Took a taxi home the other night from the Mission ( to North Beach, yes it was $20) by a new cab driver. He’d been on the job for 3 weeks. I found this out when I noticed that while we were on Van Ness, he took a right at Lombard. Yep, his GPS told him to take Lombard over to North Beach. Gotta love it.

More news on cabbies w/ GPS here: Cabbies May Strike To Protest Mandatory GPS Systems. London cabbies have bigger brains.

Just witnessed 5 fire engines pull up to Vallejo between Mason & Powell to put out.. something. No flames, no smell of smoke.

After watching about 5 firemen (& women) setup ladders, I walked over to a policeman and asked him what was up. He told me there were some 2X4s on the roof that were on fire, and they doused them with water.

A couple of fire-people had chainsaws. It didn’t smell like smoke.

I’m glad they respond to these quickly, but it does seem like a bit of overkill. Can’t be too safe, I guess. A fire on a tar roof doesn’t seem to great.

Sorry no pics.

The Red Devil Lounge will be bopping with psychedelic sounds for a show tonight that a longtime music industry veteran pal of mine says “Is really kind of a big deal”.

The occasion features an amalgamation of madcap musicians who’ve been members of an array of interesting bands, including the 13th Floor Elevators, Flamin’ Groovies, Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Tubes just to name a few.

He’s most thrilled that opening the bill is a folksy freak legend of sorts now living in Berkeley, a guy played with Roky Erikson in the 13th Floor Elevators, and brought Janis Joplin her hit “Bye Bye Baby”. That would be Powell St. John, who’ll ably open the show followed by vet rocker act Magic Christian, and a new group of young Amoeba Records employees fronted by infamous tambourine man Joel Gion of the aforementioned Brian Jonestown Massacre called The Dilettantes…

mp3 sample tracks, links, pix and a lil bit more background after the jump…
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Some highlights from the weekly report of North Beach/Chinatown/Fish Wharf crime: Monty games are back, a guy discovered a car thiefin his car, and… dog-napping, interrupted. Oh, and … it’s all about the Uniform.

” The victim opened his trunk on the 1300 block of Jones when he noticed a suspect inside his vehicle. He chased the suspect to Jackson and Jones where he waited for police to arrive. The suspect was arrested while attempting to hide under a parked vehicle. ”

Oh that’s another smart criminal.. hide under a car. no one will see you! Ha ha.
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Playing hooky on Monday, I decided to spend the suddenly “secret field trip” afternoon my favorite way: taking a long walk through the city’s neighborhoods. My destination: Bimbo’s in North Beach. My starting point: Hayes Valley. On these circuitous occasions, I like to mix the routes up and pick streets I would ordinarily bypass for expediency’s sake. This time the main thoroughfare was Hyde: starting from its humble and hectic origins in the Tenderloin, on through ever sleepier and swankier Nob Hill, and up to downright posh and peaceful Russian Hill. In pathetic local ignorance mode (translation: I never take them), I was reminded that this is indeed a cable car route. The tourists must know something … because how ridiculously cute is this street? It’s probably because of this that I’ve ignored giving this stretch its proper walk-through. And while I could add yet another photo of those SF icons, I came across these tri-colored dandies striking their best “Joshua Tree” pose in the window of Russian Hill Dog Grooming. (Unintentionally, I like how the reflection caught yet another SF slope.) And FYI: If you’re looking for a extremely vertical/cardio version of this route, try Taylor. Oof…

The police situation in San Francisco is affected by generational trends. I guess we’re down right now (cop cap is 1971– oddly enough, the year I was born.), because a slew of them retired once they hit a certain age determined by a retirement package, and it originally started getting clumpy with WW2 vets, etc. Now a new rush of cadets are in schools.

(starbucks stuff after long rambly bit about ME)
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Pete’s Café (aka – the café on the SFAI campus) was voted Best Restaurant with a View in AOL’s Cityguide for 2004 and 2005. It’s up again for review, and I invite you to come see what all the fuss is about. The café has a diverse menu featuring breakfast specials, falafel, REAL turkey sandwiches, and a “world-famous” walnut, feta, and spinach salad. Free Wifi is available and the fabulous panoramic views include Coit Tower, St. Mary’s Cathedral, the Trans-America building, and Alcatraz.

Pete’s Café is located at 800 Chestnut between Jones and Leavenworth.
Hours: Mon.-Thu. 8:30AM-5PM, Fri. 8:30AM-3:30PM