Oh good. Valentine's Day is just around the corner. And if the thought of next Thursday's approaching fillet mignon-for-two-free evening doesn't make you want to slice open an artery followed by nap-time in the bathtub, then how about not making Nob Hill Gazette's annual Lucky 13th Annual Eligible's List? (Yes, yes, you and your hipster S.O. are too cool to celebrate a Hallmark holiday, clearly, but what a privileged thing to decide not to do. Wow, that was bitter. Anyway.)
Single and Loving It...With an Attitude
Listing of the Week: 401 Marietta Drive (Miraloma Park)
We were out for a leisurely weekend walk up to Tower Market from our abode in the Sunnyside. Instead of heading straight up Teresita, we decided to do something a little different and detour onto Marietta Drive. ‘Tis true, we live life on the edge.
Muni: "I'm melllllting! Melllllllllllting! Oh, what a world, what a world!"
So, how's that commute going, subway riders? Any better today? More Muni-Meltdown, or less Muni-Meltdown? Above, we've embedded an animation of Metro activity yesterday afternoon; call us crazy, but is seems as though just maybe things are starting to smoothen out a bit, with the exception of the never-ending clustering around Embarcadero. Of course, as with online profiles, the view from the net can sometimes enjoy a vitality that's lacking in real life.
The Three Face of Giants fans
We couldn't help but notice this letter to the editor in Sunday's Sporting Green:
Let's All Go To The Movies
Please don’t mistake us for fans of human suffering but it’s high time a film was made to tell the uninformed public about the genocide in Rwanda. Beyond the Gates, at the Embarcadero, is a smart, engaging, often (rightly) painful view of the conflict from the view of a Catholic training college manned by John Hurt and Hugh Dancy. It’s a tearjerker but it’s really edifying to see how screwed up our international policy was just a generation ago – compared to now when it’s 2-3 times worse. (Watch trailer here.)
Gavin Shoots Back
The folks at NBC 11 gave Gavin Newsom a camera, and asked him to take photos of his life for their "Moving Pictures" series. During the promos, we started cracking up because there were all these clips of Gavin in full "woe is me" mode, talking about "compartmentalizing your personal life" and whatnot, set to really serious music. We expected the actual interview to include much of the same.
Week in -Ists
Austinist gets arty with an interactive guide to SXSW, loved some local art galleries and a new art exhibit and lamented the possible loss of "Friday Night Lights" production to New Mexico.
Up on High, In the Mix
p>Feeling quite adventurous, a few weeks ago we decided to test our legs on Mix Canyon Road a bicycle ride located just on the western side of Vacaville. We've heard amazing things from our biking friends about this road ("23% Grade! -- Steeper than the Steepest Part of the Tour De France!") and wanting to work off a little of our post-holiday gluttony thought it would be good for us.
Caption Action
Steny Hoyer: I hope there aren't any hard feelings, Nancy. It's gonna be great working together. We'll get Starbucks, watch The View, have Botox parties...
SFist Answers: Blah Blah Blah
Folks -- we want to encourage you to keep the questions coming. The best ones for us to answer are those with specific details. If questions don't hav enough detail, we are forced to simply snark (see question #1); if they are too open-ended, you'll see us blather on and on and on and on (see question #2).
SFist Goes to the Opera: the Abduction from the Seraglio.
The San Francisco Opera went into hibernation, leaving opera addicts searching for their fix in the other companies, or in other cities. A charming option for the no-frill opera lover is the San Francisco Lyric Opera, whose Abduction from the Seraglio opened last Friday at the Florence Gould Theater, in the Legion of Honor. Mozart's opera, about a wife imprisoned in a pasha's harem, and the efforts of her lover to rescue her, is such a masterpiece it would sound good in any setting. Here, the theater is just adorable, a cute bonbonnièe with period furniture in the stairs leading to it and flowery frescos on the ceiling. Just like the theater, everything is scaled down yet very professional in this endeavor: the real orchestra, conducted by Barnaby Palmer, comprised of 13 instrumentists (just for reference, that is about half as many as there are violins in the orchestra of that other opera in civic center). The singers played their roles gamely, keeping the energy level up through-out the three acts and the two set changes.
Housing Bubbles: Luck Of The Draw
Shirley Jackson, put down that rock! At 7:30 a.m. yesterday, the SF Redevelopment Agency hosted a low-income housing lottery that attracted over 4300 applicants. The SF Redevelopment Agency, along with Centurion Real Estate, are offering 20 condos right by Pac Bell SBC AT&T Park at crazy prices -- studios, one-bedrooms, and two-bedrooms with market values between $500,000 to $1.3 mill are going for between $85-233K.
They're offering 7 houses to low-income residents (about $46,500 for a single person, and $66,500 for a family of four) and 13 to moderate-income residents ($73,150 single, $104,500 family of four), with preference going to people who were previously displaced from low-income housing. There's also a cap on the equity you can build up in the house (the Redevelopment Agency will set your resale price when you move, so other low- or moderate-income families can move in). But you certainly can't beat the view in that neighborhood!
150 names were drawn, but pretty much everyone expects that the first 20 people are going to snap up their houses, if they can qualify for fixed-rate mortgages. Don't worry, though, SF expects to make more such opportunities available in the Mission Bay area, the Western Addition, and Bayview/Hunters' Point.
SFist Raves: Citizen Cupcake
When the Virgin Megastore on Market opened, the top floor contained a restaurant we spent hours in. Overlooking Market and Stockton streets, we sat there with our textbooks (while frequently reading magazines, don't get us wrong) swilling coffee and taking in the view. In fact, some of our first dates with our now life-partner took place in the Virgin Cafe, back when our lives weren't dominated by local-interest websites and Citizen Kane. And then one day the Virgin Cafe was gone, blocked off and empty.
Week in SFist
Gavin considering a run for governor? The SF Call closing its doors? Frankly, for us, it's harder to believe that SFist Derrick tossed cucumber and pasta with butter for a dish. Cooking cucumber? The mind boggles.
The Trimethyldioxypurist Takes in the View
We'll make this one short and sweet -- at Red's Java House (Pier 30), what you see is what you get.
Suicide Isn't Painless
It's looking like after years and years of discussion, the Powers that Be who are in charge of the Golden Gate Bridge areslowly moving towards putting a suicide barrier along the bridge to prevent people from jumping. Last Thursday, the Bridge Directors voted to study plans to put them up. The decision came after a tearful and emotional meeting the previous day in which families’ of people who jumped and a few people who survived the jump pleaded with the bridge directors to build the barrier. Of course, voting to study an issue doesn't necessarily make something happen as voting for a study is a sure-fire way to not make something happen, but this has been the biggest movement on the issue in a long time.
This Week in SFist
Weekly wrap-up.
Fine Dining Returns to the Golden Gate
A San Francisco classic reborn.

