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Feature

Let the Gaming Begin

Has a labor boss in trouble with the feds joined a high-powered Democratic lobbyist to merge Konocti Harbor Resort with Indian gambling?

By Matt Smith

Published: January 17, 2007

Democratic members of Congress say they'll forgo gifts from lobbyists such as skybox parties and rides in comfy corporate jets, and golden-parachute lobbying jobs, all in the name of proving their...

The Apologist

Deal or No Deal

Giants GM Brian Sabean spent big money on the free-agent market. What do you think of his wheeling and dealing?

By Matt Palmquist

Published: January 17, 2007

Brian Sabean has been the general manager of the San Francisco Giants since 1997, responsible for building teams that have had winning records in eight of his 10 seasons. Sabean was named Executive...

Sucka Free City

Down the Drain

By Ron Russell

Published: January 17, 2007

Chalk up another Bay Area victim from the demise of the Independent Press Association, the San Francisco-based nonprofit that once was a guardian angel to small, independent magazine publishers,...

Sucka Free City

Streetcar Symphony

By Tamara Palmer

Published: January 17, 2007

Those who ride Muni (or live near the tracks) have its many sounds carved into their souls. None of those noises could be characterized as soothing. Most would be described, politely, as abrasive....

Sucka Free City

The Pro-Bacon Lobby

By Eliza Strickland

Published: January 17, 2007

What if there were a way to reduce the city's dependence on fossil fuels, unclog the sewers, and feel virtuous about frying bacon all at once? No, we're not talking about bacon-powered,...

Letters

Letters to the Editor

Week of 1-17-2007

Published: January 17, 2007

Still Berth World's largest floating metaphor: The reason Sen. Feinstein is having problems berthing the USS Iowa in San Francisco is that she doesn't know how to talk to the San...

Music

Homeward Bound

Growing up and settling down, Emily Haines—style

By Maya Kroth

Published: January 17, 2007

Emily Haines, Metric's firecracker of a frontwoman, knows that people find her new solo record to be, well, really sad. "It makes me think that no one's been listening to my lyrics in Metric,"...

Music

Totally Committed

Jay Reatard turns a sappy breakup into a berserk masterpiece

By Jennifer Maerz

Published: January 17, 2007

When most couples break up, they dump material possessions. They sell the ex's CDs, junk the jewelry, and wipe the dog vomit with that favorite T-shirt. When Jay Reatard's relationships collapse,...

Music

Songs: Ohio

Cleveland rocks in the Curtains' West Coast warmth

By Frances Reade

Published: January 17, 2007

The Curtains "is what happens if Ohio people come to the West Coast and stay in the sun," says Californian Chris Cohen of his experimental pop band. "It's Ohio music." Cohen is qualified to make...

Let's Get Killed

Cultural caches:Battling wits with Lady Sov's "nemesis"

By Jennifer Maerz

Published: January 17, 2007

Over rice and meat cubes at an Upper Haight skewer joint, Zach Slow revisits the story he's now told to the BBC, MTV, Yahoo, Current TV, the Chronicle , and numerous other publications over...

Reviewed

The Twilight Sad

s/t EP (Fat Cat)

J. Niimi

Published: January 17, 2007

A couple months back the Twilight Sad quietly released its self-titled debut to minor, scattered acclaim. Unless you happened to have caught one of the Scottish group's smattering of East Coast...

Reviewed

Paul Weller

Hit Parade - Single CD Version (YepRoc)

J. Poet

Published: January 17, 2007

Although he hasn't made much of a splash on this side of the pond, Paul Weller's British career marks him as one the most successful artists to emerge from the punk/new-wave scene. This CD sampler...

Reviewed

Josef K

Entomology (Domino)

Mark Keresman

Published: January 17, 2007

Emerging from Scotland's late-1970s nearly post-punk scene, Josef K retains its wry, surly-dark (pre-goth) edge despite the passage of time. Comprising its complete 1980-81 output, Entomology...

Bouncer

Sammy Hagar's tequila paradise

Katy St. Clair

Published: January 17, 2007

Working in Marin, you see a lot of celebrities. For example, I once saw Andre Agassi buying a Christmas tree. My Sean Penn sightings are numerous — we eat breakfast at the same place. Then...

Hear This

Sonic Boom burrows into the inner E.A.R.

By Michael Alan Goldberg, Tamara Palmer, Dave Segal, Tony Ware

Published: January 17, 2007

It's fitting that Helmet recently completed a string of dates opening for Guns N' Roses: Frontman Page Hamilton might be post-hardcore's version of Axl Rose, having reconstituted his...

BeatBox

Mad Professor widens dub's diaspora

Darren Keast, Tamara Palmer

Published: January 17, 2007

It's a known element of hip-hop culture that gangstas don't dance, they boogie; otherwise, the guns might fall out of their pants. But expect no gun-totin' thuggery at "Gangsta Boogie," only a...

Eat

A Saucy Tasteoff

Who says there's no good 'cue in S.F.?

By Robert Lauriston

Published: January 17, 2007

Where's the best barbecue in San Francisco? That's a loaded question. People not only have radically different criteria for "best," reflecting different levels of smoke, fat, and so on; they use...

Fresh Eats

A weekly listing of new restaurants around town

Published: January 17, 2007

A weekly listing of new restaurants around town. To recommend a spot, e-mail fresheats . Amélie: 1754 Polk (at Washington), 292-6916, www.ameliesf.com . Nob Hill . Wine bar, small...

Film

Singing for Your Supper

A Mexican balladeer makes a handsome subject for a film that goes nowhere

By Gregg Rickman

Published: January 17, 2007

Carmelo Muñiz Sanchez is an undocumented Mexican national who ekes out a living playing the guitar and singing in Mission District restaurants. He and his partner, Arturo Arias, sing romantic...

Film

Old Man's Still Got It

Peter O'Toole gets randy with this starring role, his first in years

By Jim Ridley

Published: January 17, 2007

Maurice Russell, a septuagenarian actor facing the end of his career and life, gazes raptly at the present that fate has given him: the company of a sullen but strangely desirable teenage girl. At...