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Durst first
By John Zipperer
Editor in Chief, The Voice of San Francisco
This week’s newsletter has an exclusive first look at the latest contribution by local legend Will Durst. Below you’ll find his “I heart S.F.,” in which he notes among other things that he and I share a state of origin: Wisconsin. So these two cheeseheads are pleased to share this love letter by Durst—the Voice’s newest contributor—which will be on our website later this week, but you get first look at it. Because you’re smart enough to subscribe to this newsletter, of course.
And I want to thank each of you for subscribing. Thousands of people have visited our site and read our articles and downloaded our podcasts since we launched just over a month ago. Please share this newsletter and our site with anyone else you know is interested in the present and future of San Francisco. Like Will Durst, we know a lot of you love this place, even if it could be made better.
See you next week.
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Out and About
A preview of what to do this week
By Lynette Majer
Managing Editor, The Voice of San Francisco
Rejoice! It’s a short week, but there is still plenty happening through the weekend, so be sure to visit The Voice of San Francisco to see what on the daily docket. Here is a sampling:
Tuesday, May 28
“A day without laughter is a day wasted,” according to Charlie Chaplain, so get your yuks in at HellaFunny’s new Polk Street Comedy Blast at the legendary Mayes Oyster House in North Beach. Tickets free–$15.
Thursday, May 30
Claude misses you and Cal Academy needs your support. Lend it Thursdays at Nightlife, an after-hours themed event (tonight’s is exploring the nocturnal side of the creatures) for those 21 and up with live music, libations, and more, like almost 60,000 live animals, a four-story rainforest, a living coral reef, and so much more. Tickets $21.
Friday, May 31
These Candlelight Concerts by Fever, performed in unique venues from zoos to churches, have millions of rave reviews worldwide, where in the midst of thousands of candles, classical musical ensembles perform tributes from Bach to the Beatles. Hear “The Best of the Beatles on Strings” at the Chan National Queer Arts Center, a stunning Art Deco gem in the Mission (and the home of the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus). Tickets $47–$80.
Saturday, June 1
Celebrate the first day of Pride Month at Pride in the Presidio at the Tunnel Tops with a bevy of activities like book giveaways, drag storytelling, a tea dance celebration, and lots more with that incredible view as a backdrop. Free admission.
More events at The Voice of San Francisco.
I heart S.F.
By Will Durst
This is my mash note to San Francisco and the Bay Area.
I love this place. Moved here from Wisconsin in 1979, and ever since, I’ve been a passionate advocate, hoping to win the rare fictional designation of Honorary Native. My affection and appreciation for this teetering peninsula and environs lives on for many reasons: the fog, the food, the views, the climate, but it always comes back to—the people—the tolerant denizens who were lucky enough to be born here and we transplants (the wretched refuse you hear so much about.)
Outcasts and misfits and round pegs that rattled around the square holes, they used to contain us in our hometowns. But we all heard the secret silent sirenic call of the 415. No one knows what it says or where it comes from, but it definitely exists. Which is why so many villages in the Midwest are missing their idiots. Maybe in 200 years they will discover the seductive tone produced when the wind blows through the Golden Gate at a certain speed in March or the cables of the GGB vibrate in a harmonic convergence or that the god who lives inside of Mount Tam whispers loudly or that Sutro is an actual alien or echoes of the Gold Rush reverberate.
But you don’t end up here accidentally. The beatniks, the hippies, the tech bros, the gender refugees are heeding a higher calling. Now, the realization of how difficult it is to manage a city full of fairies and sprites and spirits and individuals thinking 20 years into the future is undergoing its regular 30-year cycle of doubt, but things will shake out as they have before and will again.
Thank you, San Francisco. I love your sights and your sounds and your smells. And I am not alone. Long may you host and foster the marginalized.
Listen up! Our podcasts
- John Rothmann: If monty is the mother’s milk of politics, we have a problem, don’t we?
- Voice Weekly: Film and TV Critic Michael Snyder Talks to Melissa Caen and John Zipperer
- John Rothmann: Memorial Day: What it means to all of us
- Voice Weekly: Political Pollmeister Jonathan Brown Talks with Melissa Caen and John Zipperer
- Plus more (and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible or everywhere else you get your favorite podcasts)
More news from the Voice
- Let’s talk trash: Refuse Refuse
- How Peskin could win
- The NIMBY Tyrant of Telegraph Hill, Part III
- . . . and still more
