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Feature

The Pain of the Disco Ninja

Even with ankles so weakened by injury that doctors are all but useless, Tuan Vu relentlessly pushes himself toward the complex stylistic perfection that will earn him the world singles championship -- of footbag

By Matt Palmquist

Published: October 2, 2002

Ask Tuan Vu to pinpoint when, exactly, he sustained a particular ankle injury -- one of the eight he defines as "serious" -- and he frowns, shrugs, and says he doesn't remember. Not because he's...

Matt Smith

The Horror

Darkness descends at City Hall as supervisors argue ceaselessly over dogs and apartment size

By Matt Smith

Published: October 2, 2002

Outside ChevronTexaco's regional offices in Malongo, Angola, "egrets strut in the grass among parked helicopters, and clusters of screeching bats hang like coconuts from trees," Associated Press...

Dog Bites

Toy Story

The "Make Your Own Dildo" kit -- plus airport shuttles, zine geeks, and reform school for dogs

Karen McKevitt, Dan Siegler, Ben Westhoff, Bernice Yeung

Published: October 2, 2002

Wandering through Valencia Street's Good Vibrations, we're feeling a bit ... uninspired . Ten-inch Cyberskin Vulva Fleshlight? Seen it. Lavender Jelly Rubber Twist Vibe With Arrow Probe? Own it....

Letters

Letters to the Editor

Week of October 2, 2002

Published: October 2, 2002

History Lesson A rare vote in favor of mass media: I find your article representative of a typical mindless attitude concerning 9.11.01 ["700 Years of 9/11," Dog Bites, Sept. 11]. Believe...

Music

Barnes Storming

Athens' Of Montreal gives its whimsical psychedelia a raucous jolt

By Chris Baty

Published: October 2, 2002

The Canadian native with the medical condition was angry, and Of Montreal frontman Kevin Barnes had no one to blame but himself. The girl had come out to see Barnes' band in New York, thinking she...

Reviewed

The Apples in Stereo

Velocity of Sound (SpinART)

By Nancy Einhart

Published: October 2, 2002

Over the years, the Elephant 6 Collective has become a highly drop-able name among the indie rock intelligentsia. So drop-friendly, in fact, that the musical alliance showed up in last fall's...

Reviewed

Buddy Miller

Midnight and Lonesome (HighTone)

By Lawrence Kay

Published: October 2, 2002

In country music, as in rock, the dividing line between commercial and alternative has become fuzzy in recent years, as indie-oriented artists found Nashville hungry for good new songs and smaller...

Reviewed

Boom Bip

Seed to Sum (Lex)

By Garrett Kamps

Published: October 2, 2002

For the past few years, a group of independent hip hop producers and MCs -- from Emeryville's Anticon crew to Columbus' RJD2 to New York's El-P -- has been fucking with mainstream hip hop, lobbing...

Pop Philosophy

When Times Are Tight

Budget Rock comes home to roost at the Parkside

By Dan Strachota

Published: October 2, 2002

This rock fits a budget of any size Like many people, Chris Owen was drawn to San Francisco by music. Unfortunately, he soon discovered that the scene he'd come for -- the garage rock bonanza of...

Hear This

Hear This

The sultry power of the Afro-Peruvian singer Susana Baca

By Sam Prestianni

Published: October 2, 2002

Afro-Peruvian vocalist Susana Baca was in New York the week of Sept. 11, 2001, recording her fifth and most impressive album, Espiritu Vivo . According to her resultant liner notes, rather than...

Eat

Spanish Fly

Lorca

By Greg Hugunin

Published: October 2, 2002

Earlier this year, a friend was kind enough to buy me dinner at a downtown seafood joint. Maybe "joint" isn't the right word: We dined at Aqua, a four-star temple of culinary showmanship, where the...

Social Grace

House-warming Trends

Choosing gifts for new homeowners, wines for dinner, and whether to leave a newspaper on Muni

By Social Grace

Published: October 2, 2002

Dear Social Grace, Is one obligated to bring a gift to a housewarming party? Some friends of mine and my boyfriend's, a couple with three young children, recently bought a house. They are...

Film

To Die For

Mick Jagger transforms Andy Garcia into The Man From Elysian Fields

By Gregory Weinkauf

Published: October 2, 2002

Death is too often taken literally, and this unfortunate perspective is sustained by much cinema, despite the medium's dubious kiss of immortality. There's easy drama in tragedy and grisly ends,...

Reel World

Fun Down There

Sex without death in gay director Todd Wilson's Under One Roof

By Michael Fox

Published: October 2, 2002

Indie filmmaker Todd Wilson's gay romantic comedy, Under One Roof , boasts an abundance of male frontal nudity. But unlike studio pictures for "mature audiences," which slice frames out of...

Zoom Lens

Zoom Lens

Hanging with the chic riffraff at the 25th anniversary Mill Valley Film Festival

By Michael Fox

Published: October 2, 2002

The chic riffraff sipping merlot in Ralph Lauren corduroys are an essential part of the Mill Valley Film Festival ambience. Then again, so are social-issues films from the U.K., no-frills stories...

Reps Etc.

Reps Etc.

Published: October 2, 2002

Commentary by Gregg Rickman ( greggr1@mindspring.com ). Times compiled from information available Tuesday; it's always advisable to call for confirmation. Price given is standard adult admission;...

Night&Day;

Punk Rock Docs

Following junkies, musicians, and junkie musicians with gritty realist filmmaker Lech Kowalski

By Gary Morris

Published: October 2, 2002

Lech Kowalski is the anti-Nick Broomfield, the opposite of the self-consumed documentarian who inserts himself relentlessly into his own films. Kowalski's a more subtle and striking presence,...

Night&Day;

San Francisco Dreamin'

Photographer Bert Katz captures the faces of S.F., from dominatrixes to doctors

By Lisa Hom

Published: October 2, 2002

A good photograph can render words useless, but Mission-based street portraitist Bert Katz argues that language is necessary to tell the whole story. "I'm not satisfied with just a physical...

Stage

Nightmare on 18th Street

Falling under the creepy spell of Dreams of the Salthorse

By Michael Scott Moore

Published: October 2, 2002

Watching a play is not like critiquing it; sitting in the audience with a pen and questioning every scene is not the same as letting the action wash over you. It kills the experience of a play to...

Stage

The Winter's Tale

With so much going right, it's hard to tell why this clever production falls flat

By Michael Scott Moore

Published: October 2, 2002

Lisa Peterson's new production of The Winter's Tale at the California Shakespeare Festival does so many things right it's hard to understand why the show as a whole falls flat. L. Peter Callender...