Diana y Sandy--CIUDAD DE LA NIEBLA

Ciudad de la Niebla, Episode 1: Diana y Sandy from BAMM.tv on Vimeo.

Two musicians who now live in my lovely San Francisco tell their stories, in their lovely, lovely voices, via Bamm.TV

Longing for the fog

That thing the fog does from William Couch on Vimeo.

It is the end of July, and all month we have lived with suffocating heat and humidity. From time to time, I long for the San Francisco fog.  I'd rather wear a sweater than swelter any day.

Sculpture Garden at the De Young museum 1/3

One of my favorite places to visit in San Franciso is a discreet installation in the sculpture garden of the De Young museum. To find it, you walk down a bamboo-lined path, then turn toward a structure set into the earth. It is called "Three Gems" and is one of the many Sky Space creations of James Turrell.


You enter an open-air pathway that curves around to the entrance into the chamber in the center.

The chamber entrance is arched, the room inside is domed, with a small round opening at the top.


Sunlight through the opening moves across the wall as the day goes by.

Look straight up; the clouds moving across the blue sky look like clouds on the moon.

I have just discovered that Turrell has a similar installation now at the Walker Art Center called "Sky Pesher!" People have made music in it, gotten married in it, made out in it....I will go see it today!

Dream cottage

While in SF for a week, we were fortunate enough to be able to stay in the guest cottage of my mother's good friend MR. What a gorgeous place, and so comfortable! Best of all, it was only a short walk to my mother's place, so we could spend lots of time with her.

Choice of bath or shower.

A little deck with roses, for morning coffee.

A generous kitchen and good reading lights in the living room area.

Canopy bed!
Spending a week in this comfortable, lovely home in one of the most enjoyable neighborhoods in San Francisco was a like dream, the dream of returning to my home town to live near my family...as if I had a heck of a lot more money than I ever will! And then, we were happy to come home to our cosy place, in our fun neighborhood, in another city we love.

our week in San Francisco

We came to celebrate my mother's recuperation after her chemotherapy and the fact that her tests show that there is no cancer activity for now. If her tests continue to be clear, they'll officially say she's in remission after five years, but what is most important is that her strength is returning, the pain in her legs is leaving, and she feels happy and full of life!

We also celebrated a cluster of birthdays.
Some of the highlights of our trip? walking, walking, walking and family times.
We saw the Birth of Impressionism show of works on loan from the Musée d'Orsay at the De Young museum in Golden Gate Park, and ate at Delfina Pizza: the food is absolutely great, the servers are lovely, but the manager on duty that day was so absolutely hateful that I will never go there again.

The other art pilgrimage was to the SFMOMA show "Calder to Warhol" with a small part of the huge art collection donated by Gap founders Doris and Donald Fischer; my sister used to work in their headquarters and saw a lot of this art when it was displayed there. She has some stories to tell. We had lovely lunch at their Caffe Museo and artist-inspired desserts up on the roof.
It was great fun to acquaint my daughter with Gilbert and Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance at the Lamplighters (I have just discovered that there is a filmed version of the show with Kevin Kline as The Pirate King, Angela Lansbury and Linda Ronstadt! Must watch!)



I was incredibly excited to see fledgling seagulls at the Yerba Buena Center, still not able to fly, but learning to hop up and down on the garden wall. Where was there nest?

Other excursions included the Farmer's Market at Fort Mason and the lovely, lovely Bay, wading in the Pacific at Ocean Beach, trekking Chinatown and North Beach (cannoli at Stella's and pork buns at that one place on Stockton which actually has a name but which we always find by accident)

We ate breakfast twice at Out The Doorbecause they make the best pancakes in the world.

Much time was spent combing the stores of Japantown for the perfect bento box and bento prep gear. We plan to try out lots of recipes this fall, and I'm so happy to have found Biggie's Lunch in a Box site!

We also spent time lovingly touching all the stuff at the New People store (where we also made some purchases) and the Viz Theater where we saw Seven Samurai (Shichinin no samurai, 1954) directed by Akira Kurosawa and starring the incomparable Toshiro Mifune.

And now we are home again, home again, jiggity jig.

"Dramatic rage"

Here is the great Marilyn Horne in a San Francisco Opera production of Vivaldi's Orlando Furioso from 1989. I was fortunate enough to see her perform this role, shortly before this recording was made. I remember how she planted her feet as she sang. She is 57 in this video. What an amazing talent! For comparison, you can hear her sing the same aria in 1978 at a faster tempo in this Venetian production. Marilyn Horne was successfully treated for pancreatic cancer in 2003, and continues to teach and promote the art-song repertoire and the art of the recital among young singers.



Sorge l'irato nembo

e la fatal tempesta
col sussurrar dell'onde
e s'agita, e confonde
e cielo, e mar.

Ma fugge in un baleno

l'orrida nube infesta,
e placido, e sereno
il cielo appar.

For her encore, the divine Ms. Horne will sing "C is for Cookie"

Off to San Francisco!

I go home to San Francisco as often as possible, at least once a year, so that I can live happily in the upper Midwest the rest of the time. Here are some SF nostalgia songs I haven't already posted to this blog as I pack for my trip.

Jesse Fuller performs 'San Francisco Bay Blues,' a song that has been covered by lots of others. Later, Eric Burden and the Animals advertised going to San Francisco in 1967 with "Warm San Franciscan Night" (probably not performing it live in this clip, but that's how they did music on TV in those days).

One of my favorite travel songs, although it's not about SF I heard it when we first moved there in 1968, is "Going Up The Country" by Canned Heat (who are clearly "lip syncing" in this video as well, but not taking it too seriously!).

If you like your nostalgia sweet, try this song "San Francisco" by
Maxime Le Forestier, French singer-songwriter, a huge hit from his first album Mon Frère (1973). I love this song--I listened to it over and over when I was in lived in France in the 70s.


Here are the words in French:

San Francisco

by Maxime Le Forestier

C'est une maison bleue
Adossée à la colline
On y vient à pied, on ne frappe pas
Ceux qui vivent là, ont jeté la clé
On se retrouve ensemble
Après des années de route
Et l'on vient s'asseoir autour du repas
Tout le monde est là, à cinq heures du soir
San Francisco s'embrume
San Francisco s'allume
San Francisco, où êtes vous
Liza et Luc, Sylvia, attendez-moi

Nageant dans le brouillard
Enlacés, roulant dans l'herbe
On écoutera Tom à la guitare
Phil à la kena, jusqu'à la nuit noire
Un autre arrivera
Pour nous dire des nouvelles
D'un qui reviendra dans un an ou deux
Puisqu'il est heureux, on s'endormira
San Francisco se lève
San Francisco se lève
San Francisco ! où êtes vous
Liza et Luc, Sylvia, attendez-moi

C'est une maison bleue
Accrochée à ma mémoire
On y vient à pied, on ne frappe pas
Ceux qui vivent là, ont jeté la clef
Peuplée de cheveux longs
De grands lits et de musique
Peuplée de lumière, et peuplée de fous
Elle sera dernière à rester debout
Si San Francisco s'effondre
Si San Francisco s'effondre
San Francisco ! Où êtes vous
Liza et Luc, Sylvia, attendez-moi

Home again, home again, jiggety jog.

We were both so sad to leave San Francisco and ten wonderful days! we revisited the Ferry building, with its wonderful markets, and also did the Saturday morning Stockton street crawl, visiting all the chinese markets where the locals shop. North Beach, Crissy Field, West Portal, Golden Gate Park, Fillmore street, Japantown: we walked all over and breathed in the foggy, fragrant air.

Now we are grateful to be back home, suitcases unpacked, in our pajamas, catching up with our lives. I'm sure my mother will be glad to have her place to herself again, to return to her painting. we'll miss being spoiled by her. My sister cooked us some magnificent meals; she made us one of her famous apple pies and a cheesecake the other night, and generously gave us the recipe for her incredible home-made graham crackers (with the secret ingredient!). I don't know if I'll be able to make them like hers, but I'm going to try.

We arrived to temps in the 20s, a fine sleety, snerty snowfall. The taxi-driver took the long way, but I didn't care because road conditions were iffy, and the freeway was probably safest. It appears that Al Franken will be announced as the winner of the Senate election on Monday (yay!).

We opened the door to find a very happy kitty! Fresca, you are the greatest!

A hasty post--having too much fun!

We've been too busy having fun for me to blog properly about our time in SF so far, but it has been splendid!
Highlights: Saturday morning on Stockton St with all the Chinese grannies shopping for live fish and greens whose names we don't know; a thorough visit to all the Japantown stores where the child found exactly what she wanted in the anime/manga category, and I bought a copy of the movie Sakuran, directed by Mika Ninagawa; shopping, cooking and eathing with my mother who graciously hosted a gathering for a few friends in town for the MLA; walking with my nephew in North Beach and drooling over books at City Lights.

Today we will do our favorite walk down by the bay at Crissy Field, and then try to outfit the girl who has grown 2" in the last 18 months.

Here is a little view of the "specific ocean" and Seal Rock, so named because the sea lions used to sun themselves there, but now that they can hang out in the much more sheltered docks by Pier 31 to amuse the tourists, they don't go to the rock any more. .

Siami arrivati

I'm so glad to be with my family! Finally filed my grades, finished the draft of my MLA talk, and we managed to make it to the airport and only had a one hour flight delay. Yesterday was my nephew's 21st birthday. We had dinner together at SPQR, a great Italian place on Fillmore (we are big fans of their Brussel sprouts!) before his friends came to get him. The plan was to blindfold him and take him somewhere. I guess we'll find out where they took him when we go over to my sister's place for Christmas Eve dinner.

I am so grateful to fresca for stepping in at the last minute to help take care of Mr. Leo. Thank you!!! She is thinking about Tina Modotti lately, and that reminded me of this old post.

Go see Milk!

It's a great movie! My daughter and just got back from seeing Gus Van Sant's movie "Milk" this afternoon, along with several hundred other people who crowded into the theater with us. It's a faithful and lively depiction of what happened 30 years ago. I wrote earlier about my memories of that time.

Want to know something about how the film was made, about the extras, how Castro Street was remade in its own image, (and the SF gossip and backbiting--yes, I remember that too)Mariva has a wonderful post about being an extra in the movie has a huge set of links.

The uncanny parallels with the fight against Prop 6 which drives much of the movie, and the recent success of Prop 8 in California mean that we don't just see a biopic about someone who died a long time ago; we see both the progress and the struggles still being waged. This moving speech by the Republican Mayor of San Diego, Jerry Sanders, is a testament to the power of change. He is visibly struggling to maintain his composure as he comes out as the parent who wants his daughter and her partner to have equal protection under the law.

Go see it. Sean Penn inhabits the role. I didn't see him at all on the screen, not like Nicole Kidman's Virginia Woolf where I was always aware of her NOSE.

Remembering George Moscone and Harvey Milk

I have seen the preview for the Gus Van Sant film Milk, starring Sean Penn as murdered San Francisco politician and gay activist Harvey Milk. The likeness to Milk is uncanny, and it has brought back many memories to all of us from San Francisco who are old enough to remember those events.

San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk and the city's Mayor, George Moscone were assassinated on November 27, 1978. Thirty years ago, I was 21 and a senior at UC Berkeley, working at a donut shop early mornings before classes. Someone came running in breathless, with the news that Moscone and Milk had just been murdered by Dan White. My visceral reaction is probably what people felt who were adults when Martin Luther King, RFK or JFK, or Malcolm X were murdered. For me, these were the leaders of my town's alliance of politicians who were working for change, and their assassination was frightening and felt personal, an attack on those who represented me and people like me. I left work and went on campus for class, and then to a Talking Heads show at noon on Lower Sproul Plaza. The first song they played was Psycho Killer. Did they know?

We watched the national news that night with this report. In those days, George Moscone was better known, as a native San Franciscan who had come up through the Democratic party ranks with a cohort of political allies. He opened city politics up to people who were not part of the moneyed old guard who promoted an aggressive development agenda (which Diane Feinstein would carry out when she became mayor), but his allies did not hold a majority on the SF Board of Supervisors, so the political conflicts were bitter. Days before the assassinations, the news had broken about the Jonestown massacre in Guyana (Jim Jones had been active in SF politics before he fled with his People's Temple followers because of accusations of corruption). Randy Shilts' book The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk tells both the story of the person and of the movement, the coalitions, the incredible changes that were taking place at the time. Apparently, another film is in production based on this book. If both films are as good as the "dueling biopics" about Truman Capote, that will be great. Will they freeze Harvey Milk as "St. Harvey" gay icon? or reminds us of Harvey Milk the canny coalition builder, stubborn ballsy activist, who saw his work as part of a larger struggle? Milk the advocate of rent control, union rights, police reform? One of my vivid memories of the aftermath of the killings (because we can't forget that the MAYOR of the city was also murdered, not just Milk) was the gloating of the San Francisco police, the t-shirts, the police riot. This wasn't just a lone crazy who suffered from depression; this was a politically motivated killing, egged on by a culture of homophobia and reactionary hatred of "hippies" and all the changes they (we) stood for. Dan White served five years of a seven-year sentence for two political murders.

I want to connect my memories to more stories of what actually happened, before I see the movie and it reshapes those fragments and feelings. The GLBT Historical Society site is one place to start, as it contributed archival materials to the film, and also reports on the premiere and gives a link roundup of SF reactions. The Bay Guardian has a special issue. The San Francisco Chronicle also has a collection of links, including this photo gallery

The documentary filmThe Times of Harvey Milk (1984) won an Oscar. Using archival footage and interviews with friends, neighbors and colleagues, it situates Milk in the stories and conflicts of the times, not just his work as a gay activist, but his partnerships with a new coaltion of change agents in San Francisco politics. A kind soul has posted clips on YouTube is you want to see the documentary before seeing the feature film.

Duffy Jennings, one of the SF Chronicle reporters who was on the scene, also reminds us of George Moscone's legacy:

Moscone had his critics, some with good reason, but he loved San Francisco, a passion I share as a fellow native. An entire generation of San Franciscans today knows little about him other than the convention center bears his name.

He fought against racism and for civil rights, against downtown power brokers and for neighborhoods. He opened the doors of City Hall and the seats of power to people from all walks of life, regardless of race, gender or sexual orientation. As deservedly iconic and significant as Harvey Milk has become to the gay community, it was Moscone who broke down the barriers.

His was a remarkable story in its own right. Perhaps on one of these anniversaries, Hollywood will give us a movie titled "Moscone."

For more on Harvey Milk and the Castro Street neighborhood the way it was in the seventies, visit these pages: Uncle Donald's Castro Street
UPDATED: a first-hand account by Lesbians against Police Violence

Two shows of Japanese art

Some years ago, the building that used to be San Francisco's Main Library was transformed into the Asian Art Museum, to house the collection that had been so cramped at the old De Young. We went to see an exhibit called "Drama and Desire"--two rooms of Japanese paintings from the 18th and 19th century "Floating World," the pleasure quarters of the Shogun's city Edo (Tokyo) where courtesans, geishas, and kabuki theater performers.


Apparently, in the 1880s, a rich doctor from Boston went to Japan where he bought a boatload of paintings. They went straight to the basement of the Fine Arts Museum, which didn't start to catalogue them until fifteen years ago. The colors are so vivid. This is my favorite: the energy of the musicians is palpable.

In one room, there was a parental advisory up because of the display of rolls with paintings of sexual cavorting, somewhat euphemistically called "suggestive pictures." In fact, they are casually explicit. Many of the subjects are kabuki performers, scenes from plays, images of people at the theater. When I get back home, I'll have to see the show at the MIA, the Weber collection of Japanese art.

Dr. John C. Weber, an avid New York collector, is lending more than 100 masterworks acquired during the last decade, when many important and rare objects entered the marketplace. The Weber collection premiered in 2006 at the Museum of East Asian Art, National Museums in Berlin, and was subsequently shown at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. As the exhibition’s final venue, the MIA offers museum-goers one final opportunity to savor these stunning works of art.


With a dazzling display of hanging scrolls, folding screens, sculpture, lacquers, textiles, and ceramics, Arts of Japan encompasses more than 900 years of technical and artistic innovation by Japanese artists. From opulent to quietly sublime, each object is distinguished by its exceptional artistry and breathtaking design.

Bound for California!

When I was a kid, I'd listen to my parents' records of the Clancy Brother and Tommy Makem, over and over. One of my favorites was The Rising of the Moon. YouTube is amazing: here is some film footage and stills the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin Rising ,although the ballad itself is about an earlier rebellion, in 1798. But as well as their republican songs, I loved their sea shanties and songs about sailing: emigration, whaling, "bound for California"!

I clearly remember the chorus of one song as "Heave away, haul away, we're bound for California." But when I went to look for it, I find that it's really "bound for South Australia!" Huh? a good example of a Mondegreen.

Maybe there's another version floating around there with California in it, but here it is: I'm bound for California for the next little while.

my heart

Thinking of my all loved ones this New Year's Eve--I wish we could be together more often!

Sad but committed

I'm sitting at a cafe, grading papers and watching it rain hard outside. I just ran into a graduate student with whom I shared the flight to Montreal where we both attended the Latin American Studies Association conference.She has a background as an activist, and is a scholar and a teacher. She is also one of the students who is on hunger strike. I didn't realize this until halfway through our conversation in which I was railing about how angry the University administration was making me. Her expression was so sad, but she is very resolute. I know another of the hunger strikers, a faculty colleague whose fierce and vibrant spirit has always been the driver for her teaching and scholarship. I hadn't planned to come to campus today, but I will be attending the teach-in by one of my colleagues who will talk about hunger strikes, Gandhi, and the history of this kind of action.

I'm afraid that many Minnesotans regard the hunger strike as "foolish" and unseemly, because it violates the Minnesota norm of not calling attention to yourself because to do so is even more wrong than any wrong you could possible be trying to protest.

Another colleague came up to embrace me. He is someone who has contributed immensely to the University in prestigious scholarship, multi-million dollar grants that have supported literally hundreds of graduate students from all over the world, and who holds the highest honors the University can bestow. He told me that he is so angry and sad about this strike that he no longer wants to work here, he hates what the University is doing. He has a long history as an activist-scholar, but I'm afraid that his response is indicative of the disgust and shame that many of us feel to be working for the University of Minnesota right now.

Yesterday I was on the picket line with Mary, one of the many wonderful child care workers how cared for my daughter with so much love and dedication.When I think of how her work is undervalued in comparison with the athletic directors and coaches who walked away with multi-million dollar bailouts, it hurts and it makes me mad.

No, I had no illusions about the corporate nature of the Big U. But I have a lot of love and respect for many of the people who work here, who genuinely give of themselves to help others learn and reach their life goals, who take pride in what they do and do it well, and it hurts to see the naked contempt with which the administration is now treating us, and the ignorance and indifference of so many of the people around us.

Day 10 of the strike: video updates

A letter from a former co-worker of U president Bob Bruininks calls him out. Tom Elko, environmental blogger and U of MN co-worker, is keeping us updated about the strike at The Sky Blue Waters Report. I really appreciate his work of keeping us informed because there seems to be a virtual news blackout by the Strib and even the MN Daily.

Marv Davidov, what a mensch!
Our legislators who passed a funding package with the intent that some of it be used to support raises for the lowest paid workers are NOT HAPPY about the U's refusal to go back to the bargaining table. Hear them say it themselves:

They couldn't be more clear!
Students, former students, and workers explain what the strike means to them:

Barack Obama cancels event in solidarity with U of MN workers!

Add him to the Elizabeth Edwards, who spoke at a workers rally, and Al Franken, who did the same.

Here is the letter he sent:
Dear President Bruininks,

I write today to strongly encourage you to support your frontline health care, technical, and clerical workers who are represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. I am moving a campaign event I had scheduled at U of M for this Saturday off of University grounds in solidarity with the strikers.

The workers’ requests are simple and reasonable. Their real pay has dropped over the last few years as the cost of living has increased.

Workers who dedicate themselves to the University of Minnesota and provide essential support to its core educational mission deserve a wage that allows them to raise a family and plan for retirement.

I strongly encourage you to take the steps necessary to end this strike and make the University of Minnesota a place that respects all of its workers. I will continue to monitor this situation, and I look forward to your favorable reply.

Sincerely,

Barack Obama

U of MN strike continues

Since our stupid city newspaper doesn't seem interested in covering the University of Minnesota's clerical and hospital workers' strike for a raise that merely keeps up with the cost of inflation, one has to look elsewhere for information. This opinion piece by Professor Ann Markuson is absolutely right on, and points to the gender dimension of the higher raises going to the predominantly male senior administrators and faculty while the mostly female clerical workers get the shaft. The MN Daily has an editorial supporting the workers (and they cite Jose Marti! right on!). At least 152 classes were held off campus in the first week; this story cites some of my wonderful colleagues and their principled response to the rather thuggish rhetoric of the administration. Pickets are visible and get visible (and audible) support from those of us who are contractually obligated to stay on the job according to state law. The University is refusing to return to the bargaining table, and has attracted the ire of state legislators who fought last year to increase the amount in the state budget allocated to the University, precisely in order to provide more money for the lowest paid workers.
My favorite solidarity letter comes from the Anthro department.

In a letter addressed to the regents and University President Robert Bruininks, state Representatives Tom Rukavina and Mary Murphy, chairs of two key Minnesota House Higher Education Finance Committees, wrote in part, "We are deeply disappointed that thousands of university employees have been forced onto the picket lines due to the unwillingness of the university administration to provide adequate contact settlements for its clerical, technical and health care workers.

"For the first time in many years, the Minnesota Legislature provided the university with a generous 3.25 percent salary supplement. We expected those funds to be used to benefit all university employees. We can't understand how you can justify your minuscule offer of 2.25 percent on the salary schedule for your hardworking, dedicated employees."

Two days of teach-ins, rallies and marches--a lot of learning is going on at the U, but unfortunately what a lot of folks are learning is just how ugly a university can really get. All the rhetoric about excellence, valuing its workers, bla bla blabbity bla, but when it comes down to it, the University president's raise last year (17%) was about $38,000, more than the average yearly gross salary of a clerical worker, bringing his pay to an obscene $450,000 a year.

A few San Francisco souvenirs

On the sidewalk by Dolores Park.

Frida on Valencia St.

Browsing at the Ferry building market.


a garden gate at Filoli.