The weather is looking great for a weekend of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, the free festival brought to you by the benevolent billionaire Warren Hellman who passed away a few years back but endowed HSB for an undisclosed amount of time. The free festival takes place October 4-6 in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. Some of the hardest working touring bands play the festival. It is some bluegrass, some country, some Nashville, some Northern California rock, a lot of Indie, some singer/songwriter, some folk and even a little New Orleans. It is people’s music and really all about the song.
Whether you like to fly solo, plan out your itinerary and carefully and catch a lot of different acts or hang out close to a big stage on a blanket with family and friends, it is festival where you can discover bands you never knew existed.
TWO RECOMMENDATIONS
The Bay Area’s own AJ Lee & Blue Summit is playing Sunday at Towers of Gold Stage at 1:15 PM. The band is some homegrown young gun slinger’s bluegrass. The band Fruition, who crashed the festival busking over 10 years ago is actually now on a stage! Saturday on the Swan Stage at 12:25 PM.
I will miss Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 2024 as I have to attend a Celebration of Life for a cousin who passed away recently. There will be no awards this time around. If you want to read some of my Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival Awards, from years past see below.
September 2024 has been a cold and windy month with a lot of fog and wind. If you plan on visiting San Francisco, definitely bring a light jacket and some warm clothes. Usually by this time of year we have some sunny autumn days but not in 2024. Festivals around the city have been a bit fogged-in and blustery. Flower Piano and the Haight-Ashbury Street Fair have taken place mostly on the fog. Always best to head a bit east to see the clear skies and warmer temperatures. The Mission, Crane Cove Park and Potrero have been sunny.
Beautiful Crane Cove Park. Where the sun does shine.
A new shoreline park by the Chase Center almost finished
Chase Center
Sailboats in the bay. Plenty of wind.
A new shoreline park by the Chase Center almost finished
A new shoreline park by the Chase Center almost finished
The Giant’s baseball stadium
Embarcadero by the Bay Bridge
Bay Bridge
The marine layer to the west.
Tourists are back. Weekend traffic is plenty
Tourists are back. Weekend traffic is plenty
Tourists are back. Weekend traffic is plenty
Municipal pier is still closed. No one talks about this.
Kids play soccer in the marina
Golden Gate bridge in the fog
Golden Gate bridge in the fog
Golden Gate bridge in the fog. Amazing foiling under the bridge. e
The national political scene, with all the pundits and polls, the constant news updates, the never-ending spectacle, the name calling, the disrespect all make for a wild and sometime entertaining ride for our modern-day, short attention spans. What often goes unnoticed is how art, in particular films, have often predicted our political realities and the miraculous turn of events. This is rarely mentioned in the mainstream press.
ACT 1
When Joe Biden decided to retire I could relate. Eighty-one years old and all the slogging through the blizzards of bullshit, spin doctors, fundraising speeches, jet-lag, international turmoil beyond your control, family tragedies so grave and tragic most people would either hit the bottle hard or have just crawled under a rock. So Joe exited stage right and Kamala rode in on her horse.
It all reminds me of the movie Blazing Saddles where instead of Cleavon Little riding into town it is Kamala Harris. Like when another black sheriff rode into town on a horse named Hope, some folk still can’t fathom the concept of a black president. Now the additional shocker is that she is a woman.
And then there is the new sheriff’s sidekick, Tim Walz. Like Gene Wilder in Blazing Saddles, Walz can shoot a gun better than most and fortunately does not have a drinking problem. And in an even stranger similarity, in both cases the duos are in town to save the day from a wave of thugs, crooks, liars and big corporate railroad types wanting to buy and control little people’s pocket books and even their souls .
Once again, art becomes reality. Once again art foreshadows the future. Once again, art and imagination pave the way for justice. Mel Brooks was on to something.
“America and think about it. After all the promise of America is what makes it possible for [me and] Tim Walz [to be] together on this stage today. Think about that. Think about that. Think about it. Two middle class kids, one a daughter of Oakland, California who was raised by a working mother. I had a summer job at McDonald’s. The other a son of the Nebraska plains who grew up working on a farm. Think about it. Think about it. Only in America is it possible that the two of them would be running together all the way to the White House.” – Harris and Walz rally Las Vegas, August 10, 2024
ACT 2
A few months back I was thinking about it… thinking about who would be the best person to run if Joe Biden dropped out. Who could possibly be the hero who saves the day. After much thought I came up with the only person who would easily win – Tom Hanks.
Tom Hanks has done it all. He has flown an Apollo mission and returned to earth with the help of a little duct tape. He has had AIDS. After his FedEx plane crashed in a violent storm he survived for years on a deserted tropical island eating only coconuts and killing fish with a spear. He has saved Private Ryan. He has battled against Somali Pirates and won. He has jogged from one side of the country and back again. He has coached an all-woman baseball team. He is a person of mythic proportions and everyone would vote for him. He is someone who always seems to do the right thing. He could get us out of this political mudslinging and toxic delusional silliness. He seems to always play the hero.
So when Kamala Harris chose Tim Walz as her running-mate, you could tell right away that it was the right choice. Not some buttoned down careful politician whose family had been in the politics for generations. Not an Ivy League type. Not a show business person with perfect hair and a smile made for T.V.. Instead, someone a little like a fictional Tom Hanks.
Tim Walz grew up on a farm in Nebraska and was in the Army National Guard for decades. He has taught internationally and spent a year in China. In a small town in Minnesota he taught high school geography and social studies. The high school football team had lost 27 straight games when he joined the coaching staff as a defensive coordinator. Three years later, in 1999, the team won its first state championship. He sponsored a gay-straight alliance student organization at the small town high school after a student at the school wanted to start the group. You can’t make this stuff up.
In other words, his life is waiting for a Tom Hanks movie. Tim Walz is a Tom Hanks character – someone who deals with adversity and overcomes it through character, good decisions, common sense, great people skills, luck and hard work. And he has a rural way of speaking and communicating that has been missing in American politics since Jimmy Carter.
Hollywood. The script is still writing itself. I am not sure Tom Hanks plays the role but time will tell.
“We have some hard work ahead of us. But we like hard work. Hard work is good work. And with your help this November, we will win.” – Harris and Walz rally Las Vegas, August 10, 2024
The Quarterly Report: A brief synopsis of the news in San Francisco over the last three months. You are now reading “Slow News That Doesn’t Break” – the exotic internet.
National Politics
Kamala Harris, the former San Francisco District Attorney is the Democratic Party nominee for president. This turn of events happened quickly and San Francisco and Oakland are generally very proud and excited about her running and winning the election; it was in the nick of time. While Kamala Harris was D.A. of San Francisco I do not remember too many details but you can read an excellent piece What These Decisions Tell Us About Kamala Harris’ Approach to Criminal Justice.
Well I ain’t running from the law
Don’t know a lawyer I could call
And you won’t see me on the six o-clock news
Ain’t no money singing these blues – Down By The Railroad Tracks – Paul Lyons 2024
In 2020, when Kamala ran for president, I remember talking to some folks in their twenties who would not have anything to do with Harris. “My God! She’s a cop! I cannot vote for a cop!” But Kamala Harris, unlike her opponent is indeed not running from the law and seems like someone who wants to fight for justice, the little people and take on the corporate monopolies. This time around young folk seem to be onboard. Kamala Harris, the good cop is the right candidate at the right time. Vote Harris-Walz!
Sporting News
The San Francisco Giants are a five hundred club, meaning they win as many games as they lose. They play in a very tough division and it would be a minor miracle if they make the playoffs. The Oakland A’s are a few games from the cellar in the American League West and playing out their final year at the Oakland Coliseum before heading off the to Las Vegas. Many people and loyal fans are going to the games.
Weather
In late August we are experiencing typical late summer weather. Last weekend the fog pushed back and we had a few warm days where even the ocean looked glassy and inviting. The communal event, Sunday Streets took place on Valencia Street and it seemed everyone was out and about. Golden Gate Park was full of people enjoying the sun and warm days. Come Monday the northwest winds began to pick up and the marine layer hugged the coast making the weekend seem like a dream. In reality it was surely just a teaser for the Indian summer weather around the corner.
Actual Things That Have Happened in SF
It was observed that a young man in his twenties, while looking at his phone and walking north on Third Street, walked into a street lamp which gave off a distinct high metallic ringing sound like a bell (I think it was a C#). He was uninjured but startled and seemed a bit embarrassed by the episode. In another era people would read books while walking and similar events must have happened.
King Street, Ancestry.com and Centaurs
I recently noticed some very interesting, and a bit humorous frescos of centaurs and mermaids, all with the theme of baseball, on a King Street building directly across the street from the Giants baseball stadium.
At some other point in history, baseball players evidently had four legs and tales, and women seemingly could play catcher and the outfield. My how things have changed over time! Ironically, the office for ancestry.com, the genetic testing website, is a few doors down. I wonder if anyone else sees the irony.
Road Repairs, Parking Tickets, Do Not Parks Signs and Other Treacherous Endeavors
Mission Street is finally getting some love with new bus stops and asphalt. It is a slow process but much needed out on the edges of town.
That is The Quarterly Report – August/September 2024
All the best things in life are definitely free and one of those free things is Fort Funston. Sonner or later every San Franciscan makes it to Fort Funston, the land at the edge of the continent, on top of the bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Fort Funston is a favorite place to walk a dog, explore bunkers and tunnels from World War II, watch hang gliders soar high above the surf or simply look out into the abyss and ponder the meaning of life. Along Skyline Boulevard, not too far from Westlake Shopping center, just past Lake Merced is Fort Funston. If you head south on Skyline, pretty soon you can veer off on Highway 1 and drop down into the city of Pacifica.
Hold on to your hat. Fort Funston features 200-foot high sandy bluffs on San Francisco’s southwest coast where the winds blow reliably wildly. No surprise it is one of the premier hang-gliding spots in the country. A network of trails make it ideal for hiking and horseback riding. Dog owners will be happy to know they can take leashes off here. It is also home to the Fort Funston Native Plant Nursery, plus trails for hiking & horseback riding. – Golden Gates Nation Parks Conservatory
Fort Funston is San Francisco
Fort Funston is San Francisco
Hang glider at Funston is San Francisco
Hang glider at Fort Funston is San Francisco
Fort Funston is San Francisco
The cliffs are a bit steep on the edge so make sure Rover does not go over the side but besides that it is relatively safe. Fort Funston is a great place to go when the skies are clear and the sun is out. You can often see the Farallon Islands and all the way out to Point Reyes.
Hang glider Movie at Fort Funston
How to Get to Fort Funston
The easiest way is by car as there is a large parking lot. It is possible to get there by public transportation as the 58 Bus goes there. Best to get off at John Muir Drive and Skyline Boulevard and do the short hike to the cliffs. The trails are well-marked and obvious.
The release of Julian Assange after years in a UK jail made me remember an op-ed by Bob Garfield on the subject. Garfield’s key point is that Assange is not a journalist but a broker of stolen goods and that the press is under attack but not in this case. His op-ed is nuanced in a way you rarely see in this absolutist political world. I think that Assange, as the quote above illustrates, became a bit of a media darling with his premature gray hair, his smooth, steady Australian accent and his nobel Robin Hood persona. In this case the loot was classified documents.
Indeed, the U.S government has many dirty secrets and does all kinds of immoral things. It has been this way from the beginning. Shining the light on the malfeasance is a small step in the right direction but I doubt it will truly change behaviors. It is better to simply follow the money. Much of that is in plan view. Journalists are simply too scared to bite the few hands that feed them.
The thing is press freedom, defined under U.S. Law and best practices, doesn’t permit libel or extortion or, by the way, burglary–digital or otherwise. With journalistic freedom, comes journalistic responsibility. And Assange, explicitly, disclaims that–at least where other people are concerned. While he preaches that all information, no matter its sources or dangers, is better public than secret, his own organization is shrouded in secrecy.
– Bob Garfield
Bob Garfield was fired from On The Media and NPR. He evidently had a short fuse and would yell at people. I do miss his opines.
4742 Mission Street is now a five-story building. It has been under construction for a few years. It looks to be a mix of residential and first-floor retail but the end result is still a bit of a mystery. The windows are in. The paint has dried. Who knows? It may be fenced-off for months or years as that is what can happen out here in the hinterlands of San Francisco.
The location was once El Tapatio, a dance hall with live bands. A few years back I wrote about this historic location in a piece – El Tapatio Closed for Good – Another Live Music Venue in SF Gone.
San Francisco Carnaval 2024 took place on May 24 and 25. The weather on Saturday was a bit cold and cloudy but on Sunday the sun came out for the parade. It was a glorious day. Below are some photos I took of the parade and the fun on Harrison Street. The Radio Valencia Rumberos were amazing. Grand Marshall Rigoberta Menchú was on a float. A very brave and interesting person. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1992/tum/biographical/
These novels will give way, by and by, to diaries or autobiographies – captivating books, if only a man knew how to choose among what he calls his experiences that which is really his experience, and how to record truth truly.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“My takeaway is human adaptability to almost anything is just like much more remarkably strong than we realize, and you can get used to anything as the new normal, good or bad, pretty fast,” Altman said. “Over the last couple of years, I’ve learned that lesson many times.” Sam Altman – OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says he can no longer eat in public in S.F.
Sam Altman is 39 years old and seems to be a darling of the tech industry. He SMS messages usually in all lowercase, was a key player in OpenAI, a new artificial intelligence software company, and seems to use the word “like” in random places.
If Sam were to write a book, it would certainly be a good idea to send it through the AI rewriter. Perhaps it would say instead: “My takeaway is human adaptability to almost anything is just like much more remarkably strongis stronger than we realize, and you can quickly get used to anything, good or bad as the new normal. , good or bad,pretty fast ,”
I am convinced that a lot of the new tools, while remarkable, are making humans less intelligent and dependent. Most people today surely have a hard time writing longhand with a pen. Spelling is an ancient skill. Along comes credit card transactions with predetermined tips and people no longer have to do basic math. Long-form math. Forget about it.
So Sam Altman just realized that being worth billions of dollars and trying to live a life of anonymity is impossible. Probably a good idea to “like” add that algorithm into that “like” ChatGPT thing.
The Quarterly Report: A brief synopsis of the news in San Francisco over the last three months. You are now reading “Slow News That Doesn’t Break” – the exotic internet.
Sporting News
Baseball season has begun. Recently a new lovely park opened just south of the ballpark with tables, places to sit and a lovely statue of Willie McCovey. I was riding my bike when I saw the ribbon-cutting ceremony. The ceremony seemed a bit subdued – like someone wary of a new luxury car getting its first scratch. The Giants are 17 and 21 as of this report. I will check back in after the All-Star Break. That is my usual mode of operation.
McCovey Cove
Weather
The season changed to spring sometime in mid-April. The 20 knot northwest winds started up and you just knew that the fog was next. The temperature of the water at Ocean Beach went from 58 degrees Fahrenheit to 52. Now in early May we are experiencing some exceptionally warm spring weather with temperatures in the 80s and wind blowing from the east. The real news these days is definitely the weather report. Pay attention, as at anytime the temperature can drop twenty degrees and the fog machine will start up.
Politics
The 2024 mayoral race in San Francisco is going to be one wild ride. There is a lot of outside money coming in with front groups like GrowSF and TogetherSF supporting various well-off candidates. What is different this time around is that there are many candidates that San Francisco Chronicle calls “moderates” running while there are just two “progressive” candidates, Ahsha Safai and Aaron Peskin. Good grief! The labels that these newspapers bestow on politicians is beyond silly. Daniel Lurie and Mark Farrell are not moderates. In another era, in another town, they would simply be the usual pro-business Republicans.
Aaron Peskin, with his years of knowledge of the city, his neighborhood credibility, excellent speaking skills and a new-found sobriety may be a tough candidate to beat. I traveled down to Portsmouth Square and heard Aaron Peskin’s mayoral announcement speech. It was extremely refreshing to hear a politician speak in complete sentences and have something meaningful to say.
Aaron Peskin among supporters
I will be a Mayor who loves this city, and doesn’t beat up on it for political gain. A Mayor who works for everyday San Franciscans and their neighborhoods, not just the well-to-do and the well-connected. And I will be a hands-on Mayor, using my 25 years of governmental know-how to once again make San Francisco the city that knows how. Aaron Peskin – Candidacy Announcement – April 6, 2024 Mission Local
Let me be clear. I support arresting fentanyl dealers and holding them accountable. But arresting drug users, and doing nothing more, is a cynical and dangerous policy that results in more overdoses, and not more treatment for addiction. Aaron Peskin – Candidacy Announcement – April 6, 2024 Mission Local
After the event I was able to talk to former San Francisco mayor Art Agnos who supports Peskin. He said that being mayor was the hardest job he has ever done. He said that when the 1989 Lomo Prieta earthquake hit during the World Series he was at the game and then whisked off to a command center where he found out the head of emergency services had just had had a heart attack. For the next few days he was winging it. I thanked him for the great job he did as mayor during those unpredictable times. He was an awesome mayor.
National Politics
When Donald Trump was asked about whether he raped Jean Carroll he said that it was not possible as she was not his “type.” Isn’t it interesting that he has not said the same thing about Stormy Daniels. Perhaps Stormy is his type?
Road Repairs, Parking Tickets, Do Not Parks Signs and Other Treacherous Endeavors
Sooner or later you figure out the plan. Starting at Geneva and Mission and heading north they are repaving the bus stops with concrete. It is about time. What is odd is that they pretty much pour the concrete and then slop asphalt in between the new and the old. Thanks for the effort.
Valencia Bike Lanes and the Sunny Side of the Street
Merchants and many people are still angry about the center bike lane on Valencia. The parking has changed with the installation of individual digital meters. What is strange is that in many places half of the block is for only drop-off parking. This is silly, not practical and a gift to companies like Uber and Lyft.
Valencia Street center bike lane
Parklets, Microclimates and Where the Sun Does Shine
Not much to report. The parklet situation has stabilized but the red-tape for merchants is often too much and they remove their parklets. This is a topic that a city mayor Breed could have a lot of impact and instead it ends up highlighting the incompetence of city government.
I do not know who wrote the Saturday Night Live skit above, but it is very funny. It was probably a team of writers. But nobody knows.
I have always wondered why comedians today do not make more use of historical figures, especially the “founding fathers.” Humor can then merge with irony in a way that reaches a wider audience. It is like slow news, perhaps “slow humor,” where the vantage is long, and the costumes essential. You do not cringe. Instead everyone simply laughs as the truths are often of the everyday, non-political, small world. It is humor that is self-evident.
A while back I had the idea of a skit where Benjamin Franklin uses a time-machine that he had invented but did not tell anyone about as the plans were lost in a fire. Ben travels to the United States in our current era and then to a drawing room where seated are Jefferson, Washington, Adams and probably others. Someone’s wife. Perhaps a black enslaved person or mistress.
Hand on his knee, Franklin would calmly explain what he saw – explain what he had observed in the twenty-first century America on his time-travel. The majority of the content would be the others commenting and asking questions. These comments would be based on history and their actual writings, personalities and known beliefs. The possibilities are endless. It would shine a light on how originalism is an absurd concept. The world changes, but things also stay the same as in the ending line, “where all Black men are free,” to which Washington ignores like a Florida history book. Evidently, we still have much work to do with our weights and measurements. Equality on many fronts is still but a dream.
NOW THE FUN STUFF! FOURTH GRADE WEIGHTS AND MEASUREMENTS
Weights
16 ounces in a pound. 2000 pounds is a ton There is no word for 1000 pounds
Liquids
Liters and milliliters are used for soda, wine and alcohol
Gallons, pints and quarts are used for milk and paint.
There are 3.78541 liters in a gallon (but nobody knows).
1 liter = 33.814 Fl oz
Distances
Inches, feet, yards and miles
12 inches to a foot. 3 feet to a yard,
5028 feet to a mile
1760 yards to a mile (but nobody knows).
Sports
Meters are used in unpopular sports like track and swimming. (Also springboard diving, but no one asked.)
In football, where the field is 100 yards long, an extra-point after the touchdown is worth 1 point. A field goal is worth 3. A touchdown is worth 6. A safety is worth 2.
Temperature
The great nation of the United States of America measures temperature in Fahrenheit. You spell Fahrenheit F-a-h-r-e-n-h-e-i-t.
Water boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit and 100 degrees Celsius.
To convert temperatures in degrees Celsius to Fahrenheit, multiply by 1.8 (or 9/5) and add 32
For example
10 C = 50 F
20 C = 68 F
30 C = 86 F
40 C = 104 F
You can also, multiply Celsius by 2 and add 30 to get an approximation.
CODA
Mel Brooks used recent political history and satire in The Producers. He did it very daringly in “Springtime for Hitler” which is over the top. It combines Broadway showtunes and dance numbers in a Busby Berkeley style with the Third Reich. It is absurd and you laugh because of this absurdity. Oddly, it was a premonition for things to come.
Another amazing use of history and satire in humor is Monty Python’s Monty Python and the Holy Grail..
Let us know of other routines that have taken this tack. So far, nobody knows.
