alcatraz, amoeba, weird doc, walzwerk
I spent basically all of Sunday up in San Francisco with Jon Werberg (and Helene and others).
I got a bunch of CDs at Amoeba:
- Bruce Springsteen Nebraska
- Songs:Ohia Didn’t it Rain
- Mogwai Government Commisions: BBC Sessions 1996-2003
- Pinback Pinback
- Classic Mountain Songs (from Smithsonian Folkways)
- Classic Southern Gospel (from Smithsonian Folkways)
- Northumbian Rant: Traditional Music from the Edge of England (from Smithsonian Folkways)
- Songs and Ballads of Anthracite Miners
We went to Alcatraz, which was actually pretty interesting. They have an audio tour which is done by some old wardens and old convicts who served at Alcatraz. There are some really interesting stories of attempted escapes and the general conditions there. It’s not quite like having ex prisoners themselves give you the tour but it’s pretty interesting.
Continuing on the things that San Franciscans never do, we headed to the Coit Tower but the parking lot was full and rather than wait for a while or park farther away and walk up, we just gave it a skip.
After wandering around the Mission a bit, we went to Studio Z for a film fundraising thing for a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend (to me, Jon had one less of those). They’re making a documentary about two twins who were born boys but recently (at age 20 or thereabouts) one starting living as a girl and has had sexual reassignment surgery. They showed a 20 minute excerpt of the movie and I really didn’t know what to think. Various people from the mayor’s office and city council spoke afterwards. It was all a bit strange.
After that it was already after 9 and we were a bit hungry so we (Jon, and a few friends and friends of friends and I) headed to Walzwerk, which is a kickass East German restaurant (though don’t be fooled! Spaetzle is Swaebisch, not East German!). I had a Koestriker, potato pancakes, and an entree with chicken stuffed with apples and bacon and mashed potatoes on the side. Man, that’s a heavy meal! I thoroughly recommend Walzwerk. I’d recommend giving the “green salad” a skip; one of my dining companions was thoroughly disappointed with it. Just get some wurst or something!