The Overnight Broadcast

I can't say that my opinion of Six Apart was changed for the better or worse by Fanpocalypse 2K7, but it did serve as a reminder that there freedom of the press (so to speak) belongs to the person who owns the press. So I've packed my bags and moved here:

www.danberkes.com

Thanks to all who've read and commented here. I hope you find me worthy of adding to your feed reader.

-Dan

If you're looking for some spiritual guidance, I suggest the two creations Sean Timberlake posted at Hedonia, both made with Hangar One's amazing Chipotle Vodka.

Dateline Los Gatos: Bitter cheating ex-wife bitches to "Doctor Phil" about her ex-husband's post-divorce success, gets like totally pwned on the show, blames it on taking drugs and bad editing. Bonus: The comments on the story.

SFist continues the Google Maps quirk log with a look at what appears to be a N Judah the size of a BART consist.

Unprepared: People trying to get a passport not happy about having to wait twelve-plus weeks for one. I have moderate amounts of pity, but honestly, kids, the logjam-generating passport requirements for travel to Mexico and Canada weren't exactly state secrets.

Today's selections from SFGate:

eHarmony gets matched with a lawsuit accusing the company of discriminating against gays and lesbians. The suit was filed in California, where such discrimination is illegal. Lawyers for the Christian-themed dating service equated it to suing a sushi bar for not serving Blanquette de veau.

 "You dare to rape people's will, betray us, and threaten the community," said the newspaper ad directed at two legislators opposing a Chinatown expansion of City College.

They failed at math, bought homes they couldn't afford and at least one California legislator wanted to save them from foreclosure. Alas, the bill to save idiots who attempted to live beyond their means dies a quick death in committee.

Steve Gilliard has passed away.

I first encountered Steve on the long-gone Netslaves mailing list where debate was usually snarky, lively and quite often cantankerous.

Depending on my mood of the day, he was either brilliant and always on-target or a paranoid Manhattanite who needed to get off the island now and then to gain a little perspective. I'm certain the truth was somewhere in between those two points, but whatever the case may have been, the conversation was always worth participating in.

I am truly sorry to hear that he is gone.

Favorite local subject right now is Street View on Google Maps.

Link to my favorite weird shot so far.

Runner up: Of all the times to be leaving a strip club...

Wired has a collection of inadvertent urban snapshots you can vote on.

You can still ride for free on BART during Spare The Air days -- but only until 1pm, and I couldn't be happier about that. The transit agency said that between all the complaints from regular riders and the increase in petty theft on those days that enough was enough. I've had the occasion to ride on two free BART days so far and I vowed to swim across the Bay and then walk to my destination before I'd consider doing it again. Crowded, late trains turned into instant rolling asshole conventions thanks to bored teenage kids with nothing better to do. No thank you.

SFGate: Spare The Air trims will limit free rides

Also joining in on the 1pm cutoff are Caltrain, Altamont Commuter Express and all ferry operators. All other transit agencies will continue to allow all-day joyrides.

Bringing new meaning to the term Ugly American is a recent visitor to Nuremberg who somehow thought a naked tiptoe through das tulips was appropriate. Local police said nein and fined him 200 euros for the image burned forever on the retinas of traumatized residents.

Welcome to the family: Julie Jenkins of Arkansas bit off part of her new son-in-law's ear the other night.

Viagara cures jet lag! At least, if you're a hamster on an eastbound jet it does.

All the rage in the UK: Designer vaginas.

297295

And good morning to you, Internets!

Went out late last night to see the latest in Pirates of the Caribbean. I have not been that extremely bored at a movie in... well, I can't even remember when. About 45 minutes in, little pools of light can be seen in the audience as people start playing with their phones. As this is the first movie I've seen in San Francisco since 2004, I'm not sure if it's because everyone else is bored or if it's typical behavior for SF audiences.

At an hour and fifteen minutes, my group decides that this is so not worth suffering through to the end so we get up, walk out and hail a cab to The Stud. Gay dance party was not happening. Weak, weak, weak. This is how San Francisco kicks off a three-day weekend? I'm concerned for the party health of my community!

Club Six, located on San Francisco's notorious stretch of Sixth Street slums and SROs, is not exactly what you'd call a welcome neighbor at this point. Residents say they've had enough of the noise and the crowds and the crime, and they're pushing for a license revocation -- or some other means of getting the club owner to adhere to the letter of the good neighbor agreement he signed.

The people who want to "save" Club Six may have some legitimate arguments, but frankly the stunning displays of nastiness and classism from that group have turned me off to whatever validity their messages might have. According to many of them, being poor and living on Sixth means you're a junkie or a derelict and that you shouldn't deserve some relative peace and quiet. Never mind that if it wasn't for the Shitty Sixth and SF's social welfare network, many of the artists and musicians that make the SF scene so vibrant never would have had a launching pad, but that's something for another blog entry.

No one expects Sixth to be suburban quiet. The street has its problems and noise and crime and the people who lived there are used to dealing with that going on constantly in the background. The neighbors are saying that what goes on at Club Six has crossed the line and I think their claims deserve legitimate and level-headed examination.

In the meantime, enjoy some of the out-there comments from someone by the name of Yogo, in SFist's entry about the drama. He (or she) is convinced that the neighbors don't want Club Six around because they're all junkies and derelicts, and that "the clubs scare off the druggies."

Yes, San Francisco nightclubs are truly paragons of clean living where nary a snort or a toke is observed.

Of course, that accusation came from someone who also believes that the Coalition on Homelessness "seeds" parts of town to prevent gentrification (if so, it doesn't seem to be working very well). Would we expect anything less?

To be fair, Tony Hall does have some government experience, having represented District 7 for four years, give or take a few months. The Chron says he's not doing this as a grudge match, honest. Wha? Oh, seems there's some bad blood between Hall and Mayor Hairball; SFist does a good summary:

Tony Hall's been famously irritated with Gavin Newsom ever since Newsom dumped him off at the Treasure Island Development Association to give his Supervisor's seat away to Sean Elsbernd and the Office of Emergency Services office to Annemarie Conroy, and then had him fired after the two of them got in a fight over Newsom's lack of commitment to the island and Newsom's accusations of Hall's financial improprieties.

Oh, and he's also a staunch conservative. Not that theres anything wrong with that (electable SF conservatives are typically moderate and non-wingnutty), but it's the sort of quality that works better representing a district than trying to get a citywide majority. Whoever wins, I'm certain we'll get the government we deserve.