Never mind that this cops understanding of the law is way outdated, try 6 years old. It is a matter of fact, Skateboarding is allowed in all those places he claims it is not. Read for yourself, the only provision in the county code when Skating isn’t allowed:

San Francisco City and County law

“a) Prohibits skateboarding on any city street at any time, on any sidewalk in any business district at any time, and on any non-business district sidewalk commencing 30 minutes after sunset and ending 30 minutes before sunrise (Traffic Code, Section 100)”

Snipped from the Supes Legislative analysts memo from 2003.

Skateboarding is only illegal at NIGHT. This kid looks to be right, this cop is acting like a fucking dick. I mean fer chrissakes we even have a SF Skateboarding Task Force (PDF)!

The vigil holders stood up to them … pulled away a woman who was the most aggressive, and they walked away shaking their heads and fists. Their faces were contorted from anger.

The bullies had this look on their face of having done something virtuous — a gleeful, high-five, we-kicked-their-butts look. I had my phone, but did not think of taking pictures of the brutish expressions on their faces. I cussed at them as they walked by and glared at them. There were not enough people on the square to shame them.

There was something grotesque about them calling the man holding the “Hiroshima, Never Again” sign all kinds of vulgar names in the name of patriotism and America.

The writer goes on to wonder whether this confrontation was an outgrowth of the protests against health care reform orchestrated by business interests and lobbying groups.

It will be interesting to see what happens during next week’s peace demonstration in Healdsburg.

Feel-good story? Not anymore. The woman and her kid are back. Samoval said, “I saw her at the BART station. I was pissed off.”
 
I’ve felt frustrated by beggars too. When I worked downtown I would encounter the same beggars on the same corners literally for years on end. When a familiar face was replaced by another mendicant, only to return a day or two later and reclaim his spot, I joked with co-workers that the unfamiliar guy must have been a temp. On another day, I passed a beggar with an amusing sign, then encountered another beggar a little farther on.

Me: You should have a sign like that guy back there.
Second beggar, unamused: The other day he had a kitten.

But generally I found them not a source of amusement but a pain in the ass. I told myself that they were lazy, that it was their fault they were there, that if it wasn’t their fault then they probably had something wrong with them that couldn’t be helped by my small donation. A story like the one about the woman and her son who were shipped to Pennsylvania only to return to the streets of San Francisco seems to reinforce that idea. If a ticket back home to relatives won’t help, then what good can I do by giving a dollar, or even a hundred dollars?

Finally I realized that all these projections on my part were futile. If I give someone a quarter, or a plane ticket, they don’t owe me anything in return. They don’t owe me improved behavior, or recovery from whatever is oppressing them, or disappearance from my sight. They don’t owe me anything. A gift is just that.

If I want to be pissed off by the fact there are beggars on the streets, there are plenty of good targets for my anger: start with Proposition 13 and the war on drugs, and go from there.

Local photographer Thomas Hawk made a very interesting post on his website today, reporting his “unscientific survey” of what commuters were doing on his 9 a.m. BART train from MacArthur to Embarcadero this morning. He didn’t ask anyone what they were doing, relying on his own observations. Most people were “doing nothing,” he found; others he broke down into “other” and into several categories of reading. See his post for the stats.

I love the idea of noticing what others are doing, and recording it unobtrusively and reporting it. It sounds a bit creepy when put that way, but there’s nothing wrong with doing so in a public space. I’d love to see people do this exact thing from time to time: walk the length of a bus or train and compile the same stats, or different ones. It’s just as valuable and interesting to report on skirt lengths, how many people smell, or the number of people wearing glasses.

That said, it’s interesting that Hawk happened to sort his survey by media consumption, and that he expresses surprise that “so many of the people on BART were simply doing nothing (this included sleeping as well).” Of course, BART, and public transit in general, is a great place to read. I’ve sometimes gotten on a BART train and ridden all the way to the end of the line and back just to have a comfortable reading experience uninterrupted by phones, people I know, my cats, or trips to the refrigerator. But those who were sitting quietly “doing nothing” may have relished the chance to do so as much as the people who were devouring media. As someone who sits in front of a computer all day and, often, much of the evening, I find it nice to have a time where I can’t do so — this includes driving, going to the ballgame or the symphony, and yes, “doing nothing.”

By the way, I just noticed that BART has a page on its website where it collects blog and Twitter posts about BART.

Other newspapers are still reprinting the piece: for example the Winston-Salem (NC) Journal, whose website today highlights one curious 1930s San Francisco landmark: Alcatraz, which opened in 1934. Their headline says Wonderful creations emerged during the hard times of the ’30s, with a picture of Alcatraz right underneath. Somehow I doubt the copy editor who wrote that headline has been to Alcatraz.

Anyway, the piece nicely totes up the number of Diego Rivera murals in the city, including the one at the San Francisco Stock Exchange (”What were the stockbrokers thinking?”) — and the one at City College.

Potential citizens though, (i.e non-voters), will find out this weekend who their Congressional rep is, as House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi invites them to UC Hastings in the Civic Center area for a workshop designed to prepare them to make successful citizenship applications. The event is geared for permanent residents who are eligible to apply for citizenship but do not know where to begin the process, or cannot afford to hire someone to assist them with the complicated forms and applications. This is particularly relevant, since starting October 1st, the USCIS will begin administering a new redesigned naturalization test to new applicants (meaning an old cheat sheets might not help ya).

Apparently the 8 year process of redesigning the exam was meant to underpin American values and thematic concepts inherent in the Constitution. This new test, which has been criticized by some as being harder, is designed to end the rote memorization of facts & dates, and moves toward a more meaningful drill. Said the program’s director last year when plans were announced

“when you raise your hand and you swear allegiance to the U.S. you really ought to know what you’re swearing allegiance to.”

(To see a comparison PDF of the new test vs the old test, clickee here

New requirements include the English reading test, where applicants will be given up to three sentences and must be able to read one sentence correctly in order to pass. They also must answer 6 out of 10 civics/US History type questions correctly. Applicants also must form a conclusive sentence correctly after a topical question is dictated to them such as, “Who was the first President?” and then be expected to write an answer like, “Washington was the first President.”

A study list of vocabulary words that will be used in the dictation sentences is available at: http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/writing_vocab.pdf.

A mp3 podcast summary of the test info here courtesy US Citizenship Podcast

Wanna see if you could handle the questions?

100 Naturalization Questions”
Naturalization Test MP3 Download

Speaker Pelosi’s Citizenship Workshop will take place on Saturday, September 20 from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at UC Hastings, 198 McAllister Street, in San Francisco.

For additional info, call the Speaker of the House’s office at
415-556-4862 ( after all it’s your phone too, you pay for it.)

As a longtime citizen, taxpayer and voter, years may go by without ever noticing exactly what your Congress-person does for you in their district. There are few, if any, neighborhood events, or seminars focused on small business (the supposed backbone of the city), with any sort of Congressional support, presence or representation that I’m aware of. In fact most of the time I rarely receive any word from elected officials unless they send something out when they want a vote in an upcoming election.

I suppose it’s nice to see the government reaching out to such a vulnerable community, but the cynic in me wonders why they do so little for those who are already here, like small business people who are supporting the system for decades and trying so hard.

The tunnel plan is really interesting as it will connect the western edge of the Parade Grounds with the beachfront at the west end of Chrissy Field, whereas today if you were to walk from the parade grounds to the beach you would walk under the Doyle drive approach (it’s elevated freeway). This would also create some nice beach views from the newly recreated Parade grounds.

Funding? From what I’ve read it’s not fully evident where the money comes from. The current docs state:

To achieve its mission, the Trust generates revenues by leasing the park’s buildings. Federal appropriations diminish each year and will cease at the end of fiscal year 2012. The Trust uses these sources of funding to operate the park and undertake necessary capital improvements.

Another concern raised by the surrounding neighborhoods is the apparent loss of parking spaces. According to the studies performed to date there will be adequate parking. Interestingly I’ve noticed during my last few visits to that area, these parking lots that will be ripped up sit empty on weekends and are partially filled with the cars of the people that work in the area on weekdays.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.

All in all, pretty exciting, especially if it doesn’t cost the city that much. Imho SF is woefully in need of nice green spaces, and this looks like a nice plan.

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.

Whether you remember him onstage coordinating acts at the early SF Blues Festivals, or from behind the scenes at The Farm or SOMArts Cultural Center or serving as Commodore of The Bayview Boat Club or perhaps on the Mayor’s recent Arts Task Force, he was a hard working, (for awhile hard drinking) and truly memorable spirit serving this city over at least the last 35 some years. He lived out by the houseboats near Pac Bell, in a community of renegade spirits, and was a true character, of the kind that cannot ever be recreated.

Not to be confused with the notorious local political consultant of the same name, this Jack Davis was known for his many contributions to the local arts scene, serving on the boards of organizations like S.F Mime Troupe and in the 1970’s helped get Intersection For The Arts off the ground. He was actually instrumental in helping so many groups and creative spirits it’s hard to document the contributions, including helping launch the four art cultural centers in the city, and he did so without divisive power squabbles, ugly ego or taking undue credit. The well liked guy’s heart just finally gave out last weekend, apparently while driving, almost a year to the week that a previous heart attack had set him back.

sadly, SOMarts annual Day of The Dead exhibit curated by Rene Yanez will have one more addition to mourn…

After the jump… there’s an excerpt of an excellent tribute piece written by John Law last year, after Jack had suffered his first heart attack.

In any town, any scene, any time, you can count on the fingers of one hand the largely unheralded folks that facilitate almost everything thing of note that happens. They are there early on, giving quiet, confident encouragement – and, as importantly for starving artists, the occasional big break in event cost or maybe various services provided but somehow unbilled. These two or three princes never expect anything in return other than to watch the blossoming and growth of what they consider to be (and usually are) the most worthy enterprises. Other’s who “make things happen” the individuals, deserving or not who do get the lion’s share of the credit – you know who they are – they’re in the papers, on the radio, these folks know who those two or three are and always owe them a debt.

Jack Davis is one of those princes. At crucial points in the life of almost any significant Frisco art endeavor/scene/ organization (underground or established,) Jack has, in some capacity, small or gigantic, been pivotal in its life and growth. As Director of SomArts Gallery in SOMA for the last twenty years, one of the largest, best and most easily accessible art/event/party places in the City, Jack and his wonderful staff have given untold thousands of nascent artists, community groups and provocateurs their first big or pivotal show and a grand forum for promulgating their ideas and spirit in the local scene. Many of these individuals and organizations have moved on to national prominence. Following is a very small sampling of groups that benefited from Jacks involvement and/or support: The Neighborhood Arts Program (one of the founders) this group kicked off most of local Cultural Centers, Intersection for the Arts (past Director,) S.F. Mime Troupe (Board Member,) Burning Man (first big in-town events in the early 90’s were at SOMARTs for extremely low cost,) Day of the Dead, The Farm, Pickle Family Circus, Make a Circus, DanceMission, Cellspace, S.F. Pride, Survival Research Labs (Jack held the cops off while Mark and crew got away!) The list goes on & on.

- John Law