Not that long ago, it was common for Major League Baseball players -- All-Stars and minor leaguers alike -- to hold day-jobs in the off-season so they could pay the bills. There was no players union, and there was no minimum salary. Baseball did have heroes and celebrities, but they were paid abysmal wages most of the time. And when players' careers were done, they were on their own in terms of health care.

Giants legend Willie Mays played during this era, and we're sure he knows players who had to struggle to get by. Mays is scheduled to appear this spring at a tavern near AT&T Park to help raise money for older people with lower incomes. Entry to the event isn't cheap -- tickets start at $120 -- but it benefits the Institute on Aging, and it's a rare chance to meet a Giants legend face to face and have him autograph your cap, jersey, ball, or baseball card.

As Giants go, there are none truer than Mays, who turns 81 on May 6. There's a statue of him outside AT&T Park, and the street where the park was built carries his name -- Willie Mays Plaza. He began his career in the Negro Leagues in the mid-1940s, joining the New York Giants in 1951 and moving with the team to San Francisco in 1958, where he stayed until 1972. The outfielder is probably best remembered for "the catch," a play he made in the 1954 World Series against the Cleveland Indians. Mays raced toward the outfield wall chasing a deep fly ball and made the catch over his shoulder as he ran.

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We don't think Jimmy James will be there, but he sets a high standard for those who will.

When Michelle Williams was cast as Marilyn Monroe in My Week with Marilyn, the blogosphere lit up with outrage and petulant assertions that "even drag queens" could do it better. Well, duh. When it comes to larger-than-life female sexuality, drag queens always do it better.

A contest Wednesday night at the Eureka Theatre called Marilyn Madness will prove which one does it best. Theater company 42nd Street Moon has invited a parade of Blonde Bombshells to pout, heave, and flutter their bedroom eyes for the cameras prior to the staging of Sugar (whose director, Dyan McBride, we interviewed last week), a musical comedy based on the screenplay Some Like It Hot by Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond. (While this 40th anniversary production features a real-live girl in the title role, don't hold it against her; Joe and Jerry still get dolled up.)

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Hollie Stevens

Hollie Stevens is a performer at heart. With her blonde hair and amazing body, she's hard to miss. Stevens performed in the adult industry. In addition to mainstream porn, she did a lot of clown porn -- which is just what it sounds like. "I shot a lot of clown porn for amusement," says Stevens. Stevens also loved to kick-box, and she was extremely athletic. She was no different than a lot of us when we were young who believe we're invincible.

So when this very young healthy woman noticed a lump on her breast, she let it go at first.

"I noticed it and paid attention to it, but going to the doctor is hard when you don't have insurance," says Stevens.

The lump didn't go away.

"In January of last year I freaked out and went to the doctor," Stevens says. "I wasn't expecting that they would tell me I have cancer. [They did.] I felt like a bomb had just been dropped on me."

In short order, Stevens went from wondering where she was going on vacation to wondering whether she was going to live.

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Laura Gretch gets new ink Friday night.

When we think of pet adoption drives, we think of Saturday mornings in a Petco parking lot, not tattoos, cocktails, and auctions. But the latter is what you'll get Friday night, as Laura Gretch of the San Francisco SPCA will get a tattoo -- one that's chosen by the highest bidder on an eBay auction. (Last we looked, the high bid was $172. Update: The auction has ended -- and the winning bid is $550!) Ken Een of Frisco Tattoo will administer the winning design -- although Gretch will choose where it goes.

The Friday event marks the start of the two-day Be Mine Valentine's Adopt-a-thon drive that includes food, drinks, lowered adoption fees, a puppy-kissing booth, and a "cat whisperer." Een will also do more tattoos, each for around $30.

As tattoos often do, Gretch's speak to her passion -- in this case, animals. (She's known as the "Feral Cat Wrangler.") Her left shoulder is adorned with the image of Toby the cat, one of her earliest inspirations for becoming involved with animal welfare, and ultimately the San Francisco SPCA.

"I've been getting tattooed more than half my life," Gretch says. "A lot are animal-themed, some from passed-away animals -- from sharks to cats."

The idea of auctioning off her skin -- permanently -- is nothing new.

"It's another way that I live and breathe what I do," she says "It's another way of expressing that and showing what this organization means to me and the animals of San Francisco."

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On a recent Saturday, art enthusiasts went to SOMArts looking to expand their collection and left with a little bit of good karma. Visual Aid auctioned off walls full of works from local artists, including paintings, photographs, and even pillows. It was all part of Big Deal, the nonprofit's 18th annual charity art auction benefiting artists living with AIDS and other life-threatening illnesses. Each year, Big Deal consists of a silent auction, a live auction, and a numerical system where interested buyers wait their turn to choose one of the various pieces all at a fixed price of $165. We snuck in to Big Deal this year and got a glimpse at all the great work on display. Here are some of our favorites (for more photos of the event, check out my personal blog).

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Adam Friedman

Stone Tree

Say you're a struggling artist, and can't afford a studio on top of the rent for the room in that house you share with six other struggling artists. For the past decade Root Division has offered a solution to those who'd rather not keep canvases, solvent, and dirty brushes in the room where they sleep: subsidized studio space in the heart of the Mission in exchange for teaching classes such as relief-printing, plaster-casting, and Holga 101. (For those of you who've not heard of Holga: It's a camera).

The arts organization also puts together free after-school art classes for youth, in addition to professional development courses where artists can adjust their portfolios or learn to market themselves.

The classes are available year-round, but you only have one shot at the organization's doozy of an annual Art Auction, which happens Thursday night. With work by more than 100 local artists up for grabs, it would be spectacularly difficult not to go home with something cool, whether it's heavy metal patchwork courtesy of Ben Venom (one of our 2011 Masterminds winners) or a piece by Mary Anne Kluth that merges the personal and the scientific to beautiful effect. Also watch for work by Masako Miki, Chris Fraser, and Elisheva Biernoff, to name just a few more of our favorites.

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​Today Shane Bauer passes the second anniversary of his birth since he was put in Evin Prison in Tehran. U.S. President Barack Obama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, Muhammad Ali, and even Sean Penn have called for Bauer and his friend Josh Fattal's release, but they're still in there.

Tonight, a fundraiser at RayKo Photo includes films about the hikers; an appearance by Sarah Shourd, Bauer's fiancée, who was imprisoned and then released; a slideshow of Bauer's work; and more -- read about it on our sister blog the Snitch.

Follow us on Twitter at @ExhibitionistSF and like us on Facebook.

Kristi Yamaguchi: So cute it hurts.

​ [Warning: We wrote this preview before we knew it cost $850 to go to Kristi's awesome show. When the lady says "fundraiser," she means business.] Most of the time we try to be real cool, big-kid types. Like discerning or whatever. But some things turn us into squealing teenyboppers with no sangfroid at all -- dance-contest reality TV shows, for example. Those kids or aging celebrities have so much heart, as our indie-rock hipster selves would never say. They're simply adorable! Pretend you didn't read that. More >>

With lots of help from Ruby Perez the Intern.

Earlier today, we realized there were some events we hadn't covered elsewhere in the paper that we still really wanted to tell you about. Because:


May 7 is GOIN' OFF. Five huge large events are Saturday, so you have to figure out how to clone yourself by then so you can go to all of them. This Saturday is coming after you with its fun times! Gird.

1. Mega Mega Mega
Fundraisers are so often not fun. Some good cause is out to get your money, after all, which is okay but not woo-hoo. The exception: Southern Exposure's big, silly, amusing, food-and-drink-infested annual benefit. This year the theme is winnin' the lottery.
SoEx executive director Courtney Fink tried to warn us off telling you about it, kind of. Because it's a serious art auction with serious art to buy. "It's about buying art and it costs $45 to get in at the door," she told us, all serious. After we reminded her about Winni Wintermeyer's E.T. photo booth from last year, she admitted, "There are also some fun activities. There's a money-grab booth, and the photo booth this year is all gold, like with a gold lion, and tacky goldness, and this cake an artist made -- it's really sparkly." Did she say "money grab booth" AND "sparkly artist cake!?"

Sparkly artist cake. Sparkly artist cake!

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​Republican leaders in Washington aren't backing off their attempt to strip Planned Parenthood of all federal funding, so San Francisco sex-toy retailer Good Vibrations is offering its support. During April and May, Good Vibes customers can make donations to Planned Parenthood when they shop.

Good Vibes spokeswoman Camilla Lombard says the donations can be marked for Planned Parenthood Shasta Pacific, which serves 17 Northern California counties including San Francisco, as well as the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts.

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