Results tagged “sfweekly”

A "polarizing" figure in the SF food community, Meredith Brody was a memorable one during her tenure at SF Weekly. Yesterday, Eater tell us, Brody parted ways with SF Weekly.

Our guest Day-Around-the-Bay aggregator Chris Daly pointed you to this cover piece about Theresa Sparks in the new issue of SF Weekly last night, but having just read it ourselves during a long F-Market trip last night, we thought we'd encourage you again. It's a compelling profile by Lauren Smiley of the woman who could be our next District 6 Supervisor (should she officially decide to run), and the main photo by Frank Gaglione (at right) makes Sparks look downright Lorraine Bracco-ish, no?

A new piece by Lauren Smiley in SF Weekly chronicles the demise/transitioning of our local public access TV org, Access SF. The upshot is that Comcast doesn't cover operating expenses anymore, and the City can only pony up a fraction of what the station has been used to running on, providing us with such programs as "If the Christ Returned Today" (tonight at 7 p.m.), "Atheist Viewpoint," (today at 12:30 p.m.), "Tranny Talk TV," "Ace in Your Face," and our favorite nudist 9/11 conspiracy discussion group, "My Naked Truth." The producers of many of these shows are, shall we say, of a generation for whom YouTube is still a confusing and frightening world of flashes and buttons. They are currently in a bit of an uproar over a proposal by the kids at BAVC (Bay Area Video Coalition) to take over and run the city's two public access channels on a YouTube/Current TV model, in which everyone shoots and edits their shit on their own equipment, uploads it to a site, and a minimal staff keeps the channel schedules rolling.

The man who has spent his local political career championing the rights of the Tenderloin poor, the SRO-dwelling, and the owners of property more likely to be made of cardboard than of concrete, Supervisor Chris Daly is facing further scrutiny by the SF Appeal and Chron yet being defended by the Weekly this week -- all relating to the recent revelation of the purchase of not one but two homes in Fairfield, far afield of the district Daly represents. This of course follows on much e-ink already spilt and spread around in the past week on this subject, which is obvious fodder for Daly's detractors and brings forth a flood of eager defenders.

Not sure if any of you caught this story in the Weekly this week, but just in case you didn't, and just in case you have kids, make sure to train them in the fine art of screaming as a molester deterrent.

Anna McCarthy at the Weekly's All Shook Down blog has this fun review of Saturday's Air Guitar Championship at The Independent. The event was a two-day regional spectacular in which winners move on to become finalists in D.C. on August 7th. Friday night's champion was a guy named Awesome with huge hair and a red beard, and on Saturday Jello Biafra (of Dead Kennedys fame) showed up to be a celebrity guest judge and apparently fell into the much hated Simon Cowell critic role. Boone's was a sponsor, so much of the pink stuff was drunk, and the winner, who went by the name of Cold Steel Renegate, was said to have brought air tears to at least one eye.

The Weekly's big undersized Summer in the City issue is out, and in it they're offering up a few suggestions of stuff to do on the cheap (under $15), including heading over to the Paramount in Oakland for their Friday classic movie series (next up, Creature from the Black Lagoon on July 10th), or going to the Academy of Sciences for their $10 nightlife events. But we were especially glad to be reminded of Audium, the "sound-space continuum" designed by electronic music composer Stan Shaff. It's a deeply 70s space tucked away in an assuming building at 1616 Bush, featuring 169 speakers and a bunch of chairs arranged in a circle. Audience members are immersed, with the lights off, in a sound sculpture in which a custom-composed piece of music seems to move around the room as it is played. The place was funded by an NEA grant in the early 70s, and is still presided over every Friday and Saturday by Shaff himself, who is 79 years old and just premiered a new composition this past October, "Audium 9."

You've probably noticed that there are a great many "service animals" on Muni and elsewhere these days, and this is due in large part to the laxness with which the City's policy on service dogs is enforced, and due to the fear of legal reprisals on the part of Muni drivers, landlords and others who don't want to end up in federal court on discrimination charges. SF Weekly's Joe Eskanazi takes a thorough look this week at the dicey issue of service dogs and the many and sundry pets masquerading as service animals on public transportation and in SROs all over town.

Whether you're an optimist or a pessimist, getting laid off from your job in the shittiest economy in decades isn't exactly swell news, but certainly we live in one of the best cities anywhere to be jobless and broke. In addition to a multitude of cheap food options and pretty parks to sit in and drink beer, there are free outdoor movies and wine country right up the road where some wineries still don't charge for tasting. And there's also the laid back, relaxation-before-ambition ethos that's endemic here and that we all know and love.

The SF Weekly Best of 2009 Readers Poll, while clearly accurate in such categories as Best Blog, was perhaps skewed by a campaign to vault Pasta Pomodoro to the lofty position as the people's choice for Best Restaurant. While Pasta P. may make a competent marinara on a good day, and their focaccia can be quite tasty, both we at SFist and our pal at EaterSF have a hard time accepting this result given the multitude of world-class restaurants in our fair city. So, in the spirit of democracy, please vote in EaterSF's poll so that we can get a better idea what our readers think. Sure, it's multiple choice and does not include a host of smaller neighborhood faves, but you're welcome to add your write-in candidate in the comments, either there or here. (We already know that Brock votes for Spruce.) And yes, polls are always dumb and biased, but humor us for a second.

Hot off the presses is SF Weekly's annual Best of San Francisco issue. Here are some highlights. Everyone's favorite, Mission Mission, came away with Best Neighborhood Blog. SFist Richard, aka Sparkletack nabbed Best SF History Podcast. Vicki Marlane at Aunt Charlie's was ordained Best Drag Queen. The feisty Ed Leong won Best Octogenarian Badminton Player. And we can attest that Humphry Slocombe is the Best New Ice Cream Store. Their "Secret Breakfast" is delish.

We just spotted this and thought we'd share, especially since many of you have been quite vocal in your annoyance with Weekly reporter Matt Smith's prudish stance on allowing Kink.com employees to take advantage of a state-funded training program. We're quite sure Tim Redmond has bought a dozen already, so if you're so inclined you'd better get yours before he realizes what great stocking stuffers these will make for SFBG staffers come holiday time. They even come in long-sleeved! And, in case you missed it, here's Stephen Elliott's write-up on the brouhaha on The Huffington Post.

Been waiting forever for some choice SFBG v. SF Weekly drama? Well, wait no more. A golden-brown batch of it just came out over at SF Weekly, complete with libel accusations, Sabine women, and a Dire Straits quote. See, it seems SFBG Editor Tim Redmond sent VVM Executive Editor Mike Lacey a series of questions in order to update the status of their lawsuit. Which is to say, an article is in the works, and SFBG simply asked a series of questions. And Lacey? He published said series questions, followed by his official response.

Will SFist and other blog content soon be available in print form at a newspaper box near you?

Why can't we all just get along?

SF Weekly (Village Voice Media) returned to court yesterday in an attempt to overturn the anti-competitive verdict ruled against the alt-weekly in March. (For all the courtroom drama, read SF Weekly's take here and SFBG's here.) According to SFBG, yesterday's "argument was aimed at severing VVM – a company with $190 million in sales and $11 million in profits – from the verdict. That way the only guilty party would be the Weekly – which VVM admits has no assets and would be unable to pay the Guardian anywhere near $16 million." Yikes. And rumors among certain local media types – sick, twisted, beer-infused, and totally untrue rumors, mind you – have been circulating that SF Weekly might shutdown come December '08. (Which would blow since we do enjoy both alt-weeklies... to certain degrees.) So: conjecture time, folks! Is VVM trying to separate itself from the Weekly so tat they can close it and not pay the debt? What do you think? All presumptuous lawyer types, amateur and pro, are encouraged to gossip in the comments.

Michael Lacey--co-owner of Village Voice Media, the nation's largest alternative newspaper company--upset dozens of Arizona journalists last Friday after using the racial slur during a speech at the Society of Professional Journalists Awards gala. According to the East Valley Tribune, while peaking to the audience, Lacey jokingly referred to his buddy, the late Pulitzer Prize winning reporter Tom Fitzpatrick, as "my (n-word)."

Thanks, CUIP-SF, for sending the following clip our way. Walter (AKA singing guy at the Board of Supervisor meetings) has returned, folks. As we mentioned yesterday, he was reported to have made a lauded return to the meetings, singing a parody of the theme song to Aaron Peskin. But while talking about SF Weekly's recent cover story about the Board of Supe prez, he also croons a bit of the Burt Bacharach's awesome breakup song "One Less Bell."

Imagine how surprised we were when, while drowning our sorrows drinking at Zeitgeist this past Saturday, we were informed that Quentin Tarantino was amidst our biker bar presence. Yes, the Royale with Cheese himself was there, taking up a corner of the bar, sweating and drinking away the night.

After a local jury found SF Weekly guilty of illegal predatory pricing and awarded the local alt weekly a cool $6.39 million (the verdict subject to "treble damages," which bring the total award to $15.6 million), SFBG Executive Editor Tim Redmond tells the harrowing tale of the five-week trial in his own words:

With regard to the SFBG vs. SF Weekly (VVM) lawsuit -- you know, the one where the Guardian sued the Weekly and its parent company for predatory pricing practices? where the Guardian's Publisher, Bruce Brugmann, claimed that the competition was so unreasonable that it could force the Guardian out of business? -- our sources confirm that:

• Prince Harry goes to war and stuff. Or something like that. We didn't get much farther than the picture at right. [SFBG]
• Check out a most brilliant car crash in Noe Valley. [Curbed]
• Obama, McCain looks like theyhe'll take it. But you knew that already. Well, that was a surprise. [SFGate]

• Um, why haven't we been nominated for Pink Brick Award yet? Pft. [BAR]
• Brace yourselves, the Google invasion beings March 3rd. [Curbed]
• SFBG vs. SF Weekly jury deliberates. Wee. [SFBG]

Are you exceptional in the visual, performing, film/video/media, literary, or fashion arts? Yes? Well, then, SF Weekly is giving away $2,500 with their Masterminds program to someone like you. Why? Who knows, exactly. But that's a lot of money, kids. (Do you know how long it takes to amass that much cash by swiping and selling new releases at Aardvarks? About four and a half years, more or less.) Behold:

Sigh. A reader writes in to ask?

• Chez Panisse mafia don Alice Waters speaks to Charlie Rose. [Eater]
• Your alt weekly lawsuit word count. [Guardian 796, SF Weekly 1,559]
• SFPD deputy chief demoted. [SFGate]

• This Sunday is that football championship tournament known as the Super Bowl. And with it comes its array of advertising amusement. (Please, pray for no Burger King commercials. "People freaked" is the single worst ad campaign in this history of ever.) [SFGate]
• Hillary Clinton is in town; Sen. Ed Kennedy counterattacked with a stop in Berkeley as part of his Obama tour. [CBS5]
• The bay has temporarily turned into Marin's toilet. [Marin Independent Journal]