PIM as peformance art - list slammin’

Two list slams are happening next week in the SF Bay Area c/o Sasha Cagen:

• Tues., Jan. 8, 7:30 pm, Modern Times Books, 888 Valencia Street, San Francisco
• Thur., Jan. 10, 7 pm, Red Hill Books, 401 Cortland Avenue, San Francisco (upcoming)

I’m going to try and make the first, I’m intrigued to see how performance-y its going to be …

High art at 24th and Mission

Its not often you have a cultural “wow” moment at 24th and Mission. Its a gritty transport interchange … sure - lots of interesting characters and stores, but somewhere to see “high art”?

Well it is, literally. For several nights this October, look up. The Live Billboard project is a set of 4 dancers piroutteing in 3D, several storeys up. Stand at the NE corner - you can’t miss ‘em.

• Dates: Preview: Wednesday, October 4, 9:30 PM,October 5-8, 12-15 at 8:00 PM and 9:30 PM
• Pics (wordpress team is having a cuppa): 1, 2, 3
• Info: official, upcoming 

Quality (FM) radio in the Bay Area

I’ve just had to go through the most troublesome part of getting a new car (until you get your first scratch) - tuning the radio. Here are my essential stations for (1) avoiding ads, (2) getting good music, (3) learning what is going on beyond PST. Kudos to Mor, silentway, sfgate, andrea for their guiding light.

NPR

• KQED - NPR San Francisco (88.5)
  Lots of quality news and talk during the week. Deteriorates into 24 hour prairie home companion as far as I can tell at the weekend
• KALW - alt.NPR San Francisco (91.7)
  Lots of overlap with KQED, with benefits of occasional music (KQED is all talk), extreme leftism (for the US), BBC at random times, and less PHC.
• KPFA - alt. NPR Berkeley (94.1/89.3)
  Apparently an “East Bay KALW”

College Radio

One of the joys of living in America …

• KUSF - San Francisco Uni (90.3)
• KALX - Berkeley Uni (90.7)
• KZSU - Stanford Uni (90.1)
• KFJC - Foothill De Anza Community College (89.7)

Other specialist music stations

• KCSM - Jazz, San Mateo (91.1)
  Truly smooth.
• KFDC - Classical, San Francisco (102.1)
  A good cure for road rage, even with the ads.

Notable mention

• KFOG - Alternative rock, (104.5, 97.7)
  OK, so forget it in rush hour, but its pretty listenable at the weekend. Also 10 at 10 (both AM and PM) is good and commercial-free.

References

• A Guide to Bay Area Radio That Doesn’t Suck (awesome 1997-esque web design, but good tips)
• Complete list on andreas.com (uncensored)
• Complete list on sfgate.com (uncensored, but has benefit of showing who owns what - no surprises that ClearChannel is the winner with 8 stations. Still the list above adds up to 10 so there).

Another internet cafe, this time with natural light

I highly recommend Dolores Park cafe at the northeastern corner of Dolores Park. Think Ritual but inverted talk:typing ratio. Views of park. Natural light.  After you've supped, walk up to the southwestern corner of the park for one of the best views over San Francisco.

Whats the difference between San Francisco and Salford?

When its not raining, everything. People smile at you. People look at you when you pass them in the street. "Is that traffic warden/cute lady/postman/cop coming on to me?" Nope its just sunny and people are happy. This took me a lot of time to get used to …

When its raining. Nothing (and it actually rains here quite a bit over the Winter months). Its just like in the UK when its raining (most of the time ;). This first hit me last week when I was walking through the City (as they call it over here). There I am on the sidewalk (pavement), rain hammering down, and everyone stampeding past, head down, glowering, hands in pockets. A UK-style cabbie drives past through a puddle, drenching some poor lady, and the illusion is complete. It was like I had been transported 5000 miles eastward.

So the next time someone comments that Californians are sooo friendly compared to the Mother Nation, just smile and ask them "have you been to Salford when its sunny?"

Shooting in South San Francisco (legally)

Yesterday, I had one of those true cultural experiences. I went shooting (on a range, I hasten to add). Americans may be blase, but as a Brit, the whole thing was something new (the terrible events of Dunblane in the 90s explain why). The sight of armed "bobbies" on the streets here in the US still freaks me out. In the UK, it is still relatively rare to see armed cops away from airports and potential terrorist targets such as Westminster.

The last time I shot anything heavier duty than a catapult was whilst as a 15 year old RAF cadet at school, on our rifle range. I still shudder at the bruises on my shoulder from firing a 303 WW2 era rifle. Since then, shooting outside the police, military or movies has seemed something of dubious taste. This is especially the case for hand guns which are banned in the UK (rightfully I would argue) and impossible to obtain (as a non-criminal).

Anyway, yesterday I crossed a boundary. When in Rome and all that …

2 great Bay Area internet cafes

Firstly, Neote in Palo Alto (map). The twist is its a tea place. Brits rejoice. No tea bags too. Very minimal. Perfect to escape the babystrollers on University Ave.
Secondly, Papa Toby’s Cafe Revolution in the Mission (map). Been around forever, but I just discovered their fabulous wifi last weekend.  Art on the walls, people with dreads, pretty much the diammetric opposite of Neote.

Both recommended.

SF cafes with wifi - the new office

Great article here describing how cafes are becoming the new internet workspace.. Free wifi, coffee/hourt overheads, background music and stimulating chatter, papers lying about if you need a break, can’t be bad … I know of at least one friend who spends most of her “working” day at Dana Street cafe in Mountain View! (as a corporate whore, I’m secretly jealous)

One more for the list is Cafe XO at 30th and Church in SF. Free wifi (zrnet), awesome breakfast bagels and tres European with the muni trams screeching past every 2 minutes.

Why I love my walk down Mission Street to the Google bus stop #1

Santa in a Che Guevra t-shirt