The Voice Weekly: Aaron Peskin + Cultural Overload

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Politics, films and Will Durst

By John Zipperer
Editor in Chief, The Voice of San Francisco

I’ll keep my note short this week, because there’s a lot of stuff you’ll want to check out.

Probably first and foremost is the fourth installment of Susan Dyer Reynolds’ “Tyrant of Telegraph Hill” series about Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin. And for a chaser, read Mike Ege’s “How Peskin could win.”

But we’re not all politics around here. Scroll down in this newsletter and you’ll find Managing Editor Lynette Majer’s new series Out and About, giving you some headline tips about things to do and places to be in San Francisco. You’ll also find film and art stories, and in the latest episode of the Voice Weekly podcast, Melissa Caen and I interview our own Michael Snyder and talk about everything from why Fall Guy fell at the box office to which San Francisco theaters he mourns.

And I am pleased to note: Last week, we welcomed aboard the legendary Will Durst with his first contribution, “Come back.”

Take a look below, take a look at the website, and take Will’s advice and come back again soon.

Top News

The NIMBY Tyrant of Telegraph Hill, Part IV

REYNOLDS RAP

By Susan Dyer Reynolds

As one of the longest-serving politicians in San Francisco history, Aaron Peskin has had his ups and downs. Over the course of a year, I spoke to numerous colleagues, former colleagues, neighbors, and former neighbors, only one of whom was willing to speak on the record for fear of Peskin’s infamous spite. Nowhere was that more evident than in 2007 when […]

Washington D.C.: Building bridges for the homeless

The NIMBY Tyrant of Telegraph Hill, Part III

ICYMI

OPINION

Graduating with degrees in appeasement

OPINION

San Francisco schools need money and families need assurances

A&E

New colors of film noir

Out and About

What to do this week

By Lynette Majer
Managing Editor, The Voice of San Francisco

Life can’t be all work and no play, so here are few events to consider to help get you through your week.

A portion of “2000 Dragons.” Photo courtesy of donedhardyart.com

Tuesday, May 21

Take a self-guided tour of 2000 Dragons, a 500-foot scroll by Don Ed Hardy, created in the year 2000, the Year of the Dragon, just as 2024 is. On view daily through May 27 at Grace Cathedral. Tickets $12

Here’s a fun thing to do at lunch: Takeout Tuesdays: Lunchtime Conversations About Art. Zoom in to join Asian Art Museum docent Lydia Zane in a discussion about Nuwa’s Hands, a hanging sculpture by Cathy Lu. Free tickets

A scene from *Gladiator*. Photo courtesy of S.F. Symphony

Wednesday, May 22

This one-act opera world premiere by Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer, Before it all Goes Dark at the Presidio Theatre, is based on a fascinating true story that sounds like a riveting movie plot: An ailing Vietnam vet learns he is the sole heir to a priceless art collection stolen by the Nazis and embarks on a journey of discovering his newfound identity and a deeper truth through art. Tickets $25–$75

The San Francisco Symphony needs your support. So go see Ridley Scott’s five-time Academy Award-winning film Gladiator on the big screen accompanied by the San Francisco symphony and chorus performing Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard’s iconic score at Davies Symphony Hall. If you can’t make it today, go tomorrow. Tickets $99–$199

Thursday, May 23

Get some fresh air and enjoy a lunchtime performance by Oakland native and soulful music vocalist PHER on the Great Lawn at Yerba Buena Gardens. Presented by Yerba Buena Gardens Festival, which runs through Nov. 2. Free admission

If you’re one of the many fans of the Academy Award-winning documentary My Octopus Teacher (and subsequently no longer consume octopus), you may be interested in filmmaker Craig Foster’s memoir, Amphibious Soul: Finding the Wild in a Tame World, which chronicles his life exploring a multitude of places and the rejuvenating spiritual power of the natural world, which he discusses in conversation with author Jon Young at the Commonwealth Club. Tickets $10–$55

Enjoy your week, then visit us online on Thursday for some out and about weekend suggestions.