San Fran Voice

The neighborhoods of San Francisco differ greatly from one another.  You can be in the midst of one socio-cultural experience one block and then walk for just a few minutes and find that the entire world around you has changed.  Given the small geographic boundaries which make up the city, this helps to create the wonderfully diverse, open, tolerant that makes up the beautiful attitude of San Francisco life.  There’s lots of good information out there about San Francisco neighborhoods – including where to eat, what historical sites there are and which history makes up the area.  But I’m here to tell you just the basics about what my own experience in these different neighborhoods has been in the last year that I’ve lived in San Francisco.

We’ll start with North Beach.  Because I live somewhat on the fringes of this famous home to the Beat poets, I walk through the thick of it on almost a daily basis.  It was the only place in the city that I really wanted to live in when I first moved here, and it remains a favorite spot for me today.  Sure, it’s partly because it has the cafes and the restaurants, the laidback corner bars and the famous drinking spots, but it’s also because it has a super laidback but still modern attitude.

North Beach offers diversity in more than just the obvious ways.  Known by some as Little Italy, it certainly has the influence of Old World Italy in the air, supported by the summer festivals which highlight this part of the city’s history.  My most favorite of these events was not North Beach specific at all but was rather international – The World Cup.  Cafes and bars all across the area set up televisions throughout the series, and when it came down to that final game, every inch of every free spot was taken.  People from here mingled with people from other continents on the streets to watch the game, and when Italy won, the streets were shut down by people dancing and playing and celebrating the fun.  Unlike post-game riots that I’ve seen in other places, it was all about the revelry and fun. Of course, the World Cup doesn’t happen all of the time, but that kind of revelry is a common North Beach occurrence.  Sometimes it gets temporarily out of hand – there are certainly plenty of Saturday nights when I hear drunken fights taking place outside of my window – but for the most part, there’s lots of fun happening here.  Of course, I have my own favorite spots to get away from the major crowds that flood the area.  I like the boutiques on Grant Street for daytime window shopping.  I like the inexpensive Indian food lunches at Kennedy’s Irish Pub.  I am virtually addicted to the $1 coffee and free truffle at XOX Truffles.  I think that there’s no place in the city better for buying gelato than a North Beach bakery.But I’m happy to live in the midst of touristy stuff as well.  I’ve perfected the art of giving house guests the “North Beach and More” tour in under a day.  With quick visits to Lombard Street, The Real World House, Hyde St. Pier, Ghirardelli Chocolate Factory, Fisherman’s Wharf, Musee Mechanique, Pier 39, Caffe Trieste, North Beach Pizza, Coit Tower, Chinatown, City Lights Books and Vesuvio’s, it’s possible to see a huge chunk of famous places in about half a day … enjoying amazing views of the city and remembering that there’s plenty of enjoyment in the North Beach tourist experience.

Next neighborhood: Mission  

It’s okay to cut your losses and try again later.

I know that I can climb this one particular path at Mission Cliffs because it’s the first one that I ever beat and I’ve done it several times since.  But today when I tried to do it, I just couldn’t get to the top of it.  In fact, I couldn’t get to the top of anything that I climbed today.  And finally, I realized that there was no point in forcing myself to do something that wasn’t working for me.

Sure, I could berate myself and beat myself over the head in frustration because I wasn’t able to accomplish what I’d set out to accomplish this morning.  But the reality of climbing is that sometimes you’re just too tired or too sore or too “not there” enough to be able to do it.  And it’s okay - I’ll go to the gym again tomorrow and I’ll be in a better place and I’ll beat the indoor mountain instead of letting it beat me.

And you know, it’s the same way with love sometimes.  You can force yourself to go on dates because you think you need to meet someone, but you can’t make them go well.  You can’t make yourself fall in love or make yourself be more available to someone than you’re ready to be.  And instead of beating yourself up for your supposed failures, it’s okay to just step back, look at the wall of love and think to yourself, “you know what, I’ll climb you later”.

San Francisco is a place where live music is found all over the city, all of the time.  But that’s even truer this week than most weeks because this week, Noise Pop 2007 is in town.  Noise Pop is the annual music festival which features multiple bands nightly at multiple venues across the city over the course of a week.  There are all-ages shows and eighteen-and-up shows along with the standard drinking age crowds, and you can catch most performances for under $20.  If you really want to get into the mix, get a badge for $150 and see all that there is to see.

Noise Pop kicks off with a party at Mezzanine on Tuesday.  Venues include, but aren’t limited to, Rickshaw Stop, Bimbo’s 365, Great American Music Hall and The Fillmore.  Bands include Scissors for Lefty, Lyrics Born, Dandy Warhols, The Dwarves and Cake.  See the full schedule here.  And be sure to check out which sign-specific band SF Voice horoscopes recommends for you.

Of course, there’s more than just the Noise Pop music happening this week in the city.  Other, unrelated performances include:

• The Society of Rockets at Bottom of the Hill on Tuesday
• Melanie Keller at Bazaar Café on Tuesday
• Regarding Emma at The Rockit Room on Wednesday
• San Pablo Project at The Boom Boom Room on Wednesday
• The Bridge at 12 Galaxies on Thursday
• Falling to Pieces at Kimo’s on Friday
• Resin at Giordano Bros. on Friday

If you see a show, comment on it here so we know how it was.  If you know of a band playing next week, drop a line so everyone else can know about it too!

The big event happening this week in San Francisco is Noise Pop 2007 so instead of giving you info on famous people with your sign, check out which Noise Pop 2007 band is recommended for you this week!  If you can’t see the one you ought to, check out the full schedule here.

Pisces (February 20 – March 20):  It’s a creative week for the Pisces persona, with various art forms merging and blending and stirring into one another.  Infuse your life with as much creative energy as possible – see films, go dancing, attend art events.  The results will work themselves out in your life without you having to do anything but enjoy.

Pisces Noise Pop 2007 show recommendation:  Wednesday’s show at Bottom of the Hill with Hella, Pop Levi, Macromantics and Tartfufi is the show that’s got enough of that “different” thing that you need this week but also be sure to check out The Expo.

Aries (March 21 – April 20):  Happy news for you Aries – your slump is over and once again you’re ready to shake up the world!  Find the most exciting thing going on in San Francisco this week and make sure that you’re right at the center of it.  And rest assured that when the night is coming to a close and you’re ready to tumble into bed, you’ll find when you get there that the excitement is far from over!

Aries Noise Pop 2007 show recommendation:  You should be in the middle of everything and the best way to do that is to make sure to attend the Noise Pop opening night event at Mezzanine.

Taurus (April 21 – May 21):  The axis of your world tilted recently and change is in the air.  Maybe you’ve already seen the shift or maybe it’s about to take place.  In either case, open yourself up to all of the possibilities which lie before you.  After all, “there are more things in Heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”

Taurus Noise Pop 2007 show recommendation: Thursday’s show at Café du Nord with Alexi Murdoch, Aqueduct, Midnight Movies and Send for Help.

Gemini (May 22 – June 21):  If you’ve recently made some subtle (or significant!) changes in your life, you might be getting frustrated that you aren’t seeing the immediate benefits.  Rest assured, things are happening beneath the surface which you can’t yet understand.  Let it work itself out – in the meantime, get out into the city and enjoy the activities happening this week.

Gemini Noise Pop 2007 show recommendation:  Friday’s show at Great American Music Hall with Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, Georgie James, So Many Dynamos, and Pony Come Lately.

Cancer (June 22-July 22):  Your best bet in the coming week is to shed every Cancer characteristic you have and let yourself be completely different from how you normally tend to be.  You can go wild and engage the services of a professional fetish photographer to capture your transformation or merely celebrate it with a casual drink at a local bar, but whatever approach you take, know that change is a great thing for you right now.

Cancer Noise Pop 2007 show recommendation:  Saturday’s show at The Independent with Clinic, Earlimart, Sea Wolf and The Mumlers.

Leo (July 23 – August 23):  This week is the week for you to meet new people and to see those who you haven’t seen in quite some time.  Try to mix up your activities as much as possible this week so that you’re totally open to all of the social experiences which are about to fill your world.

Leo Noise Pop 2007 show recommendation:  Thursday’s all ages show at Slim’s with The French Kicks, Scissors for Lefty, The Oohlas and Magic Bullets

Virgo (August 22 – September 22):  There’s something nagging at the back of your mind right now and it’s time to start paying attention to it.  BUT, you can’t do that until you figure out what it is.  Think about starting a new activity which will help make you feel more focused – a yoga class, a new massage therapist or a new social experience could help you find your center again.

Virgo Noise Pop 2007 show recommendation: Thursday’s show at Rickshaw with co-headliners Langhorne Slim and Trainwreck Riders and openers Poor Bailey and The Morning Benders.

Libra (September 24 – October 23):  This week is going to be a mellow week for you.  Spend some time with old friends, do some organizing around the house and spoil yourself with some special shopping.  In other words, enjoy the relaxation because things next week are going to get kicked up a notch!

Libra Noise Pop 2007 show recommendation:  Wednesday’s show at Café du Nord with Willy Mason, the Watson Twins, Ryan Auffenberg and Built for the Sea offers the perfect combination of out-on-the-town and mellow experience.

Scorpio (October 24 – November 22):  People may be having trouble taking you seriously these days, Scorpio.  That’s because there are so many depths to you that you often end up presenting yourself in ways which don’t coincide with how you are actually feeling.  If you don’t want everyone to hold misconceptions of you, you might want to try clarifying things for people in your life.  On the other hand, mystery can sometimes be fun, and if you want to cultivate a new persona, San Francisco is surely the place for trying on different characters.

Scorpio Noise Pop 2007 show recommendation: Friday’s show at Café du Nord with The Annuals, Simon Dawes, Pilot Speed and Ray Barbee and the Matson 2

Sagittarius (November 23 – December 21):  Up and down and up and down; is this merry-go-round way of living going to plague you for the rest of your life?  Maybe, but there’s good news for you this week because the merry-go-round is coming to a stop and you can easily jump off for a bit and go enjoy activities that won’t make you feel like you’re manic.  By the end of the week, you’ll be feeling like doing something super social, although you might have to figure out the right people to do it with to maintain that calm.

Sagittarius Noise Pop 2007 show recommendation: Saturday’s show at Mezzanine with Ghostland Observatory, Honeycut, The Gray Kid and Land Shark will be surprisingly fun.

Capricorn (December 22 – January 20):  Your social world has been all astir lately and that’s okay most of the time – new people create new inspiration for your life.  But this week, it’s time to re-group and re-focus on building a more solid foundation for the relationships which really matter to you.  There will be plenty of time for new socializing in the near future!

Capricorn Noise Pop 2007 show recommendation: Wednesday’s show at Great American Music Hall with Sebadoh, The Bent Moustache, Love of Diagrams and The New Trust.

Aquarius (January 21 – February 19):  You have some big decisions coming your way in terms of both home and business, but what you need to remember is that you can’t be of use to anyone around you if you aren’t of use to yourself.  Take the time to indulge in truffles, trashy magazines and talk about nothing to get yourself comfortable for the long haul ahead.

Aquarius Noise Pop 2007 show recommendation:  Thursday’s show at Bottom of the Hill with Matt & Kim, Erase Errata, No Age, and Pants Pants Pants.

San Francisco is a city which has more diversity between its close-to-each-other neighborhoods than almost any other place in the world.  This comes from a unique combination of changing architecture, cultural diversity, historical influence and modern social trends and is one of the things which really makes the city stand out as different from other places across the United States.  San Fran Voice is happily committed to exploring the ins and outs of different neighborhoods, so keep your eye on the page to learn more about the areas of the city which are most interesting to you!

Even when things are neatly labeled, they aren’t always what they’re supposed to be.

When you go to Mission Cliffs (San Francisco’s indoor rock climbing gym), you find that you have over 100 options of routes to climb there.  They’re each neatly labeled with their level of difficulty.  I’m a novice climber myself, so I usually stick with the low ones, the 5.5 or 5.6 ratings that I know I can get to the top of.  Sometimes I’ll challenge myself with a 5.9 or I’ll make things easy for myself with a 5.4.

These ratings are professional ratings and they’re usually right as far as difficult level goes.  You know that if you can’t climb a 5.5, you aren’t getting to the top of a 5.11.  But sometimes, they aren’t quite right.  Sometimes, you start up the 5.11 and you get a lot further than you thought.  Maybe it wasn’t labeled right.  More likely, what happened was that your particular climbing skills and body structure were suited to that climb, making it easier for you than for the average 5.11 climber.  The handholds were in the right place for you or the incline worked.  Whatever the case, the label said you couldn’t do it, and yet you could.

Today’s relationships are much the same way.  We’ve all read enough about alternative lifestyles to know that there are lots of different ways to love people.  And we’ve all worked on our communication.  So we design our relationships with the labels that we think are right for us.  We say that we’re in a committed but non-monogamous heterosexual relationship or that we are polyamorous or that we’re in a conventional monogamous homosexual relationship.  Or whatever.

But sometimes, you just have to stand in front of that 5.11 and see that it might not be as daunting as its label says.  Sometimes you’re the kind of girl who doesn’t do spend-the-nights but a sleepover is just what you need.  Sometimes you think that you’re not into celebrating holidays with your lover’s family, but you go do it and find that it’s fun.  Sometimes the labels just aren’t right.  And in a city as permissive as San Francisco, it’s okay to loosen up and permit yourself to live outside of the labels you’ve chosen - whatever they may be.

When I first moved to San Francisco, it was January and my desert instincts were overwhelmed by the vast amount of rain which poured from the sky.  Everyone kept telling me that it was highly unusual for San Francisco to see so much rain (there was a month straight where it rained every single day) but I was convinced that it would always be this way and began planning to make sure that I did all of my traveling back home during the early months of the year which I’d determined were the rainy season.

It’s true, I suppose, that the first months of the year are the wet season in San Francisco, but as the recent weather here has proven, it doesn’t usually rain constantly at this time of year.  Instead, it seems that San Francisco’s winters are mildly wet, with days of definite gray skies and regular rain but plenty of days where sunshine prevails.

If past experience holds any truth, the pattern of chilly wet days interspersed with gelato-eating days will hold through about the end of April, when San Francisco will begin to see spring.  There should be more sunshine then and skirts should be more comfortable to wear.  Summer will find an increase in fog and in humidity, so that the warm days feel warmer and the cool mornings feel cooler, and by late summer, it will seem cold here.

Autumn is my favorite season almost everywhere in the country that I’ve been lucky enough to spend it.  While there aren’t too many color-changing trees here, autumn in San Francisco is a beautiful time, with warmish weather and lots of activity going on.  It’s a time of the year to look forward to happily for plenty of outdoor adventures, from ferry rides on the Bay to jaunts over to Angel Island.

In comparison with many places, the weather of San Francisco is moderate.  The temperatures stay somewhat the same throughout the year and the rainy season is generally short and sporadic.  But the really great thing about the Bay Area is that the San Francisco weather is unique from what’s happening around it, so if it’s a bit too cold or a bit too hot for your tastes, you can take a quick drive north or south or east and find a climate that meets your needs.

Get updated SF Weather here.

If you don’t show up, you miss your chances.

I was going to go to the rock climbing gym yesterday, but after the trip to Tahoe, I was overwhelmed with work and decided to stay home instead.  I got a message from the friend that I usually climb with telling me that I’d missed out by not making it there, since Dave Chappelle had shown up at the gym.  I’m not much of one to brush against celebrity - to be honest, I’m often so oblivious to pop culture that I probably wouldn’t know most famous people if I tripped over them - but it did get me thinking.  You never know what you’re going to miss out on by being too busy with the details of life.  Sometimes it’s important to just put yourself out there - at the rock climbing gym, in your relationships, and really just with life in general.

See Chappelle in San Francisco YouTube footage here and here.

We left San Francisco late in the afternoon and made it to Reno by evening, taking advantage of the dinnertime buffets and the inexpensive drink prices to get started on our night.  I’d never been to Reno before and expected it to be more like Laughlin than like Vegas but was surprised to find that it has more Vegas flavor than I would have thought.  Sure, it’s not The Strip, but for a small city located just three hours drive from San Francisco, it actually offers quite a bit of activity.

After spending most of the night at the black jack tables and the slot machines, we made our way to a hotel room and crashed.  We woke early and drove for about an hour to reach one of the Tahoe mountains, where we warmed our chilly bodies by the fireplace of the lodge.  There wasn’t a whole lot of snow on the mountain and there was an abundance of wind, so the number of ski lifts open was low.  But that didn’t stop plenty of people from coming out, enjoying the multi-generational fun of playing in the snow.

The entire trip took us less than twenty four hours.  Sure, it was a bit of a whirlwind and we crammed a lot in there, but it goes to prove that both Tahoe and Reno can make for an excellent day trip getaway from San Francisco.  Still, if you want to get the best experience of both of them, and you have the opportunity to use a whole weekend to do it, you may as well stay the extra day.  The city will still be here when you get back!

San Francisco offers the chance to see amazing music of all kinds on a regular basis.  Following you’ll find a list of the shows happening in the city this week that you might want to check out.  Leave us a note on anything you see and check back for reviews from others!

Monday 2/19/07

o       Ben Kweller at Great American Music Hall - This multi-genre artist didn’t grow up here but it was his first home and he’s making it a stop on his tour.

Tuesday 2/20/07

o       Boca do Rio and others offering Brazilian flavored Mardi Gras celebrations at Mojito as part of the annual SF Mardi Gras Ball.

o       Bat Makumba at the Elbo Room, also Brazilian but in a completely different way - hip sprinkles of rock and punk bring high energy to this Mission stage.

Wednesday 2/21/07

o       Burden Brothers at The Independent (a favorite in San Francisco live music venues)

o       The Donkeys at Makeout Room

Thursday 2/22/07

o       Strata, Man Versus and The Aimless Never Miss at Rickshaw Stop - Strata’s about to head out of town on tour so catch them while you can.

o       Mickey Avalon at Popscene

Friday 2/23/07

o       Big Head Todd and The Monsters at The Fillmore

o       Cold War Kids at Great American Music Hall

Saturday 2/24/07

o       Teitur and The Bittersweets at Swedish Hall

Sunday 2/25/07

o       Tara Tinsley at Kimo’s, perfect laidback atmosphere for a Sunday night and Tara’s last announced show here for awhile.

If you know of a band that’s playing in San Francisco next week that other people should know about, send a note and I’ll be sure to add it to the list.