We’ve all heard variants of this story before, this time the details are flowing from the courts. If you haven’t seen Pacific Heights and you are a renter in SF, you need to check out this older film. The film’s tagline is: “It seemed like the perfect house. He seemed like the perfect tenant. Until they asked him to leave.”

Now this story from the Chronicle yesterday, SF Landlord Couple plead not guilty…

A San Francisco landlord couple who are accused of waging a campaign of terror at a South of Market apartment building to drive out their renters are the victims of a lawsuit-happy tenant and did nothing wrong, their attorneys said Friday.

This gets interesting in this notable exchange where the landlords attorney ask for a reduction in bail.

“There were no actual threats of injury,” Whelan said, adding of Nicole Macy, “She’s clearly not a safety risk to society in general.”
Peltz said cutting out Morrow’s floor supports put him at risk of injury. He also said the couple had made death threats against tenants.

There was a developer who would burn his own buildings to the ground to get around the permitting process in SF a few years back. This doesn’t seem beyond comprehension that these owners would start to dismantle their own building to get their tenants out.

h/t to SFGate.

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It’s on Broadway, but here in San Francisco, it’s not a traditional musical, although occasionally there are songs, perhaps you could call it “political theater” of sorts. It’s Camp Pelosi, and reviews are decidely mixed, particularly in the tony Pacific Heights enclave that is hosting the activists. Tickets are free though, if you don’t include the deadly costs of the ongoing Iraq war which prompted the group’s action.

This past weekend after crossing the Golden Gate Bridge, the Code Pink group marched through the Presidio and arrived at Nancy Pelosi’s 2640 Broadway address (between Scott & Divisadero) around four o’clock in the afternoon. The group read aloud the names of all US servicemen killed in Iraq and called out for Pelosi.

The intentions of Code Pink, whose most prominent nationally known members include Medea Benjamin and Cindy Sheehan, is to personally pressure Nancy Pelosi to do more about ending Bush’s botched & apparently somewhat costly Iraq War. A war whose mission was supposedly “accomplished” several years ago, yet is still ongoing and approaching it’s 4th anniversary this weekend. Since GW Bush declared the $400 billion dollar war, over 3000 thousand American servicemen have perished, and it’s estimated that well over half a million Iraqis have died.

It was just this sort of info that on Monday March 12th prompted some SF Board of Supervisors members to announce their own non-binding and largely symbolic resolution that calls on Congress to “discontinue funding for ongoing military operations” and requests Congress to hold the Bush administration to account for its “total failure in Iraq.” Co-sponsored by Chris Daly, Tom Ammiano, Bevan Dufty and Ross Mirkarimi, the item was brought up during a typically dull but seemingly unrelated Budget and Finance Committee hearing. The resolution will be considered by the full Board of Supervisors at Tuesday’s regularly scheduled afternoon Board of Supervisors meeting. Over 63% of SF Voters approved a ballot measure calling for troop withdrawal from Iraq in November 2004.

Pictures from IndyBay.org and Code Pink

Other activities for those wishing to publically voice opposistion to a really fine , costly & outstanding US war effort include a teach in at the Federal Bldg on Weds, two marches this coming weekend, with organizer contact info provided after the jump…
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Picked up the 43 Masonic at Upper Haight tonight (Sat) and rode it almost all the way to northern end of North Beach - a mile or so farther than it usually goes because the driver was returning it to the terminal, which is close to my apt. Score since I had planned on transferring to the 30 - probably involving a wait, at midnight, with bridge and tunnel partiers drunkenly pissing about in the Marina.

Before we got started chatting, he stopped at the Letterman campus. A lady there, started yelling at him , why did the outbound 43 not pick her up? She asked. Because you’re not standing at the right stop, he replied. Go across the street. She still didnt’ get it and continued to yell. He left, then turned to me to explain. Then, we started chatting and figured out that I was near his route’s end. Dangers, after the jump.
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Went to see Casino Royale* this weekend at the Kabuki, and noticed the permit license posted on the window. Because of the Sundance purchase (yes, related to Redford’s Sundance theaters), they will serve wine/beer. Yee ha! No longer do I have to figure out transportation to the Parkway for my guilty pleasure of beer + independent movies. Hurrah! I hope they do continue the Int’l Film Fest & the Asian American Film Fest, too. See this Yelp thread on more SF thoughts on the purchase.

* Casino Royale movie haiku:
total chick movie
craig is naked a whole lot
and we like that, yep.

Photo by DC Metroblogger

Wow! I have to say that I really love the views of San Francisco.

This breath taker was round a bend as I ran my morning workout. Look closely, its Telegraph Hill there in the distance.

In the foreground, another, different landmark - America’s curviest road.

Both of these I came about just wandering around town. An amazing town with a different sight at every turn.

Thursday and Friday a few different local photography related events crept up on my calendar worth sharing that could be semi-intertwined yet are sort of altogether separate at the same time…

Chronicle Books has just published a new book by local Photographer Peter Ellenby documenting a decade’s worth of pix of the local indie rock scene. Entitled “Everday Is Saturday”, a few events have been set up to celebrate including a free reception & signing event Thursday from 6-9 at 111 Minna and a rawkin’ multi-band showcase at Ellenby’s fave live venue The Bottom Of The Hill on Friday.

Danny Plotnick, a local indie filmmaker who in the past has documented the city’s indie rock underbelly via his 8mm masterpieces, and his late great magazine Motorbooty, now has curated a unique cinematic themed photo art show opening this week opening on Friday as well at a unique gallery spot in Pac Heights…
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UPI is reporting that San Francisco police have questioned the beyond bizarre former JonBenet Ramsey suspect John Mark Karr after he was taken by Good Morning America producers on a limo tour that included stops for him to peek in windows at a local Catholic girls school.

Karr reportedly was spotted peering into the window of the Convent of the Sacred Heart school, where he worked as a teachers aid for awhile. This was of course, after emerging from a limousine hired by that cheery & wholesome breakfast program “Good Morning America” .

more bizarre baffling non-news on this lil incident , and how you can thank ABC’s parent company Disney for helping a bro out…after the jump…
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Talk about a bad moon rising. I guess when you have a giant inflatable, illuminated pumpkin laying around, you HAVE to display it.

location: California & Franklin

Do you have a funny name for your hood? It’s compulsive for me, wordplay, that is. So Kathy (a writer here) has the funniest, and I’ll cop it for a moment:

Lauridio: the neighborhood between- you guessed it- Laurel Heights and the Presidio. I am between Fisherman’s Wharf (fishy wharf) and North Beach (nobe - pronounced “no, B!”). When I first moved to Nobe, I tried to be even more location-specific, and nickname it “Fisherman’s Bharf” a juvenile play on how the tourists from Fishy Wharf end up losing their lunch nearby. But to be honest, absolutely nobody likes that name. Instead I’ve slowly started to call it “North Fishy”. “The Village” - another attempt at the cutesy part of North Beach, that was embraced by nobody so I’ve slowly adopted what other folks call it… Nobe.
Tel-Hi: Didn’t know Telegraph Hill had a name until I saw the banners on the street.
Russian Hill: Can’t… figure… one… out.
Nopa: North Panhandle. Kind of reminds me of Soma, which has been thoroughly embraced by everyone, even the Chron style guide.
Chi-town: Chinatown.
Oak-town: Oakland.
Berkeley Flats: the 4th street area. (from AmyB)
Intermission: Inner mission district, near haight/hayes/mint hill (copped from CliffS)
Minty Hill: That part between hayes and haight, near the New (vs. old) mint (copped from Aaron)
Pot Hill: Potrero. Not embraced by anyone but me. Prove me otherwise! (copped from PSB)
Random anecdote:
Walking around with south bay (soba) brother-in-law, and he keeps asking, “What’s this neighborhood?” my reply: “Pac Heights.” He’s like, no no no, it’s something else. A week later he calls me. “It’s PACIFIC Heights, Anna.”
TenderNob (or NobLoin): that also just got into the Chron last weekend.
Clayket: Upper Castro and Market, “where the magic bus turns” (thanks NancyP)
Underneath the Bay Bridge: “in a box?” haha - thanks tharpo.
What are your funny names for local neighborhoods? You’re not that juvenile?

I decided to take a day off from work last week, just because. So what do I do with my day? After sleeping in, eat of course. I have been having croissant cravings lately, so I did some research on Yelp for good bakeries in the city and printed out my map, planning to hit up as many as I could in one day. Well, the best laid plans…
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