San Francisco and what to do in it

let's not forgot Governor American Psycho's publicly-financed drunken extra-marital affair with his campaign manager

it's a rich tapestry over here

I totally have mixed feelings that he is actually not that awful as a Governor.

let's not forgot Governor American Psycho's publicly-financed drunken extra-marital affair with his campaign manager

Governor American Psycho's public health crusade as mayor which ended up consisting of banning the sale of cigarettes at SF Walgreens stores was a real feather in his cap.

This is fucking maddening: https://missionlocal.org/2020/02/mohammed-nuru-investigation-the-555-fulton-project-disappeared-off-the-citys-computer-system-heres-how-that-happened/

I've been thinking of renovating, but the YEAR-long wait for a permit is a major obstacle. Turns out I need to hire an "expediter." Grrrr.

...Grrrr.

― DJI, Monday, February 17, 2020

for starters

Haha actually the SF Building and planning department is fairly pleasant to wait in compared to Oakland! I am kinda sorta an expediter’s assistant

hello SF ilxors.

i'll be here tomorrow through early next week. will be staying in SF but would like to make it out to oakland and possibly berkeley. any tips on fun things happening would be appreciated. DJ nights / shows / film screenings / record fairs / farmers markets / whatever.

what RECORD STORES do i need to go to?

also wouldn't mind tips on:

oysters
DUMPLINGS!
cheap beer
good movie theatres (all purpose film snobbery encouraged)
mexican food / burritos
burmese food

thanks for anything you feel like sharing :)

Oakland is non-stop fun

I vote Swan's Oyster Depot. caveat: it is very old school, with no tables just a counter, cash only, and odd hours, like 8 - 5-ish. One of my absolute favorite places though. Crab Louie salad rules, so does the house cured salmon. and of course the oysters

good movie theatres (all purpose film snobbery encouraged)

the Castro: http://www.castrotheatre.com/

mexican food / burritos

El Metate, San Jalisco, Tonayense (truck only now, I think), Roosevelt Tamale Parlor

what RECORD STORES do i need to go to?

I'm not nearly as up on the scene as I used to be and things have contracted a bit, my go-tos are still Amoeba (on Haight) and 1-2-3-4 Go! (in the Mission). There's various other small curiosities but I'm not sure what they all specialize in. Groove Merchant is, miraculously, somehow still around but I tend not to go there much anymore given how overpriced they are (despite their generally good selection of jazz, reggae, funk, rap etc.)

record stores -- you want to go to Oakland/Berkeley

San Francisco is pretty and has great food, and has the occasional big deal event -- the Recombinant Fest is this weekend at Gray Area -- but pretty much most interesting cultural stuff has moved east to Oakland and Berkeley.

pffft

ok, sorry, there are great cultural activities for children in San Francisco. I realize I am being adult-ist.

heh apology accepted

you know what is 100% awesome for kids in the east bay is this place: https://www.cityofberkeley.info/ContentDisplay.aspx?id=8656

there's also that Bladium (?) place in Alameda that apparently now has awesome food for the kids' aging hipster parents that used to live in San Francisco ;)

I generally second everything already mentioned. Will also throw in:

* cheap beer: in this town? That said you could do way worse than to visit Toronado for the selection at least. Upcider for, indeed, cider and Whitechapel for gin are fun soaks.

* would love to know good DUMPLINGS! spots myself

* the Alamo Drafthouse is the Alamo Drafthouse but hey, it's my local, so.

* further to burritos, Cancun and La Corneta both do the job too.

* as for Burmese, Burma Superstar has kinda been ground zero for the frenzy but there must be more.

* and as for record stores, just visited Tunnel Records out near Ocean Beach on Taraval the other day -- mostly vinyl, some cassettes and a few books, bit of a rock/jazz split (plus lots of Dead tapes), not a bad deal but also a bit out of the way.

idk that place, I only go to Alameda for the pinball museum - and even that doesn't really draw me in anymore because we have (the superior, ie no cover charge) in SF https://www.yelp.com/biz/free-gold-watch-san-francisco

xp

a record store by the beach?! wtf will check out

Yeah it's been around for a couple of years, my sis likes it. They have their head on their shoulders; first thing I saw when I walked in was they had the debut issue of Maggot Brain available! (I let Mike M. know, of course)

https://tunnelrecordssf.com/

(Will add they sell no CDs and aren't interested in buying them from what I saw.)

There is a Burma Superstar in Oakland, as well as Teni East which is also super good ... there are also a few less bougie places out in the Avenues (Oakland's avenues not to be confused with San Francisco's avenues ... though somehow San Franciscans sometimes think theirs is the only city with streets and avenues that are in separate parts of the city and are shocked!!! that Oakland also has this.)

Maggot Brain is also available at Issues -- a rad magazine / book / small collection of records and stuff store in Oakland, run by noise legend Joe Colley and his partner, Noella who was a long-time KUSF (R.I.P.) DJ

Burma treats its staff like shit. Go to another Burmese place.

The Roti at Teni East is awesome btw

Three best movie places in the east bay imo: Pacific Film Archive, The Grand Lake, The Parkway.

Seriously, SB er FP me for trolling your thread with how the East Bay is better than San Francisco ... I will continue to rep for it

Though you know where San Francisco has Oakland beat hands fucking down? The Department of Building Inspection. They have a system where you sign in and get a number electronically and it will text you when your number is about to be called, as opposed to Oakland's Building Department where you have to sit and wait in person.

don't have much to add to this but I'll advocate for the following record stores in Oakland/Berkeley: 1234Go on 40th; Dave's on San Pablo; obv both Amoeba and Rasputin's in Berkeley (Rasputin's still has the better vinyl selection since owner hoarded vinyl for years and years then opened a vinyl only store that he then closed; now it seems to be getting doled out bit by bit).

The Rasputins in San Lorenzo and Pleasant Hill always have better selections fwiw

the Rasputins in San Lorenzo is where the person who broke into and ripped off my friends' record store tried to sell back their stock a few years back

That reminds of of the time a guy robbed my place sold my records to Amoeba Berkeley. Long story short: I called Amoeba, they had his ID from earlier in the day when he made the sale, he got arrested, and I got paid back in jail labor checks.

Stranded Records is massively overpriced but they sell a lot of good stuff. SF or Oakland.

I'd recommend Down Home in El Cerrito if you just want a dusty ol record store that's been around a while.

Stranded sucks because of Flyergate ... omg I kinda miss the innocent pre-Trump, pre-Ghost Ship days where Flyergate happened.

yeah fuck Stranded, I hate that store

selection is shit, aesthetic is awful (I hate those stores that have multiple display racks of a single record), pricing is eh, and the flyer thing

wow, thanks for all this !

also now i have to know what flyergate is

in SF Stranded took over the spot previously occupied by Aquarius Records, which was v much a local music-community hub - they held in-store shows, they had a well-maintained website with copious reviews, they displayed posters/flyers, had a zine/local publication rack, they were v connected to what was going on in the city. Stranded's approach is the exact opposite.

* would love to know good DUMPLINGS!! spots myself

I've heard Kingdom of Dumpling in Parkside is good, but it's not really a sit-down place. I've not tried it myself yet.

yeah I'm no fan of Stranded either; and I'm fine with SV as a label but when there was some kerfuffle over their Spacemen 3 reissues rather than answer my question about them the owner blocked me on social media, so fuck them.

wait what S3 kerfuffle

xp - a very nice earnest SF musician posted about going into Stranded and wanting to put up a flyer for her experimental indie pop show and the record store guy was a dick to her and wouldn't let her put up a flyer because they think flyers look messy (or something like that), and then it escalated ... the Stranded guy unfriended me on FB because I was part of the pro-flyer faction even though I was pretty respectful about it

yeah they have a NO FLYERS policy cuz that would violate their all-beige-no-humans aesthetic

this other dude who has/had a record store in Oakland that is mostly hip-hop posted in support of Stranded dude saying that the people who just want to put out flyers don't actually buy stuff from his store, and then at least one friend of mine was like, "nah dude, me and my homie would totally buy from your store when we dropped off flyers for our gigs" ...

i think the hip-hop store guy sometimes post(ed) here