3 Ocak 2013 Perşembe

What's for lunch this week?

To contact us Click HERE

Burrito (I forgot what was inside it), extra lettuce, tortilla chips, strawberries & blueberries

The crazy holiday season is already starting to wreak havoc on my stress levels -- mail holiday cards!  decorate home!  supply cookies for class holiday party!  volunteer for Nutcracker!  shop for presents!  prepare for trip! lose sanity!   -- but so far I'm still managing to pack lunch every day.  I almost caved in one day and asked The Pea to buy a hot lunch at school instead, but she told me, "No, mom, the school lunches are so disgusting and unhealthy, I'd much rather have a packed lunch!".  With that kind of praise, how could I not pack her a lunch?!




 Cheese & tomato panini, cherry tomatoes, mixed fruit salad

Veggie corn dog, Nutri-Grain bar, cherry tomatoes, blackberries

PBJ sandwich, Babybel cheese, strawberries, grapes

Veggie sandwich on whole wheat, kale chips, chocolate cake


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What's for lunch this week?

To contact us Click HERE


Brie & cranberry panini, cucumbers with ranch dressing, blueberries
For our wedding anniversary this year, Alfie got me a panini press.  I know, it doesn't sound very romantic, but whenever I use it, it brings back memories of our lovely trip to Bruges this summer, eating panini and sipping espresso at a sidewalk cafe, so it's actually quite a romantic present.  Plus, it makes awesome panini.  Our poor grilled cheese sandwich maker is sitting in a cupboard, gathering dust!



 Blueberry bagel & cream cheese, mini carrots, grapes

 Leftover pizza, cherry tomatoes, blackberries

 Chef's salad, savory trail mix, blackberries & pineapple chunks

Turkey croissant sandwich, grapes, assorted cookies

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What's for lunch this week? Cookies!

To contact us Click HERE


Okay, not really.  I've just decided to give myself a break from posting lunch photos since this is the last week of school before the winter break.  So instead of a nutritious, well-balanced meal I'm treating everyone to a photo of two sugar cookie snowmen that we made recently (note to self: never use Nerds for snowman eyes or mouth because they will melt in the oven and the snowman will come out looking like a zombie snowman).

I'll resume my lunch photo posts when school returns in January.  Until then, happy holidays and happy feasting!


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Roy Mueller Appointed Ex. Dir. of LA Children's Chorus

To contact us Click HERE

Long-Time Arts Administrator Previously Served as Executive Director of San Luis Obispo Children’s Museum and Education Director of Pasadena Kidspace Children’s Museum


Roy Mueller, a highly regarded non-profit arts administrator with deep roots in Southern California, has been appointed Executive Director of the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus (LACC) following a nationwide search, it was announced by LACC Board Chair Joanne Crawford-Dunér. Mueller, who is also an accomplished musician, previously served as Executive Director of the San Luis Obispo Children’s Museum, where he led the museum through a successful four-year $5.2 million capital campaign to design and build a new facility. Prior to that he was Education Director of Pasadena Kidspace Children’s Museum, where he developed innovative art and science education programs for a diverse community audience.


“I am pleased to welcome Roy to the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus,” says Crawford-Dunér. “His exceptional non-profit arts leadership skills and keen fundraising abilities, as well as his creative program development, educational background and music performance experience are an ideal match for the position of Los Angeles Children’s Chorus Executive Director. I look forward to working closely with Roy on a number of exciting initiatives during this exciting time in the LACC’s evolution.”


“It is an honor to lead this extraordinary organization,” states Mueller. “During my tenure at the Pasadena’s Kidspace Children’s Museum, I had the opportunity to collaborate with a variety of Los Angeles area arts organizations including the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, Pasadena Symphony and Shumei Arts Council. I am highly impressed by LACC’s artistic excellence and its mission to serve the community. I look forward to working with LACC’s Artistic Director Anne Tomlinson and am pleased to return to Southern California to take the administrative helm of the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus.”


In his role with the San Luis Obispo Children’s Museum, Mueller, who has more than 16 years of non-profit leadership experience, articulated the vision for the new children’s museum and built the organization from the ground up, strategizing and implementing successful fundraising initiatives, including the $5.2 million capital campaign. He developed and managed operational budgets, cultivated community relationships and mentored a staff of 20 to support the vision and mission of the museum. He received a Bachelor of Music (performance) degree from the University of Louisville and a Master of Music (performance) from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell. He also earned a Certificate of Jazz Composition and Performance from Berklee College of Music in Boston. For more than 15 years, Mueller performed as a classical oboist/English hornist in South America, Europe and the United States, composed music for classical, jazz and theatrical genres, and taught music at the university level.


Described as “astonishingly polished,” “hauntingly beautiful,” and “one heck of a talented group of kids,” LOS ANGELES CHILDREN’S CHORUS is widely regarded as one of the world's foremost children's choirs. Founded in 1986 and led by Artistic Director Anne Tomlinson, LACC performs with such leading organizations as LA Opera, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Pasadena Symphony and POPs, Jacaranda, and Calder Quartet. The chorus' roster includes more than 400 children aged 6-18 from 60 communities across Los Angeles in six choirs and First Experiences in Singing classes and ensemble for young singers. LACC has toured South Africa, North and South America, China and Europe, and produced the world-premiere of “Keepers of the Night,” an opera by Peter Ash and Donald Sturrock. The chorus appeared on LA Master Chorale’s Decca recording “A Good Understanding,” and Plácido Domingo’s Deutsche Grammophon recording “Amore Infinito” ("Infinite Love") and, in 2011, gave the U.S. premiere of Esa-Pekka Salonen’s “Dona Nobis Pacem.” The subject of a trilogy of documentaries by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Freida Lee Mock, LACC is featured in the Academy Award-nominated “Sing!,” about a year in the life of the choir; “Sing Opera!,” documenting the production of LACC’s commissioned family opera “Keepers of the Night”; and “Sing China!,” chronicling its groundbreaking tour to China just prior to the Beijing Olympics. LACC has performed with John Mayer on NBC's “The Tonight Show,” and was featured on Public Radio International's nationally syndicated show “From the Top,” among other credits. Open auditions for LACC take place each May. LACC also offers 6-7 year old children a non-auditioned program, First Experiences in Singing, which serves as an enriching and fun introduction to music.

TwtrSymphony's Tremulando Dança to be available for download Monday, October 15th

To contact us Click HERE

Pre-release copies are available NOW for FANS ONLY



Monday, October 15th, TwtrSymphony will release the long awaited 3rd movement of Symphony No. 2 Birds of a Feather, "Tremulando Dança." This piece, which some of our musicians called, "the most difficult, yet rewarding music" is finally out of the studio and ready for the public.


Sound Engineers Garry Boyle and Felipe Gonzalez have been working on this track now for nearly two months. When you hear the complexity of the voicing, the interweaving rhythms and the intricate interplay of the various melodies you'll understand their struggle. Complicating their efforts is the fact that none of the musicians recorded their parts in the same room. The whole concept of TwtrSymphony is connecting musicians from around the world. So, "Tremulando Dança" is a piece comprised of recordings from all over, brought together in the studios of Garry (in Edinburgh Scotland) and Felipe (in Concón, Chile) to create the end product.


The challenge for TwtrSymphony musicians and engineers is to keep the sense of live performance in the music. When sixty-plus musicians are recording their parts individually, without the benefit of hearing what other musicians have done, the result is sixty-plus interpretations to how each note should be played. Through gentle massaging of the recorded tracks, the engineers have pulled together their best work yet.


Sarah Richardson created a video for "Tremulando Dança" which will also launch on Monday. People will be able to stream the music live from TwtrSymphony's website, download the music or play the video on YouTube. The previous track "Birds of Paradise," released in August, reached over 1000 views in just ten days. If this is any indication of TwtrSymphony's growing popularity, "Tremulando Dança" should be even more popular as the rumba-like dance rhythms of the piece are infectious.


Fans of the TwtrSymphony website have a special bonus: right now, downloads for FANS ONLY are FREE. For a limited time, the 1st two movements are being made available for fans, but will be removed from availability next week when Tremulando is available to the public.


TwtrSymphony, conceived by Chip Michael in March 2012, has steadily gained in popularity, reaching over 1400 twitter followers. While no one on the project is paid for their efforts, the quality of their output is getting recognition from newspapers and bloggers around the world with articles appearing in the traditional press as well as online editions.


The first piece Symphony No. 2 Birds of a Feather, written by Chip Michael specifically for the musicians of TwtrSymphony gets to the very core of what it is to be a symphony. Written in four movements, each movement is less than 140 seconds (2 mins, 20 seconds) long, keeping with the premise of TwtrSymphony — to distill the essence of music. Each movement keeps with the tradition of past great composers of symphonies, the first movement in Sonata Allegro form, the second is a slow, introspective work, the third is a scherzo and the fourth (yet to be released) is a theme and variations. Not only does the music capture the essence of what it is to be a symphony, Chip Michael also feels it is important for every part to be fun and relevant to the music. "For a project designed to bring together musicians from around the world, it is important each musician feel integral to the project and not just play a couple notes here and there or just provide a steady beat," said composer Chip Michael.

2 Ocak 2013 Çarşamba

What's for lunch this week?

To contact us Click HERE

Burrito (I forgot what was inside it), extra lettuce, tortilla chips, strawberries & blueberries

The crazy holiday season is already starting to wreak havoc on my stress levels -- mail holiday cards!  decorate home!  supply cookies for class holiday party!  volunteer for Nutcracker!  shop for presents!  prepare for trip! lose sanity!   -- but so far I'm still managing to pack lunch every day.  I almost caved in one day and asked The Pea to buy a hot lunch at school instead, but she told me, "No, mom, the school lunches are so disgusting and unhealthy, I'd much rather have a packed lunch!".  With that kind of praise, how could I not pack her a lunch?!




 Cheese & tomato panini, cherry tomatoes, mixed fruit salad

Veggie corn dog, Nutri-Grain bar, cherry tomatoes, blackberries

PBJ sandwich, Babybel cheese, strawberries, grapes

Veggie sandwich on whole wheat, kale chips, chocolate cake


Pin It

Share this :

What's for lunch this week?

To contact us Click HERE


Brie & cranberry panini, cucumbers with ranch dressing, blueberries
For our wedding anniversary this year, Alfie got me a panini press.  I know, it doesn't sound very romantic, but whenever I use it, it brings back memories of our lovely trip to Bruges this summer, eating panini and sipping espresso at a sidewalk cafe, so it's actually quite a romantic present.  Plus, it makes awesome panini.  Our poor grilled cheese sandwich maker is sitting in a cupboard, gathering dust!



 Blueberry bagel & cream cheese, mini carrots, grapes

 Leftover pizza, cherry tomatoes, blackberries

 Chef's salad, savory trail mix, blackberries & pineapple chunks

Turkey croissant sandwich, grapes, assorted cookies

Pin It

Share this :

What's for lunch this week? Cookies!

To contact us Click HERE


Okay, not really.  I've just decided to give myself a break from posting lunch photos since this is the last week of school before the winter break.  So instead of a nutritious, well-balanced meal I'm treating everyone to a photo of two sugar cookie snowmen that we made recently (note to self: never use Nerds for snowman eyes or mouth because they will melt in the oven and the snowman will come out looking like a zombie snowman).

I'll resume my lunch photo posts when school returns in January.  Until then, happy holidays and happy feasting!


Pin It

Share this :

Roy Mueller Appointed Ex. Dir. of LA Children's Chorus

To contact us Click HERE

Long-Time Arts Administrator Previously Served as Executive Director of San Luis Obispo Children’s Museum and Education Director of Pasadena Kidspace Children’s Museum


Roy Mueller, a highly regarded non-profit arts administrator with deep roots in Southern California, has been appointed Executive Director of the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus (LACC) following a nationwide search, it was announced by LACC Board Chair Joanne Crawford-Dunér. Mueller, who is also an accomplished musician, previously served as Executive Director of the San Luis Obispo Children’s Museum, where he led the museum through a successful four-year $5.2 million capital campaign to design and build a new facility. Prior to that he was Education Director of Pasadena Kidspace Children’s Museum, where he developed innovative art and science education programs for a diverse community audience.


“I am pleased to welcome Roy to the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus,” says Crawford-Dunér. “His exceptional non-profit arts leadership skills and keen fundraising abilities, as well as his creative program development, educational background and music performance experience are an ideal match for the position of Los Angeles Children’s Chorus Executive Director. I look forward to working closely with Roy on a number of exciting initiatives during this exciting time in the LACC’s evolution.”


“It is an honor to lead this extraordinary organization,” states Mueller. “During my tenure at the Pasadena’s Kidspace Children’s Museum, I had the opportunity to collaborate with a variety of Los Angeles area arts organizations including the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, Pasadena Symphony and Shumei Arts Council. I am highly impressed by LACC’s artistic excellence and its mission to serve the community. I look forward to working with LACC’s Artistic Director Anne Tomlinson and am pleased to return to Southern California to take the administrative helm of the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus.”


In his role with the San Luis Obispo Children’s Museum, Mueller, who has more than 16 years of non-profit leadership experience, articulated the vision for the new children’s museum and built the organization from the ground up, strategizing and implementing successful fundraising initiatives, including the $5.2 million capital campaign. He developed and managed operational budgets, cultivated community relationships and mentored a staff of 20 to support the vision and mission of the museum. He received a Bachelor of Music (performance) degree from the University of Louisville and a Master of Music (performance) from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell. He also earned a Certificate of Jazz Composition and Performance from Berklee College of Music in Boston. For more than 15 years, Mueller performed as a classical oboist/English hornist in South America, Europe and the United States, composed music for classical, jazz and theatrical genres, and taught music at the university level.


Described as “astonishingly polished,” “hauntingly beautiful,” and “one heck of a talented group of kids,” LOS ANGELES CHILDREN’S CHORUS is widely regarded as one of the world's foremost children's choirs. Founded in 1986 and led by Artistic Director Anne Tomlinson, LACC performs with such leading organizations as LA Opera, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Pasadena Symphony and POPs, Jacaranda, and Calder Quartet. The chorus' roster includes more than 400 children aged 6-18 from 60 communities across Los Angeles in six choirs and First Experiences in Singing classes and ensemble for young singers. LACC has toured South Africa, North and South America, China and Europe, and produced the world-premiere of “Keepers of the Night,” an opera by Peter Ash and Donald Sturrock. The chorus appeared on LA Master Chorale’s Decca recording “A Good Understanding,” and Plácido Domingo’s Deutsche Grammophon recording “Amore Infinito” ("Infinite Love") and, in 2011, gave the U.S. premiere of Esa-Pekka Salonen’s “Dona Nobis Pacem.” The subject of a trilogy of documentaries by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Freida Lee Mock, LACC is featured in the Academy Award-nominated “Sing!,” about a year in the life of the choir; “Sing Opera!,” documenting the production of LACC’s commissioned family opera “Keepers of the Night”; and “Sing China!,” chronicling its groundbreaking tour to China just prior to the Beijing Olympics. LACC has performed with John Mayer on NBC's “The Tonight Show,” and was featured on Public Radio International's nationally syndicated show “From the Top,” among other credits. Open auditions for LACC take place each May. LACC also offers 6-7 year old children a non-auditioned program, First Experiences in Singing, which serves as an enriching and fun introduction to music.

TwtrSymphony's Tremulando Dança to be available for download Monday, October 15th

To contact us Click HERE

Pre-release copies are available NOW for FANS ONLY



Monday, October 15th, TwtrSymphony will release the long awaited 3rd movement of Symphony No. 2 Birds of a Feather, "Tremulando Dança." This piece, which some of our musicians called, "the most difficult, yet rewarding music" is finally out of the studio and ready for the public.


Sound Engineers Garry Boyle and Felipe Gonzalez have been working on this track now for nearly two months. When you hear the complexity of the voicing, the interweaving rhythms and the intricate interplay of the various melodies you'll understand their struggle. Complicating their efforts is the fact that none of the musicians recorded their parts in the same room. The whole concept of TwtrSymphony is connecting musicians from around the world. So, "Tremulando Dança" is a piece comprised of recordings from all over, brought together in the studios of Garry (in Edinburgh Scotland) and Felipe (in Concón, Chile) to create the end product.


The challenge for TwtrSymphony musicians and engineers is to keep the sense of live performance in the music. When sixty-plus musicians are recording their parts individually, without the benefit of hearing what other musicians have done, the result is sixty-plus interpretations to how each note should be played. Through gentle massaging of the recorded tracks, the engineers have pulled together their best work yet.


Sarah Richardson created a video for "Tremulando Dança" which will also launch on Monday. People will be able to stream the music live from TwtrSymphony's website, download the music or play the video on YouTube. The previous track "Birds of Paradise," released in August, reached over 1000 views in just ten days. If this is any indication of TwtrSymphony's growing popularity, "Tremulando Dança" should be even more popular as the rumba-like dance rhythms of the piece are infectious.


Fans of the TwtrSymphony website have a special bonus: right now, downloads for FANS ONLY are FREE. For a limited time, the 1st two movements are being made available for fans, but will be removed from availability next week when Tremulando is available to the public.


TwtrSymphony, conceived by Chip Michael in March 2012, has steadily gained in popularity, reaching over 1400 twitter followers. While no one on the project is paid for their efforts, the quality of their output is getting recognition from newspapers and bloggers around the world with articles appearing in the traditional press as well as online editions.


The first piece Symphony No. 2 Birds of a Feather, written by Chip Michael specifically for the musicians of TwtrSymphony gets to the very core of what it is to be a symphony. Written in four movements, each movement is less than 140 seconds (2 mins, 20 seconds) long, keeping with the premise of TwtrSymphony — to distill the essence of music. Each movement keeps with the tradition of past great composers of symphonies, the first movement in Sonata Allegro form, the second is a slow, introspective work, the third is a scherzo and the fourth (yet to be released) is a theme and variations. Not only does the music capture the essence of what it is to be a symphony, Chip Michael also feels it is important for every part to be fun and relevant to the music. "For a project designed to bring together musicians from around the world, it is important each musician feel integral to the project and not just play a couple notes here and there or just provide a steady beat," said composer Chip Michael.

1 Ocak 2013 Salı

Favorites at the Palm Springs Art Museum

To contact us Click HERE


Last week's free Thursday evenings at the Palm Springs Art Museum, attracted a large group of locals and tourists with two great special exhibits. One featured Southwestern Indian textiles (think wall-size Navajo rugs) and Antibodies: The Works of Fernando & Humberto Campana, 1989-2009, a retrospective devoted to a pair of Brazilian brothers who create whimsical, outrageous furniture (click here) from every imaginable material.

They were also checking out the great permanent collection, including San Francisco Bay Area glass sculptor Oben Albright's Nate from 2009, where a tourist with a hoodie consented to be photographed for their staredown.



Nearby was Cuts, Czech Art Glass from 2006 by Ales Vasicek.



Gunther Gerzso (1915-2000), a Mexico City artist completely new to me, was represented by a couple of striking abstract paintings from 1964, Tres Formas: Ancient Forms above and Rojo y Blanco: White, Red, Green below.



Gerzso was born in Mexico to German immigrants during the Mexican Revolution, was shuttled back and forth between art-loving relatives in Switzerland and his mother and various stepfathers in Mexico City. He became a successful production designer for the theatre and cinema in both the U.S. and Mexico, and started a long painting career in the 1930s, culminating in his abstract period in the 1960s.



Another favorite from the permanent collection hung nearby in the "Western Art" wing, Llyn Foulkes' 1983 The Last Outpost.




Upstairs at the museum is a 2007 funhouse pop sculpture called No title (stacked photos, butter) by Robert Therrien, which performs the uncanny visual hallucination of looking like it is rotating when you walk around it.



In the adjoining room is a favorite 1999 Anselm Kiefer sculpture, Nossis...



...facing Joan Mitchell's beautiful 1990 wall-size painting, Ground.



Rounding out the evening was the great LA-based artist Mark Bradford's 2011 Rat Catcher of Hamelin IV.

21 Cool, Cruel Civic Center Events in 2012

To contact us Click HERE


1. A Tale of Two Inaugurations

Cool: Ed Lee is the first Chinese mayor elected in San Francisco, a city with an historically large Chinese population that has been woefully treated and politically underrepresented for centuries. Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi wins a hard-fought electoral battle for San Francisco Sheriff with much of the old public safety establishment doing everything they can to support his two competitors.

Cruel: Interim mayor Ed Lee "changed his mind" and ran for mayor in the November election, winning with the dual assistance of appointed incumbency and documented fraud throughout Chinatown. His inauguration party in City Hall was roped off from the public and only invited VIPs such as Senator Dianne Feinstein (above left) were allowed into the rotunda.

Mirkarimi's open and public inauguration across the street at Herbst Theatre was overshadowed by accusations of domestic violence against his wife that had just been reported in the SF Chronicle by establishment attack dog Phil Matier, above center. He was at the Mirkarimi reception talking to Joanne Hayes-White, the SF Fire Department Chief who was once accused of bashing her husband's head with a pint glass while he was frantically calling 911.



2. The Chinese Lantern Festival

Cool: An illuminated, two-story, smoke-breathing dragon appeared in Civic Center for two weeks in January and was an unexpected treat, an offshoot of the "Global Winter Wonderland Festival" held in Santa Clara earlier in December.

Cruel: Falun Gong protesters were at the culminating performing event, decrying Chinese government propaganda.



3. America's Got Talent Auditions at Bill Graham

Cool: A surrealistic melange of entertainment wannabes were being herded around Civic Center for a photo shoot.

Cruel: It felt like wandering into a contemporary version of Day of the Locust.



4. The SAFE Campaign to Abolish the California Death Penalty

Cool: Instead of campaigning on moral grounds, the anti-death penalty Proposition 34 proponents stressed pragmatism and how financially wasteful and ineffective the California death penalty actually is in practice. The campaign attracted smart, idealistic people among its ranks of volunteers, and they had a serious chance to win.

Cruel: The proposition lost 52%-48% in the November election.



5. BooBoo Stewart at the Asian American Film Festival Party

Cool: Standing next to a Twilight star in your local neighborhood Asian Art Museum at a film festival party is fun.

Cruel: The post-film party offerings were desserts and sweet cocktails, not a good combination for most metabolisms.



6. St. Patrick's Day Parade

Cool: It's a charming parade with lots of cute white people and everyone else too, step dancing and marching and drinking on floats.

Cruel: In New York, the St. Patrick's Day Parade is still disallowing a gay contingent, in the year 2013.



7. The Unethical Mirkarimi Mess

Cool: Nobody came out of the public inquisition by Mayor Lee against the elected Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi looking good. The few exceptions were Ethics Commission President Benjamin Hur who voted his conscience, and Mirkarimi's final duo of lawyers, Waggoner and Kopp, who were sometimes the only ones in the San Francisco Ethics hearing room who seemed remotely ethical.

Cruel: I wrote about this story a lot, but it's a sordid tale that is better buried. The drawn-out, expensive political theater was a disturbing look behind the curtain at the corruption and ineptitude of San Francisco city government, and how that can manifest itself in a poisonous vindictiveness that wouldn't be out of place in an organized crime family.



8. Falun Gong Adopts Civic Center

Cool: Elderly Chinese, performing regimented Tai Chi routines to cheesy music, in the big empty plaza in front of City Hall, is a lovely addition to the neighborhood.

Cruel: They are a religious cult, but so is the Catholic Church.



9. Breathing Flower on the Plaza

Cool: The Asian Art Museum installed a 24-foot fabric red lotus by Korean artist Choi Jeong Hwa as part of their Phantoms of Asia exhibit, and the piece waved around wildly in the Pacific Ocean wind tunnel plaza for the entire summer.

Cruel: The neighborhood was afraid it was going to fly away at some point.



10. Future's Past in Hayes Valley

Cool: Burning Man's Black Rock Arts Foundation continues to funnel beautiful and interesting sculptures into the Hayes/Octavia Patricia's Green, and the latest is a small temple by Kate Raudenbush.

Cruel: Graffiti monsters have semi-trashed the interior.

21 Cool, Cruel Civic Center Events in 2012 Continued

To contact us Click HERE


11. Charlotte and George Schultz's Carriage Entrance

Cool: In May, the married pair of power brokers Charlotte and George Schultz above left arrived in a fairy-tale carriage at the horseshoe entrance to the Opera House, which had been renamed for them. At a ceremony, they were feted by Mayor Ed Lee, former Mayor Willie Brown, Jr. and Stephen Bechtel, Jr.

Cruel: It is rare to see so much ancient evil gathered together in public.



12. Asian Heritage Street Celebration

Cool: Also in May, the relatively new Asian Heritage Street Festival set up again on lower Larkin Street in Little Saigon. It was a riot of different ethnicities, music, food and entertainment.

Cruel: The politically dubious Fang family, which publishes Asian Week, are the main sponsors of the event.



13. Gay Pride Festival Goes Straight

Cool: Thirty-plus years after the first Gay Pride protest marches, the event has become a week-long, corporate-sponsored mega-event. It seems to draw less gay people each year and more heterosexual young people who are looking for free entertainment and communal boozing. You might call this social progress, of a sort.

Cruel: What could possibly go wrong with young suburbanites of every ethnicity drinking too much alcohol in public together in the big, bad city? The event is starting to have a Halloween in the Castro vibe.



14. The New SFPUC Building Opens

Cool: The colossally expensive, green-certified headquarters for the SF Public Utilities Commission finally opened after decades of planning and construction at Golden Gate and Polk. It's the first instantly beloved new government building in years, partly because Ned Kahn's Firefly sculpture above is so striking.

Cruel: This is the house that Hetch Hetchy built.



15. Federal Persecution of Local Marijuana Dispensaries

Cool: In August, a group of mourners marched from the Haight to the Federal Building on Golden Gate to protest the continuing, incessant harassment of medical marijuana dispensaries in the Bay Area. U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag was deemed worthy of her own special effigy.

Cruel: The continuing federal drug war against marijuana is wasteful and obscene.



16. Dreamforce Tent City and SF Symphony Gala Opening

Cool: On Wednesday evening, September 19th, Civic Center was the place to be. The huge downtown Salesforce convention had assembled a tent city across from City Hall for a party in Civic Center Plaza, including a large stage for a performance by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Meanwhile, the San Francisco Symphony at Davies Hall across the street was hosting the society opening gala with parties in the lobby, in a tent, and on the street.

Cruel: The troubling trend of San Francisco Rec and Park renting out public space to private groups for days and weeks at a time upped the ante with this Salesforce event.



17. The Folsom Street Fair

Cool: There was warm, late September weather for the annual worldwide celebration of sexual kink in the streets.

Cruel: Like many street fairs, the event is a case study in claustrophobia.



18. The Mountain Dew Tour

Cool: This extreme sports competition dedicated to professional skateboarders and BMX bicyclists moved into Civic Center in October for a week of construction followed by a week of exciting events that were mostly free and open to the public.

Cruel: The footprint on public grounds was large and controversial. The lawns still hadn't grown back by late December.



19. SF Giants Win the World Series

Cool: Buster Posey is God. San Franciscans waited over sixty years for their first World Series win, and now the team has done it twice in three years.

Cruel: The second World Series win brought out an element of public hooliganism that was absent in 2010.



20. The November Election

Cool: Mitt Romney and an assortment of cuckoo Republicans were defeated nationwide, and the sound heard throughout the land was a huge electoral sigh of relief.

Cruel: California Proposition 34 lost and a whole host of dumb, expensive San Francisco propositions won.



21. The Outlawing of Public Nudity

Cool: Nudists have taken their struggle to hang out in public to the streets of San Francisco.

Cruel: The nude dudes walking and sitting in the Castro District over the last year have so annoyed Supervisor Weiner and some of his constituents that legislation has been passed to outlaw public nudity in all of San Francisco. Savonarola lives.