By Katie Sue Ambellan I have a very real, unrealistic, unfounded and out-of-control fear of the undead. Zombies.  Oh god.  In a dark alley at night, the thought alone spooks me into a steady jog for the supposed safety of my house. I’ve more or less have sworn off any movie that confronts them.  Not [...]

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By Marcia Schneider The Count of Monte Cristo, a tale of injustice, betrayal, jealousy, reversal of fortune, and vengeance, written by French novelist Alexandre Dumas in the mid-19th century, is a rich and complex novel, set in France, Italy and the Mediterranean. It employs a huge cast of characters, and weaves the contemporary history of [...]

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By Mary Ellen Hannibal As in the Coldplay song currently cycling over KFOG’s radiowaves, paradise is usually a state of mind. But there’s a whole history of those who have taken the idea more literally, and Brook Wilensky-Lanford has provided a highly entertaining compendium of quests to locate this ideal in Paradise Lust:  Searching for [...]

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Its that time of year again! Getting an ulcer at the thought of spending the holidays with your (allegedly) dysfunctional family? Well put the “fun” back into dysfunctional with the master himself: John Waters. Born in Baltimore in 1946, Waters rose to fame in the early 70s with his transgressive cult films. As the famed [...]

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By Katie Sue Ambellan There’s jokes about it, internet memes about it and lots of opinions on it. Some are for, others are against and lots are indifferent, but the Occupy movement is still making headlines. This time, it’s because of the excessive force the UC Berkeley Police used on protesting students and faculty alike, [...]

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Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Like it or not that means a solid month of uncomfortable family get-togethers, stressful travel disasters, and failed attempts at replicating Grandma Carol’s famous sweet potato pie.   As John Wayne one said, “Pilgrim, you cause a lot of trouble!” But never fear! Friends of the San Francisco Library [...]

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Congratulations to the San Francisco Public Library, winner of a National Competition to build Learning Labs for teens! The Library received $100,000 in grants from the MacArthur Foundation and Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) as well as an additional $20,000 in funds to support the work from the Friends of the San Francisco [...]

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By Katie Sue Ambellan I don’t know about you guys, but I am really excited for the upcoming Porchlight Storytelling Series on Monday, November 21st. Why you ask?  Well for one, it’s a Porchlight first—where two people get up and tell the same story.   Think of when your friends try and tell the same [...]

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By Byron Spooner I got sick of listening to all the stuff I have stacked on my desk—Blind Blake, Tommy Johnson, Son House, Gram Parsons, Workingman’s Dead, Anthony Braxton,  Blind Willie McTell—plus playing music on the laptop sounds like shit, so I went out and bought a bunch of new CDs and tossed them in [...]

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