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Feature

Requiem for a Pension Fund?

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger launches an attack on CalPERS. The giant pension fund's Democratic allies aren't taking it lying down

By Ron Russell

Published: April 6, 2005

Surrounded by birch trees and honeysuckle vines, CalPERS's sprawling headquarters on Sacramento's P Street gives the appearance of having been deliberately camouflaged. Nothing on the outside of...

Mecklin

Cardinal Opportunity

A visit with Honduran Cardinal Rodriguez, who is often mentioned as a contender to become the next pope. For good reason.

By John Mecklin

Published: April 6, 2005

During a visit to Houston last spring, I sat down to a full Central American breakfast -- eggs, several meats, refried beans sprinkled with white cheese, an assortment of breads, a large bowl of...

Matt Smith

Dumb as a Potted Plant

Why is someone as smart as Mark Leno sponsoring genuinely stupid legislation to legalize hemp cultivation?

By Matt Smith

Published: April 6, 2005

I like Mark Leno. He has the straight-laced disposition of a mortician, which juxtaposes nicely with his role as one of the California Assembly's maverick legislators. He's the governmental...

The Apologist

Fajita the Night

Were the cops really innocent of assault, or is our DA's Office just lame?

By Matt Palmquist

Published: April 6, 2005

The criminal phase of the infamous Fajitagate trial finally concluded last week, when Alex Fagan Jr., the last of three former San Francisco police officers accused of attacking two men in an...

Dog Bites

The Karmic Kitchen

Annalakshmi brings karmic dining to San Francisco; a convenience store groupie attends the "University of 7-Eleven."

John Mecklin

Published: April 6, 2005

Imagine walking into an upscale Indian restaurant, its menu filled with delectable-sounding choices like Malabar avocado and coconut soup (made with plain yogurt, cumin, and lemon juice and served...

Weekly Obsessions

Weekly Obsessions

Things we were obsessing about on April 6, 2005

Published: April 6, 2005

In addition to National Autism Awareness Month, Landscape Architecture Month, Backpack Safety Month, Oral Health Month, and STD Awareness Month, April is also National Poetry Month. This year it...

Music

In the Year 2005

Like killer bees and cheap labor, this year's music and fashion trends are charging up from the South (by Southwest)

By Chris Baty

Published: April 6, 2005

There's only one thing worse than someone going to the South by Southwest music festival and coming home ranting about the once-in-a-lifetime musical moments he witnessed. And that's someone coming...

Music

American Idols

They won't quit their day jobs, but the members of Kill Your Idols can still set an example of what hardcore's all about

By Michael Alan Goldberg

Published: April 6, 2005

It's 5:30 p.m. on Friday -- quittin' time at Korg USA headquarters in Long Island, N.Y. -- and Gary Bennet has just clocked out. The guitarist and co-founder of hardcore punk quintet Kill Your...

Reviewed

Radar Bros.

The Fallen Leaf Pages

By Mark Keresman

Published: April 6, 2005

The Radar Bros. are a California trio (not siblings, BTW) seemingly dedicated to the notion of Neil Young's After the Gold Rush and the Beatles' Let It Be being the two greatest rock albums...

Reviewed

The Shining

In the Kingdom of Kitsch You Will Be a Monster

By Chris Dahlen

Published: April 6, 2005

There's nothing surprising anymore about the cross-pollination of jazzbos gigging with rockers and laptoppers, especially in the mutation-friendly music scene of Oslo, Norway (see: Jaga Jazzist,...

Reviewed

Dave Holland Big Band

Overtime

By Sam Prestianni

Published: April 6, 2005

At nearly 60 years old, jazz bassist and composer Dave Holland is taking chances like a man half his age. After earning nearly universal critical acclaim for his popular quintet, in 2000 he...

Reviewed

Clem Snide

End of Love

By Dan Strachota

Published: April 6, 2005

Clem Snide frontman Eef Barzelay has always been a decent singer/ songwriter -- you know, the kind who turns a nice phrase, plucks a pretty melody, and warbles in a mournful tone that gets his...

Reviewed

Messy Marv

Bandannas, Tattoos & Tongue Rings

By Sam Chennault

Published: April 6, 2005

As hip hop continues to think globally, absorbing the sounds and cultures of everywhere from Sri Lanka to Cape Town to create a sort of ghetto-universal template, the Bay Area pushes on in its own...

Reviewed

75 Degrees

The Last Great Hip Hop Album

By Sam Chennault

Published: April 6, 2005

Hip hop conspiracy theory No. 4,081 posits that beneath the ridiculously smooth breakbeats of A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul are subliminal messages stating that mainstream hip hop is...

OK Then

Plushy

And now we present a boring interview with a big-time rock star: Scott Weiland of Velvet Revolver

By Garrett Kamps

Published: April 6, 2005

Velvet Revolver is a supergroup featuring ex-members of Guns N' Roses -- guitarist Slash, bassist Duff McKagan, and drummer Matt Sorum -- and fronted by former Stone Temple Pilots vocalist Scott...

Hear This

Hear This

Ellen Fullman plays her homemade and very weird "Long String Instrument"; film composer Michael Penn shows his pop side at Café Du Nord

By Mark Keresman, Sam Prestianni

Published: April 6, 2005

Less a musician than a sound researcher, veteran avant-gardist Ellen Fullman plays a peculiar contrivance of her own design, simply called the "Long String Instrument." Appearing like a...

BeatBox

BeatBox

Doug E. Fresh brings the beat-boxing revival to the DNA Lounge; 26 Mix hosts the ultimate hip hop feud: "East vs. West."

By Sam Chennault, Tamara Palmer

Published: April 6, 2005

Of all of hip hop's sonic tangents, from turntablism to crunk to Miami bass, beat-boxing is among the most endearing, if not exactly the most enduring. Its practitioners can summon a gasping,...

Eat

San Francisco on $36.82 a Day

Feeding four hungry Spring Break-ers on Pittsburgh-style sandwiches and Singaporean street food

By Meredith Brody

Published: April 6, 2005

On the whole, I don't have an envious bone in my body. I'm not bragging: It's just an accident of psychological makeup. But I do experience the unfamiliar sensation from time to time. The current...

Dish Enchanted

Hello, Dahling

Overcoming our jaded cynicism at Tallula

By Bonnie Wach

Published: April 6, 2005

Write about restaurants in San Francisco for any length of time and a couple of things start to happen. For one, you put on the pounds. (Disclaimer: This may not be true for other food writers;...

Film

Mighty Aphrodite

Three great directors serve up a sampler of love and desire

By Melissa Levine

Published: April 6, 2005

Eros is not a single film but three, each roughly half an hour, joined in a common goal. The first segment was made by Wong Kar Wai ( In the Mood for Love ) and the second by Steven Soderbergh (...