The Calif. Dept. of Forestry, in charge of fighting the hundreds of fires around the state, has posted a PDF of the major incidents as of this morning. An interactive Google Map is also available.

Meanwhile, the sky in the Bay Area cleared Sunday and yesterday. Today it’s overcast and foggy… And after last week’s horribly smoky conditions, now I don’t know if this overcast is part smoke or what.

One of the endangered spots is Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. They have a fire blog, Sitting with Fire; a feature in the L.A. Times a few days ago documented the outpost’s preparations for the worst. The resort-cum-monastery is closed at least until July 11.

The Lee Miller exhibition at the SF Museum of Modern Art, which was due to open July 1, has opened early, and I toured it today. Beautiful stuff, with material from her career as a mid-1920s fashion model through her work in Europe and Egypt in the 1930s, her wartime work in the 1940s, and her postwar slowdown.

Overheard at the exhibit:

One woman to another:
      “I never hear of something… and then it’s everywhere.”

A couple standing before a Miller portrait of her mentor and lover Man Ray (pictured above, though not the picture they were looking at):
      Her: “He was no cutie.”
      Him: “Well, that’s why you become an artist.”

The exhibit remains through Sept. 14.

School’s out, summer is around the corner. It’s time to get out there and do some of that stuff you’ve been putting off for months.

Remember January 1st and that list you made?

A) Get handle on finances
B) Go to the gym
C) Take up a new hobby

Well, no one is going to make you hit that gym any harder, but if you want to pick up a new hobby for a price that won’t hurt your finances, you should try the San Francisco Community Music Center!

CMC offers a sliding scale pay rate and even some work exchange for dedicated students. They offer a wide range of music lessons and even have rental equipment available. And if that wasn’t enough, they even offer VERY cheap practice space rental, WITH pianos!

There are two beautiful locations in the city: Richmond district, and the Mission district. Both are large houses, surrounded by gardens and trees. There are MUNI bus lines within a block of both locations.

After a few weeks paying a fraction of the usual cost for music lessons with talented professionals, you can even take part in a concert.

San Francisco Community Music Center

I’ve been very curious to find out what was going to happen at 1746 Post since it’s been torn apart… and I’ve discovered quite some news!

Anime, Manga and overall Japanese culture fans will be ecstatic to hear that Viz Pictures (an offshoot of local Anime and Manga publisher Viz Media) is a partner in building a “J-Pop Center” in Japantown! The Center will include a theatre for showing releases from Viz Pictures, Anime and other Japanese features. Also expected are a branch of the already popular Kinokuniya Bookstore, a cafe and some Japanese clothing shops… a one-stop J-Pop shop!

The website for the Viz Cinema does not show a lot of information at the moment, but it does state that it is slated to open in Winter of this year.

Cops outside the Starbucks at Oxford and Center, Berkeley (not for this incident).
Flickr photo by Mary Hodder

On Sunday afternoon, a friend was having coffee at the Starbucks at Center and Oxford Streets in Berkeley, with her jacket draped over her chair, when a pickpocket lifted her wallet from the jacket.

By the time she called her bank less than two hours later, the thief had already charged more than $1000 to one of her cards. She’s not liable for it, of course, but has to get new cards, new drivers license, etc.

I’ll be calling Starbucks’ regional office tomorrow to find out how common such incidents are. In the meantime, hold on to your stuff in high-traffic places like that.

Today’s the annual San Francisco version of Carnaval — always the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, since its traditional Mardi Gras date happens in February when the weather is likely to be horrid here — featuring squads of be-feathered dancing girls and boys cavorting and shimmying down Mission St. It’s a great parade, if you’ve never seen it. And if you miss it, just check Flickr in a few hours. (Update: try the 2008carnaval tag.)

Also today, conveniently beginning a few hours after the parade of nearly-naked people: the annual Masturbate-a-thon, a benefit for the Center For Sex and Culture. It starts at 3:00 pm, features live performances by real porn stars, and is open to all persuasions. Interestingly, it costs $20 to participate — and $40 to just watch.

The Golden Gate Bridge was closed in both directions following a head-on crash that happened around 3:15 pm.

Update 5:05 pm: Lanes have just reopened. Nevertheless: Check traffic conditions before heading that way.

Following the jump, the gory details.

Read more…

The city council of Brisbane, the small town just south of San Francisco along U.S. 101, last night approved a new biotech campus in the Sierra Point buisness center east of the freeway.

The site is coincidentally right across the freeway from yesterday’s wildfire and is located on landfill. Click the map thumbnail for a full-size map.

May 15th was not only a “Spare the Air” day and “Bike to Work” day; it also was a day of record temperatures in The City. As the day went on, the heat soared to 97 degrees in the city.

As noon approached, trouble began to brew on the BART system. For the next 8 hours, the system was plagued by delays of 45 minutes or longer.

I met the BART problem head-on at rush hour last night. I arrived at Civic Center at about 4:40pm. Trains were being held in between stations and at stations for 10 to 15 minutes at a time. The first train only went to 24th street/Mission, so I didn’t get on. Then I realized, soon enough, the trains were ONLY going to 24th Street/Mission, where you would have to transfer.

17 minutes later, two more trains came and went, absolutely packed to the ceiling. Finally, I got on a train. At 24th Street, something strange happened- the train went backwards. Apparently, while I was zoning out in iPod land, the train had suddenly become a Richmond train and just started going the other way at 24th Street.

At 16th, I disembarked to attempt another try towards my destination. Alas, my “SFO” BART train, again, suddenly became a Richmond train and turned around. But, at least, this time, I managed to GET OFF the train at 24th.

The platform was packed with people, the trains kept turning around. Then two more packed trains rolled by. Finally, I braved one of the packed trains. My last BART train of the evening made several long pauses to cool itself, but I did finally make my destination at 6:20pm.

Read more

Hey! architecture & safety fans, look at those spanking new fire escapes in Dec 1956… possibly one of the last major revamps to aging SF General.

Reading the continuing saga of SF General Hospital one can only see euthanasia or perhaps the good ship privatization coming into port on the horizon…

Yesterday, Gavin “pumped on privatization, saddened by sunshine” Newsom sent his not entirely friendly pals on the Board of Supes a proposal to float an $887 million dollar public bond to facilitate construction of a refurbished General Hospital before the state’s fix the seismic stability or close it deadline of January 2013.

Even if the Supes could agree on it, then SF voters would have to approve it by a
two thirds margin in November. Then I assume simple design issues, bids and construction for the estimated $ billion+ dollar project would have to begin fairly quickly and run miraculously smoothly even if we could get a moderate 2 year extension on the state’s deadline. (By the way, legally the bond can only pay for the construction, no equipment or furnishings… so we’ll need even more money to upgrade everything)

All this just sort of happens neatly in a row, or uh, the behemoth institution just gets shuttered, ( or perhaps “privatized”).

Anyone care to surmise that is the real plan anyway?

Lil Mike’s random rant rambles on after the jump…