Friend - SFist - San Francisco News, Restaurants, Events, & Sports

Gary Gygax, Co-Creator of Dungeons & Dragons, Dies

Brock Keeling — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 11:52:32 GMT

Laughing Squid broke the news that game designer Gary Gygax, co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons (1974)/co-founder of Tactical Studies Rules, died today at the ripe age of 69. According to LS, his death was announced on the Troll Lord Games forum. Steve (AKA the High Lord, Coburg the Undying, he who sits on the elephants back of the Castle and Crusade Society) had this to say on the forums:

It is almost too much to get my mind about. But I've just had news that our dear Dungeon Master has passed away. Ernie called this morning, he thought we should let the fans know. He's just sent an email out.
Gary was in his home when he gathered himself up to cross the great divide.

He was a very dear friend of mine. And I will miss him so.

God Speed My Friend.

Very sad news, indeed. And please forgive us for the glaring lack of D&D puns, hit-point references, or whatever; we really don't know much about this popular and controversial game. (Save for the animated cartoon, which was AWESOME if only for Sheila alone.) We were forbidden to play it as a kid because it was, it seems, the work of Satan. Or so we were told. Alas.

Photo: Alan De Smet

'Wine By The Bay' Event: Good Wines, Great Cause, Old Friends

SFist Jer — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 10:30:08 GMT

This Saturday at the San Francisco Embarcadero Hyatt Regency from noon-4 p.m., you can join KGO Radio and the Mendocino Wine Growers Foundation in celebration of the wines and other good stuff from Mendocino County. The event, called "Wine By The Bay 2007,", is $35 if you buy your ticket now; it'll be ten buck more ($45) at the door.

What's exciting to us is that Friend of SFist, Destination Dinners' Lisa Diamond, is scheduled to be interviewed by KGO's Gene Burns during the event for his "Dining Around" program, a show about food and drink that centers on the Bay Area. If you aren't familiar with Burns, he also hosts a great "issues of the day"-style radio show M-F evenings on KGO and has one of the greatest "radio voices" we've ever heard.

Lisa Diamond will be introducing her dinner kits to a wide audience, so if you were ever inclined to check them out, now might be a good time -- we suspect she'll be busy filling more orders than ever after the show airs. She's recently introduced a Jamaican jerk chicken w/shrimp kit, and we're sure she'll share other developments with Mr. Burns.

In any case, if you attend the event you'll enjoy food from some of San Francisco's best restaurants and 200+ wines from more then 45 wineries.. Proceeds benefit two very good causes:
-- CUESA, which seeks to promote a sustainable
food system through the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market and associated educational programs; and
-- Friends of the Children, which provides mentoring to high-risk children.

Ah, consumption you can feel good about.

SFist Watches: The Bridge

Rain Jokinen — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 10:10:13 GMT

We watched the movie on DVD recently, and that was the reaction we had during more than one scene. We also shed a few tears. The movie isn't for the faint of heart, but it's not a snuff film either; there isn't as much footage of jumpers as one would fear (or hope for, depending on how you feel about these things), so what images are shown are shocking every time. Instead, the majority of the movie is focused on interviews with the families and friends of some of the people who chose to end their lives at the Golden Gate Bridge in 2004 (as well as an interview with a young man who survived a jump a few years earlier). Understanding why people choose to end their lives--and why they choose to do it on the Bridge--is the goal of the film, but those are questions that aren't really that hard to answer. Mental illness and/or severe depression play a factor in all the suicides discussed in the film and, well...the Golden Gate Bridge is a beautiful place to end it all. So, ultimately, the movie becomes an exercise in dread. Dreading the inevitable sight of these people jumping...and knowing someone else will probably do the very same thing some time this month.

Ironically, the issue of a suicide barrier, which was the topic of Tad Friend's New Yorker article "Jumpers," which was the inspiration for the documentary, isn't really mentioned in the film at all. And it's an issue that is, apparently, after 70 years of Bridge suicides, still being studied...

Free Movie At Dolores Park About Coffee/Fair Trade

SFist Jer — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 13:08:27 GMT

Friend of SFist James Guzzi, who is with TransFair USA, alerted us to a cool event his group is holding tomorrow night in Dolores Park.

Black Gold is about coffee farmers in Ethiopia and helps to hammer home the importance of using fair trade products. Show up at 7:30 p.m. to sample some goodies (chocolate, coffee); the movie starts at 8:30 p.m.

Every Day is Right-Handers' Day

Matt Baume — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 10:06:15 GMT

Friend of SFist Steve found the attached image in a bookstore window: apparently there's some store called "The Great Overland Book Company" that's offering 20% off on August 17, 18, and 19, but ONLY for left-handers. Well, okay -- now, when's the right-handers' day so the rest of the city can get a discount?

Yelp! Guns Drawn In Front Of Yelp's Offices?

SFist Jer — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 15:13:52 GMT

Friend of SFist Jeremy Stoppelman, Yelp's CEO and co-founder, just shot us this note:

Guns drawn in front of Yelp office...
Jeremy

(That would be Mission & New Montgomery.) According to Jeremy's comments on a Yelp thread, "(A) couple guys were arrested, cops are searching the car. Settled down now..."

Anyone have any further details? (We'd also draw your attention to the tips submission on the left-hand column [SFist Tip Line], where someone is saying the former Brother-in-Law BBQ's been lit up? Geez!)

You can see more pics and what the Yelpers themselves are saying about it here.

More details on both situations if and when we get them.

Photos courtesy of Jeremy Stoppelman

Did You Feel The Earthquake?

rita — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 08:39:38 GMT

No, you didn't dream it! There was a 4.2 temblor this morning at around 4:42 a.m., centered two miles east of Oakland on the dreaded Hayward Fault. It knocked out power in Oakland (poor PG&E, it's been a busy week), and broke the windows of the Safeway on Shattuck and Rose in Berkeley, and at a doughnut shop on College and Ashby (but with no interruption in donut service, they added) -- but in SF, we didn't notice anything other than some shaking, and in San Jose, they didn't feel anything at all.

There's a YouTube clip of Jell-o artist Liz Hickok's Telegraph Hill earthquake above. (Friend of SFist, and we know her sister too!)

Ritual Roasters Event For Bikes To Rwanda This Saturday

SFist Jer — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 10:35:07 GMT

Ritual Coffee Roasters' two locations are only about three miles apart. Not so bad on a bike, right?

Well, what if you're biking with 130 pounds of coffee?

Yeah, a little tougher.

This Saturday, popular cafe Ritual Roasters, in conjunction with Bikes to Rwanda, is having a wacky, multi-tiered charity event that involves bike-race betting, film-watching, a raffle, and the consumption of both of our favorite beverages: booze and coffee. Friend of SFist, Ritual co-proprietor Eileen Hassi, gave us the details on the event's genesis. As she succinctly put it:

"Why? To get bicycles to Rwanda Coffee Farmers. They need help. They grow good coffee, and then have to carry it over hills and mountains by foot while getting hardly compensated. You like coffee right? Then how about you come and have fun on a Saturday and get some bikes to the nice coffee farmers."

Bikes To Rwanda is a good cause that specifically addresses issues in the Ritual team's wheelhouse. The organization's goal is to provide cargo bicycles to Rwandan coffee farmers, as to improve quality of life through a bike workshop/maintenance program that provides transportation resources for basic needs and enhances production of quality coffee.

Want to participate? Show up at the Mission District store, 1046 Valencia Street, at noon. For full event details, please visit Bikes to Rwanda's events page.

Thanks to Google Maps for these directions from Ritual to Ritual. Note: this is not necessarily the course the racers will be taking!

Pretty Home Run Derby Pictures

Jon — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 14:45:53 GMT

Friend of SFist David Lilienstein was out in the Cove yesterday and took this photo of one of the denizens. If you want to read what it was like out there, check out Jim Caple's excellent write up in...

Like The Surface Of The Sun

SFist Jer — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 10:45:45 GMT

Friend of SFist, Burritophile's Cate, alerted us to this amusing error over on sfgate's weather page. (Well, either an error or someone over there is pretty funny!)

Stay out of Concord, people. Unless you want a hell of a tan.

No Danger-Flags Here, No Sirree

Matt Baume — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 16:36:38 GMT

Friend-of-SFist Matt V passes along these photos of a verrrrry safe looking taxi, sighted outside a Starbucks in the Abandoned Warehouse district of the Mission. "You choose what you pay," it says on the side, which is exactly how Lucifer would phrase an offer.

When The Lights Go Down In The City

krissy — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 19:10:17 GMT

Our friend Will who runs New & Used Records is celebrating a CD release this week for The Passionistas. God's Boat, produced by Kelley Stoltz, may sound lo-fi, but the band isn't afraid to get a little high tech by documenting their misadventures with a series of YouTube videos. Catch them at their CD release party at Cafe Du Nord on Friday with Kelley Stoltz, The Dilettantes and The Specs. We've got tickets to the show and a copy of their brand new record for one lucky winner. (Contest ends at noon Friday, winner will be notified via email.)

We're back from our vacation in Austin and have new music to play for y'all, but we're too exhausted to get it together. Let's leave that for next week, and get straight to this week's show picks:

Tonight Menomena plays a free show at Amoeba at 7pm. That's right now, basically. We've been a big fan of Client's last two records, so it's pretty exciting and overdue that they're finally making their Bay Area debut tonight. Popscene has the sultry trio that we told you about last week and we imagine they'll take 330 Ritch by storm. The Rickshaw Stop presents Citay, The Makes Nice and The Barbary Coasters. You may have heard of singer-songwriter Mason Jennings who's playing at Bimbo's tonight, but chances are you haven't heard his opener Ferraby Lionheart yet. We're wondering if he can live up to that fabulous name; listen to his poppy croon and decide for yourself.

Listen to Client
Listen to Citay
Listen to Ferraby Lionheart and watch the video

Epicugenerous

Cedric — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 10:00:31 GMT

There's a bunch of activities around National Hunger Awareness Day, but we would like to mention one: a fund raiser organized by epicurious.com at Farallon tomorrow (Friday). Proceeds benefit the Second Harvest, a network of food banks dedicated to eradicating hunger. They provide food to nine million kids. Friend of SFist Sam even volunteered at the SF Food Bank, and if Sam does it, then that's good enough to recommend the organization to us.

So get yourself a ticket to the event, be there at 6:15pm for reception, then a dinner cooked by several top chefs, including Farallon's Mark Franz at 7pm. Diver scallop carpaccio, crispy maple pork belly, and roasted strawberry turnovers, yummy. It's $100/pop, but it's a good cause, and it's $50 less than the similar fundraiser in NY. And don't leave the party hungry!

Banner from the 2nd Harvest web site.

The Finest Kind of Writer

Matt Baume — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 16:03:16 GMT

Friend of SFist Charlie Anders reminds us that her nifty and unusual spoken-word group, Writers With Drinks, will be experiencing yet another stupendous explosion of literary greatness this Saturday, the 9th, from 7:30 to 9:30 at The Make Out Room. Presenters include:

- Judy Budnitz, author of Nice Big American Baby and If I've Told You Once - Clifford Chase, author of Winkie - Sesshu Foster, author of Atomik Aztex - Anthony McCann, poet and author of Moongarden - Kyle Machulis aka qdot, who blogs at Slashdong.org - Comedian TBA

See that, folks? MYSTERY COMEDIAN! Can you unravel their secret identity? No, no you can't. Tix are $3 to $5 sliding scale, with all proceeds benefit the deliciously unusual Other Magazine.

Oh No Ed Jew! "I, we Have a Number of Attorneys ... and so Forth."

Matt Baume — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 19:26:03 GMT

Ed Jew alert! Friend-of-SFist Dan N. (or, if you like, D. Noyes) alerts us to a brand spanking new Ed Jew interview on the I-Team's website! Oh, faithful I-Team. Here's the juicy bit:

Ed Jew: "I do reside there, yes."
ABC7's Dan Noyes: "You do now, but did you at that point in time?"

Ed Jew: "I do reside there."

ABC7's Dan Noyes: "Now, but did you before, when you signed up to be a candidate?"

Ed Jew: "Again, I want to just basically say that I, we have a number of attorneys that are representing me and so forth like that."

Well, there you have it. Nothing untoward going on there.