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All-In

A brash Iranian-American wins $1.4 million at poker -- and knows his lucky streak has just started

By Lessley Anderson

Published: April 14, 2004

Antonio Esfandiari sat very still, brown eyes trained on his pile of poker chips. Esfandiari, who is 25, could feel his opponent, 35-year-old Quoc Al "Vinnie" Vinh, deliberating. Five seconds went...

Matt Smith

Unreality Show

The 9-11 Commission is a nutty distraction from the dangers we face

By Matt Smith

Published: April 14, 2004

Starting at about 6:30 a.m. Thursday, I stared at Condoleezza Rice's glistening hair for an hour. I watched her implacable half-smile. I listened to the undulations of her soft, reedy voice. I...

Night Crawler

Truly, We Have Risen

The ResErection, Bunny Jam, and the Hunky Jesus Contest can mean only one thing: Easter in S.F.

By Silke Tudor

Published: April 14, 2004

It's Good Friday , and there are bunnies hopping through my neighborhood passing out Peeps . " Easter ," states Morgan DeAngelis with all the conviction of a 27-year-old law student. "It's...

Dog Bites

The Dog Bites Interview: Barista Champion

Latte art: cappuccino that a barista draws a milk design in

Overheard by Matt Palmquist

Published: April 14, 2004

Andy Newbom, 34, is the owner of the Santa Clara coffeehouse Barefoot Coffee Roasters. Later this month, he and his employee Dominic Taylor will be competing in the United States Barista...

Letters

Letters to the Editor

Week of Wednesday, April 14, 2004

Published: April 14, 2004

Novel Misinterpretation OK, but do we really have to imagine Shakespeare, exhumed?: I should have guessed that things would get shaky in Anneli Rufus' review of my novel 1906...

Music

Sowing the Seeds of Jah

Thanks to Corbett Harvey Bowers I, reggae has a home in San Francisco

By Darren Keast

Published: April 14, 2004

Looking around at "Club Dread"'s 10-year anniversary party at Studio Z last month, it was easy to tell why Jamaican dancehall has taken so long to seep into the American pop-music groundwater: In...

Reviewed

John Vanderslice

Cellar Door

By Philip Sherburne

Published: April 14, 2004

Once upon a time, indie rock thrived on tropes of immediacy and authenticity, "real" sounds in "real" time, no overdubs, no fancy effects, and for God's sake no keyboards. But San Francisco's John...

Reviewed

Squarepusher

Ultravisitor

By Ron Nachmann

Published: April 14, 2004

Over the past decade, British producer Tom Jenkinson -- the scruffy, bearded persona behind the Squarepusher guise -- has become an institution amongst left-field electronica fans. Few artists have...

Reviewed

Murs

Murs 3:16: The 9th Edition

By Sam Chennault

Published: April 14, 2004

While producer 9th Wonder and rapper Murs have taken different paths throughout their careers, they've both emerged near the top of the underground rubble. The latter slung his everyman,...

OK Then

Punk in Drublic

Piecing together a long night of drinking the old fashioned way: horribly

By Garrett Kamps

Published: April 14, 2004

I can always tell when I've had a long night of intense, near-fatal drinking when I wake up in the morning and my testicles are the size of tennis balls. I don't know why this occurs, but it does,...

House of Tudor

House of Tudor

The ResErection, Bunny Jam, and Hunky Jesus can mean just one thing: Easter in S.F.

By Silke Tudor

Published: April 14, 2004

In 1811, in a little English village, a small band of men hoisted their hammers and axes and marched on the home of a master weaver who had recently replaced them with weaving machines. It was the...

Hear This

Hear This

The bootylicious crowds alone should make the Ladies First Tour worth your while

By Tamara Palmer

Published: April 14, 2004

The booties! The braids! The color-coordinated golf/leisure suits! What's not to love about the Ladies First Tour featuring Beyoncé, Alicia Keys, and Missy Elliott? Well, perhaps the fact...

BeatBox

BeatBox

Big names with big record bags are coming through town: Carl Craig, Jesse Saunders, Roy Davis Jr., and Donald Glaude

By Tamara Palmer

Published: April 14, 2004

Detroit's Carl Craig is known for bringing the "Oh shit!" factor to his DJ sets. More often than not, his surprising (and frequently nostalgic) party choices are slipped into the mix when least...

Eat

Super Size Me

Big, beautiful lobsters and fried fish are the stars at 500 Jackson

By Meredith Brody

Published: April 14, 2004

As soon as I got the schedule for the 47th San Francisco International Film Festival, I called Robert up to see if he wanted to join me at some movies. I was especially thrilled that the festival...

Social Grace

Not So Inviting

Why do people get so worked up about what's written on an envelope?

By Social Grace

Published: April 14, 2004

Dear Social Grace, I write this seeking a neutral arbitrator for what has become a difficult and protracted wedding-etiquette decision. When it comes to the formal invitations, the mother of...

Film

Funny Business

Finding a little humor amid the pathos

By Karen Zuercher

Published: April 14, 2004

"Finally!" was my first thought when I heard that this year's San Francisco International Film Festival would include a special emphasis on comedies. The fest is known for being wildly varied,...

Film

Film Capsule Reviews

Published: April 14, 2004

Back to Kotelnich (France, 2003) French writer Emmanuel Carrère, in Russia to cover the release of a Hungarian prisoner of war forgotten in an asylum for 50 years, met and befriended...

Film

A Strange New World

Published: April 14, 2004

Not all of this festival's Asian selections are works of great distinction, but each tackles a new world and wrestles it to the ground -- with varying results. Burning Dreams , a beautifully shot...

Film

The Big Joke

By Gregg Rickman

Published: April 14, 2004

Film festival audiences in search of some chuckles have rather thin fare to select from this spring. Alice Nellis' Some Secrets is typical: The laughs are tepid as a dysfunctional extended family...

Film

Stylish Savagery

By Michael Fox

Published: April 14, 2004

The sophistication -- sexual and otherwise -- that once epitomized French cinema certainly hasn't gone out of style. However, Gallic filmmakers increasingly present civilization as merely a...