(11-14-2019, 04:13 PM)King Bob Wrote: Somehow never ate there, but didn't go to the Greek as often as you either.

Quote:Rasputin Music On Haight Street Closes
The iconic Bay Area music store told employees this week that it would close the Haight Ashbury location, which opened in 2013.
by Grace Li • 11/08/2019 12:23 pm - Updated 11/20/2019 10:17 am
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[img=536x0]https://1ryzas42x65e2oosia40bgli-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/191108-sfw-rasputinrecords-003-838x400.jpg[/img]People walk by Rasputin Records in Haight Ashbury on Friday, Nov. 8, 2019. (Photo by Kevin N. Hume)
Rasputin Music, the iconic Bay Area record store chain, will be closing its Haight Ashbury location, its last storefront in San Francisco.
Employees were informed Friday. The Haight Ashbury Rasputin location opened in 2013.
Rasputin closing its doors is the latest in a series of storefronts shutting down on Haight Street.

Christin Evans runs The Booksmith on Haight Street, located just a few doors down. She is also the president of the Haight Ashbury Merchants Association and has been active in the economic welfare of the street since 2007.
“There’s about 150 storefronts on Haight Street and there have been more vacant ones on Haight recently than any other time in my memory of being on the street,” she tells SF Weekly. “Even when we had the economic downturn we did not see as many storefronts closed as we do now.”
She says she believes the stores closing on the street is the result of several factors all at once. Some storefronts have been closed because of soft-story retrofits that have been ongoing. In addition to rents increasing (you may have heard, San Francisco is an expensive place to live), payroll costs have increased and construction on Haight Street has impacted street traffic.
“Business [sales] have been down as much as 30 percent,” for businesses on Haight Street, Evans says. “Even on blocks not under active construction we’ve seen shops reporting 12 to 15 percent reduction in sales.”
SF Weekly reached out to Rasputin for comment about why the Haight location is closing but hasn’t heard back yet.
With the closure of the Haight Ashbury location, Rasputin will have six locations still open. Rasputin Music was founded in Berkeley in 1971 by Ken Sarachan. Since then, it’s faced a series of closures: Stockton and Fairfield earlier this year in March, and Powell Street in 2016.
The news, first tweeted out by [url=https://twitter.com/daviddebolt/status/1192913931183898624]David DeBolt, was confirmed by SF Weekly on background speaking with employees at the Haight Street location.
Richard Procter contributed to this article

Quote:Jan 9, 2020 
Bay Area legend Vic Lee retires after 50 years in journalism
posted by Randall

ABC7 New Anchor Kristin Sze called Vic Lee her television dad and talked about the positive influence Lee had on her career
One of the first Asian Americans in the nation to appear on television as a reporter has retired after 50 years.
Vic Lee is well known in the San Francisco Bay Area, but his impact has been felt nationwide.
Lee has worked for the New York Times, KRON-TV and for the last 15 years, ABC7. He is known for his quick wit and hard hitting reports. He has broken many stories in the city and earned the respect of both police and city leaders for his fair reports and tough questions.
“I have been watching Vic Lee on television since I was a kid, And he has always been just straight forward, providing the information, giving the news and you could always trust his reporting,” said San Francisco Mayor London Breed to ABC7 News.
Among those who attended Lee’s farewell party was Supervisor Aaron Peskin who presented him with a city proclamation and invited Lee to the upcoming supervisor’s meeting on Tuesday for a formal presentation.
Supervisor Arron Peskin presents Vic Lee with a city proclamation
Vic who grew up in Japan and speaks fluent Cantonese has made it his mission to cover the Chinese community. He credited affirmative action for giving his career a boost and said he entered journalism at a time viewers didn’t see a lot of Asian faces, particularly Asian American men.
“I feel that I owe the Chinese community since, you know, being Chinese American, and being sort of a rarity, an Asian male in this business, that I ought to cover them as much as I can,” explained Vic.
ABC7 News anchor Kristen Sze began to tear as she recounted the first time she met Lee in 1990, in absolute awe at seeing the legend. She affectionately called him her “television dad,” and thanked him for mentoring so many Asian Americans.
One of Lee’s most memorable stories was his feature on Klepto the Cat, a young feline caught on surveillance video stealing personal belongings from dozens of people in her Burlingame neighborhood.
Klepto the Cat came to pay Lee a surprise visit to the delight of those at Lee’s farewell party.
Klepto the Cat says goodbye to Vic Lee

(01-16-2020, 12:52 AM)Dr. Ivor Yeti Wrote: Bill Nyden. “Foppish” was the kindest thing he was ever called.

Quote:
MARCH 20, 2020 10:45PM PT
San Francisco Music Venue Slim’s to Close After 30 Years
Co-owned by Boz Scaggs, the popular club hosted shows by Radiohead and David Bowie over the decades.
By ZACK RUSKIN 
@zackruskinFOLLOW


CREDIT: GREG CHOW/SHUTTERSTOCK


After serving as a staple of the San Francisco Bay Area nightlife scene for 30 years, popular music club Slim’s announced on Friday (March 20) that it would be ceasing operations permanently.

As first reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, the beloved venue founded and co-owned by musician Boz Scaggs informed employees on Wednesday that the club would not reopen at a later date after closing in accordance with a “shelter in place” order issued by San Francisco Mayor London Breed on Tuesday.

Though concerns over lost revenue in the wake of mandated, coronavirus-related cancellations and closures have left many venues across the globe reeling, the decision to shutter the nightclub was apparently reached late last year prior to the pandemic.

Following the departure of general manager Dawn Holliday in 2017, the venue’s ownership, Big Billy Inc., also lost out on the notable revenue they’d annually earned from the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival held in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park each fall. Scaggs would ultimately partner with the Los Angeles promoter Goldenvoice to book both Slim’s and Great American Music Hall — its sister club in the city’s Tenderloin district — in 2018.

One of the many things that made Slim’s unique in a city spoiled with venues: capacity. As a 500-person club, the space at 333 11th Street was able to cater to both up-and-coming local acts (many of whom would later go to become major names) as well as more established artists looking to play an intimate affair.

With its chameleonic reputation for booking everything from punk to country (“I had complete freedom,” Holliday told the San Francisco Chronicle), Slim’s also garnered a reputation as a welcoming home for rising Bay Area artists across all genres. Since opening its doors in 1988, acts ranging from Marianne Faithfull to Pearl Jam to Snoop Dogg have all graced the Slim’s stage, ensuring a wide swath of local residents have had reason to visit the club over the years.

In addition to welcoming local musicians of all stripes, Slim’s has also served as the inaugural San Francisco stop for many of today’s most popular acts. Among the artists to make their debut in the city at Slim’s: Alison Krauss, Radiohead, Beck and Sheryl Crow. The venue has also embraced its fair share of odd celebrity side-projects, include a trio of 1995 performances by the Keanu Reeves’ led Dogstar as well as a private 1991 concert from David Bowie’s hard rock outfit, Tin Machine.

Beyond the countless concerts the club hosted (pictured is a recent show headlined by Juliana Hatfield), Slim’s will also forever be associated with Hardly Bluegrass Festival, a free multi-day event which they first produced in 2001 with funding from billionaire Warren Hellman. Scaggs has also confirmed that Great American Music Hall — a gorgeously decorated 600-person capacity venue — will re-open alongside the rest of San Francisco when a statewide “shelter in place” order lifts on April 7. (Scaggs also plans to move Slim’s staff to the Great American once able to do so.)

Though the storied club’s final years were largely defined by Goldenvoice’s efforts to tighten its grip on the region’s venues, its legacy as a San Francisco institution is cemented in memories of the numerous, distinctly Bay Area nights they helped to bring to life. Be it the time Prince, George Clinton, and Chaka Khan all got together for a late-night jam or a weekday hip-hop concert headlined by Del the Funky Homosapien, the pulse of San Francisco always throbbed loud and pure at Slim’s