No one living can say whether the original, ten-hour version of Erich von Stroheim's most famous movie was the epic masterpiece it was touted to be. The 140-minute version is all that remains, and while it's only a quarter of the film it was meant to be, it's still one of the greatest accomplishments (SPOILER) of the silent film era. [more inside]
posted by Trurl
on Dec 18, 2011 -
13 comments
Teachings on Right Practice by Shunryu Suzuki, as compiled in
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, read by Peter Coyote:
"Posture", "Breathing",
"Control",
"Mind Weeds",
"The Marrow of Zen",
"Bowing",
"Nothing Special"
posted by Trurl
on Nov 8, 2011 -
16 comments
Meanwhile, 6th and Mission St
is in the center of city. If you've ever walked it, it's like stepping into the another world, not a pleasant one either. On a rainy night, wandering into
Tu Lan, it's famed Vietnamese restaurant, is the closest experience I can recommend to feeling like you're in Blade Runner in America. I work between 5th and 6th on Mission and have wondered and despised how such a place like this came to be. Here's an answer from someone that lives there, which really has me thinking.
posted by straight_razor
on Nov 4, 2011 -
106 comments
"Born
Shigeyoshi Murao in 1926, he was universally known as Shig. His playful demeanor—not to mention his signature beard, Pendleton shirts, Royal Air Force exercise vest, horn-rimmed glasses, and bowler—rendered him unforgettable. But that did not make him easy to know.
Shig, who died in 1999, is largely remembered for an event that occurred on June 3, 1957, when two undercover agents from the San Francisco Police Juvenile Squad showed up at City Lights
to buy a seventy-five-cent book of poetry."
[more inside]
posted by Toekneesan
on Oct 5, 2011 -
10 comments
Transient Man. "Transient is a
black comedy about a homeless man who's visions lead him to believe he is an inter-dimensional savior of humanity, on a mission to save the universe. Is he indeed the 'one', chosen by mystical divine forces to embark on a crusade against ultimate evil, or a hopeless lunatic, aimlessly wandering the streets of San Francisco? Transient is a spoof on the hero's journey that's part Men in Black, part Raising Arizona, flavored with liberal portions of Ghostbusters and John Steinbeck. It is a ballad to the city by the bay, and a heartfelt tale of the sacrifices one man will take for his love for his family, his friends, and all of humankind."
[Via]
posted by homunculus
on Sep 3, 2011 -
20 comments
The Doggie Diner was the name of a Bay Area chain of burger joints that had its heyday in the '60s and '70s. The last remaining restaurant in the Chain was located at the corner of 46th and Sloat in San Francisco, CA. Even after the place became a restaurant with a new name ("Carousel") the giant Fiberglass dachshund head remained as a piece of nostalgia until a storm toppled it on April 1st, 2001. The head
was relocated in January 2005 to the median of Sloat Boulevard and became San Francisco city landmark #254. Now the restaurant itself
is slated for demolition.
[more inside]
posted by MattMangels
on Aug 22, 2011 -
32 comments
Shortly before noon yesterday morning an art thief walked into the
Weinstein Gallery near San Francisco's Union Square, grabbed Pablo Picasso's 1965 pencil drawing,
"Tête de Femme (Head of a Woman)" and strolled casual out of the museum to a waiting cab. Witnesses described the man as a "well dressed" "white man about 6 feet tall, age 30 to 35, wearing a dark jacket, a white shirt, dark pants, large dark glasses and loafers with no socks." Surveillance cameras at nearby restaurant Lefty O'Doul's appear to have
captured the suspect as he walked briskly down the street, Picasso under arm.
“
Most galleries that show this caliber of artwork don’t put it on street level,” said gallery owner Rowland Weinstein. “It’s very upsetting, because my goal is to keep this kind of work accessible to the public.” Weinstein says the piece was insured and is valued at $200,000.
posted by 2bucksplus
on Jul 6, 2011 -
101 comments
As a public transit geek, I really enjoyed
this story. We've talked about taking public transit on
unlikely routes
previously, and I read the original
blog post giving the directions on how to get from SF to LA using only public transit. But the article from
SF Weekly's In Transit blogger, Joe Eskanazi, really brings the trip to life.
posted by agatha_magatha
on Jun 27, 2011 -
28 comments
On Christmas Eve, exactly
100 years ago,
Luisa Tetrazzini, the most famous opera singer of her day, sang in the streets of San Francisco as a gift to the city she loved. 250,000 people, most of them survivors of the 1906 earthquake listened in silence as she began with "
The Last Rose of Summer," then sang along as she ended with "Auld Lang Syne."
posted by williampratt
on Dec 24, 2010 -
9 comments
"I never know what to call myself really. I call myself a cartoonist because it's what I've wanted to do for as long as I can remember, it's what I always return to, and it's how I think. But I don't really work in that field. I think I'm an artist and a writer, or more appropriately, an artist who writes."
[more inside]
posted by oulipian
on Jul 31, 2010 -
5 comments
Button du Jour. A charming semi-daily imaginary vignette featuring food, fashion, music, and an exotic location -- all inspired by a beautiful button.
posted by ottereroticist
on Feb 1, 2010 -
6 comments
God Hates Signs: Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church band-of-bigots showed up in San Francisco the other day to protest at the headquarters of Twitter. (Why? "Twitter should be used to tell the punks of doomed America that God hates you!"). They were
met by counter-protesters, well versed in the dark arts of snark. Hilarity ensues.
posted by fourcheesemac
on Jan 31, 2010 -
123 comments
San Francisco - the Worst-Run Big City in the U.S. Despite its spending more money per capita, period, than almost any city in the nation, San Francisco has poorly managed, budget-busting capital projects, overlapping social programs no one is certain are working, and a transportation system where the only thing running ahead of schedule is the size of its deficit.
[more inside]
posted by VikingSword
on Dec 21, 2009 -
130 comments
31 years ago today, 918 people died in the
Jonestown Mass Murder-Suicide. One week later, CBC Radio aired
this comprehensive examination[MP3] of the events leading up the tragedy, including cult leader Jim Jones' rise to power, the founding of the Peoples Temple Agricultural Project in Guyana, and the ill-fated investigative delegation headed by Congressman Leo Ryan which precipitated the tragic event.
posted by Alvy Ampersand
on Nov 17, 2009 -
51 comments
"The
What Cheer House catered to men only, permitted no liquor on the premises, and housed San Francisco's first free library and first museum." Opened in 1852 by
Robert B. Woodward it became immensely popular. "[S]ailors enjoyed staying there... [he] was such a well-liked man that they would often bring him trinkets from around the world when they’d come to town. For Woodward, these gifts were the beginning of what would become a life-long obsession with collecting." He moved the collection and opened
Woodward's Gardens in 1866 between Mission and Valencia at 13th-15th streets. Called the
Central Park of the West, it was San Francisco's most famous public resort.
[more inside]
posted by jessamyn
on Oct 4, 2009 -
23 comments
