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Mecklin

Rolling in War Bucks

How the state public employees' retirement system and the politically connected Carlyle Group profit from defense

By John Mecklin

Published: October 22, 2003

Q: The President was in Santa Clara last week and he appeared at United Defense, a major defense contractor controlled by the Carlyle Group. The President's father is a paid advisor to the Carlyle...

Matt Smith

Sounds of Silence

ASCAP's legal threats kill a thriving local music scene

By Matt Smith

Published: October 22, 2003

Seven years ago Regi Harvey decided to clean house -- for good. "People would come over to my house on a Friday night, and I got tired of the cans," says Harvey, an Outer Mission drummer and...

Night Crawler

To Hell and Back

There's no way to show all the deviltry from this year's SF Weekly Music Awards gala. But here's a hot peek.

By Silke Tudor

Published: October 22, 2003

As with the previously touted "scene," I am exasperated and beleaguered by the mention of "community." The word as a title does not imply a group with common interests or origins living in one...

Bay View

A Fine Mess

A monumental sewage eruption shows tenants the downside of living in the Presidio

By M.J.F. Stewart

Published: October 22, 2003

At 11:38 on the morning of July 25, Blake Manning, a 23-year-old 7-Eleven clerk, awoke to what sounded like a rushing waterfall in the Presidio apartment he shared with two roommates. "Dark water...

Bay View

Dumping Sophie

On the heels of Gov. Davis' recall, angry constituents are trying to oust Supervisor Sophie Maxwell

By Lisa Davis

Published: October 22, 2003

Recall fever has hit southeastern San Francisco, where some constituents of Supervisor Sophie Maxwell are collecting signatures for her ouster. The District 10 Alliance, a newly formed group of...

Dog Bites

You preach/We laugh

In which we come up with our own (slightly cynical) version of Muni's new ad campaign

By Dan Strachota, M.J.F. Stewart

Published: October 22, 2003

If you've ridden the bus in San Francisco in the past couple of months, you've probably noticed Muni's new "You see/We see" ad campaign. The ads highlight a transit-related object that riders...

Letters

Letters to the Editor

Week of October 22, 2003

Published: October 22, 2003

Gonzo Politics This guy's not ready to run the city: I really wanted Matt Gonzalez to be the candidate for mayor that progressive San Francisco has been waiting for ["The Great Left Hope,"...

Music

Pitch Perfect

It's smooth, sleek, and ready for commercials, but the music of Four Tet is so much more

By Garrett Kamps

Published: October 22, 2003

Stop me if you've heard this one. You and your friends are sitting around the television watching Blind Date or Paradise Hotel or Hannity & Colmes (hey, it could happen). Maybe you're...

Music

Shin Music

Their debut's genius stemmed from their frontman's high anxieties. Now that he's mellowed out, can the Shins follow it up?

By Abigail Clouseau

Published: October 22, 2003

If you're one of the thousands who were smitten by the Shins' 2001 debut LP, Oh, Inverted World , then you're familiar with the Pavlovian response evoked by the ghastly whistles and jittery...

Music

Prick

Don't hate me because I'm corporate

Published: October 22, 2003

Certain words have the unfortunate fate of symbolizing all that is evil in the world. Words such as "communist," "cholesterol," and "crack" have all had their day as lingual marks of the beast. But...

Reviewed

Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man

Out of Season

By Dave Pehling

Published: October 22, 2003

British chanteuse Beth Gibbons once provided the emotional anchor for Portishead's haunting trip-hop, entwining her mournful voice with the cinematic soundscapes constructed by Geoff Barrow and...

Reviewed

The Ladybug Transistor

The Ladybug Transistor

By Mark Keresman

Published: October 22, 2003

Without any retro accouterments in its "look" or presentation (nary a hint of paisley, even), the Ladybug Transistor is a '60s-pop-rock fetishist's wet dream, recalling such un-trendy second- and...

OK Then

"Crappy Records"

Zagat's new "music guide" is absurd, but its "format" offers a "nice way" to review "lame albums."

By Garrett Kamps

Published: October 22, 2003

We've all encountered the trusty Zagat guide review by now, right? Comprised of clipped quotes from consumer surveys (a "noisy joint" packed with "lewd patrons" who "throw food"), the format has...

Hear This

Hear This

Kid Koala's self-described "vinyl vaudeville" breaks records

By Anna Klafter

Published: October 22, 2003

Kid Koala , aka Eric San, 28, may be as cute as a koala bear, but this Canadian's DJing skills are more like a grizzly: awe-inspiring, intimidating, and not to be messed with, as demonstrated on...

Eat

Am I Blue

Characterless chowders and seafood seem at home in the too-casual Blue Mermaid

By Meredith Brody

Published: October 22, 2003

Hope springs eternal. When I read that the specialty of the Blue Mermaid -- the restaurant in the Argonaut, a new "boutique" hotel in Fisherman's Wharf -- was to be chowder, I got excited. I love a...

Social Grace

Sitting Mull

When to take a seat uninvited, open presents, and pick a new party theme

By Social Grace

Published: October 22, 2003

Dear Mr. Grace, I am writing you in search of validation for a practice I use that I think is, unfortunately, becoming archaic. When I'm invited to someone's office, I stand and wait patiently...

Dish Enchanted

Swap Meat

What can emulate the shape, girth, and heft of steak? A slab of pumpkin.

By Bonnie Wach

Published: October 22, 2003

Like giant turkey legs and lobster, steak has always seemed to defy its place in the main course pecking order. Steak is a state of mind, a primal top-of-the-food-chain statement about...

Film

Love and Death

Christine Jeffs and Gwyneth Paltrow imbue Sylvia Plath with new life -- and death

By Gregory Weinkauf

Published: October 22, 2003

Sometimes something so wonderful appears on the big screen that I want to leap up like a shameless nonprofessional and hug it. Such is the case early on in Sylvia , a superb drama based on the...

Film

Give Thanks

Pieces of April's story of a family falling apart to come together is no turkey

By Robert Wilonsky

Published: October 22, 2003

Pieces of April , made by playwright-turned-novelist-turned-screenwriter-turned-director Peter Hedges, could be confused for a compendium reel of someone's home movies. Shot on digital video using...

Reel World

Dirty Dancing

The dark side to every guy's secret dream job: stripper

By Michael Fox

Published: October 22, 2003

An empathetic portrait of four straight male strippers in Tampa, Adam Ballachey's American Dancer reveals the dark side to every guy's secret dream job. "There's definitely a fantasy, to have the...