This week: Trans BIPOC memorabilia through the ages, Oakland Ballet turns 60, Southern BBQ in the East Bay, and a Sonoma coast road trip. Plus, a refuge for Jews on Christmas, the Christmas Bird Count, an inside look at SF’s “Holiday House,” and a “holiday jay” box set.

Holiday jays

A Northern California cannabis collective has put together a holiday gift box aimed squarely at weed connoisseurs. Emerald Triangle Craft’s 12 Jays of X-Mas bundles a dozen one-gram pre-rolls from farms across the region, spanning sativas, indicas, and hybrids, each labeled by grower and strain.

The packaging, illustrated by artist Mabel Alcock, highlights the farmers as much as the product, framing the set as a snapshot of the Emerald Triangle’s small-scale cannabis economy. The box is available at a variety of Bay Area dispensaries. — Broke-Ass Stuart

Leaps through time

Oakland Ballet marks its 60th year in motion, shaped by ambition, collapse, reinvention, and a stubborn commitment to the city it calls home. Founded in 1965, the company weathered national tours, lean years, a mid-2000s shutdown, and a revival under artistic director Graham Lustig, who has expanded the repertoire while keeping the organization afloat.

Recent seasons have included culturally specific works like Luna Mexicana and Dancing Moons Festival, with The Nutcracker remaining both an artistic anchor and a financial lifeline. The Nutcracker runs December 20 and 21 at the Paramount Theatre, 2025 Broadway, Oakland. — The Oaklandside

Counting the flyway

Now through January 5, the Audubon Society is inviting the public to take part in its annual Christmas Bird Count, one of the country’s longest-running wildlife surveys, with a couple Bay Area events coming up.

Additionally, photographer Dick Evans and wilderness guide and author Hannah Hindley are celebrating the release of In the Shadow of the Bridge: Birds of the Bay Area, which maps the region as a key stop along the Pacific Flyway. Evans and Hindley will speak at Book Passage in Corte Madera, 51 Tamal Vista Boulevard, on January 17. — Bay Area News Group

Storybook lights on the hill

With the Castro’s beloved Tom & Jerry house now dark, another longtime standout can be found just up the hill in Corona Heights. The so-called Holiday House at 45 Upper Terrace, also known as the Storybook House, goes all in for Christmas, with a toy train looping above the enclosed front porch and Santa climbing the ladder outside.

The owners, a retired gay couple, are known for decorating their home for every holiday and recently gave a video tour showing off the house’s whimsical details, including an elevator. They bought the home for $800,000 in 1997, and today it’s estimated to be worth between $8 million and $10 million. — San Francisco Bucket List

A Jewish Christmas tradition

For more than three decades, Kung Pao Kosher Comedy has given Jews in San Francisco (and many gentiles, we imagine) somewhere to gather each Christmas: a Chinese restaurant, a full crowd, and a sharp lineup. Created and hosted by Lisa Geduldig, the long-running series has built a sense of continuity and community that’s carried the show through generations.

This year’s headliner is veteran stand-up Elayne Boosler, known for her dry delivery and political bite, joined by Orion Levine, Amanda Marks, and Geduldig. Runs December 24–26, Imperial Palace, 818 Washington Street — The Bay Area Reporter

Lives in full color

The GLBT Historical Society Museum’s current exhibition co-presented with the city of Richmond’s Louise Lawrence Transgender Archive, I Live the Life I Love Because I Love the Life I Live, traces the lives and work of Black, Indigenous, and other trans and gender-nonconforming people of color across a century of Bay Area and national history. Photographs, performance ephemera, activist materials, and personal portraits move between the stage and daily life, from Finocchio’s cabaret performers to community organizers who fought for care and visibility during the AIDS crisis.

Figures like Stormé DeLarverie, Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, and members of the Filipino Task Force on AIDS appear alongside lesser-known artists and organizers, with an emphasis on joy, labor, and persistence. GLBT Historical Society Museum, 4127 18th Street, San Francisco’s Castro District. — San Francisco Bay Times

Smoke and memory

On a corner in the East Bay city of Richmond, CJ’s BBQ and Fish has been anchoring the neighborhood for three decades, run by nearly 80-year-old Charles “CJ” Evans, who still works the pits and the prep tables himself. The menu reflects his version of California-Southern barbecue, shaped by family roots in Arkansas, wartime Richmond history, and years of feeding shipyard workers, church folks, and regulars who never stopped coming back.

CJ’s BBQ and Fish now serves hundreds of slabs of ribs a week across its Richmond and Vallejo locations, remaining a steady fixture in a city that’s changed around it. — KQED

North on one

Highway 1 through Sonoma County offers a steady sequence of working ranch land, exposed coastline, and built-in stopping points that reward a slow drive. After Valley Ford, the road runs past Bodega Bay, where Bodega Head provides bluff walks and seasonal whale watching, then hugs the shoreline through state park land with beaches and pullouts at places like Wright’s Beach, Shell Beach, and the Kortum Trail.

Jenner marks a visual shift, with the Russian River spreading out before meeting the Pacific, harbor seals on the sandbar, and viewpoints near River’s End that invite a longer pause. North of town, the highway climbs into high green cliffs toward Fort Ross and Salt Point State Park, then eases into Sea Ranch, where low-profile homes and signed public trails lead to the bluffs before the road crosses into Mendocino County. — Marin Independent Journal

Top Image: Oakland Ballet/Facebook

Previously: Field Notes: Ube, Latkes, Native Plants of the Presidio, and Sarah Winchester’s Architectural Vision

Friday night kicks off the third year of the holiday projection mapping display Let Glow SF, bringing animated ice castles and freaky festive projections to the sides of San Francisco buildings.

For the third year in a row, a holiday projection mapping attraction called Let’s Glow SF will holly-jolly the dickens out of the sides of San Francisco buildings. The visual winter wonders, which transform the sides of several downtown San Francisco buildings into animated holiday displays, begin tonight, Friday, December 1, with a 6:30 p.m. countdown and kickoff celebration at the Ferry Building.

“Let’s Glow SF, the country’s largest holiday projection event, will return to downtown San Francisco this holiday season, from December 1st through 10th,” the project’s sponsor Downtown SF Partnership says in a release. “The FREE outdoor holiday event will use high-tech Panasonic projectors and lasers to project large-scale art concepts across the facade of five iconic SF buildings from 5-10 PM nightly, including the Ferry Building for the first time ever. "

While we don’t have any video of this year’s projections yet, that Ferry Building display sounds particularly intriguing. Artist Yann Nguema’s “The Shadow Lighthouse” will use the freshly-unscaffolded Ferry Building as its canvas. In the words of the artist, the project “molds the architectural facade of the Ferry Building Market Place of San Francisco together with virtual algorithmic constructions.”

There will also be displays at the Hobart Building, Landing at Leidesdorff, One Bush Plaza, and the Pacific Stock Exchange building, all running through Sunday, December 10.

But do these projections really do anything to bring tourism or business to downtown SF? The organizers say yes, they do. According to the Downtown SF Pernership’s numbers, last year’s display brought $3 million into the downtown economy, and they estimate that 51,000 people came to see the show over its run.

Let’s Glow SF runs Saturday, December 2 through Sunday, December Dec. 10 from 5-10 p.m. nightly, with a lighting ceremony at the Ferry Building on Friday, December 1 at 6:30 p.m., and the projections on display until 10 p.m. Friday night.

Related: Holiday-Themed Projection Mapping Will Display on Downtown SF Buildings [SFist]

Image via Downtown SF

Your showing-around of holiday guests and visiting tourists can be a little more festive this season with the Illuminate SF Festival of Light, underway now through New Year’s Day. The long winter nights are bedazzled with 35 light works in 12 San Francisco neighborhoods, and the festival offers events and guided tours, plus a list of self-guided tours by neighborhood.

While this is billed as a six-week festival of art, in reality many of these works are permanent and you’ve already seen them in your everyday walks about town. Others are in museums and would require paid admission to see. But there are some relatively new and really cool works of light art public parks or places as part of this celebration, and SFist would like to call your attention to these exceptional installations that are free and open to the public.

Trillian and Dodi
As noted earlier this month, the dynamite dodecahedronal sculptures Trillian and Dodi now sit splendidly at Patricia’s Green in Hayes Valley. These sculptures by the collective HYBOCOZO remain on display until November 2017.

Image: Aaron Muszalski via Flickr

Bayview Rise
If you’ve been around Bayview’s Pier 92 anytime recently, you’ve probably seen this animated, illuminated mural projected onto the side of a grain elevator. Created by Laura Haddad and Tom Drugan, Bayview Rise has been up since February 2014 and will remain until 2019.

Image: Future Cities Lab via Flickr

Murmur Wall
Hey, you know that LED sculpture outside the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts that blinks seemingly random text messages? It’s called the Murmur Wall, you can actually submit your own messages and see them show up within a few seconds. This work by Future Cities Lab remains installed through May 2017.

Several permanent, non-seasonal works that are listed as part of the festival also deserve honorable mention, including the light-covered Volkswagen beetle Urban UFOs, Anima at Mission Bay, Monarch at Mission Bay, Language of the Birds in North Beach, Hand Signals in the Mission, Ethereal Bodies and Archipelago at Zuckerberg General Hospital, Skygarden at the SF Federal Building, Firefly at Civic Center, Constellation at the SF Public Library Main Branch, Coalesce at the SF Arts Commission Gallery, Caruso’s Dream in SoMa, Ocean Mirror With Fragments at UCSF Parnassus, and of course the Bay Lights on the west span of the Bay Bridge.

Additional works in the Festival of Light are on display at the SFMOMA, the Exploratorium, the deYoung Museum, the Contemporary Jewish Museum, the W Hotel, and the San Francisco International Airport.

Related: 'LightRail' LED Installation On Market Street Begins Raising Funds

A holiday horror show happened aboard a Southwest Airlines flight bound for Chicago Wednesday morning. A 6 a.m. flight from Oakland airport had a problem with its landing gear, which was identified by the pilot quickly, but he then announced that the plane would have to burn its fuel before returning to Oakland.

The 139 passengers then had to endure a tense holding pattern, circling over Tracy for the next four hours and doing a flyby as air traffic control checked out the plane's gear, as ABC 7 reports.

“Everyone was very concerned because we thought we were having engine trouble, then we found out it was the landing gear,” passenger Ashley Stasio told the Chronicle once she was safely back on the ground. “It was scary.”

The paper noted that the plane has been taken out of service, and ABC 7 reported that at least one traveler opted not to travel today after the incident.

Related: Parts Of SFO Could Be Under Water For Christmas Eve Travel Due To King Tides, El Niño

"The lighting of City Hall has to be one of San Francisco’s most wonderful traditions," or so wrote Willie Brown in his Chronicle column this weekend. "It’s almost become a game to try to figure out the significance of the color combinations illuminating the grand building all the way up to the dome."

In "Willie's World," San Francisco would embrace this trend, and hey, maybe even light up his span of bridge: "Personally, I think we should have a Season of Lights in the city. It would start, say, in the first week of November and run until March. We’d have a contest among buildings all over the city to see which could be the most creative. It would be a great draw for tourists, and most of all it would help make all these early and long nights a lot brighter. Then San Francisco would be a city of lights. Just like our sister city Paris." Paris isn't our only sister city, of course. Let it be noted that we've got dozens.

Back to the "game" of figuring out what City Hall lights signify what occasion, let's play along, shall we? Says Brown: "Some are easy: orange for the Giants when they’re in the playoffs..."

Tonight is the night! First World Series game for our @sfgiants. #giants #sfgiants #worldseries #2014 #evenyears #orangeoctober #gamerbabes #cityhall #sf #sanfrancisco #bayarea #415 #yesyesyes #blackandorange #beattheroyals #theredchairsalon #redchairsalonsf #redchairsalon #marina #unionst

A photo posted by The Red Chair Salon (@theredchairsalon) on Oct 10, 2014 at 12:32pm PDT

"red and gold for the Niners..."

"And red, white and blue is a no-brainer."

City hall in red, white, and blue for Election Day #sf #cityhall #amurrica pic.twitter.com/eMovdmkyy6

— Candace C. (@candacec) November 4, 2014

"Others, however, take a bit of political savvy. There was purple in October, which was anti-domestic violence month.

Photo (this was for #spiritday October '13) GLAAD

More recently, we had blue, pink and white for the Transgender Day of Remembrance."

Photo: Quiltmag via Twitter

Alright, that's it for Willie, but can you guess this one? Hint: it's coming up!

Photo: Abe Bingham via Flickr

Bonus:

Image: SF City Hall via Facebook

And for the record, when City Hall was blue last December, it was for Twitter's holiday party, not Hanukkah.

"Why did I do it? What did it get me? Give 'em love and what does it get you?" are some of the questions your mom might ask herself in the midst of a cathartic breakdown on Sunday, Mother's Day, if you don't give her a call. And with that friendly reminder, here are a few of San Francisco's biggest mamas we just couldn't do without.

Anita Lee: The first lady of San Francisco is a bit of a mystery, most often mentioned when the Mayor's frequent trips are scrutinized or when her New York-based daughter tied the knot. There's so much I'd like to ask this mother of two, like "are you responsible for Brianna's Sound of Music obsession" and "be honest: what do you think of Rose Pak?" Maybe we're just sore because her predecessor was an SFist commenter? Mrs. Lee, if you need help with Disqus, just say the word and we'll be right over. — Eve Batey

Dede Wilsey: The San Francisco mom who has 0.00 fucks to give regarding what you think of her. Among other reasons, that is why I adore (and fear) her. Also, one must stand in awe of her unapologetic opulence at local galas, as well as her work with the De Young. (She raised over $190 million to rebuild the earthquake-damaged museum in Golden Gate Park, one of the largest collective gifts ever made to an American museum.) Yes, there was that book — which, inadvertently, made her all that more intriguing, more iconic — but she also raised Todd, an indie film producer, and Trevor, a tech entrepreneur (neither pictured above). And she probably did it all while while wearing a Chanel suit. — Brock Keeling

Juanita, with fig tart. (Photo: Allen Jordan)

Juanita MORE!: Though she doesn’t christen MOREboys anymore, San Francisco’s most maternal drag queen bee has been mothering a brood of party monsters, drag daughters, and fashionistas about town for two decades now. In addition to doling out advice and love to a community of nightlife denizens, she’s been known to don an apron and cook farm-to-table fare for her friends, as well as annual fried chicken dinners for charity. She may only be a mother in the truest sense to her French bulldog Jackson, but she’s certainly played mom to many, many gay boys and party girls while in a wig and a fantastic dress, in between DJ sets. — Jay Barmann

Moms in the clink: Not every important mother in San Francisco is a political player or noted socialite. A reported half of women in SF jail are mothers, a similar statistic nationwide. Something to think about when you're spending Sunday brunch with mom. — Brock Keeling

The Chung Family Album (Ohio State University)

Mom Chung: As the first American-born Chinese female physician, Margaret Jessie Chung was an advocate for both healthcare and Chinese-American relations. In her all-male med school, she dressed in drag and called herself "Mike" until she could establish a practice of her own. She brought healthcare to Chinatown in the 20s and during the first World War, Chung "adopted" and corresponded with thousands of American servicemen who called themselves her "Fair-Haired Bastards." Now Chung's legacy lives on as the namesake for one of two SFMTA tunnel boring machines, currently drilling her way from Chinatown to King Street. — Andrew Dalton

Mrs. Doubtfire: Only with the help of some wonderful gay friends could a San Francisco man reeling from divorce learn just how hard it is to be a mom. — Andrew Dalton

(Photo: Jason Rodman)

Any mom raising kids in San Francisco in 2014: A toast to that invincible bunch, San Francisco moms are an increasingly rare breed. It's an expensive city and not all of you have nannies to help (contrary to what I see in South Park at lunchtime), so here's to making it through another eviction-free year. May the Walgreens-purchased perfume your little blessings give you be light on the sillage and aldehydes. Happy Mother's Day. — Brock Keeling

Honorable mention: Pamela Tanner, who was taken from us too soon.

If you drink and drive tonight, you will probably kill someone. True words. Fortunately, Luxor Cab (care of Berg Injury Lawyers) will give you one free ride home (up to $35, per ride) from 10 p.m - 4 a.m. tonight. If you need one, please call 415-282-4141.

Also, as Catherine Bigelow pointed out, you can get a tow: "Triple AAA The Tipsy Tow program provides a free, one-way tow (up to 10 miles) for both Triple AAA members and non-members. 6 p.m.-6 a.m., March 17-18. Call: (800) 222-4357 and tell the operator you require a "Tipsy Tow.' "

Have fun. Stay safe. Don't walk home alone. Cheers.

What's more addictive and more dangerous this time of year than a gram of Tenderloin black tar? "Hey Santa!" by Brian Wilson by proxy. It borders on genius, really. So hooky. So California. So appropriately, yet at the same time blasphemously, casual. Now, of course, it's no Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You" or "Sleigh Ride" by the Ronettes, that's for goddamn sure, but it's up there. Awful and wonderful all at once. What are we talking about? This.

Starting at NOON today, the lightest of light and least of the talk, KOIT 96.5 will begin its annual besiegement of holiday classics. Oh, you want a taste? Here you go. But from today until New Year's, KOIT will burrow a hole to your heart with a tongue-sharpened candy cane. You can't escape it. You'll hear it everywhere. Trust me.

NOTE: Beware of Vic Damone's "Christmas in San Francisco," a tune that, sadly, is one of the worst. Just terrible. A slice of the fruit cake of modern Christmas carols for your consideration: "Maybe eat in Chinatown/Before we trim the tree/And then a North Beach cappucino/Would sure taste good to me."

Halloween is coming, and assorted ghouls, goblins, and Miley Cyruses will soon stalk the streets in search of blood. However, the scares this year will come from a different source: a new haunted house at Public Works has instituted a tech-sector theme to more effectively frighten people. On Wednesday, October 30th, expect to be terrorized by horrors of the tech industry with the cheeky Eerie SF: Haunted House & Carnival, which aims to take "all things scary about the influx of Bay Area start-ups" and make then even scarier with a tour of newly launched haunted and cursed start-up, Ghoulgle.com.

Resurrected from the dot-com crash in 2000, Ghoulgle.com is thriving and open again for business! Come and take a tour of the Ghoulgle.com headquarters! See the new internet businesses that are housed in the decayed superstudio style building, such as: undeadpet.com, youtomb.com, scream.com, mummingtonpost.com, oklucifer.com, etc.! Meet Mark Zombieberg and be the first to join his new social networking website---deadalive.com---the only place on the internet that connects the living with the dead! Witness a very special keynote, with Steve Jobs Back From the Dead!! Come and rub elbows (if they are not already rotted off) with the newest dead digitaris that are taking San Francisco's start-up scene by storm!

A "carnival of mayhem" will also be in the offing, featuring Halloween-themed debauchery like traditional carnival games with a dirty twist from the Lusty Lady ladies (including lap dances and pole tricks) and music by DJ Carnita, plus candy apples, caramel corn, burlesque shows and more. All in all, the event promises to be tongue-in-cheek good time, and the theme is certainly topical, especially with rent prices ballooning, commuter bus mayhem and generalized hysteria about the tech folk and their ilk. Happy Halloween!

Eerie San Francisco
October 30th,
Public Works, 7pm to 10pm
Tickets: $5-$15

[SF Appeal]

Your boss sounds like a jerk. Otherwise, why are you still at the office? Cruelty, thy name is your direct supervisor. (Unless, of course, you work in the service industry, in which case... we'll see you tonight.)

Maybe you should send this very post to your manager, explaining to her/him that we said it was okay for you to leave. Leave now. Leave ASAP. The Peterson file can wait until Tuesday. That coding can sit until next week. Besides, wouldn't you prefer being outside, high on life and/or an illicit organic substance? You probably would, wouldn't you, you stoner hippie wackadoo. You probably would.

Anyway, please head to your nearest exit and go enjoy the rest of the day. Now. And be sure to have a joyous Labor Day weekend!

The Bay Area celebrated Independence Day with a bevy of spectacular firework shows -- some of them legal, some of them on the sly. Here are a few of our favorites from 2013. Enjoy.

Illegal action in the Mission shot by rez1:

More glorious illegal Fourth of July fun at 25th & Harrison Streets in the Mission District, shot again by rez1:

The grand finale caught from the Marina Green by Greg Vidimsky:

YouTube user thedivine121 snapped the entire fireworks show from the Marina Green:

StephenBoBeffin captured the following illegal firework action in East Oakland:

Crucialcolin captured the fiery scene in at Cal Expo in Sacramento:

UPDATE: BART service to resume Friday afternoon.

After a ten hours of talks on Wednesday, neither BART nor the unions came to an agreement. And thus the Bart strike enters its fourth day. If you plan on commuting to catch the fireworks, don't plan on riding BART. And charter bus service will be limited today and on Friday.

To the press release:

[...] BART will provide very limited charter bus service to and from San Francisco during the peak commute periods: starting at 6am from five East Bay stations and 4 to 6 pm from San Francisco.

The limited charter bus service will pick up riders at the following five BART stations: West Oakland, El Cerrito del Norte, Walnut Creek, Dublin/Pleasanton and Fremont stations. At 6am, 3 buses will arrive at each of these stations. Once a bus is filled it will leave for San Francisco. This is first come, first served. Each bus carries 50 passengers. The service will only last until all three buses are filled or 8am, whichever comes first. The service is intended to serve those who are working July 4th.

The trip home will be a direct ride to each of the 5 stations with 3 buses serving each destination from 4-6pm. The last bus to each station will leave at 6pm so riders need to arrive before then.

Friday’s service will be similar but each station will have 7 buses show up at 5am and it will be first come first served. The service will only last until all seven buses are filled or 8am, whichever comes first. The return trip home will be from 3pm-7pm. The last bus to each station will leave at 7pm so riders need to arrive before then

As for seeing an end to the strike? Who knows. Both sides will return to the table today. "But when Wednesday's talks ended shortly after 11 p.m., there was no suggestion of the glimmer of optimism shown after Tuesday's bargaining session," reports the Chronicle. Alas.

Until tomorrow...

All previous coverage of the BART strike on SFist.

The woman who pushed you through her vagina or signed your adoption papers deserves more than a Hallmark card sent via snail mail. [Ed. note: Sorry, mom!] Your mother deserves a boozy brunch at one of these fine restaurants, ranging from the casual to the divine. Be sure to make your reservations soon. Mother's Day is coming up fast.

Citizens Band
What about your drag mom? What about her? Splash some cold water on your drag mom's face, pull her out of bed, and drag (ahem) her to one of the best restaurant in SOMA? Part diner/part greatest place in the world, Citizens Band's Sunday brunch boasts Apple Fritters, Shrimp & Grits, Sweet Potato & Pork Belly Hash, and more. And yes, you can bring your biological mom here, too.
1198 Folsom, S.F.; 415-556-4901

Maven
One of the best brunches in the city, Maven's brunch menu offers Seared Salmon Cakes
(mango, avocado, lime-ginger aioli), Southern Style Eggs Benedict (suckling pig, collard greens, spicy hollandaise), Bread Pudding French Toast (spiced orange, hazelnut, golden balsamic cream), and Maven’s Johnny Cakes (blueberry maple syrup, whipped goat cheese), just to name a few offerings.
598 Haight, S.F.; 415-829-7982

Meritage at The Claremont
The Claremont's classic Mother’s Day brunch is prix fixe and runs from 11:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. The meal starts with an Mother’s Day cocktail and ends with chocolate strawberry shortcake. Check out the full menu here.
41 Tunnel Road, Berkeley; 510-549-8510

Prospect
Chef/partner Pam Mazzola will make fresh-baked strawberry scone, stuffed with Dirty Girl Farm strawberries, sprinkled with sugar and topped with crème fraiche; a Dungeness Crab Scramble with asparagus, scallions, and toasted Epi bread; Snickerdoodle Pancakes, served with a side of housemade banana pudding, sliced bananas, and crumbled snickerdoodle cookies on top. For a boozy brunch, check out Prospect’s new First of the Season Strawberry Margarita with a salt, chili & crushed dried strawberry rim.
300 Spear, S.F.; 415-247-7770

State Bird Provisions
If you can manage to get a reservation -- they just won Best Restaurant at the James Beard Awards -- State Bird will be taking limited reservations for Mother's Day. Bonus: Amy Brown and Joe Wolf of Marla Bakery will gave a pop-up there on Sunday, too! Tablehopper notes: "Brunch will be served 11am-4pm, with goods like rye toast with tea-smoked sturgeon, a “Mr. Croque” (that’s 4505 smoked ham, mostarda, Gruyère, and dry jack on levain with pickled ramps), and a strawberry cake parfait, plus egg dishes, housemade yogurt, and lots of breads and pastries." Good luck!
1529 Fillmore, S.F.; 415-795-1272

Happy Mother's Day to all of the mommies who read SFist!