Books To Jump Up and Down Over
Magic Hours by Tom Bissell: This marvelous collection of essays chronicles everything from film shoots to novelists rescued from oblivion. (The essay on the Underground Literary Alliance, with its portrait of raucous factions, unexpectedly reveals how soft today's literary world has become.) But if you peer between the cracks of these smart pieces, you may very well see how cultural lives are formed from the most unexpected life choices. And as we follow Bissell's development as a writer over the years, that goes for Bissell as well. (Bat Segundo interview with Bissell)
Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway: Harkaway's latest novel greatly improves on his previous book, The Gone-Away World, which I'm already on record as praising. Angelmaker adopts genre elements without ever feeling like a genre book, and it leads me to believe that Harkaway is well on his way to a narrative grace close to China Miéville's. Yet inexplicably this very fun book, which includes an eightysomething badass named Edie Banister, a mysterious mechanical object that may destroy the world, farcical scenarios involving lawyers and the police, and some unexpectedly moving moments about fatherhood, doesn't appear to be getting much attention in American newspapers. Nothing from the snobs at The New York Times Book Review, nothing from The Washington Post. And since I can't get Harkaway on Bat Segundo, I hope this Jump Up and Down mention gets you hopping as well.
The Age of Insight by Eric Kandel: Unless you're really pressed for time, forget Jonah Lehrer. If you want to understand creativity and its relationship to neuroscience, then the bowtie-wearing Nobel laureate is your man. In addition to being a physically beautiful book (you will drool over many of the paintings), there are helpful overviews on optical illusions, science, biographical backgrounds, and many vital figures from the Vienna Secession. Kandel's enthusiasm (and his call for greater unity between the humanities and science) is contagious.
San Francisco Archive
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RIP Sue Bierman
Posted on August 8, 2006 | 2 CommentsFormer San Francisco Sue Bierman died today. She apparently crashed her car into a dumpster in Cole Valley. Bierman was always one of my favorite supervisors and I certainly missed... -
San Francisco Freelance Journalist Jailed
Posted on August 1, 2006 | No CommentsBack in July 2005, videographer Josh Wolf shot this compelling video of an anti-war protest, where he raised a provocative question: did the SFPD apply too much force against the... -
For Those Who Download Their Porn on the Go
Posted on August 1, 2006 | No CommentsCaltrain + WiFi = Genius! -
Frank Chu Documentary
Posted on July 10, 2006 | No Comments“Lunch Inside the 12 Galaxies.” Many unexpected personal details. I had no idea that Frank served jail time (or was a Budweiser fan or a smoker), assuming that he can... -
To Porn or Not to Porn, That is the Question
Posted on June 13, 2006 | 1 CommentA pal of mine attends a sex writers reading and a burlesque show, lives to tell the tale and invents an impromptu game on the spot: “I started playing a... -
Quotidian Quirks
Posted on June 1, 2006 | No CommentsThe Suds of San Francisco: a collection of unusually named laundromats in the City. -
Essay: “Chasing Dreams in Aisle 6″
Posted on May 8, 2006 | No Comments[EDITOR'S NOTE: Last year, I was asked to contribute a "blog piece" for an anthology. Not really knowing what this request entailed, I instead offered an original personal essay on... -
And In An Unrelated Note…
Posted on April 28, 2006 | 1 Comment…this is just plain crazy. I was in the neighborhood a few hours later, but I assure you that I had NOTHING to do with it! Flickr photos here, here... -
Centennial
Posted on April 18, 2006 | 2 CommentsThe 1906 earthquake centennial was a boorish affair — an exercise in gaudy gaucherie where the media was placed first and the people figured in last. Perhaps my feelings are... -
Jesus, They REALLY Want San Franciscans to Go to This
Posted on April 17, 2006 | No CommentsThe SFist: “We’re just trying to spare you some panic tomorrow morning, folks — if you hear bells and sirens at 5:12 a.m., no need to wonder about the cosmic... -
Death! Destruction! Earthquake! Fire! Time to Celebrate!
Posted on April 17, 2006 | No CommentsTomorrow at approximately 5:12 AM is the 100th anniversary of the 1906 earthquake. Your correspondent won’t be going all out like Frances, but being something of a city history junkie,... -
Just My Two Cents
Posted on March 29, 2006 | 1 CommentAny list of skylines that doesn’t include San Francisco is utterly worthless. -
David Lazarus: A Journalist Who Can’t Rise from the Dead
Posted on March 24, 2006 | 1 CommentEthical Question: Aren’t you really setting yourself up for disaster when you email naked photos of yourself to “a variety of online correspondents?” The whole idea that this “Gene” character... -
Sparkletack
Posted on March 13, 2006 | No CommentsI can’t believe I didn’t discover it until now, but Sparkletack is one excellent podcast concerning itself with the history and culture of San Francisco. -
The Sony Metreon Scam
Posted on February 28, 2006 | 2 CommentsExpect the area south of Powell Street Station to turn into a consumer-centric nightmare. That’s because Westfield San Francisco has purchased the Sony Metreon complex for $70 million. Now David... -
Bring Out Your Undead
Posted on February 24, 2006 | No Comments -
Merging Chains, Growing Pains, Shaking Up is Hard to Do
Posted on January 19, 2006 | 1 CommentI have know idea if the Village Voice Media/New Times merger has anything to do with it, but the SFist’s Jackson West reports on the bad juju going down at the SF Weekly. ... -
Nextbus MUNI Secret Links
Posted on December 25, 2005 | No CommentsTipped off by the fine folks at the SFist, I’ve learned that there are “secret” links to MUNI routes not listed in the main Nextbus directory, meaning that for a... -
Calling All Noir Geeks
Posted on December 23, 2005 | No CommentsEddie Muller’s Noir City starts up again next month. And this time, he’s got both the Balboa and the Place of Fine Arts to program his films. There are some... -
Stranger Than Fiction
Posted on December 16, 2005 | 4 CommentsBus ride home. An ordinary route going through fairly safe neighborhoods. The 7. Kids sitting in the front seats laughing. Me reading book as usual. Long-haired man with smoky colored... -
Fusion City
Posted on December 12, 2005 | No CommentsI really wish I could make this, but other pressing obligations keep me chained to the computer (and likely will result in scattershot updates for the first half of this... -
A Tip for Balding California Men (Like Me)
Posted on December 10, 2005 | No CommentsI didn’t know this, but in Lodi, Gary’s Uptown Restaurant offers balding (and the balder, the better) men free dinner on Wednesdays. (The funny thing about the clip: A bald... -
Movin’ On Up
Posted on November 29, 2005 | 1 Comment2004: San Francisco is the 10th most literate city. 2005: San Francisco is the 5th most literate city. New York City, the publishing capital of the nation, is nowhere to... -
Edward Guthmann, Plagiarist?
Posted on November 15, 2005 | 10 CommentsLooks like San Francisco Chronicle reporter Edward Guthmann has been caught plagiarizing the New Yorker. I’m truly sorry to hear this, as I had several great conversations with Guthmann back... -
ASCII Research
Posted on November 14, 2005 | No CommentsHere’s a nifty map of my neighborhood in ASCII, based on the Rolling Stone “Pilgrimage Places in the Haight” map in 1976. -
O’Really?
Posted on November 11, 2005 | No CommentsThe fool dissed my hometown. O’Reilly can say whatever he wants about San Francsico. I don’t give a shit. But when he advocates the destruction of the Coit Tower by... -
Voting Problems in San Francisco?
Posted on November 8, 2005 | 4 CommentsAt the Page Street Library, there’s something crooked going on. I voted this morning. Not only was the Eagle machine which recorded my vote malfunctioning (it took about eight tries... -
In Which Jennifer Weiner Is Assaulted by the Marina People
Posted on October 28, 2005 | No CommentsJennifer Weiner is back home and she notes this strange question about a woman asking her at the San Francisco Barnes & Noble if she was “self-actualized.” This is not... -
Laptop Crime
Posted on October 14, 2005 | 2 CommentsApparently, there’s now a small-time crime ring stealing tips from cafe workers and absconding with laptops in cafes — pretty close to my neck of the woods: an organized group... -
Genuine and Cool as Hell
Posted on September 20, 2005 | No CommentsMichael Rice keeps up the pace with yet another fascinating interview with Brian Copeland. Copeland’s theatrical one-man show, Not a Genuine Black Man, is now the longest running solo show...