by Gene Mahoney

August 2001

I had a good time at the Los Altos Art & Wine Festival on July 15th. I normally don’t go to those things (as they’re pretty much all alike anyway) but Kimberlye Gold was performing an acoustic set, so I was there. She was booked for the 10 a.m. slot, so hardly anyone was around when she performed, but she did manage to attract a decent-sized crowd by the end, and even sold a few of her CD’s. A few hours later this one guy took the stage who was a real trip. Actually, his stage name is That One Guy. He’s kind of unassuming and slight like Beck (except when he howls at the audience), his voice sounds like the singer from Cake and he plays instruments made out of plumbing pipes and other things. Visit his web site at www.that1guy.com. Get his debut CD, Songs in the Key of Beotch, for merely $14.95 (that includes shipping) by sending your dough to: Mike Silverman, P.O. Box 356, Walnut Creek, CA 94597....

Shady Lady sent me their CD and it sounds pretty good -- kind of Janis Joplin-ish. They play around town. Look for them.... Berlin sent me a 3-song promo disc as they’re coming out with a new CD soon; probably by late August. It’s really good; the same sound they’ve always had with more of a trip-hop and trance influence. Check out www.berlinpage.com for more info, including little tidbits about lead singer Terri Nunn’s past: Did you know she almost got the role of Princess Leia in Star Wars? (Did you know that Christopher Walken was almost Han Solo?) There’s also scenes of Terri as a teen actress appearing in episodes of Lou Grant and Trapper John, M.D., and some not-quite-classic movies like Follow That Car. There’s also some rather serious biographical information about her. Terri looks lovely on this issue’s cover, doesn’t she? Read more about her recent performance in San Jose in this issue’s Almost Famous column....

I started dropping off the Herald in Petaluma and noticed a cool shop called Red Devil Records, where you can get ‘60’s folk artists like Odetta and Joan Baez on used vinyl as well as a host of punk ‘zines. It’s at 170 Kentucky Street. Call (707) 769-8999....

Transit is a project in L.A. where artists show their work at bars, cafes, clubs, or clothing stores instead of the stuffy confines of art galleries. Founder Leonardo Bravo is looking for venues to bring Transit into San Francisco. If you own a place and are interested in doing this, contact him at lbravo@galef.org....

Gary Meyer of Ideas in Oakland sent an email informing me that Joe Roth, the producer/director of the new Julia Roberts’ film America’s Sweethearts used to be an usher at the Balboa Theater and urges my readers to visit there, as he’s doing P.R. work for them. He buttered me up by telling me how great the Herald is so much that I put that in here....

Also near the ocean: Bajis and his dad tell me they are celebrating their one year anniversary of owning Western Sunset Market (4099 Judah @ 46th) and thank you for your patronage. I always go there for stuff before my excursions to nearby Ocean Beach. They threatened to prohibit me from distributing the Herald at their store unless I put that in here ....

You know how nice Victor, the owner of Crepe ‘n Coffee (California near Divisadero) is? Well, his ex-wife has opened a second location in the ‘loin at 10 Mason Street, near Market....

Pond, "a place for art, activism, and ideas", is now at 214 Valencia. Call 437-9151 or log onto www.mucketymuck.org for more info....Across the street from Pond is a new place called Friend’s Cafe. Jeff Page and Melissa McManus work behind the counter and need more tips so head on over to 207 Valencia and help them out....

UC Berkeley needs your help battling graffiti and litter for their upcoming Cal-Clean Up Day Event on Sept. 28 from 12- 3 p.m. To find out what you can do to help contact Karen Abesamis at (510) 643-0890 or kabesamis@dofm.berkeley.edu. Personally, I think we should arrest people for spraying graffiti and littering and make them clean it up, chain-gang style....

On a similar note: Kudos to Rob Morse for his July 16th column in the Chronicle about what a dump Market Street is. Why isn’t this place cleaned up yet? Rudy Giulliani straightened out New York -- the biggest, roughest city in America, and the guys in charge here can’t even clean up this dinky little 7 mile by 7 mile collection of hills we cohabitate in? When we even have one-tenth the population the Big Apple has? I remember visiting San Francisco from my native New York when I was a little kid and my mother looking out the window (on Market Street) saying; " I can’t get over what a clean city this is." Now people in New York look down on us as being a bunch of slobs. Morse cites a passage George Kelling and Catherine Coles wrote in their 1996 book Broken Windows: "If the neighborhood cannot keep a bothersome panhandler from annoying passers-by, the thief my reason, it is even less likely to call the police to identify a potential mugger or to interfere if the mugging actually takes place." Hey, Mayor Giulliani: Have you ever thought about leaving your marital problems behind and moving out here? We could use you....

And now, back to Berkeley and on to a pissed-off feminist singer from upstate New York who I’m sure hates the Mayor of New York City: Kimberley Gold and I visited a delightful Greek eatery near the Greek Theatre before ani di franco’s concert a few weeks ago. It’s called Nefeli Caffe (1854 Euclid Avenue) and I have to give a shout-out to the nice guy from Cypress, named Andros, who worked there....

Paintings and original prints by Jesse Allen are still at the Vorpal Gallery until September 1st.... Liz White’s The Carol Meyers Story, "a comedic stand-up tragedy", will be performed at The Marsh (1062 Valencia) from 8/2 to 8/25. Tickets are $10 - 15 (though no one will be turned away for lack of funds)....

Some recommendations: Need a magician for your kid’s party? Call my pal Steve at (650) 326-3824. Need affordable health insurance? Call my agent, Stella Cheung of Co-Op Insurance at (415) 824-8483. Need someone to liven up a dull party? Contact me and I’ll pass it on to San Francisco’s hottest new artist, Lauri Jacobs. Her and her parrot will make you laugh and feel better about life. Only $50 an hour. Man/woman genteel parties only. No all-guy frat blowouts. She’s not that kind of party girl. I’m at editor@sfherald.com. Need an accountant? Email my guy, Lee, at leeske1040@aol.com....

Need a helicopter? I know a guy who has a Brantly B2B two-place helicopter for sale. 650 lb. Payload! $40K. Contact me if you’re interested, once again I’m at editor@sfherald.com.

If you wish to read more click here!

Gene can be emailed here