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Feature

Surprise!

If you think S.F. is ready for a terrorist attack – even two years-plus after 9/11 – think again

By Peter Byrne

Published: January 21, 2004

On a gorgeous, warm November morning, a small army of San Francisco cops, sheriff's deputies, FBI agents, and other would-be terrorist fighters gathers behind Pac Bell Park to test its chops. Armed...

Matt Smith

The Tax Man Cometh

The federal government looks to eliminate abusive tax shelters, and it may cost San Francisco tens of millions of dollars

By Matt Smith

Published: January 21, 2004

When it comes to money, I'm not ordinarily a prescient man. I first got wind of this insufficiency in 1995, when, while working for Dow Jones Newswires, I tut-tutted investors who had made...

Dog Bites

Beyond "Whip It"

"The hole," said Jen Childs, "kind of freaks me out."

By Anna North

Published: January 21, 2004

If you recognize the name Mark Mothersbaugh, you probably imagine a young man in a shiny red hat, cracking a whip. That's what he was doing in Devo's "Whip It" video, at the pinnacle of his fame....

Letters

Letters to the Editor

Week of Wednesday, January 21, 2004

Published: January 21, 2004

Lords of the Tenderloin The feds are culprits, too: Thank you for Matt Smith's excellent and bold article on the perennial problems of the Tenderloin ["The Place That Time Forgot," Jan. 7]....

Music

Don't Call It a Comeback

He's been here for years, but few expected singer/songwriter Mark Kozelek to deliver such a rousing new album

By Garrett Kamps

Published: January 21, 2004

It starts with a quiet, distant guitar line, so you turn your stereo up, trying to find the music. There's a little smudge of cymbal, a tiny note or two from the bass -- still, it's awfully quiet....

Reviewed

The Thrills

So Much for the City

By Abigail Clouseau

Published: January 21, 2004

It's not difficult to understand people's obsession with California, especially if you've spent a significant amount of time here. It can be a magical place, which is why it comes up in pop music...

Reviewed

The Monolith

Here Comes the Monolith

By Benjamin Friedland

Published: January 21, 2004

The Monolith's music could be a guilty pleasure. In fact, it should be. But there's nothing to feel guilty about here, despite the indulgent, booming synthesizers and the big guitars bursting...

OK Then

DVD TNT

Oxbow's Eugene Robinson chokes both his chicken and his fans in this new documentary about one of the city's coolest bands

By Garrett Kamps

Published: January 21, 2004

The problem with going out to see bands these days is the looming likelihood that you're going to get ejaculated on by a 200-pound bodybuilder trained in three kinds of martial arts as brutal waves...

Hear This

Hear This

Like punk rock conga lines and dissing Moby? This show's right up your alley.

By Bob Cantu

Published: January 21, 2004

The most frequently asked question people have after an encounter with John Ruskin, aka Nardwuar the Human Serviette, is "Is this guy for real?" A DJ on college radio since 1987, Nardwuar is an...

BeatBox

BeatBox

Sound Kills You: Monolake and Deadbeat get freaky on a 10-plus-channel system

By Tamara Palmer, Philip Sherburne

Published: January 21, 2004

Jazz great Roy Ayers is one of those veteran cats whose music has reached far beyond his original milieu to inspire a new generation of sounds. His giddy and fuzzy vibraphone has been nicked by...

Eat

Just Like Old Times

We can't believe how inexpensive the good food is at Watercress

By Matthew Stafford

Published: January 21, 2004

There was a time, not that long ago, when the questing diner would head to the Mission District for nothing edgier than a carnitas burrito or a restorative bowl of hot menudo. Then the dot-com boom...

Social Grace

My Brother's Loser

When bad girlfriends happen to good siblings

By Social Grace

Published: January 21, 2004

Dear Social Grace, I'm close to my brother, who's mild mannered, but his live-in girlfriend is mouthy and aggressive. She thinks she knows everything and talks nonstop. Is there a polite way...

Film

Because We Could

A tender and moving look at the essential questions of living a life

By Melissa Levine

Published: January 21, 2004

In the beginning, there was nudity. Along a bank of the Colorado River, cradled by jutting cliffs, a community of sun-kissed river guides bathed happily in the nude. They were young and lithe; they...

Reel World

The Man Between

"When I decided to be an artist, I thought it was my license to investigate being alive."

By Michael Fox

Published: January 21, 2004

San Francisco filmmaker William Farley premiered two acclaimed features in competition at the Sundance (né U.S.) Film Festival in the '80s -- Citizen , which marked Whoopi Goldberg's screen...

Reps Etc.

Reps Etc.

Published: January 21, 2004

Commentary by Gregg Rickman ( greggr1@mindspring.com ). Times compiled from information available Tuesday; it's always advisable to call for confirmation. Price given is standard adult...

Night&Day;

Great Scot

Bagpipes, Robert Burns' poetry, haggis, and about a million kinds of scotch

By Hiya Swanhuyser

Published: January 21, 2004

A friend, we'll call her Erika, was the childhood victim of enforced cultural rites. Growing up in the 1980s in San Bernardino, wishing for blonder hair, a better bikini, and the perfect routine...

Night&Day;

This Week's Day-by-Day Picks

Published: January 21, 2004

Wednesday, January 21, 2004 What's the last movie you saw? Cold Mountain ? Elf ? God help you, Mona Lisa Smile ? Hey, we all love that sweet, sweet Hollywood pap, but the good folks at...

Night&Day;

Mann Made

Anthony Mann seems to have tried everything in his long movie career

By Frako Loden

Published: January 21, 2004

"Choosing the way to die -- what's the difference? Choosing the way to live -- that's the hard part." When grinning fugitive Robert Ryan points this fact out to bounty hunter James Stewart in...

Urban Experience

Say It Loud

Korean-Americans find their voice

Published: January 21, 2004

FRI 1/23 Though the Bay Area's Chinese and Japanese inhabitants seem to have the most street cred, they're not the only immigrants who streamed across the Pacific in search of a better life....

Sports/Outdoors

Not Boring Boards

Art and history, writ large

Published: January 21, 2004

THURS 1/22 Townsend Street used to be at the town's end. Fifth and Mission was sand-covered hills. Harrison Street was a marsh. Even if you know these facts already, you probably haven't...