Sutro Tower was built in the early '70s to improve TV reception in the city. It sits atop one of San Francisco's highest peaks- where former mayor Adolph Sutro had a mansion- and is the tallest structure in the city so it is visible from many neighbourhoods...
Saw Greil Marcus recently at Booksmith in Haight Ashbury discussing his book "The Old, Weird America"- a rich literary stew of American folk music, history, myth and mystery, casting light and throwing shadows and digging deep into the music of Bob Dylan and The Band's basement tapes.
After (or before) reading it you will want to search for a copy of "A Tree With Roots", a bootleg 4 CD set that includes different versions of the songs on the official "Basement Tapes" release plus lots of other ballads, covers, rockers and originals. For instance the traditional ballad "Young But Daily Growing."
And listen to the fun they have with Bobby Charles' classic "See You Later, Alligator."
Some more stuff if you are a Dylan fan. Here is a ten minute clip of Greil Marcus discussing Dylan and The Band at Pegasus Books in Berkeley:
Yes, I've lamented the loss of the grand movie palaces before. Here are some more photos from Mission Street of the empty New Mission and now playing at the Grand: One $ Only Store!
And sadly Haight Ashbury's Red Vic Movie House recently shut down. The final screening was "Harold and Maude" on July 25- the theatre's 31st birthday.
Fortunately you can still catch a film at San Francisco's oldest continuously operating movie theatre, the Roxie on 16th at Valencia. It has had a few name changes since 1909- The Poppy, New 16th Street, The Rex, The Gem, The Gaiety- and some financial woes, but will hopefully be around to showcase documentary, independent, foreign and classic films for many years to come.
Kate's Kitchen: Start the day with a big breakfast at this cozy diner.
How about orange spice french toast with fresh fruit, granola, yogurt and honey?
Little Chihuahua: For lunch a bowl of tortilla
soup with chicken, avocado, queso fresco, roasted
corn and tomato with tortilla chips and chilies.
And an agua fresca to drink.
KK Cafe: A good simple cheap burger 'n fries for supper
at this tiny spot.
Cafe International: A coffee or tea and maybe something sweet for an
evening snack, or any time of the day.
It's lunch hour in this little Mission park, surrounded on three sides by murals painted from 1974-90 and a mosaic sculpture of Quetzalcoatl snaking through the middle...
