Alone on MUNI!!!

GoBikes Sighting!

Samba and I saw lots of these scooters on Balboa Street across from Cafe Sis on Wednesday (April 25).   I even parked beside one, hoping that was legal!

I'm such a fool that when I saw an article about e-bikes, I thought they were describing these.  

I've got to improve my vocabulary so I distinguish between bikes and scooters!

https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/E-bikes-SF-s-latest-alternative-transportation-12861602.php

San Francisco Falls in Love with Former FBI Director James Comey

"Ex-FBI chief Comey charms an S.F. audience," according to the headline leading to a report by Joe Garofoli (April 24) on Comey's appearance at the Curran Theater, where  all,\ 667 seats were taken (not all of them at the original price)!

I've been worried since Trump started having problems with the FBI that their stature would be raised as a result, so as much as I hate to interrupt the love fest SF is having with James Comey, I want to mention that Trump is not the only one who is "untethered to the truth." 

Human Rights Watch has cited the FBI as being an instigator in domestic terrorist attacks, for example.  In 2014 they reported that nearly all of the high-profile domestic terrorism plots in the US since September 11, 2011 featured the direct involvement of government agents or informants.

In reference to the American system of government (with their institutions) Comey said "No president serves long enough to screw it up."

Can the same thing be said of the FBI?

Earth Day with SFVS at the Civic Center

 Earth Day with SFVS at the Civic Center: Patly and Greg Rohrbach orchestrated a very successful Earth Day Chef Zone booth at the Civic Center on Saturday, April 21!  There were a lo...

A "Night on the Town"-- Dinner with Jonathan Kauffman and Bright City (Hall) Lights

Jonathan Kauffman, who writes about food and culture for the SF Chronicle, spoke about his book Hippie Food at Wellness Central's vegan dinner at the Opera Plaza August 18, when we enjoyed a dinner much more delicious than I ever considered "hippie food." His book is fascinating! I paid $50 to hear him speak at the Commonwealth Club back in January. Wednesday night there was no charge except for $15 for a very tasty meal, and some of us even got to sit at the table with him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhCw5vCog3U

Coming back I thought the colors on City Hall were particularly striking. I looked up what the colors represented and saw that the colors of the day represented the 150th Anniversary of the SF SPCA.. What about the SF earthquake of 1906?

Supporting Opposing Candidates for Mayor

It's a little hard to read these signs, but they show that that household is supporting 2 candidates for mayor--both Angela Alioto (why the shamrock, I wonder.  She's Italian-American) and London Breed. 

What does the presence of the flag indicate-- that it's very American to feel conflicted or that Americans can't make up their mind or that we can live together as Americans and have divergent views?

Frida Kahlo Way, Bufano's Statue, and MLK

The SF Chronicle printed two letters in support of  Frida Kahlo Way--one of them mine.

It was 50 years ago April 4 that Martin Luther King was assassinated, a fact that Leslie Simon brought to our attention that morning, when Supervisor Norman Lee called a press conference to announce the renaming of Phelan Avenue to Friday Kahlo Way. (More on that later) She reminded us of the Bufano statue standing between us and the Science Hall, purportedly made from guns that people turned in at SF City Hall after the assassinations of both MLK and Robert Kennedy in 1968, five years after the assassination of President John Kennedy. 

(I posted this earliler, but there was a technical error.)

Remembering Jerry (Gerald) Nachman

Jerry Nachman, writer, humorist, critic, columnist, and friend, died at 3:00 am yesterday morning. I'm grateful to Rita Abrams for giving us regular updates and letting us know what we could do for him during the last days, when it was difficult for him to receive visitors. She had a terrific idea of our sending her our favorite columns for a scrapbook. I had dozens I'd clipped out, but one I couldn't part with was the one on Woolworth's--the one no longer on Powell and Market. I took a picture of it to send, and it was suddenly the background for my desktop!

Before his most recent book launch--Showstoppers--I posed in front of books by him with my earrings made up of miniature record covers of Broadway musicals.

Today I looked again at a "Happy 80th Birthday, Jerry" tribute I made for him on January 10 of this year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhCw5vCog3U

https://www.sfgate.com/performance/article/Gerald-Nachman-former-SF-Chronicle-critic-and-12834755.php

Mayoral Candidates Forum

This photo  shows how many people showed up at the CARA-sponsored forum on Thursday, April 12,  to hear the candidates for S.F. Mayor--and they really were listening--listening and hissing when the first-to-speak candidate (Michelle Bravo) used the word "feral" to describe homeless people and then apologized, etc.

I was worried when Jane Kim, Angela Alioto, and Mark Leno hadn't shown up by 1:30, but I think Leno made it in at 1:31, and the others followed soon after, and there wasn't really a noticeable "break."  Sandra Mack, the MC who had to deal with the uncertainty, was very gracious!

We knew in advance that Richie Greenberg wasn't coming; he declined right away, and London Breed had also declined--not at first but eventually. 

The candidates who showed up were Michelle Bravo, Ellen Lee Zhou,  Amy Farah Weiss, Mark Leno, Angela Alioto, and Jane Kim.  

I think it's great that CARA invited all the candidates so we got an idea of who's out there and how they compare to one another.

I think the score card was a good idea too--holding the candidates to addressing every question and asking it again when they didn't!

Angela Alioto, Amy Farah Weiss, and Ellen Lee Zhou really stuck around for the second part, which was nice.

What We Sang at the Sing-along at Anza Public Library

The Sidney De Haan Research Centre for Arts and Healthhas undertaken extensive research to support their aim of getting the National Health Service in the United Kingdom to provide medical practitioners the option of “singing on prescription.”


https://tribune.com.pk/story/772802/five-reasons-why-you-should-sing/


Here's what we sang at the sing-along at the Anza branch of the SF Public Library.

Beatles:  "I Want to Hold Your Hand" (1963) and "When I'm 64" written by Paul McCartney when he was 16!?

 I wonder where my brother David first heard the Beatles and became a big Beatles fan before he lost his mind and had no recollection of them at all and didn't respond to their songs.

"Close to You" by the Carpenters (1963)  ending in four "Wa, close to you" lines.  We crossed out the extraneous "wa, close to you."  There are only three, and our song sheet had four. 

"Singing in the Rain" (1929) "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" (1969 from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid)

I thought of Javier when we turned the page that had "Country Roads (1971) on it.  He used to sing that as he was driving us to Point Reyes.

We sang "Moon River" on page 5, and then went to "Days of Wine and Roses" and "Charade"--all by Henri Mancinni.

"Edelweiss" (The date given for that is 1965, but of course it was written much earlier!)

"Sing" by Joe Raposo (1971)

"Que sera sera" (1956?)

"Love Me Tender" & "Yesterday," which Cliff said was the most recorded record in the world.

We tried to sing "All I Ask of You"

"Side by Side" but not the Stephen Sondheim one, the one from 1927

"Three Coins in the Fountain"

"When You Wish Upon a Star"  (1940?)

"Always" from 1925

My second husband told the story of  his brother's calling their mother when he was in the service.  He'd sing that song--or play it for her?--and then he'd say, "Please send money."  George pointed out that in the service, you're not supposed to be getting financial support from home, but she would send it.  After all, he'd be seeing here--always.

"What a Wonderful World"  (1967)

"Imagine" 1971

"Heart and Soul"  1938

"Blue Moon"  1934

"You'll Never Walk Alone"  1945

 No music for "Downtown" and "Don't Sleep i the Subway" 

"Smile" (by Charlie Chaplin & others in 1949?)

"If I Had a Hammer"1962 date given because that's when Peter, Paul, and Mary made it popular.  But it was written by Pete Seeger and Weaver in 1949 as part of the Progressive Movement.

We tried to sing "Wichita Lineman" from 1968

Coloquium for Spanish Masters Classes

Former CCSF student Sandra Pulido invited Erika Delacorte and me to a series of performances by students in the Spanish MA program at SFSU.  She wrote several poems and played the part of Diego Rivera as well as doing a remarkable rap.  One of her professors (and now our friend) Ana Luengo gave a presentation on Spain-bound refugees who don't make it there.