First time in San Francisco, What Should I Do?

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I'm going to SF for the first time in my life and i'm very excited. I've wanted to go for ages but finally found the time/money. My girlfriend is running the marathon and i plan on a record shopping marathon of my own at Amoeba. Where should i eat (sandwiches, salads, sushi, mexican), where should i get coffee and what sights should i see. No Alcatraz, no Golden Gate bridge etc. Looking for interesting spots to check out. What electronic music focused record shops I should check out? WIll be in SF friday night - monday night.

thanks!

― biz, Friday, 21 October 2005 15:38 (twenty years ago)

My wife is running the marathon! She just went to pick up her pack.

Hi!

Alcatraz IS interesting.

― Kurt Russell in the Chinese Quarter (nordicskilla), Friday, 21 October 2005 15:45 (twenty years ago)

I don't know where you go for "salads". Anywhere.

Sushi - Sushi Zone or even better go over to the East Bay and go to Kirala

Burritos - weel, we don't know anymore. I'd probably still say El Farolito but watch them all disagree with me.

― Kurt Russell in the Chinese Quarter (nordicskilla), Friday, 21 October 2005 15:47 (twenty years ago)

What electronic music focused record shops I should check out?

Depends. There's a few places along the Lower Haight. Or Aquarius, I guess. Are you talking vinyl?

― Kurt Russell in the Chinese Quarter (nordicskilla), Friday, 21 October 2005 15:48 (twenty years ago)

Where are you staying, biz, and for how long?

― M. White (Miguelito), Friday, 21 October 2005 15:49 (twenty years ago)

Actually, if anyone else wants to recommend a sandwich place in SF proper I'm all ears.

I would tell you Gregoire's in Berkeley but that's because I live there.

― Kurt Russell in the Chinese Quarter (nordicskilla), Friday, 21 October 2005 15:49 (twenty years ago)

we're staying at some Hostel, not sure where it is exactly since i didn't make those reservations.

vinyl good but used CD's even better

salads are the least important food item on the list!

keep em coming!

I'm so excited!!!

― biz, Friday, 21 October 2005 15:52 (twenty years ago)

you are probably staying at the Green Tortoise in North Beah or the HI hostel on Mason. If you are staying at the latter, you can get a decent but expensive breakfast/brunch next door at cafe Mason. And they have red vinyl booths.

― Kurt Russell in the Chinese Quarter (nordicskilla), Friday, 21 October 2005 15:53 (twenty years ago)

You should really be cheering on your lady though d00d! I'll be waiting for mine most of Sunday around Mile 16.

― Kurt Russell in the Chinese Quarter (nordicskilla), Friday, 21 October 2005 15:54 (twenty years ago)

used cds = Amoeba

― Kurt Russell in the Chinese Quarter (nordicskilla), Friday, 21 October 2005 15:54 (twenty years ago)

The Golden Gate Bridge is pretty fucking impressive. They didn't just build it for tourists, cars actually drive on it as well.

I think there's a big electronic record shop on like Valencia & 13th or something? What's it called?

Golden Gate Park is great, and it's like 100 yards from Ameoba. Otherwise, most of SF's appeal is just in wandering the neighborhoods... the Mission, North Beach, Noe Valley, Polk Street.. more than any particular sites. Avoid Fisherman's Wharf, although I understand there's a Hooters now.

― andy --, Friday, 21 October 2005 15:55 (twenty years ago)

and In-N-Out!

― Kurt Russell in the Chinese Quarter (nordicskilla), Friday, 21 October 2005 15:56 (twenty years ago)

sushi - Tsunami on fulton at divisidero

for tacos at least, El Farolito is just eh. the BEST tacqueria is La Tacqueria on mission at 25th.

sandwich and salad fare - i have my own favorites but it's silly to lead someone to a random one when they're everywhere and usually pretty good.

― nein Socken (nein Socken), Friday, 21 October 2005 15:56 (twenty years ago)

I think SF is a rare bird in that most of the "big" tourist attractions are actually well worth visiting. But I'm from a place where you pay almost $40 and wait over an hour to see wax effigies of minor celebrities.

― Kurt Russell in the Chinese Quarter (nordicskilla), Friday, 21 October 2005 15:57 (twenty years ago)

ok yeah, the tacos at La Tacqueria ARE great.

― Kurt Russell in the Chinese Quarter (nordicskilla), Friday, 21 October 2005 15:57 (twenty years ago)

There's ALOT of great restaurant... SF's got just about every city beat for ingredients, we're in California after all.

― andy --, Friday, 21 October 2005 15:59 (twenty years ago)

fisherman's wharf is awesome if you know the right places to go - like the musee mechanique and the best crab leg vendor.

there's also the bush man..

― nein Socken (nein Socken), Friday, 21 October 2005 16:00 (twenty years ago)

Open Mind Records on Divisadero is great. Lots of used vinyl, eclectic selection, listening stations. If the smell of burning herbs wafting from the back of the shop offends you, beware. Actually, I think there might be a cannabis club next door, so maybe that's where the smell comes from. Tweekin Records in the Lower Haight is another good spot, especially for newer House, but also some eclectic stuff. I don't know if BPM on Hayes is still open- they also specialized in House- kind of smaller, but very friendly.

I can also recommend checking out Golden Gate Park on a Sunday. Lots of people out, especially if the weather's nice. Look for the disco rollerskaters. Also, the new de Young Museum just opened in the park, and a couple of weeks ago I made my first trip to the recently moved Asian Art Museum, which is well worth seeing.

For Mexican food, obviously, the Mission is the best. I'm a big fan of Pancho Villa's burritos. What neighborhood will you be in? And what are your other interests?

― viborgu, Friday, 21 October 2005 16:00 (twenty years ago)

I think BPM just moved.

― Kurt Russell in the Chinese Quarter (nordicskilla), Friday, 21 October 2005 16:01 (twenty years ago)

The best coffee in North Beach, in my opinion, is Cafe Grecco. If you feel like a quick bite while in North Beach, try Mario's Bohemian: I usually get the marinara breaded eggplant, but they have some meat sandwiches that are beloved by my friends.

If you're going to Amoeba SF, my food suggestion is Citrus Club.

While you're in town, make sure to go to the SF Museum of Modern Art, which is awesome. The De Young and the Asian Art Museum are also great.

It might seem touristy or whatever, but the bike ride from the Ferry Building at Pier 1, around the Embarcadero to the Golden Gate Bridge is really quite lovely and a fun ride.

― polyphonic (polyphonic), Friday, 21 October 2005 16:03 (twenty years ago)

Rent one of those little yellow three-wheel cars in the Tenderloin.

― andy --, Friday, 21 October 2005 16:05 (twenty years ago)

My favorite vegetarian burrito in the Mission is Taqueria Cancun (2288 Mission St.).

― polyphonic (polyphonic), Friday, 21 October 2005 16:05 (twenty years ago)

can you do that? great!

― Kurt Russell in the Chinese Quarter (nordicskilla), Friday, 21 October 2005 16:05 (twenty years ago)

Vesuvio and City Lights Books on Broadway are fun if you want to catch a little beatnik sunburn.

― andy --, Friday, 21 October 2005 16:07 (twenty years ago)

Sorry, that was an xpost. For sandwiches, Molinari in North Beach is choice. Also a great neighborhood for wandering around, as is Chinatown (very close by)...if you want dim sum, I recommend the City View Restaurant on Commercial St, off Kearny, in Chinatown.

― viborgu, Friday, 21 October 2005 16:07 (twenty years ago)

I'll second Citrus Club. Try the pizza at Tommasso's on Kearny if you're in North Beach. Molinari's is great.

― M. White (Miguelito), Friday, 21 October 2005 16:08 (twenty years ago)

The burrito wars begin: I never could stand La Tacqueria (and I lived a block away from it for about 10 years). But it might have changed into something better since I've been gone.

Best burrito: Panch Villa's. 16th and Valencia. Great red sauce. Ambiance of a cafeteria, though.

I recommend any restaurant that claims to be Salvadoran or Nicaraguan. There is (or at least was) a Nicaraguan on Mission at 26th. Gut-busting portions.

Best hot and sour soup ever is (or was) at a Vietnamese restaurant on Clement; northern side of street; I don't remember the cross street, but somewhere near 4th or 5th Ave. The soup featured pineapples. And live shrimp! (Er, no. Not alive, just vibrant.)

Also, somewhere a little farther along Clement, on the south side of the street, was, or is, the greatest weird gift store, seemed to specialize in garish postage stamps of Bruce Lee and Michael Jackson put out by the Central African Empire or such like. Upstreet is a good used bookstore, Turtle Books (?), something like that.

― Frank Kogan (Frank Kogan), Friday, 21 October 2005 16:09 (twenty years ago)

Panch = Pancho

― Frank Kogan (Frank Kogan), Friday, 21 October 2005 16:09 (twenty years ago)

I didn't realize you lived in SF, Frank.

― Kurt Russell in the Chinese Quarter (nordicskilla), Friday, 21 October 2005 16:10 (twenty years ago)

you had lived

― Kurt Russell in the Chinese Quarter (nordicskilla), Friday, 21 October 2005 16:10 (twenty years ago)

I suggest not spending much time in the tenderloin at all unless you're going to Pakwan, Golden Era or Tu Lan or are getting post-show eats at It's Tops.

― polyphonic (polyphonic), Friday, 21 October 2005 16:12 (twenty years ago)

mayflower on geary at (26th?) is the best dim sum and clement street is more authentic than chinatown.

you must walk across the golden gate bridge.

― nein Socken (nein Socken), Friday, 21 October 2005 16:12 (twenty years ago)

http://www.froggybloggy.com/pictures/2003_02_05_17_22_05.jpg

― Jimmy Mod wants you to tighten the strings on your corset (The Famous Jimmy Mod), Friday, 21 October 2005 16:13 (twenty years ago)

And basically just walking up and down Mission from 16th to about 29th on a sunny day is a knockout, awash with color and bustle. There's absolutely nothing like it in Denver, or anywhere else I've lived, including Rome.

― Frank Kogan (Frank Kogan), Friday, 21 October 2005 16:13 (twenty years ago)

hahaha, I love Big AL

― Kurt Russell in the Chinese Quarter (nordicskilla), Friday, 21 October 2005 16:14 (twenty years ago)

And basically just walking up and down Mission from 16th to about 29th on a sunny day is a knockout, awash with color and bustle.

This is a fact.

― polyphonic (polyphonic), Friday, 21 October 2005 16:14 (twenty years ago)

Oh, hey, while in the Mission, don't forget to get a beer and some food at Zeitgeist.

― polyphonic (polyphonic), Friday, 21 October 2005 16:16 (twenty years ago)

I didn't realize you lived in SF, Frank.

'86 through '98. First couple of years on Ashbery near Haight, the next three on 26th and Capp, the rest on Valencia between 25th and 26th, near a Salvation Army store, a western boot store, a Latino evangelical protestant church, a funeral home, and a flower shop. Talk about a full-service neighborhood.

― Frank Kogan (Frank Kogan), Friday, 21 October 2005 16:17 (twenty years ago)

Go to the Glide Church!

― Kurt Russell in the Chinese Quarter (nordicskilla), Friday, 21 October 2005 16:18 (twenty years ago)

have a cocktail at Top of the Mark. it's the highest point in sf and has a bit-o-history to it...
you can do this en lieu of walking across the golden gate bridge if pressed to choose due to time restraints.

honestly, you cannot pass up the jawdropping view from the golden gate bridge. even the bridge itself is inspiring. it's an exhilarating and memorable experience. just walk it. no one has to know you did something you feel is "touristy". i cross it almost every day and it never ceases to amaze me.

― nein Socken (nein Socken), Friday, 21 October 2005 16:24 (twenty years ago)

i will definitely check out the Golden Gate bridge without a doubt. having watched some Modern Marvels show about it's history/building process, i wouldn't miss checking it out for anything. these suggestions are awesome, thanks for the tips!!

Kurt, I will be supporting her during the race. We've gone to plenty marathons together and it's still a joy for me to see her finish. Being extremely out of shape, the determination and stamina of the marathon runners is quite inspiring.

― biz, Friday, 21 October 2005 16:27 (twenty years ago)

Joe's Ice Cream on Geary....

San Miguel's (Guatemalan restaurant): 3520 20th St. (near Mission Street); (415) 826-0173. It's really good and cute inside.

Sandwiches I recommend Estela's on Fillmore near Haight (used to be Big Sherm's). It's right across the street from Indian Oven (also worth visiting)

If you go to Alactraz, I recommend taking the tour that ends around sunset. It's really cool to get out there in the daylight, take the tour, and when you come out you're facing the city and you see it light up. It's awesome.

― rocknrolldetox (rocknrolldetox), Friday, 21 October 2005 16:31 (twenty years ago)

That marathon is a fucking monster... so many steep hills, and even the downhill by the Cliff House will suck... I wish her luck.

An alternative to the Top of the Mark... the TONGA ROOM which rains indoors! And a filipino band floating on a raft playing Romantics covers.

― andy --, Friday, 21 October 2005 16:33 (twenty years ago)

http://image.pegs.com/images/FA/17925/17925_e2.jpg

BEHOLD... the Tonga Room! At the Fairmont Hotel.

― andy --, Friday, 21 October 2005 16:36 (twenty years ago)

throw your children into the bay! kill a defense attorney's wife and carve "Gothic" symbols into her corpse!

― kyle (akmonday), Friday, 21 October 2005 16:38 (twenty years ago)

(these suggestions brought to you by the news media. thank you).

― kyle (akmonday), Friday, 21 October 2005 16:40 (twenty years ago)

why you gotta be like that

― nein Socken (nein Socken), Friday, 21 October 2005 16:44 (twenty years ago)

Here are some places that I would take a friend visiting town: Golden Gate Bay Cruise, Iroha, if you like good Chinese food, try Henry's Hunan.

If you're in Chinatown, be sure to stop by the Golden Gate Bakery and get some egg tarts.

Zeitgeist also makes a Bloody Mary to die for.

― recovering optimist (Royal Bed Bouncer), Friday, 21 October 2005 16:44 (twenty years ago)

Oh, and for Zeitgeist and the Golden Gate Bay Cruise: bundle up!

― recovering optimist (Royal Bed Bouncer), Friday, 21 October 2005 16:46 (twenty years ago)

it's the highest point in sf and has a bit-o-history to it...

Not to quibble, but I can see it from my desk and it's a couple floors below me.

Bakeries - Tartine on 18th and Guerrero is excellent. Any of Pascal Rigo's bakeries/cafes are good too. As good as almost anything you find in France.

The Tonga Room also has a great happy hour, if I recall correctly.

Out of left field - St. Francis Fountain on 24th is a classic old time soda fountain.

― M. White (Miguelito), Friday, 21 October 2005 16:59 (twenty years ago)

Skipping 178 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

we're staying at the luxurious Hostel International on Mason downtown.

Told you!

― Kurt Russell in the Chinese Quarter (nordicskilla), Sunday, 23 October 2005 02:13 (twenty years ago)

my legs are killing me! i walked for miles today.

amoeba score:

Ultramarine - Companion (LTM) 15.99
Space Time Continuum - Emit Recaps (Astalwerks Promo CD) 1.99
Kaptain Kaliber - LP! (Telle CD) 9.99
Happy Mondays - Step On Remix 91 CD single (Elektra) 2.99
The Beloved - Ease the Pressure CD Single (East West) 1.99
Idjut Boys - U-Star Daze (Ustar/Jaded) 4.99 still sealed!
Ralph Lawson with Dubble D - Stars on 33 present (Fat City) 4.99

Had a good lunch at Citrus Club (lemon/coconut chicken with noodles) and bought a few goodies from Giant Robot. Walked down to Mission and Valencia area then had dinner at Cafe Gratitude on Harrison St. Back to our Hostel area hitting up Puma, Virgin Megastore and some terrible cafe where we wanted carrot cake but settled for nasty hot chocolate.

debating going to the Giant Robot party tonight to get some free Ninja Tune dvd's but don't have anyone to go with...anyone planning on going tonight? 500 Divisidero.

― biz, Sunday, 23 October 2005 02:32 (twenty years ago)

hey biz how did your girlfriend do in the marathon?

Hey SF people there is a movie shooting at the bridge on stockton/sutter. I saw an actor and stunt double make to jump off of the bridge onto a truck filled with mattresses parked on Stockton. This was from the bus, so I couldn't get a good look at the guy. Is the Fincher Zodiac movie still shooting? cause it looked sorta Fincher-ish (i.e. LIKE SE7EN) and it COULD have Been Jake Gyllenhaal...

― Kurt Russell in the Chinese Quarter (nordicskilla), Monday, 24 October 2005 19:58 (twenty years ago)

Apparently it WAS the Zodiac movie but it was Robert Downey, Jr.!!!

― Kurt Russell in the Chinese Quarter (nordicskilla), Monday, 24 October 2005 20:01 (twenty years ago)

Will Smith has been shooting some stupid fucking movie in the Mission for the last three weeks (there's a break in shooting right now), and I wouldn't be surprised if this other shoot was related.

I fucking hate movie crews. Will Smith too.

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 24 October 2005 20:02 (twenty years ago)

no it was teh Zodiac movie.

I also saw this guy there
http://ia.imdb.com/media/imdb/01/I/68/65/12m.jpg

― Kurt Russell in the Chinese Quarter (nordicskilla), Monday, 24 October 2005 20:03 (twenty years ago)

well as long as they don't block off my street, build a fake BART station, or put up anymore fake building facades in my neighborhood Fincher's crew is okay with me.

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 24 October 2005 20:04 (twenty years ago)

The Will Smith movie is "The Art Of Happyness" - a true story about a Tenderloin homeless guy who becomes a stockbroker!

― Kurt Russell in the Chinese Quarter (nordicskilla), Monday, 24 October 2005 20:05 (twenty years ago)

Isn't that Michael White's story?

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Monday, 24 October 2005 20:06 (twenty years ago)

hahahahahaha!

― Kurt Russell in the Chinese Quarter (nordicskilla), Monday, 24 October 2005 20:06 (twenty years ago)

I thought Michael White's story was the story of TOULOUSE-LATREC grows to six foot and builds a time machine.

― Kurt Russell in the Chinese Quarter (nordicskilla), Monday, 24 October 2005 20:06 (twenty years ago)

comedy gold

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 24 October 2005 20:07 (twenty years ago)

die Will smith die. and take your goddamn gigantic light crane and GE generator and crowds of lickspittles with you.

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 24 October 2005 20:07 (twenty years ago)

I don't think that light crane actually BELONGS to Will smith.

― Kurt Russell in the Chinese Quarter (nordicskilla), Monday, 24 October 2005 20:09 (twenty years ago)

That doesn't sound like the Michael White story afterall. I knew Hollywood would screw it up.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Monday, 24 October 2005 20:09 (twenty years ago)

gygax said they were filming THE HULK on his street, which I think is pretty apt.

― Kurt Russell in the Chinese Quarter (nordicskilla), Monday, 24 October 2005 20:09 (twenty years ago)

Hey HOLLYWOOD - Michael White is not a black man.

― Kurt Russell in the Chinese Quarter (nordicskilla), Monday, 24 October 2005 20:10 (twenty years ago)

Yeah but Will is doing this role in white-face. It's gonna win him an Oscar.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Monday, 24 October 2005 20:12 (twenty years ago)

I heard for the whole second half of teh movie, Will Smith sits at his desk in his white-face with his glasses on, posting to ILX in French about smoking and cats.

― Kurt Russell in the Chinese Quarter (nordicskilla), Monday, 24 October 2005 20:13 (twenty years ago)

Haha actually that's really the whole movie. The homeless Tenderloin thing is told entirely in flashbacks non-chronologically.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Monday, 24 October 2005 20:14 (twenty years ago)

Ahem...

― M. White (Miguelito), Monday, 24 October 2005 20:29 (twenty years ago)

Quand est-ce que ça m’arrive de écrire quoi que ce soit sur le tabagisme?

― M. White (Miguelito), Monday, 24 October 2005 20:31 (twenty years ago)

ihttp://fe.lea.lycos.fr/html.ng/grp=build_a_site&country=fr&affiliate=frtripod&svc=hosting&adpos=1&ch=art_culture&sch=bd&ee=0¶ms.styles=tripod,tripod-im&btype=90&btype=1&btype=27&ts=1609521121?

― M. White (Miguelito), Monday, 24 October 2005 20:33 (twenty years ago)

http://www.20six.fr/pub/lacigale/chat-fume.jpg

― M. White (Miguelito), Monday, 24 October 2005 20:34 (twenty years ago)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v483/Hereward/boolasbrother.jpg

― M. White (Miguelito), Monday, 24 October 2005 20:39 (twenty years ago)

http://www.basista.eu.org/fun/reszta_2004/hendrix_in_heaven.gif

― Kurt Russell in the Chinese Quarter (nordicskilla), Monday, 24 October 2005 20:41 (twenty years ago)

I fucking hate movie crews.

Between 'Pursuit of Happiness', 'Zodiac' and the pilot for which they're shooting exteriors here, some of my old buddies in the industry are finally making a living again.

― M. White (Miguelito), Monday, 24 October 2005 21:07 (twenty years ago)

It's "HAPPYNESS" not "happiness"!

― Kurt Russell in the Chinese Quarter (nordicskilla), Monday, 24 October 2005 21:16 (twenty years ago)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0454921/

― Kurt Russell in the Chinese Quarter (nordicskilla), Monday, 24 October 2005 21:17 (twenty years ago)

That's how they spell in the "Loin", Michael, but really you should know that.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Monday, 24 October 2005 21:18 (twenty years ago)

I note with pride that "...HAPPYNESS" also stars Dan Castellaneta AKA HOMER SIMPSON!!!!!!!!

― Kurt Russell in the Chinese Quarter (nordicskilla), Monday, 24 October 2005 21:20 (twenty years ago)

The Aluminum Group has/have titled albums Happyness and More Happyness.

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 24 October 2005 21:22 (twenty years ago)

I admit I was fairly neutral about Will Smith's whole "Operation: Total Disruption of Shakey Mo's Neighborhood" until they put up a fake, plain, grey facade up over this really beautiful red and blue mural (which had just been completed) on the corner of 24th and York for no apparent reason. That and the giant klieg light shining into my house from 7pm - 1 in the morning several days a week.

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 24 October 2005 21:26 (twenty years ago)

CAFE GRATITUDE?! ACK. HIPPY GO HOME!

― jaxon (jaxon), Monday, 24 October 2005 21:29 (twenty years ago)

Unlikely it was a klieg (probably a 20K), but for them to be on the street after 10 pm means they had to get permission? Was your block ever canvassed/asked? They probably put up the facade because they couldn't obtain permission to film it. There's a mural on the side of a liquor store at the corner of Haight and Cole that drove a director nuts (good for him, the fcuknut) 'cause they COULDN'T FIND THE ARTIST to get permission. How I laughed. I hated that shit production.

― M. White (Miguelito), Monday, 24 October 2005 21:36 (twenty years ago)

But not their paychecks.

― M. White (Miguelito), Monday, 24 October 2005 21:36 (twenty years ago)

Maybe this is a GUERILLA Will Smith production.

― Kurt Russell in the Chinese Quarter (nordicskilla), Monday, 24 October 2005 21:43 (twenty years ago)

I assume they got permission from the block the actual light and crane were on, cuz that block and a couple others were taped off (coincidentally making parking totally shitty on the two days I happened to rent a car). But since the crane was positioned well above the rooftop line, the light shone for blocks in every direction (including right into my window a couple hundred feet away). And that was several blocks away from where the actors + cameras were - they were mostly by St. Francis and Pop's, tho they shot some other stuff at my corner liquor store really late at night (12am +) a couple times.

Anyway, my block was def. never canvassed. How I found out about it was from some PA in a yellow jacket telling me I couldn't walk down my street to get to my house. To which I said "fuck you" and walked right on by.

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 24 October 2005 21:45 (twenty years ago)

HIPPY GO HOME!

the irony!

― Kurt Russell in the Chinese Quarter (nordicskilla), Monday, 24 October 2005 21:46 (twenty years ago)

okay, I'm never filming in Shakey's neighborhood

― Kurt Russell in the Chinese Quarter (nordicskilla), Monday, 24 October 2005 21:47 (twenty years ago)

No. No. No. Adam. Just canvas the area well. Offer parking, if possible. Make a suitable donation to the neighborhood (in addition to compensating the merchants) and NEVER tell someone they can't walk down their street. Ask them nicely. Even if Shakey still tells you to gargle the contents of a colostomy bag, most people like to be helpful. They just don't like outsiders coming to their neighborhood and telling them what to do.

― M. White (Miguelito), Monday, 24 October 2005 21:59 (twenty years ago)

Hahaha good for you Shakey. Fuck film people keeping you from going home.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Monday, 24 October 2005 22:00 (twenty years ago)

I think gygax said fuck off to PAs on his street, too. They're pretty used to it, it's sort of their job!

When I made a student film in NYC, we got neighborhood kids to move off to one side by telling them that ARNIE was in the building we were shooting in front of!

― Kurt Russell in the Chinese Quarter (nordicskilla), Monday, 24 October 2005 22:02 (twenty years ago)

I do hope that all the local businesses involved were paid well, and I can totally understand why they would be eager to participate/cooperate - and I like Pops and St. Francis and Samy's Liquors and I want them all to do well.

But yeah, don't just show up one day and start acting like you own the place.

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 24 October 2005 22:06 (twenty years ago)

Most PAs are underpaid young relatives of the the ADs/Director/Producer, etc... on their way to a DGA card, or starry eyed little peons too stupid to realize they are being egregiously exploited. They generally have the social skills of day old shit and, as someone who worked in locations, where liaising with the neighborhood was precisely what I did for weeks before a shoot, I usually wished them a slow, mangled, and publically humiliating death after about the first week of shooting.

I would have suggested an additional donation to the neighborhood collectively - money for a park, or for BRAVA, or something that adds value to the hood and I would have mentioned it on the filming notice that I put out in the neighborhood. You can politely tell PAs, btw, that they have exactly zero legal authority to stop people on the street. They can only ask. OTOH, screwing w/ a film crew can lead to them having to come back if they don't get all their coverage and clusterfcuk your neighborhood for an additional day.

― M. White (Miguelito), Monday, 24 October 2005 22:17 (twenty years ago)

The best films are the ones where you can see random pedestrians staring at the camera anyway.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Monday, 24 October 2005 22:21 (twenty years ago)

Or the guy wearing an Adidas tracksuit in a Merchant/Ivory production.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Monday, 24 October 2005 22:22 (twenty years ago)

the best films have a guy in a gorilla suit and a monkey

― kyle (akmonday), Monday, 24 October 2005 22:24 (twenty years ago)

The best films are the ones where you can see random pedestrians staring at the camera anyway.

Especially if it's porno.

― M. White (Miguelito), Monday, 24 October 2005 22:25 (twenty years ago)

i hear cafe gratitude is owned by woody harrelson.

― nein Socken (nein Socken), Monday, 24 October 2005 23:20 (twenty years ago)

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