San Francisco Blog

In what could be considered the latest outrage of Manifest Destiny -- or, perhaps, the predictable outcome of erecting an eye-catching, eight-foot-tall tepee on private property 100 feet from AT&T Park -- SOMA's most unique dwelling is no more.

This afternoon, a crew employed by Catellus Properties made quick work of the SOMA tepee and tossed it in the back of a red pickup truck. The workers noted the police had already been on-site and they were simply removing the tepee from private property. Still, they admired the workmanship -- "It's not even wet on the inside," one said.

A parking lot employee who asked that his name not be used said the resident of the tepee -- who he could only describe as a thirtysomething man of indeterminate race -- had spent a good week building the structure in a weedy vacant lot on private property. The gate to the area, normally locked, appeared to be forced open.

"At one point I went over and let him know he was on private property, though I had no authority to enforce anything," the lot employee said. "He just nodded and smiled. He was really friendly and polite."

At this point, the workmen's boss showed up, demanded a business card, and refused to return the courtesy. He said he didn't appreciate that SF Weekly had photographed his crew -- even though we'd asked their permission and the men chided each other for not smiling in the picture.

"I don't want to get involved in politics," the boss barked. "We're just here to clean everything up. We're just trying to earn a living."
 

Amid the proliferating SOMA offices and condos apparently modeled after the background art on a Stolichnaya bottle stands a structure reminiscent of a wholly different time and place. Yes, someone is living in a tepee in a vacant San Francisco lot.

The structure is around eight feet tall, and constructed of 20-odd thin PVC tubes lashed together at one end and forming the distinctive conical shape. A layer of cardboard (which, from a distance, resembles tanned animal hides) has been affixed to the PVC skeleton with twine and wire, and a layer of clear plastic tarpaulin has been wrapped over that.

We knocked at the "door," but no one was there to answer it. A quick peek inside the structure revealed a couple of pallets -- which would give a man shorter than around six feet the chance to sleep off the moist ground. The day's light rain crackled like popcorn on the plastic and the odd drop of water breached the tepee's open top. It is a rather well-made structure and, if only for a moment, the odor of the grassy earth combined with the rain's stacatto to create a most cathartic experience.

In the days to come, we'll attempt to track down the owner of this abode. If he or she is off roaming with the buffalo, then he or she is on the other end of town.

 

The description of the suspected vandal: A male in a red bodysuit with portrait of a spider on his chest...

A little while ago we wrote about the Clear Channel "Visit Israel" billboards along Highway 101, with their breezy Israeli girls strutting above the motto "Different From the Israel You See on the News." The ad was rendered a tad ridiculous by the deterioration of conditions in the region during the recent 22-day assault on Gaza supposedly prompted by Hamas rocket fire.

Now, ostensibly pro-Palestinian taggers have co-opted the ad for their own political statement. At the billboard overlooking Harrison Street near the intersection with Fourth St. in SOMA, someone has gone to considerable trouble to spray paint "(NO ARABS THOUGH)" beneath the "Visit Israel" portion of the billboard.   

BlueStar PR, the company who put up the ad, says they hadn't heard until we snitched on Tuesday.

"That's horrible," deputy director Peter Altman says. "It's obviously not true. Anyone can go visit Israel. There's a lot of hatred out there right now. There's a lot of really vicious anti-Semitic stuff. ... Who's writing this garbage? Don't they get how stupid it is? It's stupid. It's about being hip. It's all about being radical chic, about what's chic and what's not. It doesn't have to do with who's really humanist; it's about being chic."

Clear Channel spokesman Michael Colbruno said the company generally replaces ads that have been tagged with graffiti, and that a new ad campaign would replace the marred sign on Wednesday. The "Visit Israel" advertisement has been overlooking the 101 for free since BlueStar's contract expired on December 7.

Photos by Meredith Brody

The news outlets have been falling all over themselves in the last few days, sending hapless reporters up Mt. Diablo and Mt. Tamalpais, in order to send us footage of snow atop these usually green mountains.

But hey! Those are the highest mountains in the area (that's why they call them Mount). Even more amazing, to our jaded eyes, was the sight of snow in the Berkeley hills (note: hills), covering Tilden Park and even, at lower altitudes, the Grizzly Peak Stables, turning normally verdant pastures into the Swiss alps at Christmastime. The hills have received snow flurries from time to time over the decades, but they usually melt as they hit the ground. Rarely do they even stick around long enough to allow one to whip out the trusty old Kodak.

Photos by Janine Kahn
The economy's in the crapper, but Union Square was bustling with folks elbowing each other out of the way of a bargain earlier today. Here are some of the sights we saw as we walked down Powell and Market streets, and inside the Westfield Mall: 

Signs strategically placed outside the Gap store had shoppers feeling patriotic.

Families with bags of loot flowed down the Westfield escalators.

The food court was so packed that people ended up lunching on the floor.

A.K.A. It Gets Earlier Every Year, Part Deux 

Walking down the sidewalk on our way to dinner the other night, we were surprised to see a Christmas-themed window at the Walgreens on the corner of New Montgomery and Mission streets. Not so surprised that it was Christmas-themed, per se - we got over that some time ago; see our last Xmas-themed post - but that the banner read "LAST MINUTE GIFTS."

"Last MINUTE?," we said, "It's November 24th, for God's sake!"

We know that this wacky economy is making retailers nuts, but give us a break. It wasn't even last-minute-Thanksgiving-gift-time yet. That would be Thursday.

Just for the hell of it, we stopped in and asked a clerk when the window had been installed.

"Last week?," she said. "Or maybe the week before?" --Meredith Brody

Notes and Photos by Janine Kahn and Andy Wright

Monday: MUNI prepares for Outside Lands

MUNI warns the locals of the weekend madness well in advance - we spotted this sign on the 47 on our way to work Monday. See more weekend public trans details over at the SFMTA site, and do check our sister blog, All Shook Down over the next few days for Outside Lands photos and coverage.

Notes and Photos by Janine Kahn

Sunday: Pistahan 2008

The weekend's Philippine festival was a godsend for those of us starved for a piece of the motherland - especially if that piece was lechon kawali (pan-roasted pork). Pictured: Pinoy shirts featuring hero Jose Rizal next to Adidas-turned-adobo.

Monday: Rats at Apple

The two-legged kind, according to these protesters from the Carpenters Union who spent most of Monday morning outside Apple's downtown location. "Community Alert: Apple Inc. has hired South Bay Construction and procured a lot of work from Apple as a Union Contractor. And now they have terminated their agreement with the Carpenters Union and turned their back on workers and the community! Shame on you!" read the neon green pamphlets they passed out.

Week's End Notes and Photos by Janine Kahn

Saturday: Stow Lake Tranquility and Motorbike Trouble

Stow Lake was lovely Saturday, though the pedal boats closed just as we arrived. And this cute turtle pile had childhood rhyme "Over in the Meadow" running through our heads. Far less tranquil was the motorcycle accident that clogged up one of Golden Gate Park's narrow roads moments before. Fortunately, a good Samaritan was on the scene. We heard sirens as we drove on.

Notes and Photos by Janine Kahn

In this week's edition: Little Saigon columns unleashed, nuclear Care Bears, FART Police and Russian terrorists in the Richmond? All that and more behind the jump...

Saturday (7/26) - New Mural @ Trader Joe's

Trader's on Geary just got prettier. On Saturday we stepped in and caught the artist sketching an outline depicting the Haight and Presidio out on the storefront. We've yet to return, so we're not sure what the finished product looks like. Most popular item of the day at TJs? Sunflowers. Everyone (including us) appeared to leave with two bunches...which are now sadly wilting on the coffee table.