Baghdad by the Bay Bites Back

Oakland Police Department: "Justice Pays"

nobody@vox.com(Jackson West) — Sat, 20 Jan 2007 00:07:42 -0800

Image030.jpg
Originally uploaded by Jackson West.

Spotted at the MacArthur BART station. OPD pay apparently ranks "among the highest in the nation." Unfortunately, so is the murder rate. Double irony points if your initial reaction was to think of the Riders retrial.

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Interviews On VC Day

nobody@vox.com(Jackson West) — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 20:16:28 -0800

The 'Victory of Chickens' Day video footage is hilare! SFist Rita and I were invited to speak on camera as we left Fake Question Time. I'm only putting me first because I don't want to have to follow Rita. More citizens can be found at obivouslyhuman's YouTube page.

Citizen Jackson

Citizen Rita Feedback

For more coverage, check out SFist Jon and SFist Rita's writeup over at SFist, more chicken-tastic footage from GavinWatch, including the Wade Crowfoot drinking game, Angela Alioto caught with her chicken leggings down and Gavin possibly pulling pre-written questions from his pocket during the "audience feedback."

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Fake Question Time LiveBlog

nobody@vox.com(Jackson West) — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 10:22:16 -0800

Chickens at Fake Question Time

Getting started a little late.Photos are being uploaded over at Flickr -- I'm guessing I can thank the SF Party Party for the team wearing chicken outfits.

10:20 Gavin just finished the opening monologue. Topic: homelessness. He's doing the Gravitas thing very well.

10:22 You know you're a wonk when you spell Yomi Agunbiade correctly on the first try.

10:24 Gavin: "You know we found somebody with an electrical cord, power access." Angela: "We should hire that guy."

10:29 They want one way bus tickets, to go home! 111 people now out of the park, says Trent Rohrer.

10:31 Ooooh, what should I put on the question card? "Gavin, what products constitute your 'personal blend?'"

10:34 Angela Alioto gets misty-eyed about the Summer of Love. Hilare! Then: Gavin Newsom, first mayor to ever "face homelessness face on face."

10:38 Angela fishes for applause. "The greatest city and county in the nation."

10:41 It's one thing to drag the clergy into this, but does he have to wear robes?

10:46 Angela Alioto: 95% of chronic homeless are still in permanent supportive housing. Gavin says this disproves the myth that the homeless don't want services.

10:49 The plan is to make the west end of the park more attractive to tourists. Ron Miguel: "When you activate an area, it's easier to control non-wanted activities." Down to six full time park patrol.

10:50 Ron Miguel shamelessly panders to the SK8R BOI vote.

10:53 Gavin asks Trent what he's doing about the weather. Trent says only 100 vacancies out of 1500 beds, relaxed curfew,warming centers in the central city, MAP vans saved 22 people in the last few days, extra blankets.

10:55 Call 431-7400 for a MAP van if you see somebody who needs help. Gavin: "Will a human being answer? Somebody check with a Cell phone! Oh, by the way, we'll have 311 in a couple of months."

10:57 Trent Rohrer starts in on the "Quality of Life" talking points. Yeesh.

11:01 Just checked with Rita -- no supervisors on hand. Though Assemblywoman Fiona Ma is here with a puppy in a bag.

11:05 Angela: "Do me a favor, instead of sitting around in chicken outfits, do something."

11:07 Father: "I just want an amen." Angela: "Amen." Father thinks we do need shelters. Why, with a little city funding, we could open up some fine Catholic ones!

11:10 Question: "What's your federal advocacy, especially considering the change in congress, regarding more...Section 8 funding." Wonderfully wonky! I wouldn't put it past the chickens.

11:13 Gavin's hand-picked panel is doing a good job of boring the audience into submission. A bravura performance.

11:19 Battery is wearing down, let's wrap this up. Angela's starting to fantasize about "Hidden homeless money."

11:20 I think Gavin skipped a hair coloring treatment to guild the gravitas lily.

11:22 We're pinning our hopes on Nancy Pelosi. God help us all.

11:23 Gavin would roll with a pit if we was on the streets, dawg.

Going offline. I'll continue uploading photos. For the rest of the meeting, check the SFGTV archives.

Summary: Well, Gavin is still incredibly good at scripted events, even at being 'off the cuff' when not reading from a script. That doesn't mean that he and his hand-picked panel weren't well rehearsed with talking points, and that from the get-go every measure was taken to make sure he wouldn't be faced with some ugly incident like actually taking a question directly from a San Franciscan.

The best part that I didn't cover due to my dead battery was when Gavin fairly looked over at Eve, Rita, Jon and I and quipped about the "professional critics" out there who will just never give him any credit, and are too busy talking about his hair product (and his drinking) but won't give him credit for all the really good things he's doing. Really. Good things.

Especially interesting was to see how Angela Alioto was totally in the Gavin Camp -- even the one contentious moment between she and Gavin seemed like it was forced and insincere. Wonder if I'd be such a pushover if Gavin created an office just so he could appoint me to it?

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My Friends' Events

nobody@vox.com(Jackson West) — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 11:56:22 -0800

Shamelessy cribbed from Upcoming, because my friends are more interesting than I am.

Tonight:
It's not so important to understand or like Kenneth Anger films (I can count the latter, anyway), it's important to be seen going to Kenneth Anger films. YBCA, 7:30. Chance of Jackson: 0% -- I've got a birthday to attend.

Saturday:
Wake up early for fake question time with Gavin, score some dim sum on the way. Richmond Recreation Center, 10:00. Chance of Jackson: 100% -- it could get deliciously ugly!

Monster Truck Jam!!!!!1!!!1one!! 24 Willie Mays Plaza, 7:30. Chance of Jackson: 50% -- totally fucking wholesome.

Tuesday:
Local bloggerati will turn out to bloviate, post photos to Flickr -- free registation. CNet, 6:00. Chance of Jackson: 75% -- snacks are usually pretty good.

Wednesday:
More midweek professional networking at the STIRR Founders Mixer. Illusions Supper Club, 6:00. Chance of Jackson: 15% -- would need another reason to be in Palo Alto.

Thursday:
New York erotic film festival CineKink in town to visit. It's art, people! YBCA, 7:00. Chance of Jackson: 69% -- oh, who am I kidding.

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EFF'n Good Time

nobody@vox.com(Jackson West) — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 22:08:27 -0800

There's nothing like a hard day at work followed by a trip to the therapist to put you in a less than expansive mood. But damnit, I wanted to go show my support for the Electronic Frontier Foundation for their 16th anniversary party at 111 Minna. So I tucked into some of my favorite smoked ham next door at Henry's Hunan, which is spicy enough to restore life to the recently deceased, and sucked it up.

My spirits were buoyed when I heard Eric B. and Rakim being spun by the DJ. Jason Schultz was working the door, and I relayed some best wishes on behalf of my cousin Victor in Germany, who's a fan. I secured a spot next to some wall outlets and cracked my laptop, and was joined by Liz Henry. We agreed that any event where you weren't embarrassed to indulge in a little casual web browsing among friends was a good one. Ain't no party like a nerdcore party, 'cuz a nerdcore party don't stop!

Still feeling a little less than 'with it,' I decided to make one pass around the room before I left. I was rewarded with a hug from Violet Blue, who was sharing a table with Phillip Torrone, making for two geek heroes in one fell swoop. It only got bloggier as Eran Globen stylishly sauntered up, followed by Ted Rheingold and Molly Ditmore. I was happy to report to Molly that I'd finally gotten around to posting her comedic star turn with Irina Slutsky to the work blog.

By that time the place was packed, so as Scott Beale was publicly handing a check to Kurt Opsahl, I shouted a birthday hurrah and slipped out early, confident that the seven dollars left in my wallet which I donated was going to as good a cause as any.

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Overheard in The City

nobody@vox.com(Jackson West) — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 20:24:04 -0800

"Do you think they'll let black people build the central subway? Do you think the Chinese will stand by and let whitey get the work? ... It ain't politics that's crooked, politics is just an idea -- it's the people that are crooked."

-- Riding the 15 Third Street through the Dogpatch

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Jake McGoldrick: Crazy Like a Fox

nobody@vox.com(Jackson West) — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 20:17:12 -0800

Jake's caught a lot of flack in his last term for having gone off his rocker. But he's as staunch a chigger under the Mayor's hide as ever, and this resolution introduced into the BOS agenda today has the sweet, sweet scent of honest-to-god competence. The comment trolls on Slashdot couldn't have flamed the Earthlink deal better:

WHEREAS, Areas of the City and County of San Francisco primarily in the south-west sectors are “redlined” and have neither DSL nor cable modem connectivity for Internet access; and,
WHEREAS, A shared connection speeds of 300 kbits per second (300kb/s) barely meets the Federal Communications Commission definition of broadband, and is considered inadequate for many Internet applications; and,
WHEREAS, Silicon Valley, Mountain View and other communities have been offered free wireless fidelity (known as, WiFi) access at 1,000 kilobits per second (1,000 kb/s); and,
WHEREAS, WiFi has a reasonable life expectancy of less than five years, and less than two years with regards to general technological innovation; and,
WHEREAS, The information technology (IT) industry and community lauds fiber optic connectivity as far exceeding the reliability and stability over WiFi exceeding any technological advances for at least a decade...

It goes on, mostly to further laud fiber-to-the-home and the benefits of a municipal, rather than a private, solution. It's the right move to make. If they don't make it, the telecoms will have their way with our fiber infrastructure while we doze off, waiting for jerky YouTube clips to download at 300kbps.

The resolution now heads off to committee, and I imagine can expect support from a majority of the board. Sergey and Larry better buckle up, because that custom private jet is in for some turbulence.

Thanks to Kimo Crossman for forwarding the resolution via email.

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Suckers in Cars: Quit Whining, Try ParkMatch

nobody@vox.com(Jackson West) — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 23:44:45 -0800

Someday my hope is that The City will become a pedestrian and transit oasis. All the elements are there -- dense urban core, broad avenues to accomodate bike and transit lanes, an active and forward-thinking population. Only problem is that everyone who lives here is a Californian, and as we all know, it's a Californian's birthright to drive their own car wherever and whenever they please.

Thankfully, the cosmos has apportioned quite a bit of negative karma to the car driving population of San Francisco -- mostly in the form of terrible, terrible parking. Emily Chang notes the web site ParkMatch, which looks to put people with cars and people with parking spaces together. My hope is that when you see how much people are charging to rent an eight-by-fifteen plot of land in The City, you'll realize that your parking space is more valuable than the car in it and have to make a choice -- do you continue to whine about parking, or do you sell the car, rent the space, and start whining about Muni service instead?

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Wholesome Fucking Activities: Orinda to Rockridge via Claremont Canyon

nobody@vox.com(Jackson West) — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 20:29:21 -0800

Orinda to Rockridge BART Map

It all looked so simple on the BART map. We'd meet at Rockridge, take the train one stop, and walk back. The look on my face when I got off at Orinda and turned around must have been priceless. It probably said something like: "What the fuck have I gotten myself into this time?"

The basic problem with every Bay Area map is that few are ever topographical. And BART's swiss-design beauty certainly glosses over the hundreds and hundreds of feet in vertical elevation between Orinda and Rockridge stations. The backside fire road is on EBMUD protected reservoir watershed property, and is a curvy but otherwise direct ascent. That you need a permit for the trail must be some kind of ironic joke.

I managed it like an ox, with my head down and lungs bursting, trying desperately to kick everyone else's ass up the hill. And don't ever believe the, "It's all down hill from here" lie, on this trail specifically or about life in general. Even after peaking, it was a sidewinding roller coaster all the way down to the Claremont hotel.

Four breathless hours of hiking as leisurely as I could make it worked out, all considered. While it was a wonderful experience with many beautiful sights, it'll take a few epsom salt baths before I'll attempt it again.

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Tales of The City: Bay Bloggery

nobody@vox.com(Jackson West) — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 13:06:14 -0800

NEW YEARS IN SAN FRANCISCO

In public service news, blog roundup regular Edward Champion is reading Pynchon so that you don't have to. El Lefty Malo is evaluating the teams in the N.L. West so that you don't have to. And Sasha at Left in SF explains why the recently inked WiFi deal is terrible so that I don't have to.

Civic Center Mike bravely follows a rowdy gang of Unitarians on their way to a "die-in." City College's Bill Carpenter films the ensuing carnage. Protests also raged over Tim Goodman's assertion that a masturbating Courtney Cox isn't sexy. Sounds like somebody needs a hug.

Blogger and baker Shuna Fish Lydon over at Eggbeater is up for a couple of awards, so go support the home team. Burritophile gets philosophical in this essay on what constitutes 'authenticity' in the context of Burrito criticism. SFist brings it with a review of the Real Estalker. And like me, Lost in Grovont solves San Francisco's parking problem by not driving a car.

Photo by Christopher Michel.

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