the New York Yankees of the Premiere League except instead of being owned by a cranky old man who throws money around at every player out there, they're owned by a Russian Oligarch with rumored ties to the Russian mafia who throws money around at every player out there. As a result, his team features a whole bunch of people with whom you might remember from last year's World Cup. They were supposed to win the Premiere League this year but fell short to Man U, but they did beat Man U for the FA Cup.

Both teams are stopping at Stanford before going off to various tournaments. Either way, the game should be pretty fun to watch as a bunch of soused British ex-pats will cheer on one team while a bunch of raucous Mexicans will cheer on the other. Sounds good to us.

Tickets appear to be onsale now.

The San Francisco-New York Neighborhood Comparison Table

rita — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 17:55:18 GMT

Quick -- which one of those pictures above is of Valencia Street in SF and which is of Williamsburg in Brooklyn?

Bay Area blogger Overstated has put together his list of what New York neighborhoods correspond to which San Francisco ones. Check out his list, and let the great debates begin!

Here's some calls we agree with:
-- Williamsburg is the Mission. Last time we were on Bedford Avenue, honest to God we thought we'd end up at Luna Park for brunch.
--Pac Heights and Noe Valley absolutely are the Upper East and Upper West Sides. All the old money lives in Pac Heights, and there's nothing to do or to eat in Noe Valley either.

And some ones we dispute:
--Russian Hill = Park Slope? That ain't right! We'd go with Park Slope = Bernal Heights. Russian Hill is too boring to be Park Slope.
--And Brooklyn Heights isn't Potrero -- Telegraph Hill is Brooklyn Heights. Telegraph Hill has the waterfront, the history, the scenicness! If Bill Cosby lived in SF, he'd totally live on Telegraph Hill. Potrero is maybe Gramercy/Union Square Park -- originally a second choice if you can't afford either the Upper East or Upper West side but now with expensive real estate and more restaurants than you'd think.

And ones we aren't sure about:
--Is Hayes Valley Chelsea?
--Is the Upper Haight the East Village?

Overstated says he hopes someone will ultimately put a list like this together for all major cities around the world. That would rule. What neighborhood in Paris is equivalent to what neighborhood in L.A. is equivalent to Fort Greene in New York? Answer: the stretch of Valencia Street with Ritual Roasters on it.

Thanks to our little birdie in the MSM for forwarding us the link! And Valencia Street is to the right in the pictures above.

Totally

Make Sure You Love The Way Pete Wants You To Love

Matt Baume — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 12:54:19 GMT

So, to review: they have a kid. They're both gay. One or both may invite their own husband or wife into the family someday. They live together and care for each other and love each other. But according to Pete (the one on the radio, not the Scottish curler), they don't have husband-and-wife feelings for each other, which means that as parents, they're incorrectly in love. So, Pete, what exactly the proper kind of husband-and-wife love that parents ought to have? And how, in your rigorous study of childhood development and family structure, did you determine that Sidney will be suffering?

And, Pete. As long as we're asking questions. Exactly how does one go about determining which kind of love is the Healthy-for-a-Kid kind, and which is the Unhealthy-for-a-Kid kind? What was it, in your close scrutiny of Bevan and Rebecca's relationship, that led you to conclude that they weren't loving each other properly? And where on your patented Healthy-Love-for-a-Kid Scale does the Dufty-Goldfader family fall compared to, say, single parents who don't love each other and live apart? Or parents who stay married despite falling out of love? Or singles who choose to parent all by themselves? Are Bevan and Rebeccas simply not in love enough? What's the threshhold of sufficient love?

What we're really asking, here, is this: why single out Bevan and Rebecca?

And also, what was it like being inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame?

Whoa, man! Cosmic Wonder Opens at YBCA

Eve Batey — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 13:50:35 GMT

It’s obvious there has been a sudden resurgence of psychedelic art making its way through the contemporary art scene. On our last trip to Chelsea in New York, we certainly saw our share of neon paintings with forms dripping off the canvases and quite a lot of aluminum foil. Many of the artists indulging in this new trend are young urbanites paying homage to the transcendental 60s, but adding their own pop culture twists along the way.

SFist Shelley, contributing

Image: Doug Aitken, New Opposition II, 2001